Zhao Mingyue took Mao Jianlan to the nearest Second Artillery Hospital for emergency treatment. An examination revealed a perforated stomach, requiring immediate surgery. Fortunately, this was a military hospital, less affected by the Cultural Revolution, and its medical standards were still maintained. Moreover, no cost was mentioned; the surgery was immediately initiated. Zhao Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief.

A nurse said to her, "Are you a family member of patient Mao Jianlan? Which unit do you work for?"

Zhao Mingyue said, "We are students from the Normal University."

"Your medical cards are not compatible with our hospital, so you will need to pay a portion of the medical fees," the nurse said.

Zhao Mingyue nodded: "Okay, how much money do you need? I'll go and raise the medical expenses right away."

The nurse said, "Please prepare two hundred yuan for the fee first, and we will refund any overpayment or charge any underpayment."

Zhao Mingyue said, "Okay." She thought to herself that it was good; at least these days you can see a doctor first and pay later. So she quickly ran back to raise the money.

She had saved up a few dozen yuan during this time, but it was still far from two hundred yuan, so she had to borrow from someone. Since Shen Xuyue wasn't around, the first person she could think of was Song Xiaorui. Song Xiaorui saw Zhao Mingyue off at noon, and then saw her coming to see her again in the afternoon. She was very surprised and heard that she wanted to borrow money to help her classmate with medical expenses, so she quickly went back to get the money.

After borrowing the money, Zhao Mingyue went to see Qian Sisheng and told her about Mao Jianlan's illness and hospitalization. Qian Sisheng quickly went to the hospital with her. Mao Jianlan was still in surgery. Zhao Mingyue and Qian Sisheng discussed it and decided that Qian Sisheng would stay at the hospital while she went to the school to find the homeroom teacher so that Mao Jianlan could apply to stay at school. She added that if anything happened during this time, the school would be responsible. She also went to the dormitory to pack some of Mao Jianlan's belongings.

Upon learning that Mao Jianlan was hospitalized, Teacher Li and his wife rushed to the hospital. When they arrived, Mao Jianlan had already undergone surgery and returned to her ward, still unconscious. The doctor said it was fortunate she was brought in in time; any later and she wouldn't have survived. Zhao Mingyue felt a lingering fear when she thought about it; thankfully, she was off work that day and had returned to school.

After visiting, Teacher Li and his wife left, leaving Zhao Mingyue and Qian Sisheng to take care of Mao Jianlan at the hospital. Qian Sisheng wiped Mao Jianlan's face with a towel and whispered to Zhao Mingyue, "It's a good thing you came back today, otherwise it would have been so scary."

Zhao Mingyue also shook her head: "I also feel a little scared. What if we hadn't known? She would have..."

"Sigh, that's why Lao Wu is so lucky. You saved her life," Qian Sisheng said with a sigh. She wiped Mao Jianlan's hand and said to Zhao Mingyue, "Look at her hand."

Zhao Mingyue looked down and saw that her face was covered in wounds, some bandaged, some unbandaged. Zhao Mingyue exclaimed in surprise, "Didn't she work in the factory run by the neighborhood committee? I think it was a cardboard box factory. How could she have so many wounds?"

Qian Sisheng shook his head: "I don't know. I haven't gone back to see her, and she hasn't come looking for us either. How could it have turned out like this?"

Zhao Mingyue sighed and said, "She'll be so worried when she wakes up. I originally wanted to make some money, but now that she's in the hospital, we'll have to spend so much on medical expenses. Let's not talk about how much it costs when she wakes up; we'll talk about it after she recovers."

"Okay, Xiao Zhao, you have a shop in Xidan, why don't you go back there and I'll take care of it."

Zhao Mingyue said, "Fourth Sister, how about this? I'll be busy during the day, so you can take care of me, and I'll take care of me at night. Do you think that's okay?"

Qian Sisheng nodded: "Okay. The doctor said she can't eat for now. I'll bring her some food from home when she can eat again, it'll be more convenient for me."

"Okay, sure."

After a while, Zhao Mingyue said again, "You said she doesn't eat much usually, so how did she get a perforated stomach?" A perforated stomach is something that only happens when you overeat.

Qian Sisheng thought for a moment and said, "It's probably because he hasn't been eating enough. His stomach is already weak, and then he suddenly ate too much, which caused the problem."

"That might be the case. Fourth Sister, you should go back now. I'll keep watch tonight, and you can come and relieve me tomorrow morning."

"OK."

It was only in situations like this that Zhao Mingyue truly appreciated the advantage of having many people.

There were no empty beds in the ward, so Zhao Mingyue slept on a bench in the corridor. She slept very restlessly, getting up every now and then to check on Mao Jianlan to see if she had woken up. She continued this until the next morning, when Mao Jianlan finally opened her eyes. Seeing Zhao Mingyue, tears streamed down her face. Zhao Mingyue smiled at her: "Jianlan, why are you crying? It's okay, it's all over now, don't cry."

Mao Jianlan grasped Zhao Mingyue's hand, biting her lower lip to try and stop crying, and said weakly, "Thank you."

Zhao Mingyue smoothed her hair: "You too, always pushing yourself so hard, you've ended up all bruised and battered. Didn't I tell you, if you're having trouble finding work, come to my place and help me make clothes?"

Mao Jianlan only sobbed and remained silent, feeling embarrassed to ask Zhao Mingyue to return the money to her.

Zhao Mingyue said, "I'm not giving you money for nothing. If you hadn't come, I would have had to ask someone for help. If you had come, we could have worked together. The more we did, the more we would have earned, and it would all have been earned by ourselves."

Mao Jianlan also felt that such pride was unreasonable: "I'm sorry, Xiao Zhao, thank you."

“No need to thank me, we’re all sisters. Don’t be sad. Once you’re better, come help out at my shop. I won’t say much, but you can still earn a dollar or two a day. Business is booming at my shop right now. I even hired my landlady to help me sew on buttons and stuff, and I pay her for that too,” Zhao Mingyue said.

Upon hearing this, Mao Jianlan nodded and said, "Okay."

"Don't overthink it, just get some rest. Try to get discharged as soon as possible," Zhao Mingyue said.

From that day on, Zhao Mingyue shuttled between the hospital and the shop, sleeping at the hospital every night. The hospital was always overcrowded, and sometimes there weren't even any benches to sleep on, so she had to sleep next to Mao Jianlan's bed. This made Mao Jianlan feel extremely guilty. Zhao Mingyue just smiled and said, "If you're anxious, then get well soon."

After the most dangerous period passed, Mao Jianlan was able to get out of bed and move around. At night, she let Zhao Mingyue sleep in her hospital bed, and the two of them slept together. Fortunately, neither of the girls was fat, and Zhao Mingyue knew that she would not move around too much in her sleep and would not touch Mao Jianlan's wound, so she was able to get a full night's sleep.

More than a week later, Mao Jianlan was finally discharged from the hospital. Zhao Mingyue, on the other hand, had lost a lot of weight, and there were dark circles under her eyes, which made Mao Jianlan feel very guilty. Zhao Mingyue took Mao Jianlan to her shop so that she could take better care of her.

The surgery didn't cost much; after reimbursement, it only cost about a hundred yuan, but for Mao Jianlan, it was a huge sum. Teacher Li visited Mao Jianlan and brought twenty yuan as a visiting fee. Zhao Mingyue and Qian Sisheng each brought twenty yuan. Mao Jianlan herself didn't have much money; she had less than ten yuan on her in total. So, she still owed more than forty yuan.

Zhao Mingyue used the returned money to pay back Song Xiaorui, and all of Mao Jianlan's debts were now hers. Thinking about her debts, Mao Jianlan secretly wept. Zhao Mingyue comforted her, "Why are you crying? Health is the foundation of everything. As long as you're healthy, you can always make a comeback. You can pay back this money in less than a month after you start working. So, the most important thing now is to take good care of yourself and then come help me."

Mao Jianlan sniffed and wiped away her tears: "I just feel so sorry for you. Look at you, you have to take care of me, spend money on me, and do chores. You're so tired that you haven't even had a full night's sleep."

“We just got caught up in this mess, there’s nothing we can do about it, nobody wanted this to happen to us. If this had happened to me, you certainly wouldn’t have stood by and done nothing, right?” Zhao Mingyue said.

Mao Jianlan remained silent. If this had happened to Zhao Mingyue, she probably could only offer some assistance, not money. "Little Zhao, I will definitely pay you back."

“No rush. Once you’re better, come help me with the work, and I’ll deduct it from your salary gradually,” Zhao Mingyue said.

Mao Jianlan's eyes welled up with tears again. She simply didn't know how to thank Zhao Mingyue enough. She had helped her so much and was even trying to find ways to make money for her. How many people in this world are as good as her?

Mao Jianlan recuperated at Zhao Mingyue's place. Zhao Mingyue gave money to Aunt Cao so she could prepare some extra nutritious food for her. Mao Jianlan's health gradually improved, and she regained the strength to help Zhao Mingyue with her work. With more hands, Zhao Mingyue's sewing speed naturally increased. For example, Mao Jianlan would take customers' measurements, fetch clothes for them, and help with cutting the fabric after Zhao Mingyue drew the fabric lines. This way, she could make at least two or three more garments a day. Sometimes, when the sewing machine was idle, Mao Jianlan would even learn to sew herself.

While busy, Zhao Mingyue was counting down the days until Shen Xuyue returned. He had been gone for twenty days, during which time he had received two letters, one from Shenyang and the other from Qinhuangdao. He also sent her a photo taken at the beach in Qinhuangdao, saying, "I really want to watch the sunrise with you at the beach."

Zhao Mingyue really wanted to reply to him, but she had nowhere to send it, because by the time her letter arrived, Shen Xuyue would have already moved on to another place. So she could only keep each reply to him and show it to him when he returned.

Zhao Mingyue realized she hadn't received any letters from home for a while. Perhaps she had changed her address and her father had misremembered it. Maybe the letter had been sent to her school? She decided to go to the school to see if there was any mail for her.

One day, while chatting idly, she said to Mao Jianlan, "Jianlan, have you checked our class mailbox? I haven't received any letters from home in a long time. Did they send them to my school instead?"

Mao Jianlan said, "I read your letter before I got sick, but I didn't see it. I don't know if I still have it now."

"That's strange. I'll go to the school tomorrow to check. Maybe my dad got it wrong." She had written back to the school with the new address when she moved to the shop. Her dad was old and it was possible that he got the address wrong, but her third brother wouldn't. Besides, Yu Youqing usually wrote a letter every two weeks, almost without fail. How come so much time has passed and there's still no letter? She wondered if Yu Youqing had gotten into university.

When Aunt Cao heard Zhao Mingyue mention letters, she suddenly remembered something: "Miss Zhao, are you talking about letters? I think I received two letters while you were away from home. I can't read, so I don't know who they're for. I just left them on the counter at home. I'll go check if they're still there." Aunt Cao quickly ran to the back and returned a moment later with two letters.

Zhao Mingyue took it and saw that it was indeed sent by her family and Yu Youqing. Judging from the date on the package, it should have been around the time when Mao Jianlan was sick and hospitalized, which was almost half a month ago. Aunt Cao said apologetically, "I'm so sorry, young lady, look how senile I am, I completely forgot. If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have remembered."

"It's alright, I'm glad I received it." Zhao Mingyue opened the letter and saw it was from her third brother. He was already home for summer vacation. He said he had originally planned to come to Beijing for a visit, but after returning home and seeing how hard their parents were working, he felt bad about troubling them and obediently stayed home to help with chores. Zhao Mingyue smiled; her third brother was quite filial. Zhao Minglang also mentioned that he had run into Yu Youfen a couple of days ago, and it seemed she was pregnant; her belly was already showing. "I think she must have lost her virginity to that beast surnamed Cheng," were Zhao Minglang's exact words. Zhao Mingyue had a feeling that she had just suspected it. That bastard Cheng Yongqiang, how dare he do such a thing! He's a beast!

Yu Youqing wrote the letter in time he squeezed out before the college entrance examination. It wasn't long, and his feelings were very conflicted—full of ambition on one hand, and vaguely uneasy on the other. The college entrance examination was on July 20th, and it had been more than half a month since then. The results should be out by now, but she wondered how he had done. Zhao Mingyue secretly prayed that he would pass. After all, this boy was too sensitive; one setback was enough, and she worried that he might not be able to handle another.

She received the letter and quickly wrote back. Just two or three days after sending the letter, she received another letter from home. This time it was only one, from her third brother, who said that their parents were worried because they hadn't heard from her for so long and asked him to write and ask what was going on. Zhao Mingyue thought about it; it had been almost a month since she last wrote back, and she hadn't written back at all. No wonder her parents were worried. Zhao Minglang also wrote in the letter that Yu Youqing had become the top science student in the county this time, and if nothing unexpected happened, he would definitely be able to go to university.

Zhao Mingyue felt a sense of relief; this time, Yu Youqing should be able to go to university.

Mao Jianlan's health gradually improved, and her interest in sewing grew stronger. Zhao Mingyue didn't hold back, sharing all her knowledge with her, teaching her how to cut clothes, how to accentuate strengths and minimize weaknesses, and how to match colors. Zhao Mingyue provided her with food and lodging, and paid her one yuan a day. Mao Jianlan refused to accept the wages, so Zhao Mingyue said, "It's fine if you don't want it. Just consider it repayment. One yuan a day. You can't work for me for nothing."

Mao Jianlan said, "Actually, I don't think I did anything special; on the contrary, I learned a lot. I originally thought that learning tailoring from you was a waste of time and would delay my earning potential, so I refused to come here. I thought I was young, and as long as I was willing to work hard, I could earn some money. I didn't expect to lose money. You see, I'm so short-sighted." She smiled shyly as she said this.

Zhao Mingyue said, "What I do may seem low-class, but it's actually quite profitable. It's much better than making cardboard boxes."

“That’s right, it’s much easier than carrying bricks,” Mao Jianlan laughed.

Zhao Mingyue looked at her: "You stopped working at the cardboard box factory and went to the construction site? Why?" No wonder your hands were injured like that.

Mao Jianlan said, "The cardboard box factory suddenly laid off its temporary workers, and I had nowhere to go, so I went to a construction site."

"Then why didn't you come to see me?" Zhao Mingyue looked at her and shook her head helplessly.

Mao Jianlan said, "I was wrong."

"Then what's wrong with your stomach?" Zhao Mingyue hadn't properly asked her about this yet.

Mao Jianlan said, "When I was a child, I ate too much coarse grain at home, so I already had stomach problems. Working on the construction site was particularly hard, and every time I finished work, I had to eat a lot of steamed buns to stave off hunger. Then that day, there was a heavy rain, and I probably caught a chill from the rain, so I felt a bit unwell. I ate dinner and went to bed. But in the middle of the night, my stomach started to hurt. I had stomach pains before, and I thought I could just tough it out, but I didn't expect it to get worse and worse."

Zhao Mingyue was startled: "You really play with your health like this? You've been in pain for so long, and you still haven't gone to see a doctor."

Mao Jianlan gave a wry smile and stuck out her tongue: "You poor people are afraid of spending money. Besides, I was really in so much pain that I couldn't get up. Luckily you came and saved my life. Mingyue, you are my savior."

Zhao Mingyue waved her hand: "It's nothing, just a small favor."

Mao Jianlan looked at Zhao Mingyue and just smiled. In any case, she owed Zhao Mingyue her life.

Mao Jianlan began to learn how to sew clothes with scraps of fabric. She pieced the scraps together little by little, preparing to use them to learn tailoring. Zhao Mingyue said, "Why are you sewing that? If you want to learn tailoring, use white cloth to cut."

Mao Jianlan waved her hand: "No need, these scraps of cloth are just sitting there anyway, it would be a waste to cut up the white cloth."

Zhao Mingyue thought the scraps of fabric she had sewn together looked quite nice, with colorful patterns and a harmonious combination: "Why don't you try making a patchwork garment?"

Mao Jianlan looked at the piece of cloth in her hand: "Is this okay?"

Zhao Mingyue said, "There's nothing wrong with that. They're just scraps of fabric that you don't need anyway. You can use them to make a child's clothes, even if the shape is a bit messy and irregular."

“Okay, I’ll give it a try. I can make a little outfit for my nephew,” Mao Jianlan said.

"Okay." The scraps of cloth are perfect for practicing driving.

In mid-August, Shen Xuyue, tanned to a bronze color, returned. He appeared at the shop entrance, his face now only showing his white teeth and the whites of his eyes. Zhao Mingyue was a little taken aback when she saw him. Shen Xuyue carried a camouflage backpack on his back and a military green satchel slung across his shoulder, both bulging. He grinned foolishly at Zhao Mingyue: "Mingyue, I'm back."

Zhao Mingyue quickly stood up from her seat, but in her haste, she tripped over the chair and got her foot caught on the leg of the sewing machine. She lost her balance and was about to fall to the ground, which made Mao Jianlan's heart jump out of her throat. Shen Xuyue rushed over and helped Zhao Mingyue up, saying, "Slow down, slow down, I'm back now."

Zhao Mingyue bumped her head into Shen Xuyue's arms, steadied herself by holding onto his arm, and looked him up carefully: "Xuyue, it really is you back. You've gotten so tanned, I almost didn't recognize you." Zhao Mingyue smiled happily, tears welling up in her eyes.

Seeing the two lovers reunited after so long, Mao Jianlan quickly grabbed her work and went to the inner room, leaving the space to the two of them.

Shen Xuyue smiled happily at Zhao Mingyue: "Yes, but you're stronger and healthier. You seem to have lost weight, have you been eating or sleeping poorly?"

Zhao Mingyue looked him over several times before finally realizing what he meant: "I'm fine. Put your bag down and sit down. Let me get you some water. You just arrived in Beijing?"

“Yes, I haven’t even had a chance to go back to school yet, I came straight here. I’ll just glance at you, then I have to rush back to organize the research data,” Shen Xuyue said.

Zhao Mingyue tried to help him take the bag off, but found it heavy and couldn't lift it right away: "What's in your bag?"

Shen Xuyue laughed: "I can do it myself." He first took off his schoolbag, then put down his backpack, then sat down next to Zhao Mingyue, opened his bag and started unpacking. "I went on a research trip, and I brought back some of the delicious food and fun things I saw along the way. Let me give you a try."

Shen Xuyue handed Zhao Mingyue some things: "This is a large conch shell I bought in Qinhuangdao. There's a small conch shell necklace inside for you to play with. This is also squid jerky I bought there. I think it's quite delicious. I don't know if you like the taste. This is hazelnut I bought in Shenyang. It came from the Xing'an Mountains. It's very fragrant. This is from Shandong..." A table full of various things was laid out, a dazzling array of good stuff.

Zhao Mingyue looked at Shen Xuyue, her eyes gentle and tender: "You've been carrying that the whole way? Aren't you tired?"

Shen Xuyue chuckled: "I'm fine. Our professor likes all kinds of stones. He carried a lot of stones back with him and wouldn't let us help him."

"Then you guys have to help too." Zhao Mingyue thought it was quite cute.

Shen Xuyue laughed and said, "Of course we'll help. When getting on a train or traveling, we have to help carry things so we can get on the train. I only got to be lazy and let those other classmates do the carrying since I came here."

Zhao Mingyue said, "Let's have dinner together tonight, and then you can go back to school. Go take a shower first, and then go to your room for a nap. Is that okay?"

Speaking of sleep, Shen Xuyue yawned: "Okay, I'll rest for a bit. We'll go to Uncle Song's house tonight, maybe I'll stay there and go back to school tomorrow. Half a day later shouldn't be a problem." When he got to Zhao Mingyue's place, he felt completely relaxed. The energy he had been working so hard for the past month suddenly dissipated, and he felt a little listless.

“Okay. My classmate Mao Jianlan is helping me out here, so it’ll be much faster with two of us.” Zhao Mingyue called to Mao Jianlan as she packed up her things, “Jianlan, come out and get something to eat.”

"Finally found some help?" Shen Xuyue laughed.

Mao Jianlan came out and smiled generously at Chen Xuyue: "Hello. You just arrived in Beijing and came back by train. It must have been a long and tiring journey."

Shen Xuyue nodded: "It's alright. With you here keeping Mingyue company, she won't be lonely."

"Hey, it wasn't me accompanying her. I was in trouble and was rescued by Xiao Zhao. Xiao Zhao is such a good person; she saved my life and even took me in," Mao Jianlan said with a wry smile.

Shen Xuyue had been wandering around for over a month and hadn't received a single word from Zhao Mingyue, so he was unaware of what had happened here. He asked in surprise, "What's going on?"

Zhao Mingyue said, "Don't listen to her exaggeration. Jianlan was sick, and I took her to the hospital. It was just a small favor."

Mao Jianlan added, "The doctor said that if it had been any later, it would have been too late. She also paid for my medical expenses by borrowing money from others, and now she's letting me work here. Don't you think she saved my life?"

Shen Xuyue turned to look at Zhao Mingyue, raised his hand and patted her head: "Since Mingyue said it was just a small favor, you don't need to take it to heart. We're classmates, it's only right to help each other."

Zhao Mingyue said, "There's water boiling on the stove. Adding some cold water should be enough. Go take a bath and get some sleep. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

"I'm not hungry, we ate after we got off the bus," Shen Xuyue said, then went to take a shower.

Zhao Mingyue handed the food to Mao Jianlan: "Come and try it, it's a local specialty he brought back."