Song Dafeng agreed, "Mom, I understand. You sit down and rest for a while." Then she rolled up her sleeves, rubbed her hands vigorously to warm them, and began to massage Chuncao's belly. Chuncao gritted her teeth and endured the pain, with cold sweat beading on her forehead. Chen Lan held her hand tightly, offering comfort and encouragement.
After a while, a knock sounded at the door. Chen Lan recognized it as Dr. Guo's voice and immediately let go of Chuncao's hand, rushing to open the door. She saw Old Qi peering in, his head stretched towards the room, anxiously asking, "Xiao Lan, how is Chuncao? Why is there no movement? I haven't heard her cry!"
Dr. Guo, holding a bowl of herbal medicine, retorted, "You kid, hurry up and move aside! What kind of noise do you expect during childbirth? Are you still thinking this is a battle!"
He then handed the medicine bowl to Chen Lan and instructed, "Xiao Lan, quickly take this in. If the baby's position is correct, have Chuncao drink this medicine. It will help her give birth faster!"
Chen Lan quickly accepted the bowl with both hands, said thank you, turned around, and quickly closed the door with her foot.
About half an hour later, Song Dafeng, panting, said to Mother Qian, "Mom, come and feel. Is it time?"
Mother Qian immediately stepped forward to examine and nodded. "It's time. Xiao Lan, quickly bring the medicine and have Chuncao drink it while it's hot."
The medicine was drunk, and about another half hour passed before there was movement. However, Chuncao had lost most of her strength by then.
Chen Lan anxiously said, "I'll go boil Chuncao sister a bowl of brown sugar and eggs." She got up to leave.
Mother Qian replied urgently, "I'm afraid there's no time. The baby is about to be born."
Just as everyone was at a loss, Chunni entered Chuncao's house with a thermos of ginseng soup. Dr. Guo immediately stepped forward, took the ginseng soup from Chunni, and shouted, "Xiao Lan, open the door quickly! The ginseng soup is here, take it in for Chuncao to drink."
After drinking the ginseng soup, Chen Lan taught Chuncao to adjust her breathing according to her rhythm. Everyone waited for another hour or so. With the help of Guo Rou and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law team, accompanied by the cry of a newborn, Mother Qian happily shouted, "She's given birth! She's given birth, it's a big fat boy!"
Song Dafeng immediately took the baby. Chen Lan stepped forward to help pour water to wash the baby. After the baby was cleaned and dressed, Song Dafeng placed the wailing infant on the pan of an old-fashioned steelyard scale to weigh him. While adjusting the weight, she looked at the scale beam and loudly declared, "Good heavens, no wonder it was so difficult to give birth! This little one weighs seven jin and one liang. Truly a big, fat boy."
Old Qi, upon hearing the baby's cry, also began to cry.
Dr. Guo said with disdain, "Ai! I say, you kid, look at your lack of composure. Stop crying, go to the kitchen and cook a bowl of brown sugar and eggs for your wife."
Old Qi sheepishly wiped his face with his hand and repeatedly agreed, "Ai! I'm going, I'm going. Uncle, thank you."
He then hobbled off to the kitchen to get busy.
Mother Qian and her daughter-in-law tidied up in the delivery room. Guo Rou checked Chuncao's pulse again and found no issues. She said, "Xiao Lan, Chuncao is fine, everything is good. Let her sleep for a while. Mother Qian and her daughter-in-law will help her get cleaned up. Let's go out first!" So Chen Lan followed Guo Rou out of the delivery room.
With the arrival of new life and the coming of the new year, it seemed to dilute everyone's fear and worry about the impending disaster. Life in the valley continued as usual; people continued to bear children and live happy little lives.
However, after Chuncao's childbirth experience, Chen Lan felt that Dr. Guo was nearly seventy years old and getting older each year. She wondered if she should find time to talk to Dr. Guo properly and see if he would be willing to take on a few young apprentices in the valley to pass on his excellent medical skills.
Although his daughter, Guo Rou, was learning medicine from Dr. Guo, she had started learning medicine halfway through life. Coupled with her lack of natural talent, she had likely only mastered less than thirty percent of her father's medical skills in these past few years. Her granddaughter, Guo Fu, also lacked talent in medicine, and besides, she herself disliked it.
Chen Lan thought that Dr. Guo's excellent medical skills could not be allowed to die out. She felt it was very necessary to have a good talk with Dr. Guo about this matter.
Currently, the only inconvenience for everyone in the valley was the water supply. To conserve water, Chen Lan had decreed that all households in the valley were not allowed to use washing machines to wash clothes. However, compared to starvation, this was nothing.
The spring of 1959 was dry and cold. Although there had been a few light snowfalls before the New Year, they melted as soon as they touched the ground, and the dryness intensified.
By the time for spring planting, not a single drop of rain had fallen. Although Chen Lan knew this would be the result, she still hoped for a miracle. The outcome was self-evident; she was disappointed.
So, Chen Lan solemnly announced to everyone, "Farm work waits for no one. We don't need to wait for rain. We will use water from the artificial lake for spring planting."
Uncle De hurriedly asked, "Xiao Lan, are we planting all the land this year, or only a part of it?"
Chen Lan thought for a moment and said firmly, "Uncle De, we will plant all the land that can be planted. The water in the artificial lake will evaporate under the sun even if we don't use it. It's better to use it to grow more grain, which is more practical."
Despite the severe drought, the spring planting work in the valley began in full swing.
This year, like last year, the valley would only plant spring wheat, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. The vegetable garden would only grow beans, eggplants, pumpkins, and other vegetables that could be stored for a long time or dried. There would also be chili peppers and tomatoes for making sauces.
After the spring planting tasks were assigned, preparations for this year's spring seeds began. Chen Lan decided not to use the previously reserved seeds this year. All of them would be replaced at a high price with new, drought-resistant, high-yield seeds.
She then specifically placed an order in the system to purchase drought-resistant, high-yield spring wheat seeds – Shi Nong 086. This variety of spring wheat had excellent drought resistance, strong disease resistance, and was not easily over-ripened by dry hot winds.
The potato seeds were also replaced with a drought-resistant variety – Snowden. This variety had strong drought resistance and a long storage period, with a growth cycle of about 120 days. It was a late-maturing variety with smooth, pale yellow skin and white flesh.
Sweet potatoes were also replaced with a drought-resistant variety – Watermelon Red. This "Watermelon Red" variety of sweet potato had a short growth cycle and was rich in dietary fiber, carotene, and various vitamins and minerals, making it highly nutritious.
After storing all the previously kept seeds from the seed warehouse into the system warehouse, and then taking the newly purchased seeds from the system warehouse and placing them in the seed warehouse, she locked the seed warehouse door. After handing the key to her mother-in-law and giving her some instructions, she turned and went to Dr. Guo's clinic.