Chapter 57: Little He Wen
Chapter 57: Little He Wen
Chen Jiao is not a naturally hard-hearted person. During the days she and Hu Zhen are trapped in the maternity ward, she doesn’t speak about it, but she hopes for rescue every day. She wants to see her son again, but she also worries about how to survive with him afterward.
Human nature is complex. Chen Jiao knows her own limitations; if she struggles to survive alone in this apocalypse, how can she also take care of a child? Anran, however, is different. Though Chen Jiao doesn't want to admit it, Anran has courage—she is someone who can crawl out from under the zombies’ feet, someone Chen Jiao can’t compare to.
Anran would definitely be able to take good care of the child, and she already has a daughter, so why can’t she take care of another one? Chen Jiao thinks her son would be easy to care for; he doesn’t need adult food—just milk would suffice.
Chen Jiao’s expectation that she should take her son angers Anran.
Hu Zhen, from bed 17, suddenly jumps up and shouts at Chen Jiao, “Fine! If you won’t support him, I will! My own son is gone, so from now on, your son is mine!”
After saying this, to Anran’s shock, Hu Zhen walks to the door and gently picks up Chen Jiao’s son from the fruit basket. Tears stream down her face as she looks down at the baby in her arms, whispering, “Be good, Wenwen, my good He Wen. Mommy’s here.”
He Wen is probably the name given to her son before he is born.
Anran feels a pang of sadness watching Hu Zhen, who is crying and smiling while cradling the baby. Hu Zhen sits back on her bed, lifts her shirt, and begins to feed little He Wen.
These days, whenever Hu Zhen can move a little, she uses the breast pump she has prepared to pump out her breast milk, ensuring it doesn’t dry up. So until now, even after all the turmoil in the hospital for over ten days, she still has milk.
Anran stands outside the door, watching Hu Zhen feed He Wen, and feels a sense of relief. This is good; He Wen has been drinking milk mixed with saline, which isn’t ideal. Anran feels guilty, worrying about whether he will suffer from indigestion. She can barely provide enough milk for her own child, let alone for He Wen.
Looking over at Chen Jiao on bed 18, she notices that Chen Jiao is sitting silently with her head down. Seeing someone has taken over the care of He Wen, she too, breathes a sigh of relief.
Anran finds herself increasingly disliking Chen Jiao and doesn’t want to associate with her any further. She turns and returns to the doctor’s office on the fifth floor.
Anran has cleared all the zombies from the fourth and fifth floors. She doesn’t know how quickly others deal with zombies, but it takes her more than ten days to eliminate the several hundred she encounters. For her, that is relatively fast. The fourth floor is stocked with adult food, so she can manage a few days. She focuses on cleaning up the zombie bodies, nurturing the avocados, and caring for Doll.
There are many more zombies on the fifth floor than on the fourth. After all, the neonatal department not only houses infants but also a significant number of family members. Anran wonders what will happen to the bodies of those family members she eliminates; will they rot, grow mold, or start to smell?
Just earlier, while drinking a beverage, she almost chokes on a clump that goes down the wrong way. It turns out that even drinking can be quite dangerous!