Chapter 24 The New Neighbor Arrives
Hongri Machinery Factory Staff Hospital.
The sky was a clear, deep blue without a single cloud. Even though it was only morning, it already seemed like a scorching day ahead.
It was rush hour, and pedestrians were coming and going on the road. An elderly couple, wearing straw hats and with fresh mud on their feet, stood hesitating at the hospital entrance, leaving many muddy footprints on the ground.
"Did Shi Zi say Mei Hua is hospitalized here?"
The old man was slightly hunched over, his feet rubbing against the ground as he moved forward, leaving a long mud trail on the cement floor.
The old woman carried a bamboo basket in one hand and pushed up her straw hat with the other to look at the large red characters painted on the wall: "I only recognize the character for 'worker'; I don't recognize anything else written there."
The old man knew even less about reading than the old woman. He reached into his pocket to reach for his pipe, but found nothing. He coughed awkwardly twice and said, "Ask a passerby."
"Useless!" the old woman spat at the cowardly old man, though she herself was also very flustered.
Fortunately, Zuo Lingling had just finished dropping off her child and was walking over from the roadside when she saw the two elderly people lingering at the door. She kindly asked them a couple of questions.
"My daughter is hospitalized, and my husband and I have come to bring her some eggs for her postpartum care." The old woman lifted the cloth covering the basket.
A half-basket of fresh eggs lined with pig feed, and two pieces of brown sugar that smelled sweet.
"Hospitalized?" Zuo Lingling was puzzled. She hadn't heard of anyone being hospitalized when she got off work yesterday. It must have happened during the night shift. "Come in with me and ask. They must have checked in last night."
"Thank you, comrade."
Everyone in the hospital lobby seemed very busy.
The cleaning staff were mopping the floor when Aunt Jiang, who was looking down at the ground, suddenly straightened up and gestured for the others to come over: "This area needs mopping too. The director said to pour in more disinfectant."
The nurses at the nurses' station were all gathered in front of the cashier window, chatting animatedly, when gasps of surprise could be heard from time to time.
"What's wrong with me today!"
Zuo Lingling was very puzzled, and then led the elderly couple to the payment counter.
"Sister Duan."
Duan Yun was so engrossed in speaking that she didn't hear Zuo Lingling call out to her. Then she saw Duan Yun gesturing exaggeratedly with both hands: "Her legs are all bent like this, how pitiful is that?"
"Sister Duan."
Duan Yun finally heard the second voice, wiped the spittle that had excitedly sprayed from the corner of his mouth, and replied, "What is it, Doctor Zuo?"
"Was someone admitted to our hospital last night?"
"She came in the middle of the night; it was a difficult birth," Duan Yunhui said.
"The inpatient ward is over there; you'll see people as soon as you go in." Suppressing her excitement, Zuo Lingling pointed the way to the old man: "It's the one with the green door."
As soon as the elderly couple left, they immediately grabbed Duan Yun and started questioning him about what happened last night.
Duan Yun had said it no less than five times that morning, and when he described it again, he still spoke with great intonation, clearly still immersed in the afterglow of last night.
The elderly say that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, and yesterday they saved two lives!
"Now, every time I close my eyes, I see Director Chen holding that child in his arms." Duan Yun raised his hands as if to lift the child, his expression excited and satisfied: "That little life was saved in our hands."
"Where is Director Chen?" Zuo Lingling asked.
Duan Yun gestured towards the stairwell with his lip: "Dean's office."
"The hospital director was grinning from ear to ear. First there was pneumonia, then a difficult birth. Our hospital is sure to win an award at this year's awards ceremony," said Li Hongmei.
Once the hospital receives the Advanced Collective Award, not only will the entire hospital receive a bonus, but salaries might also be increased next year.
Last year, the transport team won the Advanced Collective Award, and I heard that the whole team received five catties of meat coupons, so they had a very prosperous New Year.
With such great benefits, which hospital wouldn't be happy!
"The dean and Director Chen have arrived."
As if on cue, Liu Baoguo appeared. Before Chen Yun even saw him, his confident voice echoed down the stairs. Chen Yun's most frequent response was simply, "Okay."
"OK."
Working 24 hours straight, plus an emergency call in the middle of the night, Chen Yun felt that every time she lifted her foot, her whole body ached.
Even if you can't hand over the reins, the dean will still keep you going and give you a pep talk.
"Director Chen, this year's award for outstanding team at our hospital depends on you. Keep up the selfless spirit of saving lives..."
Selfless dedication and advanced collectives have also become one without us even realizing it.
"Okay," Chen Yun replied without thinking, relying solely on muscle memory.
"Let's go check on the mother's condition now." Liu Baoguo stopped and looked at the cashier: "Dr. Zuo, you will take over today to take care of the mother and baby."
Liu Baoguo had already considered his successor, but in the end, he decided to hand it over to Zuo Lingling.
Although she didn't have any real talent or skills, at least she wouldn't act recklessly, and she admitted what she didn't know... much better than the other two who pretended to know everything.
Zuo Lingling steeled herself and walked over, following the dean into the ward.
"My plums are so unlucky."
In the ward, the old woman, after hearing something from Jiang Meihua, cursed God and then started wailing that her daughter hadn't married into a good family.
"Mom! I'm so lucky to be alive." Jiang Meihua reached out and grabbed her aunt's arm. "After surviving this ordeal, I've finally figured it out. From now on, no one can bully us."
"You're just as spineless as your father! I don't believe a person can change so easily."
That's because there hasn't been a sudden, drastic change... Chen Yun silently replied in his heart.
"mother!"
"Cough cough cough—" Liu Baoguo coughed a few times and symbolically raised his hand to knock on the door: "We've come to check on Comrade Jiang's recovery."
Jiang Meihua quickly sat up straight and took the child out of the quilt.
Liu Baoguo took the swaddled baby. The child had just finished feeding and was sleeping soundly, his rosy little mouth moving occasionally, which was incredibly cute.
"What a beautiful girl."
Chen Yun walked past Liu Baoguo to the woman in labor: "Is anything bothering you?" She then took out a stethoscope and put it to her ear: "Did you pass any gas this morning?"
Jiang Meihua answered each question, her gaze lingering on Chen Yun's face from beginning to end.
Yesterday, I was in so much pain that I was in a daze, and sweat was streaming into my eyes, so I didn't have a chance to see clearly whether the doctor who saved me was male or female.
When the nurse came to change the IV in the morning, she learned that the doctor's surname was Chen and that she was a young female doctor.
But she didn't expect Chen Yun to be so young, with fair and delicate skin, and quite pretty.
"The chicken at home can be stewed now; eat as much as you want." Chen Yun put away her stethoscope and smiled.
Jiang Meihua's physical condition is truly remarkable. After a night's rest, she looks like she has almost fully recovered.
Her face was even shinier than Chen Yun's; compared to Chen Yun, she looked more like a patient.
“If it weren’t for Dr. Chen, my daughter and I would have been gone yesterday.” Jiang Meihua suddenly grabbed Chen Yun’s hands and shook them vigorously. “I am so grateful to you.”
“This is what we should do.” Chen Yun was so dizzy from being shaken that her voice trembled slightly. “Have your husband come to my office tomorrow. I need to talk to him about the child.”
"Hmph!" The old woman snorted angrily, "Both my daughter and I are blind; the men we married are all good-for-nothings."
The old man turned his face away, his hat brim pulled low, and occasionally rubbed the ground with the sole of his shoe.
The original color of that terrazzo floor is no longer visible.
“Mother, Shizi is not a coward.” Jiang Meihua didn’t want her mother to look down on her husband, so she quickly argued, “If he hadn’t insisted on bringing me to the hospital yesterday, I would have been tortured to death by Mom and the midwife.”
Everyone knew about the trip to the hospital, but only the Xue family knew what happened at home.
When she woke up in the middle of the night yesterday, her sister-in-law quietly told her that she must tell everyone what her mother-in-law had done, so that Xue Dashi wouldn't be branded as unfilial.
Jiang Meihua is thoughtful; she figured things out quickly and had been pondering how to bring it up since morning.
And then... the opportunity came.
"My mom found a midwife from somewhere, she just touched around my belly and said it was a girl..."
I don't know if the midwife was talking nonsense or if she really had some skill, but she touched her lower body and said it was a girl.
Upon hearing those words, the mother-in-law's face immediately turned quite ugly. She pointed at Jiang Meihua's nose and cursed her as a jinx who would cause the Xue family line to end. She used every nasty thing she could to insult her.
Jiang Meihua was in so much pain from contractions that she had no time to care about the old woman jumping up and down and cursing.
All I know is that after it got completely dark, the midwife and the old woman came into the room and started to pry open her legs without saying a word.
Jiang Meihua was in excruciating pain, but she managed to call Xue Caihua into the house with all her might and asked her to go to the factory to find Xue Dashi, who was on the night shift.
When Xue Dashi returned and saw that something was wrong, he wanted to go to the duty room to ask someone to help take Jiang Meihua to the county hospital.
The neighbors said that given the current situation, it might not be possible to wait until they could go to the county hospital, and someone suggested trying the staff hospital.
Xue Dashi then removed the door panel and carried the person to the staff hospital.
"I'm lucky to be alive; Dr. Chen happened to be on duty at the hospital." At this point, Jiang Meihua grasped Chen Yun's hand with gratitude and shook it vigorously, saying, "I still have to thank Dr. Chen."
Losing so much blood yesterday, and still having this much strength... you must be in great shape!
Chen Yun was thinking in a daze.
Chen Yun couldn't remember what Liu Baoguo said afterward; she only felt as if her ears were covered by a veil, and she couldn't hear clearly.
All I know is that after the shift ended, I stumbled back to the dormitory.
When I opened my eyes again, I heard Ruanqiu and Li Huguo arguing next door. The two were debating who should go buy groceries.
"We agreed before we got married that you would cook, but you've already abandoned your responsibilities so soon after we got married!"
"You know how busy the security department has been these past few days. What's wrong with you buying groceries and cooking a meal?" Li Huguo's barely suppressed anger reached his ears through the thin wall.
Chen Yun rubbed her face and sat up.
"You're busy, but I'm not! I go to work and I earn a salary too," Ruanqiu yelled.
"Are we talking about who earns the salary? We're talking about whether we're busy or not."
"Then why should I buy groceries and cook? I don't know how anyway."
“Ruanqiu… I just got off work at noon today and only slept for three hours before you woke me up.” Li Huguo’s words were weak and feeble.
Chen Yun got out of bed to change her clothes, and then changed the sheets and duvet cover as well.
"You've slept enough after most of the day, haven't you? I'm not tired after a day of work!"
Chen Yun could almost picture Ruan Qiu's self-righteous expression.
"Fine! You're tired! I'll go buy groceries! I'll cook! I deserve to be exhausted!"
Bang--
The door was slammed shut.
Chen Yun opened the door, carrying dirty clothes.
"You...you're home!"
Ruanqiu, who had rushed into the corridor wanting to say a few more words, heard the door open, turned around and gave Chen Yun an awkward smile.
"I was on the night shift yesterday." Chen Yun's voice was still a little groggy. She turned to look at the sky and then carried the dirty clothes back into the house. "It was my first time working the night shift, and it exhausted me."
In her previous life, she was full of energy during so many night shifts, but she never expected that this time, she would be exhausted on her first night.
Next, we should incorporate strengthening physical training into our upcoming plans.
"Working the night shift must be so tiring!" Ruanqiu followed in and plopped down at the desk, fiddling with the lamp cord idly. "It's just sitting there and dozing off. It's nothing compared to working during the day."
"You want to ask if the security department is tired from working the night shift, right?" Chen Yun asked.
Ruanqiu did not answer.
Chen Yun piled the dirty clothes on the stool and sighed helplessly: "The security guards on night shift have to patrol the factory, and sometimes they have to go to the back mountain to chase wild boars. They might walk more than we do in three days. Do you think they're tired?"
"Why doesn't Li Huguo say that himself?"
"Then why don't you try to find out more? Even I, a doctor, know that wives shouldn't be more concerned about their husbands' work!"
The way Ruanqiu and Li Huguo got along reminded Chen Yun of a very apt description—one was willing to hit and the other was willing to be hit.
"I'll just cook tonight if necessary."
Even though Li Huguo was so angry he was practically fuming, he'll most likely be the one to bow his head and apologize when he comes back.
“Life isn’t about winning or losing.” Chen Yun picked up the basket by the door and put it on the table. When she lifted the blue cloth, she abruptly changed the subject: “I’ll eat here tonight. The patient’s family gave me some vegetables today, and they won’t keep.”
Chen Yun advised Ruanqiu to let go of her inexplicable pride and that the couple should be considerate of each other in their daily lives. She said this at least ten times.
But whenever Li Huguo bowed his head and admitted his mistake, Ruanqiu would only think that Chen Yun was making a mountain out of a molehill.
Since she couldn't persuade them, what was the point of continuing to talk? From then on, Chen Yun only listened to the couple's arguments as background noise.
"If it weren't for Li Huguo, would I have bothered coming from the city to support the Third Front?"
With his back to Rina Ruanqiu, Chen Yun sighed silently... He had said it all for nothing!
Ruanqiu grew angrier the more she thought about it, and she even increased the force with which she snapped the light cord: "Others don't work overtime and their salaries are higher than his, but he works overtime every day. Why doesn't he learn from others and study more?"
Chen Yun paused, keenly sensing that Ruan Qiu's words had a hidden meaning.
"Who makes you envious of those who have such high-paying jobs?"
"Our new deputy director in the finance office is only 27 years old and he has already become the director, but he is still receiving the salary of a third-level cadre."
Chen Yun glanced back.
Ruanqiu unconsciously twirled the light cord with her fingers, her lips curled up in a wide smile, seemingly unaware of what she was saying.
“There are plenty of promising young men in the factory.” Chen Yun emphasized, then beckoned to Ruan Qiu, “Help me pick the vegetables.”
Ruanqiu reluctantly sat down at the table.
Chen Yun continued, "When the factory director heard that the principal of the primary school was going to be replaced, he even made a special trip to the provincial capital to invite him. He's young, unmarried, and a Party member... You can imagine how happy the women in our factory are."
Ruanqiu pouted but didn't say anything.
“What does it matter to us how outstanding you are? You can’t just divorce Comrade Li Huguo and get together with someone else!” Chen Yun emphasized the word “divorce”: “Wouldn’t that make you a Chen Shimei (a notorious figure in Chinese folklore known for abandoning his wife)?”
Chen Yun wasn't worried even if the couple argued fiercely, but what if one of them had some ulterior motive...
"What are you thinking!" Ruanqiu threw the vegetable root in front of Chen Yun, both amused and exasperated. "I'm a married woman. If anyone's going to change partners, it's you. We'll have to see if our Captain Gao agrees."
"disagree."
Suddenly, Gao Ming appeared at the door and answered the question directly.
"That depends on Comrade Gao's performance." Chen Yun smiled, and as soon as she put down the dishes in her hand, Gao Ming immediately took them: "Please rest assured, Comrade Chen, I will definitely do my best."
"Knowing Gao Ming for several years has been a waste of time," Ruan Qiu said, patting the mud off her hands and standing up. "I'd better go find my Li Huguo."
"I heard you helped a pregnant woman in difficult labor during your night shift yesterday?"
"You're really well-informed."
"The news has even reached our transport team." Gao Ming looked even happier than if he had been praised himself, grinning foolishly with his big white teeth: "From now on, everyone will know that my boyfriend is a great doctor."
"It's all work, just different in nature." Chen Yun raised her eyes and glanced at Gao Ming, who was just grinning foolishly. "But you, I heard that the people you rescued in the provincial capital last time called the factory to thank you."
Chen Yun accepted the thank-you gift given to her at the time, but she never expected there would be any follow-up.
"That's what Su Weiming said, right?" Gao Ming knew without a doubt that it must have been Su Weiming's girlfriend who said it.
The young couple now completely accept Chen Yun as their sister-in-law, and they're quick to report any suspicious activity to her.
"You know you can't hide it, yet you still won't tell the truth." Chen Yun mimicked Ruan Qiu, tossing a vegetable root at him: "If you dare to lie, you can forget about dinner tonight!"
Gao Ming chuckled and accepted the offer, then quickly confessed honestly: "The old lady's eldest son works in the military. He heard I was a demobilized soldier and wanted to introduce me to a job as a way of repaying him, but I refused."
The whole thing was indeed brilliant, but he skipped over some minor details that he felt were unimportant.
For example, it turns out that the old lady's granddaughter has a crush on Gao Ming and keeps pestering her father to help her get her crush transferred back to the city.
The old lady's son's phone call was ostensibly because he couldn't resist his daughter's offer of help, but in reality, he had repeatedly expressed his desire to avoid any mention of abusing his power.
Gao Ming directly told him that he was already engaged, and before he could even refuse the job offer, the other party hung up the phone.
Before the call ended, he heard a girl on the other end of the line howling in a very unpleasant voice.
None of the above matters, so Gao Ming felt there was no need to tell Chen Yun.
"Let's talk about your rescue of the female comrade. These dishes were sent by her family, right?"
Two bunches of vibrant green bok choy, clearly freshly picked, are nothing like the wilted, yellowed vegetables at the market.
"There are also eggs." Chen Yun pointed to the ten eggs in the basket at his feet.
I can't help but laugh when I think back to the scene of Jiang Meihua's mother giving me eggs.
Originally, I was planning to simply hand the basket to Chen Yun as a token of my gratitude.
Later, feeling that there were too many eggs, he secretly took some and put them in the lunchbox while Chen Yun and Jiang Meihua were talking. He took them three times in a row, and finally gave them away with satisfaction and gratitude.
Chen Yun asked Liu Baoguo for permission before accepting the eggs and vegetables.
"They'd probably have to secretly save up for half a month to get ten eggs."
Chen Yun's vivid expression amused Gao Ming for a while, and finally he honestly told the old lady the truth.
Chen Yun felt a little proud, then blinked and said, "You don't need to tell me! Before I left work, I returned a pound of meat coupons to the old lady so that Jiang Meihua could buy some meat to replenish her body."
"I'm tired from last night, I'll cook dinner tonight."
“You wash the vegetables and I’ll cook them. Driving all day isn’t any easier than me.” Chen Yun stood up and cleared the vegetable scraps off the table.
"Um?"
Just as Chen Yun was wondering why his wrist was suddenly grabbed, Gao Ming sighed softly, "Li Huguo and Ruanqiu are arguing again."
A moment later, the sound of the two arguing indeed drifted over.
The argument started because Li Huguo forgot to bring money when he went out to buy groceries, and Ruanqiu, who was looking for him, also didn't bring any money.
The two argued all the way from the vegetable market, and when they got back to their apartment building, they argued even more fiercely because they were helping someone move.
"He's a grown man, does he really need your help!"
"We're all colleagues, what's wrong with helping each other out when we happen to be together! You're so petty!"
"Everyone else said they didn't need help, but you insisted on helping!"
Gao Ming sighed helplessly, "I'll go take a look."
The old saying goes that a beating is a sign of affection and a scolding is a sign of love, but if two-thirds of things in a marriage start and end with arguments, how long can the relationship last?
In her previous life, Chen Yun had both parents and a happy family, but it wasn't a truly complete and happy family.
Her parents announced their divorce the day after she finished her college entrance exams. After that, they each started their own families, even though they both loved Chen Yun very much.
Before their divorce, the two argued constantly, one every three days and the other every two days. Even the best relationship eventually becomes tiresome.
Gao Ming, outside, earnestly advised the two to talk things out, while Chen Yun, inside, was cleaning up the trash.
Until she heard a name.
Yang Hua... the deputy director who was recently transferred to the finance office.
Young and promising, earning the salary of a third-level cadre at the age of twenty-seven—countless adjectives combined ultimately form the phrase "highly sought-after."
"Is Li Huguo just looking for trouble? How am I supposed to face people in the office now?"
Ruanqiu practically shouted out her innermost thoughts, feeling increasingly aggrieved as she spoke, her eyes reddening and on the verge of tears.
"..."
“You refused to let Comrade Ruanqiu help you in front of others, which was indeed a problematic approach,” Gao Ming said frankly.
Even if you're unhappy, you can't say it in front of your boss. It's awkward if you two have to work together in the office for years and see each other all the time.
Chen Yun nodded in agreement.
However, something even more embarrassing was yet to come. Just as Ruanqiu finished yelling and was stamping her feet in frustration, about to cry, the person in question... appeared.
A young man with a narrow face and pale skin, looking frail and weak, stood awkwardly at the top of the stairs.
Yang Hua pushed his glasses up his nose, unsure whether to greet Ruan Qiu or step back and pretend he hadn't heard her.
It was clear that retreating was out of the question, and his wife asked curiously from behind, "Why aren't you moving?"
"..."
"Yang... Deputy Director Yang." Ruanqiu's awkward smile looked like she was wearing a stiff mask.
"Hello." Yang Hua smiled and quickly introduced himself: "My name is Yang Hua, and this is my wife, Yu Jing."
Li Huguo was suddenly added to the list of awkward people.
Of course, Ruanqiu had also mentioned Yang Hua to him, praising him quite a bit in her words, which made Li Huguo feel very envious.
Li Huguo glanced at Ruanqiu, then quickly put on a smile and took the initiative to shake hands with Yang Hua: "Hello, Deputy Director Yang, I'm sorry to have made you laugh... I was arguing with my wife just now and lost my mind for a moment."
"Don't be so polite," Yang Hua said with a smile. "We'll be neighbors from now on, so we'll stay in room number thirteen."
Yu Jing, being quite understanding, stepped in to ease the tension: "We just moved here today, come to my house for dinner tonight."
Chen Yun stood by the door, her gaze fixed on Yang Hua and his wife.
While jokingly patting Yang Hua's arm, Yu Jing suddenly pulled back halfway, patting only the air.
These two... they don't seem to know each other well.
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