Xu Huiqing woke from unconsciousness, haunted by nightmares. Seeing Zhao Mother’s face, she remembered her past life—her daughter was sold by Zhao Father and Zhao Mother, who coldly ignored her desperate, years-long search. Anger surged in her heart, and with all her strength, she slapped Zhao Mother’s face. The quiet blow hit like a heavy hammer, shocking Zhao Mother.
After striking, Xu Huiqing lost all her strength. Having already lost too much blood, her face was as white as paper.
Zhao Mother stared in disbelief for a moment, then reflexively let out a loud cry: “Heavens, what is this world coming to? The daughter-in-law has hit her mother-in-law! Everyone, come look! I worked so hard to take care of her during her confinement, and instead of gratitude, she hits me!”
After yelling, she plopped down on the ground, cradling the baby in one arm, slapping the floor with the other, drawing out her words in a dramatic tone: “What kind of evil did I do in my past life, that I come to care for my daughter-in-law out of kindness, and instead of a thank you, I get beaten! What kind of daughter-in-law does this!”
There weren’t many people in the ward—just a few new mothers, most of whom were resting with their eyes closed or sleeping. None paid any attention to Xu Huiqing at first.
The families of the newborns were out on the balcony, sunning the babies for jaundice and chatting, not noticing what was happening in the ward. But when Zhao Mother suddenly howled, everyone was startled, opening their eyes and turning to look at her as she sat on the floor, slapping the ground and wailing.
After listening to Zhao Mother’s cries for a few moments, and seeing Xu Huiqing lying in bed, face pale and eyes barely open, they couldn’t help but roll their eyes and say impatiently, “Alright, enough! Who are you putting on this show for? I thought your son had just come in!”
“Your daughter-in-law just woke up, she probably doesn’t even know where she is yet, how could her soul be strong enough to hit you!”
“Your daughter-in-law had a massive hemorrhage—she’s barely back from the gates of hell, and here you are causing a scene. If your grandson’s mother gets tormented to death by you, will you be happy then!”
Zhao Mother planned to lecture her daughter-in-law from a place of moral superiority. But to her surprise, none of the new mothers or their families in the ward paid her any attention. Feeling ignored, she cried out even louder: “Oh my heavens, I can’t go on living! I came to care for my daughter-in-law, got nothing but trouble, and even got hit. And you all dare to make snide comments!”
She stood up, pointing to the side of her face where she’d been slapped: “Look at this, look at this, everyone! She hit me right here, it must be swollen and red!”
***
She was born in the 1940s, having survived the most difficult years of the ’60s and ’70s. Only in recent years had the Zhao family dared to sell off the Golden Bar and Silver Dollar they’d hidden away from the rich households during the mass struggle of the ’60s and ’70s, opening a shop and gradually improving their life. Before that, they had been dirt poor; those who weren’t, in that Special Ten Years, were all beaten to death.
Because Zhao Mother had worked the fields, she’d been dark-skinned since youth, and now her old face was as rough as tree bark. When she suddenly thrust it close, no one could see any redness or swelling—just the oily, sun-darkened wrinkles gleaming on her face. People hurriedly pushed her away to keep their distance: “If you have something to say, just say it—why are you getting so close? You’ve just sprayed spit all over my face!”
Another woman, who’d long found her voice grating, said, “Old lady, just save your breath. What good does it do you to torment your daughter-in-law to death? Is staying in the hospital free?”
“I heard from the Doctor ages ago that her daughter-in-law’s labor was going fine, but something she did must have upset her, causing the hemorrhage!”
“What do you mean you don’t know what upset her? Didn’t you just hear her say it? Her daughter-in-law gave birth to a Granddaughter before, and they didn’t want to keep her—they wanted to give her away. I just heard people outside say they hid the Big Granddaughter so the mother couldn’t see her, and that’s what upset her and caused the hemorrhage!”
This was said to the Female Doctor and Nurse who had come in; the nurses had overheard these family gossips.
Zhao Mother listened to everyone in the Obstetric Ward criticizing her, feeling as though the sky was falling. She’d never felt so wronged in her life; tears streamed down her face as she wailed, “I can’t go on living~~!”
Cradling the baby in her arms, she climbed onto the windowsill, about to jump.
This was a trick she’d used since she was young—always effective.
She’d given birth to five daughters in a row. Life was hard back then, and everyone’s food ration was limited. When she was pregnant with her third daughter, since she’d already had two girls, the Zhao family had decided she was doomed never to bear a son, so they stopped giving her extra rations during pregnancy.
She was eating for two but got nothing extra, so hungry she was dizzy. Once, she secretly grabbed a handful of soybeans from home and was caught by her mother-in-law, who scolded her from one end of the Village to the other.
Back then, she was so humiliated she wanted to die, slapping her thigh and crying that she was going to jump into the Old Well at the entrance of the Village, wailing, “I can’t go on living~~~”
That Old Well was the only drinking water source in the Village. Who would really let her jump in? Would anyone dare drink the water after that?
So the villagers all pulled her back, comforted her, and scolded her mother-in-law for being too harsh.
Yes, no one ever blamed the father-in-law who beat her—only the mother-in-law who scolded her.
From then on, she learned this trick: whenever things didn’t go her way, she’d slap her thigh, sit on the ground, and shout, “I can’t go on living~.”
Naturally, the villagers would think she’d suffered some huge grievance and stand up for her, pointing fingers at her mother-in-law.
And back then, she really was pitiful—a bullied daughter-in-law.
But now, after years of enduring as a daughter-in-law to finally become a mother-in-law herself, she’d unconsciously adopted her own mother-in-law’s ways, crawling on the hospital corridor floor, one leg up on the ledge, pretending to cry about jumping out the window.
The families sitting on stools in the corridor sunning their babies for jaundice were so startled they hurriedly moved away, cursing, “Trying to die? If you want to jump, go somewhere else! What if you scare my Grandson?”
“This is the second floor—jumping won’t even kill you. Who are you putting on this act for? I bet you’ll just make a fuss and that’s it. Your daughter-in-law just woke up and you’re already causing trouble!”
They all hugged their newborns and hurried back into the ward, afraid the blood from her jumping would splatter on their babies.
This Women’s and Children’s Hospital was only built in 1988. Back then, construction standards weren’t great. The Women’s and Children’s Hospital looked big, and the building area was indeed large, built against the mountain, but the main building was just a two-story red brick house. Jump down from there? Not only would you not die, you probably wouldn’t even break a leg!
The families in the ward, both men and women—mostly elders visiting the mothers and newborns—could see right through her. They knew this old lady would never really jump; if she was serious, she’d have done it already, not just dangle her leg over the railing. This was just her way of controlling her daughter-in-law. Still, they worried Zhao Mother would disturb their own daughters-in-law, daughters, Grandsons, Granddaughters, etc., so someone immediately called for a Nurse.
Nurses and Doctors in this era weren’t like those in later years—there weren’t constant medical disputes, nor did anyone look down on Nurses, treating them like servants. Back then, everyone respected Nurses and Doctors; these were iron rice bowl jobs.
As soon as the Nurse entered the ward, she scolded sternly, “What’s all this noise about?” Seeing Zhao Mother hanging on the corridor’s concrete railing, crying about jumping but not actually jumping, the Nurse impatiently walked over, took the baby from her arms, pulled her by the arm, and flung her toward the corridor: “What are you doing? If you want to make a scene, do it at home! This is a hospital—a place for newborns and mothers to rest!”
This Nurse was responsible for the mothers and newborns in this ward. She remembered Zhao Mother and the always-unconscious Xu Huiqing very clearly—after all, one was a city worker, the other a farmer from the Countryside, and their sun-darkened skin alone made them memorable. She said, “You’re the family of the Sixth Bed, right? Your daughter-in-law has been unconscious from a hemorrhage since yesterday, hasn’t had a single grain of rice or drop of water, and instead of getting her something to eat, you’re making a scene here!”
Seeing everyone staring at her with accusing eyes, Zhao Mother couldn’t help but put on her old pitiful face, just like when she was young, and wipe away her tears.
At this moment, Zhao Zongbao came back to the hospital from who knows where and pushed open the door.
As soon as she saw Zhao Zongbao, Zhao Mother seemed to find her backbone, slapped her thigh, and wailed, drawing out her voice: “My son~~!”
Zhao Zongbao had seen his mother act like this since he was a child—he was used to it by now. Impatiently, he asked, “What’s going on?” He shot a threatening look at the people around, the Nurse, and Xu Huiqing, who was still pale as paper on the bed.
The onlookers said, “You’re her son, right? Good heavens, your mother sure knows how to make a scene. Your wife just barely started to wake up after nearly bleeding to death, and your mom’s crying about being hit by her. I think your wife’s only got half a life left—she’s lucky if she can even lift her arm, let alone hit anyone!”
“I just heard the Nurse say your wife hasn’t had a single sip of Rice Congee since giving birth yesterday. As her husband, not only were you not at the hospital, you didn’t even bring her anything to eat?”
Everyone immediately understood why Zhao Mother was so good at tormenting her daughter-in-law.
Many of these women were mothers-in-law themselves and didn’t get along with their own daughters-in-law, but even they wouldn’t torment a woman who’d just given birth—especially not after a massive hemorrhage, when she was half-dead.
And this was after giving birth to a son! Even for a son, you wouldn’t go this far!
Now, seeing Zhao Zongbao arrive at the hospital empty-handed, not even bringing a grain of rice or a sip of water for the mother, they all knew: if the husband cared even a little more about his wife, his mother wouldn’t dare torment the new mother like this right after childbirth.
Zhao Zongbao, always concerned about his reputation, saw everyone blaming him and his mother and lost his temper at Zhao Mother: “Mom, didn’t you buy food for Huiqing?”
Zhao Mother, who had always feared her parents-in-law and husband when she was young, now that they were gone, feared her husband and son most. Hearing this, she stammered, “I have to take care of my precious Grandson—how can I leave? Besides, I don’t have any money on me…”
Yes, even after finally bearing a son, and that son grown up, she still couldn’t get her hands on even a few coins. The family finances were controlled by Zhao Father and Zhao Zongbao. If they gave her a few coins, that’s all she had; if a few yuan, then a few yuan.
The looks from those around grew even more contemptuous, but Zhao Zongbao only thought his mother had made him lose face. Frowning in irritation, he took out a yuan and gave it to Zhao Mother, telling her to buy food for Xu Huiqing from the canteen.
In this remote District-level City, an ordinary worker’s salary was only a hundred or two a month. A yuan was enough to buy a good meal in the Hospital Canteen.
But Zhao Mother, having just been slapped by Xu Huiqing—with her ear and head still aching—had no intention of getting her food. Seeing there was Rice Congee in the Hospital Kitchen, she filled a bowl for Xu Huiqing.
At this time, a Youtiao cost only five cents, and a bowl of Rice Congee in the Hospital Canteen was just two cents.