The Clown

What? Ding Yuqing thought she misheard. Cut what?

The midwife repeated herself.

Can I? Ding Yuqing looked back at her sister. Me?

Go ahead, Ding Xueyang said, sounding exhausted. You do it.

The midwife handed over a pair of small scissors.

Beneath the bright surgical lights, the tube connecting the child to the mother looked crystal clear. It didn't look at all like something grown from a human body, but rather like a milky-white rubber hose.

The midwife handed a length of the umbilical cord to Ding Yuqing, who held her breath, calmly and swiftly cutting it in half.

The baby was handed to Ding Xueyang's arms for a brief moment, then quickly taken away to be weighed and sent into the incubator.

1.3 kilograms, the midwife said. Congratulations, it's a girl.

Surprise appeared on both sisters' faces simultaneously.

It's a girl, Ding Yuqing turned back happily. It's a girl!

Ding Xueyang looked a little puzzled, but still broke into a smile.

Goodness, Ding Yuqing was moved for a moment, lowering her head to press against her sister's arm. Miaomiao has a sister now, too.

As soon as they entered the hospital lobby, Hesta plucked Shi Pingchuan out from where he was lurking in the dark. Shi Pingchuan was still secretly wondering whether Hesta had grown a second pair of eyes on the back of her head, and why she had spotted him so instantly. Fortunately, the moment Miaomiao saw her dad, she was overjoyed, spreading her arms and running toward him. He scooped his daughter up into his arms by reflex, and there was nothing Hesta could do to him.

Inside the ward, Ding Xueyang had already been wheeled out and was resting at that moment. Xu Ruyi lay on the accompanying bed next to the daughter, fast