Chapter 48 Gao Nian'an
Staff hospital.
The devastation caused by the summer rains seems to have faded from people's memories over time. November is already more than halfway over, and the sky is only beginning to resemble winter.
Chen Yun put down her pen, stood up, and walked to the window to look out. The soreness in her lower back was obvious, making it impossible for her to sit on the hard bench for a long time.
Knock knock knock—
There was a sudden knock on the office door, and Zuo Lingling cautiously peeked in from outside.
"What are you doing!"
"The hospital director is going to a meeting at the provincial hospital tomorrow, so I'll submit the application report for the operating room there while I'm at it."
Even turning around has become slow lately. Chen Yun held her waist with one hand for a while before she could see Zuo Lingling's face.
Chen Yun knew from her droopy eyebrows that she must have encountered some problem again.
"What difficulties did you encounter?" Chen Yun asked with a smile.
"That ultrasound machine... What's wrong with you?!"
Chen Yun's face contorted in pain as she bent over, bracing herself against the corner of the office desk and taking several deep breaths before looking up with a sense of helplessness.
"I think I'm starting to have contractions."
A tightening sensation deep within my lower abdomen came in waves, and an unsettling feeling of heaviness gradually became clearer.
"What should we do then!" Zuo Lingling asked instinctively in her panic. She only snapped out of her daze when she saw Chen Yun beckoning to her. She quickly ran over and helped him to a chair.
"Let me check my stomach." Chen Yun tried to calm her breathing, then raised her hand and began to feel her abdomen.
My fingertips touched the bulging side of my abdomen, where it felt like a slowly drawn bow quietly tightening, a feeling of pressure spreading from my lower abdomen.
Chen Yun placed her wrist on the table again and began counting her pulse.
A minute later, she looked up at Zuo Lingling and smiled weakly: "It's not Braxton Hicks contractions, I might be going into labor."
"I'm...I'm going into labor!"
"First, we'll disinfect the delivery room and its equipment. It looks like I'll be the first woman to give birth in the new delivery room."
Before he could even finish a sentence, his forehead was already covered in a thick layer of cold sweat.
"Don't panic." Chen Yun saw that Zuo Lingling was even more panicked than herself, so she quickly smiled reassuringly at her: "Go downstairs and have Duan Yun prepare for the delivery. Also, could you please find someone to go home and inform my parents to bring all the things the baby needs to the hospital... I'll tell them that the baby won't be born immediately."
"Okay...okay, I'll go right away."
Zuo Lingling was so flustered that she couldn't even speak coherently because Chen Yun had entrusted her with the important task of delivering her baby last month.
Even though I've learned countless ways to handle emergencies in production from books over the past two years, and I've seen Chen Yun deliver babies for others many times.
But now... as the attending physician, she is responsible for delivering Chen Yun's baby.
Chen Yun and her child's lives were in her hands, and Zuo Lingling was under so much pressure that she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time.
"Everything will be fine with me here," Chen Yun smiled again.
"good!"
Zuo Lingling turned and went downstairs.
Chen Yun took a few more deep breaths and slowly stood up, leaning on the table.
"Little guy, you just had to pick a day when your dad wasn't home."
Because Chen Yun was about to give birth, Gao Ming arranged most of his work so that he could return the next day, just in case he was worried that if he went to the provincial capital for four or five days, he wouldn't have enough time to get home.
Unexpectedly, Gao Ming started the engine right after he set off that afternoon.
As Ye Yuanjun slowly moved out of the office, the door to the office two offices next door suddenly opened, and Ye Yuanjun walked out with a teacup in his hand, leaning leisurely against the door frame to drink his tea.
Fang Ping suddenly walked up to Chen Yun and reached out to support her.
"Dr. Chen."
"Thanks."
Since the heavy rain, Ye Yuanjun has harbored a deep grudge against Chen Yun. Although he was just standing there without moving, he had been cursing Chen Yun countless times in his heart.
Three doctors from the hospital, including Fang Ping, were eligible to participate in the selection of outstanding individuals this year, but Ye Yuanjun's name appeared in the criticism column following Gao Cheng's.
The cause, of course, was that Chen Yun truthfully reported everything that happened at the hospital that night.
Fang Ping put Chen Yun's arm on her shoulder and leaned most of the weight on herself.
Through her sweat-blurred eyelids, Chen Yun glanced at Fang Ping.
The feeling of palpitations I used to get when I got close to someone has recently disappeared for unknown reasons...
The two slowly descended to the first floor.
"Dr. Zuo," Chen Yun called out, his voice echoing in the empty first-floor corridor.
After the heavy rain stopped, the number of people going to the hospital for prenatal checkups increased, so Liu Baoguo decided to separate the delivery room from the emergency room and set it up at the end of the corridor on the first floor.
"To the delivery room."
The contractions subsided temporarily as they went downstairs, and Chen Yun's voice was calm and even, as she directed Duan Yun and the others to prepare, just like she would when she was about to enter the delivery room to help someone else give birth.
However, the relief was only momentary. In an instant, Chen Yun felt the downward pressure intensify, and a warm, viscous liquid uncontrollably gushed out from the inside of her legs.
Zuo Lingling's lips trembled, and she stood frozen in place, dumbfounded like a puppet pinned to a door.
"Stop spacing out!" Chen Yun's voice suddenly rose, and her body swayed violently: "Help me lie down."
The cold cast iron bed emitted a strong smell of disinfectant. As soon as Chen Yun lay down, her mind exploded. It felt as if a hand was violently pulling the fetus in her womb downwards. The overhead light suddenly turned on, and her consciousness went into a brief daze.
Looking at the delivery room from another angle is quite a novel experience; it seems like every face appearing above it is somewhat different.
"Director Chen, I'm starting now." Zuo Lingling raised her hands and approached, and even through her mask and hat, you could still see beads of sweat rolling down her face. "If any step is wrong, just stop me."
“Okay.” Chen Yun replied, her voice already hoarse before she even started to push: “Sister Duan Yun, you will be the midwife today and will be responsible for observing the position of the baby’s head.”
"Okay," Duan Yun replied hastily.
The surging contractions engulfed Chen Yun like a tsunami; they were a primal life force powerful enough to destroy all reason.
"Director Chen, inhale—exert force!"
"Director Chen, we can see the top of the fetus, almost four centimeters..."
Chen Yun closed her eyes and, under Duan Yun's command, exerted all her strength. Then she suddenly opened her eyes and shouted, "Doctor Zuo! Lift her up to prevent the birth canal from tearing!"
This command seemed to explode in Zuo Lingling's mind. All the fear and panic shattered into dust after that "Doctor Zuo," and a force derived from professional instinct surged into her heart.
Just as she braced her buttocks with both hands, Chen Yun let out a painful scream.
"The head is out."
"They're out!"
The tiny life, covered in blood and slime, broke through the last obstacle and landed in Zuo Lingling's palm.
She couldn't contain her excitement; she quickly handed the child to Duan Yun and turned to finish up the remaining tasks.
She remembered that Chen Yun had done just that...
Chen Yun fell onto the delivery bed, panting heavily, each breath seemingly filled with indescribable exhaustion.
"Ha ha."
Chen Yun suddenly smiled, slowly raised her right hand, and gave Zuo Lingling a thumbs up.
Thank you.
Even though her voice was weak and soft, that "thank you" was enough to bring tears to the eyes of several colleagues present.
"Wow—wow—"
The loud cry seemed to pierce through the somewhat shabby delivery room, interrupting everyone's brief moment of calm.
"Director Chen, it's a girl."
Duan Yun cleaned the blood off the child's body, wrapped the tiny infant in swaddling clothes, leaving only the wrinkled, monkey-like little face showing.
Is the child still healthy?
"Healthy." Duan Yun smiled, carrying the swaddled baby to the delivery bed, and gently let the baby's face touch Chen Yun's face: "Listen to this crying, it's so loud you can hear it in the corridor, she'll definitely be a mischievous girl in the future."
All her weariness seemed to be washed away by the crying beside her, and Chen Yun tilted her head and tried to look into the swaddling clothes.
"My parents are already here!"
The swaddling clothes were a small cotton quilt prepared by Xu Cuihua herself, with the names of Chen Yun and Gao Ming specially embroidered on the back, to prevent others from giving the baby the wrong baby.
As soon as they saw the swaddling clothes, they knew that their parents had arrived.
"I arrived a while ago and have been waiting at the door for quite a while." Duan Yun smiled and then told Chen Yun some good news: "Xiao Hu went to your house to deliver a letter and happened to run into Section Chief Gao on his way home."
"And he caught up with us." Chen Yun chuckled, feeling utterly exhausted and unwilling to move.
"Then I'll take the child out first."
Chen Yun nodded weakly.
Subconsciously, she felt that time was long and painful, but in reality, it was only a little over thirty minutes from when she was brought in to when the child was born.
The entrance to the delivery room, just one door away.
Gao Ming also felt that time was running out, and he always felt uneasy when he went out in the morning. Just before setting off, he suddenly decided to ask Su Weiming to help him make this trip.
I rushed home in a hurry, and before I even got to the door, I saw my parents-in-law running out in a panic, carrying their things.
When Chen Yun arrived at the hospital, she had already been in the delivery room for more than ten minutes. All he could hear were screams coming from inside, each one like a heavy punch to his chest.
"Why aren't they out yet?"
"It didn't seem to take this long when Zhang Guixiang gave birth to twins last time."
"Why is there no sound..."
“The baby…the baby is out, Lao Xu, listen, it’s the baby crying.”
creak—
The delivery room door was finally pushed open, and the red swaddled baby jumped into the eyes of Gao Ming and the other two. Xu Cuihua rushed forward to greet the baby.
"Auntie, congratulations on the birth of your granddaughter." Duan Yun happily handed over the swaddled baby.
Xu Cuihua took the swaddled baby, and her first reaction was to bend down and listen to the baby's breathing.
"Nurse Duan, where is Chen Yun?"
The baby was being held by his parents-in-law, but Gao Ming didn't go over. Instead, he anxiously inquired about the situation in the delivery room.
Duan Yun was pleased with Gao Mingxian's concern for his wife, and his smile became even warmer: "She'll be out soon, you two go see the child first."
"Gao Ming, come and see the baby. He's very well-behaved and isn't crying at all."
"Wow--"
As if on cue, the baby in the swaddling clothes immediately opened its little mouth and burst into tears. Gao Ming was so nervous that his breath seemed to stop for a moment, and the slow movement of turning his head to look at the baby in the swaddling clothes became a slow motion.
Seeing his dazed and speechless expression, Xu Cuihua smiled and took the initiative to walk up to him, gesturing, "Come and hug your girl."
"So...so small." Gao Ming shrank back and waved his hands repeatedly at Xu Cuihua, "I dare not, Mom, you hold me."
“Five pounds and eight ounces! The little girl is quite sturdy.” Duan Yun said with a smile.
Gao Ming swallowed a mouthful of saliva that hadn't even come out, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down several times, before finally reaching out and slowly taking the swaddling clothes.
The closer you get, the clearer the child's wrinkled little face becomes, and strange and complex emotions gradually fill your heart, as if tears are about to fly out of your eyes at any moment.
The tiny head moved around in the swaddling clothes, as if Gao Ming was not comfortable holding it, and the toothless little mouth began to cry loudly again.
"The child's mouth resembles Chen Yun's, and his eyes resemble Gao Ming's," Chen Shu concluded after observing for a long time.
But the little wrinkled thing still had some vernix caseosa on its face, and its originally pink skin gradually turned purple after it opened its mouth and cried. Gao Ming couldn't find any resemblance to it no matter how he looked at it.
"Let me hold him." Xu Cuihua, both amused and exasperated, quickly took the child back and gently patted him in her arms.
The little one quickly stopped crying, and after a few very slight movements in the swaddling clothes, slowly opened his eyes.
The adults held their breath almost simultaneously.
“Old Chen, look… she’s looking at me.” Xu Cuihua was very excited.
“Her eyesight is poor right now, so she can’t see you clearly.” Although it was very inappropriate, Duan Yun still told the truth: “Dr. Chen said that the child will gradually be able to see the parents’ faces after two months.”
Xu Cuihua didn't care about any of that. In her eyes, her granddaughter was wonderful, and she would praise her with every little word.
The special bond between grandparents and grandchildren begins from this moment...
creak—
The delivery room door opened again, and Zuo Lingling pushed Chen Yun, who was already exhausted and asleep, out.
"Chen Yun." Gao Ming quickly went to greet her, bending down to examine Chen Yun's face closely: "What's wrong with her? Why isn't she responding when I call her!"
"Of course she won't react if she's asleep." Zuo Lingling smiled and gestured for Gao Ming to push the bed, and handed over the care instructions for the new mother. Finally, she let out a long sigh: "I haven't let Chen Yun down."
"I'll be under observation at the hospital tonight. If nothing unexpected happens, I can go home tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Dr. Zuo."
"I should be thanking Dr. Chen." Zuo Lingling felt so sore that she could barely lift her arms. After saying that, she waved wearily at the others and said, "I need to rest for a while. Don't assign me any patients yet."
Zuo Lingling left with unsteady steps, and Chen Yun was pushed into the inpatient department with only two beds.
"..."
The wife's breathing was deep and even, while the child lying next to her was also asleep, his little mouth occasionally making a few murmurs, which startled her so much that she opened her eyes and then slowly closed them again.
Gao Ming was engrossed in watching, his gaze sometimes falling on Chen Yun's face and sometimes on his daughter.
He tried to smile, but his lips twitched uncontrollably, and in the end, he could only let out a few strange "heh" sounds from his throat.
He carefully wiped his large hand on his clothes before reaching out, but then felt that his palm was too big, so he used only one finger to gently touch his daughter's little face.
"hey-hey."
Chen Yun slowly woke up to this strange laughter. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Gao Ming lying by the bed, raising one hand over her body and gently touching her daughter's face with his fingers.
"Help me up." Her voice was so hoarse it sounded like she was a different person. Chen Yun raised her hand to pinch her throat and said, "I should breastfeed the baby, or I'll get low blood sugar from hunger."
"You're awake."
"Where are Mom and Dad?" Chen Yun was still a little dazed, but she instinctively picked up the swaddled baby and unbuttoned his clothes.
"They went back and made chicken soup."
When his wife woke up, Gao Ming could no longer suppress the urge to smile. He lay down next to Chen Yun and occasionally pinched the edge of the swaddling clothes.
"Thanks a lot."
An occasional mushy remark made Chen Yun chuckle softly. Looking down at the child opening his mouth and successfully suckling at the milk, the last vestiges of the dream image in her mind vanished instantly.
The world of neon lights illuminating the sky in my dream was completely replaced at this moment by the two people in the small hospital room.
"Have you thought of a name for the baby?" Chen Yun stroked the baby's face, her gaze gentle. "I've seen you and Dad flipping through books for days, and you still haven't chosen one you're satisfied with?"
"We were planning to have a family meeting and vote on one tomorrow, but this kid is so impatient, he insisted on coming out today." Gao Ming chuckled.
"Choose one now."
"Then let's name her Gao Nian'an." Gao Ming immediately read out the name he most wanted: "It means she will have a peaceful and smooth life. What do you think?"
“Nian’an…”
Chen Yun slowly uttered the name. He didn't know whether to say it was fate or just a coincidence. In his previous life, Chen Yun would privately call every baby who was admitted to the neonatal ward "Nian An".
I wish you peace...
"If you don't like it, change it." Gao Ming scratched the back of his head, his lips never leaving his face.
In his mind, Chen Yun was always more cultured than himself, and naming someone should definitely be done by someone with a higher level of education.
“Let’s call her Nian’an.” Chen Yun smiled, bending down to press her face against her daughter’s forehead.
"Wow--"
A loud cry instantly shattered the silence; the dry wailing, without a single tear, seemed to be an effort to declare to her parents that she was different from everyone else.
"..."
***
Three years later.
Building 10, Staff Quarters of Hongri Machinery Factory.
"Gao Nian'an! There aren't a single milk candy left in the cupboard!"
As soon as Chen Yun's voice rang out, a small pink figure rushed out of the house, with candy still popping out of her pockets as she ran.
"Gao Nian'an!"
Old Mrs. Ma, who lived diagonally across the street, couldn't stop smiling as she watched Gao Nian'an rush into her house.
“Anyone who didn’t know better would think I had a naughty brat.” Xu Cuihua shook her head and chuckled, pointing to the Ma family to Chen Yun who had followed her out, before continuing to sew shoe soles: “Yesterday we just knocked off the head of the eagle that his grandfather had carved.”
"I prefer Nian'an, she's so lively and clever, unlike my Ma Lan, who can't be coaxed into saying a word even if you hit her three times."
Ma's mother's twin grandsons are both introverted. Ma Yong is just like Ma Zhigang, so timid that he wouldn't even dare to crush an ant.
Granddaughter Ma Lan is a real blockhead; she won't answer a single question even if you ask her three times, which often makes Grandma Ma so angry she can't catch her breath.
Unlike Chen Yun's Gao Nian'an, who, despite being only three years old, has a sweet tongue that's as sweet as honey. He's always calling his maternal grandparents "Grandpa" and "Grandma," making Chen Shu laugh non-stop.
“Malan, look…” Xu Cuihua looked at Gao Nian’an, who was crying and begging for mercy inside the house: “No one but Chen Yun can control my little rascal.”
A few kind words are enough to make Chen Shu and Gao Ming beam with joy, and they won't even dare to scold them, let alone hit them.
“Gao Nian’an, I’ll count to three. If you don’t hand over all the candy by now…” Chen Yun sternly ordered Gao Nian’an, who was hiding under the sofa in the Ma family’s house, “Then I’ll work the night shift every day from now on and won’t be able to sleep at home.”
"no!"
A resolute refusal came from under the sofa. Chen Yun opened her mouth and silently uttered, "One..."
Before the word "two" could even be uttered, Gao Nian'an hurriedly crawled out from under the sofa and ran towards Chen Yun with her small face so dirty that her features were unrecognizable.
Chen Yun turned around with a stern face.
"Mom, I promise I'll never steal candy again!"
Gao Nian'an panicked and followed after him eagerly, spewing out all sorts of apologies as if they were free.
"Mom, please forgive me!"
Holding all the milk candies from her pocket in both hands, she handed them to Chen Yun, her dirty little face looking at her pitifully.
In this family, Gao Nian'an is most afraid of Chen Yun, but also most attached to her.
If Chen Yun works the night shift and doesn't go home to sleep, Gao Nian'an will definitely cry her eyes out before she can fall asleep. The first thing she does when she wakes up is to go to the hospital to see her mother.
Seeing her daughter pouting as if she was about to cry, Chen Yun immediately put on a reluctant expression and gestured for Gao Nian'an to put the candy on the table inside the room.
Gao Nian'an went into the house dejectedly to put out the sugar.
Xu Cuihua laughed: "You really do have a way."
Chen Yun couldn't hold back any longer and wiped her face, both laughing and crying: "I used to worry that she wasn't tough enough, but now I'm worried that she's too tough."
The three-and-a-half-year-old girl wasn't interested in dresses or dolls, but instead spent all her time following around five- or six-year-olds, chasing chickens and dogs. Her clothes were never clearly visible in their original color.
Two years ago, the factory underwent a major reform, and the staff hospital was separated and placed under the direct management of the Provincial Medical Security Bureau.
Chen Yun's work relationship was also transferred from the factory to the provincial medical system, and the Hongri Machinery Factory Staff Hospital was officially renamed [Huangniba Central Hospital].
From then on, people from Huangniba Commune and several nearby communes would come to the Central Hospital for medical treatment.
The provincial hospital is re-evaluating medical personnel in various counties and towns, and those who fail will be reassigned from the front lines of medical care to clerical positions.
Recently, the entire hospital has been preparing for the assessment that will be held next month. Chen Yun has been working overtime a lot more, not only to consolidate her own knowledge, but also to tutor other colleagues.
With work keeping me busy, this little "firecracker" at home is left unattended, and it's become increasingly audacious.
"Mom, I miss you so much!"
As soon as Chen Yun finished speaking, a little head bobbed around in her arms, its two pigtails bouncing with each movement, making it incredibly cute.
"I can tell you don't miss me at all." Chen Yun sighed helplessly, pulling Gao Nian'an onto her lap. "Who are you planning to give all that candy to?"
Gao Nian'an's dislike of sweets is very much like Gao Ming's; he wouldn't even glance at the sugar jar on the coffee table at home.
When I got home today, I rushed to the cupboard to get candy; I must have been doing it for someone else.
"They're probably those kids from the building next door," Xu Cuihua laughed.
Chen Yun also felt that the food should be shared among her friends.
But... they were all wrong.
Gao Nian'an suddenly straightened up, hugged Chen Yun's neck, and whispered, "I just saw Aunt Ruanqiu crying. I wanted to give her some candy. Dad said that if your mouth is sweet, your heart will be sweet."
"..."
Chen Yun's face darkened, and he glanced nervously at Li Huguo.
Three and a half years ago, Ruanqiu insisted on not letting Chen Yun take her pulse, and only realized that she had been happy for nothing when her delayed period suddenly came a month later.
Since then, Ruanqiu has still been unable to conceive.
"Little Chen, who's the problem, Comrade Ruan or Comrade Li? Why can't you get pregnant!"
Gao Ming had also asked Chen Yun this question before.
However, the test results showed that neither of them had any physical problems. Chen Yun was worried that the central hospital's testing methods were not perfect, so she asked them to go to the provincial hospital to see Dr. Xu for a comprehensive examination.
The result was still that there were no problems.
A few days ago, the couple took leave again to go to the provincial hospital... It seems the result is still not good.
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