Chapter 67: Sterilization Surgery
In the autumn of 1977 and 1978, we began to strictly enforce family planning. All families with two or more children had to go to the commune health center for sterilization. Xu Aiping was also in charge of family planning, and the first person she came to was Gu Yan.
"Director, you have to support my work! When everyone heard about the surgery, they were so scared that they said they would not go. You said I can't be dragged into the car like a piglet, you have to help me."
"I support you. I am a party member, so I must take the lead. And you have to do it yourself, right?"
Xu Aiping was stunned for a moment before she reacted. "You mean you have to be sterilized too? Aren't you menopausal yet?"
"I'm only in my early 40s. It will take me another 10 years to reach menopause, right?"
"What? I would have gone through menopause when I was your age. I just ran into Xu Gang's mother and she was also menopausal and didn't need surgery."
Gu Yan grinned, not knowing what to say. Xu Aiping and Sister Xu are not much older than her, but their bodies are much more aged than her. This must be related to the three difficult years, otherwise she had seen people in the village giving birth to children at the age of 47. They are not yet forty-seven.
Xu Aiping laughed: "It's settled. This time the director will take the lead in getting stabbed. Let's see if they can keep complaining to me."
After the autumn, the household contract responsibility system was implemented, and Gu Yan had originally planned to visit Li Zhongxia soon. Well, I'll take the knife first this time. There is no vasectomy now, so Li Zhongxia can't replace it even if he wants to. Under this policy, this blow is inevitable.
Early in the morning in August, Gu Yan's apprentice Liu Tusheng drove a tractor and took more than 20 women from the brigade to the commune. Contrary to the norm, no one in the car spoke, and a few timid ones even started to tremble.
Gu Yan reached out and patted the woman who was so nervous that her teeth were chattering: "Don't be afraid, it's just a small cut on the stomach. It will heal after a few days of stitching."
The woman nodded blankly. A woman beside her asked curiously, "Director, is it just like prying a pig? The pigs would scream in pain, and we would...we would die in pain!"
"After the pigs have been slaughtered, they can rest well and get more food. But we have to work in the fields in the fall after we have been slaughtered."
"Is that really the case? Then I won't go."
A woman was about to jump out of the car as she spoke, obviously frightened by the pigs being shoveled onto the platform. Several people held the pig down and slashed it, and it screamed in pain. She didn't want that; it would be more terrifying than giving birth to a child.
"Don't jump." Gu Yan grabbed him. "It's anesthesia. I won't feel anything after the anesthesia. It won't hurt."
The woman was calmed down, and Xu Aiping quickly explained: "They were all given anesthesia, so it doesn't hurt. How can it be the same as prying pigs? Can humans be treated the same as pigs?"
"Is it true that the pain will go away after the anesthesia?"
"Yes, it doesn't hurt. I'll be the first one to do it later. You can listen outside and see for yourself."
Now that someone is taking the lead, everyone can feel a little more relieved. When we arrived at the commune health center, several people's legs were weak when they got off the bus. Xu Aiping led everyone inside and asked Liu Tusheng, who was driving, to put some hay in the car. She brought quilts with her when she came, and she would make three for each trip later.
"Put a thicker pad. We all had surgery and the wound hurts from the bumps."
"Oh, I know."
A group of women were led by the director of women's affairs, and none of their family members were worried about coming to take care of them. From pregnancy, childbirth, to today's sterilization, all reproduction or cessation of reproduction is done by women.
"Why don't we sterilize men? Why do we women have to bear all the consequences?"
Gu Yan lifted her leg and entered the operating room. The woman felt scared and wronged, and tears fell from her eyes as she spoke. The timid ones started crying too. Xu Aiping was so worried that she kept scratching her head and trying to persuade them with a handkerchief.
"Don't cry, don't cry. It's just a simple operation. It will heal quickly. It won't hurt after the anesthesia. It won't affect a woman's life at all. If a man does it, he will become a eunuch. Do you still want your □□? What do you do at night after you turn off the lights?"
It was originally quite sad, but these dirty words made everyone laugh and cry. The aggrieved young wife slapped her hard, feeling angry and annoyed.
"What are you talking about? I'm just afraid of saying something nonsense. Where are you leading me to?"
The older guys were too thick-skinned to care at all and just smiled, which made the tense atmosphere disappear. Everyone stared at the door of the operating room, and suddenly a man appeared in front of them. In an instant, everyone turned their attention to him.
"Secretary Li, why are you here?" Xu Aiping quickly got up from her chair when she saw Li Zhongxia. He is now the leader of the country, a big boss whom she may hardly meet in her life. This identity has changed, and the feeling she has when facing him is completely different.
"Where's my wife, is she in there?"
"Well, everyone is scared, and the director is the first to take the lead."
Li Zhongxia nodded and gestured for everyone to sit down. He stood at the door of the operating room, tilting his head and trying to look inside.
Soon, the door inside opened. The nurse came out and called the next one. Li Zhongxia didn't say anything. He went straight in and picked up his wife who was about to get out of bed and walk by herself. Then he walked into the lounge next door with his long legs in a few steps.
All the women were envious. What are you talking about being busy? No matter how busy you are, can you be busier than □□? Look at them, they drove back from far away. He was not afraid of being laughed at in front of others. He hugged his wife with a look of heartache on his face and was very careful in his movements.
After lying down on the bed, Gu Yan asked, "Why are you back? You expected me to have surgery."
"What do I do? How can I not know what kind of work is going on down there?" The man covered her with a quilt and wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief. Ask the nurse if she can have a drink of water. It took three hours to get the answer. He sat down again.
"Does it hurt a lot? Do you want to take a painkiller?"
"It didn't hurt much." Seeing that he didn't believe her, she smiled and raised her hand to assure him, "It really didn't hurt much. I had the anesthesia and my skin didn't feel anything at all. It was just a little uncomfortable when the fallopian tube was removed, but it was over quickly. It doesn't hurt at all now."
"You should have called me at the commune to let me know. If I didn't come back today, would you have planned to go home by yourself as if nothing had happened?"
"It's nothing." Seeing his dark face, Gu Yan laughed. "You are so busy, I will handle the things I can handle by myself. You take care of both children, and I come to you for everything. Don't you feel tired?"
"My wife and children are my responsibility. They are...a sweet burden."
No woman can resist the bombardment of sweet words, and the tomboy Gu Yan is no exception. I was full of pride at first, thinking that it was just a minor operation and I could just walk back home. As a result, he suddenly became weak and frail. After resting for a while, she obediently let him carry her into the car.
The first one to do it will leave first, and the group of people waiting will not be afraid this time. Rushing to squeeze forward, trying to finish quickly and go home quickly.
"It's actually good to have a surgery. I don't have to give birth to babies one after another. It's painful and tiring. If you're not careful, you might even lose your life."
"Yes. This method is very good." The woman who had just finished and was lying on the bed to rest smiled and said, "It really didn't hurt much, it was just a little uncomfortable when I picked that one. But it was done quickly."
"That's great. I don't have to worry about having and raising children anymore."
Li Zhongxia drove his car to the doorstep and then ran back to open it. He then came out and carried his wife back. After covering her with a quilt and letting her rest on the kang, he took out the spare ribs he had brought and went to the kitchen to cook.
Blanch the ribs, put them in a casserole, add simple salt and simmer over low heat. When the lotus root is 60% cooked, add it and continue to simmer for another hour. A pot of thick pork ribs and lotus root soup is ready. They don't have lotus roots here, so he specially had someone bring them from the south.
"Gu Yan, you're back? The meal is already prepared. Is it okay that you got stabbed? I was just saying to make an extra portion for lunch..."
Wang Xiaomai came back from work and talked as she walked, smelling the fragrance. When he saw it was Li Zhongxia, he quickly changed his words. "Secretary Li, when did you come back?"
"This morning." Li Zhongxia smiled without any airs. "It seems that you usually take good care of my wife. Thank you for this."
The woman quickly waved her hands, looking flattered. This person is no longer the ordinary neighbor who works in the fields, he is □□. She really couldn't bear it when such a big leader thanked her.
"No, no, the director is so capable that she doesn't need our care at all. I just saw her getting sterilized and wanted to help her."
"Yes, thank you."
When he comes back, he cooks for his wife, and his eyes are full of warm love when he mentions her. Damn it, if the man in my family is half as good as him, my life wouldn't be lived in vain.
Although Wang Xiaomai was jealous, he didn't dare to make fun of her anymore. She muttered to herself, and when she served the men lunch at noon, she scolded the three of them one by one. The three of them were secretly wondering what medicine they had taken today.
When Sister Xu came to deliver the meal, she discovered that Li Zhongxia had returned. "Sister, your man is really fucking reliable. There are so many women in our brigade who have been sterilized, but I have never seen a second one who went home to take care of his wife and cook. They just think that working in the fields is hard and don't take it seriously at all. It's okay if they have a mother-in-law or sister to take care of them, but the people in the south room of our yard go to the fields to cook for themselves."
Chewing lotus root in his mouth, Gu Yan's face was full of happy smile. “Don’t be envious, if you do it, your brother-in-law will definitely take care of you.”
"Just forget it. The food he cooked is as good as swill. I'd rather cook it myself than be poisoned by him."
"It's a question of level. At least my brother-in-law has a correct attitude."
Li Zhongxia rushed back at night and took his wife with him. It's a journey of more than 100 kilometers, and it takes two or three hours to travel in the current road conditions.
When they arrived, Gu Yan was sleeping soundly, and the man carried his wife back to the room. The two girls heard the noise and ran out, "What happened to mom?"
"Shh. It's okay, I just fell asleep. Don't wake up mom."
The two children nodded obediently. "Can we sleep with Mom tonight?"
"No." The man led the two children back to their own room. "Mom...you two are grown-up kids now. You can't always sleep with mom."
"Then Dad tells a story."
"Okay, Dad will tell you a story." After putting the two daughters to bed, the man asked about their day. "Did you eat in the cafeteria by yourself? What did you eat today?"
"Millet porridge with eggs and steamed buns. We met Uncle Liu in the cafeteria, and he brought us back. I told him that my dad would be back in the evening, so he left. He also told us to call him if we were scared because we didn't come back in the evening."
Reaching out and touching his daughter, Li Zhongxia's face was full of relief. That timid and fearful child can now go to the cafeteria with his sister by himself. There is no barrier in communicating with others and I won’t be afraid to speak.
"There's a phone book in the drawer of the coffee table in the living room. If you encounter any situation, call for help. The ones dad wrote down on the first page, you can call anyone."
"I know."
After telling stories to his two daughters, he washed up and went back to his room to sleep. After getting up early in the morning and getting breakfast in the cafeteria, Gu Yan also took his daughter to wash up.
After dinner, he sent his children to school. "Lie down and rest. Don't do anything. I'll bring you lunch at noon."
"Got it, let's go. We have an important meeting this morning. We're going to be late."
Gu Yan looked at her husband's tall and majestic back and smiled helplessly and happily. She had to cancel the cleaning plan, otherwise this man would nag her again when he came back. In fact, she had a good physique and felt fully recovered after 24 hours. Forget it, let’s go back to sleep. This man looked capable and his ability to recite people's names was comparable to that of Tang Seng.
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