I Bacame the Mother of His Child-Chapter 64 - 63: A Sense of Belonging

Xiuxiu brought Song Chengguang to the hospital, where the little guy’s fever had soared to thirty-nine degrees; his little face was flushed red, and even the breath exhaled from his tiny mouth carried a strong heat, breaking Xiuxiu’s heart.

Xiuxiu felt very guilty about this. She knew that Song Chengguang was a premature baby and had always made special efforts to enhance the little guy’s resistance and immunity. Apart from the half month spent helping Zhao Nan recover from facial scars, Xiuxiu had Song Chengguang eat the translucent fruit from her space without skipping any. She thought she had raised the little guy to have a strong body and healthy teeth. Yet, this high fever came on quickly and fiercely, shattering her complacency utterly.

Fearing that the high fever wouldn’t subside, the most frightening thing for a child is complications from a high fever. In the eighties, there were numerous instances of children being left mentally impaired by high fevers. Understanding this, Xiuxiu was particularly worried and the doctor could only offer the most effective suggestion: to quickly reduce the fever with two shots followed by two IV drips. It was effective, albeit a bit expensive.

After hesitating for a while, Xiuxiu agreed! The cost didn’t matter as long as Song Chengguang was alright; she wouldn’t mind paying any price.

"Wow, mommy, it hurts!" Song Chengguang, who had been asleep, woke up crying in pain after receiving two shots in his bottom; tears streamed down his face, and he threw himself into Xiuxiu’s arms, crying his heart out.

"Be good, bear with it, just bear a little longer and it won’t hurt," Xiuxiu comforted softly, holding the little one and fearing that his struggles might cause him to hurt himself.

"Doctor, could you please be gentle? My younger brother is afraid of pain," Zhao Nan, who was also afraid of injections, twisted his face unbelievably at the sight of the long needle piercing his younger brother’s small buttocks. Hearing his brother crying out in pain, he pleaded softly and earnestly with the doctor.

"It’s done now," said the doctor, a middle-aged man. After giving Song Chengguang the injections, he soothingly comforted Zhao Nan.

Relieved to hear this, Zhao Nan then saw the doctor preparing two IV drips; he struggled to find a vein on Song Chengguang’s small hand before inserting a thin needle into the back of his hand.

Hss—

Zhao Nan winced painfully at the sight, hardly daring to keep his eyes open.

"Wow... mommy is mean!" Song Chengguang, who had initially calmed down with his mother’s soothing, burst out crying once again when another needle pricked him. The whole situation overwhelmed him.

Xiuxiu quickly wrapped her arms around Song Chengguang, continuously kissing his forehead and watching as some blood refluxed in the IV tube due to the little one’s struggles; she felt dizzy for a moment until the situation stabilized and Song Chengguang’s emotions were finally soothed. The little guy stared silently at the IV bottle and soon couldn’t resist the sleepiness and squinted his eyes.

Xiuxiu, holding him tenderly, watched the half-empty IV bottle, her heart beating with each drop.

Zhao Nan waited by their side, his little stomach rebelling for a long time.

Realizing this, Xiuxiu felt sorry for Zhao Nan but couldn’t leave Song Chengguang. She anxiously waited; fortunately, Zhao Nan’s aunt, Zhao Xiumei, was able to come to the hospital after work in time. By then, Zhao Nan had fallen asleep, leaning on Xiuxiu.

"Xiuxiu, I’ll take Zhao Nan home first. Will you be okay by yourself?" Zhao Xiumei hurried to the hospital and saw her nephew asleep against Xiuxiu, then looked at Song Chengguang, still red-faced from the IV drip, with eyes full of concern and worry.

Zhao Nan was raised entirely by her, and small children are most afraid of headaches and fevers.

"There’s no problem, Cheng Guang’s IV will be done in half an hour’s time. You should bring Zhao Nan back to rest first. He was eager to come to the hospital with me and hasn’t even had dinner yet!" Xu Xiuxiu spoke with a touch of apology. In fact, by this time, having calmed down, Xu Xiuxiu’s rationality had also partly returned.

Relatively speaking, Song Chengguang’s physique and resistance had improved a lot; at least the little guy wasn’t as frail as when he had first arrived. He was usually in good health, remote from headaches, and fevers. Since Xu Xiuxiu had no experience in raising children, she was overly nervous about Song Chengguang’s first high fever. Now she realized it was because she’d had these concerns while punishing Song Chengguang with a time-out that, when these concerns became a reality, she felt somewhat helpless.

Put simply, she was scaring herself!

"That’s fine, I’ll take Zhao Nan back first." Zhao Xiumei, seeing that the IV was indeed almost done, did not say more. She bent down gently to wake up the sleeping Zhao Nan, "Nannan, wake up. Let’s go home with your aunt." Zhao Xiumei looked at her nephew with sympathy.

Previously, her personality was rather weak. Although she had raised the children, when the other nephews bullied Zhao Nan, she dared not stand up for him, and thus the nephew was not very affectionate towards her. Now, after working for a long time at Sichuan Pavilion and interacting with various experts from different professions, her character had toughened. She felt increasingly sympathetic towards her nephew Zhao Nan.

At such a young age, he was smart and determined. Back at their hometown, without the protection of a mother, he sometimes didn’t even have enough food to eat. If it hadn’t been for her inability to endure life at home, she wouldn’t have thought of bringing Zhao Nan with her to find her brother Zhao Jian Country. If Zhao Nan hadn’t met Xu Xiuxiu on the train, even with her brother Zhao Jian Country’s lobbying, Xu Xiuxiu might not have recruited her to help at Sichuan Pavilion.

Thus, the life she had now was mostly due to the changes brought about by this nephew; hence, she couldn’t help wanting to treat him even better.

"Aunt, you’re here..." Zhao Nan opened his sleepy eyes, confused for a moment, then looked towards Xu Xiuxiu and his brother Song Chengguang beside him, "Auntie, has brother’s fever gone down?" He was genuinely concerned for his brother.

"Your brother will be fine soon. Nannan, don’t worry and go home to rest with your aunt, okay?" Xu Xiuxiu smiled softly.

"Okay!" It seemed like Zhao Nan breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing this, Zhao Xiumei also smiled softly, took Zhao Nan’s hand, "Then, Xiuxiu, be careful. How about I take Zhao Nan home and then come back for another visit?" After all, it would be very late in a while, and Xu Xiuxiu, a frail woman, taking care of a child alone was somewhat worrying.

"There’s no need," Xu Xiuxiu shook her head, "Nannan is also tired. You should take him home quickly."

"Okay," Zhao Xiumei looked down at Zhao Nan and then left the hospital with him.

With Zhao Nan taken away by Zhao Xiumei, Xu Xiuxiu breathed a sigh of relief, lowered her head, and looked at Song Chengguang sleeping in her arms, feeling the gradual decrease in the little guy’s temperature; her heart unconsciously softened.

She had always felt a lack of belonging in this world. Apart from Song Chengguang, she allowed herself to remain an outsider, observing the people around her, including Song Yuanhuan. But this was the first time Xu Xiuxiu recognized a mother’s heart, a sense of belonging precipitated by a child, which also made her feel much more relaxed.

At two o’clock in the deep night, Song Chengguang’s high fever subsided, and Xu Xiuxiu, sighing with relief, drifted into exhausted sleep.