Chapter 10 chapter Ten

one One afternoon Flora went into the laundry, whispered something to her husband, and went upstairs again.As she walked out of the laundry, her father saw the mysterious smile on her face. whats the matter?Dad asked. Roy continued to iron his clothes, and it took a few seconds before he opened his mouth. whats the matter?Dad repeated it again. Dad, said Roy, putting down the iron, Flora is pregnant. OK!good!very nice!Father said repeatedly that he felt happiness spread from his toes to his heart, his face was flushed with joy, and all the nerves in his body were tense. She just got back from the doctor.Roy said calmly, without showing his excitement.

good!good!His tone of voice conveys pride, success, luck and wish fulfillment. Does your mother know?the father asked again. I don't know. go!Go tell your mother.No, I'll go and tell her. Father rushed out of the laundry, then turned around suddenly and said, "Don't worry about the laundry, don't worry about anything, you come upstairs with me." What?Do you close the shop? Yes, close the shop door.Father's face was full of excitement. You go upstairs first!Dad, I'll come right after. Aren't you happy?There were tears in the old man's eyes. I'm so happy, dad!But I'd better stay here!Roy felt a little embarrassed.

Flora was in her room and Mama was in the kitchen.Father hurried through the door. What happened?Mom turned around with the iron in hand.Is it Tom, or something happened to Eva? Didn't Flora tell you?cried the father. No, what's the matter?Say it quickly. The father approached the mother's ear and whispered a few words. Mother froze for a moment, and then a happy smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.My goodness!she cried.Where did Flora go? Mother walked quickly to Flora's room. The door was open. Flora!Flora! I'm here, mom!Mom opened the room and walked in.Flora lay on the bed, tears streaming down her face.

Ma went to the bed and sat down, taking Flora's hand. My good daughter-in-law!Mom said, God bless you!How many months? Only two months. are you sure? The doctor told me. Mom went to the portrait of the Virgin and knelt down. What are you doingFlora asked. Thank God for your blessings! Flora saw her mother cross herself. is this correct? Flora was stunned, unable to speak, just nodded.mom!she cried.Her voice was full of surprise. I'm going with you to your church to thank God.When are you going, let me know. Flora got up from the bed, she had got rid of her shyness, and her face was shining with pride.She wanted to cook lunch in the kitchen, but her mother wouldn't let her do it at all.

I feel good!Flora laughed. no!You don't make lunch today. At lunchtime Lowe came upstairs and the four of them sat at the table. Flora!You come to pray.Mom said. Flora has always had the habit of praying silently before meals, and she used to do her silent prayers alone before meals.God is merciful!After she prayed, everyone began to eat. She worships a good god!Mom said. Roy felt a little shy and kept eating in silence without saying a word.Dad said: Roy!You have to take good care of Flora and be a good father.She's carrying your baby, and you're going to try to make her happy, not angry.And Flora, Papa's face is very serious, you must take care of yourself too, don't jump down the stairs like you used to.We will all do our best to take care of you.

Flora felt that the whole family was making a fuss about her, as if she was seriously ill, or someone important.Especially my father, he didn't want to go to the laundry after lunch.Roy also felt that this was a bit silly, and he planned to go downstairs to do what he should do. If you want to go down, go down!said father. Father sat down in an armchair in the sitting room.Suddenly, he thought of something, and immediately stood up again, and went to the balcony on the roof.He came down with a plank, and started looking for a hammer and a saw again. What are you doinghis wife asked. I'm going to fix the broken part of the stairs.

He began to split and saw the boards, then went to measure the stairs, and spent an hour up and down the stairwell. Tom and Eva came home from school to find their father bent over, working on the dark stairs. Dad, what are you doing? I nailed these dangerous places. I'll do it!Tom said. You go upstairs, mother has something to tell you. whats the matter? Ask mom to go!She will tell you. Tom and Eva went upstairs, where Pa was still knocking. slow down!Father stood up and said, Tom, Eva, I hope you will treat Flora well! Did she do something wrong? no.I just want you to treat her well, don't push her or hit her.go upstairs!Mom will tell you what's going on!

Tom and Eva were full of doubts until their mother told them about it. Tom, Eva!You are going to be little uncles and little aunts!Go congratulate my sister-in-law! How to congratulate? You go to congratulate her together, and tell her what you want to say in English. Tom and Eva stood solemnly in front of Flora's door. can i go in Seeing their serious faces, Flora couldn't help but smile and said, "Come in!" Tom and Eva walked in solemnly.Eva has been looking at Flora's body curiously. Congratulations, sister-in-law!They spoke together. Flora hugged them and said: Thank you.Tom jerked away suddenly, as if frightened by something.

Will you be sick in bed? No, Tom, I feel fine. After they came out, my mother said: Now you go downstairs to congratulate the elder brother. Tom and Eva rushed downstairs. My father had already repaired the stairs, but he didn't know where he went.Around six o'clock, he brought back a big roast chicken, all he said was that he had been to Chinatown.He also bought a new pipe with a jade nipple.Apparently, it was a gift he bought for himself.There was a subtle expression on his face and he smelled of alcohol.It doesn't matter if the sky is falling.It is as if a scholar failed the qualification examination for forty years at the age of sixty.When he thought Flora was barren, he didn't say a word, but there was still a big lump in his heart, and now he was finally relieved.

That evening, smoking his new pipe, he made it official: I'm starting to grow a beard. Eva hated her father's beard, but her father's voice was so commanding and resolute that no one dared to speak against it. A week later, Flora went to visit Father Bosco, who lived in the rectory next to the church.Old Father Bosco was clean-shaven and had a kind face. I came to see you because of my mother-in-law.Flora said. I remember she came with you.Why don't you bring her here often?And it's been a long time since I saw your husband. Father I am pregnant. This is really good news!I am so happy and God bless you.

After I told my mother about it, she even prayed to Our Lady! That's fine.A pagan can worship the gods according to the blessings he loves.God is enlightening him, maybe we don't know it. Father, my mother said she was going to church to give her thanks to God. In any case, we should be grateful to God.The experience of Our Lady's pregnancy makes all expectant mothers sacred.When the baby is born, I know, you will be baptized. Yes, Father.There was some hesitation in Flora's answer. very good.The priest said, but I still feel a little surprised. I can explain it briefly.None of my family interferes with my beliefs, they all believe in God in their own way. The next day, Flora brought her mother to the church.Mom said she would donate ten dollars and light many candles in front of Our Lady.She knelt down and stared intently at the statue of the Virgin Mary. She said in Cantonese: God, please bless my daughter-in-law!I made a vow that if Flora had a boy, I would give fifty dollars; if she had a girl, I would give thirty dollars. Bao Sike watched Feng's mother kneeling and praying.She is devout, of course she believes in God.After she finished praying, she stood up, and under the gaze of the Holy Mother, she took out ten yuan from her pocket and handed it to the priest. two Flora was beginning to feel ill.Nervousness, shortness of breath, mental fatigue, easy fatigue, indigestion, and vomiting all appeared, and sometimes she couldn't sleep. She even went back to her natal home to live with her parents for nearly a week.She never knew pregnancy was like this, and Mom took over and relieved some of her pain. You better not think about it.My mother said that when we country women are pregnant, we still do housework as usual. Still, Flora was happy to know her mother, and she was considered special in the family.Her mother told her to rest if she felt tired, and she accompanied Flora to the streets to buy clothes.Flora also had a special food. She felt as if a dog that was expected to win a prize, or a famous dog that was about to participate in a dogfight, was carefully looked after before the greyhound meeting.Dad went to a Chinese medicine store in Chinatown and brought back some herbs and Chinese medicines, which are very nourishing for women, especially pregnant women.He put a medicinal root in water as an experiment. look!It's sunk to the bottom, and it's top notch. These herbs all have a sweet and exotic medicinal aroma.Flora wasn't entirely convinced that the herbs were good for her, but she wasn't absolutely disbelieving either.And most importantly, these herbs and roots are stewed with chicken, which is freshly slaughtered from Chinatown.Mother simmered it for several hours on a low heat, so that the smell of the medicine completely penetrated into the chicken soup, making Flora salivate when she smelled it.Then my mother poured the soup into the earthen bowl and simmered it for a while, which was made entirely for her.Dad always eats chicken wings and gizzards, these two parts of chicken are his favorite parts.If the chicken wasn't stewed for Flora, Tom would eat the breast and Eva the drumstick.If they smelled Chinese medicine, it meant that the whole chicken was bought for Flora, and only my father could still eat his favorite chicken wings and gizzards. He would first refuse, and then eat with relish.Flora's pregnancy allowed the Feng family to reproduce a new line, which was extremely important to the Feng family. Flora's face became flushed.It was already summer and the weather was very hot. Flora just wanted to lie down lazily.Seeing that my daughter-in-law's health was not bad, my mother said to her: You shouldn't lie down all the time, you should stand up and move around more.The child is inside your body, if you move, it moves with you, and it depends on your life to live. During Flora's pregnancy, many things happened.Tom recalled that this unborn little life seemed to have brought about a series of events: the second brother got engaged;Gao Dier re-elected mayor; Sino-Japanese war broke out.Then another unexpected event happened, which brought about a major change in the family.