Zhou Qianqian pursed her lips. She is also pregnant, but who did Xuezhu want to show off to by walking slowly? She was about to go downstairs when she saw the Nurses go up the stairs in a hurry, looking at Lin Shiheng, who carefully and gently helped his wife.
“Commander Lin is very kind to He Xuezhu. If I can find one like him later… No, it’s already good to find one who is half as good as him.”
She halted her footsteps, and listen to another Nurse say:
“What kind of beautiful dream do you want to see? We have been working in the gynecology and obstetrics department for a year. All the good men we meet are coming here with someone in hand. It’s even more difficult to find them even if you search with a torchlight. Even the Head Nurse said that she had only seen Commander Lin who was so considerate as a husband.”
(TN: Searching with a torchlight = feeling your way through the dark; impossible to find.)
“That’s right.” The expression on the face of the young Nurse who spoke first suddenly fell.
Nowadays, people who get married are generally young. Even if they can get a marriage license because of their age, they still can’t have alcohol. However, several young Nurses in the obstetrics and gynecology department are not married. In the end, they are still scared off by some men they see in obstetrics and gynecology.
A wife would come to the hospital with a big belly to prepare for childbirth, but she still had to do it all alone. Her stomach ache was unbearable, but her husband only cared about his sleep and was even unwilling to call the doctor.
Besides that, when everything was fine, the husband would look after and care for the childbirth carefully. But, when the child was born and he found out that it was a girl, he turned against her immediately. As if the wife did something unforgivable, when she did nothing wrong. The child cried out but got ignored. The Nurses would help but he would dislike them for being a busy-body.
After seeing so many of such situations, they all have no hope for marriage. This is not the old society. The Chairman said that boys and girls are the same, but those men just want boys.
(TN: The Chairman = The President of China at the time was called The Chairman. The term “President” usually used to describe him in English. Ex: https://qz.com/1112638/xi-jinping-title-xi-jinping-is-not-the-president-of-china/ )
A few days ago, another man brought his wife to the hospital to give birth to a child, only to find out that she was giving birth to a girl. He went straight away, leaving the woman unattended. It was only after the hospital contacted the public security that they found the person and he came back.
Just looking at his black face and unwillingness to take home his wife and child, they could predict that that the both of them would still have a hard time in the future.
“The woman who gave birth yesterday was the one who hid in bed crying when we went to change medicine in the morning. Do you still remember?”
“I remember, her child cried the loudest. I could hear it in the other room.”
Hearing her saying, the young Nurse pursed her mouth and said: “I heard the Head Nurse say that the baby cried because she had urinated. The diaper was not comfortable when it was wet. As a result, the child cried for half an hour at the top of her lungs. No one changed the diaper when she cried until she fell asleep. The Head Nurse found out and she changed it.”
“Ah?”
The other Nurse was shocked. “Nobody’s came to help the baby for half an hour?”
“Who would care? You didn’t see it. When her mother-in-law and husband heard that it was a girl, she was livid. It didn’t take long after she had just given birth, that morning; she cried so much that her husband chose to sleep-in and was slapped by her mother-in-law. Otherwise, why should she hide in the bed and cry?”
“Her own mother doesn’t care?”
“How could she? Didn’t you see that no one from the maternal family came? I also heard her mother-in-law chatting with other people, saying that she thought that her daughter-in-law had a grandson in her belly and paid for her to be sent to the hospital. If she knew it was a girl, she would have told her to give birth at home.”
“Don’t you think that as woman herself, that she wouldn’t be that cruel? That’s her granddaughter…”
“So, what if it was her granddaughter? Let me tell you, the older the woman, the more she likes a male baby, girls are not the same thing. My mother told me that when I was a child there was a family in the village gave birth to a girl, the mother-in-law didn’t like it, they directly drowned her. Even now, such a thing isn’t rare. But now that drowning their own child is illegal, those people just do it secretly.”
Zhou Qianqian’s face turned pale after listening to them, and her originally uncomfortable stomach became even worse. Her mother-in-law didn’t like girls, including her own mother. After the news of Zhou Qianqian’s pregnancy was sent back, the replying letters were all written to express how much she must give birth to a boy without mentioning the possibility of giving birth to a girl.
Even Zhou Qianqian herself hoped that this was a boy in her belly. When a girl gets married later, she will belong to someone else’s family.
But if she gives birth to a daughter …
She was panicking, and one of her Nurses suddenly said with her back to her: “Tell me, if that was a girl in He Xuezhu’s stomach, would Commander Lin have a problem with it?”
Another Nurse hesitated and replied, “I don’t think so. Commander Lin loves He Xuezhu so much. And every time he comes for the exams, he never asks the doctor if he can find out whether it was a boy or a girl. I heard that Commander Lin’s military performance is very good. He should obey the Chairman’s words, thinking that boys and girls are the same.”
“I don’t think so. Look at the other woman. When she came, her husband took good care of her. They said they were childhood sweethearts. But in the end, after having a daughter, he changed his face after a lifetime together. He used to wash her feet attentively. Now he doesn’t even care about his child soaked in urine, and he just watches the old woman beating his wife.”
” I heard the Head Nurse say she wanted to help, but his mother stopped her. It’s seems that the son wouldn’t get angry at the old lady. Also, between the old woman who raised him, and the woman he married for only a few years, he would definitely choose his mother.”
After she said this, the Nurse who felt Lin Shiheng would not change hesitated, “I remember, Commander Lin has a mother in his hometown.”
“Yes, they said it last time when they came for an examination. They said that she planned to come here to help before the He Xuezhu gives birth. I don’t know if this old lady also likes boys better…”
“Well, let’s not worry about other people’s affairs. Come in quickly. It’s very cold on a day like today.”
The two said so and turned around. Zhou Qianqian, who was listening, hurriedly bowed her head with a guilty conscience and made a hasty turn towards the stairs.
Although her steps were rapid, her heart felt a little better.
Yes ah!
It’s not that she alone has a mother-in-law, He Xuezhu also has a mother-in-law!
Perhaps, she truly dislikes He Xuezhu.
At the bottom of her heart, Zhou Qianqian even had a bit of malicious hope that He Xuezhu would give birth to a girl and be rejected by her patriarchal mother-in-law. Commander Lin’s attitude would change again, it would be better.
At that time, let’s see how she still carries that attitude of a happy little woman!
Just think like this, the self-abasement after comparing He Xuezhu’s shining life and her own tired and uncomfortableness, immediately disappeared. Even her upset stomach didn’t hurt her so much anymore.
Zhou Qianqian didn’t catch the cheap bus either. She took another bus back. She was dazed and dizzy when sitting on it but she still wanted to inquire about Lin Shiheng’s mother.
If the old woman thought that men are more important than women, there will be a lot to see!
When the bus arrived, Zhou Qianqian got out of the bus and retched a few times and pressed down her own nausea. She had a pale face, but her eyes were full of excitement while she walked.
She vaguely remembers that the little girl who sells clothes in the shopping mall seems to be from the same village as Lin Shiheng. They were quite close, she’s been working there for two years. When she went out with the other military wives, she heard that the girl was looking for a husband and planned to marry here.
The reason is very simple. She is a girl who is not valued by her family. She worked hard to earn money. Her parents also asked her for money, to build a house for her brother. They also wanted to marry her to a cripple. Since then, the girl has never returned home.
She and the commander are from the same village. This girl was not loved, it’s very likely that the whole village disliked girls. After all, this was the case with her mother-in-law.
She soon found the place where the girl sold clothes according to her memory. At first, the girl refused to say anything. Zhou Qianqian gritted her teeth and paid for one of her clothes, so she asked again.
“Aunt Li?”
Speaking of Li Chunhua, the girl with signs of hardships on her face at a young age; the corners of her eyes twitched, showing a toothache like grimace: “She likes boys better.”
“When I left, Shiheng had been married for a year, and Aunt Li kept talking about waiting until he got married and have a big fat baby grandson. Those days, she would quarrel with people and cursed each other’s daughter and son to give birth to a baby girl.”
Zhou’s eyes became brighter. “What about character? How is her character?”
It’s no use if you only like boys but you can’t resist a daughter-in-law’s temperament.
“Character …”
The girl’s expression was even more complicated. “Not easy to provoke. When I was a child, I often saw her chasing others to scold. I heard that Shiheng’s grandparents wouldn’t even dare to provoke her, everyone in the village knew that.”
“What about the daughter-in-law?”
The girl tried to recall and shook her head: “She doesn’t like Shiheng’s wife. She always says that she is a hen that doesn’t lay eggs. She always scolds her, but I have never seen it before. Anyway, she doesn’t like her very much. Look, this dress of mine is also quite good. If you touch this material, it is quite suitable for you. Do you want to try it out? I’ll give you a 10% discount.”
Zhou Qianqian didn’t listen to her promotion at all. Lin Shiheng’s mother doesn’t like He Xuezhu at the moment, it was such a pleasant surprise that made her waist not sore and her stomach not hurt anymore.
It turns out that He Xuezhu, like her, is not liked by her mother-in-law.
But, she still put on that doted on appearance all the time! Shameless!
After finding out, seeing that it was going to get dark soon, Zhou Qianqian hurried on the bus, and painfully paid to get home.
As soon as she got back to the courtyard, she didn’t even go back to her home. She couldn’t wait to find Miao Xing and tell her the good news.