She would always take advantage of Granny Li's afternoon nap or when she was out, carrying the child, and drift over like a ghost. She wasn't there to see a doctor, just to say a few words, as if Su Wantang's place was her only refuge where she could breathe.
She would tell Su Wantang that the baby ate half a bowl more milk today; she would secretly ask if the baby had gained weight compared to the past few days; she would rub the little clothes that Su Wantang had given the baby, which the baby was wearing, over and over again.
But Su Wantang could clearly see that the color in her face was fading and the light in her eyes was growing dimmer. Once, when Su Wantang saw her roll up her sleeve to wipe the child's mouth, there were several purplish-blue pinch marks on her arm.
"What's wrong?" Su Wantang asked, frowning.
As if burned, Liu Fen quickly pulled down her sleeve and shook her head in a panic: "No...it's nothing, I just bumped into it by accident."
Su Wantang saw the evasive look in her eyes and understood everything.
That afternoon, Liu Fen came again. She didn't bring her child; she came alone. Her gait was strange; she walked with a limp, and her face was as white as paper.
As soon as she entered the room, she knelt down in front of Su Wantang with a thud.
"Dr. Su, please save me..." Her voice was hoarse and broken, filled with endless despair.
Su Wantang rushed to help her up, but her hand found the forehead burning hot. Startled, she reached out and touched Liu Fen's forehead; sure enough, she had a high fever again.
"What's wrong? Is your milk duct blocked again?"
Liu Fen shook her head, tears streaming down her face like broken beads, each one landing on the floor. She unbuttoned her trouser leg and rolled it up—
Su Wantang gasped.
From his ankle to his knee, his entire calf was covered with crisscrossing red marks and bruises, some of which were even broken and bleeding. Those were clearly marks left from being severely whipped with a thin, long object!
"This...this was done by her?" Su Wantang's voice trembled.
Liu Fen did not answer, but bit her lip tightly, her shoulders shaking violently, and she let out a sob like a trapped animal.
"Just because the child cried at night and disturbed her sleep... she... she took the feather duster from the kang (a heated brick bed) and dragged me out of the house to the yard to beat me..."
"She said that if I hadn't given birth to a money-losing child, her fifty yuan wouldn't have been taken away, and she wouldn't have lost so much face in the entire residential compound..."
“Dr. Su…” Liu Fen suddenly raised her head, her once gentle eyes now filled with bloodshot veins and an almost insane hatred.
She gripped Su Wantang's clothes, and spoke each word as if squeezing it out from between her teeth:
"The grudge from this postpartum period will stay with me for a lifetime. Dr. Su, tell me, what do I need to do now to make her die?"
"What did you say?" Su Wantang's heart sank. She was so shocked by the intense, almost tangible hatred in Liu Fen's eyes that she took a half step back.
That wasn't the look a normal person should have; it was the final howl of a wild beast driven to the brink of destruction, before it could take everyone down with it.
"I said, I want her dead!" Liu Fen repeated, her voice not loud, but every word was filled with anguish and a desperate resolve, a willingness to destroy everything. "She ruined me, and she wants to ruin my daughter too. As long as she lives, my daughter and I will never have peace. Dr. Su, you're a doctor, you know so much, tell me, is there any medicine that can kill someone without them realizing it? Or, how can I sue her and make her die by gunshot?!" (This chapter has been read. Please click to continue reading the next chapter!)
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