Papa Gao and Mama Gao were angry, but then there was movement in the ward.
They held back their anger and opened the door to come in. Gao Lang and Bai Duoduo were crying and confessing, apologizing to each other.
Mother Gao couldn’t help it. “You feel sorry now? Why did you go so early!”
Papa Gao grabbed her. “Say a few words.”
Gao Lang raised his head without wiping the tears on his face. “Mom! You don’t usually like Duoduo. Now that the child is gone, Duoduo’s already very sad. You’re still accusing her?”
Mama Gao broke away from Papa Gao’s hand, stepping forward and slapping Gao Lang. “Am I accusing her? I am scolding you! The doctor said that she had an unwell fetus, and it was better for her to be hospitalized—you said that the hospital wasn’t good and not as comfortable as home. The dietitian made a menu for her according to her physique—you thought those dishes were too light and took her out to eat! The most important thing is that you, as a husband, failed to give her an adequate sense of security, making her think and get emotional during pregnancy, leading to a miscarriage! You are the culprit! How did I raise something like you!”
Mama Gao’s idea was very simple. Her daughter-in-law was not born from her; she couldn’t beat or scold her, but her son was born from her. She could still admonish him.
Mama Gao’s words stunned everyone.
Gao Lang put a hand over his face, dumbfounded.
Bai Duoduo was touched by Mama Gao’s words and became even more sad. She lay on the pillow and burst into tears.
Mama Gao glared at Gao Lang and walked to the bed. “Don’t cry. Shedding tears during confinement can hurt your eyes. There are some things that, as a mother-in-law, are not easy to say too much about. In short, it is most important for you to maintain a good body. Child, in the future, there will be another chance.”
Bai Duoduo slowly stopped her tears after hearing Mama Gao’s words. Mama Gao had an ordinary attitude towards her, but unexpectedly, the child was gone and her mother-in-law didn’t have a single word of accusation. Instead, she came to comfort her. Suddenly, Bai Duoduo felt a little complicated inside.
Mama Gao’s remarks were sincere. Although she was very angry that Bai Duoduo had been targeting Huaiqing and Huairou, she also knew that Bai Duoduo had just finished the operation; she was physically and mentally weak, and couldn’t be blamed for something right now.
In the future, Mama Gao would try to isolate them and let Huaiqing and Huairou have less contact with them.
If they were still dissatisfied and targeted Huaiqing and Huairou, then she would immigrate to another country with Huaiqing and Huairou and stay away from them!
Li Huaiqing and Li Huairou only learned about Bai Duoduo’s miscarriage the next afternoon.
They had gone out with Zhou Minglang for two days and were very happy. After coming back and taking a shower, they changed into their house clothes. The two sisters sat together, browsed the photos taken in the past two days, and selected some good-looking photos to send to their circle of friends.
Then they heard Auntie Zhang, who was preparing dinner in the kitchen and talking about the Gao family.
The sisters looked at each other. She’d had a miscarriage?
Li Huaiqing was really surprised. While Li Huairou pretended to be surprised, she had a hunch in her heart—in the novel, Bai Duoduo’s physique was not suitable for pregnancy because of the nature of her work. It was difficult for her to carry her first child. Even without Li Huaiqing, it was hard to say whether the child could be born safely.
After transmigrating, Li Huairou had gone to watch Bai Duoduo’s streams several times. She was a food livestreamer—although she didn’t eat as much as big eater livestreamers, she also exceeded the amount of food for a normal person. And her livestream time was mostly in the evening; for her, day and night were reversed, and her three meals were not fixed. It would be strange if there were no physical problems.
So Bai Duoduo’s child was gone, and Li Huairou was not surprised at all.
“Huairou, do you want to visit the hospital?” Li Huaiqing asked hesitantly.
“Uh, Jie, you should call and ask auntie first! I don’t think those two people will be happy to see us,” Li Huairou said after thinking for a while.
Li Huaiqing nodded. “What you said makes sense. Then, I’ll call and ask now.”
Li Huaiqing turned away to call Mama Gao.
After a while, Li Huaiqing put down her cellphone, looking a little sad.
“Jie, what’s wrong?” Li Huairou asked with concern.
Li Huaiqing smiled bitterly and shook her head. Mama Gao had told her everything—the reasons for Bai Duoduo’s miscarriage, including the quarrels between her and Gao Lang.
She’d moved away from the Gao family and resigned from the company, but Bai Duoduo was still dissatisfied. And Gao Lang actually agreed with her.
She’d always thought that even if there was no love, there was still family affection and friendship between her and Gao Lang, right? After all, they’d grown up together.
But now it seemed that she was too self-righteous.
Now it seemed that she really was fortunate to have moved away from the Gao family. Otherwise, who knows how much infamy she’d have to bear!
For a while, Li Huaiqing was a little frustrated.
At this time, the phone screen suddenly lit up. She picked the phone up and looked at it—it was Zhou Minglang. He’d sent her a WeChat message.
Li Huaiqing opened it. Zhou Minglang had asked her, “Can I post the photos I took today in Moments?”
Li Huaiqing smiled and replied, “Of course.”
Zhou Minglang did not reply. Li Huaiqing curiously opened his page and saw that he had posted a three-by-three grid of photos, all photos of her. Only one of them was a group photo of the three of them.
Li Huaiqing looked at them one by one. She didn’t have any recollections of these photos, and she didn’t know when he’d taken them, but they were pretty good-looking.
“Jie, he took your photo so beautifully!” Li Huairou remarked with a smile.
Li Huaiqing looked up and found that Li Huairou was also watching Zhou Minglang’s page. She was a little embarrassed. “Don’t look! We’re still talking about something.” After speaking, she went to grab Li Huairou’s cellphone.
Li Huairou did not resist, letting Li Huaiqing take her cellphone. She locked the screen and put it aside.
After such an interruption, Li Huaiqing’s mood calmed down a lot. “Auntie didn’t suggest that we go to the hospital. Considering the relationship between us and the Gao family, we can’t pretend that we don’t know anything. Let me send some flowers and fruit to the hospital tomorrow!”
Li Huairou nodded. While Li Huaiqing was not paying attention, she took her phone back and secretly gave a like to the photo that Zhou Minglang had posted.
Li Huaiqing turned her cellphone on before going to bed and saw the like. A little embarrassed, she also liked Zhou Minglang’s photo after thinking about it for a long time.
The next day, Li Huaiqing personally wrapped a bunch of flowers, bought some imported fruits, and sent someone to deliver it to the hospital.
The delivery person happened to meet Gao Lang at the door of the ward. Gao Lang signed the receipt without expression, then took the flowers and fruit. After the delivery person left, he threw them into the trash can next to him without hesitation.
This scene happened to be seen by Mama Gao, who had come over with a thermos. She didn’t need to guess—from Gao Lang’s reaction, she knew that the flowers and fruit must have been sent by Huaiqing.
This Gao Lang has been like this since he was a child. When something went wrong, he never reflected on himself; instead, he only knew how to push his mistakes onto others.
Mama Gao picked the flowers and fruit up and opened the door to the ward.
Gao Lang was talking to Bai Duoduo. When he heard the movement, he turned his head to look, only to see flowers and fruit. Without knowing it, he frowned.
Bai Duoduo said, “What beautiful flowers, who sent them?”
“They were sent by Huaiqing and Huairou. The girls didn’t come because they were afraid of interrupting your rest, so I brought them,” Mama Gao answered. “This is what they’re doing as your sister-in-laws.”
No matter what Bai Duoduo thought deep down, she would never show her calculating thoughts in front of Mama Gao. She smiled and said, “Mom, thank Huaiqing and Huairou for me. I will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow. Call them back. Let’s have a meal as a family!”
“It’s fine if you like it, and you can eat those. It’s inconvenient for Huairou and Huaiqing to come, and you are still in confinement—be obedient and take this opportunity to take care of your body. Did your mother say when she would come over?” Mama Gao asked, putting the thermos on the table.
When she mentioned this, Bai Duoduo looked a little sad. “My brother is sick, and my mother can’t leave him.” Her mother and stepfather’s child—her brother—was sick, so her mother would only transfer 10,000 yuan to her and tell her to eat more to nurture her body.
[10,000 yuan is around $1,564.20 USD]
From the day her mother remarried, Bai Duoduo had known that her mother was no longer her mother. As time went on, it really became like that.
In reality, her mother did not favor sons over daughters, nor did she squeeze Bai Duoduo out to raise her younger brother. Her mother actually loved her too, but most of her love was for her younger brother.
Mama Gao nodded, indicating that she knew.
Over there, Gao Lang had already filled a bowl with porridge. “Mom, it’s okay to let me stay here. You can go back first!”
Mama Gao glanced at him and nodded. “Okay, I’ll come back this afternoon.”
After Mama Gao left, Gao Lang continued to feed the porridge to Bai Duoduo until it was finished. He put the bowls and chopsticks away, picked the flowers next to him up, and put them on the sink in the bathroom. He even threw the basket of imported fruits into the corner.
Bai Duoduo saw Gao Lang doing this, but she didn’t stop him. Li Huaiqing’s existence had always been an obstacle between her and Gao Lang. She didn’t know what to do, so she could only put it on hold for now. However, Gao Lang’s attitude relieved her a little.
She’d been stimulated by Gao Lang’s attitude from before. In fact, she had never thought of targeting Li Huaiqing. What she wanted was Gao Lang’s firm attitude and for him to choose her side.
As long as Gao Lang loved her, and was on her side, she didn’t care about the green plum and bamboo horse.
Although it was a pity that the child was gone, it could count as a good thing if it allowed A-Lang to wake up.
That afternoon, Bai Duoduo was discharged from the hospital and taken home to recuperate. During this period, Gao Lang put the company’s affairs aside, staying by her side and taking care of her for a whole month.
Wanting to cry, Bai Duoduo looked at the numbers on the scale. For the first time in her life, her weight exceeded 100 catties and had reached 110 catties. There was a saying that “the ideal for women was to not exceed one hundred”. She’d already seriously exceeded the limit. She pinched the fat on her waist and wondered if she should lose weight.
[100 catties = 60 Kg = 132 lbs]
“What ‘losing weight’? You’re fine just the way you are!” Gao Lang embraced her from behind. “Listen to your husband. Don’t lose weight.”
Bai Duoduo smiled helplessly. “I’m out of confinement, and you should also go back to work. Don’t be lazy anymore. Dad has been so busy this month—he looked more haggard than usual.”
“I know. I’ll go to the office today. Don’t ruminate at home. If there’s nothing to do, read a book, watch television, and take a good rest. We’ll talk about the online shop later,” Gao Lang replied.
Bai Duoduo nodded.
Gao Lang got in the car and did not go to the office, but instead went directly to Li Huaiqing’s flower shop.
