In the eastern part of the city, Cao Xiaoyu's Brilliant Printing Shop received a large order yesterday.

The newly planned former residence of a scholar in the development zone is expected to officially start construction at the end of the month. Before the groundbreaking ceremony, the development company plans to build an advertising hoarding around the construction site.

According to industry standards, to save trouble, these types of advertising hoardings are usually handled by one advertising company, including construction supervision of the light steel keel and gypsum board, plus printing on the polycarbonate cloth, installation, and package bidding.

Although the price isn't exactly affordable, the acceptance and coordination process is very convenient, with the advertising company handling all the follow-up and management.

Initially, the owner of the investment in the former residence of the literati did the same after being persuaded by his subordinates. However, when the keel construction was completed and it came to the production of the spray-painted cloth, the marketing manager in charge of advertising was suddenly anonymously reported by his subordinates: he had taken a 20% cut from the partner by taking advantage of his position in choosing the advertising company.

The entire fence and lighting setup would have cost over 100,000 yuan, but the middleman embezzled 20,000 yuan of it.

Enraged by this, the boss immediately cut his losses, dismissed the relevant personnel, and paid a discounted price for the already completed dragon-shaped wall coverings. In order to recover the losses to the greatest extent possible, the project manager hurriedly inquired about prices for all the printed cloths in Suicheng City.

The price of 1.8 yuan per square meter quoted by Huihuang Printing Shop is the most cost-effective option.

Although it was a large order, Cao Xiaoyu's job was actually quite simple. The advertising images had already been produced by the previous company, and Cao Xiaoyu only needed to adjust the layout slightly and set the Photoshop canvas size according to the actual frame dimensions, just like when she prints study materials for students.

Use minimal background fill and crop out excess; it requires minimal technical skill.

This morning, after selecting the model of the inkjet printing cloth and scheduling the order with the factory, Cao Xiaoyu suddenly discovered that the size of the inkjet printing cloth given to them by the previous construction company was wrong.

There are obvious errors in the printing and splicing of the graphics.

After repeated questioning, the person in charge, having failed to earn the expected fees, shifted blame and sabotaged her efforts, ultimately blocking her contact after things fell apart. With the factory scheduled for printing that afternoon, the boss had no choice but to close the shop and drive Cao Xiaoyu to the construction site to measure the fence dimensions.

This measurement led to an accident: Cao Xiaoyu, wearing high-heeled boots, fell from the loose scaffolding, hitting her head and being rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

At the time of the incident, Jinzi was on a business trip 870 kilometers away with the director of the Cultural Bureau and could not return to Suicheng immediately. Although he immediately notified Xiaoyu's parents to go to the hospital, he thought that his family members were old and had unclear speech, and would probably only cause trouble.

The hospital also needs a reasonable person.

He had already dialed Ha Yue's number, but hung up before the call connected. Ha Yue herself had a sick family member who would disappear at any time, and her mother was also impatient. Jinzi didn't want to alarm too many people before confirming Xiao Yu's condition.

Jinzi has many friends, thousands of buddies in his contact list, but when it comes to crucial moments, he flips through page after page and realizes that he can't rely on any of them.

After a period of anxiety, he was so worried that he had no choice but to swallow his pride and call Xue Jing, hoping that he could go to the hospital to check on his wife's condition on his behalf.

After all, Xue Jing was the most intelligent and cultured person he knew, and his reaction time in emergency situations would be better.

The situation was critical, but Xue Jing did not refuse. Before the call was even over, he turned the steering wheel and quickly reversed to the hospital. On the way, he even found a bank and withdrew 30,000 yuan in cash from his card and put it on his person.

He noticed this when he went for his last physical exam. Suicheng Hospital wasn't even a Grade B hospital; its cashier system was outdated and it still didn't have electronic payment functionality. To pay for his exam, he walked across the street to a tobacco and liquor store and exchanged several hundred yuan in cash with the owner by offering to buy things.

Cash is rarely used in China nowadays.

He wasn't sure if Xiaoyu's parents would deliberately take money with them after being shocked like this.

Xue Jing always prepared for the worst. If Cao Xiaoyu lost consciousness and went into shock, she would most likely need to be admitted to the ICU for emergency treatment, and the starting price for an ICU room is three thousand yuan a day.

What the Jin family needs least right now is to delay treatment because of saving money. When he needed Jin's help, she didn't even stutter. He had no problem with helping her with this.

With the accelerator floored, Xue Jing made the 20-minute journey feel like a 10-minute drive. Upon arriving at the hospital, he parked the car and quickly ran towards the emergency room.

As he predicted, Xiaoyu, who had gone into shock, was indeed sent to the ICU. The boss who brought her to the emergency room had already run away before Xiaoyu's parents even arrived, upon hearing that her condition was critical.

Xue Jing was clear-headed and first paid the outstanding fees at the cashier on the first floor.

Then, taking the form, Xue Jing methodically inquired about Xiao Yu's various indicators at the ICU nurses' station, bought two bottles of water for Xiao Yu's parents, and then went to the stairwell to call Jin Zi.

Xiaoyu's condition is not clear. Blood loss is within a controllable range. The emergency room doctor judged from the external injury that the skull damage was not serious, with only a slight indentation. There was a concussion and possible brain damage. However, it is necessary to further examine why the patient was still unable to stay conscious and went into shock despite such a minor injury to determine whether there was serious bleeding in the brain.

In the most severe cases, the blood clot may compress a nerve, requiring craniotomy.

However, it cannot be ruled out that she may have other health conditions.

There's not much the family can do but wait for the doctors to come up with the results of their consultation.

Before making the call, Xue Jing cleared his throat several times, trying to relax his tone and make his voice sound more confident. However, as soon as Jin Zi's tearful voice rang in his ears, he immediately began to cough involuntarily, as if in response to stress.

Xue Jing slapped his face hard with his palm, gulped down half a bottle of mineral water, forced himself to suppress the chill running through his body, and stiffly said the words he had already rehearsed in his mind, "It's okay, you can go back slowly and be careful. I'll stay here and watch over you. Don't blame yourself too much. Right now, you can only wait outside."

"Let's not dwell on things we can't change."

"There is still good news. The doctor said that Xiaoyu's vital signs are stable."

"Good people are always protected by heaven, things will be alright. Jinzi will be fine. You're both so young, you have a lifetime ahead of you. Right?"

At two o'clock in the morning, the corridor outside the intensive care unit was eerily quiet, with only the occasional sound of footsteps rushing by as nurses worked.

Cao Xiaoyu's examination results are clear: her head injury is not serious; she went into shock because she is pregnant.

The baby is ten weeks old and developing normally. The little one is very resilient. Even though the mother suffered such a dangerous fall, the implantation is still stable, and the ultrasound examination showed no signs of miscarriage.

Two hours ago, Xiaoyu regained consciousness after receiving intravenous nutrition. Her blood pressure and blood sugar were both low, and the doctor suggested that she continue to be observed in the ICU until tomorrow morning, after which she could be transferred to a regular ward for recuperation.

Xue Jing rented two folding beds for Cao Xiaoyu's elderly parents so they could lie down and rest temporarily in the hallway, while he sat on a cold, hard metal chair at the elevator entrance, lost in thought.

There are three patients in the intensive care unit today.

Besides Cao Xiaoyu, who fell from a great height, there was also an elderly person with terminal cancer and a newborn with a lung infection.

But the other two patients were not as lucky as Cao Xiaoyu.

The elderly man was admitted to the ICU a week ago for emergency treatment. He suffered from systemic failure, and the skin below his chest had turned bluish-purple. He had long lost consciousness and was basically kept alive by a ventilator.

The treatment plan is to prolong life as much as possible; there is no need for the family to stay overnight. No news is good news.

As for the newborn's family, although they only have ten minutes of visiting time each day, the child's father still stays at the hospital without fail, just so he can ask the doctor a few more questions about the child's condition when the doctor comes in and out.

According to the child's father, after the child was born, the couple was going through a divorce because of some trivial matters that happened between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law during the pregnancy. The house was in constant turmoil, and none of the three parties were willing to back down. The argument reached a fever pitch, with the wife threatening to cut her wrists and the mother threatening to jump off a building. The police were forced to intervene to break up the fight.

When the child first developed a fever, the adults didn't notice it in time. By the time the child was rushed to the hospital with a burning fever, the baby's lungs were already full of white spots, which seriously affected the brain's oxygen supply.

A few meters away, Xiaoyu's parents and the newborn's father were lying in a row on one side of the wall.

Because of the good news, Xiaoyu's parents fell asleep quickly, and apart from their breathing, they did not move at all.

The child's father was a young man with a full beard and a buzz cut, who looked to be no more than twenty years old. His eyebrows and eyes still revealed a youthful innocence. He had been writhing and rolling around on the folding bed like a caterpillar for several hours. Finally, he opened his eyes, took out his phone, and seemed to be sending a WeChat message to someone.

Despite staring at the WeChat screen for a long time, until tears slid from the corners of his eyes to his ears, the other party did not reply to any messages.

This is what it's like outside the ICU; an atmosphere of despair permeates everywhere. Few people benefit from misfortune; many more lose the most precious treasures of their lives here.

Xue Jing withdrew his gaze from the stairwell. His neck and lumbar spine ached slightly. He swallowed a painkiller he always carried in his wallet, lowered his head, rested his elbows on his knees, and slowly massaged his temples with his middle finger.

He hadn't slept for over twenty hours and should have been exhausted, but his body was fatigued while his mind was unusually agitated. His thoughts were like a chaotic uprising, with many images and sounds swirling before his eyes, making his vision blurry and dizzy.

Many years ago, outside the ICU of Jicheng First People's Hospital, he and his father waited outside the ward in the early morning. But no matter how hard he tried to piece together his memories, he could hardly find any emotion on Xue Lianwu's still handsome face.

On that day, Xue Lianwu lost both his wife and daughter listed on his household registration, but he did not look as sorrowful as Xiaoyu's parents, nor did he secretly wipe away tears like this young father under the cover of night.

He just stared coldly at the watch on his left wrist, answered work calls from overseas across time zones, and while waiting for the rescue, he shook off Xue Jing's little hand that was trying to hug his leg, and pressed a finger against his temple, like the muzzle of a gun, and bent down to admonish him not to cry anymore. He didn't like boys to shed tears weakly.

That day, coincidentally, was also a snowy day.

Xue Jing, who was not yet of school age, was completely frozen by the melting snow. He caught a cold, had a fever, and cried and screamed in the cold wind for several hours. He really wanted to cough, but his father, Xue Lianwu, thought he was noisy. A single glance from him made him tremble all over, so he just endured it, waited, and held it in.

Later, at dawn, the doctor declared that the resuscitation efforts had failed and the two patients died one after another. All the adults filed out and rushed to the morgue to handle the aftermath.

At the end of the corridor, a cleaning worker was horrified to find young Xue Jing still waiting there, lying on the ground like a dead plant, burning unconscious and incontinent.