Shen Huaichuan then turned on the flashlight he carried with him, and the beam of light shone on the old man's surprised and uncertain face.
"Oh my! It's Qiqi and Huaichuan! How come it's you two! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! This old man didn't see you clearly and almost hurt you!"
When Grandpa Zhai saw who it was, he quickly dropped the shovel, patted his chest, and apologized repeatedly, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Zhou Qiqi's heart pounded with shock, but she was more worried about the old man, and asked with concern:
"Old Zhai, are you alright? You...you shouldn't get so agitated! Why did you pick up a shovel?"
She remembered that the old man had a heart condition, and what if this frightened him and caused something bad to happen?
Grandpa Zhai sighed helplessly, and while leading them into the courtyard, he explained with lingering fear:
"Sigh, what can I do? You live in the military compound, with sentries on guard, so you probably don't know, but things haven't been peaceful in S City for the past month or two! A group of roving thugs have come, specifically targeting isolated houses close to the main street late at night! They rob, steal, and even dare to injure people! Old Liu's house next door was broken into last week, and something almost happened! This old man has to find ways to protect himself..."
Zhou Qiqi had vaguely heard that before the nationwide crackdown in 1983, public security in many places had indeed been chaotic for a while.
But living in a heavily guarded military dependents' area, where she felt completely safe, this was the first time she had ever directly experienced danger.
But now is not the time to worry about these things.
The old man quickly ushered the two into the house and turned to get the thermos to pour them water.
Zhou Qiqi waved her hands repeatedly, not bothering with formalities, and hurriedly explained Zhouzhou's situation.
"What?! A person in a vegetative state?!"
Upon hearing this, Grandpa Zhai almost dropped the thermos in his hand, and his eyes instantly reddened!
Zhouzhou is such a good and pitiful child. Her parents are heroes. He has always treated her like his own junior. How could he accept this outcome!
He jumped up, not even bothering to put on his coat, grabbed the bunch of keys on the table, and headed for the door.
"Go! Hurry up! Go to the post office! Call my granddaughter right now! We can't wait a second longer!"
Zhou Qiqi was stunned for a moment, then quickly reminded her:
"Mr. Zhai! This...this is the middle of the night, making a phone call abroad, don't we need to submit a report and apply first? The procedures..."
"I can't worry about that anymore!"
The old man didn't stop walking, his tone resolute.
"Saving a life is like putting out a fire! Rules are rules, but people are flexible! Just hit them first and we'll talk later! This old man will take full responsibility, no matter how huge! We absolutely cannot let the child be ruined!"
Zhou Qiqi and Shen Huaichuan exchanged a glance, their hearts filled with both gratitude and a heavy feeling.
The old man's kindness is too profound!
But they all knew in their hearts that this was a matter of principle and discipline, and if anything went wrong, they absolutely could not implicate the elderly.
However, now was not the time to argue about this. The two tacitly stopped talking, quickly helped the old man out, started the jeep, and sped towards the city post office.
On the way, the old man glanced at his watch, estimated the time difference, and frowned slightly:
"At this time, it should be around 5 a.m. over there, which is when they are sound asleep..."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Qiqi felt a pang of guilt: "Five in the morning? That...that would wake Dr. Zhai from his sleep! That's too much of a disturbance..."
She knew all too well the difficulty of asking for help, especially when it involved troubling someone from overseas.
But the old man said not to worry about it.
At first, Zhou Qiqi was a little nervous, but when they arrived at the foreign communications office of the post office...
After several attempts to get through to the phone, Dr. Zhai answered it almost immediately after only a few rings.
Her voice was slightly hoarse, but she showed no displeasure at being disturbed, and asked directly:
"Dad? What happened back home? Is there something wrong with Zhouzhou?"
Zhou Qiqi then realized that Dr. Zhai had already told the old man that he could call her anytime, no matter if it was the early morning or the late at night, if it concerned the patient's condition.
After hearing Zhou Qiqi's urgent explanation of the situation, she immediately comforted her:
"Comrade Qiqi, don't worry, and don't feel like you're bothering us. We doctors are used to it. Illness doesn't pick its time. When it comes, we have to face it. Tell me slowly and explain the situation in detail."
Zhou Qiqi composed herself and tried to recount Zhouzhou's situation as clearly as possible.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, with only faint breathing sounds audible, indicating that Dr. Zhai was also thinking rapidly.
After a long while, she sighed heavily and said:
"Qiqi, I have a general understanding of the situation. Zhouzhou's case is indeed very rare and special. In the field of post-traumatic stress mutism in children, such a deep level of consciousness blockage is almost... a blank area. The failure of previous cases also means that there are no mature and reliable solutions to learn from."
Her tone became unusually serious:
“Now, conventional hypnotic induction and drug intervention are definitely out of the question. Her consciousness has already shut itself off, and forcibly waking her up may cause even deeper harm. At present... perhaps there is only one option left, but the success rate is... extremely low. You must be prepared for the worst.”
Zhou Qiqi's heart leaped into her throat, and she gripped the receiver tightly:
"Dr. Zhai, please say so! We are willing to try as long as there is even a glimmer of hope!"
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