She stared dumbfounded at the information flashing up right in front of her eyes. It was indeed an ingredient that was claimed to have health benefits in Chinese medicinal terms. However…
It was human placenta.
Qin Ya couldn’t accept that she had been consuming such a thing.
Her stomach churned at the sight of the bowl in her hands. Aware of what the soup contained, she felt increasingly nauseous.
Grandma Su urged on, “Drink it up quickly, Ya. The doctor has said that your body’s weak. This soup is best for you. Eat up the meat inside as well…”
Ugh… Qin Ya pressed a hand over her mouth.
The stench from the bowl was unbearable. She only felt worse remembering what she read and saw about the ingredient.
Before Grandma Su could continue speaking, Qin Ya couldn’t restrain herself anymore. She quickly placed the bowl down on the table and ran to the bathroom. She threw up all the food she had eaten earlier.
Su Zhan ran after her and soothed her back as she vomited. “Is it really that difficult to drink the soup?”
He had no idea what was in the concoction that Qin Ya was made to drink every day. Upon seeing how sick it made her feel each time, he couldn’t help worrying about her.
Qin Ya rinsed her mouth. Steadying herself at the sink, she slowly looked up at him. “Su Zhan.”
“I’m here. What is it?” He continued patting her back lightly, hoping to relieve her pain.
“I’m afraid I can’t go on like this longer… You have to be ready for this,” she said with a shaky voice.
She was on the verge of breaking down. Being forced to drink that sickening concoction had been pushing her beyond her limits.
“I’ve been tolerating it as much as I can. I’m already at my limit; you both have to understand…”
“I know.” Su Zhan gently wiped her mouth. Qin Ya looked away. “That soup… I really can’t drink it,” she muttered weakly.
Su Zhan’s hand froze for a second. He slowly retracted his fingers.
“Alright. You back to the room first; I’ll talk it out with grandma.” He sighed with a heavy heart.
Qin Ya brushed past him as she stumbled towards the bedroom.
“Ya…” Grandma Su called after her.
“Grandma.”
Su Zhan interrupted the woman before she could stop Qin Ya. He walked over and began pushing her wheelchair towards her room. “Throw the soup away,” he called out to Chen Xue as he wheeled his grandmother on.
Grandma Su widened her eyes. “How dare you! Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to get my hands on that thing?” she protested as she struggled to turn around in her seat.
The ingredient for the soup had been extremely pricey. On top of that, she wouldn’t have been able to acquire it elsewhere if it weren’t for an insider who had helped pull the strings.
Chen Xue stood conflicted as she watched them. “Should I throw it… Or should I not?”
“No! You cannot throw it away!”
Grandma Su raised her voice.
Su Zhan held fast to his stance this time. “Listen to me. Throw it away,” he insisted to Chen Xue.
Grandma Su trembled with anger. “What do you think you are doing?” she shouted.
Su Zhan ignored her words. He wheeled her into her room and closed the door behind them.
“She’s not willing to drink it, is she?” she continued shouting angrily.
“Grandma, listen to me,” Su Zhan finally spoke. “What did you use in that soup you’ve been giving to Ya?”
While he didn’t know what was in the soup, it indeed smelled foul. Beyond that, it’s odd that Qin Ya felt so repulsed by it to such an extent. There must have been something fishy about the concoction itself.
“I… I paid a huge sum for this. I got someone to help me get those placentas from the hospital…” she started hesitantly.
Su Zhan couldn’t believe his ears. “What did you just say?” He stared at her with eyes widened so much as if they were about to fall out of their sockets.
“It wasn’t easy at all to get my hands on them!” she exclaimed. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. She’d only wanted to improve Qin Ya’s health for the sake of her future grandchild.
Besides, the hospital was the only place she could obtain human placentas from. There were people who secretly preserved them after labor instead of letting the hospital staff get rid of them. They could be sold at a high price to those who needed them.
Of course, such trade was illegal. These things weren’t necessarily available even if one had a lot of money. One had to go through specific channels in order to procure them.
Human placentas… Su Zhan felt as if his mind were about to explode. How could his grandmother go to such lengths to do something so crazy?
“Grandma, would you yourself be able to eat the same thing you gave to Ya?”
“I… I have no need for such supplements myself,” Grandma Su defended.
Su Zhan took a deep breath. His chest burned. Fearing that he might explode at any moment, he suppressed his raging emotions with all his might. “Such a thing… Even someone like me won’t be able to eat it, let alone Qin Ya.”
He fell to his knees as he spoke and, tears welled up in his eyes. He placed his hands on Grandma Su’s lap and looked up at her. “Grandma… Ya has already agreed to go for surrogacy. What else do you want from her? Do you understand how painful it is for me to be stuck in between you and the woman I love all the time? I don’t one any of you to get hurt! Do you intend to continue making us suffer like this until we end up separating again? We’ve been going along with your wishes all this while. Can’t you be a little more considerate on our behalf?”
“Su… Su Zhan…” Grandma Su stared with her mouth agape.
“Grandma, can you please stop doing this? Please! I beg you!” Su Zhan covered his face in despair.
Grandma Su looked at him as her eyes began to tear up. She couldn’t understand his pleas. She meant well towards Su Zhan and Qin Ya; why was she being misunderstood like this?
Why are they so upset when I’m only trying to be kind?
She felt wronged.
“I won’t do anything more from now on then. Are you happy with that?” she replied with a tremoring voice as she looked away.
Su Zhan crumbled onto the floor. He stared at the air blankly, not uttering a single word.
Moments later, he finally regained his sanity. He stood up quietly, walked out of the room, and closed the door behind him.
He dragged his feet back to his room. Qin Ya was sitting on the bed, waiting in their room the entire time. She had no idea how the discussion between Su Zhan and Grandma Su went.
“Grandma has promised that she won’t be giving that soup to you anymore,” he said as he walked towards her. “I’m sorry, Ya. It’s been tough for you.”
He recognized that Qin Ya had been understanding. She never pestered him to do anything that would put him in a difficult position between her and grandma.
The more tolerant she was, the more ashamed he felt.
He slumped onto the bed. “You know… I feel incredibly useless. I don’t want you to suffer at all, yet I can’t do much on my end to help… I feel unworthy. It sucks.” He bent over and rested his elbows on his knees so that Qin Ya couldn’t see his face.
“I understand. That’s why I don’t blame you,” Qin Ya replied plainly.
“I know you don’t. But I can’t forgive myself. If only I could be a little more heartless and determined…”
“In what way? Like abandoning your grandma who raised you?”
Su Zhan let out a resentful chuckle. “Maybe.”
Qin Ya landed a smack on his head. “What are you babbling about? If you’re the kind of person who’d do such a cruel thing to your own family, I wouldn’t have liked you to begin with!” She softened her tone a little as she added, “There’s a reason why I’ve decided that I can entrust the rest of my life in your hands.”
