Chapter 22 Chapter 21

The codeine was exhausted, and Hai Lian woke up from her deep sleep.Through the thick curtains she heard short, angry screams of hunger.She was wide awake, and the sound comforted and anxious her.She knew it was easy to silence the child; but she listened for a while.Then get out of bed and prepare the bottle. Although she had slept soundly that night, she still felt weak.Continuous use of codeine has had side effects: headache, mouth numbness.When she got out of bed, she felt very strange: how could her fingers touch her face so quickly.She was terrified.Although she didn't feel any pain, her face became more swollen after one night.While warming the baby's milk, she took another pill of codeine, fumbling the pill down her throat with her involuntary fingers.It's hard to even swallow saliva now.She put the bottle into the baby's mouth, and an absolute silence fell over the room.

She felt very tired, and lay down on the bed again, stretching her limbs.She heard Mrs. Saunders moving about in the other rooms, cleaning her own two rooms and the common living room.It was their luck that she wanted to live with Mrs. Sanders, and Walter liked her.She longed for Mosca to bring back the marriage certificate, and they left Germany immediately.She is now in fear all day long, especially worrying about her children.If the baby was sick, they couldn't get any American drugs, and they wouldn't dare to risk the black market for the baby. Hailian felt a little strength, so she got up and cleaned her room.Then walk into the living room.Mrs. Saunders was sitting by the iron stove drinking coffee, and put Helene's cupful there.

"When will your husband be back?" Mrs. Sanders asked. "Isn't he coming back this morning?" Helian replied: "He has to stay for a few more days. He will call me tonight to tell me the exact news. You know why." "Did you tell him about the penicillin?" Helian shook her head. "I thought this Yergin was your friend," said Mrs. Saunders. "How can he do such a thing?" "I don't think he's to blame for it," Helene said. "The doctor told me it didn't work because of poor storage, and the penicillin was real. There's no way Jerkin knew."

"He must know," said Mrs. Saunders, finishing her coffee in one gulp. "When Mister Mosca goes to him, he'll make the excuse of being cheap." The baby started crying in the next room, and Helen went over and took him out.Mrs. Saunders said, "Come on, let me cuddle." So Helene handed it to her, and went off to wash the diapers. She came in with a new piece of linen, and Mrs. Saunders said, "Hey, I'll change it for him." Those were some of the things they said every morning. Hai Lian picked up the tin bucket by the stove again and said, "I'll go downstairs to get some briquettes."

"You're too weak to do it," said Mrs. Saunders, though she didn't take it seriously as she was coaxing the baby. In the morning of late autumn, the air-conditioning swished.The rising sun made the woods and fallen leaves as red as maple leaves.Helian smelled the strong smell of fallen apples somewhere, and the gusts of fresh air from the Weser, washed by several autumn rains, behind the hill with the garden.She felt refreshed.On the other side of Kufstein Avenue, she saw a beautiful girl and four children playing under the tree, kicking the dark brown fallen leaves into high piles, like snow blown by the wind.She felt cold and shivered, so she turned and walked inside.

She went to the basement, unlocked the wire door, and loaded a bucket of oval-shaped briquettes.She was very surprised to find that even though she tried her best, she couldn't lift it up. After only one lift, she felt exhausted and her whole body ached.She felt a pang of fear.She quickly grabbed the barbed wire on the door, and the dizziness was slightly relieved.She took three lumps of coal from the bucket and wrapped them in her apron.One hand grasped the other ends of the apron and rolled it up; with the other he slammed the wire door shut and began to climb up the stairs. Her legs were heavy and she had barely climbed half the stairs before she could move no more.Frightened, she stood for a moment doubtful.A terrible chill hit her body, a large blood vessel ruptured, and the pain pierced her brain like an iron spear.She did not hear the coals slipping out of the apron, breaking and rolling down the stairs.

She began to collapse in horror and saw Mrs Sanders' blurred face leaning over the banister and the baby in her arms.Very close to them, but it looks hazy.She threw her arms up to them, screaming, and fell away from Mrs Sanders' frightened face and the baby wrapped in a white blanket.The screaming died down as she fell, slowly leaving her body.She would never hear that sound again.