Hongyun’s mother-in-law, upon hearing what Mrs. Zhao said, hesitated. She certainly didn't want Hongyun to give birth here, but her in-law had a point; if something untoward happened to Hongyun's fetus on the road, her eldest grandson would be lost. Just as Hongyun’s mother-in-law was wavering, Dasheng and Erniu hurried back.

Dasheng was overjoyed to see his mother arrive, quickly walking in and exclaiming, "Mother, why did you come all this way? You could have just sent word through someone if you needed anything."

Erniu also greeted Hongyun’s mother-in-law, and the entire group settled in the courtyard. Before Hongyun’s mother-in-law could respond to Dasheng, Mrs. Zhao interjected, "Dasheng, your mother wanted to take Hongyun back home to give birth. I figured Hongyun is only a month or two away now, look how big her belly is. Why don't we just have her deliver here? Then we can have your mother come over later. What do you think?"

Dasheng hadn't planned on Hongyun giving birth here either. He had intended to borrow an ox-cart in a few days to take Hongyun back home. Now that his mother-in-law suggested keeping Hongyun here, Dasheng felt it didn't matter much either way, but he worried about what his own mother would say. He glanced at his mother, and Hongyun’s mother-in-law, still uncertain, finally spoke, "Dasheng, the in-law says Hongyun’s pregnancy isn't very stable, and she should deliver here. What do you think?"

Hearing his mother, Dasheng looked at Hongyun nervously and said, "What's wrong? Why isn't the baby stable? It seemed fine the day before yesterday. You never mentioned anything, how did it suddenly become like this?"

Hongyun became nervous under Dasheng's questioning, just staring blankly at him, unsure how to answer. Mrs. Zhao, observing Hongyun’s reaction, immediately took over, saying, "Dasheng, it's nothing serious. This is normal for women during pregnancy, don't make such a fuss. The doctor said as long as she rests well, there's no issue."

Relieved by Mrs. Zhao’s words, Dasheng calmed down and said, "Mother, since that's the case, let Hongyun stay here to give birth. I can look after her here. During the actual delivery days, I'll send someone to fetch you. There are plenty of people here to help, don't worry."

Mrs. Zhao repeatedly agreed. Hongyun’s mother-in-law, hearing them all speak this way, prioritized the well-being of her eldest grandson and didn't press the matter further, tacitly agreeing to Hongyun giving birth here. Hongyun finally let out a breath. If her mother-in-law had taken her back, her pregnancy would surely be exposed. She had to give birth at her mother's place; her mother had already devised a plan that could successfully deceive everyone.

Once this was settled, Dasheng’s mother didn't linger and said she needed to return. Dasheng then borrowed the ox-cart from Erniu's place to take his mother back.

When Hongyun saw her husband and mother-in-law depart, the tension that had held her like a tightly wound spring suddenly released. She sat in the courtyard without making a sound. Although her mother-in-law hadn't treated her kindly, her anxiety now was for the sake of the eldest grandson. Yet, for an elderly person to travel so far, she herself couldn't possibly bear the child her mother-in-law expected, and would have to pass off a fake instead. Hongyun felt deeply conflicted.

In fact, seeing how anxious Dasheng and his mother were just moments ago, Hongyun felt a strong urge to confess everything. Erniu and Mrs. Zhao noticed the guilt in Hongyun’s eyes. Erniu sighed but remained silent. Honestly, seeing Dasheng and his mother, he too felt a pang of guilt, which was why Erniu hadn't spoken much since returning.

Seeing Hongyun like this, Mrs. Zhao felt this wasn't sustainable and spoke up, "Hongyun, go to my house and tidy up. From now until the birth, you should stay at my place. Hongxia is there too, and you two sisters can look after each other. Erniu’s wife, go help her pack."

Hongyun was reluctant and asked, "Mother, if I go to your place, what about Dasheng and the child? Who will cook for them? The house also needs someone to look after things."

Mrs. Zhao stated, "Bring the child with you. I'll arrange for Dasheng’s meals to be sent over daily. You look at yourself; if I hadn't been here just now, you might have let something slip. We’ve gone this far with all this effort; we can't let your good intentions be ruined now."

Mrs. Huang felt Mrs. Zhao was right. Since things had already started, and Hongyun's reaction just now proved it, moving over entirely might still be problematic. She spoke up, "Mother, how about this: wait for Dasheng to return and tell him. The couple needs to discuss it too."

Erniu agreed. Mrs. Zhao conceded, "That's fine. I'll wait here and speak to Dasheng when he comes back. Hongyun, go and pack first; the road will be difficult after dark." Mrs. Zhao was determined to have Hongyun move over.

Dasheng returned that afternoon. Mrs. Zhao informed him about Hongyun moving. Dasheng didn't object much; it was certainly better for his wife to be somewhere with care while she was pregnant. Although he slept at home every night, he was busy outside most of the day, and if anything happened to Hongyun, he wouldn't be there to watch over her.

However, Dasheng was mindful of propriety and instructed Hongyun to give several hundred large coins to her mother, explaining that since his family would be staying and eating at his mother-in-law's place, they certainly needed to provide some funds. Mrs. Zhao accepted the money, and Hongyun settled in at her mother’s, waiting for the child to be born.

The next day was what they called the Zhongyuan Festival (Ghost Festival), which the local people took quite seriously, with many tasks to complete, such as buying spirit money which needed to be wrapped in white paper. Specific details had to be written on the wrapping, such as which ancestor it was for and which descendant was burning it.

Fortunately, Da Bao’s school was also on break for the Zhongyuan Festival, so Da Bao was home. Erniu’s household bought several dozen catties of spirit money and had Da Bao write on the wrappers. Erniu mentioned that in previous years when the family was poor, they only bought a few catties of spirit money as a gesture for the ancestors during the festival, but now things were better, and they certainly needed to buy more. They bought several dozen catties this year, and Mrs. Huang’s mother sent some more. Erniu kept a good portion for his own family. Now that they had someone literate at home, there was no need to hire others for the writing, making things much more convenient for buying in bulk.

After breakfast, the family divided the labor and got busy. Da Bao was responsible for writing the characters on the spirit money wrappers. Chen'er and Lin He were in charge of cutting the large sheets of white paper used to wrap the spirit money. Cai Qing and the other younger girls were responsible for spreading out the spirit money and wrapping it up.

As for Mrs. Huang, she was busy in the kitchen with Zi Qing and Zi Yu. Besides burning spirit money for the Zhongyuan Festival, they also had to prepare quite a few specific dishes for ancestor worship. These dishes followed strict regulations and couldn't be prepared haphazardly, so Mrs. Huang didn't let Lin He help, tending to the cooking herself.