“Happy, I read some news about your family today.”
“What news?” Mu Wansheng asked, stroking her baby bump.
“Your cousin Mu Qixing has divorced Luo Hang.”
Mu Wansheng instantly knew that the Luo family had initiated it. “Their marriage wasn’t going to last anyway. I was supposed to marry Luo Hang back then. Luo Hang has a girlfriend whom he has been dating for six or seven years. Their relationship is very stable and his parents were the ones who kept forcing him to marry someone else.”
Mu Wansheng sat up straight while Tang Yucheng handed her her clothes. After putting them on, she got out of bed slowly.
She had to stay at home alone for the day because Tang Yucheng had to go to work in the city.
However, Tang Yucheng had bought her an electronic navigation device and a Labrador that served as her guide dog.
Mu Wansheng named it “Snowman.”
After a day of training, it seemed to have approved of its new name.
Tang Yucheng initially wanted to take her with him to the city. However, she refused to tag along and constantly claimed that she would be fine on her own.
She disliked going to crowded places because she felt that she was a monster who stood out from the crowd.
Tang Yucheng was concerned about her, especially because she was pregnant. He initially tried to seek help from his sister-in-law. However, she could not make any time at all because she had to take care of her own children and her mother.
However, he felt much more relieved, knowing that she could get things done using her sense of hearing and her hands. He told her that he would be making a trip home once a week.
Mu Wansheng told him not to worry, for she could take good care of herself.
Tang Yucheng had breakfast with her before leaving.
She was left alone at home.
Mu Wansheng proceeded to do the things that she should.
At this point, she had already become extremely familiar with the house, and she knew where each item was placed.
She was completely capable of taking care of herself.
The longer she spent with Tang Yucheng, the more she realized how lonely he was. He was alone most of the time and would barely contact his brother and sister-in-law.
He didn’t seem to have any friends either.
Mu Wansheng was no different from him, because all she had was him and the unborn child.
Tang Yucheng had decided on Snowman after making a careful selection for a long period of time. Snowman was tame, obedient, and very spiritual. Mu Wansheng was incredibly fond of it.
As soon as she was done with doing the dishes and laundry, she walked it around and tried to get closer to it.
Life was simple yet fulfilling.
Tang Yucheng returned home once a week and he would often replenish all the daily necessities at home so that she could use them whenever she needed to.
He handed her all the money he earned and allowed her to hold the purse strings.
Mu Wansheng was reluctant to do so at first. However, she decided to accept it after Tang Yucheng’s constant insistence.
Mu Wansheng began to feel ill at ease in December when she was eight months pregnant.
Tang Yucheng had yet to come home even after two days.
Since she did not have a mobile phone, she could not contact him at all. Hence, she sought help from a neighbor and dialed his number, only to discover that he had switched off his mobile phone. Unable to sit around at home any longer, she decided to bring Snowman along and start searching for Tang Yucheng, for fear that he had met with a mishap.
The temperatures were freezing in winter.
Mu Wansheng was dressed in a red quilted jacket, a pair of black thermal pants, and a pair of anti-slip quilted shoes.
Nonetheless, she still made a conscious effort to be careful with her step, lest she slips and falls.
In order to prevent the scarf from falling, she wrapped it tightly around her face and put on a hat as well.
She would inevitably catch the attention of others by dressing in such an eye-catching ensemble.
However, she did not care about what others thought about her. She could not see them anyway.
Upon the sight of a public bus, Snowman led her toward it.
“Sir, how much does it cost to get to the city?” she asked.
“Ten dollars.”
She took out a ten dollar-coin from her pocket and handed them to the ticketing staff, after which Snowman brought her to an empty seat and she sat down.
It was a direct bus to the terminal.
The terminal was an interchange in the city.
Hence, she did not have to alight at all.
One and a half hour later, she finally reached her destination.
If the bus driver had driven faster, they would have arrived in an hour.
However, there was some delay today.
Seeing that she was an expectant mother, the ticketing staff especially stood outside the bus to help her down. She said, “Lass, it just snowed a while ago. You must be very careful when you’re walking, especially since you’re by yourself. It would be terrible if you were to fall. That’d be extremely worrying.”
“Thank you, Ma’am. I’ll be very careful. May I ask when the last bus of the day will arrive?”
“The last bus will arrive at half-past five in the afternoon. It used to be six, but it’s been brought forward because it’s wintertime now.”
“Alright,” Mu Wansheng answered with a nod.
She held onto Snowman’s leash with her right hand and grabbed the electronic navigation device in her left. All she had to do was to switch the device on and it would automatically display her current location. Although she could not see, she could hear the audio instructions, which informed her about her whereabouts.
She stood by the roadside and waved her hand up and down. A long while later, a taxi finally pulled over and the driver asked, “Miss, where are you headed to?”
She got inside the taxi together with Snowman after telling him her desired destination.
The taxi driver initially wanted to cheat her of her money after seeing that she was blind. To his surprise, the electronic navigation device constantly gave audio reminders to tell her where they were and how many kilometers she had traveled.
Hence, the taxi driver had no choice but to forgo the idea of exploiting her.
Mu Wansheng alighted from the car and walked toward the construction site where Tang Yucheng was supposed to be working at.
“Does Tang Yucheng work here?”
“Tang Yucheng? He’s at the hospital now. He fell off the building while he was working.”
Mu Wansheng’s heart almost jumped out of her chest and she asked worriedly, “Is his condition serious? Were the injuries severe?”
“I’m not too sure either. How are you related to him?”
“I’m his wife. Which hospital is he in now? Please tell me.”
“He had been sent to the First People’s Hospital.”
Mu Wansheng frantically made her way to the hospital. Pangs of panic engulfed her, and she constantly reminded herself not to get flustered. She wished she could sprint there right away.
However, she was well aware that things would get worse if she were to have a great fall.
Hence, she was careful with her step and only sped up when she arrived at the hospital.
She was very familiar with the hospital and knew where all the clinics and wards were even though she could not see.
She decided to inquire about Tang Yucheng at the front desk first.
“May I know which ward Tang Yucheng has been admitted to? Please help me check.”
After checking the records, the nurse said, “He’s staying in Ward 712 on the seventh floor.”
“Thank you.”
She immediately rushed to the ward while pulling onto Snowman.
