Back Then, I Adored You

“Oh…” As Qin Zhi’ai repeated those words, she let out a moan and reached out to grab her abdomen. It was a sudden pain—not like what she would feel when the baby would kick her but more likely a contraction.

“Madam, madam, what’s wrong?” The frightened housekeeper hurriedly reached out to support Qin Zhi’ai.

Another sharp pain ripped through her abdomen again. Qin Zhi’ai took a deep breath, and she could not say anything when confronted by the anxious housekeeper. Her lips were gradually growing pale, and her breath had become unsteady.

“Madam, is your abdomen hurting? Let me escort you back. We’ll get Dr. Xia…” Before the housekeeper could finish talking, Qin Zhi’ai suddenly clenched her hand, increasing the tightness as the pain increased. She gazed at the housekeeper with a pale face as she suppressed the pain and forced herself to speak. “No…”

Following that was another wave of pain. She moaned, “I… I think I’m… Going into labor…” Her words cut out when the pain caused her to gasp in a low voice.

The housekeeper had experience giving birth, so when she heard those words, she calmed down and raised her voice to summon the nurse. She instructed the caretaker to prepare the car, as well as reminded her to retrieve Qin Zhi’ai’s hospital bag from the master bedroom.

The two of them escorted Qin Zhi’ai to the car and hurriedly left for the hospital. The housekeeper called Dr. Xia while they were on the way. Just when she was about to call the Gu Mansion, Qin Zhi’ai spoke while clutching her abdomen in pain. “Don’t mention Yusheng to Grandpa…”

The housekeeper knew that Qin Zhi’ai was referring to the fact that they had lost contact with Gu Yusheng for the past three days. She nodded gently and acceded.

Before Gu Yusheng had left, he had specially instructed the housekeeper that she could contact Lu Bancheng and Xiaowang if anything happened to Qin Zhi’ai.

There were still 10 days until Qin Zhi’ai’s supposed date of delivery, but she was going into early labor now, and the housekeeper suspected that it was because the news of Gu Yusheng’s disappearance had agitated her. The housekeeper was afraid that the early labor might result in something she couldn’t resolve on her phone, so she called Lu Bancheng and Xiaowang.

By the time they arrived at the hospital, Qin Zhi’ai was in so much pain that she could no longer move. Her water had broke, and the frequency of her contractions was at the end stage for delivery.

Dr. Xia, who had heard about the news prior to this, was waiting for her at the hospital, where Qin Zhi’ai was placed on the hospital bed the moment she arrived and pushed into the delivery room. Over the last seven months of her pregnancy, Dr. Xia had taught her delivery techniques every time she had been at a checkup, and she instinctively now began using them.

Inhale lightly, exhale slowly…

Qin Zhi’ai had long familiarized herself with these exercises. However, as she listened to the instructions of the gynecologist and exerted strength, she found herself longing for Gu Yusheng. During the moments in which the pain was enough to disorientate her and make it difficult for her to exert any strength, Gu Yusheng’s presence in her mind would appear and grow more clear each time. And each time this happened, she felt worse than before.

Toward the end, even though the doctors around her were anxiously perspiring and talking endlessly to her, she was so dazed that she could not hear a single word. The only thing floating in her heart and her world was Yusheng’s name. Her relentless moans gradually grew softer and softer, as well, until they were almost muted.

……

“The mother can’t exert any strength at all. If this continues, it will inevitably lead to a dystocia, and the child might suffocate in her abdomen.”

“There are signs of minor bleeding, and her awareness is minimal. We need to think of another way.”

“Aren’t her family members outside? Get them…”