As an obstetrician, she had seen too many men’s true faces outside the delivery room and was not fooled by Zhao Zongbao’s seemingly caring words and expression at this moment.
Inside the emergency room, a nurse in her thirties was disinfecting Xu Huiqing’s lower wound while soothing her:
“Don’t think about being angry with anyone right now. No matter how big the problem is, you have to take care of your body first. Without a healthy body, even the biggest troubles mean nothing!”
Seeing a tear slip from Xu Huiqing’s eye, the nurse scolded her gently, “You can’t cry. Is this the time to cry during postpartum confinement? No matter how much grievance you have, hold it in for now. If you want to cry or make a scene, wait until the confinement period is over. It won’t matter if you wait a little longer!”
Xu Huiqing had been virtuous all her life; many of her habits were not something that could change overnight.
But the sudden misfortune had shattered the peace she had so carefully maintained.
She nodded and relaxed her body.
“That’s better!” the nurse said softly.
“Go out and eat something. Eat well, drink well, take good care of your body. Without a good body, no matter what you say, it’s all useless!”
As nurses in obstetrics, they had witnessed countless human joys and sorrows and deeply understood that no matter how stubborn a person’s temper was, one must have a healthy body to be stubborn.
Without it, you only end up dragging yourself down, dragging your child down, or even killing yourself.
Meanwhile, men would remarry in the blink of an eye—some not even waiting a month.
In the end, the unfortunate ones were always the children who were born with the mother’s life at stake.
After finishing her tasks in the emergency room, the nurse walked out.
Zhao Zongbao was still waiting outside, and she fixed him with a serious, stern look.
“The mother hasn’t eaten for two days after delivery. She’s very weak.”
She glanced at Zhao Zongbao’s floral shirt and bell-bottom pants and deliberately said, “Even if the family’s poor, no chicken, no fish, there should be eggs, right? Feeding the mother only Bai Zhou? Is this something a person would do?”
In this era, medical staff were held in high regard.
Nurses started working in their teens, and from the seventies until now, having worked as a nurse for twenty years, she was not like nurses decades later with better temperaments.
She gave Zhao Zongbao a disdainful glance, then turned away coldly.
This made Zhao Zongbao, who cared deeply about face, flush bright red instantly!
Though he was from a rural area near the Commune, he always considered himself different from pure rural folk because his family lived close to the Commune. He had a town household registration and prided himself on it.
He was obsessed with face and hated being looked down upon.
Especially since he had come to the City from the town, he felt naturally inferior to the city folk.
The nurse’s contemptuous glance was like a slap in the face, making him even more angry that Zhao Mother had embarrassed him.
He immediately took out two yuan and gave it to Zhao Mother, saying, “From now on, give Huiqing meals at this standard every time. No more Bai Zhou. Didn’t she eat enough Bai Zhou at home?”
Though the Zhao Family now had three large storefronts in town selling home appliances and their life was flourishing, Zhao Zongbao still acted like a big shot in town.
When he was born, the Zhao Family were also poor farmers, eating Bai Zhou and flatbread three meals a day.
It was only in recent years that things had gotten better.
At this, Zhao Mother didn’t dare disobey Zhao Zongbao.
Though she felt sorry feeding her daughter-in-law Chicken Soup Noodles, she nodded obediently. Just then, as the nurses pushed Xu Huiqing out, she hurriedly carried over the now congealed bowl of Chicken Soup Noodles, wanting to feed her.
The nurse pushing the bed blocked her, annoyed: “If you’re going to feed her, do it in the ward. How is she supposed to eat here?”
Zhao Mother pitifully replied, “Yes, yes.” She put down the large bowl and followed behind the nurses pushing the bed.
Once in the ward, seeing the relatives around looking at her like she was the “evil mother-in-law,” she quickly asked with concern, “Huiqing, it’s all my fault before. I really didn’t expect you to be so fiery. How did you manage to anger yourself into having epilepsy? Our family’s ancestors never heard of epilepsy!”
The implication was clear: epilepsy was a hereditary disease from Xu Huiqing’s birth family.
A relative staying with the mother couldn’t bear it and loudly said, “Old lady, please say less!”
Zhao Mother, ever good-natured, replied, “Yes, yes. Huiqing, I made you some Chicken Soup Noodles. Eat a bit quickly.”
She was thin and weak, unable to support Xu Huiqing herself. At that moment, Zhao Zongbao came in, placed two pillows behind Xu Huiqing, took the noodles from Zhao Mother’s hands, picked out the chicken pieces from the noodles to the surface of the bowl, and scooped a spoonful of broth to feed her.
His voice was gentle as he said, “I’ve already told my mother. From now on, I’ll buy you Chicken Soup Noodles every meal. She’s a rural old woman and doesn’t understand anything. You’re a university student, a cultured person. Don’t bother arguing with her.”
The relatives watching him bend down to feed Xu Huiqing nodded approvingly, saying, “Now that’s more like a man!”
Xu Huiqing lowered her eyes and said nothing.
When she was young, she had been deceived by this very tactic.
People always say the most important thing in marriage is how the man treats you. Even if the mother-in-law is bad, as long as the husband is good to you, it’s fine, right?
When the Zhao Family harassed her, Zhao Zongbao was always the one who stood up for her, scolding his parents and younger sisters, and then things would quiet down for a few days.
Everyone praised him as a good husband who was on her side. Back then, she didn’t understand and thought it was truly like that. Her anger would quickly be extinguished by him.
Whenever she was harassed or tried to resist, her anger was again doused by him, no need for her to step up. It was a vicious cycle.
It was like training a falcon—breaking you down round after round until you became obedient.
After years of this life, finally moving past the shyness of a new bride, she realized the selfishness rooted deep in Zhao Zongbao.
But at that time, she never thought of divorce, because life was still bearable.
Later, when she saw something online about obedience tests, she finally understood.
Those were obedience tests—once you yielded the first time, you were bound to yield endlessly after.
They probed your limits again and again until you had none left.
She drank every bite of the chicken soup and ate the chicken and noodles fed by Zhao Zongbao. When finished, she weakly said in a gentle voice, “Zongbao, I miss Xiao Xi. Can you bring Xiao Xi to me?”
Actually, nothing about the Zhao Family’s affairs was hidden from Zhao Zongbao. The few younger sisters-in-law married out had no courage to act on their own without his approval. So Zhao Xi being sent away was known to him.
He was always out fooling around; Xiao Xi was raised solely by Xu Huiqing. Coming from a deeply patriarchal family, he had no feelings for Xiao Xi and must have known she was sent away.
At that time, she hadn’t realized this and thought he was the father, acting just as anxious as her, searching day and night for news. Later, she found out that the second sister-in-law and the grandparents had sent the daughter away together.
He was furious, scolded Zhao Father, Zhao Mother, and Zhao Daidi loudly, and stopped associating with Zhao Daidi’s Family ever since. His grieving over Xiao Xi seemed genuine, so she believed he truly didn’t know.
But on reflection, the Zhao sisters-in-law had no status at her birth family. Without Zhao Zongbao’s permission, they wouldn’t dare make decisions. They could at most suggest ideas or give advice.
Her newborn baby, only two days old, was sleeping in the hospital’s infant stroller. Zhao Mother was watching and immediately said, “Xiao Xi is only three. Even if you bring her here, who’s going to take care of her? Me? Don’t expect me to care for you, Dabao, and Xiao Xi all at once. How can I manage so many?”
She stroked her head and groaned, “Oh my goodness, last night I worried about you and had to look after the little one. I didn’t sleep well at all, and now my head is still dizzy.”
Zhao Mother’s health was poor, possibly due to years of hardship in youth. She often felt dizzy but hospital checkups showed nothing.
She was as fragile as paper, making even the young Xu Huiqing afraid to provoke her. If you argued with her, she’d fake a faint right before you!
However, Zhao Father was healthy and strong, and had genuinely fainted before and been hospitalized. Zhao Mother had been dizzy for years but never actually ill.
Yet everyone believed she was in poor health based on her behavior.
Zhao Zongbao hesitated a little looking at Zhao Mother and said to Xu Huiqing, “Huiqing, you’re still in confinement. Mom is unwell and can barely take care of the two of you. Taking care of Xiao Xi on top of that is really impossible.”
Looking into his eyes, filled with trust and reliance, Xu Huiqing spoke softly, “Why can’t you take care of her? Aren’t you still here?”