Volume One, Chapter Six: Hospitalization

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Watching Dong Qianqian, pale and frail as if she might pass away at any moment, lying face down on the table, she requested from the doctor that, due to her asthma, she wished to be hospitalized long-term. However, Old Doctor Sun, after feeling her pulse for a long while, concluded only a mild flu, some breathing difficulties, and deficiencies in her spleen, stomach, and heart. With the New Year approaching and as the duty doctor, Old Doctor Sun felt uneasy when confronted with such a seemingly gravely ill patient. Yet, after the examination, he found the child had no serious illness—at most some coughing, fever, and blood and qi deficiency, not nearly severe enough to warrant hospitalization.

Dong Qianqian helplessly handed him some liquor tickets. The modestly learned Old Doctor Sun’s eyes lit up upon seeing words like “Fenjiu” and “Sanbai” on the slips. “How can I not arrange something for you! How could I betray the Party’s trust in me, the people’s trust?” he said while unable to look away from the vouchers. Understanding this, Dong Qianqian also placed several boxes of cigarettes on the table. Quick as a flash, Old Doctor Sun collected the Jin Hulu, Universe, Peony, Friendship, and Daqianmen cigarettes.

Glancing around and seeing that this was his office and no one was watching, he breathed a sigh of relief, then kindly said, “You see, child, why be so polite? How could I betray the people’s trust? But the hospital is truly hard to stay in! Let me be clear—there’s no way I can get you a single deluxe ward! How about the maternity ward?”

Though he didn’t understand why this seemingly healthy young girl insisted she was ill, Old Doctor Sun did what he could. Dong Qianqian weakly nodded, “It’s okay, but I want to stay until after the New Year.” Hearing that, she didn’t insist on better accommodations. After all, in her past life, she had slept on straw mats and crowded bunks; if worse came to worst, she could spend nights in her space, as long as she waited until the heroine was taken away.

Meanwhile, in Lao Dong’s home in Dahe Village, everyone except Dong Sicheng, who was learning masonry, and Dong Er'ya, learning tailoring, was crowded into the main hall, unable to eat, troubled by the loud crying that filled the air. “Xiao Bei, how about sister feeds you some peach cookies? You’ve been crying almost two hours! You must be hungry.” Dong Shuanghuan gently took out some snacks she had secretly kept, originally intending to eat them herself, but now only able to offer them to the little chubby boy.

“No! I want big sister! Big sister is gone!” Dong Jianbei had cried all morning. Though very hungry, he refused to be consoled and overturned the peach cookies Dong Shuanghuan had been longing to eat. At just three years old, Dong Jianbei had slept until late morning; upon waking and seeing his big sister gone, the one who always knew how to make him happy, he cried uncontrollably. Dong Shuanghuan flustered, tried in vain to calm him.

Nearby, Dong Jiannan, entrusted by his own father Dong Dacheng to look after his cousins, picked up a fallen peach cookie and ate it without concern, indifferent to Dong Jianbei’s crying and Dong Shuanghuan’s panic. As the second grandson of the Lao Dong family, he was eighteen and had never before tasted the second uncle’s peach cookies. Usually, whatever his second aunt gave was snatched by his elder brother Dong Jiandong or handed over to his cousin Dong Er'ya under his third aunt’s resentful gaze. This was his first time enjoying a whole peach cookie.

Third aunt Lin Xi was growing impatient with the crying next door. She worried for little three-year-old Dong Jianbei, since Shuanghuan was not a real sister and could not soothe him. She glanced at her anxious mother-in-law and father-in-law, thinking their acting skills were wasted not being on stage.

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Looking around, others appeared indifferent, unconcerned. Losing a nearly grown girl and not thinking to alert the authorities, instead trying to hide it from the city. Especially the eldest sister-in-law, who, though the girl went missing under her watch, acted as if nothing had happened, leisurely cracking sunflower seeds. Even the idle Dong Sancheng had time to pick up beans to play with.

The beautiful Lin Xi once again cursed her fate for marrying into such a heartless family. With some conscience remaining, she could never be as cold-hearted as these people. She stood, preparing to report to the city police.

“What are you going to do?” Eldest sister-in-law Zhao Chunfang’s eyes showed disdain. She knew trouble was brewing; the third brother’s family was trying to expose the matter. Her reputation was already poor; if this came out, how could her eldest son find a wife? She sternly forbade, “You’re not allowed to go!”

Lin Xi found it laughable and wondered how she ended up sister-in-law to such a ruthless woman. “I never said what I was going to do! Why are you so anxious? What are you afraid of? Why didn’t you do something earlier?”

At dawn, Lin Xi had quietly hoped to help Dong Qianqian, who had never used the old stove before, assist her son Dong Jianxi at home, but found the girl missing from the kitchen. At first, she thought the shy young girl had been too embarrassed to light a fire and had hidden somewhere. Sister-in-law’s harsh words were sometimes unbearable. But by noon, she sensed something was wrong—Dong Qianqian was nowhere to be found in the house.

Realizing the girl was missing, she insisted on reporting it, but only Dong Sancheng volunteered to search with her, returning after two fruitless rounds, collapsing in bed. No one else in the family took charge; they all gathered, unable to say a word. Lin Xi was fed up; since second sister-in-law hadn’t asked her to care for her children, why should she bear the anxiety? Even if something happened, it wasn’t her concern—she only needed to do her part.

Ever since suffering a major loss when registering Dong Jianxi’s household in the city, eldest sister-in-law Zhao Chunfang increasingly distrusted her sister-in-law. She would no longer give her any chance to be the “good person”—if she fell, they would all fall together.

She flatly denied that Dong Qianqian went missing under her watch. “Why should I feel guilty? What does this have to do with me? Don’t scare me with talk of the police! The girl disappeared in the big kitchen, which isn’t my territory. Right, mother? Besides, you told me yesterday to teach her how to tend the kitchen fire properly, so she wouldn’t be despised and unable to marry!”

Zhao Chunfang looked to the matriarch, hoping she would shield her from blame. The old woman was getting on in years; even if the second son’s daughter was truly lost, the second son wouldn’t hold the matriarch responsible.

“What did you say? That I told you? Old man, did you hear me say that yesterday?” The matriarch Ren Lifen was sharp and shrewd; she had no intention of getting involved and wasn’t worried about Dong Qianqian’s whereabouts. After all, the eldest daughter had also been lost under Zhao Chunfang’s watch. Even her own biological children could be lost; the second daughter-in-law was carefree enough to entrust her children to her.

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Now old, she couldn’t manage so many matters but regretted the money about to come into her hands. Turning to Dong Changhe, the quiet man who was always smoking his large pipe, she sought his opinion.

“I can’t hear what you’re saying!” Dong Changhai was even craftier than the matriarch—he had long mastered feigning deafness and muteness. Whatever happened, the matriarch had to bear it herself.

Seeing the old man’s lack of cooperation, Ren Lifen took charge. She adopted her early-years domineering manner toward the eldest daughter-in-law and said to Zhao Chunfang, “The ‘big’ in big kitchen means it belongs to the first household. The third daughter-in-law is right—this matter is your responsibility.”

Ren Lifen had her own calculations. She had four sons and traditionally should live with the eldest. But looking at them closely: the eldest was henpecked and obedient to his wife, having two sons, Dong Jiandong and Dong Jiannan, yet utterly useless; the second was wealthy and powerful but heartless and fickle, constantly changing wives, neglecting his three children. If the old couple lived with him, even their very marrow’s oil would be given to him; the third couple didn’t manage the household and often fought. Although Lin Xi seemed gentle, her methods were no less ruthless than Zhao Chunfang’s—otherwise Dong Jianxi wouldn’t have run off to the city. At this rate, Dong Er'ya might also eventually go to the city. Only the unmarried youngest son seemed relatively normal, so Ren Lifen’s favor leaned toward him.

She had hoped to use the eldest daughter-in-law to deplete the compensation left by Dong Qianqian’s mother—a considerable sum, enough for the youngest son to marry. The second son wouldn’t help save it, so she, as grandmother, could manage it. But her plans fell through.

Zhao Chunfang realized both elders were evading responsibility, leaving her to carry the blame. Thinking of her hopeless eldest and second sons, she proposed a sour plan: “If everyone thinks this is my responsibility, then fine. I’ll take it. I’ll tell the second son his eldest daughter is missing, and his wife is pregnant again and can’t care for the other two children, so I’ll take full charge. The compensation left earlier can serve as child support. What do you all think? If no objections, I’ll say it.”

At this, the matriarch could no longer sit still. “What support? What can you support? You couldn’t even raise a university student and lost one child! Giving a fine child to you is a waste. It has to be me—I have experience raising university students.”

Wasn’t the second son hers to raise?

Zhao Chunfang retorted sourly, “Am I the one who can’t raise university students? The policy no longer allows university for all. When it does, you’ll see both Jiandong and Jiannan become university students.”

Great! I lend the ladder, and you reap the fruit? All this to build a house and marry off the youngest son? What can this old body of mine still raise?

Lin Xi watched the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law quarrel, a scene she had seen too many times. None of the men in the family stepped in; she was about to roll up her sleeves to intervene when Dong Shuanghuan, who had been eavesdropping next door, ran in, tears streaming, clutching her sleeve.

“Auntie, is my mother really pregnant? How long has she been?”