Chapter 7: The Stepsister's Miscarriage

Du Huacheng and Zhong Xiao returned to the Zhong household, where Du Huacheng handed all the medicine to the barefoot doctor.

The doctor glanced over the supplies and asked, “Is there no lidocaine?”

Zhong Xiao replied, “There was none in the storeroom. I found everything else except for that.”

The barefoot doctor hadn’t yet responded when Yang Yuehe cried out from the side.

“That’s impossible! How could there be none? There was a whole box of it in the storeroom!”

She cast a look at Zhong Xiao, barely able to restrain the hatred in her eyes. She knew it—Zhong Xiao had never liked Ying’er since childhood and surely harbored ill intent now! It must have been deliberate, telling Du Huacheng there was no anesthetic!

But, standing before Zhong Xiao, she forced herself to remain calm and spoke gently, “Xiaoxiao, did you really search thoroughly? Take another look, inside and out. Auntie remembers there was some…”

Zhong Xiao cut her off impatiently.

“If you don’t believe me, go look yourself. I told you there isn’t any, and there isn’t. Do you think I’d let something so vital slip by? If I truly meant harm, would I have let my father bring these medicines at all?”

Then she turned to Du Huacheng, feigning grievance. “Dad, if you think of me that way too, then don’t call on me for anything in the future!”

Du Huacheng hurried to interject, “That’s enough, Yuehe. Xiaoxiao might be a little willful sometimes, but she knows what’s important in critical moments. She found everything but the painkiller—let’s not waste time. Let the doctor get in there and operate on Ying’er!”

The thought of having neither anesthetic nor painkillers made Yang Yuehe shudder involuntarily.

Sure enough, before long, after the barefoot doctor entered the inner room, Du Ying’er’s agonized screams echoed throughout the Zhong household, sending a tremor through Yang Yuehe’s heart.

She clenched her fists, wishing she could tear Zhou Yongxin to pieces!

But on second thought—

Her daughter had paid such a bitter price; it must not be in vain. She had to drive Zhong Xiao out of the Zhong household, send her to some impoverished, remote place—let Zhong Xiao taste this suffering too!

Yet, something still felt wrong when she thought about Zhong Xiao.

She remembered clearly that when the drug peddler had first approached her, she had explicitly demanded anesthetics and painkillers. Even as a woman, she knew that in chaotic times, anesthetics, painkillers, and antibiotics were incredibly vital and scarce, so she had bought them by the crate.

She’d spent so many gold bars—her life’s savings painstakingly accumulated over the years!

How could there possibly be none?

The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she became. Listening to Du Ying’er’s screams from within the room, she shot Zhong Xiao a glance, then made an excuse—“I can’t bear to hear my daughter’s wails”—and left the Zhong residence.

She made her way to the nearby chemical plant’s staff housing and found a young woman she knew—literate and on good terms with her.

Years ago, the chemical plant had belonged to the head of the Zhong family—Zhong Xiao’s great-grandfather. Later, it passed to her grandfather, and then, after public-private partnership, became today’s state-owned factory. The Zhong family’s residence had been passed down from those days, which was why the staff housing was right next door.

Yang Yuehe found her acquaintance and secretly took her up to the third floor of the warehouse. The young woman, just four or five years younger than Yang Yuehe, was stunned by the sight of the roomful of boxes.

“Sister Yang, your family has so much medicine? Aren’t you afraid of getting caught?”

Yang Yuehe replied, “I heard your son’s been sick with a fever and hospitalized for ages, and you’ve been searching everywhere for medicine. I’m risking a lot to bring you two boxes, just in case anything happens to your boy.”

The young woman nearly fell to her knees in gratitude.

“Sister Yang, thank you so much! The hospital keeps telling me to find medicine, but where could I get it if not for your help…”

“That’s enough,” Yang Yuehe interrupted, her expression stern. “You can read, so take two boxes of penicillin, then help me look for and bring me… lidocaine and ***.”

The young woman nodded, took two boxes of penicillin, and began searching through the boxes. After a long search, she turned back to Yang Yuehe.

“Sister Yang, there’s no lidocaine here.”

Yang Yuehe was stunned. “How could that be? How could there be none?”

The young woman, feeling wronged, replied, “There really isn’t. This box is amoxicillin, this one penicillin, this one erythromycin, and this one—let me see—oh, insulin for diabetes…”

She read out the labels one by one.

“See? There really isn’t any,” she said.

Yang Yuehe frowned deeply.

Could it be that Zhong Xiao had hidden it?

Gritting her teeth, she looked at the young woman, half warning, half instructing, “Not a word of what you saw in the warehouse today, understand? If you say a single thing, your job, and your son’s future job quota…”

The young woman immediately assured her, “Don’t worry, Sister Yang! You’ve been so kind to me, giving me penicillin—of course I won’t breathe a word. You have my word!”

Only then did Yang Yuehe nod in satisfaction and let her go.

When Yang Yuehe returned to the Zhong household, Du Ying’er’s surgery was over. She was still howling in pain, begging Du Huacheng and the doctor to give her a shot of painkiller.

Yang Yuehe returned with a sullen face. Taking advantage of Zhong Xiao’s inattention, she shot her a fierce glare.

Little did she know, Zhong Xiao had seen everything out of the corner of her eye.

Heh.

She was certain Yang Yuehe had gone looking for the medicine in the warehouse.

As if she’d ever find it!

By the time Yang Yuehe approached Du Ying’er, the latter had already fainted from the pain.

Yang Yuehe shouted her daughter’s name, but Du Ying’er did not respond.

The two barefoot doctors hurried over to examine Du Ying’er and then informed Yang Yuehe and Du Huacheng.

“She’s only fainted from the pain—there’s no danger to her life. But… what do you plan to do about this?”

The barefoot doctor placed a ceramic basin filled with dark red blood in front of them. Before Du Huacheng could step forward, Zhou Yongxin, who had been lingering nearby, rushed over, his eyes red as he stared into the basin.

The blood wasn’t bright red—it was a dark, blackish red. In the middle, there was a vague mass that didn’t look like blood, but rather something lumpy.

It was a child.

His child.

Though the child had yet to take form, it was indeed his.

His child had died within an hour of his vengeful oath.

At that moment, Zhong Xiao’s cold voice rang out.

“What are you so eager for? Someone might think you’re the father. Or maybe your curse came true—maybe you really are doomed to have no descendants.”