Chapter Forty-Six: Chen Wanjun's Miscarriage

Time slipped by swiftly, and before anyone realized it, autumn had arrived.

Wang Luo seemed to be doing well at his job out of town, having even managed to pay back the money he owed the Su family ahead of schedule. When Su Wan received the money, she couldn’t help but marvel, “Truly the male lead from a women’s novel—his competence is remarkable.”

The villagers had also begun the autumn harvest.

The old patriarch called everyone back to the village. Su Wan, feeling sorry for her grandfather, had specially hired several laborers. Yet her grandfather insisted—the harvest must be done by family together.

Helpless, everyone put aside their tasks, choosing a weekend to accompany the old man to the fields.

Su Wan stood in the field, wearing a large sunhat and boots. Across the way lay the Wang family’s land. This year, with Wang Luo absent, the work had fallen to Chen Wanjun.

She was heavily pregnant, her figure bloated, unable to bend over to reap the rice. Beside her, Cuijuan kept scolding her, accusing her of laziness and shirking the work.

Su Wan frowned deeply at the sight, silently thankful she hadn’t married into the Wang family.

At noon, everyone gathered under the trees for lunch.

Su Wan had just picked up a chicken leg when Cuijuan’s shrill voice rang out again: “Useless wretch, all you do is eat and eat! I haven’t seen you work at all, yet you’re gobbling up all the food!”

Her voice was sharp and piercing, grating like nails on glass.

The old man could bear it no longer and told Su Chen to take the remaining chicken over to the pregnant woman.

But just as Su Chen approached, a sudden scream rang out.

Sensing something was wrong, they hurried over to find Chen Wanjun collapsed on the ground in a spreading pool of red.

Cuijuan stood nearby, stunned and at a complete loss.

“Take her to the hospital, quickly!” Su Wan shouted.

Yet Cuijuan and Wang’s father hesitated, unmoving.

Chen Wanjun, kneeling on the ground, reached out, begging Wang Luo’s parents to take her to the hospital.

Wang’s father, loath to spend money, hesitated under the gaze of the four Su family members. He couldn’t simply ignore the situation, so, fuming, he raised his hand to strike Cuijuan. “You damned woman! You knew she was pregnant, and you still hit her! Now we have to spend money on the hospital, all the money our son earns—you squander it all!”

Cuijuan, clutching her head, scurried away, shrieking, “Murder! Murder!”

The two chased each other and soon disappeared from sight.

The three younger people were still baffled, but the old patriarch immediately understood and shouted in anger, “They’ve run away!”

“Su Chen, Xiao Jiang, go bring those two scoundrels back. Su Wan, fetch a tricycle—quickly!”

They sprang into action. Su Wan ran to the Jiang family’s courtyard, retrieved the tricycle she used for hauling goods, grabbed a quilt from the house, and rushed back toward the fields.

Meanwhile, Wang Luo’s parents were also brought back.

They lifted Chen Wanjun onto the tricycle and hurried her to the nearest hospital.

All the way, Chen Wanjun’s forehead was slick with cold sweat from pain. She clung desperately to the quilt, tears streaming down her face.

After registering at the emergency room, Su Wan thought her job was done and was about to leave.

But just as she turned, Cuijuan’s shrill voice echoed down the hallway.

Looking back, Su Wan saw Cuijuan sprawled across Chen Wanjun’s hospital bed, with the doctor standing by helplessly.

The doctor had advised terminating the pregnancy, but Cuijuan refused.

Exasperated, the doctor explained, “The patient is showing signs of miscarriage. If the pregnancy isn’t terminated, both mother and child could die.”

But Cuijuan paid no heed, gripping Chen Wanjun’s hand tightly. “Get out! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re after, you quack, out for our money and our lives!”

“What, you want to operate and charge us a fortune too?”

“I’m telling you, don’t even think about it!”

Her screech resounded through the hallway, drawing the attention of everyone around.

By now, Chen Wanjun was so weak she could barely speak, but she extended her other hand feebly toward the doctor. “Doctor, save me.”

She loved her child, but she knew clearly that the child might have already died inside her. Just now, her mother-in-law’s kick had landed right on her stomach, sending her rolling three meters away.

“You wretch! Why are you crying out? Trying to murder the Wang family’s flesh and blood—believe me, I’ll strangle you right now!”

Around them, doctors and nurses were at their wits’ end, anxiously milling about.

A young nurse saw the red stain spreading on the hospital bed and shouted frantically, “Look, she’s bleeding again!”

The doctors argued with Cuijuan once more.

The corridor was in chaos, and Su Wan, standing among the crowd, grew anxious.

Truth be told, she had no personal quarrel with Chen Wanjun. Chen Wanjun wasn’t a bad person, merely a reflection of most women of that era as portrayed by the author.

She couldn’t just stand by, but as an outsider, she had no right to intervene; if she forced her way in, she might even bring trouble upon herself.

What if Wang Luo’s parents latched onto her for help?

Just as Su Wan was caught in this dilemma, the system’s prompt sounded in her mind: [Emergency mission. The host must find a way to get the heroine into surgery as soon as possible.]

[Hurry, host! If the heroine dies, your mission ends here!]

Su Wan was beside herself with worry. “But I can’t overpower her!”

[Go find Chen Tianyu.]

Only then did Su Wan remember—Chen Wanjun’s brother, Chen Tianyu, worked at this very hospital.

She and her grandfather had seen him before for medical treatment!

Wasting not a second, she dashed to another building to find Chen Tianyu.

Panting, she burst into his office. “Chen Tianyu, come with me! Your sister’s life is at stake!”

At the mention of his sister, Chen Tianyu’s face darkened. “She’s no longer part of the Chen family.”

Su Wan, exasperated, yanked him up from his chair. “Stop talking nonsense! Come with me, now!”

As they hurried along, Su Wan recounted what had happened. Chen Tianyu paused only briefly before his face contorted in fury and he sprinted ahead at full speed.

When they arrived at the corridor, the dispute was still raging.

Three or four doctors couldn’t pry Cuijuan away.

She was like a demon, her face twisted, refusing to let go of Chen Wanjun.

People tried to reason with her:

“Auntie, after all this time, the child might already be gone. Do you really want your daughter-in-law to die too?”

“Yes, you can have another child, but you must save the mother first!”

But Cuijuan wouldn’t listen. The child was nothing more than a lump of flesh in her eyes; the real issue was that if Chen Wanjun went into surgery, the money would drain away in an instant.

So even if it killed her, she couldn’t let them take her away.

By now, Chen Wanjun had completely lost consciousness, her vital signs fading.

A soft-hearted doctor, unable to bear it any longer, knelt before Cuijuan. “Auntie, I’ll pay all the medical expenses. Please, let her go into surgery!”

Cuijuan’s eyes darted suspiciously. “You mean it?”

Seeing hope, the doctor swore by the heavens, “Trust me, I mean what I say.”

Just as Cuijuan hesitated and seemed about to let go, Wang’s father, who had been pretending to be oblivious, suddenly coughed. Cuijuan glanced at her husband, gripped Chen Wanjun’s hand even tighter, and screamed, “Out! Don’t even think about it!”