"I'm here, I'm here! I'm Li Youfeng's husband. Doctor, how is my wife? Did the baby survive? Tell me, did it survive?"
Lin Dequan lunged forward, grabbing the doctor who had just stepped out of the operating room, his face twisted with frantic anxiety.
The doctor snapped, "Let go of me first! I was just about to tell you. What kind of husband are you? You knew she was pregnant, yet you beat her? A son? You want a son after doing something like this? You’re absolutely pathetic. You’re a disgrace to society. If we were back in the old days, the Women's Federation would have hauled you off to a labor camp yourself."
Seeing the doctor had misunderstood the situation and was gearing up for a lecture, Li Youcai quickly stepped forward.
"Doctor, it wasn't her husband who hit her—my sister was beaten by someone else. How is she now? Is she going to be alright?"
Realizing his mistake, the doctor’s expression softened, and he abandoned his lecturing tone. "My apologies. Seeing all the bruises on the patient, I assumed it was domestic violence."
He then said in a solemn voice, "She was brought in just in time. We performed surgery immediately, and the bleeding has stopped. Unfortunately, we couldn't save the fetus. She'll be moved to a room shortly. It was a miscarriage, which is very hard on the body, so make sure she gets plenty of rest and good nutrition when she gets home. Given her age, her body is no longer suited for pregnancy; if she gets pregnant again, there's no guarantee she'll make it out of the operating room alive. Your family should be prepared for that."
The first half of the sentence had given Lin Dequan hope, but the second half had cut off any path to an heir for the Lin family, pushing him to the edge of an abyss.
"Doctor... Doctor, can my wife really not have any more children?" Lin Dequan asked again, refusing to give up.
The doctor snapped, "If you want her to die, then go ahead and try. Don't say I didn't warn you." He shook his head and turned to walk away.
He had seen too many people like this in the hospital—acting as if they had a throne to inherit, completely disregarding the life and death of their own wives. It was as if, once a woman married, she became their absolute property, to be used to the point of total exhaustion before they would be satisfied.
"It's gone... it's all gone... my son is gone... gone... gone..." Lin Dequan collapsed onto the floor, clutching his head and muttering to himself. Without a son, the Lin family line was finished. His life was over.
"It's gone... it's all gone... It's all my fault... all my fault..." As he spoke, he began slapping his own face—*slap, slap, slap*. Three heavy blows left his face swollen.
As Lin Dequan went for a fourth hit, his brother-in-law, Li Youcai, grabbed his arms and pulled him up to a seat.
"Dequan, what are you doing? Why punish yourself? Youfeng is waiting for you to seek justice for her! She needs you to take care of her. How will you do that in this state? Pull yourself together; you’re the pillar of this family. You can’t fall apart now."
Seeing that Lin Dequan stopped hitting himself, Li Youcai knew the message had hit home. He glanced at the sky, judging it to be mid-afternoon.
"It’s getting late. Stay here, Dequan, and meet Youfeng when she comes out. I’m going downstairs to buy some daily necessities and some food. We didn’t bring anything, and even getting a drink of water is a chore." He patted Dequan on the shoulder and turned to leave.
"Seek justice... seek justice... Yes, I have to seek justice. My sister-in-law killed my son; she has to be buried with him. She can go to hell with him so he won't be lonely. He won't be lonely anymore." He broke into a frantic, manic laugh, his face contorted with malice. He stood up and stumbled toward his sister-in-law's house.
His mind was possessed by a single, burning conviction: kill Jiang Hongdou to avenge his son.
Meanwhile, seeing his eldest son return alone, Li Youqing felt a growing sense of dread. When he heard that Youfeng had been rushed into surgery the moment she arrived at the hospital, his expression turned grim.
"Dad, what are we going to do? Mom didn't actually make Auntie miscarry, did she? There was so much blood; I have a feeling the baby won't make it. Auntie was risking her life to have that son. If she loses it, I’m worried Uncle will take a knife to Mom."
Li Jianguo was terrified. He never imagined his mother would be so vicious; the level of hatred she harbored for his aunt was unthinkable. Just thinking about it made him shudder.
Li Youqing raised his pipe and rapped it against his son's head, effectively silencing him.
"Dad!" Li Jianguo rubbed the fresh bump on his forehead, looking at his father with silent accusation.
"Shut your crow's mouth."
Did he not know? He wasn't blind. There was so much blood on the ground; he knew, too, that the baby probably wouldn't survive. But what if? What if it lived? If the baby died, their family wouldn't be far from falling apart. If they didn't offer up Jiang Hongdou to satisfy the rage, it wouldn't be enough. But she was his wife of decades, the mother of his children, his grandmother—he couldn't just abandon her.
Li Youqing puffed on his pipe, irritable and restless. After pondering for a long time without an answer, he heaved a deep sigh. *Forget it. I'll just take things one step at a time.*
The morning's commotion had missed the auspicious time for the funeral, so they had to push it to the hour of noon (11:00 AM to 1:00 PM). After the burial was finally finished, Li Jianguo collapsed on the doorstep of the kitchen, exhausted and famished.
"Wife, do we have anything to eat? Just get me something, I’m starving." The thin cornmeal porridge from the morning had long since worn off; he wouldn't have made it home without sheer willpower.
"Yes, just wait a second."
His mother-in-law had made a big pot of coarse grain buns yesterday for the funeral guests—the more people there, the more they had to save. They were dry and hard, and with better food available nowadays, few people wanted to eat them, but there were still a few left in the pot.
Jiang Li felt bad for her husband, who had been running around all day and was worn out. With her mother-in-law resting, she was in charge of the kitchen. She rolled her eyes, deciding to go all out; she cooked two bowls of hearty noodles, each topped with two poached eggs.
Li Jianguo drooled, "Wow, this is a feast! Two eggs!"
"Eat, hurry up and eat! It won't be good if someone walks in and sees this." Jiang Li picked up her bowl and popped a poached egg into her mouth, her eyes squinting in delight at the savory, oily taste.
Suddenly, a loud commotion erupted from next door.
"Murder! Help, murder!"
The two looked at each other, shock written all over their faces. They wolfed down their noodles and eggs as fast as they could.
"I’m going to check it out. Eat up and come quickly. It sounded like Mom's voice. You need to come and help—I’m afraid something terrible is happening." Li Jianguo barked a quick command and ran in the direction of the shouting. Jiang Li finished her last mouthful and followed close behind.
"Get back! Get back! All of you, back off! If you take one more step, I swear I'll kill her right now!"
Lin Dequan had snuck back, holding a sharpened bamboo stake, the tip pressed against Jiang Hongdou’s throat. He looked like a lion ready to tear its prey to pieces.