“Hospital? Why would a hospital send a registered letter to our family?” Mother-in-law was stunned for a moment, then took the letter and read it carefully, realizing it was addressed to her daughter, Leng Zhiruo, the bride-to-be tomorrow.
Upon closer inspection, Mother-in-law discovered that the letter had been sent out three months ago, but for some unknown reason, it had taken three months to finally arrive in her mailbox.
However, Mother-in-law didn’t think much of it. In 2020, people would go frantic and make calls if they hadn’t seen a letter or package for over a week.
But in the era before the postal system reform, it wasn’t uncommon for a letter to take three months to arrive. It wasn't that their delivery speed was too slow, but rather that these letters, for various reasons, could not be delivered to the recipient in a timely manner.
And once a problem occurred in transit, it was highly likely that the letter would be lost entirely, with no one bothering to redeliver it to its owner.
For instance, there was a news report about a post office that, after relocating, had its old building leased to a shop. While cleaning the premises, the shop staff found tens of thousands of letters, some dating back to 1972.
This meant that over forty years, tens of thousands of letters had been misplaced in various corners of the post office, and no one had paid any attention to them.
Of course, these incidents all occurred before the postal reforms. With the rise of private courier companies in China, China Post, which had been criticized for various issues, began to adjust its business philosophy, either voluntarily or out of necessity, and these problems generally ceased to occur.
There was also a major reason: users could track their express delivery information via their mobile phones at any time. If a package remained in a certain stage for too long, a call would be made, making it impossible to not find the package.
To get back to the matter at hand, this letter from the hospital had also been successfully delivered to the Wenzhou Post Bureau. However, during the unpacking process, this letter happened to fall under a desk and was left there.
Although the letter was found under the desk a few days later, the delivery person was not present. He casually tossed the letter aside and forgot about it.
Then, just yesterday, a leader from the post bureau happened to see the letter. Coincidentally, he knew the name Leng Zhiruo and was startled upon seeing it. He immediately ordered the delivery person to send it out, thus delivering the letter to Leng Zhiruo’s home after a three-month delay.
“My daughter’s surname is my letter!” With this simple thought, Mother-in-law promptly tore open the letter.
“Pre-marital check-up report” Upon opening it, Mother-in-law discovered it was her daughter’s pre-marital check-up report.
She then remembered that her daughter and son-in-law had specifically gone to a hospital in Hangzhou for a pre-marital check-up in early January. However, as they were both very busy, they had almost forgotten about it after the check-up, as they had requested the hospital to mail the final report to their home.
Indeed, ordinary patients would not receive such treatment or service, but Huang He was an exception. After all, when Huang He underwent his physical examination, the dean himself accompanied him throughout.
Huang He’s pre-marital check-up report was delivered to his home immediately. Huang He glanced at it briefly and, finding no issues, put it aside without much further thought.
However, he did not expect that Leng Zhiruo’s check-up report would never arrive, and Leng Zhiruo, being occupied with various matters, had not thought about the pre-marital check-up report again.
Even if she had remembered, she probably wouldn’t have inquired about it. After all, couples in this era were not particularly concerned about pre-marital examinations, far less so than in later times.
Thus, this pre-marital check-up report, delayed by three months, fell into Mother-in-law’s hands.
And our Mother-in-law, naturally, began to read it without hesitation.
“Hmm, all the body data is quite good, very good!” Mother-in-law was very pleased to see her daughter’s basic physical data, finding it within the standard numerical range indicated in the report.
The rest was similar, though one or two data points were slightly elevated, but they were not significant.
It wasn’t until Mother-in-law turned to the last few pages that she suddenly froze.
This page primarily contained an ultrasound image, with various data listed below it. Finally, a note read: “The L follicle is very small, only about 10% of the normal level. Preliminary conclusion: congenital L follicle dysplasia.”
This sentence was very simple, just one sentence, but for Mother-in-law, it was a devastating blow.
A few minutes later, Mother-in-law recovered and went back to her room, took out her phone, and called a friend.
This friend was Mother-in-law’s primary school classmate, who now worked at the Jiangxi Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital as a gynecologist. Although not an obstetrician, she was likely not far off.
“Old classmate, long time no see!”
“Not at all, not at all. I’ll definitely visit when I have time. However, I have something I want to ask you today.”
“It’s like this, a friend’s daughter of mine has been diagnosed with congenital L follicle dysplasia. The L follicle seems to be only 10% of the normal level. Can she get pregnant in such a situation?”
“Really? So that’s how it is? Can this disease be treated? No matter how expensive the medicine, whether it’s domestic or foreign, traditional Chinese medicine or Western medicine, no matter how much it costs, I just want to know if this disease can be treated?”
“No, it’s not my daughter, it’s my friend’s daughter. You don’t need to worry. I’ll contact you if there’s any problem!”
“Okay, I understand. Thank you!” Mother-in-law hung up the phone, her expression even paler.
According to her doctor classmate, congenital L follicle dysplasia meant exactly what it said: the L follicles in the L ovary were underdeveloped.
According to knowledge from middle school biology textbooks, after the L follicles in women mature, they are released from the body, encounter sperm, and eventually become fertilized Ls, which then develop into embryos.
And if the L follicles are underdeveloped, it means that the L follicles cannot develop into mature Ls, and the subsequent steps of childbirth naturally cannot occur.
Women with underdeveloped L follicles still have their menstrual cycles and do not exhibit other symptoms. Therefore, unless a specialized and detailed examination is performed, this problem would not be discovered.
According to her doctor classmate, once diagnosed with this disease, pregnancy is impossible, making it a type of infertility.
The good news is that the disease is not untreatable. The problem is that Leng Zhiruo’s condition is quite severe, with L follicles only at 10% of the normal level, which is considered one of the most serious conditions, making the difficulty of treatment very high.
In any case, Western medicine is definitely out of the question. Therefore, her classmate suggested taking traditional Chinese medicine to nourish the body. With good luck, after seven or eight years, there might be a chance of pregnancy.
As for what would happen with bad luck, Mother-in-law didn’t ask, but the outcome was obvious without asking.
[ps: The above is all made up by the author. It definitely does not conform to medical common sense. Those who are knowledgeable can provide explanations here. Please be gentle.]
This sudden development caused the previously enthusiastic mother to instantly calm down. After calming down, Mother-in-law felt even more like she was about to explode.
Therefore, the workers who had been urged by Mother-in-law found it surprising that the boss suddenly stopped rushing them, which greatly improved their morale. They worked even more diligently, and it was estimated that everything would be completed on time.
Around 5:00 PM, the front door of the house was pushed open, and Leng Zhiruo and Huang He returned.
She had a busy day. She had flown back to Wenzhou last night, then went to try on her wedding dress this morning, and familiarized herself with the etiquette at the wedding company. After a day of running around, she returned with Huang He.
“Oh, Mom isn’t cooking yet today!” Leng Zhiruo exclaimed upon returning home, noticing no one in the kitchen and the dining table bare. This was completely different from the aroma of cooking that greeted her every time she returned home.
“Mom is probably too tired today. Let’s go out to eat. Don’t let Mom work so hard!” Huang He said thoughtfully, then saw Mother-in-law walk out with a smile and say to Huang He, “Hehe, please go out and order a meal. Zhiruo and I have some pre-wedding things to discuss, we’ll eat later!”
“Okay!” Huang He didn’t suspect anything. His daughter was getting married, and Mother-in-law wanted to have some private words with her, which was perfectly natural. It was better for him not to be a third wheel.
So, Huang He readily went out.
“Mom, it’s already this late, what else do you need to tell me? If you regret it now and can’t bear to marry off your daughter, then you’ve missed your chance. I won’t agree!” Leng Zhiruo said cheerfully. Marrying her brother-in-law was something she dreamed about.
Now that the day had finally arrived, how could she not be happy?
“Zhiruo, my poor child!” Suddenly, two lines of tears streamed from Mother-in-law’s eyes, startling Leng Zhiruo. She quickly began to comfort her mother and, perplexed, asked what had happened.
“Look, it was only mailed today!” Mother-in-law sighed, handed the pre-marital check-up report to Leng Zhiruo, and said, “My dear child, Mom doesn’t know what to do. This is your marriage, you decide. Whatever you decide, Mom will support you!”
“Mom, what are you saying?” Leng Zhiruo muttered, then noticed it was a pre-marital check-up report. “Huh? Why did it arrive so late? I had forgotten about it. Could there be something wrong with my body? Did they find some terminal illness?”
Leng Zhiruo mumbled, feeling a bit scared. Then, she found that the previous data was all normal, including most of her major organs like the heart, liver, spleen, and kidneys, which made her slightly relieved.
It wasn’t until she reached the last few pages and saw the seemingly casual small note at the end.