Chapter 349: This Is Cheating—Can

"Awake~" Wei Ming stared at Xue Jie's breathtaking beauty.

"What time is it?"

"Ten o'clock."

"Ah, it's already this late!"

Gong Ying sat up quickly, and Wei Ming pulled her into a hug: "You worked so hard yesterday—what's wrong with sleeping a little longer?"

Thinking of yesterday's exhaustion, Gong Ying couldn't sit still anymore.

"I'm going to brush my teeth."

Wei Ming: "We're still going to the movies—don't spend half an hour brushing again."

Hearing this, Xue Jie had already gotten out of bed, yet she still lifted her bare foot and gave him a light kick—damn jerk.

At this moment, the first film of October 1st was still playing; Xiao Huluh's misfortune extended far beyond fever and a pierced palm.

The earlier silence had not only built atmosphere but also foreshadowed: after arriving at the town clinic, Xiao Huluh's world suddenly fell utterly silent.

After bandaging his hand, He Hua took Xiao Huluh on a tractor ride to the county hospital for his ears; snow drifted in the sky, deepening the mother and son's sorrow.

At the county hospital, an elderly physician asked Xiao Huluh what medicine he had taken before.

"He had a high fever, very serious—then the village doctor gave him a shot and he improved a lot. The name… I can't quite remember…"

He Hua strained to recall, when the doctor asked: "Was it Gentamicin?"

"Yes, yes! That's it—I even wondered if it had something to do with Daqing."

The doctor: "That's it. This antibiotic works well, but its side effects are terrifying—it often causes tinnitus or even deafness in children and the elderly. Your son likely suffered this."

Wei Ming wrote this plotline to popularize this well-known fact from the future.

During the 1970s–1990s, due to limited medical knowledge among barefoot doctors and strained rural healthcare, some pursued efficacy and low cost without regard for consequences; improper use of Gentamicin caused lifelong deafness in countless children—statistics estimate 300, 00 cases; Wei Ming's own village had children like this.

Many of the deaf dancers who performed the Thousand-Hand Guanyin on the Spring Festival Gala had deafness linked to Gentamicin use.

In 1999, this drug was banned for children under six.

Some audience members were whispering, debating whether this was movie fiction or real—since most had heard of this drug.

"It's real."

In Changchun, today Zhu Lin had no scenes; she invited Jin Yaqin and several other crew members she was close with to watch "Mother, Again I Love You."

She cried as she rejoiced for Xiao Xue—He Hua was portrayed so perfectly, a role audiences would remember for life; an actor's career is complete if they land even one such role.

Of course, she felt a tinge of bitterness—this script was tailor-made for her, yet she'd never acted in one of Wei Ming's films.

And her Hundred Flowers Best Actress award was probably out of reach.

When Jin Yaqin and the others discussed Gentamicin, as a medical professional, she confirmed: this drug had severe side effects and easily damaged the kidneys.

Hearing this, everyone grew anxious again over Xiao Huluh's fate.

At this point, Gong Ying, portraying He Hua, was utterly worn down, radiating a broken beauty—but she refused to surrender; realizing her son wasn't completely deaf, she believed he could still be cured. The elderly doctor advised: "Go to a major hospital in the city—I can't help here."

Thus, He Hua, holding her son with bandaged hands and listless spirit, boarded the train to the Magic City; the surrounding noise felt distant, irrelevant.

This segment had no insert song, but Wei Ming specially composed a piece for it.

Most of the film's score was completed by Gu Jianfen and the Beijing Film Studio composers; Wei Ming only created this one piece, originally titled "Xiaoxiangzi"—you might not know the name, but you've definitely heard it; as soon as the BGM plays, you know the protagonist's life is hard.

The original tune was Japanese; Wei Ming adapted it and renamed it "He Hua"—even without lyrics, it could make audiences cry. To ensure Xue Jie's performance succeeded, Wei Ming pushed himself to the limit.

Coincidentally, Xiao Huluh's father, Hu Wanqian, and his new wife were also undergoing examinations at this hospital.

After six months of marriage, pressured by four parents, they'd tried desperately to conceive—yet nothing happened, so they came for tests.

Hu Wanqian resented it—he'd fathered a son before; how could he possibly be the problem?

But his wife sneered: "Who knows if that son was even yours? I heard your ex-wife's family had no morals."

Because his wife's father held great power, Hu Wanqian dared not argue—and the test results proved it was her issue.

Not his problem, Hu Wanqian sighed in relief; but his mother grew anxious upon hearing the news.

She didn't want her son to have no heir—but this daughter-in-law couldn't be divorced; though uneducated, crude, and cruel, her son still needed his father-in-law's promotion after graduation.

"Can't the hospital cure it?" Hu's mother asked.

Hu Wanqian and his wife shook their heads—no cure.

Yet as they left the hospital, Hu Wanqian saw He Hua holding her son—he nearly didn't recognize her; once so beautiful, the woman he'd pursued at any cost, now reduced to this haggard state.

He Hua didn't see him at all—her eyes held only her son.

Hu Wanqian told his wife to go ahead, then told his mother what he'd just seen.

Hu's mother's eyes flickered—she had an idea.

"I'll go home with Nana first. You go back to the hospital and check—if Nana can't bear children, adopting this one outright is still an option."

Hearing this, the audience clenched their teeth in fury—this was an attempt to snatch Xiao Huluh from He Hua!

But worse was yet to come: when Hu Wanqian saw his son's pierced palm and learned he might become deaf, he flew into a rage—and directed all his fury at He Hua.

"How do you raise a child?!" Hu Wanqian spat in He Hua's face, "My healthy son turned into this in just half a year under your care—are you even a qualified mother? If you can't raise him, I'll do it myself!"

Seeing Hu Wanqian's face, the audience cursed aloud; Zhao Debiao, watching, growled: "Fucking bastard—he abandoned his wife and child, yet dares to talk big—don't let me run into him."

Today, he and Yanzi left Zhao Zifeng with his mother, stealing half a day of freedom to watch a movie and shop.

The result? Yanzi's breasts ached from anger, and Biaozi started swearing.

Seeing this burly man wanting to take things offline, Ma Xiaowei, sitting behind them, lowered his hat brim; beside him, Tang Guoqiang had red eyes—he'd clearly just cried, and now he was smirking behind his hand.

They were all colleagues from the August First Film Studio, came to watch the movie together—never expected Ma Xiaowei's character would be this vile; now they'd have to watch themselves when going out.

He Hua didn't utter a word—perhaps she too doubted herself after all this.

At that moment, the doctor came out and told Hu Wanqian to lower his voice; he immediately asked: "Can this child still be cured?"

The doctor replied: "You got here in time, and he wasn't overmedicated—there's a chance of recovery, but it's complicated and expensive."

Hearing "expensive," He Hua—already destitute and deeply in debt—looked at Hu Wanqian with a gaze full of despair and pleading.

Hu Wanqian didn't immediately agree—he said he needed to go home and consult his family.

After discussing with his parents, they concluded: if cured, bring him home to raise—he's at least their own blood; if not cured…

"A deaf-mute will never be useful," Hu Wanqian's father said coldly. "Better to adopt a healthy child."

Hu Wanqian's face flickered with pain—then he nodded in agreement.

At this point, the audience's fury toward Hu Wanqian had expanded to the entire Hu family—"Not human," "bastard," "fuck your mother"—they screamed with unbridled rage.

Poor old Chen Qiang, at his age, now bore another villain badge; Tang Guoqiang finally understood why Pei Si refused to come see this movie—he'd known his father would get roasted again.

The film now reached its peak tragic moment—the separation of mother and child.

The highlight of this segment remained Gong Ying and Xi Zi's performances.

To save her son's hearing, under Hu Wanqian's pressure, she decided to give up custody.

At the moment of separation, He Hua couldn't say she didn't want him—she told Xiao Huluh she was going out to buy food.

Xiao Huluh couldn't hear, so she wrote a crooked line on paper.

After she left, Xiao Huluh dragged a stool with one hand, struggled up, stood at the window, staring down at his mother—unable to take his eyes off her for a second.

But his mother didn't buy fried buns at the hospital gate—she carried her luggage farther and farther away.

Realizing something was wrong, Xiao Huluh rushed to the door—but his father and his grandparents, whom he'd never met, stood blocking him.

They brutally explained his mother didn't want him—but Xiao Huluh only saw three grotesque faces; their words meant nothing to him.

The switching between subjective and Xiao Huluh's perspective crushed the audience with helplessness.

Then the camera cut between He Hua and Xiao Huluh: He Hua ran, cried, and turned back again and again; Xiao Huluh was surrounded by three adults, struggling until the bandages on his palm soaked through with blood again.

Simultaneously, the third insert song, "Mother and Daughter," began—but Wei Ming changed it to "Mother and Child," and rewrote the lyrics extensively to suit the plot.

This song was written by Tang Tian, composed by Qian Lei, and performed by Huang Qishan and Xilin Naiyi Gao on the Spring Festival Gala—a duet about mother and daughter.

You've surely scrolled past the line on short videos: "I hope you're loved, I hope you're happy, I hope my hands can shield you from the wind…"

Wei Ming used these lines as the core and rewrote parts of the lyrics to reflect He Hua and Xiao Huluh's story—one side, the mother willing to sacrifice her presence for her child's future; the other, the child who longs to care for his mother as she ages.