Hu Biao’s face flushed with panic; he quickly approached Li Qianqian. His wife was someone he’d shamelessly pursued to marry; how could divorce even be on the table? Besides, they already had a son.
"Qianqian, what are you talking about? How can we get a divorce? We’ve just had a child. Don’t be angry, please don’t be angry. You can’t afford to be angry right now."
But Li Qianqian was far from wanting to let things go. When her life hung by a thread, only Shen Meng stood by her, encouraging her, helping her. Her so-called family members wanted to snatch her child away right after she gave birth. How could she not be furious?
"Hu Biao, your mother forced me into this. Why did I go into sudden labor, if not because of your mother’s constant nagging, forcing me to drink those soups, all sorts of chaotic and nonsensical herbal ash remedies? For your sake, I endured it all, yet she still demanded that I stay in bed all day long, not letting me move an inch, always harping on about her grandson. I’m going mad."
"Hey, Qianqian, what are you saying? My grandson is also your son, isn’t he? I did all these for your own good. Look, if I hadn’t nurtured you like I did every day, could you have given birth to such a fair and plump child? Truly, it’s hard to be a mother-in-law when good intentions are not recognized."
Lin Rong, who had felt a twinge of guilt from her earlier words, now felt emboldened to speak on the care and nourishment. She didn’t even need to mention anything else; just look at how healthy her eldest grandson looked when he was born.
Li Qianqian’s fingertips appeared white as they clutched at the bedsheets, angrily hurting even the wound.
"Good intentions, huh? When I suddenly went into labor, I too thought you meant well. I even regretted not heeding your advice to rest properly at home. But the doctor said the reason I went into sudden labor was precisely because I ingested all that mess, which caused the baby to keep moving around in the womb, leading to the umbilical cord getting wrapped around his neck. The child was almost lost."
Li Qianqian screamed her experience, as told by the doctor, to Lin Rong, and seeing her holding her baby filled her with even more indignation, causing her to feel a sharp pain in her abdomen.
"What? Mother, didn’t I tell you not to give her those things? Are you wishing for me not to live through good days, insisting on stirring troubles for us?"
Lin Rong, admonished by her own son in front of so many people, felt humiliated. Begrudgingly, she checked the baby’s neck and indeed, there was a red circle on it.
Even though she knew she was at fault, admitting her mistake was out of the question, especially since she believed it was thanks to her own remedies that her daughter-in-law was able to give birth to a boy.
"Enough now, why are you shouting at me? Isn’t your wife and child fine? Besides, without my remedies, could you have a baby so fair and plump? The old maid told me, her remedies, even if it’s a girl in the womb, can turn it into a boy. Qianqian, not to chide you, but you’re just being too delicate. Fortunately, you gave birth to a boy for our Hu family, carrying on the family line. From now on, just stay at home, take care of the baby and look after Biao Biao."
Li Qianqian didn’t want to speak anymore. She felt it was impossible to reason with her mother-in-law. She gestured to Hu Biao, who immediately understood and approached Lin Rong to take the baby into his arms, then placed the child directly into Li Qianqian’s embrace.
Despite the doctor’s instructions for her to avoid holding the child for now, given her mother-in-law’s behavior, if she didn’t hold her baby tight, she feared she might not see him again tomorrow.
"Ah, what are you doing? I haven’t held him enough. You stinky boy, always siding with your wife."
Lin Rong gave a sidelong glance at the young couple and then turned to Zhou Jiaojiao with a smile plastered on her face, grabbing her hand.
"My girl, I don’t know how to thank you enough for your great kindness today. Where are you from? Our family will definitely pay a visit to express our gratitude."
"There’s no need for that; I did what I should have done. I’m just a member of Lu Family Village. Seeing Mr. Li collapsing, how could I not lend a hand? You all talk; I’ll be heading back!"
Lin Rong wasn’t willing to let go. She clung to Zhou Jiaojiao, insisting she reveal where her family lived and such particulars.
Hu Jinbu, who had just made a phone call at the nurse’s station, came over, thinking Lin Rong was being hard on someone. He strode up to the two women quickly.
"What’s going on here? Let her go immediately. This is no way to behave!"
"Mr. Hu, this child simply refuses to say where her home is, but she helped our Hu family so much. We must thank her in some way!"
Hu Jinbu breathed a sigh of relief, realizing she wasn’t causing trouble.
"Enough, we can’t be pulling and dragging people around like this in public, what would others think? Mr. Zhou, I’m truly sorry, my wife is just like this. But she’s right, let us know if there’s any difficulty at home, and as long as it’s within our capabilities, our Hu family will definitely help you."
Zhou Jiaojiao was startled inside, but her face showed no ripple. She had just managed to calm down and was about to politely share her thoughts when she heard Li Qianqian "hmph" from somewhere.
"If we’re talking about saving someone, the one who should be thanked is the real savior of me and my child. Yes, Mr. Zhou did find me first and deserves thanks, but Mr. Shen not only took great effort to bring me to the hospital, but also gave me the valuable ginseng. Without the ginseng to keep me going, I wouldn’t have had the strength to give birth at all."
Li Qianqian took out the ginseng from under her pillow and displayed it in front of a few people.
"How could that be, a ginseng costs a hundred some bucks, how could she just give it to you like that? Don’t tell me you’ve been hoodwinked. Even Jiaojiao just said a moment ago that her sister-in-law doesn’t understand a thing, it might just be some random root snatched from somewhere because she was afraid something would happen to you!"
Lin Rong’s face looked somewhat unsightly. This daughter-in-law was always doing the opposite of what she wanted. She was doing all this for whom?
"A fine ginseng is right here, how could I be deceiving anyone?"
"Well, who knows about that!"
Zhou Jiaojiao watched as the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the Hu family argued and felt extremely anxious. This Li Qianqian, why did she have to speak up at this moment?
"Mom, can you not argue with Qianqian? She just gave birth and needs to recover. Why do you have to argue with her over this? No matter whether it’s Mr. Zhou or Mr. Shen, they both saved Qianqian’s life, and we should be thankful to both!"
He had just finished speaking when Li Qianqian pinched him. This idiot, trying to play the mediator under such circumstances. Even with giving thanks, there should be a clear distinction of who deserves more. She couldn’t let such a good person like Mr. Shen be wronged.
Cheng Yufen had just come to do her rounds and overheard the conversation. She quickly grasped the situation.
"How are you doing, Mr. Li? Does your wound still hurt?"
Li Qianqian was truly grateful when she saw Dr. Cheng, glancing at the baby in her arms.
"Much better, thank you, Dr. Cheng."
Hu Jinbu and Hu Biao were very familiar with Dr. Cheng, both had come over in shifts to bring gifts, hoping she would help with the delivery.
Though she hadn’t agreed at that time, due to some fortunate misfortune, it was still she who ended up delivering. Who could say this wasn’t fate!
"Why are you thanking me? The one who deserves your thanks most is Mr. Shen. If it wasn’t for her racing against time, your troubles would have been much greater, especially with this ginseng keeping you alive. Oh right, you don’t know yet, do you? Your hospital bills were paid by her too!"
Upon hearing this, the three from the Hu family were all stunned. Right, they were so preoccupied with the joy of adding a baby, they forgot that coming to the hospital for surgery costs money!