The new mothers and family members in the ward burst into laughter.
Family members from the neighboring wards, carrying their own newborns, came over to this ward to watch the spectacle.
Among them were families of new mothers who had been in the hospital for days, as well as newly arrived ones. How could they, busy sunning the jaundiced newborns in the hallway every day, not know whether Zhao Zongbao had come to the hospital to take care of Xu Huiqing?
With this much commotion, Zhao Zongbao simply lay on the bench, pretending to be fast asleep, and even started snoring before things settled down.
Zhao Zongbao didn’t need to speak for himself. His mother was quick to argue on his behalf. She blustered, “You’re a man’s wife, how can you not know how to feel for your man? He has to work outside. Doesn’t he have to earn money? You think the money for your hospital stay just blew in with the wind? Isn’t it only right he doesn’t come to the hospital to care for you? Am I not here taking care of you? As his wife, you don’t feel sorry for him, and you won’t even give him a bite to eat. Are you even human?” She pointed her finger right at Xu Huiqing’s nose, turning the blame around. “I’ve never seen such a venomous woman!”
As she spoke, she grabbed at the soup bowl in Xu Huiqing’s hand. The chicken soup splashed onto the bedside table during their struggle.
The older woman who had delivered the postpartum confinement meal couldn’t stand it anymore. She said loudly, “You, old woman, is your grown son so deprived he needs a new mother’s food? You’re snatching your daughter-in-law’s confinement meal? Haven’t you ever eaten good food your whole life?” Then, pointing at the seemingly dead Zhao Zongbao lying on the hallway bench, she scolded, “Don’t just lie there and say nothing. Your mother is snatching your wife’s confinement meal for you, and you’re just watching? Say something!”
If he were her own son, she would have cursed, “Are you dead?”
Zhao Zongbao was indeed hungry. The chicken noodle soup the accompanying older woman had made was simply too fragrant.
But by now, he could no longer feign sleep. He opened his eyes, full of impatience, and snapped at his mother, “Mom, can you stop making a scene? That’s Huiqing’s food. If I want to eat, don’t I know how to go to the cafeteria?”
The older woman who had earlier helped Xu Huiqing retrieve her confinement meal and cleaned up the spilled soup on the table added, “Exactly. A grown man with hands and feet can eat anywhere. I’ve never seen anyone snatch a new mother’s confinement meal!”
In a place Zhao Zongbao couldn’t see, she silently spat in contempt: How utterly shameless!
Now, all the newly arrived mothers and their families in the entire ward knew just how mean Mother Zhao was!
Feeling too ashamed to stay at the hospital any longer, Zhao Zongbao irritably raked his fingers through his hair. He spoke to Xu Huiqing with the same impatience, saying, “You’ve been in the hospital for half a month now, and you’ve recovered enough, right? I’ll come pick you up tomorrow to go home!” With that, he strode out and found a guesthouse near the hospital to catch up on sleep.
In the recent days of her hospital stay in the neighboring city, he had thoroughly enjoyed his time in the city, dancing disco every day and befriending many young men and women there.
After spending so much time at discos and roller skating rinks, he realized how profitable they were. Besides dancing and skating in recent days, he planned to set up his own disco and roller skating rink after returning to Water Wharf Town. He had already thought of a location: his old house, less than a mile from town.
There was reason he had been able to make a name for himself in the business world in his past life. His power to execute was immense. Once the idea struck, he spent his days in the neighboring city’s dance halls, ranging from entry-level ones with a five-yuan entrance fee to those costing ten, twenty, and thirty yuan.
For now, he disregarded the twenty- and thirty-yuan ones. The cheapest types, with five- or ten-yuan entry fees, only required a large, cement-smoothed floor space, a few colorful rotating light balls, some powerful speakers, and a cassette player. Turn off the lights, crank the music up loud, and it was a dance floor.
Acquiring sound systems and such was easy for him. His own family was in the home appliance business, so he had the connections. They even had a TV and VCD player at home for playing dance videos. The main thing he hadn’t figured out yet was the distribution channel for alcohol.
Initially, he’d wanted to fully understand the alcohol supply chain before going back. However, over the past few days, he felt Xu Huiqing had become too uncooperative. In the hospital, she’d offended not only his mother but also showed him no respect. He wanted to teach her a lesson, and thus decided to take her home early.
Once he sent her home, she’d be alone, and still confined for postpartum recovery. Wouldn’t he then be able to do whatever he wanted with her?
Man is heaven, woman is earth. A woman should obediently stay at home, supporting her husband and educating her children, serving her husband and in-laws. It had only been a couple of days outside, and she already dared to contradict his mother!
A man of decisive action, he returned to the hospital the very next day. He settled Xu Huiqing’s hospital bills for her stay and processed her discharge.
The hospital also believed Xu Huiqing had recovered sufficiently and didn’t obstruct her discharge. Typically, a new mother could leave the hospital after three to five days to continue her confinement recovery at home; seven days was already a long stay. The Zhao family’s willingness to let their daughter-in-law stay for a full half-month was already considered remarkably generous.
However, Zhao Zongbao wanted to school Xu Huiqing further. This time, he deliberately refused to hire a car and insisted on taking her home via minibus.
There were no minibuses right outside the hospital. To catch one, you first had to take a public bus from in front of the hospital to South Station, then walk two or three hundred meters to the South Station Bus Terminal, and finally board it there.
Never mind how severely overloaded minibuses were in those days—it was normal to have a dozen or even twenty extra passengers crammed in. The distance from the hospital ward to the hospital entrance alone was a good hundred or two hundred meters. From the entrance to the bus stop was another fifty or sixty meters. And a bus wouldn’t necessarily be waiting; you might have to wait another ten minutes or more.
When locals in the neighboring city took their new mothers home, the mothers were wrapped up tightly. They wore large cotton hats over their heads and big padded coats over their bodies, for fear of them catching the slightest draft. They descended from the ward, got straight into a local tricycle taxi, and went directly home.
Even for new mothers from the surrounding countryside, going home meant carefully padding an upside-down bamboo bed with thick mattresses. The mother and newborn lay inside, covered with more thick quilts. Four or five men would carry and support them all the way to the station, or they’d charter a large tricycle. The mother was not allowed to take even a single extra step, ensuring she didn’t catch a draft on the way home.
But not the Zhao family.
With no one from Xu Huiqing’s own family present, naturally, no one cared about her physical well-being. Zhao Zongbao wanted to purposefully wear down her spirit. Mother Zhao, while aware that new mothers shouldn’t be exposed to drafts, had herself been mistreated during her own post-pregnancy recoveries in her younger years. She wished her daughter-in-law could suffer exactly as she had. Why would she ever remind Zhao Zongbao of this?
Xu Huiqing just sat on the bed, watching Zhao Zongbao and his mother pack up.
Mother Zhao initially wanted Xu Huiqing to hold the newborn while she carried the cloth diapers and mattress they’d brought to the city.
Xu Huiqing obediently reached out to take the baby. However, as she stepped off the bed, her arms suddenly went weak and her body lurched forward. The newborn in her arms nearly tumbled out!
Mother Zhao was terrified!
The newborn, equally startled, burst into loud cries.
This was the precious grandson the Zhao family had pressured Xu Huiqing so hard to bear. Her mind going blank, Mother Zhao snatched the infant away, cradling him carefully to soothe him, and raised her hand to strike Xu Huiqing. “Are you courting death? You can’t even hold a baby properly. What good are you?”
A nurse nearby, seeing her attempt to hit Xu Huiqing, hurriedly intervened. “Your son is standing right there! Why don’t you give the baby to him to hold instead of the new mother? Don’t you know the patient hasn’t recovered yet and is still weak?”
Family members in the ward all gathered to watch, urging Zhao Zongbao, “Aiyah, why are you just standing there, a grown man? Don’t tell me you want your wife to do the work! Let your mother hold your son, and you carry the things!”
Zhao Zongbao had been raised from childhood as the little emperor of the household. All family matters were never his concern, so he had no concept of doing chores. He was long accustomed to having his mother and his five older sisters take care of everything. After his five sisters married off, Xu Huiqing took their place.
Hearing that her son was expected to do manual labor, how could Mother Zhao agree? She hastily clutched the newborn while draping clothes and mattresses over herself. “No need for him. What does he know about chores? I’ll carry it all!”
Xu Huiqing simply steadied herself against the bed, standing up, looking like she couldn’t stand on her own and needed support.
Seeing her about to leave like that, the women family members in the ward hastily advised, “You absolutely can’t go out like this! If the wind hits you, you’ll fall ill for life, suffering headaches forever. You should wear a hat. No hat? You must have a towel, right? If nothing else, wrap a piece of clothing around your head!”
They also chastised Mother Zhao. “Your daughter-in-law is young and doesn’t know better, but you’ve lived so long and don’t know either? How can you let a new mother go out like this?”
Someone who had spoken up was tugged by another person in the ward. Once the Zhao family had exited, the person who tugged explained to the one who’d spoken out, “Sigh, don’t bother. It’s useless! That old woman wishes she could torment her daughter-in-law to death, and that man doesn’t care about anything!”
Xu Huiqing walked outside the ward, looking at Mother Zhao, who was laden with bed pads and various postpartum items, the newborn still in her arms. Already slight of frame, the bedding made her look even frailer.
Seeming to find it unbearable, she called out softly and weakly to Mother Zhao, “Mom, give Little Treasure to me. You’re carrying too many things by yourself; you must be so tired.”
How could Mother Zhao dare give her precious grandson back to Xu Huiqing now? She held him even closer. “Alright, just walk. I wouldn’t dare give you my big grandson again. If he were to get seriously hurt in a fall, I wouldn’t have anywhere to cry!”
She rocked the baby gently in her arms, cooing.
There were no elevators. The Obstetrics and Gynecology inpatient building had only two floors, connected by concrete stairs painted with green lacquer.
Xu Huiqing, holding the stair railing, descended step by cautious step.
A family member from the same ward, carrying her child to watch them leave, couldn’t help but snap at Zhao Zongbao, “Help your wife a little! Don’t you see how weak she is? Couldn’t you have gotten a bamboo bed to carry her down? Or carry your wife on your back!”
Zhao Zongbao made as if to go and carry Xu Huiqing on his back. Mother Zhao quickly pulled him away. “Why on earth would she need to be carried? Let her walk! I gave birth to six children and I was fine every time. Wouldn’t I know? She’s still got unclean blood. If it gets on you, you’ll suffer terrible bad luck! Hurry up and go!”
She pushed Zhao Zongbao forward. Zhao Zongbao turned, hesitatingly looked at his mother, then at Xu Huiqing. He said, with a look of difficulty, “Huiqing, can you walk by yourself? If you really can’t, then… I’ll carry you.”
In the past, the virtuous and understanding Xu Huiqing, who never wanted to trouble anyone, would have gritted her teeth and forced herself to walk, no matter the cost!
Now, however, Xu Huiqing, using the stair railing for support and on the verge of collapse, suddenly went rigid. Like a deadweight stone mallet, she hurled herself hard toward Zhao Zongbao, slamming a headbutt viciously into his nose.