Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 117 Temporary Foster Care
Chen Wenjun came to his senses and said uncertainly, "I just felt that these socks looked familiar, very similar to the ones my son used to wear. It could also be a coincidence."

When Lin Qin learned about Li Lan's situation during the Chinese New Year, she packed up the things Ping An used when he was a child and gave them to Li Lan, hoping that they could have a son as they wished. Chen Wenjun couldn't possibly mistake his own son's things, but he just didn't want to say it outright.

Shen Wenfeng's expression was unusually serious. He looked at Chen Wenjun deeply and said, "Brother, we might need to trouble you to come to the hospital with us. I know you're very busy. Don't worry, you'll be fine soon."

Chen Wenjun nodded; at this point, he had no choice but to agree.

The group arrived at the maternity ward of the city hospital.

The head nurse came over in person and, upon meeting me, tearfully recounted the entire incident.

"The couple arrived at the hospital around 7 a.m. this morning. At that time, there were only doctors and nurses on duty. When they were brought in, the woman was about to give birth. We immediately sent her to the delivery room and asked the family to pay the fees and register her for admission. Later we found out that the family had not registered her for admission at all."

The baby was born around 11 a.m., and by the time the mother and baby were brought to the ward it was past midnight. All the doctors and nurses had gone to eat, and only the on-duty doctor was there.

At that time, Xiaojun from the nurse station went to the ward to urge the family to pay for the admission. The man kept saying okay and that he would do it right away. After carrying a bag downstairs, he never appeared again.

Everyone was resting at the time, and no one noticed anything. Around 2 p.m., Xiaojun said she saw a woman with braided hair hurrying downstairs. Because the ward was quite quiet at the time, she didn't think much of it.

It wasn't until after 2 PM, when the doctors and nurses came to their shift, that they discovered the person was missing, leaving behind only a newborn baby girl. What a tragedy!

Having worked in the obstetrics department for so many years, the head nurse had seen this kind of thing countless times. She simply expressed her opinion, her expression remaining remarkably calm.

Shen Wenfeng pondered for a moment and said, "Could you please describe what the couple looks like, head nurse? I'll have this person who seems to know the details confirm it with you."

The head nurse glanced at Chen Wenjun a couple more times and said directly, "It's not him, that person doesn't look like him either!"

Chen Wenjun was shocked. "It's definitely not me! I just came to confirm."

The head nurse led a group of people to see the baby girl.

As the head nurse recounted the story, the physical characteristics of the couple matched those of Zhu Fugen and Li Lan. Chen Wenjun's face turned ashen, suppressing his rage.

Seeing his reaction, Shen Wenfeng had a better understanding of the situation. He didn't say anything in front of the head nurse, but whispered to Chen Wenjun, "What is your relationship with that couple?"

After hesitating for a moment, Chen Wenjun gritted his teeth and told them about Zhu Fugen and Li Lan's situation, "I don't think they'll admit it even if you go to their door now. After all, they even kept their pregnancy a secret from the villagers. Besides, I suspect they've most likely left the village and gone elsewhere. You probably won't be able to find them!"

Shen Wenfeng let out a long sigh of relief. "Whether we can find him or not, we have to go. Brother, how about we take care of the child at your place for now? We'll settle him down after we get the results of our investigation."

Don't worry, the police station definitely won't let you be taken advantage of.

Logically, the child should stay at the city hospital, but the city hospital may not be willing to take care of him indefinitely and will keep urging them to close the case as soon as possible so that the child can be sent to an orphanage.

Most of the children in their city's children's welfare homes are children with physical disabilities, and the staff who take care of them don't seem to have much compassion. I don't know what it would be like if I actually went there.

Shen Wenfeng made the suggestion out of a sense of compassion.

Chen Wenjun sighed inwardly and agreed.

It was inconvenient for him to be holding the child, so Shen Wenfeng had someone drive him back to Nanxi.

When they arrived at Nanyu, Lin Qin and the others were stunned to see him carrying a newborn baby girl. "Wenjun, what's wrong with this child?" Lin Yi asked, his brows furrowed.

Chen Wenjun handed the child over to Huang Yuezhen to take care of, and angrily scolded Zhu Fugen and Li Lan, "Those two are really heartless. They just abandoned the child at the hospital and ran away without looking back, without even paying the medical bills."

Lin Yi's expression shifted repeatedly, and he said dryly, "Could there be a mistake? Maybe it's not them!"

Chen Wenjun angrily shouted, "All the baby items that Aqin gave them are safe and sound. I can mistake the others, but those items are definitely correct! And if you calculate the time, it matches perfectly!"

Lin Yi fell silent, his face filled with grief, and he couldn't help but sigh and shake his head.

Lin Qin was extremely worried, "What do we do now? The police station wants us to raise the child?"

Chen Wenjun shook his head. "No, they just asked us to take care of them for a few days until they find Fugen and his wife and confirm the child's condition. But I guess they're determined to have a son, and they probably won't come back to the village until a son is born. So looking for them will be pointless."

Lin Yi slapped his thigh hard. "What a tragedy! What a wonderful child! If it weren't for the policy prohibiting having children, Fu Gen and his wife wouldn't have gone to such lengths!"

Lin Qin remained silent with a sullen face; anyone with eyes could see her anger.

Just then, the child woke up and cried loudly from hunger.

Huang Yuezhen held the child and tried to soothe him, frantically feeding him water.

Lin Yi quickly went to cook porridge, intending to give the child rice water.

Xu Dahai went to help in the kitchen.

Chen Wenjun had to go to Nangang and couldn't stay to help.

Everyone was busy with their own things, except for Lin Qin, who had nothing to do and was sulking.

It would take a while to cook the rice porridge, and the baby wasn't full from just drinking water, so he just drifted off to sleep.

After the rice porridge was cooked and cooled to a warm temperature, Lin Yi and Huang Yuezhen worked together to wake up the restless baby and fed him a small bowl of the slightly thick rice porridge. The child finally filled his stomach and fell soundly asleep.

Seeing that the child was fast asleep, Huang Yuezhen quickly carried him back to her room.

After putting the child down, she carefully walked out and said to everyone in a low voice, "She's sleeping soundly and not bothering anyone. Qin is pregnant and it's inconvenient for her to take care of the baby, so she'll sleep with me for a while and I'll take care of her."

Lin Qin's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and she said worriedly, "My cousin-in-law still has to work, how can she have the energy to take care of the children at night? My parents leave early and come home late, they don't have any free time either."

Xu Dahai looked at this and that, then reluctantly volunteered, "I'll take care of them! I helped take care of A-Jian and A-Kang when they were little. I happen to have nothing to do, so I'll do it!"

Lin Qin looked over in surprise, "Brother-in-law is even helping to take care of the child?"

Xu Dahai chuckled and scratched his head, glancing guiltily at Lin Yi before saying sheepishly, "The child stays with me and Aying at night. Aying has to work during the day and doesn't have the energy to take care of the child at night, so we take turns."

(End of this chapter)