"Ah!" Liu Fen groaned in pain, her whole body tensing up.

Su Wantang didn't stop and quickly pulled out the needle.

The next second, a thick, yellowish-green liquid with a fishy smell, mixed with rotten milk curds, spurted out from the tiny needle hole and splashed onto the prepared gauze.

The blocked exit has been opened.

Su Wantang immediately took the hot towel that Wen Yuzhen handed her, applied it to her face, and then used her already disinfected hands to squeeze it forcefully from the outside in.

"Ugh..." Liu Fen gasped in pain, but she could clearly feel that as the "bad milk" was squeezed out little by little, the excruciating pain that was driving her crazy—the swollen and hard pain—was subsiding at an incredible speed. It was as if the boulder pressing on her chest was being moved away bit by bit.

Su Wantang's forehead was also covered in sweat. She kept working until the expressed milk changed from yellowish-green to normal milky white before she stopped.

"All done." She breathed a long sigh of relief, wiped it clean with a clean gauze, and then took a clean, hot towel to apply it to the affected area.

Liu Fen slumped back in her chair, panting heavily. Her face was still pale, but the fever that had been driving her delirious had subsided considerably. She looked down at her chest, which was no longer as hard as a rock, and tears streamed down her face again.

This time, the tears were of gratitude and relief.

The baby in her arms, who had been whimpering, seemed to smell the long-lost scent of milk. Suddenly, it opened its little mouth and eagerly nuzzled against her chest.

"Quick, let the baby nurse," Su Wantang said softly. "He is the best lactation consultant."

With trembling hands, Liu Fen held the child to her chest.

The little one immediately took it in its mouth precisely and began to suckle vigorously. The powerful sucking caused Liu Fen another slight stinging pain, but compared to the previous pain, this pain was simply heaven.

Inside the room, only the child's contented swallowing sounds could be heard.

Looking at her son, who was sweating profusely from eating, in her arms, and then at Su Wantang, Liu Fen's lips trembled, and she couldn't say a word, only tears streaming down her face.

This injection not only saved her life, but also her child's life.

Chapter 27

After the child had eaten and drunk his fill, he finally stopped crying and nestled on Liu Fen's shoulder, emitting soft, even snores. Those snores were the most beautiful music in the world.

Holding her child, Liu Fen was still in a daze from exhaustion. She looked at the fine beads of sweat on Su Wantang's forehead, then at Wen Yuzhen, who was busy cleaning up the mess and looking at her with heartache. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she knelt down with a thud while holding her child.

"Dr. Su, Auntie, I...I'm begging you! You saved my life and my child's life!"

"Oh dear, what are you doing!" Wen Yuzhen was startled and quickly went to help her up.

Su Wantang quickly stepped forward and grabbed her arm: "Get up quickly, Sister Fen. You're still weak. You just sweated so much. You can't kneel on the ground in the wind."

The two of them helped her up. Liu Fen stood there, tears still streaming down her face, repeatedly uttering the same few words of gratitude.

Wen Yuzhen draped a cotton-padded coat over her and wrapped the child up tightly. She then put two still-warm boiled eggs into her hand and said, "Take these and eat them on the way to nourish your body. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, don't bear them alone. Just come and talk to your aunt."

Liu Fen clutched the two still-warm eggs, nodded, bowed deeply to Su Wantang, then picked up the child and walked away, turning back to look at him every step of the way.

Stepping out of the Lu family's courtyard, Liu Fen shivered as the wind blew. But holding her well-fed and sleeping son in her arms, and clutching a warm egg in her hand, the ice that had frozen her heart with illness and despair seemed to melt away completely.

She felt that the sky was brighter than before, and even the chirping of sparrows on the withered branches by the roadside sounded pleasant.

The rows of houses in the family compound weren't far apart, just around the corner. Her door was ajar, and dim light shone through the crack. Liu Fen took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

Inside the house, her mother-in-law, Granny Li, was sitting at the table, sewing shoe soles with a thimble in her hand. Hearing the door open, she didn't even look up, but spoke in a sarcastic tone: "Oh, you've finally decided to come back? I thought you'd died out there."