The midwife's yell struck like a thunderclap, instantly turning the few people in the room weak in the hands and feet, their souls nearly taking flight.
Zhou Zhijun's foot, just crossing the threshold, abruptly stopped. All the blood in his body rushed to his head in an instant, and the water basin in his hands was gripped so tightly that his knuckles turned pale.
He couldn't care less about propriety now. Red-eyed, he charged toward the inner room, his voice trembling with strain, yet still carrying the restraint of a veteran soldier. "Ma! What's going on? Save the mother! Save Tao first!"
Aunt Zhou's heart clenched at his shout, but she didn't dare let her attention waver for even a second. She pressed down firmly on Chuntao's hand and shouted urgently, "Zhijun, get out and wait! A man entering the birthing room is bad luck, and you'll only add to the chaos!"
Chuntao was in so much pain she had no strength left. Her eyelids drooped, her breath was as faint as a thread, but still she clutched Aunt Zhou's hand and murmured in a hoarse voice, "The child... my child..."
Sweat poured off the midwife's forehead in streams. Her hands never stopped moving as she shouted, deep and urgent, "Quick! Get me clean cloth straps! The baby's position is stuck badly—we need leverage to guide it out! Delay any longer and it's truly over!"
Luckily, Aunt Zhou had prepared ahead of time. The cloth straps were already there, but lying in bed was her own daughter-in-law, and the usually steady woman had panicked so completely that she'd forgotten everything.
Hearing the midwife ask for the straps, she fumbled frantically in the cloth bundle at the head of the bed and pulled them out.
The midwife worked quickly, tying the straps around Chuntao's waist, then had Aunt Zhou and Second Aunt Zhou each grab one end and pull upward. "Relying on her own strength alone, both mother and child will end up lost in this!"
The three of them worked together, but Chuntao was already completely limp, unable to summon even a shred of strength.
She felt the air in the room growing thinner and thinner, her breathing as thin as a strand of hair, her eyes already unable to open.
Inside, it was a moment of life and death, but Zhou Zhijun could only stand outside the door, all his strength bottled up in his chest, suffocating with worry.
Back in the army, no difficulty had ever defeated him. But now, watching Chuntao suffer at death's door, powerless to help, all he felt was a frantic panic that made even his fingertips tremble uncontrollably.
His eyes were fixed on the curtain to the inner room. Hearing Chuntao's groans growing fainter and fainter until they nearly disappeared, Zhou Zhijun's eyes turned bloodshot. He charged into the room again without a second thought.
Seeing Chuntao with her eyes closed, so weak her breath was nearly gone, his heart felt like it was being crushed by a giant hand, aching as if it would shatter.
"Tao!" Tears welled up hotly in Zhou Zhijun's eyes. Suddenly remembering how they handled difficult births with sows, he let out a hoarse roar, "Reach in with your hand!"
The words stunned everyone in the room.
In these times, with poor medical conditions, there was no other choice—when absolutely necessary, reaching in by hand was the only way to save a life.
"That's right!" Aunt Zhou also shouted out the word, her voice shaking. There was no time to worry about anything else now.
Sweat rolled down the midwife's face in beads, and she didn't even bother to wipe it off. She grabbed half a bottle of liquor, poured it over a piece of clean rough cloth, wrapped the cloth around her lower arm and wiped it hastily, then bent down and got to work immediately.
One arm and a shoulder of the baby had already emerged, but the head was stuck fast, not budging an inch.
Chuntao had long since lost all her strength. The searing pain pierced through her, and a pitiful whimper squeezed out of her throat. Her body convulsed violently, and it looked like she was about to black out.
"Don't sleep! Push!" The midwife's arm worked deep inside as her fingertips hooked around the baby's other arm. She shouted at Aunt Zhou, "Press the side of her waist! Push upward! Quick!"
Aunt Zhou pressed down with trembling hands, her palms drenched in sweat.
Second Aunt Zhou gripped Chuntao's hand, which had already been pinched until it was bleeding, and cried in desperation, "Tao! Hold on! Just this one last push!"
Zhou Zhijun was terrified out of his wits, every hair on his body standing on end. He raised his hand and slammed it hard against the earthen wall.
All of the veteran's composure was gone. He roared, "You must save Chuntao!"
At this moment of life and death, he wished he could bear this suffering in her place. But this was something no one could do for her.
Suddenly, he turned and ran to the kitchen, grabbed half a steamed bun from the pot, and dashed back into the inner room. "Tao, eat some bread—replenish your strength!"
But Chuntao could barely even breathe, let alone eat.
With no other option, Zhou Zhijun set the bun aside, took a bowl of brown sugar water, and using a small spoon, carefully fed it to her along the corner of her mouth.
He coaxed her in a hoarse voice, "Tao, hold on a little longer. It's coming out now! Once they're both out, I'll give them a good walloping to get even for you!"
Chuntao managed to swallow a few mouthfuls of the sugar water, and it seemed to give her a spark of strength. Instinctively, she pushed with all she had.
"It's out!" the midwife's voice trembled.
The baby was out, but there wasn't a single cry. Everyone's hearts clenched even tighter.
Before anyone could speak, the midwife said in a heavy voice, "He was stuck too long. There's no breath."
The words struck like spears of ice, piercing straight into everyone's hearts.
Aunt Zhou's hand jerked violently. The red cloth bundle she'd been about to hand over slipped off the edge of the bed.
She lunged forward, grabbing the midwife's arm, her voice cracking with desperation. "How can there be no breath? Check again! She's still got one more inside! We can't waste a second!"
Second Aunt Zhou muttered under her breath, "God have mercy, how is there no breath?! And there's still one in the belly—we've got to hurry!"
Chuntao had already used up every ounce of her strength. At these words, her vision went black, and she nearly fainted dead away.
She mustered the very last shred of her strength to push herself up, her hands desperately gripping the edge of the bed, crying out in a hoarse voice, "My child! Give me my child!"
Zhou Zhijun felt as if he'd been struck by lightning. The bowl in his hand nearly shattered as his eyes locked onto the small, red bundle in the midwife's arms.
Aunt Zhou snatched the baby from the midwife's hands, speaking hurriedly, "Give him to me! There's still another one in there—focus on that!"
She gripped the baby's ankles tightly in both hands, flipping him upside down, while her other hand slapped hard, rhythmically, against the baby's back. She barked at Zhou Zhijun, "Go boil mugwort water and get clean cloth! This child can still be saved!"
Then she turned to Second Aunt Zhou, "Don't just stand there! Press down on Chuntao's lower belly! Every second we waste puts both mother and child in danger!"
Second Aunt Zhou stumbled forward, "Tao! Hold on! Focus on the one in your belly first—we still have another one coming!"
Chuntao's body went completely limp, darkness swimming before her eyes. Her muffled groans turned into weak, ragged breaths. "No... no strength left..."
Second Aunt Zhou pressed down with sweating palms, crying out desperately, "Tao! Don't you dare give up! The baby's head is already showing! Just one more push and it'll be out!"
The midwife's fingertips had just touched the baby's scalp when her face changed drastically. "Damn it! The umbilical cord is wrapped around its leg! If I pull, it'll tighten!"
Aunt Zhou had just barely heard the baby in her arms let out a faint cry when these words nearly stopped her heart.
Zhou Zhijun came in carrying hot water, and seeing Chuntao's face as pale as paper, hearing "umbilical cord wrapped around the leg" —the tough man's body couldn't stop shaking.
He slammed the basin down at the head of the bed, his voice cracking with raw ferocity. "I'll do it! I'll hold Chuntao down! You two focus on saving the baby!"
Before anyone could react, he was already at the other side of the bed. His rough, calloused hand pressed gently but firmly on Chuntao's shoulder, the warmth of his palm seeping through the coarse fabric. "Tao, don't be afraid. I'm right here with you."
Through her haze, Chuntao felt that familiar strength, and tears mingled with cold sweat as they streamed down her face. She gritted her teeth, summoning one last thread of strength, and rasped, "Pull... pull the baby out..."
Seeing this, the midwife immediately bent down, her fingertips carefully tracing the umbilical cord as it looped around the baby's leg. She worked it loose bit by bit while calling out, "When the contraction comes, push gently! Don't strain all at once!"
Second Aunt Zhou watched from the side, barely daring to breathe, the clean cloth in her hands already crumpled into a tight ball from her grip.
Finally, the midwife let out a low shout. "It's loose! Push!"
Chuntao strained as if she were using every ounce of strength she had left in her life. With one mighty effort, a loud, piercing cry burst through the room—the baby was caught firmly in the midwife's hands!
This cry was far louder and stronger than the first-born's, instantly dispelling the tension that had hung in the air.
Aunt Zhou's nose tingled with emotion, and tears fell from her eyes at once. "They're alive! Both of them are alive!"
Second Aunt Zhou slumped against the earthen wall, murmuring over and over, "Thank heavens! Thank heavens!"
Zhou Zhijun gazed at the little one cradled in the midwife's arms, then looked at Chuntao, weak and gasping for breath. His heart instantly melted into a pool of tenderness, his eyes reddening as tears welled up and spilled over.
He carefully loosened the grip of the hand he'd been pressing on Chuntao's shoulder, knelt down beside the bed, and took her hand in his. His voice trembled slightly, yet was filled with deep gentleness. "Tao, you've been through so much. Both little ones are just fine."
Chuntao slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. A faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, but tears streamed down her cheeks—partly from lingering fear, but mostly from tears of overwhelming joy.
