Save the Children First
Song Hao had just finished setting up his goods when a regular customer arrived—a woman in her early thirties with permed hair dyed a bold wine-red. She parked her bicycle right next to Song Hao’s cart without catching her breath and said in one go, “Did you bring what I wanted?”
As she spoke, she pulled money from her pocket and handed it to Song Hao.
Clearly, she had been thinking about this for a long time, counting out the money before leaving home.
“My husband took the kids to the breakfast shop first to wait. I figured I’d come get the stuff from you first to avoid taking a detour on the way back. With the New Year approaching, we haven’t bought anything for the house yet.”
Song Hao took the money and handed over the goods. “Happy New Year, sis! That hair color looks really good on you this year. Here are the lambskin gloves and matching handbag you wanted.”
This batch of goods was clearly high-end—the packaging for the gloves and handbag looked elegant and exquisite.
Liu Fang opened them carefully, first wiping her hands on her clothes before unsealing the kraft paper bag. She took out the lambskin gloves and tried them on to see how they looked.
The lambskin gloves had a thin layer of fleece inside. Having just ridden her bike over in the middle of winter, Liu Fang’s woolen gloves hadn’t kept out the cold, leaving her fingers numb. Now, slipping them into the leather gloves, she found the material soft and fine. Despite the thin fleece, they were surprisingly warm. Once on, they didn’t look bulky at all, making her fingers appear slender and elegant.
“Sis, you look just like a wealthy young lady from TV wearing those,” Song Hao praised.
Liu Fang laughed heartily at the compliment. “I’m too old to be a wealthy young lady.” Even as she said this, she felt that wearing these gloves instantly gave her an air of sophistication.
They looked beautiful.
And the small leather bag—made of genuine cowhide, compact and exquisite, with a flip-top and a brass buckle that clicked shut with a satisfying sound. She hadn’t seen a style like this anywhere in Baoping City. It had a short strap for carrying by hand or over the arm, and it even came with a long strap for wearing crossbody.
At first, Liu Fang had been drawn to this “two-piece set,” but the price was simply too high—equivalent to two months of her salary. She couldn’t bring herself to buy it. Back home, while cleaning and preparing for the New Year—everywhere she turned, there were expenses—she found herself thinking about these two items more and more as the holiday approached.
They would definitely come in handy when visiting relatives.
A few days ago, Liu Fang had gritted her teeth and decided to buy them, only to find the young vendor wasn’t there. She had left a message on his pager to place an order.
“Alright, count the money,” Liu Fang said, satisfied with the gloves and smiling as she inspected the bag.
Song Hao nodded cheerfully and counted the money—a clean transaction, goods for cash.
Once the money was counted and the customer was satisfied, all that remained was a bit of small talk to wrap up the sale.
“Young vendor, your goods sell so well. I thought they’d be gone by now,” Liu Fang remarked, knowing that despite being a street stall, this vendor’s goods were in high demand. How could there still be any left?
Song Hao chuckled. “Sis, there aren’t many left. I originally kept a few bags to give as gifts to relatives.”
“Why didn’t you give them away?” Liu Fang asked, then felt she might have been a bit nosy.
She did have a bit of a gossipy streak.
Song Hao didn’t mind, replying, “They spoke ill of my partner, so I decided not to give them anything.”
Liu Fang laughed even more heartily at this. This young vendor really doted on his partner. That girl was truly lucky. She was about to continue the small talk and ask when the young vendor planned to get married when—
“Da Song! Da Song!”
A faint but urgent-sounding voice called from the distance.
Before Liu Fang could even make out what was happening, she saw the young boss’s expression change abruptly in front of her. In an instant, his smile vanished as he anxiously turned to look behind him. Before Liu Fang could figure out the reason, the young boss had already dashed off, leaving his words hanging in the air: “Sis, could you please keep an eye on things for me?”
“Huh? Oh, sure.” Liu Fang followed the direction the young boss had run toward. Not far away in the snow, a boy was stumbling hurriedly, clutching something in his arms.
The two met up, and she couldn’t hear what they were saying.
Liu Fang grew even more curious and asked, “What’s going on?”
Song Hao had sensed something was wrong the moment he heard Niannian’s voice. His Niannian rarely sounded genuinely frightened, his voice tight and strained—only when Aunt Hongxia was critically ill had he ever sounded like this, tearfully asking, “Will my mom get better, Da Song? Will my mom get better?”
Every time Song Hao recalled that moment, his heart ached with a sharp pang.
His heart sank with dread, fearing something had happened to Niannian or that he had encountered some danger.
He shouldn’t have let Niannian go alone to buy breakfast. It was dark and snowing heavily—what if he had slipped or hurt himself? With his long legs, Song Hao rushed over in a few strides. Seeing Niannian unharmed, with all his limbs intact, he breathed a sigh of relief first.
Cheng Jin Nian thrust the swaddled bundle right under Da Song’s eyes, his throat dry from fear and running. Knowing Da Song had misunderstood, he quickly explained, “It’s not me. I found a child, right by the trash bin over there. Look, hurry!”
Song Hao took the swaddled bundle, which was icy cold and covered in snow.
“What’s going on?” Liu Fang asked again as the two hurried over. As she spoke, she saw what the young boss was holding and guessed what had happened. “How could someone abandon a child during the New Year? What a sin.”
Cheng Jin Nian was terrified, swallowing hard. “Someone left a child by the trash bin over there,” he said, pointing toward the alley behind them.
The nearby stall vendors all gathered around. As a corner of the swaddling cloth was opened, they could see the child’s face looked off—eyes closed, not making a sound or crying, just lying there quietly. Could it have frozen to death?
Liu Fang took off her gloves, rubbed her hands together to warm them, and said, “Let me feel.” Her touch met icy coldness, which was not a good sign.
“What a true sin.”
Song Hao swiftly packed up the tricycle he had just set up, calling out, “Niannian, get in the car. Sis, where’s the nearest hospital around here? A big one, not a clinic.”
“There’s no big hospital nearby. You’ll have to head north to find a tertiary hospital,” Liu Fang directed.
Without another word, Song Hao helped Cheng Jin Nian, who was holding the child, into the tricycle, and the two hurried off to the hospital.
As soon as they left, the stall area buzzed with chatter.
“Who could be so heartless, abandoning a child during the New Year?” “I just saw the child’s size—it didn’t look like a full-term baby.” “How pitiful.” “Its face was frozen, looking just like a dead person’s.”
Liu Fang, soft-hearted, felt a pang of sorrow upon hearing this. The tiny child’s fate was unknown. Thinking it over, she decided to hop on her bicycle and catch up to guide the young boss.
Cheng Jin Nian sat in the back of the tricycle, wrapping the child in a blanket.
“The swaddling cloth is covered in snow. Should we take it off?”
Though he asked, Cheng Jin Nian was already unwrapping the swaddling cloth with his hands. Da Song’s blanket had long lost its warmth, so he unbuttoned his own cotton coat and gently held the child against his chest. Too afraid the child might die, he didn’t care about whether he was holding it correctly or not.
His only thought was, “Please don’t die yet.”
He unbuttoned his wool cardigan, and as the small, icy body in his arms felt like a frozen lump, he pressed the child closer to the warmth of his chest, then wrapped it tightly in the wool cardigan.
Song Hao pedaled the tricycle with vigorous speed, so fast that Liu Fang on her bicycle could barely keep up, only able to shout directions from behind.
Braving the bitter cold, they finally rushed to the hospital.
After parking the tricycle, Song Hao said to Niannian, “Don’t take off your coat.” He removed his own padded coat, wrapped the child in it, and took the baby to carry himself.
Niannian was scared and worried, and having sat for so long, his legs were numb, making it hard for him to hold the child steadily.
“Don’t be afraid, Niannian. We’re at the hospital now,” Song Hao reassured him.
Cheng Jinnian nodded, first handing the child over to Da Song, then hearing a faint, kitten-like whimper. Cheng Jinnian’s tense voice carried a hint of surprise: “Da Song, the baby made a sound. Be careful.”
Liu Fang went ahead to explain the situation to the nurses.
The good news was that the child was still alive and had been brought in relatively promptly. The bad news was that survival wasn’t guaranteed—the baby had a high fever and was born prematurely, with risks of pneumonia or brain damage from the fever later on. All of this remained uncertain.
Upon hearing it was a foundling, the doctor’s tone grew serious and hesitant. “…It’ll cost quite a bit. Have you reported this to the police?”
The implication was for the two young men to think carefully—spending a large sum on an abandoned baby who might not survive.
Cheng Jinnian asked first, “How much will it cost?” He still had the 978 yuan he’d originally asked Cheng Haijun for. After Da Song started making money from his business, he’d given Cheng Jinnian a thousand, saying, “This isn’t Cheng Haijun’s money anymore.”
Later, after deducting costs for restocking, Da Song gave him whatever was left.
Cheng Jinnian refused, saying he lived alone and went to school during the day—what if someone broke in and stole the money?
“First, pay three hundred yuan. The child needs to stay in an incubator in the hospital. It’s more expensive—twenty yuan a day. It’s uncertain how long the stay will be; we need to keep the baby under observation…”
At that time, a regular hospital bed cost three yuan per day.
Hearing the cost, Cheng Jinnian first breathed a sigh of relief and said to go ahead and pay—save the child first.
The doctor looked up, studying Cheng Jinnian seriously, then glanced at the taller, slightly older-looking young man beside him. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, we’re sure. We’ll follow his lead. Save the child first,” Song Hao said.
After that, Song Hao carried the child for blood tests and handled the admission procedures, while Cheng Jinnian bought food at the hospital cafeteria. Both thanked Sister Liu.
Liu Fang said, “You two are still young. This child is pitiful—abandoned without any disabilities, and a boy at that. Who knows what the family was thinking?”
“If the baby recovers, send him to an orphanage. A boy without missing limbs won’t have trouble finding a home.”
Liu Fang meant well. “Xiao Song, don’t be foolish. Consider the money spent on saving the child as an act of charity. But raising a child is a lifelong commitment. Didn’t you say you have a partner? What young girl would willingly become a stepmother? Don’t ruin your own marriage prospects and end up unable to find a wife.”
Hearing Sister Liu mention Da Song having a partner, Cheng Jinnian frowned and looked at Da Song. Da Song, upon hearing about his “partner,” grinned somewhat foolishly and happily said it wouldn’t be a problem. Finally, Cheng Jinnian realized who “Da Song’s partner” was and felt a bit awkward.
It was him.
What was Song Hao doing, telling everyone!
After seeing Sister Liu off, Song Hao gave her two unopened new items in exchange—that morning, when he rushed Niannian and the child to the hospital, he’d parked the tricycle in a hurry. The bedding inside was messy, and in the urgency, he hadn’t locked up or tidied. Unexpectedly, all the goods were still there.
Maybe the quilts were rolled up haphazardly, looking dirty and worthless at a glance.
The gatekeeper, seeing Song Hao, said, “Hey, hey, young man, you need to lock your bike. I’ve been making rounds all morning just to keep an eye on it.”
The old man was diligently guarding his post.
Liu Fang felt a bit embarrassed, but looking at the crumpled gloves and the messy backpack from riding, she noticed it was dirty from being scraped somewhere.
“This is really too much.”
“Sister, take it. I have to thank you for your help today,” Cheng Jin Nian said.
Liu Fang then exchanged them for unopened new items. These two pieces weren’t cheap—they cost two hundred yuan, equivalent to a month’s wages for her.
“Da Song, I’ll stay at the hospital this afternoon. You go sell the goods.” Cheng Jin Nian knew Da Song would worry about him and said seriously, “The goods are all pre-ordered. With the New Year approaching, we can’t let customers come all this way for nothing. The hospital is busy with people coming and going, so I’m not afraid.”
Song Hao frowned, still concerned, but Niannian was right.
“And we need to go to the police station. It’s my first time finding a child, so we should report it and leave an address or something.” Cheng Jin Nian wasn’t sure about the procedure either.
Hearing this, Song Hao took all the money from his pocket and handed it to Niannian for safekeeping. “I’ll come find you as soon as I’m done.”
“Got it.” Cheng Jin Nian put the money away. After a moment, his face flushed slightly as he asked, “What was that about a partner you mentioned to Sister Liu?”
He knew the answer but couldn’t help asking, feeling a bit awkward.
Song Hao grew anxious and said, “You said it yourself—we’re together. You even kissed me. After you finish the college entrance exam and come of age, we’ll live together. You’re my wife.”
“Don’t shout!” Cheng Jin Nian’s face turned completely red. “That’s it.”
Seeing Niannian shy and hearing the slightly coquettish tone in his “That’s it,” which sounded like a promise of marriage, Song Hao felt happy and relieved. He reached out and patted Niannian’s head. “Go inside now. It’s cold out here.”
“Okay.”
Cheng Jin Nian headed toward the inpatient ward, thinking about his relationship with Da Song as he walked.
They had talked it out over half a month ago.
In the village, people married early. Matchmakers would start arranging meetings for eighteen- or nineteen-year-olds.
After Cheng Jin Nian’s mother passed away, his uncle’s family was still in the village, but to put it bluntly—a step-grandmother was never the same as a biological one. The step-grandmother had two sons of her own. Although he called them uncles, they weren’t close.
It was a relationship that was cordial on the surface, but there was no genuine concern or effort on their part.
On top of that, Cheng Jin Nian was focused solely on studying. He looked delicate, fair-skinned, and tender—the kind of person who, as villagers said, “doesn’t seem cut out for farm work.”
In Dagou Village, it was customary to give matchmakers red envelopes and buy them clothes once a match was made.
Given Cheng Jin Nian’s situation, with no close relatives to care about him, why would an outsider matchmaker go out of their way to help? Cheng Jin Nian was just a young man, likely unable to afford the matchmaker’s fee anyway.
The person suggested as a match was Song Hao.
Villagers liked to talk in nominal or approximate ages. They’d say, “The third son of the Song family must be twenty-two by now, right? They should hurry up and find him a wife. I heard he’s been doing business outside these past couple of years and has made quite a bit of money. He even bought a vehicle.”
That vehicle was a three-wheeled cart, but it still counted as a vehicle.
In reality, Song Hao was only twenty years old this year.
Song Hao was tall and sturdy, and quite handsome, but he had an air of mischief—or so the older villagers whispered.
Only two households in the village had televisions, black-and-white ones. During the hottest days of summer, they’d bring the TVs out into the yard, and children from every household would gather to watch.
Nowadays, what’s popular and in demand are male actors with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a square face—that’s considered the “heroic” look.
Someone like Song Hao, well, he really looks like a “villain.”
That said, Song Hao has actually been making an effort to earn money over the past two years. The Song family is also considered a “prominent household” in Dagou Village—meaning they have many brothers, a large population, and plenty of land. With more people in the village, they’re not afraid of being bullied.
He’s a skilled hand at fieldwork, all strength and hard work, and during the off-season, he knows how to hustle to make money.
On top of that, the eldest sister-in-law of the Song family actually wants the third brother to marry early so he can move out and live independently.
Because of this, matchmakers proposing marriages for Song Hao have been especially numerous this year. To give her third brother-in-law a “bright future,” the eldest sister-in-law has been boasting about how Song Hao earns money, how filial he is, and how capable he is.
While Song Hao was out running his business, his sister-in-law was behind his back contacting matchmakers. One day, he came home and happened to run into a matchmaker who was sizing him up from head to toe. When he asked, she chuckled and said it was good news.
When Song Hao finally realized she was there to arrange a marriage for him, he felt an inexplicable wave of irritation for no reason. Sitting in the courtyard, he did nothing but undermine his sister-in-law’s efforts.
Sister-in-law said: “My third brother is good-looking and even went to school.”
Song Hao replied: “Fortune-tellers say I’m a scoundrel who brings misfortune to wives. I didn’t study much—I couldn’t sit still in school, always got zeroes on exams, so I just quit.”
Sister-in-law added: “Third brother is hardworking and makes good money now.”
Song Hao: “Hahaha, sister-in-law, you don’t know—I’ve just been bragging. I run errands for others, just a lackey. If I were really making big money, why wouldn’t I buy a TV for the house? Can’t afford big items, sigh, can’t even afford new clothes.”
Sister-in-law grew anxious—had third brother taken the wrong medicine today?
The matchmaker took a closer look and finally noticed that the third brother of the Song family was indeed wearing old clothes, with patches on his sleeves. It wasn’t like the old days anymore—life had improved now. When going out, why wouldn’t he tidy up? Who still wears patched clothes?
She had been too focused on Song Hao’s face earlier—the young man was quite handsome.
Matchmaker: “Don’t worry, with third brother’s looks, he can still find a good match. Leave it to me.”
Sister-in-law was pleased.
Song Hao was not. Irritated, he said: “I don’t want a partner, I’m not getting married.”
Beside him, Jiang Xiuqin was both worried and anxious. She hit Song Hao’s shoulder and scolded: “Stop talking nonsense! You’re not a kid anymore—in your twenties, almost thirty. Your father’s been dead for ten years, and I’m living with your eldest brother and sister-in-law. They’ve taken care of me, but they can’t take care of you forever…”
[Author’s Note]
Cheng Songsong: I’m not a kid picked up from the trash bin—I grew right out of Daddy’s heart [kiss][kiss][kiss]