On the day of Lu Qing's return visit to her parents' home, the Luo family still held a favorable impression of Wang Qinhua. The boy appeared honest and straightforward at first glance, and judging by his interactions with Lu Qing, he seemed quite compatible with her. It was evident that she would lead a comfortable life alongside him.

Lady Chen expressed even greater satisfaction with this son-in-law—or more precisely, the entire Wang household. This mother-in-law proved kind-hearted, the husband attentive, and neither of the younger relatives were difficult to deal with. As long as Lu Qing did not commit any grave missteps in the future, she would certainly never face hardship.

After having lunch at Uncle Luo's home, Wang Qinhua and Lu Qing lingered for a while before finally hitching their ox cart back home.

Following his day off, Wang Qingshen promptly resumed his studies. That afternoon during their midday meal break at school, he suddenly noticed an unusually low turnout in the dining hall. Turning to Li Yuntao who sat across from him, he asked with some bewilderment, "Why is it so quiet here today? Has everyone left on a sudden trip?"

Li Yuntao gave him a strange look and countered, "Are you really that out of touch?"

"Out of touch?" Wang Qingshen's confusion deepened. Had he missed something important?

"The county examinations are about to start! Everyone who registered has already left for the exam site. If they delay any longer, there won't be enough inn rooms." Li Yuntao explained with an air of smug enlightenment.

"Oh," Wang Qingshen groaned in realization. He hadn't anticipated that the sudden absence was due to this county examination event. "Do you know how many students will be taking it?"

"Goodness, over a hundred people! How could I possibly count them all?" Li Yuntao responded, then added with particular emphasis, "Qin Jintang and Zhao Jing are definitely going." He was well aware that Zhao Jing had already become betrothed to Wang Cai Xia.

"Ahh," Wang Qingshen sighed again. When would his turn finally come?

With an amused smile, Li Yuntao replied, "You're still in the beginner's class for now. This round is definitely out of reach."

Wang Qingshen let out another resigned sigh. He knew he should work harder to qualify for future exams, but with so many fundamental lessons yet to master...

Seeing his friend's frustrated expression, Li Yuntao chuckled. At 16 himself, he had never felt such urgency before. In his opinion, Wang Qingshen had only studied for less than a year and was already dreaming of imperial examinations - pure folly in his eyes. "Forget about the civil service exams," he advised. "You need to focus on building your foundation first. At least aim to pass the child prodigy examination in one attempt."

Wang Qingshen understood this reasoning, though it still gnawed at him. But when he considered how much more he had yet to learn before even attempting an exam...

"Right," he finally conceded.

Just as Wang Qingshen was channeling his frustration into renewed study efforts, Lu Yin's due date arrived unexpectedly early - following a minor fall in the courtyard that precipitated labor exactly nine months after conception.

Grandmother and Aunt Tian were both frantic with worry. While deeply concerned about their granddaughter-in-law's condition, they also felt a measure of resentment toward her for this untimely birth. After all, she had already reached full term - why must she fall just now at the final threshold?

Wang Qinyun rushed to summon the midwife while Lu Yin was already being carried onto the kang bed, crying out in increasing pain.

The second and third households learned of Lu Yin's situation and hurried over. Learning that the early birth resulted from a fall, they became even more alarmed - an accident could make this delivery particularly dangerous.

When Wang Qinyun finally brought the midwife into the room, the elderly woman immediately ordered hot water to be prepared. This caused everyone present to freeze in shock - no one had thought to prepare it before!

Grandmother scolded herself for forgetting something so basic despite her many years of experience with childbirths. She was also furious at the second and third households' useless presence without contributing anything helpful. But keeping her wits about her, she quickly ordered Aunt Tian to fetch hot water.

Without hesitation or complaint this time, Aunt Tian immediately set off to boil water - as long as her grandchild survived, any task would be worth undertaking.

While hearing Lu Yin's increasingly desperate cries from the room, Wang Qinyun paced anxiously in the courtyard. Eventually he couldn't contain himself and asked his grandmother:

"Nai Nai, is Yin'er going to be alright?"

Grandmother was also rattled by this point but managed a reassuring reply while trying to comfort both herself and her grandson: "Everything will be fine."

His words barely settled Wang Qinyun's nerves before another piercing scream erupted from the room. Immediately he resumed his frantic pacing.

When Grandfather saw his grandson's unsteady behavior, he finally spoke up sternly: "Your wife is giving birth in there! What good does your anxiety do? Will she emerge faster if you pace around one hundred more times?"

"I can't help it," Wang Qinyun confessed. "I just keep fearing something terrible will happen to her... It's all my fault for not being with her that made this fall possible!"

Grandfather was equally worried about his first great-grandchild but couldn't let his grandson spiral into self-blame. "Qingyun," he interjected, "your wife must be starving during labor. Go slaughter a chicken and stew it up - when she wakes up later, you can feed her."

Hearing this practical suggestion, Wang Qinyun immediately set off to prepare the meal.

While Grandmother usually cherished every chicken dearly, thinking of Lu Yin bringing forth grandchild would make giving them all away worthwhile.

Aunt Tian quickly boiled water and brought a basin indoors. The midwife was already instructing Lu Yin on breathing techniques while labor pains gripped her. Seeing Aunt Tian arrive, the midwife then asked for two hard-boiled eggs to give the as strength food during delivery.

This had actually occurred to Aunt Tian earlier - when boiling water she had also cooked some egg porridge alongside. Now at the midwife's request, she promptly brought it in.

Accepting the egg dish, the midwife waited for a lull between Lu Yin's contractions before feeding her small portions of it.

From afternoon until evening, this birth remained elusive, causing great distress throughout the household. Wang Qingshen arrived home from school and immediately noticed the anxious faces and heard the increasingly desperate cries coming through the walls.

Wang Qinyun had already begun stewing the chicken but was still pacing in the courtyard when he heard another scream. This time Grandfather said nothing - he himself was equally frantic, fearing any possible complications.

Seeing Aunt Yang still lingering nearby while Wang Qingshen returned home, Wang Qingshen immediately approached her to help her return home as her own belly had grown considerable.

Aunt Yang realized she wasn't helping and agreed since prolonged sitting could be dangerous for her. Together they made their way back home.

After settling in for dinner - which Aunt Wu had already prepared - the pair barely ate anything due to the lateness of the hour.

No sooner had they finished when Uncle Wang returned from the main house.

"Master," Aunt Yang asked anxiously, "did your nephew give birth yet?"

"He did! A healthy baby boy with his mother doing fine." Uncle Wang confirmed.

"That's wonderful news!" Aunt Yang exclaimed. Then noticing her eldest daughter hadn't returned: "Wait... why hasn't Lu Qing come back? She went out with me earlier!"

"She's probably still with her sister-in-law, wanting to check on the newborn," Uncle Wang reassured.

"Of course she should visit..." Aunt Yang began before considering something else. "Should I go see as well?"

Before Uncle Wang could respond, Wang Qingshen objected: "Mother, please don't! You're also pregnant - it's too late at night and dangerous to walk around like your sister-in-law who slipped earlier!"

Both Uncle Wang and Aunt Yang agreed with this reasoning.

Soon after, Wang Qinghua returned home. Learning that his cousin had given birth to a healthy baby boy while Lu Yin remained in the main house, he promptly set off toward there.

While visiting his wife, he also peeked at the newborn child - privately wondering when he and Lu Qing would have their own children together. Fortunately for Lu Qing's sake, these thoughts only lingered within him without ever being spoken aloud.

After confirming everything had gone well with her cousin's delivery, Lu Qing finally returned home with Wang Qinghua.