Yin Su held her child close and cooed comforting words to him. Her husband will be pleased. The birth had exhausted, then exhilarated her. She lay on the bed with the sleeping child in her arms. He had taken nourishment from her body. Now he wiggled in his wrapping. As nourishment goes in, some must come out. Yin Su marveled at the workings of nature. She and her husband had made a new person. A son, who would make his father proud. He had suckled and now he was eliminating what his body did not need. Yin Su felt him tensing to eliminate waste. She unwrapped him to hold him over the receptacle.

The light was dim in the birthing hut. Yin Su looked at her son’s body. She gasped. This was not a man-child. A girl. Female. Yin Su froze. She stared at the creature. How could this be? The child continued to tense and a greenish-blackish waste soiled the red garment. The odor brought Yin Su back to reality.

With fresh cloth, she cleaned the child’s private parts. Free of all reminders of the womb, the child wiggled gleefully, arms and legs in the air, eyes searching, crying, sucking sounds from its mouth. Yin Su quickly wrapped the child and held her. The child sought Yin Su’s breast. Yin Su looked down. The child gazed upward. Their eyes met. Yin Su rocked the child. She assured her that everything would be alright. There was nothing to worry about. The child suckled and was content.

A female. What would her Husband say? What would he do? He was excited about having a son, but surely a daughter would be acceptable. This was only the first. Many more would follow. Many sons. Her Husband would have to be patient. Yes, Yin Su could convince him. She would point out how healthy the child was to live to the Third Day Ceremony and how healthy she, herself, was. At the Third-Day Ceremony, she would present a daughter. She could have many children. The next one would be a son, a man-child.

The women of the village attended to Yin Su. They brought her food to rebuild her strength. They tidied the birthing hut. They watched as she buried the placenta in a corner of the hut.

Yin Su noticed how the women looked at her. She had expressed her surety that this birth would produce a man-child. The women knew it did not come to pass, but they were kind and would not mention it to their husbands and definitely not to Yin Su’s Husband. All would become known at the Third-Day Ceremony when the child was presented to the community.

The second day of the child’s life Yin Su was lying on the bed when two women came to bring food. She smiled and said, “The child is strong. She is healthy. And I am well,” Relief flooded the faces of the women and they embraced Yin Su with comforting words.

“Yes, it was a good birth.”

“The child will be clever.”

“You will have many more children. Your husband will get his son.”

“I have a daughter and she is the delight of the family.”

A sense of well-being washed over Yin Su. Life did not always turn out as one expected. But life goes on. Yin Su would raise this child as she had been raised. She will understand her place in the world. In the community. The child will be happy. When a man-child is born, she will help to raise and educate him. Yes. All will be well. Yin Su spent the second day of her child’s life resting and bonding with her daughter.

On the third day of her daughter’s life village women came for the Third-Day Ceremony, a celebration of life and survival of the newly born community member. Yin Su and her daughter both received a complete bath and fresh garments. The child will be presented to the father as well as the community. Although the child would be nameless until its hundredth day of life, Yin Su was already thinking of names as she underwent the ritual bath. The warm water felt good. She bathed her daughter and wrapped her in fresh linen.

Toward the end of the day, members of the community began arriving. The village women brought fruit and eggs boiled in water for the guests. Children came with their parents to see the new baby. The mood was festive and happy.

Yin Su was nervous. She was unsure how her husband would react. Everyone would be there. She closed her eyes and beseeched Song Zi Niang Niang, the goddess who bestows children, for a good outcome. She was ready.

>>>>><<<<< 

Everyone gathered in the courtyard. Yin Su’s Husband secured the Hangu Pass gate so that no one traveled in or out, then he returned home. He nodded to his guests, the farmers who kept everyone fed, and the workers who helped him at the gate. The women were talking among themselves near the birthing hut. The village children scampered about, unrestrained by parental restrictions.

Yin Su emerged from the birthing hut, child in her arms. Her husband stepped forward. Yin Su met his gaze and saw excitement, expectation. She lowered her eyes and he stood taller. Yin Su approached and said, “Husband, you have a daughter.” She unwrapped the child so that her husband could see the truth of the matter.

“A daughter?” Surprise in his voice.

“Yes, my husband. She is healthy.”

“A daughter?” Disappointment was evident.

“Yes, my husband. She will serve you well.” Yin Su saw her husband’s body tense. He was not happy. The community waited. Her husband looked at the people standing in his courtyard. To them, he said, “A healthy child. Let us rejoice.”

Relieved chatter flitted over the crowd. Congratulations were given and the villagers returned to their homes. Yin Su retreated to the birthing hut with her child to spend the next twenty-seven days rebuilding her strength and nourishing her child. The village women would bring her food and do any necessary chores in her household. Her husband would wait those additional days until Yin Su returned to his bed.

It did not happen that way.

© Copyright 2025 Writing_Cheri. All rights reserved.