Su Zhinian made the wrong move by mentioning those children because it only made Song Qingchun more emotionally unstable. She had to admit that the trip to the orphanage did shake her conviction to keep the child, but as a mother, she didn’t have the heart to end her own baby’s life.
This constant toss-up between yes and no caused even her body to quiver. She suddenly became angry at Su Zhinian because he had used a simple action to strike right into her heart to shatter her conviction.
Song Qingchun knew that Su Zhinian was merely being logical, but the words that came out of her mouth were incendiary. “How do you know our child will definitely be defective? Yes, the probability of the baby between siblings having a congenital abnormality is high, but it is not one hundred percent. What if the baby in my stomach is a healthy child? How can you live with yourself?”
“Tingting, you said it yourself, what if? How can you be sure that we are the one in one hundred thousand lucky ones?”
“Then, how can you tell we are not? Furthermore, we can wait until the child is big enough to confirm whether he or she is healthy or not. If it is confirmed that we are that unlucky, it is still not too late to have the abortion then!”
“No!” Su Zhinian, who maintained a level of calmness when talking to Song Qingchun, suddenly became stern and serious. “Tingting, listen to me, I will never agree to this method. You and I both know very clearly that abortion is physically harmful to the mother, but the degree of harm is greatly minimized if the abortion is induced when the pregnancy is less than two months in. As the foetus grows older, the risk to the mother will get bigger. The confirmation for whether the foetus has congenital abnormality or not is something that can only be known in the later stages of pregnancy or even after birth. I will never allow your pregnancy to go on for that long to wait for the confirmation before we do the surgery! It’s too dangerous!”
After a pause, Su Zhianin added firmly, “I can give up the child, but you, I will never allow any potential harm to come to you! Therefore, wipe this idea out of your mind! It is not going to happen, impossible!”
Su Zhinian’s delivery made Song Qingchun even more agitated. “Even if it’s dangerous, I’ll be shouldering the risk, not you! Furthermore, you don’t own me, who are you to make this decision for me? My body, my decision! I will not go to Shanghai next Wednesday! If you want it so badly, go down there on your own! The only way I’m going is if you knock me unconscious and drag me to it!”
“Tingting, I know this is a hard decision, but it is not an easy decision for me to make either. I am equally disheartened as you are, but this doesn’t mean that we can be irrational!”
“I’m not being irrational, Su Zhinian. You’re not carrying the child, so you’ll never understand the feeling of a mother and how I am willing to bet my life for our child!” Song Qingchun’s tears fell even harder. As if convincing herself, she added firmly, “I don’t care, I will keep this child no matter what. I will take this bet! Even if it kills me, I need to do it!”
“Then, what about me?” Compared to Song Qingchun’s upset tone, Su Zhinian’s voice appeared weirdly serene. “Tingting, you’re willing to die for this child, but what about me? Have you considered me? I’m willing to lose everything, but I cannot lose you.”