Will Love in Spring - And There After Ep 24
Author's Note: This series was taken from the Chinese web novel " Qing Ren "…. Lover….. whose author is She Mu Si. The novel consisted of 64 chapters plus an epilogue ….. of which the drama series actually only told a small fraction of the story . I was able to find 11 chapters translated into English which provided a deeper understanding as to explain the brief summary that it provided in making readers to want to read this epic tale of love.
Zhuang Jie, let me be your lover."
"What?"
"I, Chen Maidong, am willing to be your lover."
This is a story about the love between a man and a woman. About an "I will love you for sixty years" friendship. It's about a family where misfortunes always come in pairs; mutual support, understanding, tolerance, and love among family members.
After reading those English translated chapters I found details that I tried to incorporate into episodes 22 and 23 and bring a more compelling ending to the series that failed to do so.
Episode 24
The Babies
Wan Xi Xia has known from her first meeting with Cui Ge …..her husband and now the father of her pending child… that she could get him to do whatever she wanted. Shanghai has become a lonely place without her best friend, Zhuang Jie by her side. The two best friends have shared everything whether in high school, college or working for the same medical equipment placement company and now having started their own company.
Knowing her best friends plight … which the series ended with …..Zhuang Jie needs to be with Chen Mai Dong back in their hometown of NanPing. Using her feminine persuasion and her pregnant body Cui Ge quickly understood that moving his office and business practice back to NanPing was to his benefit if he wanted to keep his wife happy from here on out.
Wan Xi Xia delivery date is quickly approaching now that she is at her 39th week of pregnancy and her once beautiful slender body has ballooned to where she looks like she's carring an oversize watermelon.
Wan Xi Xia: Jie…. Why did you let me get like this …. Look at you … your belly isn't as large as mine and we're both pregnant….. It's not fair … God I can't wait till this baby decides to come out.
Zhuang Jie: How many babies did you say you wanted to have?
Wan Xi Xia: Are you making fun of me?… I never thought it would be this hard …. Will I ever be able to get my body back?
Zhuang Jie: You should be thankful… at least you got two good legs to hold you up…. But I'm not complaining… I want this baby more than anything.
Wan Xi Xia playful demeanor changes to a frighten stare: Jie…..something is happening… I think I peed myself …. But I'm starting to get these sharp painful cramps
Zhuang Jie comes to her friend and realizes that her water has broken.
Zhuang Jie: Xia… I think your getting your wish…. Your baby wants out.
Wan Xî Xia: Jie your not teasing me again…. You really think it's happening… I can't believe it….call Ge …. I need him with me.
Zhuang Jie: Stay calm …. And start doing those breathing exercises we both practiced.
Wan Xi Xia: I'm so glad you're with me….. I promise to be with you when your day comes.
Zhuang Jie : I still have plenty of time … Stay in this chair while I call Ge and get him here, cuss I can't carry you.
Hospital Delivery Room
Nurse: How are you feeling… I know it sounds strange to you having to answer that question especially when those contraction pains come and go….. but I need you to stay calm so that we can properly monitor you…. Can you tell me how far apart are you contractions occurring?
Wan Xi Xia: Is it going to continue hurting like this… the pain keeps getting worse… will my baby be alright.
Cui Ge: the baby will be fine… stay calm… I'll answer the best I can… From what Jie told me her first contraction occurred when her water broke several hours ago. Once I got there… I kept mental notes of her other contractions… She is now having them every fifteen minutes…. She doesn't like pain so can you give her an epidural ….. that will relax her and not make her mind go to places it shouldn't go.
Nurse: If more husbands were like you our jobs would be so much easier… I'll get the epidural.
Wan Xi Xia: Ge….. Will it hurt?
Cui Ge: You won't feel a thing ….. Trust me.
Wan Xi Xia: I trusted you when I let that big dick of yours do this to me.
Nurses smirk and smile: Don't be embarrassed Dr Cui we've heard worse …. Delivery mothers say the earnest things….Mrs Cue how do you feel now that the epidural has taken hold?
Wan Xi Xia: It doesn't hurt any longer…I don't feel a thing….. will it be like this the whole time?
Nurse : Your pediatrician will tell you what you can expect … so just relax … this will be all over soon.
Wan Xi Xia: Ge….is Jie still here?….. this was just as hard on her as it was for me….. tell her to go home and get some rest.
Cui Ge: Stop thinking and just start breathing and relaxing… we will soon get to see our baby girl
Wan Xi Xia: you're going to spoil her aren't you?
Cui Ge: I'm going to spoil both of you… you know how much I love you for doing this.
Wan Xi Xia: I love you too… I'm ready to be a mother.
After several hours in the delivery room…. Cui Ge comes out to greet the families and Zhuang Jie and Chen Mai Dong who have anxiously been waiting for the news
Cui Ge with a big smile on his face: Cui Xia Xia has arrived all 7 pounds 3 ounces of her….. she as beautiful as her mother which pleases me to no end. You can all see her after they finish her examination.
Zhuang Jie: Ge…. Xi Xia is she alright?….. she didn't have any complications.
Cui Ge: She's fine … her biggest concern was you… she wants you to go home and rest … since this will be you in another month …. Your leg must be killing you … I need to make a better pain patch for you.
Zhuang Jie: I'm fine…. But I need to see her before we go….
Seeing Wan Xi Xia holding her baby girl ….Zhuang Jie was confident enough to go home and begin her journey into pending motherhood… but she decided to have other plans for that night.
Chen Mai Dong carried his wife after seeing how often she was messaging her leg from all the days activities.
Zhuang Jie: You don't have to carry me… I've become to heavy for you….. you will hurt yourself.
Chen Mai Dong: Give your mouth a rest …. You've put enough stress on yourself for one day.
Zhuang Jie: What will I do if you sprain your back because of me… I need you perfectly healthy when our baby comes… Xi Xia little girl was so pretty…. wasn't she?… I hope our son looks just like you…. I only hope he smiles more often.
Chen Mai Dong: I'll have plenty of reasons to smile when he comes.
Zhuang Jie: How about I give you a reason to smile tonight…. Having you hold me like this….. has gotten me all excited…. We haven't been together in a while now…. Please… pretty please .
Chen Mai Dong: Aren't we asking for problems…. You know that I always want to do it with you…. But I'm always afraid that I'll hurt the baby .
Zhuang Jie: Did you forget what the pediatrician told us …. We can keep having sex ….even up to the ninth month….. we just need to find the most comfortable position… Sweetheart….. today got me so stressed out and your my best stress release… so lets take a nice relaxing bath together and see where it leads us … I don't think our baby will mind mommy and daddy making love.
Chen Mai Dong: Are you sure?
Zhuang Jie: I'm very sure.
The warm bath water provided the soothing relaxation to the pain that her stump endured with all the standing and movement of the day. She laid between Mai Dong's legs as she let his hands provide gentle circular rubs to her belly….. she even felt her baby moving as he gave a little kick .
Zhuang Jie: Mai Dong…..Did you feel him kicking ?
Chen Mai Dong: Did he hurt you?
Zhuang Jie: How could he ever hurt me?
The euphoria of feeling this life growing inside her …. made her realize that whatever unexpected events that will incur later in life will be handled because this feeling of life inside her was nothing she could've ever imagined.
Zhuang Jie turns her head gives her husband a passionate kiss: I want you to make love to me.
Chen Mai Dong lifts his wife out of the tub and helps her dry off and then carries her to their bed. She moves herself to her comfortable side position with a pillow between her thighs relieving any pressure on her belly. After Mai Dong lays next her…. She snuggles her ass into his crotch and wiggles it so that his penis can feel her flesh up against him.
Zhuang Jie: I was worried that I no longer excite you …. But that isn't the case…. Dongzi…. Now that he's hard … I want to play with him ….. slide him between my ass cheeks so you can feel my wetness.
Chen Mai Dong begins nibbling on her earlobes while his fingertips start twirling on her enlarged nipples that that send a tingling sensation throughout her body. Jie responds by rubbing his penis head against her clitoris and pushing and grinding her ass against his belly.
Chen Mai Dong: I've missed this so much ….. He pushes his penis shaft in and out creating friction on her vaginal lips whose juices begin lubricating him .
Zhuang Jie: That feels so good… I want you inside of me…she takes her hand and guides his penis head to her vaginal opening and tells him to push slowly until he is completely inside her. Once inside she takes her fingers and begins messaging her clitoris as he begins thrusting his penis in and out at a harder paces. The sensitivity on both sexual organs bring each other to the peak of orgasms in a short matter of time.
Mai Dong pulls her ass cheeks tightly against his belly as her pushes in as deep as he can while his testicle sacks begin releasing all the built up semen that has been waiting to come out. Feeling his hot semen inside her... Jie has a different kind of orgasm… Though her orgasmic release was different from her normal stomach muscle contractions which her baby took over… her mental satisfaction was even more intense.
She again leans her head back and gives Mai Dong a passionate kiss: Thank you for loving me …. You are my perfect lover….. I will love you till the day I die and if we have another life ….. I will be your lover in that life also.
Chen Mai Dong: I couldn't ask for anything more….He wraps his arms around his wife and they sleep the night away.
Morning comes Mai Dong places his wife's prosthetic leg on and then helps her get dressed. He has prepared breakfast knowing how she can't wait to get to the hospital to see Xi Xia and her new baby.
Chen Mai Dong: Promise me you won't over do it today… you exhausted yourself.
Zhuang Jie: After last night…. I'm rejuvenated…. But I promise I won't over do it… Go to work and don't worry about me…. I love you My Lover Boy.
Chen Mai Dong: I love you too…. My Lover Girl.
Zhuang Jie walks into Wan Xi Xia's room finding her breastfeeding her daughter
Zhuang Jie: Motherhood seems to fit you…. How was your first night ?
Wan Xi Xia: I'm having mixed feelings… They brought her to me in the middle of the night… she's always hungry…. She attaches herself to my boob and won't let go.
Zhuang Jie: What did you expect?
Wan Xi Xia: I really didn't know what this was going to be like….. Watching her feed gives me a feeling I never imagined … but then I begin to wonder if I'll be a good mother …..since now I'm her life source.
Zhuang Jie: Any pains afterward?
Wan Xi Xia: When your time comes make sure you ask for the epidural… it does save you a lot of agony… You want to hold her since you're her auntie.
No sooner as Zhuang Jie leans over to get a hold of the baby she experiences a vary sharp cramping pain and her face turns pale. Clutching her stomach because of her pain she looks down at her feet and sees a puddle of liquid.
Wan Xi Xia: Are you alright …. What's happening to you
Zhuang Jie: I can't believe this is happening to me…. Xi Xia…. Call for a nurse…. I think my water just broke.
Wan Xi Xia: How could it?….. it's not your time yet… seeing the terrified look on Jie's face …Xi Xia pushes the call button and the nurse arrives.
Nurse arrives: What can I help you with?
Wan Xi Xia: It's not me….. it's my best friend… she's just at the end of her eight month... it to early for her to go into labor.
Nurse : I see… let's get into a wheelchair so I can bring you into the delivery room and I'll get the attending pediatrician to examine her to make sure it's not a false labor.
Zhuang Jie: Will my baby be fine?… I need to call Mai Dong.
Nurse: Let's examine you before anything is said
Wan Xi Xia: Jie…. I'll call Mai Dong… Don't go worrying about anything else.
But worrying she does as she hears the nurses and doctors talking about what needs to be done to help this premature baby survive.
Treatment may include:
Corticosteroid medicine given to the mother before a premature birth to help the baby's lungs and other organs grow and mature
Watching the baby's temperature, blood pressure, heart and breathing rates and oxygen levels
Temperature-controlled bed or incubator
Oxygen given by mask or with a breathing machine called a ventilator
IV (intravenous) fluids, feedings or medicines Special feedings with a tube in the stomach if a baby can't suck
X-rays or other imaging tests Skin-to-skin contact with the parents (kangaroo care)
Feel confident in your ability to care for your baby and respond to their needs.
Chen Mai Dong goes to his wife whose stoic face tells him that she's beating herself up within.
Chen Mai Dong: Are you alright?….. Her lack of response… her emotionless stare makes him realize she's sinking deeper into despair which won't be good for her or the baby who doesn't need anymore complications…. Jie talk to me…. Don't keep holding it in …. I know what your doing and it's not good for you or our baby…. If you need to scream…. scream… if you need to hit …. Hit me…. But please let it out and don't hold back.
Zhuang Jie eyes fill with tears : I'm sorry….. I'm such a defective wife to you… you would've been better off marrying Song Yi when you had the chance and wouldn't have to go through this because of me and my inadequacies .
Chen Mai Dong: Where is this coming from?… You're the perfect wife… perfect lover….and you will be the perfect mother.
Zhuang Jie: Perfect….that's a laugh… I've lost two fathers before their time… I've lost a leg … forcing you to carry me at times and now I've endangered our baby to an uncertain future….. Why was I so selfish last night in making you make love to me since I wanted a little stress release…. I'm really perfect aren't I?
Chen Mai Dong: You're starting to piss me off…. None of those things were and are your fault. So tell me what did you hear that's making you think this way…. Because our baby right now needs his mother to want to fight for him so he can have the life he's meant to have.
Zhuang Jie: I heard the nurses and doctors talking about that I may have an incompetent cervix or my placenta was insufficient…. stuff like that.
Chen Mai Dong: When have you ever listened to other peoples conversations…. You're a fighter that doesn't listen but acts so when they start telling us what's really happening then we … together will make the decisions that need to be made. As far as us having sex last night … we both needed it and our son gave us his approval by kicking you.
The attending pediatrician comes and confers with Zhuang Jie and Chen Mai Dong
Pediatrician: I couldn't help but hear some of your concerns but right now we need to do some preventative maintenance before your baby is delivered …. I'm recommending that we give you Corticosteroid medicines that will help your baby's lungs and other organs to grow and mature as normal as possible… these medicines are
tocolysis, which will help slow down labour so that they can enter your babies blood stream before delivery
steroid injections to help your baby's lungs develop and allow him to breath on his own
magnesium sulphate to protect your baby's brain development.
Once he is delivered we then can do the needed tests that will help us determine if he is deficient in any area his development while he had remained in the womb. What you heard with some of our conversations where precautionary measures so that we don't overlook any aspect of his future growth. Do you have any questions so far?
Chen Mai Dong: When anyone hears premature births the worst is always talked about, but you do this everyday… how many premature births go on to live a healthy productive life… my wife is already blaming herself.
Pediatrician: I can't give you specific numbers but there are many cases of premies living normal healthy lives … like any thing else it all depends on the environment they live in. One thing I will recommend is that once he is delivered at this early date…. If the Kangaroo Care is implemented early there are many benefits …Research has shown that Kangaroo Care can help with Stabilize the baby's heart rate.
Improve the baby's breathing pattern and make their breathing more regular.
Support healthy sleep, including more quiet sleep and longer cycles.
Encourage the baby's growth .
Relieve pain the baby might feel during certain procedures like the heel prick test.
Lower the baby's risk of hypothermia, serious infections or death
Kangaroo care also helps with
Bonding with the baby.
Establish breastfeeding cycle which contributes to an increase milk supply.
Zhuang Jie: What does this Kangaroo Care involve?
Pediatrician: Your baby has been inside of you for all these months ….. this is almost a big shock to him not feeling you everyday… Kangaroo Care is skin on skintherapy...whereby we suggest that your baby lays on your bare chest with head cap and booties so his body temperature remains constant with yours while being covered. We recommend this for a couple hour at a time … making him feel as though he's still in your womb.
Zhuang Jie: I will do whatever is necessary… does Mai Dong need to do this also?
Pediatrician: Of course but later on when we are all assured that he is out of any danger….. have I answered all of your questions ….. are you ready to proceed?
Zhuang Jie looks to Mai Dong they both answer: Lets not keep our baby waiting any longer.
Wan Xi Xia called Liao Tao , Jie's Mother… Whom then called Chen Su Xin . Mai Dong's Mother. With this notification…. The two families gathered at the hospital waiting for any news.
Grandma Chen demanded answers since her great grand baby might be in any danger
Liao Tao begins crying : How much more can one child endure?
Niao Niao embraces her mother: Mom …please don't cry … Jie won't let anything happen to her baby... you need to stay strong for all of us.
Chen Su Xin instructs her husband to make sure Jie receives the best private room the hospital has and to get the most qualified pediatrician in premature births to care for their new grandson.
After several hours of waiting Chen Mai Dong comes out and to give everyone the latest up date. Normally not one to show emotions since Mai Dong has seen and dealt with more deaths than any normal person could endure… speaks with tears in his eyes and a cracked voice Chen Mai Dong takes a deep breath and blows out a big sigh and before he has a chance to say anything the questions are thrown at him.
Liao Tao: Is Jie alright …. She didn't black out with all the stress?
Grandma Chen: Did my great grand baby survive?
Chen Su Xin: Son how are you holding up?
Zhuang Yan: Please let brother speak first…. Brother tell us what's happening.
Chen Mai Dong: Jie is fine but she is resting the strain has been overwhelming for her so she needs to rest….. Our son is alive … but he is very small… he is presently in ICU where he is being closely monitored…. We will know more after more tests are performed. The pediatrician that delivered him feels very optimistic that with the proper care in the coming weeks he should overcome this kind of start in life. I will let everyone know when Jie and the baby can be seen….. for now I think it's best that everyone goes home and rest. Thank you for coming.
After everyone leaves Chen Mai Dong goes to ICU and looks at his little son in the incubator with IV tubes in his arms and a breathing mask to his little face and begins to ponder …. Is this what life will be like for you?
The ICU nurse sees the worried look on Chen Mai Dong's face comes up to him to give him words of encouragement
ICU Nurse: Are you the father? Though he may not look it ….. but that little boy is holding his own….. his vital signs are stable…. The next 24 hours will give us a good indication into his prognosis….. don't worry he is in very good hands…. Go to your wife…. I'm sure she needs you right now.
Chen Mai Dong: Thank you
Chen Mai Dong goes to the private room that his mother and father requested and lies next to a sleeping Zhuang Jie. He gives her a kiss on the forehead and then lays next to her.
Zhuang Jie's eye immediately open: Did you see our son?…. How is he?….. I need to go to him.
Chen Mai Dong: He is doing good…. The ICU Nurse told me he is holding his own….. his vital signs are strong …. They will know more in the next 24 hours…. But right now you need your sleep… we both do…. Our son will need us at our best to get him through this period.
What a difference in the two days and the two babies make