"Ah... it hurts..."
In the delivery room filled with disinfectant, Bai Xiaoshi lies on the operating table. Drenched in sweat and with hands tightly bound to the head of the bed, her face is a picture of pain.
"Keep going Xiaoshi, we can see the head now. The baby will be out any moment," encouraged Bai Xiaoshi's best friend, Qiao Shanshan, a nurse in the obstetrics and gynecology department of the hospital standing at the foot of the bed. "Take another deep breath."
Bai Xiaoshi listened to Qiao Shanshan's words time and again, taking deep breaths and pushing with all her strength. After over an hour, she successfully delivered a baby boy.
"He's here, the first baby is out." Qiao Shanshan, after cleaning and wrapping the baby, walked quickly to Bai Xiaoshi's side.
Bai Xiaoshi was in immense pain, but she still used all her willpower to keep her mind clear. For she knew if she were to pass out now, she would never be able to see this child.
"Let me see..." Bai Xiaoshi turned her head, looking towards the cute baby in Qiao Shanshan's arms, her mouth pale and dry.
"Quickly look, so that I can take the baby away," Qiao Shanshan urged her.
The baby was chubby and cute, with long black hair, delicate features, yet he hadn't opened his eyes. He hadn't even been able to see his own mother.
"Stop looking, quickly take the baby away. If others discover, our Qiao family will be destroyed," Gu Lirong, Qiao Shanshan's mother and the most experienced gynecologist in the East City, harshly instructed her daughter while helping Bai Xiaoshi with the birth of the second child.
"Don't do it Shanshan, let me look at him, let me kiss him. Please don't take him away," Bai Xiaoshi begged pitifully, her tears mingling with her sweat, soaking her long black hair.
"Bai Xiaoshi, I can help you keep one child, and that's already the greatest gift I could give you. If our employer finds out, not only your remaining child but also our Qiao family would be in danger. Showing kindness now can only lead to disaster. Since you chose to be a surrogate, you must have expected this," Gu Lirong stated in an commanding tone, "Take it away."
"No..."
Ignoring Bai Xiaoshi's pleas, Qiao Shanshan desolately walked out of the delivery room, carrying the baby.
Bai Xiaoshi watched Qiao Shanshan's figure disappearing from the door of the delivery room, her heart splitting with unbearable pain. It felt as if, truly and tangibly, a piece of flesh had just been torn from her body.
She didn't want to be a surrogate mother, let alone give birth to a pair of twins at such a young age.
At the age of eighteen, a time of life that should be a joyous rite of passage into adulthood, her joy was cut short. Shortly after her birthday, her grandmother, the only relative she had in the world, was diagnosed with uremia, she needed a kidney transplant, requiring constant dialysis.
The astronomical medical fees left her breathless. Aside from choosing the method Qiao Shanshan offered, to become a surrogate, there really was no other way for her to obtain money quicker.
Five million! It was enough money for her grandmother's operation, and also sufficient to support her child for a while.
Nine months of pregnancy passed quickly, and soon, the two precious babies in her belly were ready to be born.
She had often imagined saying goodbye to one of the babies, but she never thought it would be this painful.
The second baby was born successfully, looking identical to the first one. Both babies were incredibly cute.
At the Dongcheng Dock, Qiao Shanshan bought Bai Xiaoshi a boat ticket to City A.
"Quick, take the ticket and leave with your baby. Pull your hat a little lower. You just gave birth, be careful not to get sick later. Once you leave Dongcheng, don't ever return. If that family finds out you secretly kept one of the babies, not only wouldn't the life of the child be guaranteed, but our Qiao family could also be implicated. I begged my mother for over a month before she agreed to help you."
"Thank you, Shanshan."
Holding her baby, Bai Xiaoshi stepped onto the deck. The boat slowly sailed away from Dongcheng, the city that had given birth to her and raised her.