Colorful years

Three days later, at dawn, as the first rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds and fell upon the earth, Jishou Bus Station resembled a mysterious world shrouded in milky-white mountain mist. The fog was thick, making everything around it hazy and indistinct.

Wang Li stood inside the carriage, wearing a dark gray work mask that covered half her face. She silently watched Zhang Cong struggling to stuff two large mesh bags filled with canned apples onto the luggage rack of the bus.

The clinking of glass bottles against each other created a unique melody in the silent air, but to Wang Li, the sounds were like the sharp noise of test tubes colliding in a laboratory. Each sound struck her heart like a heavy hammer, causing her already fragile stomach to cramp unbearably.

“Just tell everyone we’re going back to our hometown in Zhonghu to visit relatives.” Zhang Cong said, carefully folding the train ticket into a small piece and gently placing it into Wang Li’s slightly trembling palm.

The train ticket was damp from the sweat on his hands, and the dampness felt like a block of ice that could never be melted, sending a chill down Wang Li's spine.

Just then, the bus slowly started moving and began to travel along the winding mountain road.

Throughout the journey, the vehicle kept bumping and swaying, while Zhang Cong kept using his body to block any curious glances that might come from the side of the aisle.

However, despite this, the older woman sitting in the back row, with her wealth of experience, noticed something amiss. She leaned over, her face full of doubt, and asked, "Are you two going back to the bride's parents' home? Judging by the bride's belly, she's probably not very far along, right?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Li felt a sudden tightness in her chest, and a strong sense of nausea instantly welled up in her throat. She hurriedly reached for the vomit bag hanging next to the car window, followed by a violent bout of dry heaving. The acrid stomach acid mixed with bitter bile exploded in her mouth, and the strong, pungent smell made it almost impossible for her to breathe.

Meanwhile, Zhang Cong frantically rummaged through his pockets for candied orange peel, trying to ease Wang Li's discomfort. His anxious appearance and flustered movements eerily overlapped with a scene from Wang Li's deep memory: her father anxiously wringing his hands outside the delivery room, awaiting the arrival of a new life.

At that moment, Wang Li bit her lower lip tightly, using all her strength to suppress the surging emotions within her. She could clearly feel the blood flowing slowly down the corner of her mouth after her lip was bitten, and the faint taste of blood filled her mouth.

Even so, she still refused to loosen her grip, because she didn't want this moment to become a painful memory of welcoming their first child.

The corridor of Jiaoziya District People's Hospital resembles an endless cassette tape, winding its way into the distance. The walls on both sides of the corridor are half-painted green, appearing somewhat mottled and old. The slogan "Family planning is a basic national policy" is prominently printed on the wall, but due to the erosion of time and repeated soaking in iodine, it has developed rust marks, like mysterious markings on an old map.

San San, dressed in a white coat, hurried along the corridor like a gust of wind. However, a closer look revealed that she was hiding two sets of hospital gowns beneath her white coat. As she ran quickly, her work badge on her chest flapped up and down, clanging against the buttons on her clothes.

"The gynecology department has a check-up team today!" San San stopped abruptly at the corner of the stairs, grabbing two other people tightly. Her eyes, hidden behind a medical mask, shone with a bright and anxious light, like the most dazzling stars in the night sky, impossible to ignore.

"Let's hide in the storage room behind the boiler room!" San San said, foaming at the mouth, her voice urgent and tense. With that, she led the two towards the storage room.

The storage room was cramped and small, filled with various broken enamel chamber pots, emitting a pungent smell of disinfectant. Wang Li was wearing an expensive cashmere coat, but seemed completely unconcerned that it would get dirty from the wall plaster, and just followed behind San San with a look of fear on her face.

Just then, San San cautiously pulled a stolen procaine syringe from her pocket. However, just as she was about to insert the needle into her arm, Zhang Cong suddenly reached out and forcefully pressed down on her wrist.

"Maybe... let's not do this." Zhang Cong's voice trembled slightly as he looked at the syringe in San San's hand, his eyes filled with worry and fear.

“The whole hospital is checking referral letters right now.” San San’s voice was as cold as surgical scissors. “You think I want to take risks? Last month, Dr. Wang from the obstetrics and gynecology department was suspended pending investigation.” She suddenly ripped open Wang Li’s collar and pressed hard below her collarbone, leaving a red mark. “Just say you’re my distant cousin, hospitalized for hyperemesis gravidarum.”

The sterilizing lamp cast a bluish-purple light from the ceiling. Wang Li stared at the "Midwife's Code of Conduct" above the operating table; the ink on Article 4, "Illegal Termination of Pregnancy is Strictly Prohibited," was smudging. San San's gloved fingers were so cold they made her shiver, and the creaking of the instrument trolley wheels felt like a dull knife scraping against her nerves.

"Relax, just think of it as being bitten by an ant..." San San's gentle voice seemed to still be echoing in the air, but suddenly stopped as if an invisible hand had choked her throat.

In an instant, the corridor, which had been as quiet as a sleeping behemoth, was suddenly filled with a flurry of chaotic footsteps, like a rapid, deafening drumbeat. At the same time, a loud and authoritative voice boomed like thunder: "Any unusual cases today?" The voice seemed to possess the power to penetrate everything, crashing straight towards the ward.

Zhang Cong's pupils dilated sharply the moment he heard the voice, and fear and tension surged into his heart like a tidal wave. He watched helplessly as San San swiftly pulled the white sheet from the side and quickly covered Wang Li's lower body with it.

Immediately afterward, without hesitation, San San grabbed the medical record book placed beside the bed and dashed out like an arrow, shouting, "Director! The patient in bed 3 is experiencing abnormal uterine contractions!"

Just as the door was about to close, Zhang Cong lunged forward as if using all his strength, pressed his ear tightly to Wang Li's, and said urgently in a low voice, "If anyone comes in, tell them you came to get a painkiller injection because of severe menstrual cramps. Remember that!"

After saying this, his figure disappeared as the door slowly closed.

For a moment, the entire room fell into a suffocating silence. Only the strong smell of 84 disinfectant in the air irritated people's noses, reminding them that time was still ticking away.

Wang Li stared wide-eyed at the tall sycamore tree outside the window. She silently counted the rustling of the leaves in the wind—one, two, three… until the seventh rustling—when she finally heard San San's familiar, slightly amused voice coming in from outside: "Oh dear, what a scare! That woman in labor's family insists on seeing the hospital director…"

As the last piece of blood-stained gauze was thrown into the incinerator, the rising sun pierced the thin mist over the mountains. San San removed her mask, revealing dark circles under her eyes: "No sexual intercourse for three months." She suddenly grabbed Wang Li's wrist, her nails almost digging into her flesh. "If you do it again..."