"Ouch, that hurts!"
She cried out in pain, her voice hoarse.
Like a generator that hasn't worked for a century, suddenly starting up, the roar makes you want to cover your ears to block out the unpleasant sound.
Zhu Wenjuan felt a warm current surging out of her body.
She reached out her right hand and peered down there.
Upon touching it, I found it was blood.
Zhu Wenjuan panicked.
She screamed in pain, just as Liu Wangtao, who had been away all day, returned.
Seeing his wife collapsed on the ground, he was so frightened that he rushed over and picked Zhu Wenjuan up in his arms.
"Quick, quick, find a doctor! I'm bleeding! Please, save our child!"
Liu Wangtao carried her home and then went to Zhao Dali's house to beg him for a long time before finally getting into a carriage to fetch a doctor.
Zhao Dali initially disagreed, since the carriage wasn't his. So he went to Yan Xia's house and got her consent before taking Liu Wangtao to town.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, all the itinerant doctors went home for the holiday.
There is a quack doctor in the next village, but he's just a half-baked practitioner.
Liu Wangtao dared not gamble, so he went to the town and headed for the best-reputed medical clinic.
Fortunately, this clinic is always packed with people, so it didn't close during the Chinese New Year.
He waited for about half an hour before leading a young doctor back to the village.
It was already dark.
When they arrived home, Zhu Wenjuan had already fainted.
The doctor quickly took her pulse and then used acupuncture to stop the bleeding.
"She's had a miscarriage scare and is bleeding. Luckily, I arrived quickly. If it had been overnight, the baby would definitely have died, and the mother would have been in danger too. I'll write a prescription. Tomorrow, take this prescription to my shop to get the medicine, or you can go to another shop. Remember, she absolutely must take the medicine tomorrow. From now on, she shouldn't overexert herself and should rest in bed until she gives birth. If she has another miscarriage scare, I won't be able to save the baby."
"Yes, yes, I understand, thank you, miracle doctor."
Liu Wangtao breathed a sigh of relief.
This is his first son.
If he were to lose it all like this, he would be heartbroken.
Because it was a house call, and it was at night.
The consultation fee was as high as half a tael of silver.
Liu Wangtao was heartbroken.
He saw the doctor off politely, and after returning to the village, he gave Zhao Dali ten eggs, since Zhao Dali refused to accept the money.
Even with his many shortcomings, Liu Wangtao still handled interpersonal relationships very well.
"Mom, did you torment Wenjuan? Otherwise, how could she have had a miscarriage? Why did you have to make such a scene this morning? If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have left in such a huff. Sigh, now look what's happened. I have to go to town tomorrow, and I'm too embarrassed to ask Uncle Dali to deliver it again. Walking there is such a hassle, and I don't know how much the medicine will cost. I've already spent half an ounce. Even if you don't feel bad, I do. Look, if it weren't for that this morning, would it be like this?"
This was the first time Liu Wangtao had complained about his mother.
"What are you saying? You blame me? I raised you from infancy, and you've already forgotten your mother after you just got married? Oh dear, what's the point of my life? Your father died young, and if it weren't for you, I would have remarried long ago. Why would you despise me like this now? What sins have I committed to deserve this kind of treatment in my old age? What kind of pillow talk did she give you to make you so protective of her!"
Ma Efen stood by the door frame, wailing and slapping her thigh.
They looked absolutely hilarious.
"Since that vixen married into the family, our household has been in constant turmoil. Me, torment her? I didn't make her do a single chore today! Now she's blaming me? Do you think I'm some kind of shrew who can be falsely accused like this? This morning she wanted to take our family's grain back to her parents' house, and of course I refused. I spoke to her politely, asking her to take only 15 eggs, since we're not well-off. She immediately gave me the cold shoulder. Otherwise, why would I have gotten so angry this morning? Would I have been bored out of my mind?"
Ma Efen pointed at Liu Wangtao.
“You’re such a good son. I’m always thinking of you and worrying about you. I was worried that she would drain our family’s finances, and you blamed me for it. If it weren’t for you and our grandson, would I be so frugal? She gave me a dressing down at noon and then ran back to her parents’ house. Who knows what she must have done to her that caused her to have a miscarriage? What did she say to you? Did she try to blame me? Did she say she couldn’t go on living? What’s the use of raising a son? My wife is riding me around. I might as well be dead.”
Ma Efen cried even louder, flailing her arms and legs wildly.
She pretended to run into the wall, but Liu Wangtao stopped her.
"Mother, I'm so angry. This is the first grandson of our Liu family. Mother, I promise that as long as the child is born safely, I won't care how you treat her afterward. I just want a son, do you understand, Mother? I'm not young anymore. My good friends all have several sons. People who don't know me might think that I, Liu Wangtao, am impotent and can't have a son."
Liu Wangtao was also helpless.
What he cared about wasn't Zhu Wenjuan at all, but the child in her womb.
But his mother insisted on making a fuss every day. He was torn between his mother and his wife, and he became extremely irritable whenever he stayed at home.
Thinking of the prostitutes in the brothels in town, Liu Wangtao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He would rather sleep in a brothel every day than go home.
If only I had more money in my pocket.
He's not coming back today at all.
The price difference between staying overnight and a single session is significant.
He can't afford it.
"Alright, Mother, don't be angry. Your son was wrong. Let's just get through these few months and wait for her to give birth safely. After that, I won't care what you want to do, okay? I'm begging you, just bear with it for a few months."
Her son offered her a way out, and Ma Efen accepted it.
She wiped away her tears, then playfully punched Liu Wangtao.
It's like flirting.
Anyone who didn't know better would think they were a young couple.
"I'm angry that you sided with her without even knowing right from wrong, son. We're family, she's just an outsider, understand? You only have one mother, but you can have as many wives as you want. Look at you, you smell so strongly of rouge, even the smell of the pharmacy couldn't mask it. Did you go to a brothel again today? You're out of money, aren't you? Here, take this half tael, just enough to get medicine for this little slut tomorrow. You can play with the rest one more time."
It turns out that Liu Wangtao was already a regular at brothels.
“Mother, the conscription will begin in the spring. After the New Year, I will go to town to do odd jobs. We were already broke. We only had two taels left after selling the grain, and it was all gone in an instant. Sigh, it’s tough.”
He should have known better than to marry Zhu Wenjuan.
They spent so much on the bride price.
Even the most beautiful girl will become tiresome after you marry her.
Moreover...
Liu Wangtao looked at his unconscious wife.
Her face was haggard and sallow, and her once small nose had become increasingly wide due to her pregnancy.
She's lost her former beauty.
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