Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 2

In a ward at the central hospital in the county town.

A pale-faced middle-aged woman was curled up in a corner of the hospital bed, tightly clutching an infant in her arms. In a trembling voice, she pleaded softly to the two people beside her, "Grandma, I guess I'm just not destined to have a son. I'm sorry to your Zhao family, I'm incompetent for not being able to give birth to a son. But this daughter is your own granddaughter, she's not a kitten or puppy, how can you just abandon her like that?"

I know that having another child would mean another mouth to feed, but don't worry, Mother-in-law, Tiesheng and I will move out and we'll live separately. Even if we don't have enough to eat in the future, it won't be your problem. We absolutely won't be a burden to you.”

The woman was Cheng Jinxiang. She had just given birth and hadn't even had a bite to eat or an injection of anti-inflammatory medicine when her mother-in-law and sister-in-law cornered her at her hospital bed and forced her to give away her newborn daughter.

Cheng Jinxiang pleaded desperately with her mother-in-law, but to no avail. The old woman beside her, her face ashen, shook her head repeatedly: "What if it's another girl in the future? Will you still raise her? If she keeps having girls, even ten or eight, how will you raise them all?

Zhao Chunqin, Cheng Jinxiang's sister-in-law, chimed in, "Sister-in-law, this isn't up to you. You know the situation back home. My eldest brother had a son, and my third brother had a son too. Only you have two daughters in a row. I already promised that family I'd give the children to them tonight. If you don't agree, how am I supposed to explain it to them?"

Besides, sister-in-law, you also need to consider the family's actual situation. Zhao Da'e is a money-loser, and this one you gave birth to is also a money-loser. If we don't give this one away, we can't build a new family without breaking the old one, and then you won't be able to have a son. If you don't have a son, who will take care of you in your old age? If you don't have a son, won't people say behind my back that my second brother is a wicked man, that he'll be childless and have no descendants?"

Seeing the sinister looks in her mother-in-law and sister-in-law's eyes, Cheng Jinxiang felt a chill run down her spine, and her face grew even paler. She would feel heartache for her own flesh and blood, but to give it away to strangers… she, as the mother, might never be able to see it again. She wouldn't even know if her child was cold or hot, had a headache or fever, or had eaten. What difference was there between that and the child dying at birth? Giving away her own flesh and blood because she was afraid of being fined for having more children than allowed would probably leave her forever in this shadow.

"No, I didn't give birth to a worthless child." Cheng Jinxiang said fiercely, her eyes bloodshot. "You agreed to give the child away, but I didn't. My child, what right do you have to make decisions for me? I don't agree."

Seeing that Cheng Jinxiang had no chance of handing over the child willingly, her sister-in-law Zhao Chunqin and mother-in-law Wang directly took action and began to snatch the baby from Cheng Jinxiang's hands.

Cheng Jinxiang was very weak after giving birth, and she never expected that her mother-in-law, Wang Shi, and her sister-in-law, Zhao Chunqin, would try to snatch the baby. Before the baby could even be dressed, it was taken away naked by her mother-in-law, Wang Shi, who then carried it away.

"Give me back my child!" Cheng Jinxiang roared, then suddenly stood up, ignoring her extreme weakness and pain, and jumped off the bed, only to be stopped by her sister-in-law.

“Sister-in-law, you can’t have a son yourself, and we have to help you send your child away. You’re just a hen that can’t lay eggs. You’re incompetent. Now you want to be kind-hearted. If we don’t stand up for you, do you want my second brother to have no descendants? Actually, you also want to have a son in the future and you also want to send your second daughter away, but you’re too embarrassed to do it. Now that my mother is playing the villain, you’ll feel better.”

Hearing her sister-in-law's arrogant words, Cheng Jinxiang trembled with anger, muttering, "Zhao Chunqin, don't talk nonsense!" She struggled desperately to push her way out, trying to catch up with her mother-in-law, Wang Shi. But she was too weak and couldn't break free from Zhao Chunqin's obstruction. She watched as her mother-in-law, Wang Shi, carrying the child, turned a corner at the end of the hospital corridor and disappeared from sight. Cheng Jinxiang felt her mind go blank, then everything went black, and she fainted.

Grandma Wang held Cheng Jinxiang's newborn second daughter, and without even wrapping her in a small blanket, she took the little one, whose skin was still rosy, out of the ward. Soon the little one turned pale from the cold, like a flower petal under the frost, as if she might wither at any moment.

Outside the hospital's inpatient department, snowflakes were falling and the wind was biting. Even the last few leaves clinging to the silent branches gave up their final resistance, drifting down with the wind and swirling in the snow. The little one trembled involuntarily, then suddenly closed its eyes tightly, letting out a weak cry, tinged with tears of grievance, echoing through the empty hospital corridor.

……

Zhao Da'e, Zhao Tingming, and others rushed to the county hospital in a tricycle through wind and snow. As the tricycle's engine finally stopped, they arrived at the hospital. Zhao Tingming had the others get off at the main entrance, then drove the tricycle to a vacant lot east of the hospital.

After jumping off the tricycle, Zhao Da'e shook his stiff hands and feet, exhaled a breath of stale air, wiped the snowflakes from his eyebrows and hair, and scanned his surroundings with his slightly chilly eyes. Suddenly, the cry of a baby reached Zhao Da'e's ears.

Zhao Da'e squinted at the figure and saw an old woman with a head of silver-gray hair in a bun, wearing a gray-black coat, with bandages wrapped around her legs and bound feet. She was holding a baby who was not wearing any clothes and wanted to hand it to the person in front of her.

This person was none other than Wang, the grandmother of Zhao Da'e.

Wang said to a woman wearing a pink coat, red floral cotton pants, and short hair covering her face, "I'm entrusting my granddaughter to you now. From now on..."

Before Wang could finish speaking, a heart-wrenching scream echoed through the empty hospital: "Catch the human traffickers! A human trafficker has kidnapped my sister! Someone come quick..."

As Zhao Da'e's deafening cries for help rang out, people were instantly drawn to the scene, and in no time, a group of people surrounded Zhao Da'e, Wang Shi, and the others.

Wang's face turned pale and then red. She glared at Zhao Da'e and scolded, "Da'e, don't talk nonsense. If you keep talking like this, someone will die." Then Wang said to the others, "I am Zhao Da'e's biological grandmother. My granddaughter is not very bright. The child I am holding in my arms is my granddaughter. I am not a human trafficker."

Zhao Da'e smiled coldly: "Who you are is not important. What's important is that you are a human trafficker. You're holding my sister, trying to sell her to this woman in red."

After saying that, Zhao Da'e sat down on the ground and began to cry and shout wildly, "Everyone, come and judge this! This old bastard is impersonating my grandma and trying to kidnap my own sister!"

As people watched Zhao Da'e cry her heart out, and saw that Wang was indeed going to sell the baby in her arms to the woman in red, they couldn't help but point and whisper.

"Call the police immediately and arrest the human traffickers. In broad daylight, under the clear sky, these damned human traffickers actually dared to come into the hospital to abduct children. They are utterly depraved."

"This child is so pitiful. He looks like a stolen child. In this cold weather, he's not even given a coat. These human traffickers are despicable."

"I just saw that old hag run out of the ward, and I suspected she was up to no good. She really is a human trafficker. I want to tear her to pieces..."

People were filled with righteous indignation and tore at the clothes of Wang and the woman in red, trying to snatch the baby from Wang's arms.

A moment later, several hospital security guards ran over, surrounded Wang and the woman in red, and shouted, "Give the child back to their family. We're taking you to the police station. If you resist, don't blame us for being impolite."