Unable to Conceive

Man Bao took out her small account book and read from it to them.

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Lirang had saved the same amount of money because they always shared their earnings. When they calculated it, they were all shocked. Zhou Wulang had saved 3,660 copper coins.

Zhou Wulang couldn't help but swallow hard, his heart filled with excitement. "Does this mean that if I save for another year, I'll have enough to get married?"

Man Bao envied him and said, "Why get married?" Wulang, you can buy meat to eat.

"Do you think about anything other than eating?" "I'm a man; of course, I have to get married."

"But Fourth Brother hasn't gotten married yet."

"Fourth Brother won't be able to get married until he pays off his debts," Zhou Wulang said confidently. "When I save enough money next year, I'll ask my mother to arrange a marriage, and in another year, I can get married."

"Who do you want to marry?" Man Bao asked curiously.

Zhou Wulang shook his head. "I don't know." "I'll see who my mother likes."

Man Bao said, "I thought you already liked someone."

Zhou Wulang had his own ideas. He said, "The girls in the village aren't pretty." "I don't want any of them. I want to find someone from outside the village." Lirang, when I get married, you should start preparing as well. Don't take it lightly. "I'll tell you, only when you get married can you be considered grown up and have a secure future."

Zhou Wulang said, "Look at Uncle Zhou from the east of the village." He's single. Look at the life he's living. "If you don't get married, you'll end up like him."

Zhou Lirang's eyes widened, and he shivered. "I don't want to!"

Man Bao asked curiously, "What's wrong with Uncle Zhou?"

"You're still young, you don't understand," Zhou Wulang ignored her and reached out to her, "Come on, give me six hundred coins."

As Man Bao handed him the money, she asked, "What do you need the money for?"

"What else can I do with it?" "I'm going to buy fabric and cotton," Zhou Wulang said, counting on his fingers. "I've never worn new clothes from childhood to adulthood." I'm almost getting married, so I have to make a new set of clothes for the New Year, including new pants and shoes!

Zhou Lirang's eyes lit up, and he said, "I want to, too!"

The other children also wanted to go, but when they realized they couldn't visit the county town the next day, they slumped their shoulders and didn't ask for any money.

Zhou Siling entered with a sour expression and pushed the door open. When he saw so many people in the room, he frowned and asked, "What are you doing?"

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Lirang put away their money and said, "Fourth Brother, we promised to buy some snacks for Big Head and Big Miss tomorrow." "What do you want to eat? We'll treat you."

Zhou Siling waved his hand. "No need." "Keep the money and buy something for yourselves."

Zhou Siling lay down on the bed, and Man Bao, who was sitting beside him, curiously asked, "Fourth Brother, are you sick?" Are you still going to the mountain to dig soil tomorrow?

"I'm going, and not only me, but Big Head and the others will also come with me." "You said that the rotten leaves and the soil underneath can fertilize the land, so we're going to dig them up," Zhou Siling said determinedly. "I don't believe it!"

Zhou Siling didn't say anything else, but the children were stunned. They didn't speak for a while, and it wasn't until later that they huddled together and whispered, "What's wrong with Fourth Brother?"

"He doesn't want to skip work." "That's strange!"

"Did he get scolded by our parents?" When this was said, everyone shook their heads. Their fourth brother was incorrigible. He couldn't be disciplined, and he would be lazy and mischievous again as soon as he was left unattended.

Man Bao ran back to her room, or rather, her parents' room. She slipped through the screen and asked her parents, "Dad, Mom, what's wrong with Fourth Brother?"

Mrs. Qian hesitated and said, "Nothing." Tomorrow, you don't have to go to the mountain. "It's cold up there."

"No, I want to go!"

Mrs. Qian sighed helplessly. "Fine, if you want to go, go." But don't catch a cold. If you get sick, you will have to take very bitter medicine.

Man Bao agreed.

The next day, she followed Zhou Siling up the mountain, observing his expression all the way. Zhou Siling felt a strange gaze and couldn't help but pat her head, signaling her to look at the ground. "Watch out for the tree roots." Be careful not to trip and fall down the mountain.

Man Bao silently retracted her feet.

The mountain they went to was not the one Zhou Siling was clearing, but the one next to it. The area was mostly covered with pine trees. As they progressed, more leaves accumulated on the ground. Beneath the leaves, Man Bao noticed a layer of decomposed soil, displaying a slightly brownish-gray hue.

Keke said that this layer of soil was very fertile.

But this layer of soil was very thin.

Zhou Siling, who rarely complained, along with his nephews and nieces, shoveled up this layer of soil and put it in bamboo baskets. They barely filled two baskets after shoveling a large area. Zhou Siling carried the soil down the mountain and brought it to his barren land.

Everyone helped spread a layer of soil on the ground, and then they sprinkled it evenly. Many newly fallen leaves were also shoveled up by them, and Man Bao used her small feet to press them down. She said to Zhou Siling, "When they rot, the land will be fertile."

Zhou Siling handed the soil to Big Head and the others to spread, and then he sat on the edge of the field to rest. He asked, "Man Bao, are there any books that discuss infertility?"

Man Bao widened her eyes. "Zhou Siling, are you unable to conceive?"

Zhou Siling blushed and said, "I can't give birth to children." Women give birth to children, and I'm a man, a man!

Man Bao scratched her head. "Why do women have to get married if they can give birth to children on their own?" "Isn't it said that you can only have children after getting married?"

Zhou Siling felt embarrassed. He didn't understand biology, and he didn't even know how children were conceived, so he stared at his sister, unsure of how to respond.

Keke looked at the two siblings and couldn't help but explain the concepts of sperm, eggs, fertilized eggs, and other related information to Man Bao.

It was aware of what had happened in the main room last night, so it said to Man Bao, "The inability to conceive is not necessarily the woman's problem." It could also be the man's issue, such as weak or dead sperm. However, it has always been thought that the inability to conceive is the woman's responsibility.

Man Bao asked Keke, "Who can't conceive?"