Chapter 17: Prevention Before It Happens

Chapter 17: Prevention Before It Happens

Song Xilan was in her room, focused on studying a cookbook, when she suddenly thought of a bunch of compliments about her parents. She felt both puzzled and amused.

Of course, her parents were the best in the world, and she had never doubted that for a moment.

The next morning, Song Xilan woke up feeling a bit off—her throat was sore and hoarse.

Half-asleep, she called out, "Mom!"

Tan Aizhi hurried in right away, "What's wrong?" She quickly felt Song Xilan's forehead with her hand. "Old Song, grab the thermometer."

She tucked the thermometer under Song Xilan's armpit and tucked the blanket tightly around her. "Don't move, just lie still."

Song Xilan closed her eyes, enjoying the care.

Tan Aizhi quickly changed the breakfast plan, pushing aside the originally planned soy milk and fried dough sticks, and started cooking a special noodle soup for her sick daughter.

While cooking, she watched the clock and instructed Song Baili to check the thermometer.

Song Xilan took the thermometer out from under the blanket and handed it to her father. Song Baili squinted at the thermometer, turning it around, squinting for a while before he could read it clearly. "Thirty-seven degrees."

Tan Aizhi gasped, "Oh no, our girl has a fever!" She figured her daughter couldn’t be fine after such a tough time.

That day, she should have stayed home to rest, but her father made her go on a blind date, and she ended up getting upset by that jerk. Maybe she caught the fever from him.

That old man, he can’t get anything right.

Whenever something happens, it’s always his fault.

Song Baili looked puzzled, "Isn't thirty-seven degrees the normal body temperature?"

"Normal is thirty-six degrees, got it? Our girl has a fever, she can't go to work today. Go and get her leave approved."

Song Xilan had already gotten up, "Mom, I'm fine. My throat’s just a bit sore, probably from eating too much fried food, it’s a bit heaty. Drinking some herbal tea will be enough."

"I’ll brew you some herbal tea tonight. First, let’s go to the hospital to see your aunt and get some medicine."

Song Xilan was speechless, "Mom, Auntie is in obstetrics and gynecology."

"So what? OB/GYNs can still treat illnesses."

In a society where connections count, people always turn to friends first, regardless of whether an OB/GYN can treat a cold or fever.

Song Xilan was still trying to reason with her, "Really, it's not necessary. I probably just have tonsillitis. I can get some anti-inflammatory medicine from the factory clinic when I go to work."

But there was no way she could win against the stubbornness of a middle-aged woman. In the end, Song Xilan only managed to secure the right to go to the hospital alone, without them accompanying her.

Before leaving for work, Tan Aizhi kept turning back to remind her, "Go early, take the medicine, and then rest well."

Neither Song Xilan nor Jiang Jingru expected to run into each other at the entrance of the hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department.

Song Xilan actually didn't want to come to the OB/GYN department. She could have just registered at the outpatient clinic, but Tan Aizhi had already called her aunt early in the morning and arranged for her to visit today. If she didn't go, she would have to endure a long lecture when she got back.

So she had no choice but to come.

Just then, she ran into Jiang Jingru, who came out looking pale.

Song Xilan was still hesitating whether to greet her, but Jiang Jingru glared at her fiercely and quickly walked away.

Jiang Jingru had come today planning to get an abortion. That day, she had indeed had her eyes on Jiang Chengxiao, planning to go to his hotel room, where they would be alone, and seduce him into sleeping with her, so she could pin the pregnancy on him.

Soldiers like him wouldn’t abandon her after taking advantage, and would surely marry her. After marriage, she would find a way to induce a miscarriage, and everything would be settled.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Chengxiao was unyielding, and her plan didn’t work. But the longer she delayed, the more troublesome it would become, so she had to bite the bullet and come for the abortion.

Who knew that after the doctor examined her, she was told that her uterine wall was particularly thin, and if she underwent a D&C (dilation and curettage) procedure, it was very likely she could never have children again in her lifetime.

The doctor advised her to go back and think carefully about whether she really wanted to proceed with the surgery. If she did, she couldn’t come alone; a family member would have to sign the consent form.

At her core, Jiang Jingru was very traditional. In her view, a woman’s greatest value was in bearing children. A woman who couldn’t have children wasn’t a real woman.

Therefore, the idea of not being able to have children hit her hard.

She was momentarily unable to accept it.

Flustered, she left the doctor’s office and unexpectedly ran into Song Xilan. Instantly, old and new resentments welled up inside her, and she blamed Song Xilan.

If it weren’t for her, maybe things with Jiang Chengxiao would have worked out, and she wouldn’t need to have an abortion, but could have been a mother without any issues.

At this moment, she forgot that in her original plan, even if she married Jiang Chengxiao, she would have found a way to terminate the pregnancy to avoid having a child that didn’t resemble either of them.

Some people never take responsibility when things go wrong, only pushing the blame onto others. After making Song Xilan her scapegoat, Jiang Jingru felt much better.

Song Xilan was just as surprised to see Jiang Jingru there.

She pushed the door open and asked Song Anhui, "Auntie, what was that person here for?"

Song Anhui replied, "What do you think people come here for?"

"For a sore throat, my throat hurts, my mom told me to come see you."

Song Anhui tapped her head with her pen, "You’re such a kidder. That young girl, so young and already not behaving properly, had an improper relationship before marriage. Now the man has changed his mind and won’t marry her, so she has no choice but to come to abort the child. Unfortunately, her physical condition isn’t suitable; if she aborts this one, she might never conceive again. I advised her to go back and discuss it thoroughly with her family, so she doesn’t regret it for a lifetime!"

Song Xilan was so shocked her mouth hung open, "Oh my, how could this be, what should she do then!"

Song Anhui looked at her seriously, "That’s why, as young women, we must learn to respect and protect ourselves."

Poor Song Xilan hadn’t even gotten her medicine for her sore throat before she received a lesson from her aunt on how young women should respect and protect themselves.

The obstetrician had a wealth of material, casually citing various gynecological diseases, miscarriages, difficult births, and even cases of maternal deaths to educate her, leaving Song Xilan stunned.

She was almost in tears, "Auntie, could you please stop, I haven’t done anything wrong!"

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!" Song Anhui said earnestly.