Shallow Fate (Lily ABO) mute A - Chapter 8
The old woman, with her hair graying, half-closed her eyes and felt Shen Zhimo’s wrist:
“You’re pregnant, about two months along.”
It was the answer she expected. She had come today for this very reason.
“Doctor, please prescribe me some… abortion medication.”
Upon hearing this, the old woman fully opened her eyes.
“Does your qianyuan agree?”
“It’s my body, why does she need to agree?”
“Young lady, judging by your appearance, you’ve been to school, haven’t you? Didn’t the school teach you about the crime of abortion? Although I’m not a formal doctor, I’ve never had a woman make such a decision on her own. You either bring your qianyuan here to tell me personally, or at least bring a written consent form signed by her.”
The old woman didn’t say everything. In fact, she didn’t mean to make things difficult for Shen Zhimo. It’s just that in this kind of situation, if she gave the medicine without consent, and the qianyuan found out and came looking for her, she was afraid that her small clinic would be smashed.
Having traveled around for so many years, she deeply understood the principle that in this chaotic world, even the dogs in the same village are more terrifying than the law.
It was the same kind of talk again. Shen Zhimo’s lips were pressed tightly together, showing a trace of anger.
This was why she was desperately trying to study! She wanted to study abroad! She wanted to escape from all this feudal and rigid stuff!
“Don’t you know Fang Yu? Don’t you know she’s an illiterate mute? Are you deliberately making things difficult for me?”
“Then bring her here, and a nod in front of me will do.”
Perhaps it was anger to the extreme, but Shen Zhimo laughed.
It was too absurd. Even a mute had more say than her. Wasn’t it ridiculous?
“Please leave…”
Shen Zhimo wanted to say something more, but the old woman waved her hand, sat back on the recliner behind the counter, and the chair creaked and swayed.
Shen Zhimo returned home angrily. Fang Yu was sitting in the hall, sorting the seeds to be planted in the spring. The seeds, large and small, were spread all over the floor. Shen Zhimo stepped on them without even looking, grabbed Fang Yu’s collar, and forced her to stand up.
“I’m pregnant!”
Fang Yu was stunned. Shen Zhimo hadn’t spoken to her much in the past two months, which caused these words to circle around in her head several times before she understood the meaning of the words.
She and A-Mo had a child?
After reacting, a look of fear and joy appeared on Fang Yu’s face. This appearance made Shen Zhimo even more annoyed. She used some force to pull Fang Yu closer, ensuring that the words she was about to say could be heard clearly by Fang Yu word by word.
“I don’t want this child. You go to the clinic with me to get the medicine.”
[A-Mo, why?]
Shen Zhimo could already understand some sign language, but the waving fingers in front of her only made her more upset.
“There is no why, I just don’t want it. I never wanted a child! It was you that day!”
Yes, it was her… she was wrong. She had not forgotten how angry Shen Zhimo was that day.
If A-Mo doesn’t want it, then don’t have it.
Fang Yu gently pried open the fingers that were grabbing her collar.
[A-Mo, it’s cold outside, I’ll go get it myself, you rest at home.]
When Fang Yu really brought back the two packs of herbal medicine wrapped in kraft paper, Shen Zhimo hesitated again.
She put the medicine on the stove.
She would go cook it in a while, she always said that to herself.
Strangely enough, every time she passed by, she was busy with other things.
Was there really a life inside?
After having another pregnancy reaction, Shen Zhimo put her palm on her belly. It was still flat here, and she couldn’t imagine that in a few months a new life would be conceived from it.
Would it be too selfish to sentence it to death like this?
Shen Zhimo sat back at her desk and continued writing the unfinished article. As she wrote, the sound of the pen tip rubbing against the paper disturbed her thoughts.
She remembered the women in the village, some sallow-faced and thin, some obese and swollen.
Their feet were always surrounded by a bunch of crying babies waiting to be fed.
They always had endless housework to do. When they were busy, they would throw the n1pples that drooped to the ground to their backs, letting the children suck on their own.
Their fingers were swollen into carrot-like sections because they were soaked in the river water in winter to wash the children’s clothes.
She didn’t want to become like that!
Thinking of this, Shen Zhimo dropped her pen and rushed into the kitchen to unpack the two packs of herbs.
The earthenware pot bubbled and foamed. In a short while, a bowl of brownish-black medicine soup was brewed.
Just smelling the taste, you knew it was something terribly bitter. Shen Zhimo picked up the bowl, and the dark, shiny soup reflected her hesitant eyes.
The country people value their offspring the most. Although Fang Yu went along with her, she wanted this child in her heart, right?
She could see that Fang Yu had affection for her, which was precisely what she could never repay. With this sip, she would completely become a woman who had failed this marriage.
“Clang!”
The medicine bowl was heavily thrown to the ground, shattering into pieces, and the splashed medicine burned Shen Zhimo’s calf.
Fang Yu, I don’t owe you anything anymore.
Shen Zhimo propped herself on the table, her brows almost knotted into a dead knot.
Unbeknownst to her, this sound was heard by Fang Yu who had just returned from outside.
As soon as Fang Yu entered the house, she smelled the scent of herbs. Through the half-closed door, she saw the struggling and entangled Shen Zhimo and the broken bowl at her feet.
If this child made A-Mo so painful, she would rather not have it.
Fang Yu walked into the kitchen. The medicine residue was still in the earthenware pot. She added a scoop of water to the pot, re-brewed the medicine, and brought it to Shen Zhimo.
Seeing the bowl in her hand, Shen Zhimo smiled sarcastically.
“What good thing do you think this is?”
[I’m sorry, A-Mo, didn’t you not want a child?]
Shen Zhimo thought that Fang Yu was putting on some kind of act to gain sympathy. She tried to see something else from that face, but no matter how she looked, she could only see a flattering meaning.
“You’re telling me now that you don’t want a child? Then why did you…”
Was Fang Yu playing tricks on her?
The anger that had just subsided was rekindled. Shen Zhimo took a step forward and snatched the bowl from Fang Yu’s hand. Without caring whether it was hot or not, she raised her neck and drank it all in one gulp.
“Get out!”
She slammed the bottom of the bowl on the table, roaring at Fang Yu who was squatting on the ground cleaning up the pieces. Fang Yu didn’t leave, gesturing to check the injury on her leg. She simply kicked Fang Yu on the shoulder.
“I told you to get out! You’re a mute! Not deaf! Don’t you understand! Get out!”
Shen Zhimo completely went crazy, screaming and throwing everything she could throw. Fang Yu was afraid that she would hurt herself, so she desperately hugged her, no matter how she beat or cursed, she refused to leave.
What exactly do you want me to do!
After venting her anger, Shen Zhimo fell headlong on the bed, quietly waiting for that moment to arrive.
This was destined to be a night where she deserved her bad luck. In the second half of the night, there were bursts of severe cramping in her abdomen. Shen Zhimo endured it, and under Fang Yu’s worried gaze, she got up and went to the outhouse.
Black and foul bl00d flowed out in streams, and the bl00d loss made her lower body numb, surpassing the pain.
Finally, the last stream of bl00d also flowed clean. Shen Zhimo poured a whole bucket of plant ash to cover up the filth.
Lying back on the bed, her whole body was covered in a cold sweat as if she had just come out of the water. The alpha cautiously leaned over from behind.
Shen Zhimo didn’t avoid it, just resting her arm, her eyes blankly staring at the shadows of the two people overlapping on the adobe wall.
After a long while, she spoke:
“I want to go to Feng’an to continue studying.”