"Guopeng, I see it clearly now," Li Lingyi, Xia Guopeng's wife, fanned the flames beside him. "Your eldest daughter, Xingchen. She always seemed so pure and innocent on the surface, but who knows what kind of lowlifes she's been messing around with behind our backs. If we don't deal with her firmly, she might even corrupt our Xingkong."
"Mom, what are you saying?" Xia Xingkong lowered her eyes demurely, her voice soft as silk. Yet her words were pure kerosene. "I would never be like Sister... I mean, I would never fool around with boys, let alone get pregnant. I would never bring such shame upon the Xia family."
Xia Xingchen shot her a cold glare. "Xia Xingkong, would you just shut up?"
"I... I'm sorry," Xingkong's eyes instantly welled up with tears. "Father, I shouldn't have spoken out of turn and upset Sister."
Xia Guopeng's face hardened with rage. He stood and delivered a stinging slap across Xingchen's cheek. "After all you've done wrong, you dare treat your sister like this? Xingkong is right! You've dragged the Xia name through the mud!"
The blow landed hard. Xingchen's ear rang, her cheek blazing red. But she clenched her jaw, spine rigid, refusing to bow her head even as she knelt. She wasn't wrong! This slap was undeserved. But if she ever got the chance to face that man again, she vowed she'd make him pay for it tenfold.
"Get rid of that child!" Xia Guopeng commanded, his voice final. "Immediately!"
Before leaving, Xia Xingkong sighed dramatically. "Sister, Brother Xu Yan treated you so well... How could you do this to him?"
The words pierced Xingchen's heart like needles. But she knew, deep down, she was no longer worthy of Xu Yan.
...
Xia Xingchen took leave from school and went to the hospital to terminate the pregnancy. Li Lingyi accompanied her, ostensibly to "prevent any accidents."
"Xia Xingchen!"
Hearing her name called by the nurse, Xingchen stood. Everything felt surreal, like a lingering nightmare. Soon, she told herself, she'd close her eyes, and when she opened them again, the nightmare would be over.
"Remove your trousers and lie down. Preparing anesthesia." The doctor's voice was icy. Xingchen climbed onto the operating table, steeling herself, believing she could face this with numb detachment. Yet, a bone-deep cold seeped into her, making her tremble.
She hated.
Hated the man who had done this to her.
The cruelest irony? She didn't even know who he was! How could such a ludicrous fate be hers?
Lost in these bitter thoughts, the operating room door burst open.
A group of people in white coats rushed in, their faces grave as if confronting an enemy.
"Director!" The medical staff stood abruptly, greeting the man at the head. Xingchen, prone on the table, paid no attention.
"Xia Xingchen! Which one is Xia Xingchen? Has the procedure started?" The Director's voice was laced with unmistakable panic.
Frowning, Xingchen pushed herself up slightly.
The nurse pointed. "Director, is this the Xia Xingchen you're looking for?"
The Director pulled out a photograph, comparing it meticulously to Xingchen's face. He nodded rapidly. "Yes, that's her! Has the procedure been performed?"
"We were just about to begin!"
"Halt! Absolutely no one is to perform any procedure on her!" The Director's order left everyone bewildered. His assistant leaned close to the doctor, whispering urgently, "We just got a call. Orders are clear: no abortion procedure for Miss Xia is to be performed by any hospital, any doctor. The consequences for disobedience... are unthinkable."
The doctor's eyes widened. "Whose call?"
The assistant whispered a name, so low it was almost inaudible. The doctor froze, mouth agape in shock. When she turned back to Xingchen, her previous icy detachment was gone, replaced by a strange mix of deference and profound awe.
"Miss Xia, please come with us!" The Director personally ushered her out. Someone was already carefully helping her down from the table. "Please be careful," they murmured, "We mustn't harm the child."
Xingchen frowned, bewildered. "Why can't I have the abortion?"
"Miss Xia, please don't ask for the reason," the Director pleaded. "As for this child... it absolutely cannot be terminated. Not just our hospital, but no hospital, no doctor in the entire country of S would dare to accept you. If you don't object, perhaps you'd consider staying here for prenatal care? Please come to my office. I'll examine you personally and prescribe some nutritional supplements."
"Was it the child's father who called?" Xingchen's gaze locked onto the Director. After everything, an eerie calm had settled over her, reflected in her cold eyes. "Director, who is he? What right does he have to forbid me?"
She'd faintly heard the assistant whisper a surname to the doctor: Bai. But the rest of the name had been lost.
The Director shook his head helplessly. "Miss Xia, I beg you not to put me in a difficult position. Whether he is the father or not, I cannot say. But if you insist on trying elsewhere..." He gestured vaguely.
Xingchen, of course, insisted. She could not keep this child. She immediately went to another hospital.
At every hospital, the scene repeated: her photo was produced and compared; she was ushered with utmost deference into the Director's office; no procedure was performed; and instead, she left laden with a small mountain of nutritional supplements.