Wen Qing stared intently at Yao Shiling, then suddenly her eyes reddened.

"It's nothing. Money is important, but people are more important." Yao Shiling asked, "Don't you think so?"

"Mm." Wen Qing nodded.

The next morning, Yao Shiling and Wen Qing fed the cattle and then led them to the cattle market in the county town.

There are many cattle and sheep in the market, but there are not many cattle like the Wen family's, which have smooth hair, are clean, strong, and have good physique. As a result, many merchants came to inquire about the price.

Wen Qing chose one of the farmers, asked for their address and the purpose of buying the cattle, and sold it for 455 yuan, which aroused the envy of many people.

"It actually sold for 455, that's a high price."

“Their ox is good; it’s in its prime and can work well.”

"that is."

"With such strength, he'd be a master at working in the fields; it would be a shame to sell him."

"..."

Wen Qing also felt it was a pity, but saving lives was the priority, and she couldn't think about anything else. Amidst the envy of the crowd, Wen Qing pulled Yao Shiling to the four-way intersection in the county town to wait for the bus, preparing to go to the city hospital immediately.

At that time, buses were infrequent, running only once every one or two hours, and the fare was five cents per person.

"How long will it take?" Yao Shiling asked. "How about I go back first? You can go by yourself."

“The beans are all planted. You have nothing to do back home. Come with me to the city hospital to see Aunt Xiao.” Wen Qing was worried that Yao Shiling would be sad since the cow had just been sold, so she asked her to come along.

"Here it comes, the car is here," Yao Shiling suddenly said, pointing to the left intersection.

Wen Qing looked in that direction and sure enough, she saw a dilapidated single-door rural car swaying towards her.

"Mom, let's get in the car." Wen Qing pulled Yao Shiling into the car. Half an hour later, they arrived at Nanzhou City, which was the city where Wen Qing and Ji Yanjun later lived. At this time, Nanzhou had already started to develop. Not only were roads under construction all around, but shops had also begun to appear on both sides of the road.

However, Wen Qing had no time to observe Nanzhou at this moment; her more important purpose was to find Aunt Xiao.

She arrived at the city hospital, asked the receptionist, and after searching for a long time, finally found room 208.

There were few people in the ward, but Wen Qing still spotted Aunt Xiao by the bedside at a glance.

Aunt Xiao looked haggard. She was holding a bowl of what looked like porridge and feeding a child on the bed. The child was about ten years old, with a sallow complexion but bright eyes. He sat on the bed, turning his head to one side, indicating that he did not want to eat.

Two men and a slightly older woman were gathered around the bed. Wen Qing guessed that these must be Aunt Xiao's parents-in-law and husband.

Aunt Xiao kept crying softly by the bedside.

Aunt Xiao's father-in-law and husband squatted to the side in silence, occasionally saying irritably, "Stop crying."

Aunt Xiao remained silent, put down her bowl, stood up and packed her things, seemingly preparing to be discharged from the hospital.

The nurses also came to urge me to be discharged.

"We'll leave right away," Aunt Xiao replied weakly.

Wen Qing stepped forward and called out, "Aunt Xiao."

Aunt Xiao turned her head and looked at Wen Qing and Yao Shiling in surprise: "Wen Qing, what brings you here?"

Wen Qing originally wanted to buy some fruit from the door, but then she thought that fruit also cost money, so she decided not to buy any. As a result, both she and Yao Shiling came empty-handed.

"What are you doing here?" Aunt Xiao asked.

Wen Qing didn't say much. She put the cloth bag on the bed, took out her sketchbook and needle and thread, and took out a small roll of money from the bottom of the cloth bag. This handkerchief was specially prepared by Yao Shiling to roll up money. Wen Qing unfolded the handkerchief and a roll of money was revealed. As soon as the money was revealed, she saw a hundred-yuan bill.

Aunt Xiao was stunned.

Aunt Xiao's father-in-law, mother-in-law, and husband were also surprised.

"This, this is..." Aunt Xiao couldn't finish a sentence.

Wen Qing said, "Aunt Xiao, I have 535 yuan here. I'm still a little short of 600, but I'll continue to run Aunt Xiao's tailor shop for the next couple of days. I'll be able to raise 65 yuan soon."

Aunt Xiao stared at Wen Qing in disbelief: "Wen Qing, where did you get so much money?"

Wen Qing looked at Yao Shiling and said, "My mother sold the family's cow to raise the money." Wen Qing handed the money to Aunt Xiao: "Aunt Xiao, take this to treat your child's illness."

Before Aunt Xiao could react, her mother-in-law knelt down with a thud: "You're such a good person, thank you so much, you saved our whole family's lives."

Wen Qing was startled and quickly went with Yao Shiling to help Aunt Xiao up.

Aunt Xiao refused to get up, insisting on kowtowing to Wen Qing and Yao Shiling.

"Auntie, don't kneel down, the children are watching." Yao Shiling pulled Aunt Xiao up forcefully.

Aunt Xiao's father-in-law and husband looked at Wen Qing with gratitude.

Aunt Xiao seemed to have something stuck in her throat. In the past few days, she had witnessed the true nature of people. Friends and relatives she once thought were on good terms with her had all distanced themselves from her after hearing that her child was sick and that they had spent almost all their money. When they heard that she was still short five or six hundred yuan, they would close their doors as soon as they saw her, fearing that she would ask for money.

What relatives? Hasn't she helped them enough already?

In the end, there was only Wen Qing, only Wen Qing… Aunt Xiao clutched the money tightly and started to cry.

"Aunt Xiao, don't cry," Wen Qing said. "Go pay the fees and get treatment as soon as possible. The sooner you get treatment, the better. If it's not enough, we can pay for two days later. The hospital shouldn't have any problems."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Xiao perked up and quickly replied, "Okay, okay, I'll go and pay right away."

Aunt Xiao was in a panic. She stumbled before regaining her balance and accidentally knocked over Wen Qing's drawing without realizing it. Then she hurriedly left the ward and rushed to the cashier.

Aunt Xiao held Yao Shiling's hand, expressing her gratitude with tears streaming down her face.

Wen Qing then asked Aunt Xiao's husband about the child's condition. Aunt Xiao's family were from the countryside and hadn't received much schooling. They didn't even remember the specific name of the illness, only that it was something like mitral valve closure, requiring open-heart surgery or something like that—basically, surgery was going to be done.

Wen Qing pondered for a while but still couldn't figure out what the illness was. From Aunt Xiao's husband's description, it was clear that in the 21st century, this illness wouldn't be considered serious, but here it was a major one, mainly due to the high cost of surgery. However, the doctor was almost 90% certain that surgery could cure it.

Shortly after Aunt Xiao paid the money, the doctor moved the child to a ward, saying that they would conduct an examination before performing surgery.

Wen Qing was eager to return to Aunt Xiao's tailor shop to earn money and didn't plan to stay long, so she said goodbye to Aunt Xiao's family.

Aunt Xiao's family was extremely grateful to Wen Qing.

Wen Qing said a few words of comfort, then picked up the cloth bag and left with Yao Shiling.

As soon as she stepped out of the city hospital, Wen Qing began rummaging through her cloth bag.

"Wen Qing, what's wrong?" Yao Shiling asked, puzzled.

Wen Qing was taken aback: "Mom, it seems like my drawing is missing."

"Did you leave it in the ward?" Yao Shiling asked.

"I'll go look for it." Wen Qing hurriedly turned back. Aunt Xiao and the others were no longer in room 208. Wen Qing circled an empty bed, searching back and forth, turning over all the sheets, but she still couldn't find the sketchbook. She couldn't help but get anxious.

"Haven't you found it yet?" Yao Shiling asked from the side.

"No."

"Is it very important?" Yao Shiling asked.

"Hmm." Wen Qing expanded her search area, looking around the other beds: "Those are the clothing and shoe patterns I drew."

Seeing that Wen Qing was too anxious, Yao Shiling said, "Anyway, it's all your drawing. If it's lost, it's lost. Just draw another one. Don't worry."

Lose it and then draw it again?

Those sketches were just fleeting inspirations of hers; she simply couldn't recreate them. "I'll go ask Aunt Xiao and the others," she said.

As she spoke, Wen Qing ran out to find Aunt Xiao again.

Aunt Xiao's family was waiting in the corridor. Wen Qing went up and asked them, but none of them knew anything about the drawing.

Wen Qing was disheartened.

Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind: "Little girl."

Wen Qing frowned and turned around, seeing a slightly chubby man. The man was about fifty years old and was wearing a Western suit instead of the Zhongshan suit that people in the county usually wore. He looked very elegant.

"Little girl," the man called out again.

The group of people were puzzled by the shout. Wen Qing looked around and finally pointed back at himself, asking, "Uncle, did you call me?"

"You're looking for this?" The man waved the sketchbook in his hand.

Upon seeing the sketchbook, Wen Qing's eyes lit up immediately: "Yes, this sketchbook is mine. Thank you, Uncle."

As Wen Qing walked over, she also extended her hand, but the man didn't give it to her. Instead, he asked, "Did you draw all of these?"

“I drew it,” Wen Qing said.

The man looked at Wen Qing with a mixture of delight and admiration in his eyes, then asked, "You can make clothes and shoes?"

Wen Qing, eager to retrieve her sketchbook, nodded: "I will."

The man nodded to himself, then unfolded his sketchbook, pointed to one of the outfits, and asked, "Can I buy this outfit?"

The man's words stunned Yao Shiling, Aunt Xiao, and their entire family. In their minds, buying and selling things involved tangible objects, such as oil, salt, and fish—all were physical transactions.

Is this man looking to buy clothes?

Yao Shiling knew that the sketchbook was made from a large sheet of white paper that Wen Qing bought for five cents. When Wen Qing had nothing to do, he would take Wen Peng's broken pen and lie on the bed, doodling in front of the kerosene lamp. She always thought that Wen Qing was just doodling, because a serious drawing would never be as easy and perfunctory as Wen Qing's.

But this man in front of her actually wants to buy it? Yao Shiling simply couldn't believe it; was he joking?

Everyone expressed their doubts.

Only Wen Qing remained calm and unsurprised.

The man's gaze towards Wen Qing held even greater admiration.

"How about I buy this one for two hundred dollars?" the man asked.

Two hundred yuan?!

Yao Shiling, Aunt Xiao, and their family remained motionless, as if struck by lightning.

Two hundred yuan for a piece of scrap paper drawn with a pencil stub?!