Chapter 321: Dead Baby (1)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Duan Yarong and Zhao Shunrong had been married for more than two decades, and it was slowly approaching thirty years. It was not true to say that they had never conceived a child.
In fact, shortly after their marriage, Duan Yarong had been pregnant once.
Unfortunately, at that time during her pregnancy, the two had been careless. They were completely unaware that she was already pregnant.
It was not until one day she had an accident while going out. It was only a small bump, and it was not even supposed to be a big deal. But, no one would expect Duan Yarong to suffer abdominal pain and even bleed.
It was only then when the people who had tagged along with her realized that something was not right. They hurriedly sent Duan Yarong to the hospital. However, it was already too late. They failed to save their firstborn.
On top of that, ever since the incident of Duan Yarong’s miscarriage of her firstborn, it had been very difficult for her to get pregnant. She still could not get pregnant even after a few years. The family then got worked up.
Just when everyone was getting anxious, Duan Yarong finally lived up to everyone’s expectations. She got pregnant once again.
This time, she was a protected target to everyone. Even Zhao Shunrong, who had been notoriously known as a workaholic, made an exception this time. He applied for several months’ leave in order to take care of Duan Yarong until she gave birth to their child.
Unfortunately, things did not go as smoothly as expected. When Duan Yarong was nine months pregnant, another accident had occurred once again.
At that time, Zhao Enterprise was bidding for a piece of land with another company. Zhao Enterprise’s strength was far better than that competitor. Therefore, they stood a very high chance of winning the bid.
However, the company’s person in charge did not want to lose his desired land. He actually came up with the method of hijacking Duan Yarong in order to threaten Zhao Enterprise to give up on the bidding on the land. They had someone nab Duan Yarong.
The person did not succeed in the end. However, during the fight, it had affected the baby. When Duan Yarong reached the hospital, she had suffered a hemorrhage and nearly died in the emergency ward.
It had not been easy to finally save the mother of the child. But, the mother was saved at the expense of a stillborn. When the Zhao family heard it was a stillborn, they suffered a huge blow.
When Duan Yarong awakened and learned about this, she passed out again. She had been in tears for several days and was very sorrowful. The former master and Zhao Shunrong looked like they had aged several years overnight because of this incident.
Ever since then, Duan Yarong and Zhao Shunrong never had a child. It was not that the two did not want to have one, it was because after two pregnancies, Duan Yarong was no longer suitable for childbirth, especially after the hemorrhaging during her second pregnancy.
If she attempted to conceive again, it would most likely threaten her own life.
When Zhao Shunrong learned the bad news from the doctor, he did not have much of a reaction. He sat at Duan Yarong’s bedside, held her hand and told her, “We don’t need a child. I am content as long as I have you with me.”
Once Zhao Shunrong had made up his mind, no one could change his decision. In spite of this, most people were still very concerned about the fact of not having a child.
When the people realized they could not depend on Zhao Shunrong to be the key to solve the problem, they decided to turn to the former master to persuade him. After all, Zhao Shunrong was still young, it was no big deal if he divorced and remarried.
The former master simply ignored those people’s persuasion. One, he knew his son had a strong bond with his daughter-in-law. Therefore, it was impossible for him to do anything to break them up. Two, his conscience was already filled with guilt. If not for their business disputes, how could Duan Yarong’s child meet an accident? The Zhao family was indebted to his daughter-in-law, how could he kick the dog when it was down by committing to such a deed?
In the end, the former master, who was tired of being harassed by those people, could no longer hold back himself but make a stance by stating that the Zhao family would cut off business ties with the family who dared to say one more word in front of him about asking his son to marry another woman in order to produce an heir.
With that, those people who had been making noises finally shut their mouths up. After all, no one would want to risk losing their business ties with the Zhao family for running their mouths off. It was after all, the Zhao family’s business, and they should not be so nosey as to butt in so much of their affairs.
Ever since then, everyone had stopped bringing up this issue in unison, except for one in the Zhao family, Sun Fengzi, who had bad blood with Duan Yarong, and was fortunate to have given birth to a son. She occasionally brought up this issue to agitate her. Otherwise, most people basically would not bring up this issue for fear of upsetting Duan Yarong.
Over time, this incident had become a silent taboo in the Zhao family. The older generation would not take the initiative to bring up this issue, any from the younger generation hardly knew about this.
The former master never thought that this incident would be brought up after more than two decades. Moreover, the person who had brought the issue was…
“Youlin, how did you learn about this incident?” The former master’s expression changed slightly. He asked her in a low voice.
Zhao Youlin shook her head, “Grandpa, I actually knew about this matter all along.”
“Knew about this all along?” Upon hearing this, the former master was caught by surprise. When this happened, Zhao Youlin had not even existed yet. How could she have known about this all the while?
Zhao Youlin seemed to have read the former master’s mind. She pursed her lips as she said, “When I was young, my mother once told me about it. My mother said that if the child were to survive, he would be a few years older than me. Unfortunately…”
The former master fell silent for a brief moment upon hearing Zhao Youlin’s words. He could not help but heave a sigh again. A hint of sorrow that came from an elder appeared in his eyes. “Indeed. If the child were to survive, he would be four or five years older than you.”
When Zhao Youlin heard this, her eyebrows twitched. Before she could speak a word, the former master had returned to his senses. He took the initiative and asked her, “Youlin, why did you bring this up all of a sudden?”
“Nothing. It just came to me abruptly. Hadn’t Uncle Xiao just investigated my mother’s actual cause of death previously? During this period of time, I recall all the moments I spent with my mother during childhood, and this was one of them. I felt curious, so I came over to ask you. I believe you must have had knowledge about this.”
“So, that’s how it is.” The former master did not suspect her any further. He nodded his head in response to her.
Zhao Youlin renewed her efforts and asked, “Grandpa, about this child… What exactly happened? How did we lose it all of a sudden?”
As the former master revisited the past memories, his expression unwittingly carried a hint of lamentation. He briefly told the entire story to Zhao Youlin before he quietly heaved a sigh. He answered all of Zhao Youlin’s questions which she had asked previously.
“At that time, everyone was waiting outside. A nurse suddenly charged out of the emergency ward and told us that your mother was having a hemorrhage. She had asked her immediate family member to sign some papers. At that time, your father’s hand was shaking when he signed.”
The former master recalled the images at that time, and the memories were still vivid in his mind. That was his first time watching such a fearful and grief-stricken expression on his eldest son’s face.
Zhao Shunrong had looked as if the person inside the emergency ward had already gone, and he was about to follow suit to leave this world as well.
