AWB Chapter 153 Spring Breeze
Chapter 153 Spring Breeze
Qiao Manman smiled and said, "I was just putting on a brave face!"
Silence fell in the ward. Qiao Manman looked at the rising sun, feeling utterly exhausted.
After resting with his eyes closed for a while, he stood up and said, "Comrade Qian Junfei, you stay here and keep watch for a bit while I go prepare breakfast for everyone!"
"Little Qiao, do you still have any cash or coupons on you?"
"I usually carry some with me, and if I really need to, I'll borrow some from someone I know."
Qiao Manman took out her work ID and waved it in front of him: "At worst, I'll go ask the leaders of the municipal machinery factory for help!"
Qian Junfei gave a thumbs-up, assuring Qiao Manman that he would take good care of the two patients, and then watched her leave.
Qiao Manman walked on the chilly street in the early morning. A cool breeze blew by, and she wrapped her woolen coat tighter around herself.
The autumn wind was blowing, scattering yellow leaves from the branches. Qiao Manman strolled along and eventually arrived at the glass factory's residential compound.
Fu Xianling came out of the yard to empty the chamber pot and saw Qiao Manman in the distance, blinking in disbelief.
It wasn't until Qiao Manman smiled at her that Fu Xianling realized, "Oh my dear niece, you've become so beautiful after just a few months."
Wait a minute, Auntie's tidying up, I'll come back and tell you in a bit!
Qiao Manman nodded and slowly walked to the ginkgo tree.
Looking up, I saw sparse leaves shimmering in the sunlight. Taking a deep breath, my suppressed emotions slowly eased.
Fifteen minutes later, Fu Xianling came out of the yard. She had not only changed her clothes, but also washed her hands and face thoroughly.
Qiao Manman's gaze fell on her noticeably protruding belly: "Congratulations!"
Fu Xianling smiled broadly: "I should be thanking you! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have this good fortune!"
He then pulled Qiao Manman to a corner and said, "You have no idea how shocked my mother-in-law was when she found out I was pregnant."
If I hadn't talked to my man beforehand, ha, she would have even tried to accuse me of cheating!
Qiao Manman reminded, "And you also need to be wary of your sister-in-law."
Fu Xianling nodded: "That's right! Their whole family is eyeing my husband's job and the house allocated by the factory."
When they found out I was pregnant, they almost exploded.
They even said I'm too old, and any child I have wouldn't be healthy. They suggested I adopt my nephew instead.
Pshaw, I'm perfectly healthy. I even went to the hospital for an ultrasound.
The doctor said they are twins, and they are perfectly healthy!
Qiao Manman nodded with a smile: "It's good that Auntie knows!"
Fu Xianling took out 150 yuan from her pocket: "Here, this is what your aunt owes you, please keep it."
Qiao Manman accepted it and took out an IOU: "The transaction is settled!"
Fu Xianling took the IOU and examined it carefully. After confirming that it was the one she had signed, she quickly tore it up.
"Don't worry, even without this IOU, your aunt will still remember your kindness."
"By the way, little girl, do you have any formula? Auntie's worried I won't have enough breast milk..."
Qiao Manman wasn't sure when she would come to the city next, so she thought for a moment and said, "A little, but they're all high-end goods, very expensive."
"Should we wait until the baby is born and then see how things go?"
According to the system, the fertility pills will adjust the mother's body, so there should be no problem with insufficient milk supply.
But mothers always plan ahead, especially Fu Xianling, who has been married for many years without children, and is afraid that something unexpected might happen.
Touching her belly and gritting her teeth, she said, "My husband cherishes this belly of mine so much, I'll buy it for you no matter how expensive it is."
Seeing that she insisted, Qiao Manman quoted a reasonably priced price.
Fu Xianling thought it was expensive, but when she thought of Qiao Manman's miraculous fertility pills, she thought she could give it a shot.
"Girl, that milk powder..."
"The quality is absolutely excellent, and it is a goat milk powder that is very suitable for babies."
"Okay, then prepare a hundred yuan for your aunt. If it goes well, I'll come back to you!"
Qiao Manman nodded and made an appointment with her. Just as she was about to leave, she was stopped again.
"Girl, do you still have any fertility pills over there?"
My aunt has a distant relative who has been married for many years but hasn't been able to have a son...
Qiao Manman politely declined: "Auntie, the fertility pill can only guarantee that you will have a child. As for whether it will be a boy or a girl, that is up to fate and no one can control it."
Fu Xianling sighed regretfully, chatted with Qiao Manman about gossip for a while, and went home satisfied.
Qiao Manman strolled along the gradually bustling streets and soon arrived at the state-run restaurant.
I ordered tofu pudding, fried dough sticks, and pickled vegetables, and ate to my heart's content. After wiping my mouth, I packed up some millet porridge and vegetable buns in a lunchbox.
Back in the ward, I handed one portion to Qian Junfei, and kept the other two portions for Yan Chengke and Guo Youfeng to eat when they woke up.
As for the antidote, Qiao Manman bought it, but didn't give it to the two of them, saving it for last resort.
I'd like to see if a higher-level hospital can provide a treatment plan. Alternatively, I could take their blood samples to a research institute for analysis.
We must quickly develop an antidote for "Du Chunfeng" to thwart the enemy's plot.
That's right, Qiao Manman didn't believe that such a vicious drug could be made by an ordinary person. She suspected that the Japanese were involved.
Therefore, she dared not let Yan Chengke and Guo Youfeng recover too quickly. She wanted to use them as a starting point to draw the attention of higher authorities to the situation.
What Qiao Manman didn't know was that in the past month, there had been multiple disappearances across the country.
They came from both the city and the countryside; without exception, all of them were beautiful and educated young women who had gone missing.
These girls were kind to everyone and had simple social relationships. The police officers couldn't understand how they could have disappeared without a trace.
Suspecting abduction, they intensified their efforts to crack down on human trafficking gangs. However, the girls continued to disappear, leaving them extremely frustrated.
Fan Zhiyong and Shi Ran essentially opened a crack in this cold case, allowing the police to adjust their investigation direction.
You wouldn't believe it until you investigate; what you find is shocking: a drug called "Du Chunfeng" is actually popular on the black market.
It's said that eating it will make a man able to take whatever he wants from a woman.
Think about it, what normal couple would buy this kind of drug? Anyone who needs this kind of drug must be planning to do something shady.
If it can't be brought into the light, it naturally has to be carefully kept secret.
Both the sellers and buyers of the medicine carefully concealed their identities, so much so that even after the incident had been going on for a long time, no one suspected the black market.
Or rather, even the people selling drugs on the black market didn't know they were selling poison, not drug C.
After all, the person who was poisoned died the very next day after being given the concoction.
The perpetrator was terrified, afraid of being eaten, and could only carefully hide the victim.
Back in the crowd, I was terrified. I was afraid my family and friends would find out what had happened.
After some time, realizing that no one suspected them, the perpetrators felt relieved, chatting and laughing without any remorse.
But deep in the mountains and at the bottom of great rivers, there are many souls who died with their eyes wide open in disbelief.
***
Around noon, Miao Shoujun brought Yan Chengke's mother and two children, Guo Youfeng's aunt and parents to the hospital.
Guo's parents' eyes reddened when they saw their daughter, who had lost a lot of weight.
"How did things get like this? That guy surnamed Kong deserves to die a horrible death!"
"Don't worry, sister-in-law, that little bitch Kong Meimei has been taken away by the police."
Factory Director Miao said her quality was appalling and that she had been fired.