It's Granny Li.
In her arms, she held a tiny baby wrapped tightly in a tattered floral blanket.
A faint but clear cry, like a thunderclap, shattered the deathly silence of the room.
Liu Fen's entire body trembled violently. She stared intently at the small swaddled blanket, her lips quivering, unable to utter a sound. It was her little girl, her daughter's cry!
Granny Li's face turned pale and then flushed. She carried the child to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), her eyes darting around, not daring to look at anyone. She simply shoved the child into Liu Fen's arms, her voice dry and hard: "...You're back."
As soon as the child returned to his mother's embrace, it was as if he had immediately found the most familiar and safest harbor. The faint crying gradually subsided, and the little head nestled against Liu Fen's chest, searching for the source of life.
With trembling hands, Liu Fen unbuttoned her clothes. When the familiar warmth was taken into her child's mouth, when the strong sucking came, she could no longer hold back. Holding her daughter, whom she had lost and found again, she burst into tears.
In those cries, there was the ecstatic joy of finding what was lost, the lingering fear of almost losing it, the grievance of being hurt by a loved one, and even more so, the boundless guilt towards this child who had just been born and had almost suffered misfortune.
The women in the room couldn't help but tear up at the sight. Wen Yuzhen and Sister-in-law Wang turned away to wipe their tears, and even the usually resolute Zhao Jing's eyes softened.
Only Granny Li stood aside, watching the mother and daughter weeping bitterly. Her eyes showed no remorse, but rather a flash of resentment at being exposed and losing face. Her gaze swept over Zhao Jing and Wen Yuzhen, the resentment like a venomous snake's tongue, cold and sticky.
After crying for a long time, Liu Fen's emotions finally calmed down a little. She wiped away her tears, struggled to get off the kang (a heated brick bed), and, ignoring Dr. Sun and Wen Yuzhen's attempts to stop her, knelt straight down in front of Zhao Jing and Wen Yuzhen.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
Holding the child, she mustered all her strength and kowtowed three times. Her forehead struck the hard ground with a dull thud.
“Director Zhao, Aunt Wen…you are my and my daughter’s saviors! I, Liu Fen, could never repay this kindness, even if I were to work like a cow or a horse for you in my next life!” Her voice was hoarse, but it conveyed a deep and solemn sense of gratitude.
"Get up! What are you doing!" Zhao Jing and Wen Yuzhen quickly went to help her up.
"If you don't agree, I won't get up!" Liu Fen stubbornly knelt on the ground, looking at them with teary eyes.
Zhao Jing sighed and could only help her up first: "Okay, we've all remembered. The most important thing for you now is to take good care of yourself and feed the baby well. That's more important than anything else."
She helped Liu Fen sit down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), then turned around, her gaze sharp as lightning, and shot towards Granny Li, who had been huddled in the corner.
"Li Guilan," Zhao Jing's voice was as cold as ice, "I'll spare the matter from reporting it to the military leadership today for the sake of the child. But remember this: this is the first and last time. If I find out again that you've mistreated your daughter-in-law or tried to take advantage of the child, I, Zhao Jing, mean it and will personally send you to the police station!"
"And another thing," her gaze fell on the fifty yuan that Granny Li hadn't yet put into her pocket, "this money is dirty money from selling the child, you have no right to take it. Tomorrow morning, you have to deliver it to me yourself, and this matter will only be settled when you deliver it."
Granny Li clutched the wad of money, her palms burning hot as if she were holding a ball of fire. Fifty yuan was enough for her to build half a house back in her hometown! But under Zhao Jing's intense gaze, she couldn't utter a single "no" and could only nod in humiliation.
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