A boy, a boy is good, now Xianshu will no longer be pointed at and talked about, and Da Ya won’t be called a Little Disaster Star who harms her brothers anymore, good, good!
Lao Fan let out a sigh of relief and comfortably sat back down in his chair. He said to himself, with his medical skills, if he could mistake a boy for a girl, then he shouldn’t be practicing medicine!
Upon hearing that her mother had given birth to a little brother, Xiao Linshuang hurried to the door, "Big sister, can I see my little brother? Big sister?"
Lin Yuan looked back and saw that the room had been mostly tidied up, then she smiled and let Lin Wei and Xiao Linshuang inside, "Mother has just given birth to your brother and is very tired. You two mustn’t disturb Mother, understand?"
The two sisters nodded excitedly and squeezed through the gap in the door. Lady Liu had just given birth and was at her weakest, and she couldn’t be exposed to the drafts.
Soon, the subdued laughter of the sisters could be heard from the room, which made Lin Jiaxin and Xia Zheng a bit itchy with curiosity.
Lao Fan had never married or had children, and now, hearing the laughter and the intermittent crying of the infant from inside the room, his heart itched too, though his reaction was not as obvious as Lin Jiaxin’s.
With a deliberate loud cough, Lao Fan called out to the people inside, "Girl, why does that little thing’s crying sound so soft? Come on, bring him out so the old man can give him a thorough check-up."
Upon hearing Lao Fan’s words, Lin Jiaxin, who had previously been overcome with excitement, suddenly tensed up. A soft cry? Could it be there was a problem?
Lin Jiaxin thought of his last son, who had died only three days after birth, and immediately became anxious, his legs going weak, as he slumped into the chair, his voice trembling uncontrollably, "Divine Doctor, is there, really, a problem?"
Inside the room, Lin Yuan’s heart squeezed at these words. Fortunately, Lady Liu was already asleep; otherwise, hearing Lao Fan’s remark would have probably caused her to worry herself into a faint.
Not daring to delay any longer, Lin Yuan quickly asked Aunt Wang to bring the little one out.
Lao Fan hadn’t held a baby before, looking at the small, soft, and doughy little thing in Aunt Wang’s arms, he momentarily froze. So babies were this small when they were born.
"Divine Doctor, please take a look quickly. We finally have a son; let’s not have another..." Aunt Wang’s voice trailed off as she couldn’t continue. She thought of the rumors Mr. and Mrs. Liu had suffered in the village, and of the burden Lin Yuan had shouldered. Her heart clenched in pain.
Lao Fan gestured for her to lay the child on the kang in another room, and he stripped the baby himself. Although his earlier words were nonsense, thinking back to Lady Liu’s prior issues with her health due to consuming the wrong herbal medicines, he examined the child thoroughly.
From the eyes to the mouth, from taking the pulse to listening to the heartbeat, he even carefully inspected the baby’s private parts.
His meticulous and serious manner really kept Lin Yuan and the others on tenterhooks. Lin Jiaxin came in leaning on his cane, apprehensively watching as Lao Fan checked one area after another, fearing to hear him say that there was a problem with some part.
After what felt like an eternity, Lao Fan finally withdrew his hands, squeezed the baby’s cheek, and casually covered the child’s small clothes over the body.
"Divine Doctor, my, my son, how is he?" Lin Jiaxin hadn’t noticed that his voice was already shaking.
Lao Fan twisted his white beard and, under the expectant yet tense gazes of everyone, slowly uttered a few words, "Well, it’s a boy."
Lin Yuan burst into laughter first, this guy, he was fooling them again!