From Hoarding to Time-Travel: My Supplies Saved Him

Chapter 508: Chapter 509: Someone’s Here

Liu Tian said, "Things are looking bad. She’s lost almost all her amniotic fluid, and the baby is still breech."

"Then what do you propose we do?" At a time like this, Li Cuicui had surprisingly calmed down.

"We might not be able to wait for the doctor. I need a straight answer from you. If we can only save one—the mother or the child—who do you choose?" Liu Tian asked through clenched teeth.

"Save the mother. We can have another child later," Li Cuicui blurted out without a second thought.

"You damn hag! Who said you could decide that? Of course we save the child—the Gu family’s first great-grandson!" Gu Dashishi, who had been pressing his ear to the wall, bellowed from outside.

Li Cuicui’s expression darkened instantly. She shouted to Granny Song, who was standing nearby, "Go stand guard outside. Don’t let anyone who has no business here get close."

"Just listen to me," she repeated to Liu Tian. "Save the mother."

Liu Tian nodded. "Then give me a hand. In a minute, just do exactly as I say."

The midwife grew anxious. "You can’t just act so recklessly! This could be fatal!"

Li Cuicui shoved her aside. "If you keep delaying, my granddaughter-in-law is the one who will truly die.

Now, hurry to the kitchen and bring hot water."

"But I’m the midwife," she protested.

"And so what? Right now, we listen to whoever can save my granddaughter-in-law’s life."

Having been the family matriarch for so long, Li Cuicui projected an undeniable air of authority. As the head of the house, the midwife didn’t dare argue further.

She just muttered under her breath as she walked out, "This is just absurd. I’ve delivered dozens of babies, and now I’m reduced to being an assistant..."

Inside the delivery room, Liu Tian was, after all, an experienced woman. She had simply stopped taking on delivery work in recent years as her life had become more comfortable.

After she applied pressure to a few acupoints, Xie Yuewei, who had fainted, slowly opened her eyes.

"You’re awake," Li Cuicui said, stroking her head. "Don’t fall asleep again. Let’s gather all our strength and push this baby out. He’s been so much trouble; I’ll give him a good spanking for you when he arrives."

"Grandma," Xie Yuewei called out weakly. "I don’t think I can hold on..."

"Nonsense! Don’t say such foolish things. Grandma’s right here. In a moment, whatever Granny Liu tells you to do, you just do it. Don’t think about anything else."

"Grandma, save the baby..."

"Stop talking nonsense. Of course we’re saving both of you! You have to be strong. There are so many good days ahead of you, alright?"

Liu Tian glanced at Xie Yuewei’s parched lips. "What’s going on? Hasn’t anyone given her anything to eat?"

Li Cuicui was speechless. ’That daughter-in-law of mine must be itching for a lesson. How could she not even think of this...’

She flung the curtain aside and strode out. When she saw Gu Dashishi still craning his neck to peek inside, her anger flared. ’The people who should be here are gone, so what is this useless oaf doing here?’

Looking past Gu Dashishi, she saw Liu Liu rushing over in the distance. Li Cuicui breathed a sigh of relief. "Fourth’s wife, hurry to the kitchen, find something to eat, and bring it to Le Di’s wife immediately."

With that, she hurried back inside, not forgetting that Liu Tian had asked her for help.

Liu Liu didn’t dare to delay and rushed straight to the kitchen. Seeing an unfamiliar woman ladling water, she asked, "Is there anything to eat in here?"

The midwife replied irritably, "How should I know? Look for yourself."

"And you are...?" Liu Liu asked.

"I’m the midwife they hired. You people are really something else. Why hire me if you were just going to get someone else?"

Liu Liu didn’t know what was going on, so she could only force a smile. "There must be some misunderstanding. I’m just here to help. I need to bring some food in for the new mother."

"She ate earlier. I saw her drink a large bowl of chicken soup. If you can find any eggs, boil a few for her." The midwife, having regained some of her composure, pursed her lips and left with the bucket of water.

Gu Le Di was about to go mad with worry. His wife had suddenly gone into labor, but Doctor Liu was out on a house call, and no one knew where to find him.

An older woman nearby had to remind him to hurry into town, so he had quickly hitched up the donkey cart and rushed off.

Halfway there, he saw his father in a horse-drawn carriage from Seventh Uncle’s Mansion, racing toward home.

As the carriage passed, his father didn’t forget to yell, "Le Di, I’ve found a doctor! Hurry back home!"

"Right!" Gu Le Di immediately jumped off the cart and pulled the donkey around to head back.

Gu Yuanjin and Hu Dong brought the doctor to Le Di’s small courtyard as quickly as they possibly could.

"You brought the doctor? Good! Get him inside, quick! And remember, save the child." When Gu Dashishi saw his eldest son and Manager Hu help a man down from the carriage, he knew it must be the doctor.

Gu Yuanjin ignored him and shouted toward the room, "We brought the doctor!"

Just then, the midwife opened the door. "Did you bring any medicine? The baby is breech, and the mother has no strength left."

On the way over, Huang Zhong’an had gotten a brief account from Gu Yuanjin, but he needed to see the patient with his own eyes before making a judgment.

"Tidy up the delivery room a bit. I’m going in to take her pulse and see what her condition is."

The midwife went back inside with practiced ease and came out a moment later to call the doctor in.

Huang Zhong’an came out a short while later. He took a packet of herbs from his medical kit, which he had prepared before coming.

"Go and brew these herbs first," he instructed. "The woman inside knows how to turn the baby. It shouldn’t be a major issue."

Gu Yuanjin clutched the herbs, looking sheepish. "Um, Doctor Huang... how do I brew this? I don’t know how."

"I’ll do it," Hu Dong said, taking the packet from him. After drinking medicine for so long himself, he certainly knew how to brew it.

Gu Yuanjin’s face filled with gratitude. He led the way to the kitchen, saying, "I’ve really troubled you today, Steward Hu. If I hadn’t run into you, I wouldn’t have known where to find a doctor. Now you’re even helping me brew the medicine... You are truly a benefactor to our family."

"Sir, you’re being too serious," said Hu Dong. "It’s what I ought to do.

Before they left, the Master and Madam repeatedly instructed me to help look after the family. Besides, since I happened to be here today, how could I possibly stand by and do nothing?

Do you have a clay pot for brewing medicine?"

"A clay pot?" Gu Yuanjin, who had never set foot in a kitchen, was dumbfounded. How was he supposed to know if they had one of those?

"We have one," said Liu Liu, who was in the kitchen boiling eggs. She expertly retrieved a clay pot from a corner, having spotted it earlier while looking for the eggs.

Hu Dong quickly took the pot, rinsed it out, added the herbs and water, then lit a fire to begin brewing.

"Then I’ll leave it to you, Manager Hu and Sister-in-law. I’ll go wait outside."

Seeing people busying themselves at home, Gu Yuanjin finally felt a bit more at ease.

These past few days, the tofu workshop had been busy with a large order of tofu skin, and all the household servants had been sent there to help. He had come back in such a rush that he’d forgotten to bring anyone back with him.

If he hadn’t run into Manager Hu today, he might not even have made it home.