The Lucky Farmgirl-Chapter 2067 - 2042: Twins

Bai Dalang laughed heartily from the side, saying, "Now you understand why your Grandmother wants to host a banquet at home, right? Social interactions aren’t that simple, are they? And you’ve invited your classmates, should you also invite the teachers? If you invite the teachers from Chongwen Pavilion, should you also invite the teachers from the Imperial Academy?"

"Whether they come or not, inviting them is a gesture," Bai Dalang said, "A minor mistake could offend someone." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Bai Shan began to feel a headache, and when he handed the list to Old Madam Liu, he couldn’t even lift his head.

Who knew Old Madam Liu would just glance at it before quickly crossing out names one by one with her pen, saying, "No need to fear offending anyone. These small matters, you only invite those close to you for comfort, most people will understand."

"If someone takes offense at such things, they are petty. If they’re petty, being close or distant will always create discord, so there’s no need to worry."

Bai Shan said, "But we’re hosting the banquet at a restaurant..."

"That’s a lack of foresight on my part," Old Madam Liu said. "Since they are close friends, simply have a meal at home. We adults won’t interfere, and you can enjoy yourselves in the garden."

Bai Shan hastily said, "It’s a joyous occasion, how can we let Grandmother and the teachers avoid it?"

Old Madam Liu laughed, "Originally, if we were close with the main family, such a happy event should include them. But since we’re not, inviting them seems like showing off. Fortunately, your teacher has always lived with us and is considered family, so a good meal at home counts as a celebration, with no need to extend the invitation just to entertain others alongside your teacher."

Seeing she’s understood, Bai Shan nodded his head in agreement.

Manbao, upon hearing this arrangement and seeing the names crossed out on the list, exclaimed, "Grandma Liu is really impressive."

Bai Dalang also felt his Grandmother was impressive. In comparison, he felt somewhat wary and decided to correct himself.

He rolled up his sleeves saying, "Leave the banquet arrangement to me then."

Bai Erlang said, "...Big brother, it’s just two tables, all classmates, needing only food preparation, what more arrangement is needed?"

From the Imperial Academy, apart from Wei Chen, no others were invited. From Chongwen Pavilion, apart from Yin Huo, Liu Huan, Feng Zongping, and Yi Ziyang, an additional Zhao Liulang was invited, along with Tang He and his wife. This included Manbao’s two students and three Western Region students.

Even with them added, it still didn’t make up two full tables.

Since they were either family or juniors, there was no need for special hospitality, right?

Bai Dalang realized this too, falling silent for a moment.

Because they were all fairly close, there was no need for advance notification. On the day, they casually wrote notes and sent them through their servant, and the banquet could be held the next day.

Old Zhou was very satisfied, and said to Ms. Qian, "Isn’t this better? Eating at home is so much better, going out would cost money. You wouldn’t believe it, yesterday when I heard Old Madam Liu say she was going to spend twenty taels of silver at the restaurant for the banquet, I was shocked. Now it’s better, eating at home solved with one tael of silver."

It was indeed one tael of silver. The majority of vegetables came from their own estate, Junior Ms. Qian even made several bowls of steamed meat and large meatballs for them. Just the purchased venison and mutton were costly, but not much, only two to three pounds, hence expenses weren’t exorbitant.

All together, it came to a bit over twelve hundred cash, was that not one tael of silver?

Yet it was still two tables of fine banquet, coupled with pleasant garden scenery. Madam Tang, upon entering, removed her outer robe and said to Manbao, "It’s really comfortable here. I’ve finally found some respite."

Manbao’s eyes fell on her belly in surprise, saying, "Scholarly sister-in-law, when did you get pregnant? It must be... six months now?"

"No," Madam Tang sat adeptly on a chair and laughed, "Just over five months actually. I wanted to have you over to take a look, but you’ve been so busy lately we couldn’t arrange a time. Other doctors said it was fine, so I haven’t troubled you."

Manbao, feeling apologetic, said, "I thought you were inviting me out to play."

It was true, she had been busy during this period.

Madam Tang said, "Usually, waddling about with a belly isn’t ideal for visits, but yesterday I called a doctor. He said he heard two fetal heartbeats, so..."

Manbao immediately said, "Let me take a look."

Madam Tang quickly rolled up her sleeves and extended her hand.

It wasn’t her first pregnancy, and when she discovered it, Zhou Man was in the palace. Plus, since it wasn’t a complex issue, she directly called upon a familiar doctor for diagnosis.

Her health is good, not even needing calming medicine. She’ve been nurturing this well all along and informed her family only after three months had passed.

Pregnancy is something that should not be publicly announced, lest it frightens the child or the blessing mother, which is not good for the child.

So she continued her life, nurturing at home, and seldom went out.

Originally everything seemed normal, she didn’t even have morning sickness, only feeling slightly sleepy. This pregnancy has been extremely comfortable.

But last month, her belly started to expand rapidly, changing in mere days. She began to eat more and more.

Having experienced pregnancy, she knew pregnant women shouldn’t eat excessively. Though she had the mamas by her side reminding her, she couldn’t help herself—really hungry.

Now she somewhat understood Han Wuniang’s difficulties, simply uncontrollable.

A while ago, she and Tang He considered inviting Zhou Man over, but she was too busy. They scheduled several times for fun home visits but didn’t come. Initially, they thought they could use her break now directly stating for medical attention, but Bai Shan passed the imperial scholar examination and invited them to his celebration banquet.

Madam Tang and Tang He discussed and decided to attend despite her pregnancy. And yesterday, they also called a doctor to check, who said vaguely hearing a twin pulse, yet not entirely certain.

Manbao listened seriously, and also felt uncertain.

She simply switched hands and closed her eyes to listen carefully, faintly hearing another heartbeat.

Manbao opened her eyes and said, "It’s a twin pulse, should I ask Doctor Xiao to have a look?"

Madam Tang was taken aback and asked, "Why? Is there something wrong with the child?"

"No, no," Manbao quickly laughed to prevent her from worrying, "Doctor Xiao is more skilled than me, and we’re well acquainted. I thought of offering you a backdoor, consulting a more skilled doctor than myself."

Madam Tang: ... it makes perfect sense, leaving her momentarily speechless.

Madam Tang eased her concerns, yet still felt some worry, "So it’s definitely twins for me?"

Manbao nodded.

Madam Tang felt troubled.

Twin pregnancies sound auspicious, but within families like theirs, few seemed enthusiastic about having twins.

Because twins signify risk, threatening both the mother’s and children’s lives.

Single births can lead to frail children difficult to nurture, let alone twins.