The 99th Divorce

Her voice was harsh and resentful.

The woman then picked up her own baby and coaxed it, muttering, “There, there, baby. Don’t cry. Daddy will hold you when he comes back.”

Shen Manting remained silent and continued to chew the egg in her mouth before slowly swallowing it.

Perhaps it was because the boiled egg was too dry, but she nearly choked on it.

She forced it down and reached out to pick up the glass of water.

However, the glass, which she’d asked the nurse to fill just a little while ago, was nearly empty.

Shen Manting finally felt slightly better after she gulped down the last mouthful of water in it.

The baby was silently crying in her arms, and when she saw how its face had turned red, she resented the little thing.

Warm tears welled up in her eyes, and she reached out to slap the baby’s tiny face. “Shut up!” she yelled.

The child in her arms didn’t quiet down. In fact, it cried even harder than before.

All the other mothers in the ward turned to look over at her.

Pretending that she hadn’t noticed, Shen Manting stuffed the last bit of egg into her mouth before grabbing her chopsticks and eating the food in the lunch box.

It tasted awful.

It tasted especially awful.

But she continued stuffing big mouthfuls of food into her mouth.

There was a sea of blurriness before her eyes, and her throat hurt from choking down food.

Even after she’d finished the last bit of her food, she still didn’t feel full.

After she drew the curtains closed, she lifted her clothes up to breastfeed the baby.

The child suckled a little and was quiet for a few seconds, before it quickly started to struggle and cry again.

Shen Manting took in a deep breath, and tears streamed down from her eyes.

But she didn’t make a sound.

Holding onto the baby, she gently coaxed it and got it to suckle again after some time.

With much difficulty, she finally managed to placate the baby. Completely drained of energy, she lay down on the bed, closed her eyes, and fell asleep with the baby in her arms.

All of a sudden, she felt her arms loosen around him.

Her entire body trembled.

“Someone’s stealing the baby!” she thought. Once this thought crossed Shen Manting’s mind, she tensed up and became alert.

She instantly opened her eyes and saw a man standing before the bed.

It was a young man.

His arms were reaching toward her chest, and he looked like he wanted to hold the baby.

“You’re awake?” Shen Luo’an spoke in a very low tone of voice, which made it hard to tell what his emotions were.

Shen Manting relaxed, but she immediately reached out her arms and snatched the child back.

When she saw that the baby was still sleeping soundly and peacefully, she glared at him guardedly.

Shen Luo’an glanced at his watch and asked, “Are you hungry? I’ll get you some food. Wait for me.”

Shen Manting finally spoke up. “That’s not necessary.” Her voice sounded slightly raspy from being parched for so long. “I’ve already had my meal.”

“Don’t throw a tantrum with me.” Shen Luo’an sounded slightly displeased, and he turned and walked out the door.

When he came back, he had a thermal flask in his hands.

He opened it and tested the temperature before saying, “Have some water.”

Shen Manting hadn’t had any water in a long time, and she was extremely thirsty.

When she saw the thermal flask, she subconsciously swallowed.

But she couldn’t reach out her hand to take it, no matter what.

She turned aside and didn’t look at him. Then, she carefully placed the baby beside her.

Shen Luo’an looked even tenser than before, and he said, “Are you planning on letting your child starve to death by not drinking any water? Isn’t it pathetic how it couldn’t even drink any milk when it woke up?”

Shen Manting swallowed again before turning her head aside and reaching out her hand.

The temperature of the water was just right.

She drank it rather quickly, which hurt her throat, but she managed to quell her thirst.

She passed the flask back to him and wiped her mouth before asking, “What do you want?”

Shen Luo’an looked at her. “Come home with me,” he said. “It’s easy for a woman to suffer long-term health problems if nobody looks after her during her confinement.”