Xu Huiqing had just regained consciousness, but still entangled by the nightmares. The moment she opened her eyes and saw Mother Zhao’s face, she couldn’t help but remember how, in her past life, Father and Mother Zhao had sent her daughter away and sold her. They had known perfectly well where her daughter was, yet watched her search frantically for years like a headless fly. An indescribable fury surged in her heart. She put all the strength she could muster at that moment into a single, heavy slap aimed at Mother Zhao’s ear.
The slap wasn’t loud, but it landed like an iron hammer, leaving Mother Zhao utterly stunned.
After the slap, Xu Huiqing lost all her strength. Already suffering from severe blood loss, her face was as pale as paper.
Mother Zhao froze for a moment, as if in disbelief, then reflexively shrieked, “There’s no justice left! A daughter-in-law hitting her mother-in-law! Everyone, come look! I came all this way to care for her during her postpartum month, and instead of gratitude, she hits me!”
After yelling, she plopped down onto the floor. Cradling the baby in one arm, she slapped the ground with her other hand, wailing in an exaggerated, operatic tone, “What sin did I commit? I came with good intentions to take care of my daughter-in-law, and instead of a single word of thanks, I got hit! Since when is there a daughter-in-law like this?!”
The ward wasn’t crowded, only a few other new mothers. Most were resting with their eyes closed or sleeping, not looking toward Xu Huiqing. The families of the mothers were usually out on the balcony with the newborns, chatting as the babies got some indirect sunlight for their jaundice, paying no attention to the inside of the room. However, Mother Zhao’s sudden wail startled them all. They opened their eyes and turned to look at Mother Zhao, sitting on the ground and slapping the floor as she wailed.
After listening to a few of Mother Zhao’s tearful lines, they glanced at Xu Huiqing, pale-faced and barely able to keep her eyes open, and couldn’t help but roll their eyes. “Alright, that’s enough! Who are you putting on this act for? I thought your son had walked in!”
“Exactly! Your daughter-in-law just woke up. She probably hasn’t even figured out where she is yet. How could she have the strength to hit you? You’re talking nonsense!”
“Your daughter-in-law had a major hemorrhage. She’s not even back from the gates of hell yet, and you’re stirring up trouble. Would you be happy if you caused the mother of your grandson to die?”
Mother Zhao had intended to seize the moral high ground and condemn her daughter-in-law. When she realized none of the mothers and family members in the ward were taking her side, she cried even louder. “Oh my heavens, I can’t go on living! I come to care for my daughter-in-law, get no thanks, and even get hit, and you all just make sarcastic remarks!” She stood up and pointed at the spot she’d been slapped. “Look, look! Take a good look! It’s this side of my face. It must be red and swollen!”
She was born in the 1940s, coming of age during the hardest years of the sixties and seventies. The Zhao family had only started doing well in recent years by selling gold bars and silver dollars they’d secretly taken and hidden from wealthy families during the rampant denunciation campaigns, using the money to open shops. Before that, they’d been dirt poor. Anyone who wasn’t dirt poor back then had been beaten to death during that special decade.
From years of farm work, Mother Zhao’s skin had been dark since her youth. Now, her old face was like dried tree bark. When she suddenly thrust it forward, not only could no one see any redness or swelling, all they could see were the oily, tanned wrinkles. They quickly pushed her back to maintain some distance. “Just say what you have to say. Why are you getting so close? You’re spraying spit all over me!”
A family member of another mother, long annoyed by Mother Zhao’s complaints, said, “Old woman, just pipe down. What good would it do you if you agitated your daughter-in-law to death? You think a hospital stay is free?”
“I heard from the doctor long ago. Her daughter-in-law’s labor was perfectly fine. It was something they said that agitated her and caused the hemorrhage!”
“What do you mean, ‘something they said’? Didn’t you hear what she said just now? Her daughter-in-law first gave birth to a girl, and they didn’t want to raise her, so they planned to give her away. I was just outside and overheard people saying they hid the granddaughter away so the mother couldn’t see her. That’s what agitated her daughter-in-law and caused the hemorrhage!”
This was information the female doctor and nurses had mentioned, gossip the nurses had privately shared that the others had overheard.
As the people in the maternity ward criticized her one after another, Mother Zhao felt as if the sky was falling. She felt she’d never been so wronged in her life. Tears instantly streamed down her face, and she let out a loud, sobbing cry, “I’m done living~~!”
Holding the baby, she rushed to the window and made to climb out, threatening to jump.
This was a tactic she’d used since her youth, and it had never failed her.
She’d given birth to five daughters in a row. Life was hard back then; everyone’s food rations were strictly limited. When she was pregnant with her third daughter, because her first two were girls, the Zhao family had decided it was her fate to never bear a son. They no longer gave her extra food just because she was pregnant. Eating for two, she was so hungry she was dizzy. She once secretly grabbed a handful of the family’s soybeans behind her in-laws’ backs. Her mother-in-law discovered it and cursed her from one end of the village to the other.
Utterly humiliated and lamenting her bitter fate, she’d slapped her thighs and tried to jump into the old village well, crying, “I’m done living~~~”
But that old well was the village’s only source of drinking water. How could they really let her jump in? Would anyone dare drink the water again after that?
The villagers had all grabbed her and comforted her, then turned to blame her mother-in-law for being too harsh.
Yes, no one blamed her father-in-law, who would actually hit her. They all blamed her mother-in-law, who cursed her.
From that day on, she had learned this trick. Any time things didn’t go her way, she would slap her thighs, sit on the ground, and scream, “I’m done living~~~”
Naturally, the villagers would believe she’d suffered a great injustice and rise to her defense, pointing fingers at her mother-in-law.
And at that time, she truly had suffered, a pitiful daughter-in-law who was bullied.
But now, after years of being a daughter-in-law, she’d finally become a mother-in-law herself. Unconsciously, she’d learned the very same cruel methods her own mother-in-law had once used on her. Now, she was draped over the hospital corridor railing, one leg trying to climb over, pretending to cry and threaten suicide by jumping.
The families who were sitting on stools in the corridor, letting their babies get some indirect sunlight for their jaundice, were so startled they scrambled to get away from her, cursing. “Have you lost your mind? If you want to jump, go somewhere far away! What if you scare my grandson?”
“This is only the second floor. You won’t die jumping from here. Who are you putting on this show for? Enough of your nonsense! Your daughter-in-law just woke up, and you’re already causing trouble!”
They all hurriedly carried their newborns back into the wards, afraid that any blood from her “fall” might splash onto the infants in their arms.
This Women and Children’s Hospital had only been built in 1988. How good could the construction be? The Maternal and Child Health Hospital looked large and was indeed built along a hillside, but the main building was really just a two-story red brick structure. Even if she jumped, she wouldn’t die; she 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 very clearly that this old woman wasn’t actually going to jump. If she meant to, she’d have jumped already. How could she fail to even get her leg over the railing? It was nothing more than a tactic to manipulate her daughter-in-law. Still, they were afraid Mother Zhao’s noise would disturb their own daughters-in-law, daughters, grandsons, or granddaughters. Someone immediately went to call the nurse.
Unlike in later generations, nurses and doctors in this era weren’t often involved in medical disputes or looked down upon as mere servants. People were still deeply respectful of nurses and doctors, seeing them as having secure, iron-rice-bowl jobs.
As soon as a nurse entered the ward, she said sternly, “What’s all this racket about?” Seeing Mother Zhao draped over the cement railing of the corridor, wailing about jumping but making no move to do so, the nurse walked over impatiently. She took the baby from Mother Zhao’s arms, then grabbed Mother Zhao’s arm and pulled her back from the corridor. “What do you think you’re doing? If you want to make a scene, go home and do it! This is a hospital, a place for newborns and mothers to recover!”
This nurse was responsible for the ward’s mothers and infants and recognized both Mother Zhao and the perpetually unconscious Xu Huiqing. After all, the sun-darkened skin of a farmer who worked the fields year-round was enough to distinguish her from the city workers. She said, “You’re the family of the mother in Bed Six, right? Your daughter-in-law has been unconscious since her hemorrhage yesterday. She hasn’t had a single grain of rice or drop of water. Instead of figuring out how to get her some food, you family members are here causing a scene!”
Faced with everyone’s accusatory stares, Mother Zhao felt as pitiful as she had in her youth, her face crumpling in misery as she wiped at her tears.
Just then, Zhao Zongbao pushed open the door and entered, returning from wherever he had been in the hospital.
The instant Mother Zhao saw Zhao Zongbao, it was as if she’d found her backbone. She slapped her thigh and wailed in a drawn-out voice, “My soooon~~!”
Zhao Zongbao had seen his mother act like this countless times since childhood and was long used to it. “What’s wrong?” he asked impatiently, his gaze sweeping threateningly over the bystanders, the nurse, and finally Xu Huiqing, whose face was as white as paper on the hospital bed.
A family member nearby said, “Are you her son? My God, your mother is something else. Your wife just started showing signs of waking up after a major hemorrhage, and your mother’s here crying about being hit. Your wife looks like she’s barely clinging to half a life. Hit her? She’d be lucky just to lift her arm!”
“I just heard the nurse say she hasn’t had a drop of rice water since giving birth yesterday. You, her husband, not only weren’t at the hospital, but you come back without even bringing her something to eat?”
Many people instantly understood why Mother Zhao was so bold in tormenting her daughter-in-law.
Many of them, as mothers-in-law themselves, had poor relationships with their daughters-in-law and might also cause trouble, but none would do so right after the daughter-in-law gave birth, especially after a major hemorrhage that nearly cost her half her life.
And this was a woman who’d given birth to a son. Even for the sake of the grandson, they wouldn’t act like this!
Now they saw Zhao Zongbao arrive at the hospital empty-handed, not even thinking to bring his wife a single grain of rice or a mouthful of water. They understood: if the husband himself barely valued his wife, his mother would naturally dare to torment her daughter-in-law while she was still on the recovery bed.
Zhao Zongbao was always very concerned with his reputation. Seeing everyone in the room pointing fingers at him and his mother, he snapped at Mother Zhao, “Ma, didn’t you buy food for Huiqing?”
In her youth, what Mother Zhao feared most was her in-laws and her husband. Now that she was old and her in-laws were gone, what she feared most was her husband’s and son’s anger. She mumbled hesitantly, “I had to take care of my precious grandson. How could I leave? Besides, I don’t have any money…”
Yes, even though she’d given birth to a son, and her son was now a grown man, she still couldn’t get her hands on more than a few coins at home. The family finances were controlled by Father Zhao and Zhao Zongbao. Whatever money they gave her—a few cents or a few yuan—was all she had.
The looks the others in the room directed at them grew even more contemptuous. But Zhao Zongbao only saw his mother’s actions as a loss of face for him. Annoyed, he pulled out a 1-yuan note and grimly handed it to Mother Zhao, telling her to go to the cafeteria and buy food for Xu Huiqing.
In their remote, prefecture-level city, an ordinary worker’s monthly wage at that time was only one or two hundred yuan. One yuan could already buy a decent meal at the hospital cafeteria.
But Mother Zhao had just been slapped by Xu Huiqing, and her ear and head were still aching from the blow. How could she genuinely want to buy food for her? Spotting some watery rice porridge in the hospital kitchen, she borrowed a cafeteria bowl and ladled out a serving for Xu Huiqing.
At that time, a fried dough stick cost only five fen, and a bowl of watery porridge at the hospital cafeteria was just two fen.