From that day on, his originally planned life took a wrong turn—

Ye Nian'an broke off her engagement and left; the Zhang family's house was emptied by thieves; and she herself was discharged from the army...

One thing after another, like dominoes, fell down and there was no stopping it.

But he was completely unaware of this at the time, and thought that Shen Xiang and her son had come to help the family and to provide for him and Ye Nian'an in their old age.

"Hehe, dumplings, dumplings..."

Zhang Qingqing had slipped in at some point, her hair a mess like a bird's nest, drool hanging from the corner of her mouth, and she clapped her hands and giggled when she saw Zhang Weiguo.

He was still clutching half a frozen cornbread in his hand, treating it like a treasure.

This foolish look was like a dull knife, cutting deep into Zhang Weiguo's heart.

He couldn't hold back any longer, and tears fell to the ground with a "plop plop".

"Qingqing, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

He reached out his trembling hand and pulled his sister into his arms.

If he hadn't said "Mom has been arrested" on the phone, if he hadn't failed to stop his mother from engaging in feudal superstition, how could his sister have ended up like this?

She should be sitting in a classroom reading, dreaming about her bright future, instead of drooling and grinning like an idiot like this.

"Hehe...don't cry..."

Zhang Qingqing stretched out her small, dark hand and clumsily stroked his head, as if comforting a child: "Dumplings...eat dumplings..."

"Waaaaah!"

Just as Zhang Weiguo was venting his emotions and shedding tears.

Just then!

Suddenly, a panicked shout came from outside the courtyard gate, like a stone breaking the deathly silence inside the house.

"Weiguo! Something terrible has happened! Open the door quickly!"

The sound of knocking on the door struck Zhang Weiguo's heart like a muffled funeral bell, echoing in the empty room.

This is really going to be the death of me.

His heart skipped a beat; he had a gut feeling that something bad was about to happen. He swayed and almost fell off the stool.

But he is the only one in the Zhang family who can hold things together now, so even if he is in excruciating pain and his throat is sore, he has to keep going.

He wiped his face haphazardly, wiping his tears on his rough sleeves, then pushed Zhang Qingqing towards the edge of the kang (heated brick bed), coaxing her in a hoarse voice, "Qingqing, be good, wait for your brother here."

Upon opening the door and seeing Grandpa Wang, Zhang Weiguo asked weakly, "Grandpa Wang... what... what happened?"

"Weiguo."

Grandpa Wang rubbed his frozen hands, his brows furrowed: "Tang Jiang's been in an accident! He got hit by a car! Shen Xiang's at the hospital, you need to go check on him right away!"

"..."

Zhang Weiguo swayed violently, as if his bones had been removed.

I felt dizzy and my vision blurred. My eyelids rolled upwards uncontrollably, and I almost fell straight down.

"Defend the country? Defend the country?"

Grandpa Wang quickly reached out to support him. The child's face was as white as a sheet of paper, and his lips were blue. Something was definitely wrong.

He sighed inwardly—Zhang Weiguo, that kid, used to be a model soldier in the army, and he's a filial son at home, but he's just too foolish, suffocating over the mess at home.

The misfortunes that have befallen the Zhang family these days have been piling up on a young man in his twenties, who is also a cripple with a missing hand. Who could bear it?

It's that heartless and vicious woman, Li Dahong, who committed these sins, yet the children have to bear the consequences. It's so tragic.

"You need to stand still first."

Grandpa Wang raised his hand and patted Zhang Weiguo's arm: "Kid...it seems like you were seriously injured. You should at least go to the hospital and show your face."

Since things had come to this point, this was all the advice that Grandpa Wang could offer.

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Weiguo's body went limp, like a stalk of straw with its tendons pulled out, and he collapsed with a thud onto the threshold covered with a thin layer of ice, unconscious.

"Defend the country? Defend the country!"

Grandpa Wang was so anxious that he kept stamping his feet. Just then, Zhang Qingqing moved out of the house.

She tilted her head and grinned foolishly, drool dripping from the corner of her mouth onto her faded clothes.

Looking at Zhang Weiguo lying on the ground, he suddenly clapped his hands, his voice sharp and cheerful: "Dumplings...dumplings...hahaha...brother's asleep too, time to eat dumplings..."

His madman-like behavior made Grandpa Wang's heart ache.

He shook his head, turned and ran towards the alley entrance; he needed to quickly call someone to take Zhang Weiguo to the hospital.

This family is truly on the verge of collapse.

In the hospital corridor, Shen Xiang paced anxiously back and forth, her eyes fixed on the closed doors of the operating room.

Her heart felt as if it were being tightly gripped by an invisible hand, each beat accompanied by a tearing pain.

She prayed silently, praying that Tang Jiang would be safe and sound.

Because she knew that if anything happened to her son, her life would be completely over.

At this moment, her only hope was that Zhang Weiguo could arrive as soon as possible.

Although the Zhang family has been in a mess lately, he is still the backbone of the family.

Tang Jiang's accident at this critical juncture is undoubtedly adding insult to injury, leaving Shen Xiang, who was already on the verge of collapse, even more at a loss.

However, even though she felt a lot of bitterness in her heart, she knew that he was the only one she could rely on right now.

The long wait felt like an eternity. Finally, the red light in the operating room went out, and the doctor walked out wearily.

Shen Xiang's heart leaped into her throat. She almost rushed over, her voice trembling as she asked, "Doctor, how is my son... Jiang'er?"

The doctor took off his mask, his face filled with helplessness.

He sighed softly and said heavily, "The child suffered a severe head injury when he was hit by the car. We've done everything we could..."

"As for whether he can wake up, that depends on his own fate."

Shen Xiang's mind went blank for a moment, as if it had gone completely empty.

She stood there stunned, and it took her a long time to find her voice, which trembled with disbelief: "You... what did you say? What do you mean by whether I can wake up? Doctor, please explain clearly!"

The doctor looked at her with a hint of pity in his eyes and slowly explained, "It's a vegetative state patient, you've probably heard of that, right? They're in a deep coma, all their bodily functions are working normally, but their consciousness is..."

Shen Xiang couldn't hear a word the doctor said after that.

All that remained in her mind was the word "vegetative state".

They struck her eardrums like heavy hammers, making her dizzy and her world seem to collapse in an instant.

An elderly worker in the factory had a mother who became a vegetable after suffering a stroke. Ultimately, unable to afford the enormous medical expenses, she had to give up on him with tears in her eyes.

The treatment of patients in a vegetative state requires astronomical sums of money and a long period of time, which is an unbearable burden for ordinary working-class families like theirs.

But... that's different!

She was just an old mother who had lived most of her life; even if she gave up, it was still a peaceful death.

But what about her Tang Jiang? He's only nine years old!

At an age when they should be active and energetic, about to enter primary school, how could they become an unconscious vegetable?!