Halfway through the drive, Xu Huiqing’s blood flow had already begun to slow, no longer as severe as before. This is fairly common during childbirth, but they didn’t know that Xu Huiqing’s bleeding had gradually lessened. Right now, Zhao Zongbao and Xu Huiqing were at the height of their affection, but seeing the blood-soaked cotton pad beneath her, so wet it could be wrung out, their hearts grew heavy.
Zhao Mother stopped talking as well. She never really wanted her daughter-in-law dead; her words were just out of frustration.
Marrying a daughter-in-law costs a lot. Her Grandson was just born—if he lost his mother now, could you expect a stepmother to treat him well?
That stepmother at the front of their street, in the middle of winter, held the son born by the former wife’s head down in the ditch, wouldn’t even let him eat, made him sleep in the haystack in the kitchen.
If his birth mother were still around, would she ever treat her own child that way?
Her daughter-in-law was a college student, an educated person. Her Grandson’s future college entrance exams would depend on his mother!
Under the Female Doctor’s direction, the car sped toward the neighboring city’s Sixth People’s Hospital.
The Driver was a warmhearted person. As soon as they arrived at the hospital entrance, he hurried out from the driver’s seat to help Zhao Zongbao carry Xu Huiqing, shouting as they went, “Doctor! Doctor! We have a mother with massive postpartum bleeding here!”
The Sixth People’s Hospital, also known as the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, was built and began operations in 1988. It was the province’s first secondary A-class Women’s and Children’s Hospital, renowned in the province for its obstetrics and gynecology department.
This is also why the Doctor at the Town Health Clinic didn’t recommend they go to the County Hospital but sent them directly to the neighboring city’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
Massive postpartum hemorrhage can be fatal!
The doctors inside, upon hearing of a maternal hemorrhage, didn’t hesitate for a second and rushed out pushing a gurney. Zhao Zongbao hurriedly lifted the unconscious Xu Huiqing onto the cart.
Zhao Mother chased after them, holding the baby: “Slow down, slow down, why are you running so fast? Trying to rush to your death?”
The Driver couldn’t stand it and retorted, “What kind of talk is that, old lady? Your daughter-in-law is bleeding out and unconscious, and you keep talking about death! Don’t you have any sense of taboo?”
Zhao Mother shouted back as she chased, “What’s it to you? Meddling in other people’s business like a dog catching mice!”
She hurried to catch up—her precious Grandson still needed to nurse! If her daughter-in-law didn’t wake up, maybe she could find another mother in the maternity ward to nurse him.
If this were truly a massive hemorrhage, Xu Huiqing would be gone by now. But her bleeding was caused by postpartum emotional shock, which affected the uterine smooth muscle contractions, leading to uterine atony and postpartum hemorrhage.
But her coagulation function was normal. After the initial heavy bleeding, her excellent coagulation function gradually took effect, and with the Old Doctor’s timely IV rescue, by the time she arrived at the city’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital, the situation wasn’t as frightening as it looked to the doctors.
What they feared most was coagulopathy-induced hemorrhage, which is hard to control and the most terrifying.
But they wouldn’t tell the family that the mother’s bleeding had already stabilized.
Since the Women’s and Children’s Hospital opened, they’d seen too many husbands and mothers-in-law who didn’t value the lives of mothers. If they said the bleeding had stabilized, the family would try to discharge her immediately. If anything happened afterward, they’d blame the hospital.
The doctors quickly pushed the mother into the emergency room, checked her blood type, drew blood from the blood bank for transfusion, and began a series of treatments.
After the rescue was over and they heard the story of the hemorrhage from the accompanying Female Doctor, they came out to speak with Zhao Zongbao and Zhao Mother:
“Our preliminary diagnosis is postpartum hemorrhage due to uterine atony. The mother needs to rest well after delivery and must not be agitated.”
Zhao Zongbao anxiously asked the doctor, “Doctor, how is my wife now?”
Zhao Mother also anxiously asked, “My Grandson hasn’t had a sip of his mother’s milk since birth. Can she feed him now?”
The doctor, a woman in her forties, frowned deeply and scolded Zhao Mother, “The mother’s life was almost gone, and you’re still thinking about her milk!” She turned to the Nurse, “Take the newborn in for a checkup.” Then she said to Zhao Mother, “The hospital has milk. Thirty milliliters is enough for a newborn at one time.”
For a moment, Zhao Zongbao and Zhao Mother both focused on the newborn, completely forgetting about the mother. It was the Female Doctor from the Town Health Clinic who stayed behind to look after Xu Huiqing.
She wasn’t new to the city’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital. All the obstetricians here had been scientifically trained. There weren’t many accidents with mothers giving birth at the town hospital, but whenever something happened, they’d send the mother to the Sixth People’s Hospital. She was already familiar with the obstetricians there.
Xu Huiqing slept restlessly, dreaming over and over of her daughter jumping from the building. She reached out to grab her daughter’s hand but could never catch it, watching helplessly as her daughter leapt, and then all she saw was red—blinding, overwhelming red.
Though sanitary pads existed in this era, they weren’t the large, thick adult postpartum ones that would come decades later. These were thick, but nowhere near as good as those in the future. In just a moment, the newly changed pad was soaked with blood, which overflowed onto the white urine pad beneath, painfully glaring.
The Female Doctor from the Town Health Clinic, who had been watching over her, saw the shocking red spreading on the white pad and was startled. She quickly called for the doctor.
The doctor, seeing that the bleeding had clearly stopped before, wondered why it had suddenly started again. While treating and rescuing the mother, she questioned Zhao Zongbao and Zhao Mother, “What did you do to agitate her? She can’t even sleep soundly while unconscious!”
She already knew from the Female Doctor from the Town Health Clinic that they had hidden away the mother’s Big Granddaughter, but she deliberately didn’t say so, pretending not to know.
Having already sold off and given away the Big Granddaughter, Zhao Mother guiltily averted her eyes and argued, “It’s her own fault, nothing to do with us!”
Zhao Zongbao, having grown up influenced by his parents’ attitude toward his five older sisters, was still a child at heart when he married. He often played outside with friends, drank, and stayed out late, never really acting like a husband or father. He spent less time with his Big Granddaughter than with his drinking buddies, so there was no real bond.
But because he’d been doted on by his family since childhood, he didn’t care much about money or other people’s opinions. Impatiently, he asked Zhao Mother, “Didn’t you say Xiaoxi was sent to Second Sister’s house? If Huiqing wants to see her, just have them bring her over!”
Zhao Mother turned away, thinking: The child’s been given away and the money’s taken; now you want her back? No way the other family will agree.
She just said, “With Huiqing like this, Xiaoxi coming over would just disturb her rest. Didn’t the doctor say Huiqing needs to rest? Wait until she’s discharged and back home, then bring her back. Things are chaotic now, and I have to take care of my precious Grandson. Who would watch Xiaoxi if she came? Xiaoxi is at your Second Sister’s house, what are you worried about?”
They never expected Zhao Zongbao to care for the mother. In their minds, Zhao Zongbao was the emperor of the house; how could he be expected to care for his wife? That would be turning the world upside down!
Of Zhao Zongbao’s five older sisters, the Second Sister Zhao Daidi married into the mountains. The Big Granddaughter was sent to a mountain family—no one would be able to find her.
Hearing she was with his gentle, soft-spoken Second Sister, Zhao Zongbao said nothing more.
When Xu Huiqing woke again, it was already the next afternoon. Bright sunlight poured through the hospital window, and the corridor was full of families sunning their jaundiced infants. Zhao Mother was among them.
“My daughter-in-law is so useless. I told her to send the first one to the countryside, but she wouldn’t listen—had to keep her by her side. Now she’s lost her job!”
“She didn’t even want a second child, saying the national family planning policy only allowed one for public employees! We forced her to have this second son. If not for us, wouldn’t my son be left with no heirs? How can anyone live without a son? What’s the point of living without a son?”
These were Zhao Mother’s true feelings. When she was young, she gave birth to five daughters in a row and wasn’t even allowed to sit at the table at her in-laws’ house. Only when Zhao Zongbao was born did she finally straighten her back and feel proud.
In her heart, a son was everything!
“She wouldn’t check the gender for us. Luckily, this one is a Grandson. If it had been another girl, we’d just have to keep trying. What else can you do? My Second Daughter had six pregnancies before this, all girls, and aborted every one. Finally, this last one was a boy, and my Second Brother-in-law was so happy—he even worked harder! People need a son!”
Zhao Mother sat in the corridor outside, proudly telling the other families holding babies about her Second Daughter’s “glorious” deeds.
She was truly proud and satisfied—her Second Daughter was so virtuous and obedient, all thanks to her teaching.
“When she aborted the third one, it was pouring rain outside. My Second Brother-in-law just rode his bike and took her home. She got soaked and never complained! She used to be so healthy, but after that rain, she’s always hurting here and there. Even so, she insisted on giving my Second Brother-in-law a son!”
“Now she finally has a son. Her mother-in-law doesn’t say anything anymore, and my Second Brother-in-law is so good to her now—he doesn’t even hit her anymore!” Zhao Mother beamed, “It’s all thanks to her having a son. Otherwise, I’d have no face at her in-laws’ house!”
Her words were met with agreement from many family members, who all nodded.
One family member, uncomfortable with what they heard, noticed Xu Huiqing had opened her eyes and reminded Zhao Mother, “Your daughter-in-law is awake!”
Zhao Mother, holding the baby, turned to see Xu Huiqing lying in the delivery room with half-open, dazed eyes. She hurried over, lifted Xu Huiqing’s old blue hospital gown, and shoved the baby’s mouth onto her breast, reaching out to squeeze.
A sharp pain, like a needle stabbing into her brain, made Xu Huiqing shudder. She opened her eyes to see Zhao Mother’s face right in front of her, and almost reflexively, she swung her hand and slapped Zhao Mother across the face.