The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 175: Chapter 175: Became a Mom

In the middle of the night, Ji Huan hurried out the door with a lantern.

The Hu Family was already asleep. Hearing the urgent knocking, Widow Xie threw on some clothes and got up. A moment later, she returned to her room, grabbed a few things, and left with Ji Huan.

On the way, Widow Xie asked Ji Huan, "Are you sure she’s about to give birth? What are her symptoms?"

"She hasn’t eaten all day, and she’s been especially agitated—constantly scratching at the walls and floor. She’s also torn her bedding to shreds."

Ever since she learned Dahuang’s due date was around the end of April or the beginning of May, she had been counting the days. The closer it got, the more on edge she felt.

She had no experience delivering pets and was terrified something would go wrong with Dahuang, like a difficult birth.

Dahuang’s poor appetite over the past two days had her particularly concerned.

Tonight, she had been tossing and turning on the kang, unable to sleep, feeling like she kept hearing Dahuang crying out.

She got off the kang and went to the kitchen to check. Dahuang was lying in her nest, breathing rapidly and occasionally pawing at the straw bedding, whimpering almost like a person groaning.

Ji Huan reached out and touched her, finding her body cold.

She had heard that a mother dog’s body temperature would drop before giving birth, and the closer she got, the lower it would fall.

So, not daring to delay, she had immediately run to find Widow Xie.

Widow Xie clapped her hands and told her with certainty, "No doubt about it, she’s definitely going into labor!"

The two of them quickened their pace and arrived at Ji Huan’s house moments later.

Entering the kitchen, they saw Dahuang arching her back and circling restlessly around her nest. Her belly had grown even larger, and they could clearly see her straining with contractions.

Ji Huan started to panic. "Has it already started? I’ve prepared scissors, cotton, alcohol, and clean towels. Aunt Xie, see if I’m missing anything?"

Widow Xie pulled over a small stool and had her sit down. "What’s the rush? We just need to stay to the side and watch. We’ll only help if she really can’t get them out. Dogs aren’t people; having a litter of pups isn’t that complicated."

There was no arguing with that. She had lived in the countryside before and knew that the local mutts were indeed hardy. They rarely had problems giving birth and could usually handle everything themselves.

Still, Ji Huan couldn’t sit still. She decided to use the downtime to clean and disinfect Dahuang’s rear and other sensitive areas.

In fact, she had also prepared a new whelping box for Dahuang in another room, built to be warm, quiet, and sheltered from drafts.

The box was large. At the very bottom was a thick wooden plank to insulate it from the cold ground. On top of the plank was a thick layer of straw, covered with a few old clothes and some old cotton batting.

She had tried to lead Dahuang over to it a few days ago, but the dog didn’t seem to like the new spot. Even though her current nest was now torn to pieces, she still refused to move.

Dabao had woken up too and was standing at the kitchen door, rubbing his eyes.

Although it was the end of April, the nights were still chilly. Ji Huan hurried to the main room to grab an outer coat and draped it over him.

Widow Xie was boiling water. Ji Huan pulled a still-drowsy Dabao to sit in front of the other stove opening and had him tend the fire.

"Why are you lighting another fire? We have enough hot water," Widow Xie said, confused.

"Giving birth is exhausting. I’m making something for Dahuang to eat." By "something," she meant meat congee.

Widow Xie watched her add rice and shredded meat, her heart aching at the expense. "Didn’t I give you half a bag of soybean cakes? Just scald some bran with boiling water and mix in some of the cake. That’s more than enough! Even people don’t eat this well."

Ji Huan just smiled. "It’s Dahuang’s first time giving birth. The birthing dog is queen for a day, so let her enjoy some VIP treatment."

Widow Xie clearly didn’t believe her.

She had seen for herself that Ji Huan always fed the dog leftovers.

But there was no helping it. Ji Huan didn’t raise pigs, so who else would eat the leftovers if not the dog?

Besides, she had mostly come to accept the fact that Ji Huan wasn’t very frugal.

Seeing Widow Xie stop nagging, Ji Huan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

In the blink of an eye, an hour had passed. Dahuang was restless, constantly straining her abdomen, but still nothing had been born.

’It might really be a difficult birth.’

Widow Xie didn’t dare be careless anymore. Unfortunately, Dahuang wouldn’t let her get close, so she could only stand far away and instruct Ji Huan to push on Dahuang’s belly.

Widow Xie knew what to do but not why it worked. Ji Huan, however, knew it was a technique similar to assisting a human birth.

She washed her hands, placed them gently on either side of Dahuang’s abdomen, and, following the rhythm of the dog’s panting, applied gentle pressure while whispering soothing words of encouragement.

Dahuang’s agitation eased somewhat, but then her whimpers grew louder, clearly in pain.

After a short while of this, Dahuang began to circle frequently, then suddenly lay down on her side. She kept turning her head to look at her belly, and her panting intensified.

"It’s coming! It’s coming!"

Just as Widow Xie finished speaking, Dahuang suddenly stretched out her hind legs, and soon, the area began to bulge.

First came a trickle of thin fluid.

Dahuang panted for a moment, then gave a powerful abdominal contraction, and a placental sac was pushed out.

Ji Huan froze. Her first reaction was, ’What in the world is that? Where’s the puppy?’

While her thoughts were in a jumble, she saw Dahuang sit up, swiftly tear open the sac with her teeth, and bite through the umbilical cord. Then, a tiny, mouse-like creature emerged, covered in sticky amniotic fluid.

’So that sac had held the newborn puppy. For a second there, I thought Dahuang had given birth to a lump of flesh.’

While Ji Huan’s mind was racing, Dahuang was instinctively caring for her child.

She licked the puppy’s face, nose, and tiny body continuously, clearing the mucus from its mouth and nostrils. Soon, they saw the puppy begin to breathe and squirm.

Widow Xie was beaming. "If the first pup comes out smoothly, the rest will be no problem!"

Ji Huan felt half her worries lift. She squatted nearby, waiting for Dahuang to deliver the next one.

She didn’t have to wait long. The second and third pups arrived one after the other, only about a quarter of an hour apart.

After that, Dahuang showed no more signs of labor.

Fearing she was exhausted, Ji Huan quickly ladled out a small basin of the meat congee and fed it to her.

After eating, Dahuang grew quiet and focused solely on licking her three babies, with no sign of wanting to give birth again.

An hour went by...

Ji Huan asked doubtfully, "Aunt Xie, could you have miscounted? It seems like there are only three. From the way Dahuang is acting, it looks like she’s already finished."

Widow Xie waved her hand dismissively. "Impossible. You just wait. I guarantee there’s a fourth pup!"

Since she was so certain, Ji Huan had no choice but to keep waiting. Dabao came over and squatted down beside her.

Ji Huan put her arm around Dabao. The two of them waited until they were nearly dozing off before they heard Widow Xie’s excited voice.

"See? I told you I couldn’t have been wrong! The fourth pup is out!"

Ji Huan’s eyes flew open. Sure enough, another had been born.

But before she could feel happy, her brow furrowed.

’Dahuang’s reaction is wrong. Her whimpering is different from when she delivered the others. Why does she seem so frantic?’

And the more she licked, the more desperate she became. She even lifted her head to look at Ji Huan and Dabao, letting out a low whine that sounded like a plea.

Ji Huan walked over and picked up the puppy, only to find that this one wasn’t breathing.

"Oh, no. This one’s lost," Widow Xie sighed, stamping her foot in frustration.

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