After hearing his wife's words, Dong Qing felt a pang of sadness, and tears welled up in his eyes uncontrollably; he almost cried out loud.
In his past life, wasn't he always playing cards until dawn before returning home, only to find his wife and children long dead?
After being reborn, he saw his wife and really wanted to hug her and cry his heart out, but he didn't have time to cry. His wife's condition meant he couldn't afford to stay at home for even a minute longer.
In the 1980s, people would find a midwife at home to give birth, but finding a midwife was useless. He knew in his previous life that his wife died in childbirth, but nothing changed. In this life, she also had a difficult childbirth, so he had to send her to the hospital to give birth immediately, otherwise she would die at home.
Fortunately, their door was a sweeping door, so the cart could be pulled directly into the house at night. Dongqing laid a quilt on the cart and put a stopper at the back of the cart, securing it with a rope to prevent his wife from slipping off while the cart was moving; otherwise, it would have been disastrous.
Dongqing finally placed a pillow in front of the cart, carried his wife, who was screaming in pain, to the outer room, and laid her flat on the cart.
It was summer, so I covered her with a towel blanket and then covered her with a piece of plastic. To prevent the strong wind from blowing it away, I tied the plastic to the cart with a rope. I cried out, "Wife, you must hold on! I'll get you to the county hospital right away."
Li Yuzhu nodded in pain. Dong Qing pulled up the edge of the blanket to cover her head, pulled the plastic sheet down, and then pulled the cart out into the rain. He didn't even bother to lock the door and led his wife out of the village.
My hometown isn't far from the county seat. The village is called Shilipu, also known as Dongcun. It's only five kilometers from the city and six kilometers from Junxian Hospital. Under normal circumstances, it's enough to get to the hospital in an hour.
However, there is a one-kilometer dirt road from the village to the highway, which becomes extremely muddy whenever it rains. Pulling the cart in a downpour is impossible, as the cart wheels are almost stuck in the mud. Every step is very difficult, and he has fallen countless times along the way, only to climb out of the mud and continue walking.
Hearing his wife's cries of pain from the cart, Dongqing cried out in anguish, calling her name in the pouring rain: "Yuzhu, you must hold on, you have to hold on!"
At this moment, he was not worried about his wife screaming in pain, but he was afraid of not being able to hear her screams. If he could not hear her screams, there would be no hope. If she had no sense of pain, she would not exist. If that happened, he would lose her in this life and spend his life in pain.
However, the weather turned against him, and the rain poured down harder and harder. At that moment, Dong Qing's mixed tears, sweat and rainwater mingled together, and his life and body seemed to merge with the world, enduring all the suffering and hardships of life.
Despite the torrential rain, he still exerted all his struggle and effort, strength given to him by his wife who was teetering on the brink of death, unless he and his wife died together in the storm.
No matter how great the difficulties, he must not give up as long as he has a breath left. He must ensure that his wife in this life lives, to repay the debt he owed in his previous life, and to spend his whole life paying it off.
The short, muddy stretch of road seemed endless. His steps were slow but resolute. Unbeknownst to him, his shoes had gotten stuck in the mud and he had to lose them. He was left to walk barefoot, pulling the cart through the rain.
Dong Qing finally stepped onto the asphalt road leading to the county town. By then, he was covered in mud, looking like a clay sculpture.
Even in the heavy rain, he could still hear his wife's cries of pain from the cart behind him. His heart finally settled down, and he ran as fast as he could towards the county hospital for the remaining five kilometers.
At this moment, Dong Qing was like a madman, pulling the cart at breakneck speed through the storm. Frequent flashes of lightning were like the hope in his heart, illuminating his path ahead. The thunder that pierced the air seemed to be reminding him, "Dong Qing, run fast! If you're any later, your wife will really be too late."
Once we got to the city, the streets were dimly lit, making running much smoother.
As he approached the county hospital, he could no longer hear his wife's cries. Amidst the raging wind and rain, he cried out her name: "Yuzhu, how are you? If you're conscious, please call out!"
His only response was the sound of wind and rain, and the thunder and lightning in the sky; Li Yuzhu on the cart did not respond at all.
Dong Qing's voice was already hoarse, and his cries echoed in the night rain. Had she left? Dong Qing's heart felt like it was broken. His sobs and the rumbling of the cart echoed in the downpour, but he never heard Li Yuzhu's reply.
If his wife dies in this life, he really can't go on living. He can't possibly be reborn twice and hold two funerals for his wife when she's twenty-two. If that were the case, fate would be too cruel. He really can't accept such a cruel reality.
Dongqing's shouts faded into the rain. He never dared to stop shouting and crying. How he longed to hear his wife's cries of pain. But all that answered him was the sound of thunder and rain.
Dong Qing ran to the county hospital amidst cries and pulled the cart directly into the outpatient hall!
He cried out, "Doctor, please save my wife! Someone, please come quickly!"
His cries sounded particularly desolate in the dead of night. It was the middle of the night, and the nurses and doctors on night shift were all dozing in their rooms. His cries were like creepy goosebumps, and the doctors and nurses in the hospital felt a chill run down their spines and broke out in a cold sweat.
Doctors and nurses rushed into the lobby amidst his incessant shouts. Dong Qing cried out, "My wife is having a difficult labor and has fainted! Please save her!"
The doctor only realized what had happened after hearing this. It turned out that the pregnant woman was in critical condition. The nurses hurriedly pushed over a surgical cart and lifted the pregnant woman, Li Yuzhu, onto the cart. She was already in shock. Several nurses pushed the cart towards the operating room.
After Li Yuzhu was taken into the operating room, Dong Qing deflated like a punctured balloon, collapsing onto the ground. He was utterly exhausted. If it weren't for his mental focus and concern for his wife's life, he would have collapsed long ago. He was still panting heavily.
He was barefoot, soaking wet and covered in mud. He looked as disheveled as could be, like a mud man who had crawled out of a mud pit.
The nurse quickly approached Dong Qing, handed him a bill, and said, "Sir, your wife will be having a cesarean section soon. Please pay the surgery fee quickly."
Upon hearing the nurse's words, Dong Qing burst into tears, repeatedly muttering, "Cesarean section...Cesarean section...Cesarean section..."
He repeated those three words several times. A cesarean section meant that his wife was still alive, and at least the mother and child were safe for the time being. If she wasn't dead, there was hope for her. This was the result he had been hoping to hear.
I'm terrified the doctor will walk up to me and say, "You were brought in too late, I'm sorry, we did our best!"
When doctors say these words as they leave the operating room, it fills patients' families with despair and a sense of suffocation; it's the last thing they want to hear.
Even a simple statement like "the patient's condition is not optimistic" still offers hope.
Dong Qing put his hands in his pockets and felt around. He only had twenty-three yuan in total. This twenty-three yuan was all the money he had lost tonight at the gambling table because of the hundred yuan debt that Yi Xiaofan had lent him. He looked at the bill and saw that it was four hundred yuan. Twenty-three yuan was practically useless.
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