Grandpa Ai got up at six o'clock every day, so as long as he was free, Ai Jingchu would get up early to accompany his grandfather for a walk. The next morning after Zeng Li stayed up with Wu Ying until midnight, Ai Jingchu also got up late. When he went out, Aunt Li, the nanny, had already pushed Grandpa Ai to take a walk by the lake.
When he was about to go home after running a lap, his cell phone rang.
Ai Jingchu slowed down his pace, calmed his breathing, and answered the phone.
"Teacher Ai, sorry to bother you," a calm and gentle male voice came from the receiver, "I'm Mu Chenghe from the Department of Physics." The other party was probably afraid that he would forget, so he introduced himself first.
"Hello." Ai Jingchu said.
"We have a child who wants you to see him." Mu Chenghe explained, "I went to see Dean Feng yesterday, and he said that you are an expert in this area and asked me to consult you. I also heard that you had to take a plane to attend a meeting today, so I disturbed you so early."
Ai Jingchu listened to the other party's words, stopped, stood on the shore facing the lake, and asked directly: "What's wrong with the child?"
"My sister's baby is still in her mother's belly, but now it's six months old, and the ultrasound shows that the lip line is incomplete."
Ai Jingchu continued to ask: "How big is the interruption distance? Is there an interruption in the upper alveolar bone? Is it unilateral or bilateral?"
These consecutive questions obviously stumped the physics teacher. Different fields are like different mountains. Mu Chenghe paused on the other end of the phone. He didn't quite understand it. When his wife gave him this task, he thought it was just a noun, but he didn't expect there would be so many multiple-choice questions.
Ai Jingchu looked at his watch and said, "How about this, Mr. Mu. I have a flight at noon today, so I'm afraid I won't be able to meet you in person, but I'll be back on Wednesday night. If you trust me, wait until Thursday morning and we can meet in person."
Mu Chenghe breathed a sigh of relief and replied with a smile, "Okay. Thank you." Then he hung up the phone.
Ai Jingchu looked at the screen of his mobile phone, thought for a moment, typed a few words, and saved the number in the address book. The school has been expanding its enrollment every year, and more and more campuses have been built. Most of his colleagues can hardly be called by name or have never seen them. He is not a stranger to Mu Chenghe. They have ridden in the same car and talked together. He often hears people mention him. The old subordinates who occasionally come to see the old man will also talk about this person, but they have never talked about personal matters.
Early Thursday morning, Ai Jingchu met Mu Chenghe as scheduled. Behind Mu Chenghe was a petite girl, who was supporting a pregnant woman with a big belly. The pregnant woman was holding a B-ultrasound test report. Ai Jingchu took it and read it carefully. One line read: "The continuity of the right upper lip is interrupted, about 7mm wide." He looked back and saw the header of the report, which was from the Affiliated Hospital of University A.
Ai Jingchu raised his eyes and asked, "What do your family members think?"
When the pregnant woman heard Ai Jingchu's question, she burst into tears without uttering a word.
The petite girl next to the pregnant woman said, "Teacher Ai, do you think there is something wrong?"
Ai Jingchu looked at her, thinking about how to say it more tactfully. He was not impatient, so he paused. Perhaps this pause made the other party misunderstand, and the girl hurriedly explained: "I am Mu Chenghe's lover, and this is my cousin. I don't doubt the level of the hospital, but I wonder if there is something wrong? How can a child have a cleft lip? No one in our family has ever had this disease."
Mu Chenghe moved closer, patted her shoulder, and comforted her: "Xue Tong, don't be anxious, just listen to what Teacher Ai says slowly."
Ai Jingchu said, "It's peak season now. There are more people seeing ultrasounds in the Affiliated Hospital in the morning. Let's go to the Imaging Department and borrow their teaching equipment. Let's check it again and I'll confirm it on the spot."
The pregnant woman thanked him repeatedly after hearing this.
When they arrived outside the B-ultrasound room, Xue Tong went in with his cousin, while Mu Chenghe stayed outside.
This time, the examination was done more thoroughly. Ai Jingchu folded his arms and stared at the black and white image on the screen with a serious expression. He did not say a word for nearly ten minutes from beginning to end, until the patient and his family left the clinic first.
The doctor next to him asked Ai Jingchu: "Are you an acquaintance?"
"Um."
"what do you think?"
Ai Jingchu said calmly: "Not only is there a problem with the right lip, but there is also a piece of the upper alveolar bone missing. You can even see the child's tongue." The fluorescent light on the screen reflected the outline of his face, but his expression could not be seen.
"It's too serious. It's better to abort the child." said the man.
Ai Jingchu didn't answer, but stood up and said, "Lao Wang, can I borrow the office next to yours?"
"Sure, whatever, use it as long as you want."
Ai Jingchu went out, looked around at the three people, and said, "I want to talk to the child's mother alone." After getting permission, Ai Jingchu took the pregnant woman to the next room.
Ai Jingchu asked: "Are you Mu Chenghe's sister?"
"No, I'm his lover's cousin."
Ai Jingchu nodded. "Since they are cousins and not direct relatives, I won't let them participate in our conversation?" This was the only question he used all morning to seek the other party's opinion.
"Okay." My cousin said nervously.
"The examination results you showed me earlier were correct. I just checked with Doctor Wang. Maybe it was because of the angle of the fetus last time that I didn't see the palate clearly. The fetus not only has a cleft lip, but also a cleft palate."
When my cousin heard this, although she was prepared in her heart, the tears that had just dried became wet again. "Doctor, you may not know how difficult it was for me to get pregnant with this child. I had a child less than a year after my marriage. At that time, my husband and I felt that we had not had time to enjoy our world as a couple, so how could we have a child to burden ourselves? So we had an abortion without hesitation. We didn't even tell my family at the time. When I found out I was pregnant, I was sitting on the bus, and I kept complaining to God why I was so unlucky."
My cousin wiped her tears and continued, "Later, I was already thirty, and my classmates and friends all had children, so I started thinking about it. But I never expected that I couldn't get pregnant no matter what I did. We went to every hospital and tried every method, but there was still no news after more than a year. Later, I thought, is this retribution from God? Is the child I gave up coming back to punish me? Now I finally get pregnant, it's been half a year, you say... you say..."
Finally, my cousin burst into tears.
Ai Jingchu looked at her quietly.
Finally, my cousin realized that she had lost her composure in front of the doctor, so she held back her sobs and asked, "Doctor Ai, do you think the child's condition is really serious? What should we do? If the child is born, he will definitely be cured, right? I can't bear to part with this child, let's treat him!"
Ai Jingchu said: "The final decision needs to be made after discussion between you and your family. The obstetrician may have told you before about the risks and consequences of induced abortion. So I want to tell you now that if you want this child, you should be mentally prepared."
My cousin nodded and waited for his next words.
"If the fetus has cleft lip and palate, he will have to go to the orthodontics department for preoperative orthodontics within two months of birth. We will take a mold to shape the alveolar shape and put on braces. The child will have lip repair surgery at three months and palatoplasty surgery six months later. Speech correction is required until preschool age. Because the child's body is constantly developing and growing, it is possible that there will be secondary deformities after a successful surgery. Once there are structural obstacles in pronunciation or other aspects, the second repair is required in the oral and maxillofacial surgery department. Around the age of twelve, another cosmetic surgery will be performed. The last surgery for nasal lip and palate repair will be around the age of eighteen. During this period, whether the child has deciduous teeth or permanent teeth, the orthodontist needs to observe, monitor and treat the growth and development of the teeth and alveolar structures."
He tried his best to organize his words in a simple and easy-to-understand way. After hearing about the operations again and again, my cousin forgot to cry or ask questions, and just stared with her eyes wide open.
Ai Jingchu said calmly: "This is the most authoritative cleft lip and palate repair procedure in the world. The whole process requires the full participation of cosmetic doctors, maxillofacial surgeons, orthodontists, and even psychologists. Not to mention the pressure on the child, it is also a huge responsibility for the parents, with several surgeries and nearly twenty years of treatment. Once the child is born, the parents have an unshirkable responsibility for this life. They should love and care for him to the best of their ability, instead of giving up on the child or treating him casually if there is something that makes the parents dissatisfied, and then regretting it when their patience is exhausted."
Ai Jingchu couldn't remember how many times he had said these words to people. Many of the parents who came to consult him were originally confident, but they backed off after hearing the final words. Some felt that they couldn't bear the burden, while others felt that it was too unfortunate for their children to grow up like this.
He explained it again and again without any subjective emotion. He didn't mean to persuade people to give up, nor to give people hope. He just thought that parents who gave birth to their children knowing that they had defects should not bring lifelong shadows to their children because of momentary impulse and temporary love.
He has treated many children with cleft lip and palate, many of whom were sent from welfare homes across the country. Some were abandoned before they were one month old, while others were three or four years old and were still abandoned by their families after a short period of treatment.
In fact, the fact that they were abandoned by their mother may have a far greater impact on them in their future lives than the cleft lip and palate deformity.
After Ai Jingchu finished speaking, my cousin fell silent.
Ai Jingchu stood up and said, "You can go back and discuss it with your family." He knew that sometimes it was difficult to make a decision, and there were many objective factors that would affect the family members, so he didn't want Mu Chenghe and his wife to be present.
Before leaving, the cousin said to Ai Jingchu: "Doctor Ai, can I contact you again if I have any questions?"
Ai Jingchu agreed: "Teacher Mu has my number, you can call me."
After Mu Cheng and his group left, he returned to the laboratory to wait for the two students. Ten minutes later, the two students who had brought their paper topics to him for review finally arrived. It was estimated that they had encouraged each other to come together to find Ai Jingchu.
After finishing his work, Ai Jingchu was going to go home and sleep, but he still couldn't adjust to the jet lag. His flight was delayed last night, and he finally got home in the middle of the night. He barely slept a wink, and went to the hospital to see Mu Chenghe early in the morning. It was too cold last night, much cooler than the previous few days. He felt that he had caught a cold and seemed to have a slight fever. Ai Jingchu ate something Aunt Li made, went upstairs and lay on his bed. He looked at the date on the screen of his mobile phone. Tomorrow is January 19th, and he has to cheer up no matter what. Thinking of this, he closed his eyes and forced himself to fall asleep immediately.
At the same time, Zeng Lizheng and Ma Yiyi were packing their luggage to Dongshan.
Dongshan is about a two-hour drive from City A by expressway, and the road conditions are very good. There are many temples on the mountain, and it has a wide range of believers. It is also a famous hot spring town.
Every Friday afternoon, the library would close early and all staff would attend political studies. This time, the director used his power for personal gain to save time for political studies. He notified everyone to leave early at noon and sent a car for everyone to leave first. Ma Yiyi was suddenly too busy in the store, so she asked Zeng Li to leave with her colleagues and said she would drive there later.
It was just after three in the afternoon when the team arrived at the resort hotel on the hillside of Dongshan. After Sister Wu from the union assigned the rooms, everyone put down their luggage and went to the hot springs with their equipment. Zeng Li was thinking about Ma Yiyi, so he kept checking his phone for calls.
It was not until dinner time that Ma Yiyi called and said, "I'm OK, finally!"
"Where are you now? Do you want me to wait for you to eat?"
"No need, just prepare the room and wait for me. I've just eaten something and will be getting on the highway soon. I estimate that I will arrive at Dongshan Toll Station at eight o'clock." Ma Yiyi replied.
"Oh, then I'll wait for you at the entrance to the mountain at the foot of the mountain."
"No," Ma Yiyi hurriedly stopped him, "Just tell me how to get to the bottom of the mountain, and I'll just drive up."
"No, it's too late. I'm worried about you driving on the mountain road alone at night." Zeng Li finally said firmly.
After dinner, some of the colleagues planned to play cards in the evening, some were going to the hot springs, and some were going to see the night view. Zeng Li didn't want to disturb anyone, so he took his things and prepared to go out alone.
It is actually very easy for tourists to go down the mountain. If you don't have a car, you can take the sightseeing cable car down the cliff in more than half an hour. The cable car is open from 6 am to 7 pm. Zeng Li asked the hotel staff at the front desk about the cable car schedule for going up and down the mountain, and hurried over, just before others were about to get off work.
At the foot of the mountain is the ancient street of Dongshan Town.
It is called an ancient street, but it was built later for tourism development. It was not well planned in the past few years, and it is still quite chaotic. There are countless people driving private cars, soliciting customers for family hotels, selling souvenirs, and even introducing enlightened monks to tourists. As night fell, many people dispersed, but there were still some who lingered around Zeng Li, asking her from time to time if she wanted to ask a master to open her face, stay in a hotel, or take a car to the mountain. Some people also rode motorcycles around the road to solicit business.
Zeng Li saw that it was still early, so she wandered around the town's largest daily necessities supermarket, which was less than 100 square meters. She didn't buy anything, but just wanted to kill time, so she walked from one corner to another, and stood in front of the shelves to read the ingredient lists of many products. Later, the owner of the supermarket almost thought she was here to check out the store, so he simply sent a salesperson to stand next to her and stare at her. In order to prove her innocence, she had to awkwardly pick up two bottles of water and take them to the cashier to pay.
When Zeng Li went out with the two bottles of water, she realized that she had bought the worst thing. She didn't bring a bag, so she took some change for convenience, so she could put both hands in her pockets to keep warm. But now she had to hold a bottle of cold mineral water in each hand in the cold night. If she just threw it away, it would be too wasteful.
She returned to the town entrance and waited for Ma Yiyi under the archway on the way up the mountain. Seeing that the population was becoming increasingly sparse, except for the security guards who collected parking fees, there were almost no passers-by. At this time, her cell phone rang.
"Xiao Yu, something bad has happened!" Ma Yiyi said anxiously.
"What's wrong?" Zeng Li asked.
"My grandma fell!"
"Is it serious?"
"I don't know. I'm heading to Wu Ying's hospital! I might have to turn around and go back right away."
"Then go back quickly." Zeng Li also became anxious for her.
"Ah, Wu Ying called. I wonder if my grandma answered the phone? Has the situation changed? I'll talk to her first." Ma Yiyi said.
"Okay!" Zeng Li quickly hung up the phone.
Zeng Li stood alone in the wind, waiting for news from Ma Yiyi.
Two minutes later, Ma Yiyi called for the second time.
"How is it?" Zeng Li asked.
"Wu Ying asked for my father's phone number, so they could contact each other first, so that I wouldn't waste time passing the message back and forth."
"That is not bad."
"Can you make it alone?" Ma Yiyi suddenly remembered Zeng Li's situation. "Are you waiting for me at the foot of the mountain? Why don't I pick you up first? I'll be there in about 20 minutes anyway."
"It's okay. I have a few colleagues with me. They are just here to play and will drive back to the hotel soon. Don't worry about me. Quickly find the nearest toll station and turn around to go to the hospital to see your grandma." Zeng Li knew the position of grandma in Ma Yiyi's heart, and he had used the last few minutes to plan in his mind how to coax her.
"real?"
"It's true." Zeng Li said, "It's more real than pearls."
Ma Yiyi pretended to be annoyed and said, "Next time when you swear, can you change your words?"
Zeng Li couldn't help laughing himself.
After the call ended, Zeng Li was left alone in the night and began to worry about his situation.
She walked to the security booth and asked the security guard, "Uncle, do you know there are still cars going up the mountain?"
The man was sitting in a chair watching TV and warming himself by the electric heater. He looked up when he heard the voice and said, "The cable car and the bus have already finished their service. Weren't there still a lot of private cars soliciting passengers here just now? Go ask on the street over there."
"oh."