Old Mrs. Song is reborn; get out of here, you scumbag husband and illegitimate child!

Song Xianglan wiped away the remaining tears from the corners of her eyes, walked over and took Shen Huijun's arm.

"Alright, Huijun, stop crying. You're still pregnant. If you cry yourself sick, Xiangdong will fight me to the death when he wakes up." Song Xianglan helped Shen Huijun up, her voice very low.

Shen Huijun sobbed, her hands gripping the hem of her clothes tightly.

"Mom, seeing him like this, my heart aches like it's being scratched by a cat."

She held Song Xianglan in her arms, her heart breaking with unbearable pain.

"We have to bear the pain. The doctor hasn't said anything yet, we can't give up first." Song Xianglan pointed to the thermos next to her, "Go pour some warm water, moisten a cotton swab and wipe Xiangdong's mouth. Look at his lips, they're so dry and cracked, he can't stand this."

Shen Huijun obediently stood up and went to pour water, her hands and feet feeling a little numb.

Song Xianglan looked at her daughter-in-law's thin back.

He sighed and turned to walk towards the doctor's office.

Several directors in white coats were sitting in the office, arguing over a few dark films.

An old but strong northern accent came through the telephone.

They are experts from Beijing.

"According to what you said, Comrade Song has five shrapnel wounds in his body. The most troublesome one is the one in his brain that is pressing on a nerve."

"If that piece of tissue from the knee isn't removed, the leg will be useless." The expert said bluntly on the phone, "The top leader has instructed us to spare no expense. I'll be flying there first thing tomorrow morning."

……

Song Xianglan stood at the door and waited for more than ten minutes.

I waited until they hung up the phone before knocking on the door and going in.

The chief physician looked up at her.

Put the film away safely.

Song Xianglan introduced herself and asked Song Xiangdong what was going on.

"Aunt Song, you heard what I just said. Comrade Song Xiangdong's condition is quite complicated. But don't worry, experts from Beijing have come in person, which will greatly increase the success rate of the surgery."

"Doctor, I'll accept it even if he loses an arm or a leg, as long as he can live." Song Xianglan's throat tightened.

"Will he be able to return to the army in the future?"

The chief physician paused for a moment, then answered truthfully:

Even if the recovery is good, the brain injury will still affect bodily functions.

Returning to the front lines is impossible; he'll probably transfer to a civilian job once he recovers. It depends on his own willpower.

Song Xianglan nodded.

"As long as I can go home, it doesn't matter whether I'm a hero or not. Being alive is the most important thing."

"Auntie, your son is our hero."

I came out of the office.

Zhou Fang had already arrived at the ward with several lunch boxes.

"Godmother, have something to eat. I bought some meat buns and some hot rice noodle soup." Zhou Fang handed over the lunchbox, her eyes filled with worry. "Huijun needs to eat too. She's pregnant and can't tough it out."

Song Xianglan took the lunchbox.

He handed Zhou Fang a steamed bun.

"You eat some too. This rice noodle soup is for Huijun."

Shen Huijun didn't have much of an appetite.

Under Song Xianglan's intense gaze, he forced half a bowl of rice noodle soup into his mouth.

Song Xianglan slurped a few mouthfuls haphazardly, then stood up and walked towards the hall, feeling a tightness in her chest.

In a corner of the hospital lobby.

An old woman dressed in patched clothes was slumped on the ground, clutching a crumpled piece of paper in her hand, crying so hard she was almost speechless.

Song Xianglan walked over and saw the paper in the old lady's hand.

That was a letter her son sent home from the southwestern battlefield at the end of the year. The letter was written in crooked handwriting, saying that if he couldn't come back, his mother should give the new clothes he sent home to his wife to take and give to her remarried husband.

He also wrote down who he borrowed five yuan from in the company and who he borrowed three yuan from.

I'll make sure my family helps me pay it back.

Song Xianglan's tears streamed down her face.

She pulled out a stack of ten-yuan notes from her pocket and counted out two hundred yuan.

She squatted down and forcefully stuffed the money into the old woman's pocket.

"Sister, take the money. Don't cry."

The old woman was so startled that she shrank back and waved her hands wildly.

"No, no. I can't accept it. My son is in the army; I can't let him down."

"Take this, sister." Song Xianglan pressed her hand down. "You are a military family member, and so am I. My son is lying on the third floor."

I just want a good omen. If you take this money, my son might wake up tomorrow.

The old lady was stunned.

Seeing Song Xianglan's face covered in tears, he nodded, sobbing.

The old lady insisted that Song Xianglan leave her address, saying that she would definitely repay Song Xianglan in the future, and also said that her son's surname was Liang.

Song Xianglan left her address.

She knew the old lady wouldn't accept the money without her address.

The old lady carefully folded the paper with the address written on it and put it in her pocket.

Song Xianglan got up, turned around, and ran towards the payment counter.

She took out three thousand yuan.

"Nurse, this money is for the soldiers whose families are struggling financially and can't afford their medical bills."

The nurse in charge of collecting the bill stood there for a long time before her hands trembled as she began to write out the receipt.

"Auntie, what's your name?"

"Just say she's the mother of a soldier."

……

the next day.

The experts from Beijing arrived on time.

The red light outside the operating room was so bright it hurt my eyes.

This wait.

That's ten hours.

Shen Huijun couldn't sit still on the bench in the corridor, so she got up to make a long-distance call to Haishi's home.

On the other end of the phone, Shen's mother's voice changed with anxiety upon hearing about Song Xiangdong's situation.

"Huijun, your father and I are going to Kunming tomorrow."

"Mom, don't come. My mother-in-law and Zhou Fang are here. We can take care of Xiangdong." Shen Huijun then told her mother about her pregnancy.

Shen's mother became anxious upon hearing this.

"How could you let yourself get pregnant? You didn't leave yourself any way out."

Shen Huijun was a little surprised. "Mom, my pregnancy is perfectly normal."

"Huijun, listen to your mother. What if... what if Xiangdong really does... If you give birth to this child, how will you ever find a family again? You're still so young, you can't risk your whole life."

Shen Huijun's hand holding the receiver was trembling. She shouted into the microphone:

"Mom, Xiangdong is having surgery inside, and you're here telling me to prepare for the worst?"

He's my man, the father of my children. How could you say such a thing?

"I'm only doing this because I feel sorry for you. Am I wrong?" Shen's mother shouted on the other end of the phone. "I'm your own mother, would I harm you?"

"You're heartless." Shen Huijun couldn't stop her tears from flowing. "If it were my brother lying in there, and my sister-in-law said that, would you tear her mouth apart? Mom, don't say things like that again. My mother-in-law is so good to me, I can't stab her in the heart."

Shen Huijun hung up the phone.

He leaned against the glass of the phone booth, completely exhausted.

The operating room door finally opened.

……

The expert came out and took off his mask, his face showing undisguised fatigue.

He nodded to Song Xianglan. "The surgery was a success. All the shrapnel has been removed, and the blood clots in the brain have been cleared. However..."

Song Xianglan's heart jumped into her throat again.

"Whether he will wake up, and when, depends on the next 48 hours. He has lost too much blood and is too weak. We have done our best."

Song Xianglan looked at Song Xiangdong, who was being pushed out.

He was completely shrouded in white sheets, so thin he was unrecognizable.

She walked over and gently touched Song Xiangdong's cold hand, then said loudly:

"Xiang Dong, the experts came all the way from Beijing. You absolutely must wake up, you understand?"

Shen Huijun burst into laughter while crying.

The ward was quiet, with only the hissing sound of the oxygen cylinders.

Song Xianglan sat on the edge of the bed, holding a hot towel in her hand, wiping her son's palms again and again.