A long time passed—though in reality, it wasn’t that long, perhaps just a minute—before the proprietress slowly released her grip and leaned back into her chair.
Her blue floral cotton dress was soaked through in large patches across her chest and back, clinging tightly to her body and outlining the full, rounded contours of her breasts, made even more ample by pregnancy.
That heavy, enormous belly remained prominently raised even as she slumped, rising and falling faintly with her rapid breaths, trembling slightly.
“That last contraction was really fierce, like a weight pulling down on my guts. I felt like I needed to use the bathroom—probably means the baby’s almost here,” she panted, one hand weakly pressing against the lowest, heaviest part of her abdomen.
The proprietor crouched before her, his dark face etched with anxiety, brows furrowed into knots. His rough, large hands grasped his wife’s damp, cold ones, clumsily rubbing them as he tried to offer some warmth.
“Xiu, let’s go to the hospital.”
“No rush, there are still two tables of customers,” the proprietress forced her eyes open, glancing at Mianmian and the boy.
“It’s fine to close the shop for a bit. Money can be earned any day.”
“Close what? They still have classes this afternoon,” the proprietress pushed herself up from the table, her heavy belly sagging even more noticeably as she changed position. “Let’s wait until they finish eating.”
She leaned against the wall as she walked toward Mianmian.
When she reached Mianmian’s table, her voice remained soft, carrying a warm smile.
“Mianmian, eat more. Do you want extra rice?”
Mianmian looked at her. Her round face was as pale as paper, sweat streaming down her cheeks from her forehead.
“No need, I’m full,” Mianmian said.
The proprietress nodded, reaching out to collect her bowl and chopsticks before turning back toward the kitchen.
Mianmian noticed a wet patch on the back of her skirt.
Below her hips, a palm-sized area was soaked into the fabric, darker than the surrounding cloth.
The boy in the corner had also finished eating. He set down his bowl, let out a loud, satisfied burp, wiped his mouth, and left.
Only the three of them remained in the shop.
“Mianmian, could you please let your classmates know that we won’t be open for lunch tomorrow? We’ll be closed for two days. We’ll reopen as usual the day after,” the proprietress actually managed to smile at her.
“Kid, we won’t keep you any longer today. We need to close up and head to the hospital,” the proprietor said, hastily wiping his hands on his apron.
Mianmian nodded understandingly.
The proprietor began frantically tidying the stove, turning off the burners, and covering the pots.
The proprietress leaned exhaustedly against the cash register, her legs trembling so much she couldn’t stand straight. She frowned, gritting her teeth to endure.
Mianmian saw that her skirt was soaked through in a large area, the wet fabric clinging tightly to her thighs and hips. A thin stream of fluid trickled slowly down the inside of her calf.
The proprietor helped her walk toward the door. After a few steps, the proprietress suddenly stopped, her body tensing in her husband’s arms. She threw her head back, mouth open, gasping for air as if she couldn’t breathe, her whole body sinking downward.
“I can’t… it’s coming…” Her expression suddenly changed.
The proprietor panicked, straining to lift her with his arms.
“Xiu, what do you mean? What’s coming? What’s wrong?”
She couldn’t speak, her body involuntarily sinking into a squat.
“Don’t squat!” the proprietor still tried to stop his wife from crouching. “How can we get to the hospital if you squat? Quick, stand up, I’ll carry you!”
“The baby’s at the opening…” the proprietress’s voice trembled with tears. “I can’t hold it… it’s so swollen… I think I’m going to give birth right here…”
Mianmian stood a few steps away, her heart pounding wildly in her chest, thumping so hard her eardrums buzzed.
Again?
Just like three years ago.
That beautiful older sister on the bus.
The shop owner’s wife had already crouched down, kneeling on the floor, both hands braced against the cash register’s cabinet door. Her skirt, from the top of her thighs down to her ankles, was completely soaked through, clinging tightly to her legs and clearly outlining the contours of her thigh muscles straining with effort.
On the floor, centered around where she knelt, a large puddle of water rapidly spread.
Her body trembled, rhythmically, as if to a beat.
“Huff… huff…” She was panting, panting loudly, no longer holding back. “Huff… huff…”
The shop owner knelt beside her, his legs weak, at a loss for what to do. “Xiu, what do we do…”
The shop owner’s wife lifted her head. Her face was a mess of sweat and tears, her hair plastered to her forehead and cheeks, looking utterly disheveled.
Yet in those eyes, amidst extreme pain, there was a strangely gentle, faint glimmer of light:
“Silly… don’t be afraid… just wait… you’re going to be a dad…”
“Xiu! Oh, Xiu!” The shop owner’s voice trembled.
The shop owner’s wife stopped talking, lowered her head, and her whole body tensed.
Her body arched, the veins on her neck bulging, her face flushed red. She bit her lip, letting out a long, suppressed groan from her throat.
“Mmm—!!”
Mianmian felt she should help somehow but didn’t know what to do. She fetched a towel and knelt beside the shop owner’s wife, gazing at her face with concern.
The shop owner’s wife struggled to open her eyes and glanced at her.
“Mianmian…” the shop owner’s wife panted, “you… you’re just a young girl… don’t watch this… it’ll scare you… go back to school…”
Mianmian shook her head. “I’m not scared. I’ll stay right here. I’ll stay with you.”
The shop owner’s wife’s eyes grew moist.
She took the towel from Mianmian’s hand and bit down on it.
Gripping the shop owner’s hand, her entire body—from her hunched shoulders to her deeply sunken and suddenly tensed waist and abdomen, to her legs planted firmly on the ground with curled toes—every muscle strained. That heavy belly, beneath the soaked skirt, underwent dramatic and startling changes in shape.
She pushed with two long efforts, then relaxed, gasping for breath.
After a few breaths, she lowered her head and pushed again.
The towel muffled most of the sound, leaving only a muffled, beast-like low roar squeezed from deep in her throat and nasal cavity.
“Mmm—! Ugh—!!”
She knelt there, drenched all over, as if pulled from water.
Suddenly, she nearly collapsed forward, her whole body trembling as if falling apart, gasping for breath, the towel slipping from her weakly clenched teeth onto the floor.
“…Qiang-ge… catch the baby…”
The shop owner snapped out of it, wiped away his tears, and looked down.
A little thing dropped into the apron he had spread on the floor.
“Waaah—”
The plaintive cry echoed through the small shop, buzzing in Mianmian’s ears.
Mianmian saw the shop owner wrap the little bundle in the apron and lift it up. Red, wet, tiny, and moving in his arms.
The shop owner’s hands trembled violently.
“It’s… it’s a son… Xiu… you gave us a son…” he said, his voice floating.
The shop owner’s wife leaned against him, drenched in sweat, her hair soaked and plastered to her face.
So disheveled, so weak, so beautiful.
She smiled: “This little one… really knows how to save money… couldn’t even wait to get to the hospital, so eager to meet mom and dad…”
The boss knelt there, tears falling pat-pat.
The boss’s wife was utterly exhausted, trembling as she reached out to wipe his tears, weakly teasing: “What are you crying for… you’re a father now…”
The boss simply buried his face in her shoulder, sobbing loudly like a child.
Outside, the sound of an ambulance echoed.
Someone rushed in, wearing a white coat, carrying a stretcher. They surrounded the new mother, asking questions, busily taking blood pressure, conducting checks, and then took her away.
The shop was empty, bowls and chopsticks left uncleared on the tables, chairs scattered haphazardly, a puddle of water in front of the cash register, and some other things. The boss had no time to clean up; he simply locked the door and followed the ambulance.
Mianmian stood at the entrance, lost in thought.
Why is life always like this—without warning, without regard for the occasion, bursting through all restraints and arriving with a clamor just when people grit their teeth and endure, finally unable to hold back any longer.
Footsteps sounded behind her, and someone called out: “Boss? Can we still eat now?”
“Closed today and tomorrow,” Mianmian said.
“Why?” the person asked, somewhat disappointed.
Mianmian replied calmly and firmly: “The boss’s wife just had a baby. Come back the day after tomorrow.”
She knew that by noon the day after tomorrow, the boss’s wife would be sitting behind the cash register again, smiling as she asked: “Mianmian’s here? The usual? Minced eggplant with less oil?”
It was almost time for class. The first period in the afternoon was biology. Mianmian gathered her thoughts and hurried toward the school.
The streets were bustling with traffic and noisy crowds; the world remained busy and ordinary as ever.