Ninh Thanh City.
S Province Hospital.
In the obstetrics department, on a white bench in the corridor, a girl in a nude-colored women's suit sat looking somewhat dazed.
No one knew what the girl was feeling at that moment; they only saw her gaze fixed intently on the ultrasound results in her hand.
[Miss Yang Jingyu, congratulations on becoming a mother. Please rest well during this time, be careful not to get too stressed, and in the first three months, couples should avoid sexual activity to prevent affecting the fetus.]
The female doctor's words still echoed in her ears, like a clap of thunder, paralyzing the young girl's nerves.
That's right, this girl was Yang Jingyu. Today she had taken leave from work to come to the hospital for a check-up because last night her lower abdomen had cramped a little, and moreover, since *that time*, her period hadn't returned for two months.
That ultrasound report clearly showed the pregnancy result that Yang Jingyu least wanted to see.
Unconsciously, one tear after another fell, gradually wetting the paper. The final diagnosis was a healthy eight-week-old embryo developing in her uterus.
I'm not even married yet!
Her trembling hands tried to clench the paper tightly. Yang Jingyu wiped away the tears that were about to fall, trying to suppress her emotions to keep from bursting into tears. She quickly stood up, turned, and left the examination room, heading out of the hospital.
Outside the hospital, the sky was a clear blue today, but inside Yang Jingyu, dark storm clouds gathered. That's right, she was scared. She was still very young, yet she was pregnant and unmarried. For a girl who had just graduated, with an unstable career, this was truly a dilemma, a terrifying risk.
It was terrifying both materially and mentally. She didn't have a stable career, she still had to rent a place; how could she raise a baby? Moreover, in this society, how could she face public opinion? An unmarried girl getting pregnant—that was considered poor character, a source of shame and humiliation that no woman wanted to bear.
Crumpling that ultrasound report, Yang Jingyu casually tossed it into a trash can near the hospital exit.
Wiping away the lingering tears from her eyelids, she quickly walked out of the hospital gate and hailed a taxi, returning to the rented room near NY Company, her workplace.
Back in her rented room, Yang Jingyu collapsed onto the bed, exhausted, tears welling up.
Why did this happen? Why? Crying, she tried to recall the night *it* happened. She only knew that that evening, her business administration department had invited everyone to a gathering, a farewell party after graduation. She drank a glass of juice given by Zhang Mingwei, then another glass of grape wine offered by Lin Luorui. After that, she felt a little sleepy. At that time, she vaguely heard someone say they would take her home. It must have been Lin Luorui who took her home, and because they were roommates during their studies, she hadn't suspected anything at all.
But when she woke up later, she discovered that not only was she naked, but she wasn't in her own rented room. Instead, she was in a luxurious room, filled with vibrant red rose petals everywhere. She was all alone, bewildered, in physical pain, and terrified. The only thing she could confirm was that her virginity had been taken from her.
After that day, she didn't see Lin Luorui, nor could she reach her by phone.
It was as if she had vanished from the face of the earth.
Even now, more than two months after that incident, Dương Tinh Vũ still couldn't forget it. Even though she forced herself to forget, everything kept resurfacing in her mind.
There were many times she told herself that everything would pass.
Dương Tinh Vũ told herself that, but things weren't as she imagined. What was meant to happen would still happen. Today, she was pregnant. She hadn't even experienced what life would be like, yet she had to become a mother. Would being a mother be easy? She didn't know. She was an orphan, raised in an orphanage, given food and education until she could work for herself, studying while working. For her, the concepts of motherhood and a mother's love were luxuries.
"No, this can't be," she thought. "I shouldn't keep it. Could I even raise a child? How would I face Auntie Dương?"
The more Dương Tinh Vũ thought, the more frightened she became, and her tears flowed even more profusely. She was only 21, and her job wasn't very stable yet. So how could she raise a child? Would it be better to get rid of it? She knew well that doing so would be selfish of her, but it would be better than making it suffer.
Outside the rented rooms, the chatter of the residents still hummed. It was almost noon, and quite deserted. All the workers had gone to work, and only a few elderly people were home, watching over their houses.
Bits of gossip from a few aunties accidentally reached Dương Tinh Vũ's ears.
"Auntie Thẩm," the loud voice of an apparently older woman boomed all the way into Dương Tinh Vũ's room, "I think young people these days are really too open-minded. Late at night, at such a young age, they're dating here and there, doing all sorts of things, a, b, c, it's really scandalous."
"Oh, what's the big deal?" Auntie Thẩm prattled on, gossiping with the other woman. "You don't know the half of it. A, b, c is nothing. These young people nowadays, they don't even know how to control themselves, they go around eating the forbidden fruit, and then, they get pregnant. Some have abortions, others keep the baby but can't escape the fate of being a single mother, which isn't easy at all... They just have fun without thinking about the consequences."
The two of them seemed to be talking about many things, but Dương Tinh Vũ only caught snippets of their conversation. She only heard the phrase "being a single mother isn't easy at all" most clearly.
Her hands instinctively touched her still-flat stomach, and Dương Tinh Vũ burst into choked sobs.
That's right, being a single mother is never easy. One needs financial stability. Moreover, the prerequisite is to have enough courage to overcome the scandal and societal judgment. But did Dương Tinh Vũ have enough strength to overcome all that?
She didn't!
Therefore, she wouldn't keep it....