"A gold chain?"
Lin Fugui was startled when he heard those words.
He hurriedly looked around, then pushed open the door to peek outside. Finding no one at the door, he finally felt relieved.
He walked back and sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). "Mother, are you serious? That gold chain... we never touched it, even when we were poor."
Zhou Xiuying let out a long sigh, her eyes crinkling with wrinkles, her face full of frustration. "But now, it's a matter of life and death. We can't just watch Xinglong die like this."
“Xinglong is our only grandson. Xinglong has suffered so much. He was beaten by that bastard Lin Chuan, and his wife miscarried. Now he is injured like this. If anything happens to him, we... we will have no descendants.”
As she spoke, Zhou Xiuying burst into tears.
“Speaking of which, this gold chain is forty-five years old, forty-five years old.” Lin Fugui squinted and sighed after a long while. “Mother, if we take this gold chain out, what if those two see it? After all, we didn’t wait for them and just took the child away.”
Zhou Xiuying didn't take it seriously. "There are plenty of gold chains out there, how would they know which one it is? Besides, we don't even know if that couple is still alive."
Neither of them mentioned that they were only after money.
Although they had arranged a location with the couple for their child, the couple had given them so much money amidst the chaos of war.
If we send the child back, what if they take back the money?
What's more, there's also a gold chain; these are all precious items.
“Besides, if there really is such a connection, and those two really come looking for us, wouldn’t we have something to say? So all these years, we’ve been raising their son for them, as if raising a child is so easy!” Zhou Xiuying said matter-of-factly.
Lin Fugui thought it made sense. After all, so many years had passed. Back then, the two of them had lived in fear for several years. Later, they found that the couple hadn't come looking for them, which was just as good.
“Alright, I’ll see if I can sell that gold chain later. I don’t know how much it will fetch,” Lin Fugui said. “Let’s prepare for the worst. Even if someone comes looking for us, that couple must be well-off. We’ve worked so hard for so many years, they should still give our boss a sum of money. That’s called repaying a debt of gratitude.”
Zhou Xiuying said, "That's right, it's all our reasoning."
Lin Xinglong was suffering from both old and new injuries, as well as being terrified and overly anxious, fearing that he would be killed by Zhao Laosan and his gang. As a result, he became seriously ill this time, with a persistent high fever.
The six yuan or so that Lin Fugui gave me was really not enough to do anything.
The next morning, a tired-looking Lin Youfu returned from the county town and knelt down in front of Zhou Xiuying and Lin Fugui with a thud.
"Father, Mother, do you still have any money? Please save Xinglong."
As he spoke, Lin Youfu kowtowed several times to Zhou Xiuying and Lin Fugui.
Lin Fugui pulled Lin Youfu up, "Youfu, get up. How could your father and mother watch Xinglong die? Your father and mother really have no money right now. Wait for me, I'll go out and think of a way for you. As long as I can think of a way, as long as I can borrow some money, I'll take you to the hospital right away."
Lin Youfu had no other choice. "Father, I'll wait for your news."
"Go ahead, go to the hospital to be with Xinglong. I'll go out and think of a solution right away."
After sending Lin Youfu away, Lin Fugui found the gold chain that he had kept hidden for over forty years, wrapped it up again, and put it in his pocket.
"Damn it, I'm going out now."
Lin Fugui, his body hunched over, walked slowly toward the county town.
He walked slowly, and Lin Youfu went ahead, not even noticing that his father was following behind.
After tidying up at home, Lin Chuan drove the donkey cart to the county town.
As they approached the county town, he saw Lin Fugui staggering and swaying as he walked forward.
Lin Chuan knew that Lin Xinglong had been sent to the hospital in the middle of the night yesterday.
He originally thought that Wu Chunhua and the others would run out of money for medical treatment, but he didn't expect that they still had money.
He wondered, logically speaking, Lin Fugui should be at home taking care of Zhou Xiuying, so why did he run off to the county town?
If Lin Xinglong wasn't critically ill, then he must have something else important to do.
Lin Chuan thought it over in his mind, then drove the donkey cart past Lin Fugui.
Lin Fugui is old and feels exhausted from walking this long distance; his legs are stiff and his back hurts.
But then he looked again and saw that damned Lin Chuan driving his donkey cart past him without saying a word.
He said that Lin Qingyou was an ingrate, and Lin Chuan was even worse!
Before going to the ramen shop, Lin Chuan turned a corner to find Lei Yutang.
Lei Yutang greeted Lin Chuan warmly, "Brother, is there anything else we can do for you?"
"Come out with me."
The two got on the donkey cart, and Lin Chuan waited for Lin Fugui on the road.
Seeing Lin Fugui walking this way, he pointed in that direction and said, "Yutang, have you seen that old man? Keep an eye on him for me today, see where he goes and what he does, and tell me later."
"Don't worry, brother, I guarantee I'll complete the mission."
Lei Yutang jumped off the carriage as he spoke.
Lin Chuan suddenly remembered, "Oh right, if you're here before 3 p.m., come find me at the noodle shop. If you're here after 3 p.m., find Lin Wei and tell him what happened today. I'm going to Xuancheng after 3 p.m.
Lei Yutang said, "Alright, big brother, don't worry."
Lei Yutang then disappeared into the crowd and slowly caught up with Lin Fugui.
Lin Chuan didn't linger; he went to buy noodles and then went to a noodle shop.
To Lin Chuan's surprise, Lei Yutang arrived very quickly.
At 11 a.m., he came through the back door, washing his hands and helping with the shop while whispering in Lin Chuan's ear.
"Brother, the old man you asked me to follow went directly to the silversmith shop next to the department store."
Lin Chuan paused for a moment. "A silversmith shop?"
“Yes, the old man lingered in the silversmith’s shop for quite a while before coming out,” Lei Yutang continued. “After he came out, the old man went to the county hospital, to give money to yesterday… no, to give money to Lin Xinglong.”
Sending money?
Lin Chuan wondered, could Lin Fugui be rich?
"After I gave him the money, the old man left the county town. I saw that he was heading towards Yuquan Village, so I quickly went back to the silversmith's shop," Lei Yutang said. "Brother, the silversmith's shop owner said that the old man bought a gold chain from him. As soon as I heard this, I came to find you, brother."
Gold chain?
Lin Chuan's eyelids twitched.
Lin Fugui and Zhou Xiuying have a gold chain.
Could it be that he was right before?
"Big brother, second brother, I have to go out for a bit. You two can cover for me at noon. Thank you for your hard work."
Lin Chuan then hurriedly rushed to the silversmith shop next to the department store.
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