Hard work after winning the lottery

Hua Yun took a deep breath and pushed open the door to enter.

The examination room was small, but the heating was on full blast, and the windows were covered with a layer of white mist. Behind the desk sat a female doctor in her forties, with short, neat hair, and crow's feet around her eyes that hinted at a professional weariness and sternness. A stethoscope hung around her neck, and two ballpoint pens were tucked into the breast pocket of her white coat.

"Sit down." The doctor didn't even look up, his fingers clattering on the slightly yellowed keyboard.

Hua Yun sat obediently on the stool, her hands resting somewhat awkwardly on her knees. The stool was round with iron legs, and it felt cool to sit on; it creaked with the slightest movement.

"Where does it hurt?" The doctor pushed up her glasses, the blue light from the computer screen reflecting off her lenses, obscuring her eyes.

"Um..." Hua Yun cleared her throat, feeling a little dry, "My period is late, I wanted to check if... if I'm pregnant."

The doctor paused for a moment while typing, then finally looked up, his gaze sweeping across Hua Yun's face like an X-ray before returning to the screen.

When was your last menstrual period?

This question is too technical and too direct.

Hua Yun's brain was working at full speed, and the image of the app that tracks menstruation flashed before her eyes.

"It was around the 20th of the month before last, I think." Hua Yun's voice was a little weak.

The doctor frowned slightly, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he calculated: "More than forty days late? Is your schedule usually regular?"

"It's usually pretty accurate, like an alarm clock," Hua Yun answered honestly, but inwardly she was cursing: It's precisely because it's so accurate that it was so scary this time!

"Have you had any sexual activity recently?" the doctor asked in a flat tone, as if asking, "Have you eaten today?"

"Yes..." Hua Yun's face flushed red instantly. Although she was a mother of three, she still felt a little ashamed to talk about this in such a serious medical setting. "Just... just once."

Did you use contraception?

Hua Yun swallowed hard, her eyes darting around: "It seems... I didn't have time."

The doctor snorted, and Hua Yun recognized that look all too well—it was the look a top student gave a struggling student, or a homeroom teacher gave a truant. It was as if to say: "How old are you? Don't you have any common sense?"

"Young people these days, they're so carefree." The doctor grumbled as he skillfully wrote out a prescription. The printer whirred as it spat out several still-warm slips of paper. "Go get your blood drawn first, to check your HCG and progesterone levels. Come back to me with the results."

Hua Yun accepted the order as if she were receiving a verdict.

"Um, doctor, could gastroenteritis also cause a delay?" Hua Yun tried to make one last attempt.

The doctor glanced at her, a half-smile playing on his lips: "I don't know if gastroenteritis can cause a delay, but it certainly won't make you unable to stand other smells. Hurry up, don't dawdle, the lab is about to change shifts."

After the doctor's words revealed the truth, Hua Yun was completely dejected.

……

The blood-drawing window is at the end of the corridor.

The nurse in charge of drawing blood was a young woman wearing a mask, revealing only her large eyes. Her movements were incredibly swift and efficient; she tore open the packaging of the disposable syringe with practiced ease.

"Roll up your sleeves and clench your fists."

Hua Yun did as instructed.

The yellow rubber tube was tightly constricted around her upper arm, making her skin feel tight. She watched as the nurse repeatedly wiped her elbow with a cotton swab soaked in iodine, the coolness instantly penetrating her skin.

As the fist clenched, the bluish veins stood out clearly beneath the fair skin, like a winding little snake.

"It might hurt a little, just bear with it."

As the nurse spoke, the needle in her hand flashed coldly under the light.

Hua Yun subconsciously turned her head away and closed her eyes tightly.

"hiss--"

The moment the needle pierced her skin, the sharp pain made Hua Yun gasp. Then, she could feel warm blood flowing out of the syringe.

It was a strange feeling of life force being lost and then preserved.

"Okay, press for five minutes, don't rub."

A cotton swab was pressed against the puncture site. Hua Yun opened her eyes and watched as the tube of dark red blood was labeled with her name and then placed into the cold test tube rack.

The process of waiting for the results is a long and agonizing ordeal.

The hospital corridor was bustling with people. There were pregnant women with big bellies walking carefully with their husbands' help, their faces beaming with a happy yet tired smile; there were also family members with solemn expressions, holding X-ray films and hurrying by.

Hua Yun sat on the row of plastic chairs, feeling as if nails had grown under her bottom.

My stomach rumbled at just the right moment.

I vomited up all the millet porridge I had this morning, and now my stomach feels painfully empty. Although the nausea has subsided, the hunger has returned.

She stood up and swayed as she walked to the convenience store in the corner of the hospital lobby.

"Boss, a bag of soda crackers, please."

Five pieces.

I paid and tore open the packaging bag.

The dry soda crackers emitted a faint floury smell. Normally, Hua Yun hated these bland crackers, thinking they were snacks only old ladies ate. But now, they were the only thing that could slightly soothe her stomach.

She took out a piece and put it to her lips.

As soon as I opened my mouth, the faint taste of alkaline water entered my nose.

The little monster sleeping in my stomach seemed to be awakened and gently turned over.

"vomit……"

Hua Yun covered her mouth and stuffed the biscuits back into the bag.

I can't eat.

I can't eat any more.

She sighed, clutched the bag of cookies that was missing a single one, and sat back down in her chair.

She looked up at the digital clock on the wall. The red numbers ticked away second by second, each second feeling like a pounding on her nerves.

at last.

Her name scrolled onto the screen above the laboratory window.

"Hua Yun"

At that moment, Hua Yun felt her heart leap into her throat.

She walked to the self-service printer, took out her medical card, and swiped it with a "beep".

The sound of gears turning came from inside the machine, and with a "zzzz" sound, an A4 sheet of paper was slowly ejected.

Hua Yun's hands were trembling slightly.

She was actually a little hesitant to answer it.

She stretched out her finger, her fingertip rubbing the edge of the paper, trembling slightly, as if the paper carried static electricity.

Take a deep breath.

Take another deep breath.

"So be it, I'll just die!"

Hua Yun ripped off the lab report, closed her eyes and prayed for three seconds, then suddenly opened them.

His gaze swept past the incomprehensible technical terms and fixed intently on that column—β-HCG.

Number: 28450.00.

Reference range: <5.00.

And following that glaring number is an upward arrow "↑".

That tiny arrow, like an exclamation mark or a sharp sword, pierced through Hua Yun's last glimmer of hope.

Although she's not a doctor, as a mother of three, Hua Yun knows all too well what this number means.

A number in the tens of thousands.

What else could this be but pregnancy? Could it be that a ginseng fruit is growing inside her?

Hua Yun's hand holding the test results fell limply to her side, and she leaned against the cold wall as if her spine had been removed.