"I'll use the tickets and money this time. Let me get a few more tickets, and next time I'll try to trade with tickets."
Xiao Mandong had a lot of cotton tickets in her hands, some of them about to expire, but she couldn't pull them all out at once. This kind of place still required caution.
"Alright, you go in and sell the apples. I'll go get the cotton. Wait for me here when you come out," Xia Mingyuan said, turning around and leaving.
Xiao Mandong quickly entered the black market. The sky was just beginning to lighten. She crouched in a corner, lifted the cloth covering her bamboo basket, and revealed the bright red tomatoes and apples. Soon a crowd gathered around her. This kind of rare item was extremely uncommon even in the black market.
People asked about the price in a chatter, but no one bought. Most thought it was too expensive. Pork was only seventy-five cents a pound; how many people would be willing to spend sixty cents a pound on apples?
Just then, a man in a straw hat squeezed to the front: "How many pounds is all this? I'll take everything."
Xiao Mandong was overjoyed. She borrowed the scale from the meat seller beside her. The tomatoes weighed twelve pounds, the apples twenty-six pounds. Altogether she sold them for nineteen yuan and twenty cents, and she accepted nineteen yuan from him.
Some people around sighed with regret. They had hoped the price would drop after a while if she couldn't sell, but now everything was bought up in one go.
It was still early, so Xiao Mandong wandered around the black market. Then she spotted a familiar face—it was the brother of Liu Guixiang, the one who had urgently checked out of the hospital last night. He was selling mushrooms in the black market, probably foraged by himself. She had thought that family was from the city.
Xiao Mandong glanced at the time and was about to leave when she saw Xia Mingyuan talking to someone at the entrance where she had come in. A bundle lay on the ground—should be the cotton. Xiao Mandong hurried over.
When Xia Mingyuan saw Xiao Mandong, he opened the bag: "Here's ten pounds of cotton. Check it."
The cotton was of excellent quality. Xiao Mandong paid readily. Only then did she get a good look at the man talking to Xia Mingyuan—it was the same man who had just bought all her apples.
"Let me introduce you. This is my big brother. He asked me to check if you have any more apples."
It turned out that the man was the boss of this black market, named Dong Feng. Xia Mingyuan had gone to him for the cotton and let him taste the half apple he had left. Dong Feng's eyes lit up—he happened to need a gift for the afternoon, and these apples were just perfect. So he bought them all.
Xiao Mandong knew she couldn't bring out too much of these rare goods, or she would definitely draw attention. "I don't have many apples left. My relative works long-distance transport and occasionally brings some back—sometimes apples, sometimes cucumbers, even rice. If there's more, I'll bring them to you."
When Dong Feng heard there was rice too, he was even happier: "Fine, bring me whatever you have in the future. I'll take it all."
After reaching their agreement, Xiao Mandong left the black market with the cotton. She found a secluded spot, put the cotton into her storage space, changed back into her regular clothes, and returned to the hospital. Xiao Manxue had already woken up. The two sisters had breakfast at the state-run restaurant, and neither of them brought up Wang Meixia.
Xiao Manxue waited for the village oxcart to return to town, while Xiao Mandong went back to work at the hospital. Just as she walked in, the nurse on duty called out to her: "Dr. Xiao, that Shen Linzhou from yesterday has woken up. Director Qi is waiting for you to start rounds."
Xiao Mandong paused mid-step. Yesterday this nurse had called her "Xiao," and today it was "Dr. Xiao." Well, that felt satisfying. So to earn respect, you really had to rely on your abilities.
When she reached Shen Linzhou's ward, his orderly was feeding him porridge in small spoonfuls. Only now did Xiao Mandong take a good look at the man's face—sharp brows, bright eyes, a high straight nose. Overall, he was rather handsome, blessed with a good set of features, completely hitting her aesthetic. If it were after the Reform and Opening-up and this man were still unmarried, she might consider having a child with him and then keeping the baby while cutting the father out.
At that thought, Xiao Mandong's face flushed involuntarily. What on earth was she thinking, having such wild fantasies about a patient? She could have slapped herself twice.
Just as she was lost in thought, Director Qi's voice suddenly broke through: "Xiao? What are you spacing out about?"
Xiao Mandong snapped back to attention and was about to apologize when a nurse's voice came from the corridor: "Director Qi, Pediatrics urgently needs you. There's a newborn with unstable heart rate, and they need you to come to Obstetrics for a consultation."
Xiao Mandong quickly checked Shen Linzhou's wound, changed the dressing, gave him instructions, and then followed Director Qi to the obstetrics ward.
Watching Xiao Mandong's retreating figure, Shen Linzhou, who had rehearsed his words of thanks all morning, hadn't gotten a single one out.
In the cadre ward of the obstetrics department, the smell of disinfectant mixed with the sound of a baby's crying. The woman in labor from yesterday, Lin Wenhui, lay pale-faced on the bed, her expression full of worry.
"The baby was off from yesterday—crying nonstop. There's milk, but she can't suck it out, and she won't swallow formula. It's really worrying."
After listening to the family describe the baby's condition, the doctors from various departments began their examinations.
Lin Wenhui, red-eyed, sighed heavily.
The conclusion after taking the pulse was that the newborn was undernourished, leading to sluggish swallowing movements, and the child might also be at risk for developmental delays.
Lin Wenhui burst into tears. How could that be? She had been eating well the whole time, with her family cooking a variety of dishes for her. How could the baby be undernourished?
Xiao Mandong wanted to feel the baby's bones to determine whether there was any birth injury. She was about to open the swaddling ties when Lin Wenhui's younger sister grabbed her wrist.
"What are you doing?" Lin Wenya glared, her tone urgent and sharp. "The child is already listless and uncomfortable. If you just open the blanket, what if she catches cold and gets sicker?"
Xiao Mandong frowned at Lin Wenya: "I just want to check the baby's bones. If there was a birth injury, the pain would make her cry and affect her feeding."
Director Qi quickly chimed in: "That's a possibility. Babies from normal deliveries can have birth injuries."
Only then did Lin Wenya release Xiao Mandong's hand: "Sorry, I was just too worried about the baby."
"I understand how you feel. Don't worry, I'll be very gentle."
To prevent the baby from getting cold, Xiao Mandong didn't open the blanket. Instead, she slipped both hands inside. But then, she noticed something wrong.
She suddenly opened the blanket. Before Lin Wenya could flare up, Xiao Mandong's words came out first: "Why is it a girl? Wasn't it a boy?"
Lin Wenhui stared at Xiao Mandong in disbelief: "What did you say?"
"You came to the hospital yesterday while I was here. You arrived with your daughter, who followed the nurse to pay the fee. Your delivery was very fast. I heard with my own ears the nurse at the door announcing a seven-pound-two-ounce boy."
Lin's mother had just arrived at the ward door with millet porridge she had cooked at home. Hearing those words, the lunchbox clattered to the ground.
"Is what you said true?"
