She would smile that sinister smile, as if plotting something.
"I know." Zhang Liunian paid no mind to Su Jie, nor did he know that she harbored feelings for him.
What he didn't know was that Su Jie was currently at his home, having enraged Jiang Qingqing to the point that her unborn child was showing signs of early labor.
"Su Jie, I don't have a friend like you. Get out." Jiang Qingqing suppressed the pain in her lower abdomen, clutching her belly as she shooed Su Jie away.
Seeing her like this, Su Jie stepped forward and poked Jiang Qingqing's belly, smiling instead of getting angry. "Did you not hear what I just said? I said I like Liunian, and you should give him to me."
"Don't touch my belly!"
Jiang Qingqing stumbled backward from her poking, until her body hit the dining table. She glared at Su Jie and said, "I will poke it, I will keep poking it. What can you do to me?" Hearing this, Su Jie increased her force and continued poking, making Jiang Qingqing gasp in pain.
It hurt so much, her belly hurt so much. Jiang Qingqing gritted her teeth, enduring the pain in her abdomen, and cursed, "Su Jie, you're dreaming. I will never agree. Get out."
"Don't worry. With me here, your man and child will have someone to look after them. Please, make me happy. Aren't you my best friend? This little thing, you'll definitely agree, right?" Su Jie seemed to think her previous words weren't provocative enough and intensified her actions.
Jiang Qingqing was indeed severely hit. Water began to leak from beneath her, a clear sign of impending premature labor.
"My child, my child." Jiang Qingqing could no longer care about anything else. Clutching her belly, she prepared to leave for the clinic.
But as Su Jie saw her about to leave, she directly blocked the doorway, shoved Jiang Qingqing aside, and caused her to fall to the ground.
"Ah!" Caught off guard and falling to the ground, Jiang Qingqing was in so much pain that sweat poured down her.
After a long while, she managed to catch her breath and looked at Su Jie with hateful eyes. "Su Jie, I haven't wronged you in any way. Why are you doing this to me?"
This was something Jiang Qingqing couldn't understand. She believed she had treated Su Jie well, so why would Su Jie hate her so much?
"Heh heh, wronged you? You truly have wronged me. You said you'd take care of me and shelter me, but then you abandoned me in the village and came to the city to enjoy yourself. You were always wary of me, afraid something would happen between me and Zhang Liunian, always so cautious that it made me sick!
Although I have feelings for Zhang Liunian, you are my friend. How could you be so defensive of me?
You clearly said you sought no reward and would do anything for me, but in the end, you treated me like a thief, constantly on guard. Your hypocritical face truly disgusts me."
After hearing her words, Jiang Qingqing wanted to retort, but the sharp pain in her belly made it impossible to explain herself to Su Jie.
Seeing her silence, Su Jie became even more convinced that Jiang Qingqing was guilty and couldn't find an excuse, thus positioning herself on a moral high ground.
"See? You can't even speak. That's a guilty conscience. It's the pot calling the kettle black. You treated me poorly, yet you speak so nicely. Everything you said about me staying as long as I wanted, about treating your home as my own, it's all a load of crap."
"..." Jiang Qingqing couldn't utter a word, but she finally understood why Su Jie was acting this way, why she had come in and immediately started spewing shameless words about marrying Liunian and asking her to abdicate.
It turned out she also had her sights set on Liunian and wanted to marry him.
That was her true objective.
"You are so cruel! I've done nothing wrong, yet you deliberately try to tarnish my reputation." Jiang Qingqing endured the pain in her body and defended herself, although she knew her words were futile.
"It's too late to say that now. I will not let you go." Su Jie was determined to see Jiang Qingqing suffer so she could take over her happy life.
As good as her intentions were, she forgot the time of day. It was precisely when Hua Bao would be returning from school.
Just as Su Jie was watching Jiang Qingqing make a second attempt to leave and successfully blocking her, Zhao Zhijie returned home with Hua Bao.
"Qingqing? Open the door!" Zhao Zhijie knocked for a long time, but seeing no sign of Jiang Qingqing coming to open it, he became suspicious.
Jiang Qingqing disliked going out. Other than buying groceries in the morning, she basically stayed at home all day. Why was no one opening the door at this hour?
As Zhao Zhijie was fretting, he seemed to hear a sound from inside, though he couldn't quite make it out.
At that moment, inside the house, Su Jie was firmly holding Jiang Qingqing's mouth shut, her mind racing. Before she could figure anything out, Zhao Zhijie's voice sounded again from outside the door, "Qingqing, if you don't open the door, Uncle Zhao will kick it down."
Su Jie was enraged. Her eyes darted around. Then, she picked up a piece of cloth from the ground, stuffed it into Jiang Qingqing's mouth, and jumped out the window.
Right after she jumped out the window to escape, the door to the house was kicked open by Zhao Zhijie.
"Qingqing!"
An hour later, Zhang Liunian rushed to the clinic.
"Uncle Zhao, what's going on? Wasn't Qingqing due to give birth in another eighteen days? Why did she suddenly go into labor?" Zhang Liunian had returned to the complex, found no one at home, and asked around. It was only then that he learned his wife was going into labor and had gone to the hospital. He immediately rushed over.
"I don't know. When I arrived, Qingqing was already in a bad state, and her consciousness wasn't clear." Zhao Zhijie had kicked open the door to find Jiang Qingqing clutching her belly and lying on the ground. There was water everywhere beneath her, and her mouth had been gagged. He had no idea what had happened.
Seeing that Zhao Zhijie couldn't get any information, Zhang Liunian could only wait by the delivery room door. When a nurse came out, he immediately grabbed her to inquire about the situation.
"The pregnant woman's condition isn't good. We don't know what kind of stimulation she received, but her mental state is very abnormal. She might require a C-section in the end. You should prepare yourselves psychologically."
"Not good? Then have the C-section. As long as the mother is alright, that's all that matters."
Upon hearing that it wasn't good and a C-section might be necessary, Zhang Liunian agreed without a second thought. This greatly surprised the nurse.
After all, in this era, natural birth was preferred, and very few people accepted C-sections. It was usually only chosen as a last resort when lives were at stake.
Although Jiang Qingqing wasn't doing well, she hadn't reached that point yet. Her question earlier was just a preventive measure. She hadn't expected Zhang Liunian to accept it so readily, only showing concern for the mother.
"Don't worry, we will do our best to facilitate a natural birth if possible," the nurse said before re-entering the delivery room.
Zhang Liunian waited outside, extremely nervous. After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Qingqing's screams began to echo from inside, each one more terrifying than the last, making Zhang Liunian repeatedly shout for a C-section.
Later, it was that same nurse who came out to quiet Zhang Liunian, bringing some much-needed silence outside the delivery room.
While they were quiet, Zhang Liunian became even more anxious. With his wife screaming inside the delivery room, he was powerless, able only to listen. This feeling was naturally unbearable.
Fortunately, the process didn't last too long. In the early hours of the morning, Jiang Qingqing successfully gave birth to a son weighing six pounds.
"Doctor, is my Qingqing alright? Why isn't she moving?" As soon as Zhang Liunian heard the baby was born, he rushed into the ward, only to find Jiang Qingqing motionless, her eyes tightly shut. He immediately panicked.
"She's just too tired and has fallen asleep. You don't need to worry." It was the same nurse who replied.
Hearing this, Zhang Liunian finally felt relieved.
"Liunian, aren't you going to see your little one?" Uncle Zhao approached Zhang Liunian, holding the newborn infant.
Zhang Liunian glanced at the baby without much enthusiasm, then turned his gaze back to Jiang Qingqing on the bed.