Seeing her like this, Zhou Qiqi felt bad and quickly interrupted her.
"Don't say that! I'm really fine! It's just a scratch, I'll be fine after a good night's sleep, see? I'm all right now."
As she spoke, she circled around Zhao Damei, then took her arm and asked with concern,
"I heard Grandpa Liang has woken up. How is he?"
Zhao Damei's eyes were bloodshot. She wiped away her tears with her sleeve, trying to calm herself, and replied:
"When the ER doctor pulled the person out of the ICU, they said there didn't seem to be any major problems, and all the data were normal..."
She paused, then lowered her voice with worry.
"I hit my head when I jumped off the cliff. The doctor here said they don't specialize in this, so they're not sure. We'll have to wait for a neurosurgeon to come and take a closer look. He should be here soon."
As Zhou Qiqi listened, she recalled the terrifying experience at the cliff edge last night, still feeling lingering fear, but mostly relieved.
"It's good that you're awake. That's the best news."
Watching the people coming and going in the emergency room corridor, Zhou Qiqi tugged at Zhao Damei's hand.
"Let's not block the doorway and talk, let's go inside and take a look?"
Zhao Damei then realized what was happening and nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, look at me, I forget everything when I'm in a hurry."
The emergency room was small, so she turned and waved to the children who were standing by the bed talking to their grandfather, calling them out.
"This place is small, so you can go outside and play for a while while we talk."
The children came out timidly.
They had grown up in the village and were unfamiliar with everything in the city, let alone the hospital filled with military insignia and the smell of disinfectant.
The children greeted the adults very politely, then clutched their clothes with their little hands, looking bewildered and unsure of where to stand.
But the three of them standing in a row were quite blocking the way.
Seeing this, Zhang Guoqiang took the initiative to step forward and say,
"How about I take them for a walk in the back garden? There are swings and such over there, it's better than just standing here."
Zhao Damei hesitated for a moment. She really couldn't leave here, but Zhang Guoqiang...
Well, she couldn't worry about that for the moment, so she nodded and said, "Thank you for your help."
Zhou Qiqi also turned to Shen Huaichuan and said,
"Why don't you take Zhouzhou to the ward upstairs to see Grandpa Zhai? It's all women here, so it's not convenient for you to stay here."
Shen Huaichuan nodded, said nothing more, only took a deep look at Zhou Qiqi to confirm that she was alright, then took Zhouzhou's little hand and walked outside.
In the ward, Grandpa Liang had just talked with his grandchildren for a while, and his mind had cleared up considerably, and he seemed to be in good spirits.
Upon seeing Zhou Qiqi enter, the old man immediately became agitated, struggling to sit up in bed while muttering to himself:
"My benefactor... my savior has arrived! I must... I must kowtow to my benefactor!"
Zhou Qiqi was startled and quickly stepped forward to hold him down:
"Grandpa Liang! What are you doing! Lie down quickly!"
But when the old man gets stubborn, he's even harder to persuade than Zhao Damei.
Despite his advanced age, his stubbornness kicked in, and he insisted on getting out of bed. His withered hands gripped the bed railing, veins bulging, as he repeatedly said, "Thank you... thank you..."
Even with Zhou Qiqi and Zhao Damei trying to persuade him, they couldn't stop him.
Seeing that the old man was about to recklessly turn over, Zhou Qiqi had a sudden inspiration. Pointing to the beeping instruments and the IV needle in his hand, she quickly came up with a solution:
"Grandpa! Grandpa, look! These are all precision instruments belonging to the government, and they're very expensive! If you move them and break or tear them, we'll have to pay a lot of money! Sister Da Mei will have to sell a potted plant to make up for the losses!"
That really worked!
Upon hearing this, the old man froze instantly, his face showing the panicked expression of a child who had done something wrong. He immediately and obediently let go, slowly lying back down, muttering softly to himself:
"I won't move... I won't move! We can't damage public property."
He even glanced at Zhao Damei beside him with unease, as if afraid that she might break something if she got too close.
Seeing the old man's reaction, Zhou Qiqi couldn't help but chuckle, suddenly recalling the first time she met him.
She also has a stubborn temper and a childlike innocence.
She had just gotten off the train and was unfamiliar with the place. She ran into an old man driving a donkey cart who promised to take her to her destination. However, halfway there, the old man suddenly said he wanted to go home. He was afraid his daughter-in-law would worry, so he refused any extra money offered to him and left her stranded halfway.
Although it was later found out to be a misunderstanding, it was enough to show that the old man was kind-hearted and stubborn.
After all that fuss, the old man's complexion was fine, which put everyone at ease.
At this moment, Deng Cuixiang, still shaken, spoke up:
"Thank goodness, Qiqi, Grandpa, you're both alright. Qiqi, how did you find Grandpa? Why didn't you call out to us? You just sneaked over there by yourself! That was so dangerous!"
Zhou Qiqi scratched her head, feeling a little embarrassed.
"I think I vaguely saw a shadow going towards the hillside, but I wasn't sure, so I thought I'd go check it out myself so that everyone wouldn't make a wasted trip."
"As it turned out, there were so many forks in the mountain path, and I don't have a good sense of direction, so I got lost. Then I saw the strip of cloth hanging on the edge of the cliff..."
She briefly recounted the discovery of the man and the rescue efforts, naturally omitting the speculation that the old man might have jumped off the cliff intentionally.
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