Chapter 563: Can You Stay Here and Give Me a Hand?

The expectant mother's outburst left everyone a little impatient with her.

Sister Jiang, who was helping with the delivery, was the first to lose her patience: "What exactly do you want?"

The woman, her face drenched in sweat from the pain, said weakly: "Big sister, please, don't let anyone outside of Bao's circle get close to me."

Sister Jiang saw her like this, and her hardened heart softened: "But under the current situation, if no one helps you—"

She really couldn't bring herself to say the words "one corpse, two lives": "It'll be very dangerous."

The woman glanced out the train window, as if waiting for something, opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing, and reached out to stroke her belly: "Mommy's sorry."

After a new wave of contractions came, Sister Jiang had no choice but to approach her once more.

Originally, the one assigned to this logistics business trip was a male comrade, but the Finance Office sent Liu Chuxue along instead; considering it inconvenient for her to be the only female comrade, the logistics side then swapped the personnel.

Sister Jiang, after all, had given birth to three children, so she did have some experience; she said to the expectant mother: "Thank heavens, the cervix is finally fully dilated. Follow my count, let's push and get the baby out in one go, otherwise it'll be dangerous for both of you."

Liu Chuxue had just overheard the attendants discussing—they had already contacted the next station, and as soon as the train arrived, they would get the person off.

After the expectant mother's water broke, the train did stop at one station, but that station was too small, with not even a clinic nearby; the attendants didn't dare take the risk. If they got her off and couldn't find a place like a health center, and something went wrong, they wouldn't be able to escape responsibility.

Better to hold on a little longer—two hours later they'd reach a major station, and right after getting off the train there was a railway hospital not far away.

Liu Chuxue heard their conversation and was actually quite moved. If it were the later era, they'd probably be eager to pass off this hot potato, yet they chose to send the person to a more reliable next station, essentially shouldering all the responsibility themselves.

Just as Liu Chuxue was spacing out, she heard Sister Jiang's call: "Chuxue, bring some hot water in for me."

Liu Chuxue felt a little nervous inside. Even with an extra lifetime of experience, she had never seen this kind of scene. Most of the male passengers in this compartment had already retreated to the carriage connection; the expectant mother's cries were simply too—

The male attendant standing in the outer corridor glanced toward Liu Chuxue's compartment: "Comrade, give us a hand—please bring the hot water in."

Following his gaze, Liu Chuxue then saw that someone was already pouring hot water into a basin.

Even though she was afraid, she still stood up, took a deep breath, took that basin of water, and walked straight into the makeshift delivery room: "Sister Jiang, the water's here."

Sister Jiang was busy, and hearing Liu Chuxue's voice, she turned and glanced at her. Though it wasn't quite proper, she still spoke up: "Chuxue, I really can't handle this alone—can you stay here and give me a hand?"

Liu Chuxue was very conflicted. She was an unmarried young lady, and staying here was genuinely a bit embarrassing, but given the situation, she sighed inwardly: "Alright."

She had only just agreed when it belatedly occurred to her that the expectant mother had earlier refused to let anyone approach her: "But—"

Just as she was about to say that, the expectant mother, biting through the pain, forced out a few words: "You can stay."

Liu Chuxue was even more baffled. What was this woman thinking? Clearly, those experienced women staying behind could help her, yet she refused to recognize their goodwill and chased them all away, and now she was letting a Miss who knew nothing stay—really couldn't figure out what she was thinking.