Chapter 13: Those Two Really Are United Now

As it turned out, Doctor Yang’s guess was quite accurate.

Liu Chunhua borrowed a four-wheeled vehicle from the production team, and it rattled all the way to Xin’an City’s central hospital with Xia Xiaoqi aboard.

The hospital doctor confirmed it: acute appendicitis.

Xiaoqi had been delicate since childhood and couldn’t tolerate pain. When her appendix flared up, the pain had made her faint.

On hearing she needed surgery, Chunhua asked timidly, “Doctor, how much will it cost? We’re country people and don’t have much money. Could you make it a little cheaper?”

The doctor looked uncomfortable. “Auntie, the operation and hospital fees are fixed. We can’t bargain over them.”

“Then how much?”

“About six yuan.”

“Six yuan? Good heavens, that’s what you earn working for the production team all year.” Chunhua grumbled over the expense, then turned to Qiao Ran. “What if we try another clinic?”

“Try what other clinic?” Qiao Ran snapped. “Is money more important than a life? Arrange the operation now.”

Qiao Ni used to be meek and soft-spoken. Now she was not only sharp-tongued; when angry, she looked fierce enough to eat someone alive.

Chunhua was a little frightened. “I didn’t say we wouldn’t treat her,” she murmured. “We left in such a hurry that we didn’t bring enough money.”

As it happened, Qiao Ran had changed clothes the night before and tucked all her remaining money into her pillow. That morning she’d rushed straight to the hospital.

“Doctor, we’ll pay part now. Please arrange the surgery as soon as possible. I can bring the rest this afternoon.”

“All right. Acute appendicitis can’t wait,” the doctor said. “Go make the payment and complete the paperwork. I’ll prepare the patient for surgery.”

At Qiao Ran’s urging, Chunhua dug out every last cent she had—two yuan and sixty-three fen—and handed it over.

Sitting in the hospital corridor, Qiao Ran, who had never been afraid of anything, was trembling slightly. She knew an appendectomy shouldn’t be fatal, but she feared something unexpected might happen.

She was afraid that when the person in the operating room came out, she would be Xia Xiaofang, the body’s original owner, instead of Xiaoqi.

Waiting wore at her. She would get up to look out the window, then lean against the wall and watch the operating room door, too anxious to settle anywhere.

At last the door opened.

Qiao Ran rushed over. Seeing Xiaoqi lying on the hospital bed, her face as pale as paper, Qiao Ran found herself afraid to speak.

Then Xiaoqi gave a weak, plaintive moan. “Sweetie, it hurts.”

The weight lifted from Qiao Ran’s heart.

“It’s all right.” She stroked Xiaoqi’s forehead. “Be good, princess. It was a small operation. You’ll be fine after a few days’ rest.”

“Then stay with me.” Xiaoqi’s sick voice was soft and weak. She already had a face that inspired pity, and looking so fragile, she made even Qiao Ran want to gather her close and cherish her.

“All right, I’ll stay.” Qiao Ran pinched her cheek. “Get well properly, or I’ll spank you.”

Goodness. The two daughters-in-law were so close now it was almost unnatural. Chunhua looked from one to the other, full of things to say, yet didn’t dare utter a word.

They were united now. Truly united.

Weak after surgery, Xiaoqi fell into a heavy sleep soon after being taken to a ward.

“Mom,” Qiao Ran said, “look after her for a little while. I need to go out.”

“All right, go on.”

When Qiao Ran was nearly at the door, Chunhua hurriedly called her back. “Wait, Ni’er. On your way back, buy some soy milk and brown sugar. She’s lost strength and blood; she needs building up.”

The old woman was stingy, but she wasn’t rotten through and through.

“All right, I’ll remember.”

In 1978, high schools didn’t have imposing classroom buildings, just rows of connected brick-and-tile rooms, with red bricks, green roof tiles, and yellow-painted walls.

The concrete flag-raising platform was old and chipped at the corners, and the flagpole was mottled with age.

Qiao Ran remembered that even her elementary school had been in a multistory building with central heating. Conditions here were far worse than those of her childhood.

Following the class signs on the doors, she easily found Senior Year One, Class Three.

A lesson was in progress. Some students listened attentively; others lay on their desks, fast asleep.

At the front, Lu Xiangnan was teaching. He wore a faded white shirt, blue trousers, and black-rimmed glasses. He spoke at an unhurried pace, his voice low and gentle.

The restrained, untouchable type.

The phrase flashed through Qiao Ran’s mind.

How dare those little brats sleep while her handsome husband taught? She wanted to charge in and unleash a full set of military combat moves on those sleeping brats.

Xiangnan’s deep phoenix eyes swept past the window and caught sight of her. He froze for a moment.

He and Qiao Ni had been betrothed as children, but they came from different villages and hadn’t known each other well. Qiao Ni lost her mother young; her father remarried, and her stepmother bore two sons. Life at home hadn’t been easy for her.

Eager to get rid of her, the stepmother had given her to Liu Chunhua’s family without even asking for a bride price. Chunhua disliked her eldest daughter-in-law, thinking her too fat for her son, but no bride price meant money saved.

In more than half a year of marriage, the couple had exchanged so few words that they could be counted on one’s fingers. There was essentially no affection between them. Xiangnan had expected life to continue quietly, without a ripple. Then Qiao Ni’s nature had suddenly changed, and now she kept coming to school to see him.

He couldn’t say whether it was good or bad, but he didn’t dislike it.

Peering through the window, Qiao Ran thought her handsome young man had seen her but was pretending otherwise out of shyness.

Suddenly someone slapped her shoulder. Instinctively, Qiao Ran caught the person’s wrist, turned, and swept a leg beneath them.

Chen Xiaomei landed on one knee in a twisted position, her wrist held fast. “Ow! That hurts!”

Recognizing her, Qiao Ran let go and rubbed her palm with distaste. “Oh, it’s you. It’s not a holiday. Why are you bowing to me? I don’t have any New Year’s money for you.”

Xiaomei was so angry she nearly cried. Pointing at her, she said, “You… you country woman! You have no manners or refinement at all.”

“And?”

Xiaomei was speechless. It wasn’t just that she couldn’t win an argument with this shrew; she couldn’t even keep up with the way she thought.

The classroom door opened, and Xiangnan stepped out.

Eyes red, Xiaomei complained, “Mr. Lu, can’t you control her? She comes into our school whenever she likes and bullies me. Look at my wrist. She’s bruised it.”

Qiao Ran didn’t defend herself. She wanted to see whose side Xiangnan would take: hers or this scheming woman’s.

He frowned slightly. “If you’re going to quarrel, move away from my classroom. Don’t disturb my students.”

Then he went back inside. Just like that.

Fine. Quite fair of him, taking neither side.

Qiao Ran fumed. *Just wait until you fall in love with me. I’ll dump you. Ignore me today, and tomorrow I’ll be out of your reach.*