Next time, she had to bring the others from home.
As soon as she opened her eyes, Cai Lihua's nose bridge was right on her eyelids, almost face to face with Ajiu.
"What's wrong, my child? Are you exhausted? Why did you fall asleep by the door? Or should Mother make you something nutritious?"
"Mother, perhaps I am tired."
Ajiu then noticed there were several people in the room.
"Then come to the kitchen later, Xiao Yan is already tending the fire..."
Cai Lihua suddenly whispered into her daughter's ear, "I stewed chicken soup for you, and those two chicken legs are saved for you."
Saying this, she gave a mysterious smile and went to the adjoining kitchen.
"Alas... Da Lei, Mother is old. Why don't you eat me?"
Ajiu's pupils contracted. She saw an elderly man in his sixties leaning against the wall.
She also had bloodstains on her. Her legs were stretched out, and the knee was so swollen it had torn through her trousers.
"Mother, if you say that, aren't you asking heaven to strike me down? It's all my son's incompetence. I..."
Uncle Wu, who was guarding his wife, gritted his teeth and said, "At worst, I, the son, will beg for food, and I will kowtow to others."
With that, he turned to find Brother Meng to talk things over. He could go without eating, but his wife, children, and mother must eat.
He turned and his eyes met Ajiu's.
His face showed even more distress. "Today, I haven't properly thanked you for the water, Uncle. If you ever need this useless person in the future, I will surely repay you."
Ajiu felt awkward. She had actually tested it, and it wasn't a dream.
She summoned her needle pouch, and it now appeared in her arms. Her spiritual spring had also grown. Logically, she should thank this uncle.
"N-no need to thank me... Helping each other is only right."
Ajiu didn't feel she was saying this against her will, as she hadn't intentionally expected the spiritual spring as a reward when she gave the uncle water.
"This little girl is not old, yet she earns my great respect." Wu Da Lei solemnly cupped his fists and bowed.
Then he turned and left.
Ajiu looked at the woman lying on the only flat space.
"Uh, Da Lei... Da... Da Lei, I'm in so much pain."
Her breath was weak, her voice like a mosquito. Ajiu hurried forward and saw that large beads of sweat were appearing on the woman's pale and sallow face.
Her belly was visibly rising and falling.
Ajiu was also startled. It looked like she was going into labor.
The woman clutched her belly, trying hard to roll over, but seemed to be out of strength, panting in pain.
"Zhao Di. My daughter-in-law, how are you? Are you going into labor?"
The old grandmother in the corner, whose eyes were just filled with the despair of wanting to die, now had pupils that contracted. Dragging her broken leg, she gritted her teeth and crawled towards them.
Ajiu watched as a large amount of water stained Zhao Di's trouser leg.
What to do? Aunt Zhao Di clearly didn't have the strength to give birth.
"Dad..." Ajiu called out towards the outside, but she didn't know where her father had gone, not a sound.
"My daughter-in-law, my daughter-in-law... you must hold on." The old lady's legs clearly couldn't exert any strength. She clung to the gaps in the rotten wooden planks but couldn't crawl half a meter.
She was so exhausted that her face looked completely pale and weak. Her head tilted to the side, and she collapsed on the ground, motionless.
"What to do, what to do?" Ajiu was a little flustered.
Ear acupoints. Right, the book said the hieroglyphic representation of the ear was like an upside-down baby, with the head at the earlobe... Right, let's try.
Ajiu quickly took out her silver needles. Her hands trembled severely as she inserted them for the first time.
Although she aimed for the acupoint based on memory, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes and plunged it in.
"Ah..."
A weak cry came. Ajiu's eyes snapped open. Did it work?
Ajiu was delighted, and then she inserted six needles into the acupoints corresponding to both ears until the woman's abdomen began to contract and relax.
Ajiu quickly took off the woman's pants.
A baby's cry was heard.
Ajiu, according to the book, quickly withdrew the needles as soon as they took effect.
She gritted her teeth and cut the umbilical cord with a cow horn knife. The series of actions seemed smooth and efficient, but Ajiu's mind was blank.
"What's going on? A Di..."
The baby's cry attracted Wu Da Lei.
As he entered the room, he was stunned.
He looked at the infant in Ajiu's arms blankly, not reacting at all.
Ajiu shook her head as if she hadn't woken from a dream, numbly looking around. Only then did she realize what she had just done with a moment of resolve.