A knock sounded, and Zhao Honghui and Xie Yuyao walked in.
"Honghui, is your leg alright?" Uncle Ning asked as soon as he saw him.
Zhao Honghui smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, everything is fine now."
His gaze shifted to the hospital bed, and he said in a deep voice, "I've already heard from Dr. Huo that once Yu Wenbo wakes up, only two people need to stay. The rest of you can go back first and have the captain arrange for caregivers. Two people will come in this afternoon to take over."
Uncle Ning said, "I'll stay. When you return to the commune, remember to drive the oxcart back."
He sympathized with the plight of the educated youth, and since they needed to go back to settle down, he voluntarily stayed.
Li Weidong expressed his gratitude and then told Chen Kai to go back first.
But Chen Kai said, "You are the leader of the educated youth team. We need you to go back and coordinate the arrangements. You should go back first."
Indeed, there was still a lot to do, so Li Weidong didn't refuse any longer. He looked at Xie Yuyao and asked, "What about you?"
I'll go back this afternoon.
Yu Wenbo's injuries were too severe, and he needed to absorb a lot of spiritual spring water to heal. However, Xie Yuyao was not comfortable leaving this miraculous water behind, so she decided to stay at the hospital first.
Zhao Honghui: "I'll also be there this afternoon. I'll have Huizi take you back first."
Soon after, Hui Zi, who had been sent to buy breakfast, returned from the hospital cafeteria with a large bag of food, including soy milk, fried dough sticks, and steamed buns.
Just as everyone finished eating, Yu Wenbo's eyelashes fluttered.
Chen Kai, who had been keeping an eye on him, was the first to notice and quickly pressed the call button.
Soon, several medical staff, led by Dr. Huo, walked in.
Dr. Huo walked to the bedside, leaned over to talk to Yu Wenbo, called his name, and asked him to open his eyes, close his eyes, and nod. Seeing that Yu Wenbo cooperated and responded, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Your consciousness is okay. You can drink water in two hours and eat in six hours. The anesthetic hasn't completely worn off yet, so the pain will get stronger and stronger. If you can't bear it, call the nurse for pain relief immediately."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
As soon as Dr. Huo and the other medical staff left, Li Weidong and Chen Kai immediately went over and called out Yu Wenbo's name.
Yu Wenbo was initially a little confused, but then he remembered the scene before he fainted, and he was so excited that he jumped up and tried to sit up.
But he couldn't move and could only manage to utter with difficulty, "I... am I still alive?"
"Yes, it's safe now."
"We're at the county hospital now. You just had surgery, so take good care of yourself and recover."
Li Weidong and Chen Kai took turns comforting him.
Upon learning of his predicament, Yu Wenbo was overcome with grief and choked out, "I have no money."
"Don't worry about the money for now. I'll apply for relief funds from higher authorities. Don't overthink it," Li Weidong quickly reassured him.
Once he calmed down, Li Weidong and the two commune members followed Huizi downstairs back to the commune.
Xie Yuyao tugged at Zhao Honghui's hand and pointed towards the door.
Once outside, Xie Yuyao asked, "Do you have any money left? I want to buy something."
"Yes, let's go together."
Zhao Honghui, who was familiar with the county hospital, first went to the payment window to prepay the medical expenses, and then went to the sales point with Xie Yuyao.
He first went to select fruits such as apples and bananas, and then bought daily necessities such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, and towels for Yu Wenbo.
Xie Yuyao then used her consciousness to enter the space and manipulate the heating of the spiritual spring water, and then selected a thermos and an enamel cup.
After returning to the hospital, Xie Yuyao told him to go back first, and she went directly to the water dispenser to get water.
But Zhao Honghui didn't want to leave first, saying, "I'll wait for you."
Xie Yuyao had no choice but to make him wait outside the boiler room, while she secretly filled all the heated spiritual spring water into a thermos.
When the two arrived at the ward door, they heard muffled, painful groans coming from inside, indicating that Yu Wenbo was in too much pain.
Zhao Honghui immediately reached out to stop Xie Yuyao, saying, "Don't go in, I'll be right out."
After saying that, he took the water bottle from Xie Yuyao's hand and told her to wait aside.
He led her a few steps away before opening the door and going inside.
Inside the room, Yu Wenbo gripped Chen Kai's arm tightly with both hands, his face contorted in pain. Uncle Ning paced back and forth nearby, anxious and at a loss for what to do.
As soon as the door opened, Uncle Ning said, "Honghui! Is there any way to relieve the pain?"
"Have you applied painkillers?" Zhao Honghui noticed that Yu Wenbo's endurance had clearly reached its limit.
"No! Yu, the educated youth, won't allow us to call a doctor!"
"I...I can still bear it," Yu Wenbo said through gritted teeth.
His body is so badly injured, and we don't even know where the money for treatment will come from. Every little bit we can save now is precious.
Even when the pain was unbearable, he refused to take painkillers and instead found a reason to comfort himself: being able to feel pain meant he was still alive, which was better than being dead.
If he were to die here, how could his parents bear the thought of their child being outlived?
Zhao Honghui quickly understood Yu Wenbo's concerns. He said nothing, put down his things, and walked out.
As soon as she closed the door, Xie Yuyao leaned over and whispered, "Is there any way to stop the pain?"
"I'll go get the nurse now."
Zhao Honghui didn't say much and went directly to the nurses' station to call for help.
Soon, two nurses came over and put Yu Wenbo on a pain pump.
In the ward, Yu Wenbo, tormented by pain to the point of being unable to speak clearly, struggled to resist taking medicine, repeatedly saying that he could still endure it.
Xie Yuyao felt extremely sad upon hearing this. If she could, she wished everyone could be healthy and not suffer from illness.
After the nurse finished attaching the device and left, Zhao Honghui also came out.
Xie Yuyao grabbed his arm tightly and pulled him to a secluded corner where no one was around.
"Have you ever been like this before?"
Looking at Xie Yuyao's tender eyes, Zhao Honghui wanted to say no, but the scars on his body couldn't lie.
A moment later, he opened his arms and gently embraced his lover, kissed her ear, and murmured, "It will never happen again."
Xie Yuyao shed two clear tears and hugged him tightly.
Indeed, it won't happen again, never again.
She would use the spiritual spring water to heal his body, so that he would be free from pain and enjoy good health and happiness.
*
A few hours earlier, when Yu Wenbo was being taken away, the other brigade cadres had just arrived. They watched helplessly as Yu Wenbo, seemingly lifeless, lay on the oxcart and drove away.
Please, please don't let anyone die!
The brigade leader shouted, "What are you standing there for? Go and organize two groups of people. One group should go and knock on Luo's door to warn the villagers to be careful of dangerous houses, especially those near the mountains, lest they be buried by landslides. The other group should go to the ruins of the educated youth compound to find things and move them to the brigade headquarters."
Upon hearing this, several brigade cadres snapped out of their daze and hurriedly turned around to call for help.
"Hurry to the educated youth compound to help, the buildings over there have collapsed!"
"What? The house collapsed? Quick! Something's happened! Grab a shovel and dig people out!"
The news spread like wildfire, and before dawn, the nearby residents all heard the commotion and rushed over.
Misled by the first family, they rushed over with shovels, rakes and other tools to dig up the people. They didn't know if the group of educated youth had been buried deep or if anyone had managed to escape.
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