Xia Xiao had received a letter from Ning Hui, who gave birth to a daughter last month. Both mother and daughter were safe. She mentioned that once the child was a hundred days old, she would come to visit Xia Xiao. Although it was a daughter, Xia Xiao was happy for Ning Hui. The blossom came before the fruit, but she could still bear children. The day Gao Jiaxing returned home, no one in the family knew, and this sudden return startled Zheng Xianghong when she saw her son, who had nearly turned as dark as charcoal. She cried out in shock, then continuously wiped away her tears. "Mom, why are you crying?" Gao Jiaxing was speechless. He was fine, so why was she crying? "You’ve suffered over there, how could I not cry? Look how dark you’ve become," Zheng Xianghong said with heartache. Gao Guoqiang was originally with Zheng Xianghong in the yard, looking after his grandsons. When he saw his son return, he said, "Feiyang and Feiyue, come and see your father." When Feiyang and Feiyue saw the stranger entering, who was also incredibly dark, Gao Jiaxing glanced over, and they immediately shrank back into Gao Guoqiang’s embrace in fright. "Look, you even scared the children," Zheng Xianghong said, then went to comfort Feiyang and Feiyue, but they clung tightly to Gao Guoqiang, refusing to look at Gao Jiaxing. Gao Jiaxing gazed at his two grown sons, whom he had seen only once when they were born and who were now two years old. He hadn’t even been able to make it back for the children’s birthdays. At this moment, Gao Jiaxing wanted to get closer, but seeing the children’s fearful demeanor, his heart also soured, yet he didn’t dare approach for fear of startling them further. "Mom, where is Xiaoxiao, and where are Big Brother, Sister-in-law Weilin?" Gao Jiaxing asked. "Your elder brother, sister-in-law, and Weilin are at school. Xia Xiao is at Youth Point, and Xia Jing is about to give birth; Xia Xiao went to check on her." After Zheng Xianghong finished speaking, Gao Jiaxing said, "I’m going to Youth Point." Zheng Xianghong and Gao Guoqiang watched Gao Jiaxing leave, then looked at their shrinking grandsons and sighed. "Being in the military might be better, but seeing Jiaxing , how harsh must that island be? I can’t bear it," Zheng Xianghong told Gao Guoqiang. Gao Guoqiang didn’t say much. There’s always hardship in military service; it’s not a place of comfort, being safe was already fortunate. Meanwhile, when Gao Jiaxing arrived at Youth Point, everyone who saw him was startled; those who recognized him greeted him. Xia Jing was about to give birth, and Xia Xiao, Yang Xuehua, and Wang Aihua were busy boiling water to prepare. Xia Xiao was about to head back to call Zheng Xianghong, but unexpectedly ran into Gao Jiaxing head-on as he emerged. Xia Xiao was stunned and said, "You’re back?" Gao Jiaxing nodded, and Xia Xiao quickly said, "My sister is about to give birth, hurry and get mom." After speaking, Xia Xiao turned and headed towards Xia Jing’s room. Thinking of Xia Jing giving birth, Gao Jiaxing quickly went to find Zheng Xianghong. As Zheng Xianghong entered the room, Yan Hao was driven out and, seeing Gao Jiaxing outside, was startled and asked, "When did you come back?" "Just arrived," Gao Jiaxing replied and stood with Yan Hao not far from the door, chatting intermittently, though their minds were entirely on the room inside. Now it was evening, yet Xia Jing’s childbirth was difficult, complicated by the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck, which was extremely dangerous. By ten o’clock at night the child still hadn’t come out, and Xia Xiao was extremely worried. She thought it would be better if the birth were in the county hospital, because if natural delivery was not possible, a caesarean section could be performed. But in the production team, she didn’t know whether Zheng Xianghong had the skills to do it. "Sister, I don’t have any strength left," Xia Jing cried. Xia Xiao’s eyes also reddened as she asked, "Are you hungry? I’ll make you something to eat. Don’t talk like that, just focus on giving birth to the baby." As she spoke, Xia Xiao took some noodles from the cupboard and went outside to cook egg noodles for Xia Jing. When Gao Jiaxing and Yan Hao saw Xia Xiao come out, they wanted to come over, but Xia Xiao said, "You guys just stay there, don’t come over." Right now, Xia Xiao had no time to care for Gao Jiaxing and Yan Hao; her mind was completely filled with worry for Xia Jing, fearing something might go wrong. Fortunately, the water was already boiling, which made cooking the noodles faster. Xia Xiao added some spring water, and as soon as they were ready, she immediately brought them in. At the Gao family home, Feiyang and Feiyue were crying for their mother and refused to sleep, continuously crying. Gao Jiaxing was not back yet, and it was already late at night; Gao Guoqiang couldn’t possibly take the two grandchildren to Youth Point. There was no one else at home, otherwise someone could have gone to Youth Point and given word, but right now Zheng Xianghong and Xia Xiao couldn’t pay attention to Feiyang and Feiyue. Ever since Gao Jiazhi and Sun Yuhua had moved to the school, they had stayed there and had not moved back, only returning here on weekends to check in. At first, Sun Yuhua was not used to life at the school and felt unsettled, but gradually she got used to it and even stayed at the school to teach with Gao Jiazhi. Teaching was not exactly an easy job, but it was definitely easier than working in the production team, and Sun Yuhua had nothing to complain about. However, this meant that Sun Yuhua’s visits home became less frequent, and she didn’t seem to like coming back much. With Xia Jing in labor and Feiyang and Feiyue crying, Gao Guoqiang had no choice but to keep soothing them until Feiyang and Feiyue, exhausted from crying, finally fell asleep, and Gao Guoqiang, who was already dead tired, fell asleep soon after. "Why is it taking so long?" Gao Jiaxing and Yan Hao paced back and forth anxiously, and hearing the cries inside, they were both on edge, their expressions grim, feeling completely unsettled. Yan Hao was worried about Xia Jing inside, and Gao Jiaxing was worried too, but he thought even more about when Xia Xiao had given birth. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝕟𝕖𝕥 When Xia Xiao had given birth to Feiyang and Feiyue, Gao Jiaxing had only returned afterward. Although he had heard about Xia Xiao’s pains in childbirth, Gao Jiaxing hadn’t witnessed it with his own eyes. Now, as Xia Jing was struggling to give birth, Gao Jiaxing’s heart ached for the difficulties Xia Xiao went through in childbirth and her hardships in caring for the kids at home, and he felt a deep sense of guilt. At one o’clock in the morning, Xia Jing finally gave birth to the child, who was completely exhausted and fell into a deep sleep. The baby’s cries, though not very loud, still made everyone heave a sigh of relief. Everyone was extremely exhausted at this point, with their clothes soaked with sweat but dried again, yet nothing mattered more than the safe delivery of Xia Jing and her daughter. Xia Xiao, holding her newly born niece, felt a great surge of emotion yet relieved at the same time. After Zheng Xianghong and others had cleaned everything up, they even fed the baby water mixed with spring water. Xia Xiao placed the baby next to Xia Jing, and everyone else left. Xia Xiao then turned to Gao Jiaxing and Yan Hao and said, "Brother Gao, I’m going to stay here tonight, you and mother go back and take care of the kids." At this, Xia Xiao then said to Yan Hao, "You too, go sleep at my house. I can manage here." "Big sister, I want to see Xia Jing and the baby," Yan Hao said. "They are in the room, both asleep," as soon as Xia Xiao finished speaking, Yan Hao went inside. Gao Jiaxing, looking at the tired Xia Xiao, said, "Don’t overwork yourself, take good care of yourself, I’ll wait at home." Xia Xiao nodded, then turned to Yang Xuehua who was also standing guard and said, "Sister Xuehua, you go back too, I can take care of it here."