Chapter 323: Real Life
Chapter 323: Real Life
“Zhan Lian is on patrol.” Yun Tao gently pulls out a chair, careful not to wake Doll sleeping on the bed. He sets the chair a short distance in front of An Ran, sits down, and says, “He asked me to come protect you.”
“Huh? So generous?”
An Ran is stunned. Zhan Lian, who always treats Yun Tao like a class enemy, now asks him to protect her? What is Zhan Lian trying to do?
Yun Tao doesn’t answer her question. Instead, he smiles and asks, “You came to see me today—what exactly did you need?”
“Oh, right, I do have something.” An Ran snaps out of it, nods, sits on the edge of the bed, and says with a heavy expression, “Little Mint… there’s something wrong with her. I took her to the hospital, and they found a shadow in her uterus. The medical team in Tiesi Village isn’t sure if it’s a cyst.”
Yun Tao’s face darkens immediately. Before An Ran can say more, he asks sharply, “Is she pregnant?”
Little Mint’s symptoms—sleepiness, vomiting—are exactly the same as Yun Tao’s wife’s when she was pregnant. Plus, there’s a shadow in her uterus. Yun Tao is certain.
He says firmly, “You rushed to see me because you want me to decide, right? Then as an elder, I’ll say this clearly: this child cannot be kept.”
“But… the doctor says her platelet count is low and she has severe anemia. With the current medical conditions, she can’t undergo surgery—it could cause serious bleeding.”
Men and women think differently. An Ran also feels that Little Mint is too young, and if she really is pregnant, she shouldn’t keep Doll. But then she remembers what Dr. Zhao said. The risks of surgery are too great. In that case, wouldn’t it be better if there really is a child—just let her give birth safely?
But Yun Tao shakes his head, much firmer than An Ran. “If the conditions aren’t there, then we create them. Think about how old Little Mint is. If she has this baby, is she going to raise it herself? Or give it away? In this society, who would want it if she gives it away? And if she doesn’t give it away and raises it herself—once she grows up, will she come to resent Doll and everything she’s been through?”
“But…”
“There is no but.” Yun Tao raises his hands and rubs his tired face, then looks at An Ran seriously. “An Ran, you have to understand—some things in this world are cruel enough to make life worse than death. If you were Little Mint’s real mother, how would you choose for your daughter?”
An Ran lowers her eyes, drops her head, and sighs silently. She says nothing more.
Life demands choices. One step forward might be worse than death. One step back might be the edge of a cliff. You can’t fly into the sky, and you can’t burrow into the ground.
This… is real life.
The next problem to solve is how to find a large hospital with proper conditions and a skilled obstetrician. For that, they have to ask Zhan Lian for help.
“Oh right, there’s something else,” Yun Tao adds, looking at An Ran. “Tiesi Village is now registering everyone’s ability. They’ve divided them into three categories.”
“Three categories?”
“One is physical-type, one is elemental-type, and the third is special abilities.”