The new century arrived, and after the Laba Festival, Xiao Mai’s belly began to show signs.
Mother Zhou, who had been by her daughter-in-law’s side, was the first to notice.
After a day of labor, the baby still hadn’t arrived, so Yuan Man was called in.
With a few needles and a bit of help from Mother Zhou massaging Xiao Mai’s belly, a chubby baby boy was soon born.
Yuan Man, while examining the baby’s health, chided Mother Zhou and the grandmother who had helped with the delivery for not calling him sooner.
The chubby boy had almost suffocated.
And Xiao Mai had eaten too well; the fetus was too large.
Mother Zhou was speechless. She had always been worried about her daughter-in-law giving birth in the village.
But her in-laws and daughter-in-law had said they trusted Doctor Yuan. Still, Doctor Yuan’s medical skills were indeed excellent.
Li Zhengguo convened a meeting with the village committee members regarding this matter.
It was decided to build a village clinic next to the new elementary school, complete with an outpatient department and inpatient facilities, specializing in general practice, dentistry, and obstetrics and gynecology.
To establish a village clinic, an application had to be submitted to the Health Bureau.
This required a head of the clinic and their practicing license.
Yuan Man was put forward to be the director.
Whether he wanted to or not, he had to do it. Once the doctors and nurses were hired and the clinic was running smoothly, he could still manage his private practice.
Doctor Yang busily pushed his nephew-disciple forward, stating he could handle his grand-disciple on his own.
Applying for a clinic in Kushanli would surely meet the standards, as Kushanli had three villages, fully complying with the requirements.
Once the application was approved, there was still much work to be done, and the site was only a plot of land, not yet under construction.
Naturally, the village had to inform the villagers about building the clinic and encourage them to persuade their daughters to attend medical school.
Graduates could return to work as nurses at the clinic, securing a respectable job close to home.
This was very appealing to the villagers, who urged their daughters taking the high school entrance exam that year to apply to medical school.
The admission scores for medical school were not low, and the enrollment was limited, causing many girls to hesitate.
However, quite a few were willing to try.
In the blink of an eye, it was spring plowing season. No one from Lin Er Lai’s family was out plowing the fields, which struck the villagers as strange.
Some concerned villagers went to Lin Er Lai’s house to check, fearing the entire season’s land would be left fallow and they would be fined by Village Chief Li.
Upon arriving at Lin Er Lai’s house, they discovered only Lin Man and Lin Wan were home.
Under repeated questioning from the villagers, Lin Man finally revealed that her father and mother had gone to the provincial hospital with their eldest brother to undergo IVF.
They had left before the Lunar New Year.
The villagers were almost furious, leaving two girls, who were only nine and seven years old at the time, alone at home for the holiday?
Some went to ask Lin Guangde if he knew about this.
Lin Guangde shook his head, stating he didn’t even speak to Lin Er Lai, so how could the villagers or the security team know, and how could he?
Upon learning of this, Li Zhengguo reprimanded Zhou Chengbing and the security team again.
With no adults at Lin Er Lai’s house, there were very few signs of activity from the two young girls. Why hadn’t the security team noticed?
The security team felt wronged. Smoke from Lin Er Lai’s house rose for meals three times a day; who knew the adults could be so heartless?
Zhou Chengbing received the harshest scolding, unable to even attend to the people’s needs.
Zhou Chengbing was speechless. He felt the most wronged; he was busy with two lawsuits and was still expected to attend to people’s needs?
He and Zhang Shiteng went to Lin Er Lai’s house to question Lin Man, asking if her parents had mentioned which hospital they were going to or when they would return.
Lin Man knew nothing.
The two could only ask the villagers to help plow Lin Er Lai’s land for now. The winter wheat field behind the old house didn’t need attention; they would see if the three returned in early April.
At the end of March, the three, along with a cart, returned.
Lying on the cart was Lin Er Lai. Lin Er Lai had suffered a severe stroke, leaving him paralyzed and unable to speak.
According to Lin Er Lai’s wife and Lin En Hu, the brain hemorrhage occurred due to anxiety and anger after three failed IVF attempts.
Lin En Hu was busy taking care of his mother and didn’t notice Lin Er Lai’s condition deteriorating until the next morning, by which time it was too late.
The hospital performed emergency surgery, saving his life, but he was left completely paralyzed.
Many villagers had gathered to watch. Seeing Lin Er Lai make groaning sounds even with his mouth open, they all sighed.
When they saw Li Zhengguo and Tian Jing, Lin Er Lai became very agitated.
Not only were his groans louder, but he struggled, as if wanting to climb up.
The groaning sounds from his mouth became more frequent and prolonged, as if he wanted to tell them something.
Lin En Hu held down the agitated Lin Er Lai and covered him with a quilt:
“Dad, we’re home now. You can’t get excited, and you mustn’t catch a cold.”
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh, ugh, ugh!” Lin Er Lai glared at Lin En Hu.
Lin Er Lai’s wife pushed the cart: “Let’s go back and get settled first.”
As the cart moved, Lin Er Lai became even more agitated.
Lin En Hu had to hold his shoulders to prevent him from struggling out of the quilt, and he also adjusted his hat that was about to fall off.
The villagers dispersed, watching the cart recede.
Tian Jing and Li Zhengguo exchanged a glance. One went back to the office, and the other went to the nursery.
That evening, the couple analyzed the current findings in their bedroom.
There were only two hospitals in the provincial capital that performed IVF.
Neither Lin Er Lai nor his wife’s names were found in their records, nor were there any cases of men having strokes due to anger and frustration from unsuccessful IVF treatments.
Meanwhile, Tian Jing planted a climbing vine behind Lin Er Lai’s small Western-style house.
The small house wasn’t as easy to arrange for climbing plants as the old one, but with three adults away for three months, it was plausible for the back wall to be covered in ivy. So, Tian Jing boldly covered all areas except the windows with rapidly growing ivy vines.
By propping up the vine ends outwards, she could observe the interior.
Although she didn't see or hear anything particularly useful, Lin En Hu’s attitude towards Lin Er Lai was very hostile.
Lin Er Lai’s attitude towards Lin En Hu was also extremely agitated.
The two step-father and son seemed like sworn enemies.
Li Zhengguo pondered, “Tomorrow, I’ll take photos of Lin Er Lai, his wife, and Lin En Hu and inquire at all the hospitals in the provincial capital. Perhaps they concealed their names to avoid being discovered for having more than the permitted number of children.”
Tian Jing agreed, “It’s still better to confirm. Let’s just hope it’s a genuine stroke.”
The next day, Li Zhengguo briefed Zhou Chengbing on some matters, said he was going to find County Mayor Ji, and left the village.
Tian Jing continued her work at the nursery as usual.
When she tried to observe the Lin family again later, she found that the ivy had been cut down and removed.
They could only wait for news from Li Zhengguo.
Ouyang Meihua entered the seedling shed, “Don’t you find Lin Er Lai’s stroke a bit too strange? Would he really get so angry and anxious over unsuccessful IVF?”
“I’ve heard of anger affecting one’s heart, but I’ve never heard of anger causing a stroke.”
Tian Jing thought to herself, “This martial arts enthusiast.”
Tian Jing gave her a sidelong glance, “Get back to collecting seeds diligently.”
“I’m tired of collecting them,” Ouyang Meihua sat on a scooter.
“Planting at the beginning of the month and harvesting at the end, repeating without any challenge, it’s tiresome.”
Tian Jing raised an eyebrow, “Then change your job?”
“Change to what?”
“Plant at the end of the month and harvest at the beginning.”
Ouyang Meihua froze for a moment, then spat, “Bah! Are you kidding me?”
“Otherwise?” Tian Jing waved her hand, and the seedlings in the shed grew a section.
“Do you want me to bring in someone else?”
“Let’s not change then,” Ouyang Meihua refused.
“Even with this, some people say you’re a tree spirit. If other villagers discover your special abilities, who knows what rumors will spread?”
“Then get back to work seriously.”
Tian Jing shooed her away. Who wouldn’t find this work monotonous?
But they still had to do it.