“You’re the same age as my daughter-in-law, so why are you calling me ‘Big Sister’? You should be calling me ‘Auntie’!” The family member sharing the neighboring bed beamed, clapping her hands excitedly. “No trouble at all, it’s all just something easy to help with!”
She spoke earnestly to Xu Huiqing, “Girl, you’re young and probably don’t understand how important postpartum confinement is. If you don’t do it right, you’ll suffer later on! I didn’t take care of myself properly after giving birth when I was young, and now my eyes can’t stand the wind—just one breeze makes them water, and when it’s cloudy, my whole body aches!
Listen to your auntie, these next few days you need to eat well and rest well during your confinement. Don’t worry about anything else. With your mother-in-law and husband taking care of you, just focus on recuperating and take it easy!”
The family member beside the bed was a fortysomething woman with a straightforward and lively personality. She spoke briskly to Zhao Zongbao, “I’m not asking for much—just market price. I’ll give you one yuan fifty per jin for the old hen. My hens weigh about three to four jin each, so I’ll just charge you for half one at two yuan fifty. I won’t charge you for the cost of stewing the chicken!”
In the neighboring city, there was a huge chicken and duck farm supplying the surrounding towns, including Shuibu Town where Zhao Zongbao lived.
Wholesale prices from the farm were low, but buying farmed chickens at the local market in Shuibu Town cost about one yuan forty or one yuan fifty per jin. This lady accompanying the patient said one yuan fifty per jin was not overcharging. She even cooked and brought the chicken herself.
Even if she took some extra parts like the head, neck, intestines, gizzards, or hearts, this price was really a bargain.
Zhao’s mother immediately exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, half a chicken costs two yuan fifty? For two yuan fifty, I could eat at the cafeteria for days! And where is there a hen with three jin of meat? After removing the intestines, gizzards, and head, two jin of meat would be great! And you still want two yuan fifty from me?” She waved her hand dismissively, “No way!”
The family member accompanying the mother said, “My chickens are raised at home. Can farm chickens compare to my home-raised ones? Those farm chickens are only days old before slaughter. My chicken has been raised since my daughter-in-law got pregnant—over eight months now—and only fed rice grains and river clams. Each one weighs at least three to four jin!”
Zhao’s mother said, “A chicken weighing three jin, you want two yuan fifty for half of it?”
The lady sharing the bed was speechless. She meant the minimum weight was three jin, not that they were exactly three jin.
“Alright then, how about two yuan for half? If you want the intestines and hearts, I can stew them together and bring them to your daughter-in-law!”
Zhao Zongbao was momentarily stunned by Xu Huiqing’s response.
After all, Xu Huiqing had been married into the Zhao family for several years, and the pride and sharp edges she once had had long been smoothed away by the family.
Plus, her own family cared for her deeply. She married soon after graduating, with a simple and gentle disposition. He had deliberately left the decision to her, thinking she wouldn’t ask for chicken.
But unexpectedly, she agreed immediately.
Still, he asked Xu Huiqing, “Mom has a point. The hospital cafeteria has chicken too. Two yuan can get you chicken soup noodles there for two days, right?”
The family member quickly advised Xu Huiqing, “Girl, don’t listen to your mother-in-law. It’s your body. I’ve never seen a mother-in-law who doesn’t even stew a chicken for her daughter-in-law after she’s given birth to a son!” She gave Zhao’s mother a disdainful glance.
Xu Huiqing hesitated, glanced at Zhao’s mother, then back at the family member, and weakly said, “Auntie, could you please also add some noodles? I’ve been bleeding a lot these days, and I’m dizzy. I can’t get full in the hospital, so I don’t have any milk.
Poor my son—he hasn’t had a drop of my milk since he was born. I want to eat more so I can produce milk sooner. These days my son has been nursing from your daughter-in-law’s milk. Thank you so much!”
The family member laughed heartily, “No problem at all! A little milk is nothing; my grandson can’t even finish his! And to your mother-in-law: I tell you, judging by how your son’s hair is styled, the bell-bottom pants he wears, and his leather shoes, you don’t seem like you’re from a poor family.
You said you sell household appliances, right? That should mean you’re better off than us hard-working people. So why are you so stingy now that your daughter-in-law has given birth to a big grandson?”
Though she spoke to Zhao’s mother, she was really addressing Zhao Zongbao.
Zhao Zongbao kept his eyes on Xu Huiqing, but she looked utterly exhausted and weak, her gaze dropping as if she was about to fall asleep.
Zhao Zongbao felt trapped and frowned. “Alright, I’ll ask the doctor if she can be discharged. If she can, we’ll go home to rest. I have five older sisters—all their families raise chickens waiting for my wife to come back and eat. If she can’t be discharged yet, then Auntie, we’ll have to trouble you these next few days. But let me be clear—two yuan is not small change.
I’m not broke, but our money isn’t blowing in the wind either. It’s all hard-earned. I’ll pay for your chicken, but if there’s any short-changing, don’t blame me for smashing your place!”
The family member rolled her eyes inwardly but laughed, “Don’t worry, there’ll only be more, never less!”
Just then, the evening ward round came. Soon the doctor and nurses came in to check on the mothers.
Zhao Zongbao took the opportunity to bring up Xu Huiqing’s discharge and postpartum care at home.
The doctor frowned and said, “You can take your wife home if you want, but she just stopped heavy bleeding recently. From your address, you live in Shuibu Town, right? It takes at least an hour and a half to two hours by car from here. We can’t guarantee what might happen on the road. With her condition, we usually recommend staying seven to ten days.
Within ten days postpartum, there’s still a risk of heavy bleeding. Besides the bleeding, she also risks postpartum epilepsy. Don’t be fooled by how she looks now; it’s unpredictable. Here in the hospital, if anything happens, we can save her. If you take her home and something like what happened a few days ago occurs, even if you rush her back, we might be helpless.”
This wasn’t to scare Zhao Zongbao—it was the hard truth.
Too long on the road, without scientific medical intervention, some mothers died before reaching the hospital.
The doctor held a clipboard with forms and asked Zhao Zongbao, “Are you covered by public insurance or paying out of pocket?”
The hospital’s daily bed fee was seven yuan for public insurance, half price for self-paying patients—three yuan fifty per day. Ten days would be thirty-five yuan.
In this small prefecture-level city where average wages were only about one hundred to one hundred fifty yuan, thirty-five yuan was a significant amount.
What she didn’t know was that a ticket to the local dance hall cost seven or eight yuan, and with drinks, Zhao Zongbao could spend fifteen yuan in one night.
The cheapest ice skating session was five yuan an hour. Just a few hours of fun could burn through fifteen yuan. He’d spent over fifty yuan on disco and skating in two days.
Zhao Zongbao was reluctant to spend money, but he knew how to calculate. Taxis were expensive because cars were rare. It was about forty kilometers from Shuibu Town to the neighboring city, and a taxi ride cost at least forty to fifty yuan.
One day’s hospital bed fee was only three yuan fifty. Even if Xu Huiqing stayed ten days, it would cost less than forty yuan. If they took her home now and something happened, the medical treatment and taxi fare would cost far more—enough to cover over ten days in the hospital.
Back in the sixties, when the Zhao family were prominent young soldiers, they had followed raids and secretly stashed many valuables. That’s how they had enough funds by the early nineties to buy three large storefronts in town and start their household appliance business.
TVs and electric fans were expensive back then. Without some family wealth, they couldn’t have done such business.
Zhao Zongbao quickly tallied everything in his mind and laughed generously at the doctor, “Alright, we’ll listen to you. She’ll stay as long as you recommend! Two extra yuan a day for the old hen isn’t much.”
Then he turned to Xu Huiqing, “Huiqing, you just gave birth. Eating old hen is only right. Before, since we were unfamiliar with the neighboring city, you had to eat the cafeteria’s chicken soup noodles. Since this auntie offered to stew chicken for you, we’ll take her up on it!”
He spoke politely, and the family member laughed too, “Leave it to me. Don’t worry, I promise your wife won’t go hungry!”
This auntie was truly reliable. She could tell Zhao and his son weren’t easy to deal with, so she brought a whole chicken each day in a stew pot, cut in halves, letting Xu Huiqing choose.
She gave her all the intestines, gizzards, hearts, and kidneys. There was also homemade rice noodles served in a large soup bowl—completely full!
Compared to the single bowl of chicken soup noodles Zhao’s mother brought from the hospital cafeteria, it was far more.
Plus, their home-raised old hen smelled completely different from the hospital chicken soup—fragrant and delicious!
Zhao’s mother didn’t want Xu Huiqing to eat such good chicken meat. She thought it was a waste and wanted to save it for her grandson.
But every time, the family member from the neighboring bed personally served the food, set up a small table, and brought it to Xu Huiqing.
To recover quickly, Xu Huiqing ate the large soup bowl filled with chicken broth, meat, intestines, gizzards, and noodles until full. She made sure to finish it all, even drinking all the broth.
The family member stewed the chicken daily for her own daughter-in-law, and they shared the same pot. The internal organs were thoroughly cleaned with no odd smell. Every time she brought the food, the whole ward filled with an appetizing aroma.
Zhao’s mother munched on dry steamed buns, watching enviously and sighing, “You all live better now. When I was young, there was no chicken soup to drink. We had nothing to eat.
I ate a handful of beans and got scolded by my mother-in-law from one end of the village to the other…”
She said to Xu Huiqing, “If you can’t eat much, eat less. You’re a woman—you can’t eat that much! Save some for Zongbao. He runs around all day and probably suffers more than you do. Drink the broth to get milk, and save the chicken meat for Zongbao; the nutrition is in the broth!”
Xu Huiqing paid no attention to her words. She ate every last bit of the half chicken each day, not leaving a scrap, even chewing on the soft chicken bones to suck out every bit of marrow.