"Three daughters, huh." Lin Wan sighed.
"Exactly, theyâve been waiting to have a son, and now that woman is pregnant again, looks like sheâs five or six months along."
Lin Wan opened her mouth, listening to the commotion next door, frowned slightly, "Five or six months along, and still wants to have an abortion?"
"Who knows? That woman doesnât go to work all day; neighbors say sheâs a glutton. Her three daughters canât even out-eat her. If thereâs anything good in our area, she wonât miss it. Thereâs just one breadwinner in their family, theyâre not wealthy, and yet she spends extravagantly. No wonder her husband isnât satisfied with her." Liang Hongmei said, glancing back at the window to check on her granddaughter, seeing the child still asleep, she went outside curiously.
It wasnât just them curious; several neighbors nearby, idling inside, all poked their heads out upon hearing the noise.
The few who saw this, chuckled softly amongst themselves.
"This time the man went too far, wondering if the baby in her belly can be saved." One quick neighbor nudged them and whispered.
"Her husband doesnât usually favor her, but heâs not recklessly indiscreet either. No matter how angry he gets, sheâs still pregnant; canât go too far... Weâre neighbors, why donât we go and advise them?" One of them hesitated.
Hearing this, everyone quickly shook their heads, "Better not go, knowing her temper, sheâll definitely think weâre deliberately laughing at her. Weâd seem like weâre trying to mediate but end up being cursed right in our faces, why seek that trouble?"
"Exactly, we should just watch the situation, thereâs someone in their family, anyway, the old couple is at home."
Liang Hongmei, somewhat familiar with one of the neighbors, smiled and asked, "Whatâs this all about anyway, sheâs heavily pregnant, arenât they worried about hurting the baby?"
"Xiao Liang, itâs not like your family where daughters are cherished." The neighbors knew her daughter had a baby girl, having gifted eggs to them recently. They visited and saw that her daughter was surrounded by family, treasured immensely.
"They say this fetus is another girl, she wants to abort, but her husband disagrees."
"I think sheâs just foolish and reckless, with her belly so big, how can you think of aborting, it could cost a life."
Lin Wan silently listened on the side, thinking, "That woman deserves it, back then she was gloating when she harmed herself. Although under someone elseâs influence, she wasnât good either."
"Her husband is decent, even if he wants a son, he doesnât treat his daughters poorly, theyâre his children after all, and when theyâre this big, how can you talk of abortion? Besides, that personâs prediction was based on pulse readings, without knowing for sure, she insists itâs a girl and wants to abort."
"Pulse readings arenât as accurate as hospital check-ups." Iâve heard thereâs equipment that can tell now.
"Sheâs probably scared anyway," after having three already, she doesnât want to take the risk, especially since enforcement from above has been tight recently.
"Sheâs just causing trouble, thereâs no certainty in this matter. Take my niece for instance, constantly checked in hospitals at the capital. Her family, having hospital insiders, said it was a girl all along. Finally, the baby came out a boy. They stood outside the delivery room, waiting for the baby. When the nurse came out holding a boy, they were stunned, insisting the nurse got it wrong."
"Who can predict such things? But this fetus seems different from the previous ones."
These outsiders were merely gossiping, making assumptions about the situation they knew little about. Lin Wan listened for a while, unsurprisingly, it was about the child. She worried that the noise might scare her daughter.
So she went back inside, sat beside Little Star, gently holding her hand to offer some comfort.
Liang Hongmei gossiped outside with neighbors for over an hour, finally returning when the noise subsided.
"Sure enough, thereâs trouble, the man hurriedly pushed the cart with her out, she looked pale, must be complications."
Lin Wan watched her mother so engrossed in the matter, amusingly said, "Why bother with them?"
"Iâm just thinking about how she intentionally collided with you before and got angry, itâs her own fault. Iâm telling you, her appearance isnât because her husband hit her."
"Oh, not a beating?"
"She took abortion pills herself."
This got Lin Wanâs jaw dropping in surprise, "Already so advanced, she dared privately take abortion pills?"
"Thatâs why sheâs making trouble. Serves her right." Thinking about her daughterâs situation back then, she felt no sympathy for the woman.
Almost wished her child would just perish, but she only entertained the thought, unlike that womanâs heartlessness.
Taking abortion pills obviously meant the child couldnât survive, sure enough, the next day, Liang Hongmei heard from neighbors that the baby was aborted, causing massive hemorrhage, the motherâs life was spared, but future fertility was probably compromised.
Informed of the incident, the elderly at her house sat on the doorstep, slapping their thighs while cursing and crying.
Cursed until twilight, yet didnât see her make food for her daughter-in-law or visit her at the hospital, certainly wonât have a cozy postpartum month.
Liang Hongmei, hearing about her fertility issue, was thrilled for a few days.
But before the thrill wore off, a sudden rain that night caught Liang Hongmei unprepared, resulting in a chill.
This was worse than a cold, plagued by severe stomach pain, fever, and a bad feeling after eating something. With her brother not at home, Han Yi absent too, Lin Wan had to take her mom to the hospital with the child.
A checkup revealed symptoms of appendicitis. Lin Wan didnât hesitate and arranged surgery for her mom.
Liang Hongmei assumed it wasnât severe and thought medication would suffice. But Lin Wan stood firm in her decision.
When Lin Yinghui received the call, Liang Hongmei was already out of surgery. Thankfully, it was a minor operation, Lin Yinghui arrived to see her lying on the hospital bed getting an IV drip.
Liang Hongmei was spirited, but watched as her daughter busied, and also cared for the child. Things were hectic with the baby peeing everywhere, quite a busy day indeed.
"Iâm okay, once this drip finishes, todayâs over. You should take your sister home; the hospital isnât a good place, Little Star is young, canât linger here."
"Mom, I know, Iâll just talk to the nurse to watch over you." Lin Yinghui told the nurse to help, then quickly took Lin Wan and Little Star home.
Criticized Lin Wan all the way, blaming her for not notifying him earlier.
"You manage with a kid and mom, you really can."
"Oh, brother, Iâm wrong, okay? It was urgent, couldnât wait. I did call you now."
Unhappy, Lin Yinghui glared at her but said nothing more, after seeing Lin Wan home, hurried back to the hospital.
Lin Yinghui took two days off work until Liang Hongmei got her stitches out and left the hospital.
Meant to stay two more days, but Liang Hongmei worried about delaying her sonâs work and was uneasy about leaving her daughter alone at home with the kid, so she left early, planning to use a local clinic for IV treatment.
After settling her mom, Lin Yinghui went to a nearby private clinic.
This clinic was run by an old Chinese doctor who also practiced some Western medicine, just opened two months ago, but locals praised his skills.
Lin Wan arrived as he was heading out with his medicine case.
Lin Wan quickly related the situation to the doctor.
The old doctor chuckled, "Most injections around here are the same, three days of antibiotics, total of five bucks."
Lin Wan gave six bucks and had the doctor prescribe more meds. Then she rushed home.
Lin Yinghui wasted a few days, couldnât take more leave; once the person left, Lin Yinghui returned to work, leaving Lin Wan home to accompany.
"Mom, keep an eye on your medication, Iâm going to cook." Lin Wan tidied up Little Star and placed her near her mother.
"Go ahead, simple meal will do, I crave some savory broth." After the surgery, feeling somewhat uneasy.
"Okay."
Fearing the child might fuss soon, Lin Wan hurried to the kitchen, cooked two bowls of egg noodle soup.
Just about to eat when Han Yi returned to the front courtyard, knocked on the door for a while, seeing no response, came over here.
"Youâre back," when calling last time, Lin Wan didnât expect him to use Brother Huangâs mule cart.