Lili gave Wang Jun a son, and Wang Jun was so happy he almost went crazy.
Because the baby was premature, Bruno used the limited resources available to do some basic checks and roughly confirmed that apart from being a bit weak, the child's vital signs were otherwise normal.
Ever since the baby had been cleaned, Wang Jun grabbed him and held him in his arms, his face a mixture of crying and laughing, refusing to let go no matter what.
I, on the other hand, couldn't help feeling a deep chill toward Wang Jun.
Lili had just narrowly escaped death, and now, after giving birth, he didn't even bother to look at her, only calling to the child in his arms—the blood still not fully gone from him—"Son, my baby son, daddy's precious treasure."
Paternal love is supposed to be touching, but at this moment, I only felt extreme repulsion.
Yangyang went downstairs to notify Shen Feng and the others that Lili had given birth.
Before leaving, Bruno indicated to bring some glucose up—Lili was too weak and needed an IV drip.
The hospital wasn't short of such supplies.
When Shen Feng and the others arrived, they even brought a few cans of formula milk.
Originally, this was for Suo Tian to give to Xiao Hu, Tingyun, and Rongrong, but now that there was a newborn who needed it more, it was offered instead—after all, the three older children didn't strictly need it.
I never thought Bruno would be afraid of needles.
He hesitated for a long time, holding the IV, and in the end reluctantly handed it over to Suo Tian.
After Suo Tian inserted the needle into Lili, he also took her pulse by holding her wrist.
We all watched in surprise.
Someone nudged Bruno and asked, "Does he even know Chinese medicine?"
Bruno turned his head slightly and whispered to me, "I've never seen him study it, but it seems there's nothing he can't do."
Hearing Bruno's words, everyone around let out a sigh.
I unconsciously furrowed my brow, looking at Suo Tian squatting by the bed.
I felt like I had grasped some thread of something about him, but no matter how I thought, I couldn't figure it out.
After taking the pulse, Suo Tian said, "Just get some rest."
Then he glanced at me, turned, and walked out.
Before leaving, he seemed to remember something, returned to the table with the formula milk, picked up a can, weighed it in his hand briefly, and then left with it.
Seeing this, Sister Liu shouted, "Hey, hey! That's for the baby—why are you taking it away?"
I thought Suo Tian wouldn't respond, but unexpectedly, he turned at the doorway, looked at her, and said, "The rest are mine."
Sister Liu was stunned by Suo Tian's words.
After a moment, realizing that these things were originally a gift from us, she smiled awkwardly and didn't speak again.
After Suo Tian left, we continued to help Bruno look after Lili for a while.
It wasn't until late morning that Lili finally regained consciousness.
Even before opening her eyes, she started calling for the baby.
Xu Shu was signaled to fetch Wang Jun to bring the baby to Lili.
I rushed to her side.
She was still covered in sweat, eyes closed, as if murmuring in a dream.
After calling out for a long while unconsciously, she suddenly opened her eyes.
Seeing this, I quickly knelt down and called to her, "Sister Lili? Sister Lili? Are you okay? How do you feel?"
Hearing me, Lili turned her weak, pale face slightly toward me.
The moment her eyes met mine, they immediately reddened.
Her lips trembled as she reached out, grabbed my arm, and whispered, "Sister Chen Yang… Sister Chen Yang, you're still alive. I knew you were here—I knew it was you, but I couldn't say anything…"
As she spoke, it seemed she was still haunted by the recent pain.
Tears immediately streamed down her face again.
Seeing this, I hurriedly teasingly took out a clean towel and wiped her tears: "You're already a mother, and yet you cry just like that—your son isn't even as emotional as you."
Originally, Lili's face was still full of tears, but when she heard my words, she suddenly widened her eyes in surprise and joy: "A son? It's a son?"
I frowned slightly and replied, "Yes, it's a son."
Lili immediately clasped her hands together, bowed toward the air in a gesture of thanks, and couldn't hide her happiness: "That's wonderful, that's wonderful."
I deliberately pretended to joke: "What's the matter? Would it have been bad if it were a girl?"
Lili still laughed as she said, "A daughter would be great too—you see how cute Rongrong is. But Wang Jun likes sons. Ever since the pregnancy, he kept saying it had to be a boy. If it were a girl, he definitely wouldn't have been happy."
While we were talking, Wang Jun had already brought the baby in from outside.
Seeing that Lili was awake, he happily said, "Lili, look at our son! Doesn't he look just like me?"
Hearing this, Xu Shu, who had followed in, peeked curiously and smiled, pursing her lips: "It's too soon to tell who the baby looks like. If I had to say, I think he looks more like Lili."
At her words, the smile on Wang Jun's face quickly flickered with a hint of displeasure, but it passed almost immediately.
He handed the baby to Lili, who was sitting up, and said, "Try feeding him. The baby's only had a bit of water—he hasn't eaten anything yet."
Seeing this, I said to Lili, "Take care of yourself. We'll go downstairs first. The other three kids still don't have anything to eat."
Lili smiled at me and said, "Okay, you go ahead. In the evening, bring Rongrong and Xiao Xue up too. I really want to see those two sisters."
I froze at that, suddenly remembering that Lili didn't know what had happened to us—and she certainly didn't know that Xiao Xue had already passed away.
To avoid affecting her mood, I forced a stiff smile and said, "Yes, okay. You rest well first."
As I pulled Xu Shu and Bruno to leave, I noticed Song Meijing leaning against the wall by the door.
Seeing me about to leave, she grinned: "Make sure you bring Shen Xue up too. She's always liked children—now there's a little one for her to shower with motherly love."
"You!" I felt annoyed and opened my mouth to retort, but Xu Shu grabbed me and gestured with her eyes that Lili was watching us.
With no choice, I took a deep breath and pushed past Song Meijing, then left with Xu Shu and Bruno.
Yangyang and Suo Tian had already gone downstairs ahead of us.
When the three of us reached the second floor, Uncle Gazi had already fed the three children lunch.
We ate a little ourselves, then returned to our rooms to take a nap.
But the three kids—Tingyun and the others—seemed to have no intention of resting.
They squatted in the corridor, laughing shrill and loud, their baby voices piercing and annoying.
Xu Shu and Han Xue, however, were unaffected and fell into a deep sleep after a short while.
The drowsiness of spring is such a natural reflex—it really isn't altered by changes in the world.
Unfortunately, I'm a very light sleeper.
With those three kids screaming outside, there was no way I could get any rest.
After tossing and turning for a while, I finally got up and went out, crouching next to them.
I asked, "What are you looking at? Why are you so happy?"
"Look," Tingyun said, pointing toward the corner with her little hand.
Following her finger, I saw a group of ants seemingly moving their home.
Ants are similar to cockroaches in some ways—not only are they incredibly resilient, but there are also many of them.
Although the hospital building is old, the floors are still solid wood, and the ants had made a nest in the gap between the floor and the wall.
Judging by how they were spreading densely out into the room, this seemed to be a large colony.
After watching them with the kids for a while, I got bored.
I reminded them to keep their voices down since others were resting, and then I got up to return to my room.
But just as I opened the door, I heard Han Xue scream in fright, followed immediately by Xu Shu.
Before I could even react, the door was open.
I hadn't even stepped inside when I heard several high-pitched squeaks, and a few gray little figures scurried quickly across the floor toward the door.
My stunned steps froze as they darted past me, even one crawling over the top of my foot.
I stood there dumbfounded for a while.
Only after Han Xue and Xu Shu's screams had stopped did my slow-witted brain finally catch up, and I let out an "Ah!"
The feng shui of this hospital must clash with my personal fortune—I've been living in a near-constant state of fright ever since entering.
This fear of rats is something that women have difficulty overcoming no matter the circumstances.
Although Xu Shu and I can be extremely ruthless when fighting the Walker, when faced with gray, long-tailed, clawed creatures, we are still terrified.
I remembered one time when we stopped by the roadside for lunch.
A wild rat ran down from a nearby mountain stream, and Xu Shu saw it with her own eyes.
After that, she refused to get out of the car for lunch for several days.
Our screams were obviously much louder than Tingyun, Xiao Hu, and the others, attracting the attention of almost everyone, including Suo Tian.
Even the guards outside the second-floor stairs ran in to see what had happened.
When they found out it was just rats, they all scolded us lightly before returning to their posts.
After apologizing, we were about to return to our rooms to sleep when we noticed that Suo Tian was still in the corridor, standing behind Xiao Hu and the others, watching the ant colony in the corner with full concentration.
I paused for a moment and walked up to him: "You like watching ants move too?"
At my words, Suo Tian straightened his posture and looked at me, his brow furrowed.
He glanced down at the ants once more, then turned and walked toward the corridor entrance.
"Hey? What are you doing?" I called after him.
He didn't answer, so I decided to follow him directly.
What's up with this guy?
At the staircase, Suo Tian whispered something to the two guards, who nodded and replied briefly.
Afterward, his frown deepened even further.