Wang Jun had already been scolded by me twice in such a short time, and now his face clearly showed displeasure.
The ridiculous man — I couldn't tell whether he was truly panicked or just pretending — while his wife's agonized screams echoed from the room, still had the nerve to come over and pick a fight with me.
"What's it to you?! My wife, my child — what business is it of yours?!" Wang Jun shouted, even taking a few threatening steps toward me.
Yangyang quickly stepped in front of me, glaring fiercely as he blocked Wang Jun. "What are you doing?"
Wang Jun glared at him and snapped, "Get out of my way! Useless trash!"
"Wang Jun, what the hell is wrong with you?" Lao Si couldn't stand it anymore and rushed over to pull Wang Jun back.
"At a time like this, how can you still be picking fights with everyone?"
Looking at Wang Jun, who was glaring at both me and Yangyang, I was so furious I nearly exploded.
I grabbed Yangyang by the arm and yelled, "Fine, fine! We'll leave! Since you all are such noble, respectable people, us lowly, indecent folks shouldn't be here bothering you anyway!"
I turned around, dragging Yangyang with me, ready to leave — but Zhang Qicong and Liu Rumiao quickly rushed forward to stop us.
"Miss Chen, please don't go," Zhang Qicong said anxiously.
"Wang Jun's just like this — he loses his head when he's panicking. We've got a lot of people here; if we think together, maybe we can figure something out. We can't just let Lili keep suffering like this, can we?"
Before I could say anything, Suo Tian, who had been watching Wang Jun quietly, spoke in a low, calm voice:
"You can either let Bruno go in now, or I'll call someone up in a bit to collect the body."
Hearing that, Wang Jun froze in place.
His expression shifted immediately, full of hesitation.
He'd always had a sort of unspoken fear and respect for Suo Tian.
Inside the room, Lili's cries seemed to ease slightly — likely a lull between contractions.
Though I was still seething, I couldn't help but watch Wang Jun's conflicted expression.
Lili's condition was clearly worsening, and with only Sister Liu in there, it was far too dangerous.
Bruno might be her only real chance.
Honestly, I just couldn't understand their thinking.
In modern times, countless women choose male doctors to deliver their babies — what difference did it make now?
Wang Jun hesitated for nearly a full minute before another shriek erupted from the room, sharper and more desperate than before.
It was followed by Sister Liu's panicked voice:
"Oh heavens! What's going on? How can this be happening?"
Wang Jun's face went pale. "What's wrong? What's wrong with the baby?!" he shouted.
Before Aunt Liu could answer, Suo Tian turned away and said to Bruno, "Let's go."
Then he really started walking toward the door.
Even though earlier I'd said I wanted to leave, that had just been out of anger at Wang Jun for yelling at Yangyang.
I'd never truly meant to abandon Lili — we'd once lived like a family, after all.
But now, seeing Suo Tian's expression, it looked like he really intended to walk away.
Just as Suo Tian and Bruno reached the door, a figure suddenly darted out and spread her arms wide to block their path.
When I looked closely, I saw it was Zhao Qiuting — the same girl who had been standing dazed in the hallway earlier.
Suo Tian stopped immediately, staring straight at her without a word.
After a long pause, he finally spoke coldly: "What are you doing?"
Zhao Qiuting's face had lost all its earlier blankness.
She stood there with her arms spread wide, blocking the doorway, her eyes filled with pleading.
She wasn't tall, so she had to tilt her chin up to look at him.
Her lips trembled for a moment before she spoke:
"Don't go… Sister Lili's having a baby."
Her voice was soft and childish, trembling with a hint of desperation — and for the first time, she seemed like a living person again.
Suo Tian didn't answer.
He just stared at her, expression unreadable, as Lili's screams inside the room quieted slightly.
Lao Si stepped forward and grabbed Suo Tian's arm. "Come on, man, this is life and death. Forget about Wang Jun — just help her."
Bruno leaned in and whispered something in Suo Tian's ear.
Suo Tian turned to glance toward Lili's room, thought for a moment, then finally nodded.
Perhaps having received Suo Tian's approval, Bruno turned around to look at Wang Jun, who was still standing motionless, and asked in broken Chinese,
"I'll give you one more minute to think about it. If you don't need us, we'll leave."
Hearing that, Wang Jun still frowned and kept silent.
Lao Si beside him shouted impatiently, "Xiao Jun!"
Glancing at Lao Si, Wang Jun then looked back at Bruno, clenched his fists a little, and said, "Then I'll trouble you."
At his words, my spirits lifted, and Bruno also seemed relieved.
He picked up the pot of nearly boiling water from the floor and carried it into the room.
At first, we could still hear Sister Liu's shrill and unpleasant groans, but before long, they were completely drowned out by Lili's increasingly loud screams of pain.
I wanted to rush in to help, but both Suo Tian and Yangyang held me back.
Suo Tian seemed annoyed at Wang Jun, and simply pulled Yangyang and me over to the sofa.
Seeing the worried look on my face, Yangyang said irritably,
"Kindness mistaken for stupidity — we shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place."
Hearing that, I looked at Yangyang and sighed.
"Lili's been living with us for so long. You know what kind of person she is. How can we just stand by and watch her suffer like this?"
Wang Jun, who had been standing by the door, seemed to come back to his senses then.
He turned to glance at the three of us, then walked over.
"Chen Yang, I'm sorry about earlier. I lost my head," Wang Jun said apologetically.
Before I could respond, Yangyang waved his hand dismissively and said coldly,
"No, no, my sister can't afford your apology."
Before Wang Jun could reply, Yangyang sneered and added,
"Sorry, but this useless guy just happens to love urging my sister to help others."
Wang Jun looked embarrassed, rubbing his hands together.
"I was just anxious just now, wasn't thinking straight… I'm really sorry."
Although Yangyang was still upset, Wang Jun's sincere tone made him hold his tongue.
His gaze shifted toward the outer office, where Zhao Qiuting had curled up on the sofa.
Yangyang frowned slightly, then got up and walked out.
I wanted to stop him, but recalling Zhao Qiuting's expression earlier when she blocked Suo Tian, and realizing that Yangyang wasn't as defenseless as before, I decided to let him go.
Inside the room, Lili's screams still hadn't stopped — if anything, there was no longer any break between them.
Wang Jun nervously went back to the door, muttering prayers and strange chants under his breath.
I couldn't stand it any longer and followed him to the doorway.
Seeing that Suo Tian didn't try to stop me, I turned the doorknob and went in.
Inside, the floor was littered with bloodstained tissues, and the bedsheet was already soaked through with filth.
Lili's arms were tied to the sides of the bed, Song Meijing was still holding her legs apart, and Sister Liu was helping Bruno.
When she saw me enter, she shouted, "Hurry! Put the towel back in her mouth — don't let her bite her tongue!"
I quickly obeyed, rushing to Lili's head and stuffing the towel back between her teeth.
Lili could only let out muffled cries of pain.
Seeing her drenched in sweat, an image of Xiao Xue's final moments suddenly flashed through my mind — the same expression of agony.
One was welcoming a new life, while the other had awaited the end of her own.
Realizing I had drifted off, I shook my head, steadied myself, and began speaking softly to Lili, comforting her, telling her to stay strong — that soon, she would see her baby.
Perhaps my words had some effect, because Lili actually started to cooperate more after that.
When Bruno told her to inhale and exhale, she trembled but did her best to follow his instructions.
The pain of childbirth was unimaginable — she kept letting out muffled groans, her eyes tightly shut as tears streamed continuously down her face.
Every time Bruno told her to push, it seemed to be the moment of her greatest pain.
Her whole head would tremble as she strained, her hands clenched so tightly that her fingernails — already too long — began to dig into her palms, faint traces of blood seeping out.
Finally, when I ran out once more to fetch hot water, Lili let out a low, trembling groan — and then, the room was filled with that unmistakable, piercing cry of a newborn.
I took the small, red, crying infant from Bruno, wrapping it gently in the soft baby blanket Yangyang and I had found earlier on the sixth floor.
The little body was still slick with blood, not exactly beautiful, and a heavy metallic scent filled the air.
Yet the moment I held the child in my arms, I felt tears welling up.
To witness the passing of life from one being to another — it felt like witnessing a miracle of the world itself.
After handling the postnatal matters for Lili, Bruno said a few words to Sister Liu, then took the baby from my arms, checked the newborn carefully, and left the room.
Lili had fainted.
I untied her hands — her fingernails had embedded themselves into her flesh — then cleaned and bandaged the wounds with alcohol.
After removing the towel from her mouth, I finally exhaled deeply and slumped to the floor, utterly exhausted.
It took several deep breaths before I noticed Song Meijing still standing nearby.
I looked up at her and saw that she was staring at me.
Curling my lips into a faint smile, I asked, "What are you looking at?"
At my words, Song Meijing turned and sat down on a chair beside me.
Looking down at me with a cold, detached expression, she said,
"From the very beginning, I thought you were a selfish person — your eyes see no one but your brother. In your world, everyone else's life is expendable, nothing more than a tool to advance your own story."
I turned my head to glance at Lili, then let out a bitter laugh.
"What a pity," I said.
"Bringing you back back then — that really went against my nature."
Song Meijing sneered too, as if wanting to retort, but in the end, she said nothing.
After giving me one last look, she stood up and walked out.
Watching her back disappear through the door, I couldn't help but sigh heavily.
Song Meijing was truly someone impossible to like.
Just moments ago, she had helped, yet now she showed that kind of attitude — any fleeting sense of gratitude I might've felt toward her vanished completely.
Perhaps it was because of all that had happened before, but my resentment toward her ran too deep.
No matter what she did now, it only grated on my nerves.
Smiling bitterly to myself, I recalled a slightly humorous line from a TV drama — "When will the cycle of vengeance ever end?"
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