188 Dystocia
Lu Jiao was jolted awake and she did not like that. She figured that Baohe Tang sent someone here on a horse. They must have accepted an emergency patient or else they wouldn’t have rushed over here before sunrise.
Lu Jiao yawned and walked outside.
Inside the east bedroom, Xie Xiaobao and the four little ones had woken up from the noise as well and they ran outside.
Lu Jiao ran into them and the children happily greeted her, “Mommy, you’re back!”
“Yeah, I came back a while ago.”
As they chatted, someone got off the horse carriage. Unexpectedly, the person who came today was Baohe Tang’s Manager Li.
When Manager Li saw Lu Jiao, he started to shout anxiously, “Lady Lu, hurry, come with me to Baohe Tang. We have with us a pregnant woman with dystocia. The mother’s water broke last night but still has not given birth. If this drags on longer, the child may die in her stomach.”
Lu Jiao’s expression dropped and she headed outside. Worried about the four little ones, she turned to go to the west bedroom first.
There, Xie Yunjin had already sat up. Last night, he didn’t even take off his clothes and was still fully dressed.
Lu Jiao glanced at him, “Baohe Tang has a patient with dystocia. I’m going to check it out.”
...
Xie Yunjin frowned. Dystocia was difficult to deal with. Lu Jiao may get entangled in something she didn’t want to be.
Xie Yunjin offered, “Let me go with you.”
Lu Jiao stared at him in shock, “What are you talking about? If you come with me, what will the four children do?”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe children ran inside then and heard Xie Yunjin’s offer. They were rather happy, “Mommy, we and daddy can go with you.”
Lu Jiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She was going to save a life. It would be odd to bring four children.
“No, you guys stay home with dad. I will come back soon.”
She then turned to leave. Behind her, Xie Yunjin remained stubborn, “We will go with you.”
Xie Yunjin then said to the children, “We can bring you, but you have to be obedient.”
The four little ones nodded aggressively to show their commitment to being good.
Lu Jiao was speechless. What was wrong with him? Why was he so determined to go with her?
Xie Yunjin persisted on going because he was worried that if anything happened, the pregnant woman’s family would blame it on Lu Jiao. He must go and make sure everything is handled appropriately so that Baohe Tang has no way of making Lu Jiao the scapegoat.
...
In addition, he wanted to go check out Baohe Tang and see what was up with that place. Dr. Qi already made Xie Yunjin feel unpleasant, and now, the owner of Baohe Tang was also involved with Lu Jiao. He wanted to go and check out just what kind of person that owner was.
Of course, Xie Yunjin wasn’t about to tell Lu Jiao all that.
Like normal, he looked at Lu Jiao, “Let’s go.”
Lu Jiao glared at him and wanted to object more. However, the Fourth Born wrapped his arms around her neck and pleaded, “Mommy, take us, we haven’t even been into town.”
There was no time to argue more. There was a pregnant woman trying to give birth.
“Okay, let’s go, let’s go.”
In the end, the entire family of six got into the carriage headed to Baohe Tang.
In the carriage, Manager Li didn’t even know what to say. He came to ask Lady Lu to help them with a patient and her entire family ended up coming along?
What could he do though? Everyone was now in the carriage.
The carriage hurried its way to Baohe Tang. After Lu Jiao carried Xie Yunjin and the four little ones off the carriage, Zhao Lingfeng and two of his men rushed out to see her.
Zhao Lingfeng didn’t notice Xie Yunjin at first and breathlessly said, “Lady Lu, you’re finally here. Hurry and come in. The mother isn’t doing well.”
...
Before Lu Jiao could say anything, Xie Yunjin spoke up first, “Is her husband around?”
Only then did Zhao Lingfeng notice him. He lowered his gaze to look at the man in the wheelchair. Since it was still dark outside, all he could see was a set of bright and sharp eyes.
Zhao Lingfeng responded, “The mother is here to visit family. Her husband isn’t around. Her mother and her brother are here though.”
He paused before he added, “The mother is the eldest daughter-in-law of the magistrate of Qinghe County.”
Xie Yunjin raised an eyebrow, “Hu Shan’s wife…”
Hu Shan was one of his classmates in Qinghe County. However, since his father was the magistrate, he was crowded with others who constantly tried to butter him up. His school group never hung out with Xie Yunjin’s group, who all grew up in poor families.
Hu Shan frequently criticized Xie Yunjin. However, Xie Yunjin was too lazy to pay attention to him. Since it was difficult for him to get where he was, he chose to be lowkey.
Zhao Lingfeng didn’t expect Xie Yunjin would know the pregnant lady’s husband, “That sounds right.”
Xie Yunjin said to Zhao Lingfeng, “Go and draft up a contract and get Hu Shan’s wife’s thumbprint. If she refuses, Lu Jiao won’t help her.”
Hu Shan was not a friend. If he knew Xie Yunjin’s wife failed to save his wife, he may accuse Lu Jiao of intentionally harming his wife. If that happened, they would have to deal with another pile of mess.
Zhao Lingfeng stared at Xie Yunjin in shock. Then, he looked at Lu Jiao.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm...
Lu Jiao knew Xie Yunjin intended to help her. Based on the fact that he knew the patient’s husband and still suggested a contract meant that the husband was hard to deal with.
Lu Jiao said to Zhao Lingfeng, “Go draft it. I will examine the patient first.”
“Okay.”
Given the time constraint, Zhao Lingfeng didn’t dare to waste time and took everyone inside.
Lu Jiao entered the patient’s room. Outside, Xie Yunjin and the four children followed Zhao Lingfeng and ordered, “Hurry and write the contract.”
What else could Zhao Lingfeng do but follow? He wrote the contract and went to the patient’s room.
Inside, Lu Jiao was examining the pregnant woman’s belly. She found the mother to be having irregular contracts and had only dilated two fingers. For a pregnant lady whose water broke last night, the baby may be suffocating.
The mother’s face was drained of blood as she begged Lu Jiao, “Please, save my child. Save him.”
Lu Jiao comforted her, “It’s okay. I will do my best. You’ll be okay.”
The woman’s eyes lit up, “You’re saying the child will be fine?”
Lu Jiao softly responded, “I will do whatever I can to protect him.”
...
Lu Jiao turned to the midwife and an older woman, “Her contractions are behaving oddly and she’s only dilated two fingers. She’s not able to give birth like this.”
Even if she had oxytocin, they didn’t have sufficient time. The child’s been inside too long and may suffocate any second now.
“You two, get out. Ask Dr. Qi to come and help me.”
The midwife and the older woman’s faces dropped. How could a man help out with a birth?
The older woman was the pregnant woman’s mother. She quickly objected, “No way. How can a man be here for a birth?”