Dong Qing steeled himself, dragged his seemingly hollowed-out body to the payment window, and handed the cashier the water-soaked twenty-three yuan.

The cashier took the water-soaked money, counted it, and said, "Your prepayment is four hundred yuan. Twenty-three yuan is really not acceptable. I really can't accept this fee. Please find some change quickly."

Dong Qing said, "Finding money in the middle of the night isn't that easy. Can you focus on saving people first? I'll go find the money right away."

The cashier said, "I can't make that decision."

Dong Qing asked, "Who can decide to take me to see him?"

Just then, a middle-aged doctor in a white coat walked up behind us and said, "I can make the decision. Our hospital is a place to save lives. We can't let someone die just because they don't have money. You can't help here anyway. We need to save the mother first. You should try to find the money quickly."

Dong Qing turned around, bowed deeply to the doctor, said thank you, and then walked out of the outpatient hall, running into the street in the rain.

Running barefoot in the rain to the county hospital would probably result in blisters on the soles of your feet.

At the time, I was so anxious that I didn't feel the pain, but now, walking in the rain feels like being cut by a knife. I can't even take another step; my legs feel like they're filled with lead, as if I'm recovering from a serious illness.

Even so, I must keep going; I must persevere in order to find money to save my wife and children's lives.

In this situation, he has no choice but to shamelessly ask his older sister for help. Dongqing has three older sisters, and he is the youngest in the family. All three of his sisters are more outstanding than him. After graduating from high school, they all took the college entrance examination when it was reinstated and were admitted to universities.

Last year, my third sister also graduated from university and was assigned a job in the county town. My eldest and second eldest sisters got married after starting work, and their work units allocated them each a family apartment in the family area.

My third sister just graduated and started working last year. She doesn't have a partner yet and isn't eligible for housing, so she lives in her company dormitory.

The three older sisters all have the character "Mei" in their names: Dong Da Mei, Dong Er Mei, and Dong San Mei.

Dong Qing rushed to his second sister's house, which was closest to the People's Hospital, despite the heavy rain.

Dongqing has been a disappointment all year, and his three older sisters don't like him as their younger brother.

Logically, since he was the only boy in the family, his three older sisters should have been very close to him. However, his younger brother was not loved by his sisters; on the contrary, they felt even more disheartened.

Dong Qing was the only boy in the Dong family. His parents spoiled him from a young age, and his three older sisters also pampered him. As a result, he grew up to be a good-for-nothing who was lazy and good-for-nothing all day long.

As the saying goes, "One who stays near red gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black." After graduating from high school, Dongqing picked up the gambling habit from his bad friends, though it was all small-scale gambling. His older sisters talked to him a lot, but no one could persuade him to stop.

When he got married last spring, his two older sisters paid for the wedding. After the marriage, he was able to make ends meet with the help of his two older sisters.

But no one expected that he would get involved in gambling soon after getting married.

As of today, I owe Yi Xiaofan 3,600 yuan in gambling debts.

This also puzzled Dong Qing. For more than a year, Yi Xiaofan had never asked him to pay back the gambling debts. It was as if whether or not the gambling debts could be paid back was not important, as long as he could gamble with him. It was as if he was a good friend of his, and whether or not the debts were paid back was not that important.

Dong Qing would borrow money whenever he lost it all. Tonight, Yi Xiaofan lent him 100 yuan, which he quickly lost down to 23 yuan.

The three older sisters watched their brother degenerate day by day after getting married, and no amount of scolding could wake him up. Half a year ago, they lost patience with their brother and stopped giving him money to throw away.

The three older sisters had only recently started working, and none of them earned their money easily. No matter how much they pampered their younger brother, they couldn't let him throw money at the gambling table.

Dongqing had no idea of ​​her sister's good intentions; the three sisters were all disappointed in each other.

However, Dongqing did not realize his mistake. On the contrary, he hated his three older sisters. He had not visited them for half a year and did not want to talk to them when he saw them. His three older sisters also stopped talking to him in a huff.

After graduating from university, my third sister, Dong Sanmei, was assigned a job and lived at home. The county town was only ten miles away from her home, and she would ride her bicycle home every day after get off work.

Later, she got angry with him and stopped living at home. Half a year ago, she moved into the company dormitory. If her third sister had lived at home, Dongqing's wife in his previous life would not have died.

He strayed further and further from the right path in life, and his three older sisters were sometimes really afraid that his life would be wasted like this, but they didn't know how to help him because he simply wouldn't listen to their advice.

After Dong Qing got married last spring, he blocked the house every day until he ran out of money for salt. His wife, Li Yuzhu, couldn't persuade him to change his ways and spent every day at home in tears.

The three older sisters are really good; they secretly give their younger brother and sister-in-law some money to maintain the family's daily expenses, so the family can make ends meet. Otherwise, Li Yuzhu and he really wouldn't have made it this far; they probably would have divorced long ago. No woman can stand gambling every day like that.

Dong Qing later realized that he had never given his wife a single penny, yet she seemed to never lack money. He wondered where her money came from. One night, lying in bed, he asked, "Yuzhu, where did you get your money?"

With tears in her eyes, Li Yuzhu said, "I can't let a useless man like you starve to death, can I? I asked my family for money."

Dong Qing was skeptical after hearing his wife's words. Her family was dirt poor, so where would they get spare money for her to spend? But he didn't press her for details. As long as she had money to spend, he was fine with it, at least he wouldn't have to worry about his family.

Dong Qing had no idea that it was his three older sisters who had secretly given his wife the money; his three older sisters still held a grudge against their good-for-nothing brother.

He braved the rain to run to his second sister's residential area. The residential area where his second sister lived was built in the 1970s, consisting of uniform red brick buildings, the tallest of which was five stories. His second sister's family lived on the third floor.

He entered the building entrance and went up the stairs.

I walked up to my second sister's door and knocked. After a long time, I heard her ask from behind the door, "Who is it? Is there something you need?"

"It's me, Dong Qing!"

No matter how much the second sister outwardly hates her brother, she can never truly hate him in her heart. He hasn't set foot in her house for half a year, so his coming to her house in the middle of the night in the pouring rain must be urgent; otherwise, he would never have come at this time. She reached out and opened the door.

Dong Ermei nearly squatted down when she saw her younger brother's disheveled state. Seeing his bare feet and covered in mud, she asked tearfully, "My silly brother, how did you get yourself like this?"

When Dongqing saw her second sister, she could no longer control her worry and fear, and burst into tears.

A man doesn't easily shed tears, but that depends on who he's in front of. In front of his own sister, there's really no need to suppress his worry and fear. At this moment, he's truly worried that his wife and children will die on the operating table in the hospital. He's out there, but his heart is already broken.

In his previous life, his eldest and second eldest sisters had both died of illness, leaving only his third sister, Dong Sanmei, alive. Seeing his second sister's youthful appearance and considering his current situation, he could no longer control his worry and fear and burst into tears.