The two got home and first took hot showers. Sun Jingcheng didn’t take a nap either—he went straight to the company. Passing by a breakfast shop on the way, he braved the rain to go in and order a bowl of congee and a plate of pan-fried buns. The filling in the pan-fried buns wasn’t good—not as tasty as the xiaolongbao Zhou Yu made. Thinking of this, he was about to message Zhou Yu saying he wanted to eat xiaolongbao, but thinking of how tired she’d been lately taking care of Grandma, he didn’t send it.
He didn’t send it, but Sun Jingfei sent him a message. After seeing the content, he felt Sun Jingfei was like a black crow with nothing to do all day, circling in the sky, and as soon as she got news, she’d definitely land at your window first thing in the morning to caw twice.
Never around for good news, first to report bad news.
Yesterday Second Sister-in-law had gone to the hospital for a Down syndrome screening. The doctor recommended terminating the pregnancy. Second Brother immediately called Uncle, who made a trip over. After looking at the results for a long time, he said the child wasn’t meant to be with them.
Zhou Yu received the news in the evening from Eldest Sister-in-law, saying Uncle had arranged surgery for her in the next couple days. They were discussing going to visit her together after the surgery.
It had been raining outside all day. After feeding Grandma water, Zhou Yu sat in the living room and replied to her, “How could it develop unhealthily?”
Eldest Sister-in-law replied, “I’m not clear either.” Then another message: “But this morning I heard Mom muttering to Dad, asking if it was because of the vaccine.”
Zhou Yu asked, “When did Second Sister-in-law get vaccinated?”
Eldest Sister-in-law replied, “February or March? Calculating the dates, it seems like she got pregnant right after vaccination.”
Zhou Yu asked, “What did Dad say?”
Eldest Sister-in-law replied, “Dad only said the fate was shallow.”
Zhou Yu didn’t reply.
Eldest Sister-in-law replied again, “Mom insists it’s the vaccine, and told Second Brother it was the vaccine too.”
Zhou Yu replied, “Whether it’s the vaccine or not, blaming the vaccine will make Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law feel better.”
Eldest Sister-in-law replied, “Right. I think so too.” Then another message: “It was a girl.”
Zhou Yu was surprised, “They found out it was a daughter?”
Eldest Sister-in-law replied, “Yes. I heard from Mom that Second Brother hasn’t eaten or drunk since yesterday.”
Zhou Yu didn’t reply for a moment.
Eldest Sister-in-law changed the subject, “Got stuck at work after my shift—the rain’s heavy right now.”
Zhou Yu replied, “Take a taxi and come straight back, don’t take the subway.” Big Brother had left behind a car, but except for going back to her natal home, Eldest Sister-in-law rarely drove it. With all the usual restrictions and whatnot, taking the subway to and from work was much more convenient.
Ten minutes later, Eldest Sister-in-law replied, “Really lucky, got a ride with Fourth Brother. He happened to be doing business nearby.”
The rain outside had lessened. Zhou Yu stood on the balcony thinking. After thinking for a long time, she counted on her fingers—she’d gotten her first shot at school in late March, her second shot in early April. Now it was May, June, July… just over three months.
She felt uncertain, having completely forgotten about the vaccination. At the time the doctor had instructed that for three months… or was it six months they recommended not getting pregnant? In July they’d stopped using contraception. Sun Jingcheng was even earlier—he and Sun Youping had gotten vaccinated in January and February.
Her mind unsettled, she immediately grabbed an umbrella and went to the clinic. When she left, the rain wasn’t too heavy, but halfway there, raindrops came crashing down. She had to stand under a storefront to take shelter. Probably because of the rain there were no customers—several shirtless old men in the shop were playing cards.
It was already dark. Except for the curtain of rain, the street was deserted. Zhou Yu lowered her head to reply to Sun Jingcheng’s WeChat. He asked if she was at the family residential area. She sent her location saying she was taking shelter from the rain.
After putting away her phone to watch the rain, with this look, she once again saw her father. He stood silently in the rain, looking straight at her. She instinctively wanted to avoid him as before, but inexplicably didn’t. She looked directly at him and said softly, “I’m sorry.”
After she spoke, her father turned and left.
Someone else also taking shelter nudged her and handed her a tissue, telling her to wipe the tears from her face. Only then did Zhou Yu realize she was already crying.
Before long, Sun Jingcheng came wearing a raincoat and holding an umbrella to pick her up. Like a magic trick, he pulled another raincoat from his chest for her, chattering on about why she’d come out in such heavy rain.
Zhou Yu didn’t hear clearly at all. Like a puppet, she let him put the raincoat on her and pulled her along, hurrying back to the clinic.
At the clinic, Mother Sun scolded them—why run around in such heavy rain? Zhou Yu sneezed three times in a row. Eldest Sister-in-law found her own clothes for her, urging her to quickly take a hot shower. Only after warm water poured over her body did she seem to come back from a dream.
In the kitchen, Mother Sun had boiled ginger soup—one bowl for those two kids, one bowl for Zhou Yu. Those two kids too—ran out to play all afternoon and came back soaked through.
As Zhou Yu drank the ginger soup, Mother Sun instructed her, saying she already had nasal congestion, and during pregnancy preparation she couldn’t take medicine casually.
Speaking of taking medicine, Zhou Yu finally remembered why she’d come. She went downstairs to find Sun Jingcheng, saying she’d only been vaccinated three months ago. They should avoid it for now and plan again after the new year.
Sun Jingcheng didn’t say anything. He’d also only remembered because of Second Sister-in-law’s situation. He knew a bit of medicine himself. These things were hard to say—they were greatly related to individual physiology. His cousin was a medical worker. Before the new year, the hospital had been in the first batch to get vaccinated. Two months after vaccination she accidentally got pregnant. Now at five or six months, all her checkups showed no problems.
But just because others had no problems didn’t mean they wouldn’t either. This kind of risk was completely controllable—just plan a few months later.
After thinking, Sun Jingcheng still told her, “Second Sister-in-law’s situation isn’t because of the vaccine. It’s her physical condition—later when the fetus gets bigger, the mother’s life will be in danger.”
“Only Second Brother, Uncle, Dad, and the two of us know about this.”
Zhou Yu nodded, indicating she understood.
That evening the two didn’t return to the new district. Taking advantage of the lighter rain, they drove back to their wedding apartment, which was close to the clinic. That night Zhou Yu developed a fever. Combined with the previous night’s soaking in the rain on the mountain, her high fever reached nearly 39 degrees.
Because they hadn’t been using contraception before, the two were worried about pregnancy and didn’t dare take medicine randomly. Sun Jingcheng stayed up all night giving her physical cooling.
At dawn he made congee. Zhou Yu barely managed to drink a bowl before sleeping. The rain outside hadn’t stopped—more accurately, it hadn’t stopped all night.
At noon he called Zhou Yu from the company asking how she was. Zhou Yu said the fever had broken, she’d just heated and drunk the congee, and was about to sleep some more. Sun Jingcheng told her to rest easy—he’d stop by the family residential area first after work.
Before he got off work, Sun Youping called him, telling him to come to the medicinal herb warehouse first after work to help move the Chinese medicine to another location. There was already standing water at the warehouse entrance. If the medicinal herbs touched polluted water, they’d all be ruined.
When Sun Jingcheng returned to the warehouse, he detoured several times—some road sections and culverts were flooded. In the warehouse, Sun Youping had been busy for a long time, packing the medicinal herbs in waterproof plastic film, one bag at a time.
Sun Jingcheng observed the terrain, then called Second Brother, telling him to drive to the warehouse to help. After hanging up, he finally caught his opportunity and said to Sun Youping, “Dad, I’m not saying anything bad, but I said from the beginning this location wouldn’t work…”
“Back then we weren’t talking—who did you tell it wouldn’t work?” Sun Youping shot back.
…
“Anyway this place…”
“Just get to work.” Sun Youping said to him, “You’re most like your mom—talk too much.”