"Hey, Chen Zhou, you're finally back! Go home and see your parents!"
As soon as Chen Zhou entered the village, someone noticed the four of them. Chen Zhou had grown up in this village, and even after going to middle school and moving to Yunhai City, the Chen family would return home every year to worship their ancestors.
Every household in this village lives together and knows each other. During the New Year and other festivals, neighbors who are on good terms will greet each other, so naturally everyone knows each other.
Seeing Chen Zhou return, Aunt Zhou, a plump middle-aged woman in her early forties or fifties, immediately shouted at him, "Chen Zhou, this is your wife's family, right? I heard from your parents that you were going to take your wife back to the village to worship your ancestors in the next couple of days. I didn't expect that your wife's belly would be so big just a few months after your divorce."
"Aunt Zhou, this is my wife's family, yes, but please tell me first, what happened to my parents? You just asked me to go home quickly. Did something happen to my parents?" Chen Zhou stepped forward quickly and asked hurriedly, his eyes unconsciously looking towards his home.
The village was littered with vast expanses of ruined buildings, even more so than the highway itself. Countless houses had collapsed into ruins. The main road through the village was completely filled with rubble. The concrete surface had been severely cracked by the earthquake, leaving dense, fine spider webs on the ground, creating a particularly desolate scene.
"Right, right! Look! I turned off somewhere else while I was talking."
Aunt Zhou slapped her lips twice and said anxiously, "Your parents were both injured in the earthquake. Your mom broke her left leg when the wall of your house fell down. Your dad was also hit on the head by a brick. Fortunately, your house was relatively strong and didn't collapse... Your parents are resting at home now. You should go back and see them!"
"Azhou, you'd better take your wife and your father-in-law and mother-in-law back to take a look. Your aunt Zhou and I still have to look through things here to see if we can find some clothes and quilts from the ruins of our home to keep warm. Otherwise, in such a cold day, your aunt Zhou, I and our two children will not be able to survive." A middle-aged man who was digging in the rubble next to Aunt Zhou straightened his aching waist, rubbed it, and waved to Chen Zhou who was standing aside.
"I understand. I'll go back right away!" Chen Zhou was anxious when he heard what the two said. He nodded quickly and ran home.
The news of his parents' injuries made Chen Zhou's mind a little confused. He ran and even forgot about Xu Rong and Xu Xiangguo, the couple who had been following him, and ran straight towards home.
Xu Rong was already pregnant, and Xu Xiangguo and his wife had been living a life of luxury over the years and were a bit older, so she couldn't catch up with Chen Zhou at all. She could only follow the man with a grim look on her face.
"Dad, look at him! Why is he like this? My belly is so big, but he still left me here alone. What does he mean?" If they hadn't come this far, Xu Rong would have been so angry that she wanted to quit!
"Okay, stop talking about this. I'll support you... Let's catch up with Chen Zhou first. We are unfamiliar with this place and it's not convenient." Xu Xiangguo's face was not very good, but compared to his daughter's temper that was always throwing tantrums, he could still understand Chen Zhou's anxiety at this time.
After all, anyone who hears that their parents are seriously injured and lying at home will probably become anxious like this.
Chen Zhou had made a lot of money running a company in Yunhai City over the years, and Liang Ping and Chen's father had renovated their house a few years ago. The Chen family was lucky during the earthquake; their house didn't collapse like the others in the village, but remained intact. However, the walls surrounding their house collapsed during the quake.
The first thing Chen Zhou saw when he returned home was the four-story building standing among a pile of ruins.
This familiar four-story building was right in front of him. Chen Zhou's eyes suddenly became moist. He rushed into the house to look for his parents. He saw that the house was dark and only a small room on the first floor was lit with candlelight. He rushed into that room.
Rushing into the room, Chen Zhou saw his mother lying on the bed, moaning in pain. His father, his head covered in blood, sat on the edge of the bed, holding a teacup and feeding his mother water.
"Mom! Dad! I'm back. How are you? Have you seen a doctor? Have you eaten dinner? Do you want me to find someone now?" Chen Zhou quickly rushed to his parents' side. Seeing how dirty and miserable they looked, he felt heartbroken.
"Son, you're back!" Liang Ping, who was still enduring the pain in her legs, suddenly felt like she had found support, and tears streamed down her face. "Your father and I were so worried that something might have happened to you on the highway! It's so great that you're back! By the way, turn around quickly so I can see if you're hurt."
"Mom, I'm fine. I wasn't injured on the way back! Have you and Dad seen a doctor? I'll go find Lao Huang and come over to help you." Although his father's forehead was wrapped in gauze and his mother's left leg was also bandaged, Chen Zhou felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife when he saw his mother sweating and wailing in pain.
These are the parents who raised him since he was a child!
"No need to go look for Old Huang. Many people were injured in this earthquake, and he's the only village doctor in the village. He's already treated me and your mother before, so there's no point in going to him now." Chen Jihong looked at his son and said, "Old Huang's skills aren't very good. He's only good at treating injuries from falls. Your mother's left leg was hit by a falling wall, and it's a comminuted fracture. If she needs treatment, she'll have to be sent to the county hospital. After all, the village's medical technology is still too poor. They don't even have the basic tools to treat fractures, so going there would be a waste of time."
Chen Jihong had already asked the village party secretary before. The earthquake broke out suddenly and many people were injured. There were nearly a hundred people injured in the entire Lixi Village alone. In addition, there were at least forty or fifty injured villagers buried underground.
Although there was no door-to-door census for their large group of people, Chen Jihong grew up in the village and knew the basic situation of the village very well. Moreover, he had been staying in the village for the past few days, so he knew the situation even more clearly.
Chen Jihong sighed. This time, even the village chief's family of five were buried underground, and their lives or deaths were unknown.
"Okay, I'll take my mom to the county hospital right now!" Chen Zhou said as he tried to pick up Liang Ping from the bed and walk out. His brows were serious, and his furrowed brows looked like they could pinch a fly to death.
However, before he could reach out to pick up Liang Ping, he was stopped by Chen Jihong next to him.
"You're usually fine, why are you so irritable today? I haven't even finished my words, and you're already taking your mom over?" Chen Jihong sighed and pulled his son's arm. "Where are your wife and your parents-in-law? Where are they? Why didn't I see them coming with us? ... I'm telling you, kid, even if you want to take your mom to the hospital now, you should at least tell your wife and your parents-in-law first. They're coming with us this time. We have to make arrangements for them before we can go to the hospital."
Compared with his own son, Chen Jihong is obviously more proficient in human relations. Before getting married, the couple already knew that the other party had an extraordinary family background. They were very interested in such a prominent relative.
Even for the sake of their son, the couple should treat their daughter-in-law and her family well, not to mention that their daughter-in-law is pregnant with the Chen family's grandson!
"When I entered the village, I heard Aunt Zhou and Uncle Zhou at the village entrance saying that you two were injured in the earthquake. I ran back in a hurry. They were following not far behind and should be here soon." Chen Zhou then remembered Xu Rong and Xu Xiangguo, the couple he had left behind before. Thinking of Xu Rong following him all the way with a big belly, he felt a little guilty in his heart.
But then he thought, if Xu Rong hadn't been clamoring to rest all the way, how could it have taken so long to get home after a two-hour journey?
What if his mother missed the best time for treatment due to untimely treatment, resulting in disability for the rest of her life... Chen Zhou's face turned ugly just thinking about it. The trace of guilt in his heart disappeared without a trace, leaving only full of worry and irritability.
"Chen Zhou, as a man, you actually left a pregnant woman like me on the street and went straight home! Are you still a man?! The baby in my belly is your Chen family's child!" After being left behind by her husband, Xu Rong's face looked ugly and she almost exploded!
Because it was too dark and most of the surrounding buildings collapsed in the earthquake, Xu Rong and Xu Xiangguo quickly lost track of Chen Zhou. They had to ask other people in the village before they found Chen Zhou's home.
When Xu Rong thought of those dirty bumpkins looking at her, she felt goosebumps all over her body!
"Stop making a fuss here! My father and mother were injured in the earthquake. I want to send them to the county hospital. You and your parents can stay at home for the time being. We can talk about other things after I come back tomorrow." Chen Zhou didn't want to quarrel with Xu Rong in front of his parents. He just wanted to explain everything clearly and then send his mother to the hospital.
But when Xu Rong heard this, she suddenly flew into a rage. She glared at Chen Zhou and shouted angrily, "How dare you leave me and my parents in this shabby house? Don't you know that after the earthquake, these are dangerous buildings? Maybe if there is a slight earthquake, my parents and I will be crushed under these dangerous buildings!"
"If you're worried that this house is dangerous, then you can find another place to live!" Chen Zhou frowned and pushed Xu Rong away, not wanting to argue with her anymore.
"No, you can't leave! You have to at least make arrangements for us to take your parents to the hospital! I don't want to live in such a dangerous house!" But Xu Rong stood in front of Chen Zhou, staring at him fiercely, not allowing him to leave.
"I'll tell you other things will be discussed when I get back. Can't you just make do with it for now?"
"No, I'm pregnant with your Chen family's child!"
"Don't be unreasonable!"
However, while the two were pulling and tugging at each other, Xu Rong lost her balance and fell to the ground!
Next second!
Xu Rong's screams suddenly rang out in the room! A stream of blood slowly flowed out from below her abdomen...
“Ah!!—It hurts! It hurts so much! My stomach hurts so much!”
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