On the day Zhao Meimei was born, it was the twelfth lunar month, and amidst the freezing cold weather, she came into the world with a loud cry.
When the first sound of the baby's cry came from the delivery room, her father, who had been waiting anxiously outside for a day and a night, fainted from exhaustion.
The door to the delivery room was pushed open from inside by a nurse in a white gown holding a small notebook, calling out, "Family of Liu Xiue! Who is the family of Liu Xiue?"
A colleague from Zhao Meimei's father's workplace, who had followed him here, was also waving for help: "Come quickly! Someone has fainted here!"
"Zhao Dazhuang, wake up! Wake up!"
A doctor happened to be passing by, quickly directing people to carry Zhao Dazhuang to the nearby emergency room.
The nurse holding the notebook looked around, frowned, and complained, "What kind of family is this! The mother has already given birth, and they still haven't shown up!"
The nurse turned back into the delivery room and told her colleague, "Alright, the family hasn't arrived. Which ward is the mother in? Let's send her back."
Zhao Meimei's father didn't see his precious daughter at first glance. When he opened his eyes, he saw white walls and a stark white bed: "How did I end up here?"
The colleague, who came to the hospital with him, had just paid the emergency bill and returned, happily exclaimed upon seeing him awake, "You rascal! You're finally awake!"
"Where's my wife?" Zhao Dazhuang's mind was filled with thoughts of his wife and the unborn child.
"She gave birth! A seven-pound-eight-ounce chubby girl!" The colleague pondered quietly; this mischievous kid, as soon as she was born, knocked her own father out. If the elders said anything, they'd claim she was born under a strong star, with a presence that could ward off evil spirits!
Upon hearing he had a daughter, Zhao Dazhuang was quite happy. It's his own child, his flesh and blood, as long as the child was born healthy, that's all that matters.
He joyfully lay down on the bed with a thud: "I have a daughter! I finally have my little girl to keep me warm like a cotton-padded jacket!"
With the addition of a new member to the family, the neighbors came over to visit, some bringing a basket of eggs, others a bag of brown sugar. Those with old clothes from their children's toddler days brought them over; the more attentive elders even made them into diapers at home.
All the visitors gathered around the quilted bundle, looking at Zhao Meimei sleeping inside with her eyes closed and were taken aback. Why does this child look so ugly!
With sparse, discolored hair, this seven-pound-eight-ounce big baby had a small wrinkly face, resembling dried pickles.
Her eyes weren't open, yet one could tell that this pudgy girl with a flat nose and thick lips was not born with good looks.
In front of the child's parents, people were too embarrassed to be honest, so they picked compliments instead.
Whenever someone has something good happening, others are bound to say a few nice words.
"This child is really sturdy!"
"Chubby! That's good, lots of energy, easier to raise!"
"Look at those little arms and legs, like lotus roots, so adorable."
...
The compliments went around, even praising the feet, yet no one mentioned the child's appearance.
Eventually, a straightforward aunt couldn't hold back and remarked, "Oh my, this child really picked up all her parents' flaws in her looks, tsk tsk!"
This was the first child for Zhao Dazhuang and Liu Xiue, and at night they watched their child intently.
Hmm, the baby is really cute, chubby; her hair is a bit thin, but she's still young. The wrinkles on her face are a little much, but she hasn't grown into her features yet. The nose is a bit flat; Liu Xiue touched her own high-bridged nose, glanced at Zhao Dazhuang's solid nose with its fleshy tip, and frowned. This nose must take after the child's aunt.
Zhao Dazhuang, besides himself, had three sisters, and looking at the child, there was a hint of his youngest sister's shadow. Didn't the youngest sister look like this when she was a child?
Their child, their love. Zhao Dazhuang and Liu Xiue gazed at her eagerly, never getting enough of looking.
Zhao Dazhuang was from the south. After graduating from a technical school, he entered a factory. Later, the factory's technical department exchanged technicians with a northern factory, and he got transferred here, all alone, with family far away, managing only one trip home a year, and even that was quite good.
Liu Xiue wasn't local either; she married Zhao Dazhuang and followed him here, husband and wife singing in harmony.
The factory took care of its technical talents, giving them a thirty-square-meter apartment in a family building.
With the baby's birth, they needed a name. When Liu Xiue was pregnant, they selected around ten names, choosing Zhao Meimei among them.
Though unspoken, there was hope within their hearts that their daughter would undergo the eighteen transformations of a girl, becoming more beautiful with each change. Perhaps by calling her this name, it might come true.
When the child reached a hundred days, as per tradition, they needed a hundred-day photo.
When they brought her to the photo studio, the photographer glanced at the child through the lens and frowned, finding the child rather unattractive. Turning to ask, "What's the child's name?"
Zhao Dazhuang, with a smile, replied, "Zhao Meimei."
The photographer paused, then chuckled, muttering, "Quite ambitious."
The camera flash clicked, capturing Zhao Meimei's first photo, with her bare bottom and a wide grin.
Zhao Meimei was livelier than other children from a young age. When Liu Xiue bent down to pick up some yarn, Meimei would squeeze herself into the gap next to the radiator by the bed, and a frightened Liu Xiue would quickly pull her out. When pulled out, Meimei's little wrinkled face bore the imprint of the radiator, yet the cheeky child wasn't scared and grinned at Liu Xiue!
When Zhao Meimei turned four, Zhao Dazhuang sent her to the kindergarten within the family building, where all the children were from the factory families.
Zhao Meimei was young and joined the middle class.
On her first day of kindergarten, before noon, she was sent back by the teacher.
At that time, Liu Xiue had asked the factory's welders to help weld an iron shed on the open space by their building, with a few wooden partitions inside, opening a small convenience store there.
The teacher brought Zhao Meimei to the store entrance, handing her over to Liu Xiue: "Your Zhao Meimei had an accident, change her into something clean before letting her come back."
It was only then that Liu Xiue realized why there was an odd smell. She asked the teacher to watch the store for a moment, quickly carrying Zhao Meimei home to change her from top to bottom before sending her back to the teacher.
The teacher glanced at Zhao Meimei's little shoes and frowned: "Even though it's almost summer, we should still keep warm in spring and autumn. If a child's feet get cold, they'll easily upset their stomachs and may not make it to the bathroom in time."
Having realized, Liu Xiue purposely went home to fetch a pair of shoes with thin lining and changed Zhao Meimei's shoes.
The teacher took Zhao Meimei back to the kindergarten and asked her on the way: "Zhao Meimei, your mom is so pretty, how come you look so ugly? Were you swapped at the hospital by accident by your parents?"