As we enter May, the weather is getting hotter and things tend to go rancid.
The simple offerings on the altar already smelled sour, and there was a blowfly lying on them.
When I saw the wooden sculpture of a toad and the little man painted on the stone slab, I understood the purpose of setting up this altar.
Gongsun Yan couldn't help but raise his eyes and look around.
People who stayed away from each other, hiding behind the flowers and trees and the doorposts of the verandahs, peeked curiously.
A little boy who looked to be two or three years old was wearing crotchless pants, holding dirty fingers in his mouth, pulling on flowers and trees to stand still.
His eyes and cheeks are sunken, and his big head rests on his reed-stick-like body, making him wobbly and worrisome.
The body is as skinny as a stick, with only a round belly standing out abruptly, and the calves are O-shaped, which are very obvious symptoms of rickets.
Gongsun Yan was shocked and could not help but turn his gaze back to the altar.
Advocate fertility and like to have boys.
In addition to the fact that it has always been a male-dominated society, the deeper reason for this situation is actually the economy.
In the feudal small-scale peasant economy, production was carried out with the family as a unit and relying on simple tools and primitive farming methods.
In this way, it is necessary to ensure that by giving birth to boys and investing in labor force.
For the above reasons, childbearing and male birth are linked to the survival and prosperity of the family.
Gongsun Yan understands these principles.
Reason told him that there were certain reasons for all this.
But emotionally it made her feel blocked.
It seemed that because she had been looking at the altar for a long time, Zhou Jing came over and explained: "Madam, this is the Gao Xi who was invited by the family just now."
Gongsun Yan once told him to be polite to the two mothers and their families and not to scare them, so Zhou Jing was quite tolerant towards them.
Zhou Jing thought about it for a while before agreeing to the common ritual of asking for a man or a child, such as the Gaozi sacrifice.
In fact, in this era, only Gongsun Yan is the only one who feels uncomfortable seeking a man or a child.
To others, this is a perfectly normal operation.
Gongsun Yan sighed softly and walked around the sacrificial wooden platform, "Where is the mother?"
"Place them on both sides." Zhou Jing introduced.
Only then did Gongsun Yan learn about the specific situation of these two families.
Both families are shade houses in the middle of the village, one in the east wing and the other in the west wing.
There are no elders in the family in the east chamber, only a pregnant woman, her husband, her wife and two young children. The young child Gongsun Yan saw just now is the youngest son of this family.
The other family in the west wing has more people and more troubles. The old woman belongs to this family, and the mother is her second daughter-in-law.
While listening to Zhou Jing's introduction, Gongsun Yan walked into the main room under his guidance.
Knowing that Gongsun Yan was coming, Zhou Jing ordered people to clear out the main room in advance and prepare tea and fruits.
However, Gongsun Yan had no intention of sitting down to drink tea, and directly wanted to see the mother.
Zhou Jing had a look of embarrassment on his face, "Madam, the delivery room is really dirty..."
One reason was that it was inappropriate to go there as an unmarried woman from Gongsun Yan. The other reason was that the place was really not a good place, and Zhou Jing was worried about the evil spirits.
Zhou Jing's concerns are very reasonable, but Gongsun Yan has already arrived here, how could he shrink back and not verify it himself.
Zhou Jing had no choice but to personally order someone to set up a screen in the room to temporarily cover him up.
While he was making arrangements, Gongsun Yan put the candied fruits on the table in the hall into an empty tea bowl, came to the courtyard, and waved to the thin boy to come over.
The child was still hanging on a branch, looking left and right, crossing his legs, and slowly moved over.
He just walked two or three steps away and refused to come any closer. He just looked longingly at the lacquer bowl in Gongsun Yan's hand.
Gongsun Yan tried several times, but the child still didn't dare to come over. When she took a step forward, he took a step back.
Gongsun Yan had no choice but to put the lacquer bowl on the ground, step away, and then waved for him to take it.
Seeing that he finally approached carefully, he grabbed a honey-soaked dried apricot with his dirty little hands, licked it, took the lacquer bowl, sat directly on the ground, and polished it bit by bit with his small teeth the size of rice grains.
"Madam, the delivery room is ready."
After just a short while, Zhou Jing came to report.
Gongsun Yan asked Alan to stay and watch the child to prevent him from choking after swallowing.
She followed Zhou Jing to the east chamber.
As soon as I walked to the door, I heard a woman screaming in pain and a woman's hoarse voice inside.
"Why are you shouting? How can a woman give birth without pain?"
"Ms. Yan will be coming soon. Don't make noises or make noise in Miz. Yan's ears. We will drive your whole family out of Guzhu."
The crying woman seemed frightened by the hoarse voice, and immediately became silent. She could only hear heavy breathing if she listened carefully.
Gongsun Yan sighed and gently pushed open the unlocked door, feeling a wave of heat rushing towards him.
On a slightly hot day in May, the extremely fishy smell of fermented blood made Gongsun Yan hold his breath for a moment.
Zhou Jing and the guards were unable to enter at this time. The guards were standing at the door and frowned when they smelled such a smell.
Gongsun Yan entered the house and gently closed the door.
In this era, houses in the north did not open many windows to keep warm. There were only a few small windows on one side of the wall, and they were all tightly closed.
A charcoal basin was lit in the room, and several servant girls stood behind a screen. When they saw Gongsun Yan coming, they saluted her.
A fat woman wearing azure clothes came around from behind the screen. She was the one who had just threatened the mother.
When she saw Gongsun Yan, she bowed and asked Gongsun Yan to take a seat in a flattering manner.
There is also a table set up behind the screen, and there are some tea and candied fruits on it, but no one can eat or drink in such an environment.
"Are you the midwife?" Gongsun Yan didn't like the chubby-faced midwife and didn't want to be polite to her, so he asked straight to the point.
"Yes, yes." The midwife responded urgently.
"Have you had a prenatal checkup?"
After all, Zhou Jing is a man of this era. It can be seen that he is very attentive to completing this work, but there are some details that he cannot and cannot ask.
This is why Gongsun Yan read his report and insisted on seeing it in person. "I did it!" This midwife was specially selected by Zhou Jing not only because of her rich experience, but more importantly because of her tact and wit.
Although she didn't know why her master suddenly thought of paying attention to this issue, she knew that if she performed well, she would be rewarded, and there might be a good way out.
The midwife secretly guessed that perhaps Mrs. Yan wanted to find a midwife in advance to marry into her husband's family in the future.
For large households, not to mention midwives, even wet nurses have to be selected two years in advance and allocated to suitable families.
With this thought in mind, the midwife has been doing what Zhou Jing said with all her heart.
"Extend your hand to me." Gongsun Yan did not ask first, but asked the midwife to hold out her hand.
If she really followed Zhou Jing's arrangements attentively, she could tell just by looking at her hands.
The midwife's face was filled with joy. She was glad that she followed the instructions carefully. She stretched out her hands, her nails were neatly trimmed and there was no nail stain. Although her hands were chapped and calloused, they were washed cleanly.
Seeing this, Gongsun Yan nodded with satisfaction, "Okay."
"Let's go, come in and talk." Gongsun Yan said as he walked around the screen and walked in.
The midwife was dumbfounded and hurriedly stretched out her hand to stop her, "Ms. Yan, you are not married yet. Although you are a noble person and have no taboos, the way this woman is giving birth may scare you."
Compared to the old woman outside, this round-faced midwife obviously knows the art of speaking better.
Her words of high emotional intelligence made Gongsun Yan look at her again.