“If he’s not your brother, why is he clinging to you so tightly? We’ve been watching for almost half an hour and we haven’t seen him cling to anyone. As soon as you came, he crawled over and hugged you. He must be afraid of being abandoned again.”
"That's right, young lady. Where are your parents? Even if they're poor, they can't just stand by and watch you die. Hurry home and borrow money from relatives and friends. She's not quite dead yet."
"I'm really not his sister. I was just passing by. You've misunderstood. Call the police! Don't just stand there like idiots. Use that time to call an ambulance. Saving lives is the priority." Lin Xiazhu quickly calmed down. There was no way she was trying to stage an accident.
Although she's rich, she's not someone you can swindle.
Surveillance wasn't everywhere in those days. Even in later, technologically advanced times, there are still blind spots in surveillance, let alone a small county town in the 1990s.
There's definitely no surveillance footage, and the driver who caused the accident fled, making it very difficult to catch. The child's family also refuses to come forward, so Lin Xiazhu is being framed like this.
Half an hour had passed before the police arrived. In those days when transportation and communication were underdeveloped, by the time the police arrived, it was too late.
Lin Xiazhu could feel the child's body temperature slowly getting colder at her feet. If the child hadn't been clinging to her leg in his death throes, she would have thought he was dead.
When the hospital staff arrived late and carried the child onto the stretcher, the other person strangely grabbed Lin Xiazhu's clothes tightly again, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pull them off. When she tried to use brute force to tear the clothes off and give them to the little boy...
At the command of the police officer, "The injured person's family members must hurry up and follow up; if we delay any longer, it will be too late."
Lin Xiazhu: "..." With your efficiency, the daylily is probably already cold.
Thus, Lin Xiazhu was unable to escape and was helplessly escorted to the hospital by a group of people. She was then asked to contact her elders at home to pay the medical bills.
"You guys tried to make him let go, but you couldn't pry him open. Does this kid have hands of iron?" Lin Xiazhu wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Could you give me some scissors? I can't leave without them."
"Where do you think you're going? The most urgent thing is to contact your family immediately and get them to raise the money, otherwise the hospital can't start the surgery," the hospital said.
"Can't we just focus on saving lives first and then pay for the medical expenses later?" Lin Xiazhu knew she had asked a pointless question as soon as she finished. This kind of situation happens all the time. Hospitals aren't charities; they can't save people for free.
Let's not talk about refusing to help someone in distress; in short, this matter is hard to explain.
Seeing that bloodied little hand clinging to her clothes, Lin Xiazhu gritted her teeth. It was just money, wasn't it? She would pay for it first, and she was sure she could get it back later.
The child's family has to show up eventually. If they dare to renege on the debt, she'll punch them to death.
After thinking it through, Lin Xiazhu tore off a piece of clothing. The child's hand, which was tightly clutching the clothing, hung limply as if it had lost its last lifeline. It swayed for a few moments and then stopped moving.
Lin Xiazhu's heart suddenly clenched for no reason. Oh well, it was a human life after all, so she decided to treat it as charity.
After paying the money, she didn't feel so bad about it.
She waited until 5 p.m., but the bus had already passed, and she couldn't go home today because there was no phone at home, so Lin Xiazhu had no way to contact her family.
I told Lin Chacha and Yan Xin before I came, and I wondered if the younger sisters would be worried if they couldn't see me.
In fact, Lin Xiazhu's worries were unnecessary. Lin Xiaoxue and Lin Taozi were still young, and because Yan Xin, their fake mother, was at home, they didn't pay much attention to Lin Xiazhu's absence all night.
Yan Xin and Lin Chacha believed that she was so strong that she could kill a bull with one punch, and that no one could hurt her. Of course, the former didn't care whether she lived or died, while the latter blindly believed in her strength.
The child's life was saved after five hours of emergency treatment at the county hospital. But the question remains: where are the child's parents?
Lin Xiazhu helped pay 600 yuan for medical expenses today, but what about the medical expenses for tomorrow and beyond? Anyway, she's not going to be taken advantage of again; she wants to get the money back from the child's parents.
However, the police officers were unable to find the child's family. In the end, even the hospital doctors were convinced that Lin Xiazhu was the child's older sister, and they pressured her to contact her parents.
"I can't explain it clearly," Lin Xiazhu showed her household registration book to the police officer. "See? There are only five people in my family, all of them women. My father died in a car accident half a year ago, leaving only a widow and her children. There are no men in the family."
The police officers, doctors, and nurses somewhat believed her, but looking at the poor little boy on the hospital bed, they selectively denied it.
“If he weren’t your family, why would you be in such a hurry to help pay the bill, and why would you pay such a large sum of money without even blinking an eye?” The nurse seemed to have caught her red-handed, and the more she talked, the more reasonable it seemed.
"His name isn't on the household registration book. This person must be your cousin or maternal cousin!" The tone was so certain that they unilaterally claimed kinship.
“The person has been rescued. After a few more days of observation, he will be out of danger and everything will be fine. Hang in there a little longer. Borrow some money for treatment, and your brother can be discharged from the hospital. We can’t give up at this critical juncture.”
A group of doctors and nurses tried their best to persuade her, making Lin Xiazhu seem like a heartless mother about to abandon her child. This was a huge misunderstanding; she really had nothing to do with the child.
No, that's not right either; the other party owes her six hundred yuan.
Lin Xiazhu was exhausted and wanted to sneak away in the middle of the night, but the people in the hospital seemed to know that she wanted to escape. Every time she tried to leave the inpatient department, a nurse would come over to reason with her and brainwash her.
It was almost dawn, so Lin Xiazhu stopped struggling and fell asleep on the recliner in the corridor. She was sleeping soundly when someone suddenly pulled her up.
The nurse excitedly pulled him into the ward, "Your brother is awake! I never expected him to wake up so quickly. It's good that he's awake; it means he's out of danger. Come and see him."
Lin Xiazhu looked completely bewildered: "..."
It wasn't until she saw the child wrapped up like a mummy on the hospital bed that she suddenly realized, yes, she was still in the hospital. She had been watching the commotion out of boredom after eating, and ended up being extorted.
This child is incredibly lucky. He lost so much blood yesterday, but he woke up overnight. I hope his parents can come and take care of him soon.
The child's entire body, except for his eyes, nose, and mouth, was wrapped in gauze. Lin Xiazhu looked at the child's big, bewildered eyes and wanted to ask him where he lived and who his parents were.
Unexpectedly, the other person suddenly called out in a low voice, "...Sister."
The child's voice was hoarse and weak; after uttering those two words, he closed his eyes and fell asleep again.
"I knew you were his sister. You wouldn't admit it yesterday, and your parents won't even come to see you. It's heartbreaking," the nurse muttered, constantly criticizing.
Lin Xiazhu opened her mouth, but was speechless. She was now certain that she had been completely extorted.
"Don't just stand there, go eat breakfast and bring some nutritious liquid food for your brother. After you finish eating, pay today's medical bills right away. This money can't be delayed; it concerns your brother's life."
The nurse seemed relieved, and quickly left after saying her piece.
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