Mother Zhao was beside herself with distress. She snapped at the young doctor nearby, “What kind of doctor uses such a heavy hand? Take it easy, would you?!”
The young doctor had already packed up and left the treatment room. The remaining scrapes and bruises on Zhao Zongbao’s back were left for the nurses to tend to.
The nurses knew all about the Zhao family’s business. While applying the medicine to Zhao Zongbao, their touch was far from gentle. Gripping a cotton ball with forceps, they went over his wounds with rough, rapid strokes, the antiseptic making him break out in a sweat from the pain. Mother Zhao cried out, “Careful, be careful!” the entire time, wishing she could do the disinfection for her son herself.
After a round of treatment, Zhao Zongbao was finally out of danger, and they didn’t need to leave the hospital after all.
By the time the Zhao sisters arrived, the wounds on Zhao Zongbao’s body had long been treated. They used a methylrosanilinium chloride solution, covering his face in dark purple medicine. He was bruised black and purple all over, and half his face was swollen.
At the sight of him, the Zhao sisters were badly startled. The whole group rushed into the hospital room where Zhao Zongbao lay. Seven or eight people instantly packed the space so tightly one could barely move.
The Traditional Chinese Medicine Surgery Department wasn’t as crowded as the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department. Zhao Zongbao’s room only housed him, Mother Zhao, and a nurse changing his IV drip.
“Just what were you up to? How did you fall like this? Weren’t you supposed to be looking after Huiqing? Don’t tell me you ran off to that dance hall to fool around again?” Fifth Sister Zhao opened with a barrage of scolding.
Furious, Mother Zhao swung a hand as if to strike her. “What fooling around? Your brother fell like this, and instead of feeling sorry for him, you only mock him!”
Fifth Sister Zhao, whose real name was Zhao Laidi, wasn’t afraid of her mother in the slightest. She was the youngest child in the family except for Zhao Zongbao. The Zhao family believed she was the one who brought them a son. Not only was she not treated harshly like her middle sisters, she even got to study in school alongside Zhao Zongbao as a child.
Mother Zhao, having already regained her wits, had just been cursing Xu Huiqing for two solid hours. Hearing her youngest daughter’s question now, she launched right into another tirade. “It’s that black-hearted daughter-in-law of yours! After lying in the hospital for half a month, she still refused to go home. Today, when we said we were taking her home, what does she do but push your brother down the stairs as she was going down! If it weren’t for her vicious heart, how could your brother have fallen like this?!”
Her eldest daughter, Zhao Yindi, exploded the moment she heard Xu Huiqing was responsible. “Where is that sister-in-law of mine? I want to ask what kind of ruthless heart could push Zongbao down the stairs!”
Hearing this, the nurse hanging Zhao Zongbao’s IV nearby spoke up. “How can you, an old woman, twist the truth like that? You completely leave out how your daughter-in-law fainted on the stairs. It’s one thing that you haven’t even gone to see her in all the time since the accident, but you’ve been cursing her in this room for two hours!” She then turned to the eldest sister, Zhao Yindi. “And you, not even bothering to find out what really happened before jumping to conclusions. Your sister-in-law is in postpartum confinement, your younger brother is out of danger, but she’s still in the resuscitation room fighting for her life!”
Since this was the Traditional Chinese Medicine Surgery Department in a different building from Obstetrics and Gynecology, the nurse didn’t actually know the details of what happened there. She had no idea that Xu Huiqing was actually fine, long since moved from the resuscitation room, and resting quietly in her own ward.
Third Sister Zhao, Zhao Pandi, hurried over to smooth things over, apologizing. “We’re so sorry, Doctor. My sister just got very anxious hearing about our brother’s fall. Could you tell us which room my sister-in-law is in? I’d like to go see how she’s doing.”
The nurse pointed to a separate red two-story building about fifty or sixty meters away at the base of the hill. “That one over there.” She then said to Mother Zhao, “This is the Traditional Chinese Medicine Surgery Department. It would be best to send the newborn over to Obstetrics for easier care!”
Third Sister Zhao took the newborn from Mother Zhao’s arms and said joyfully, “Is this my big nephew? So handsome, looks exactly like his father!”
The other younger sisters also gathered around to look, full of curiosity. “This little one really knows how to grow. Got his mother’s big eyes, but the nose and mouth are all Zhao family!”
“He’s going to be a real heartthrob when he grows up, no doubt about it. Who knows how many little girls he’ll bewitch, oh my~”
Their husbands also crowded in to see. After a look, Fifth Brother-in-law made a fair comment. “They say daughters take after the father and sons take after the mother, but he actually looks more like Little Sister-in-law.”
This was immediately refuted by Eldest Sister Zhao. “Who says that? Except for the eyes, doesn’t he look just like Zongbao in every single way?”
Fifth Brother-in-law chose not to argue. “Yes, yes, alright. He looks like Little Brother-in-law.”
Cradling the small infant, Third Sister Zhao said, “Ma, you and Eldest Sister stay here and look after Zongbao. Laidi and I will go check on Sister-in-law.” She then asked Zhao Zongbao and Mother Zhao, “Have you named the little nephew yet?”
After days of caring for a newborn and just now enduring a terrible fright, Mother Zhao was utterly exhausted. “Where would we have found time to name him? His mother just calls him ‘Little Treasure’ for now.”
“Calling him ‘Little Treasure’ won’t do! Isn’t that basically Zongbao’s name? People who don’t know better might think we’re calling for his father!” Fifth Sister Zhao said with her usual bluntness. “Better to just call him ‘Dog Egg’ for now. A cheap name is good for a child’s survival!”
Mother Zhao, who was sitting down, smacked her hard on the thigh. “You look like a dog egg to me! You cheap girl can’t stand your brother having a single good thing!”
Dodging to the side, Fifth Sister Zhao said completely straight-faced, “I’m serious! Ask Jianhua, aren’t cheap names the best for raising kids?”
Face stern in anger, Mother Zhao retorted, “There’s cheap, and then there’s that! One more stupid suggestion and I’ll smack you!”
Pouting, Fifth Sister Zhao said, “So what, we just can’t call him ‘Little Treasure’, then? When we say that, are we calling for him or his old man?”
Mother Zhao declared, “We’ll ask your father for the formal name. For the childhood name, let Zongbao pick one for now!”
Zhao Zongbao’s head was filled with nothing but opening a ‘Disco’ dance hall and roller rink to make money. How could he possibly come up with a name? Off the top of his head, he blurted out, “Well then, just call him Disco!”
He even added a northern Chinese dialect flourish to the last syllable, making the ‘Disco’ sound like ‘Dis-kor’!
Eldest Sister Zhao, Zhao Yindi, was always his biggest supporter. She immediately clapped her hands in approval. “Oh my word! Giving him a fancy foreign name, are we? How modern!”
Third Sister Zhao, still holding the newborn, also laughed. “Now that’s keeping up with foreign trends, a first for all of Water Wharf Town! His father sure has a knack for picking names!”
Fourth Sister Zhao, always a quiet, withdrawn figure, just smiled silently and said nothing.
Fifth Sister Zhao scoffed dismissively. “Dis-kor? Sounds more like the name of a dance hall to me, if you ask me!”
Mother Zhao reached out to hit her again. “You and your big mouth!”
The fun-loving Eldest Brother-in-law Zhao laughed instead. “That name’s great! It’s totally cool and trendy!”
The other brothers-in-law simply smiled, saying nothing. An awkward moment settled over the room.
As was her habit, Third Sister Zhao smoothed things over. “We haven’t even seen our sister-in-law yet. Eldest Sister, Eldest Brother-in-law, you stay and look after Ma and Zongbao here. Youdi, Laidi, and I will go see Sister-in-law!”
Xu Huiqing had only been pretending to faint. She had long since been sent back to her hospital room. But because of the spotless reputation she had always maintained within the Zhao family, not one of the sisters suspected she was faking it.
Among the three, Fifth Sister Zhao had the liveliest personality. As soon as she entered the room, she walked straight to the bedside and called out brightly, “Huiqing! Huiqing!”
Quietly, Fourth Sister Zhao said, “Huiqing is asleep. Keep your voice down!” She then asked the other new mother in the neighboring bed, “Do you know how long my sister-in-law has been sleeping?”
That new mother had been resting too and had just woken up. Hearing the question, she shook her head. “She was already asleep when I woke up.”
Hearing Third Sister Zhao call Xu Huiqing ‘sister-in-law’ a moment ago, the other people in the room knew these were also relatives from her husband’s family. Another person said, “She just came out of the resuscitation room not long ago and only just laid down to rest!”
It wasn’t just Xu Huiqing who needed rest—all the other new mothers and newborns in the room did too.
Seeing a plastic basin filled with the newborn’s soiled cloth diapers under Xu Huiqing’s bed, Fourth Sister Zhao silently picked it up and went to the washroom near the stairs to wash them.
Third Sister Zhao asked around for where to find milk for the baby and went off to feed the newborn. Meanwhile, Fifth Sister Zhao stayed in the room, chatting with the other patients’ families to find out what had happened with her sister-in-law.
At first, the other families, seeing she was from the husband’s side, were reluctant to speak ill of her mother-in-law to her. But soon, one by one, they chimed in, recounting everything Mother Zhao had done inside that room. “I’ve never seen a mother-in-law caring for a postpartum woman like her,” one of them remarked. “She did give your family a grandson, right?”
Nodding, Fifth Sister Zhao said, “Yes, yes, of course.” Before long, she had learned from the gathered family members exactly what had transpired over the past few days.
Xu Huiqing had woken up the moment Third Sister Zhao’s voice rang out in the room, but she pretended otherwise, continuing to feign sleep. Only when the room grew noisy again over half an hour later did she finally act as though she was just regaining consciousness.
Third Sister Zhao had long since finished feeding the baby. Seeing her awake, she quickly brought the child over and laid him right next to Xu Huiqing’s side. Smiling at Xu Huiqing, she said, “We just gave him some formula, and he’s had a poo. Are you feeling any better? I heard from the others you had that, what’s it called, postpartum eclampsia? Sounds terribly frightening. We were scared out of our wits just hearing about it!”
The Zhao sisters all knew their sister-in-law was gentle and virtuous by nature. Having her made them feel they had more support. They had no faults to find whatsoever with Xu Huiqing.
Fourth Sister Zhao had long since finished washing the diapers and hung them over the railing in the hallway outside to dry. She walked over to help Xu Huiqing sit up, asking softly, “Do you need to use the restroom?”
Fifth Sister Zhao walked over and said, “Oh, don’t you take the things Mom says to heart. She didn’t used to be like that. She’s just the same to us sisters these days, even tried to hit me just now. The older she gets, the more muddled her mind becomes!”
Third Sister Zhao nodded in agreement. “You have no idea how pitiful Ma used to be, tortured half to death by her mother-in-law! It’s only been these last few years, since Granny and Grandpa passed away, that her days have become a little easier. So just bear with her a bit, and don’t let her words get to you.”
Xu Huiqing only pretended to be weak, smiling faintly without saying much. She finally asked them, “Is Zongbao alright?”
Fifth Sister Zhao dismissed it casually. “Him? What’s there to worry about? He’s still hopping around fit as a fiddle. Don’t you worry about him, just focus on taking care of yourself!”
Tucking the corner of Xu Huiqing’s blanket in, Third Sister Zhao added, “His injuries weren’t light, actually. The nurse said he got a hole knocked in his head and some kind of concussion. When we got there, his arm was still in a sling, his leg was broken, and his face was all painted purple and green with bruises. He was stuck in bed, couldn’t even move.”
At once, Xu Huiqing pretended to be terribly worried, making a move as if to throw off her covers and go see. The three Zhao sisters quickly stopped her. “Hey! Don’t you move! You’re still in your lying-in month. If you go out and catch a draft, you’ll be plagued with headaches for the rest of your life!” They pressed her back down onto the bed. “You just lie there and get some rest. Eldest Sister and your brothers-in-law are all with Zongbao!”
Deep worry filled Xu Huiqing’s eyes. Blaming herself, she said, “If I hadn’t suddenly fainted, Zongbao wouldn’t have fallen trying to help me…”
A sad expression on her face, she turned onto her side, facing the veranda outside the window. The sunlight streaming in through the glass could not dispel the gloom gathering in her eyes.
A silent, upward curl touched the corner of her lips.
Zhao Zongbao wanted to leave, didn’t he? Well now, no one was going anywhere.
Hehe.