After Xu Ningyan left yesterday, Gu Zhiyuan felt increasingly uncomfortable staying in the hospital.
Sun Zhou had something to do and couldn't stay at the hospital to take care of him around the clock, so he just ate a meal provided by a hospital staff member and left.
Coincidentally, a patient moved into the bed next to Xu Ningyan's shortly after she left.
The patient was alone, but there were three family members taking care of him. It turned out to be a family of four. The father was sick, and the mother was worried about leaving her two children at home, so she brought her two teenage sons to the hospital to take care of them.
Seeing that Sun Zhou was leaving and Gu Zhiyuan alone, the mother of the house was worried and offered to help look after Gu Zhiyuan, telling Sun Zhou to go about his business.
Sun Zhou didn't think much of it. At this time, it was common for people to lend a hand when they saw that the other was in trouble, so he agreed.
The eldest son looked to be seven or eight years old and could run errands, so they asked him to help Gu Zhiyuan by taking him to the toilet, fetching bathwater, and getting his meals.
There's not much work to do, and you don't need to look after the animals much. You get three cents a day.
Upon hearing this, the person in the next bed readily agreed, patting their chest and guaranteeing that they would be taken care of perfectly.
Sun Zhou then left with peace of mind.
But he was too complacent; the family in the next bed was no pushover.
They agreed to everything in front of Sun Zhou and even got the three cents, but things changed as soon as he left.
When the boy needed to use the restroom, he clumsily helped him to the toilet, disregarding his wound and dragging him along, almost tearing the wound open.
That's fine.
When it was time for dinner, Sun Zhou had left enough food coupons and money before he left. The food he brought back was half gone, the meat in the dishes had been picked out, and the dishes were all messy and unappetizing.
Even if Gu Zhiyuan wasn't a germaphobe, he still couldn't eat the food since it had been touched and the boy's mouth and hands were still covered in grease.
When the mothers of the two boys saw that Gu Zhiyuan wasn't eating, they started saying things like, "Since Gu Zhiyuan isn't eating, we can't waste food. We should be kind and help him finish it."
Before Gu Zhiyuan could agree, the youngest son of the family ran over, took the lunchbox, and ate it all, not even leaving the meat broth at the bottom of the lunchbox, which he licked clean with his tongue.
After finishing the meal, they simply rinsed the greasy lunchbox with water and left it on the table.
Gu Zhiyuan considered himself to be fairly shrewd and patient, and seeing that the family was indeed living in dire straits, he closed his eyes and endured it.
He could simply give the lunchbox to Sun Zhou or buy two brand new ones to compensate Xu Ningyan.
Unexpectedly, when evening came, he asked the eldest son of that family to fetch water for him to take a bath, which was perfunctory and sloppy.
After they finished cleaning him up, the family went too far, saying that they didn't bring a thermos, a porcelain basin, or towels, and offered to lend them to them since they didn't mind that Gu Zhiyuan had used them.
Gu Zhiyuan's face immediately darkened, and he flatly refused.
He could give the lunchbox to Sun Zhou, but he remembered that Xu Ningyan might have used the towel yesterday. He was already feeling uncomfortable, so how could he let anyone else touch it?
That family thought Gu Zhiyuan would be easy to talk to, but they ran into a snag.
The eldest son, enraged, started throwing things and threatening to take his anger out on a basin and a thermos.
Gu Zhiyuan simply said, "These are all brand new ones that I just bought yesterday. If they get damaged, I'll compensate you at the original price!"
The mother panicked, rushed over and slapped her eldest son twice, then cried and begged Gu Zhiyuan to be magnanimous and not to stoop to the level of a child...
The commotion alerted the nurses, who came over and immediately understood what was happening.
He immediately reprimanded the family.
Gu Zhiyuan then realized that this family was a repeat offender! The man in his family was in poor health, supposedly due to an injury he sustained while working at the factory, which was prone to relapse, requiring him to be hospitalized several times a year.
The factory reimburses medical expenses every year, as well as provide compensation for lost work time. We also eat at the hospital cafeteria, saving us the trouble of cooking at home, so the whole family lives in the hospital.
She started playing the victim, spreading rumors that her husband was injured while working for the government and developed a chronic illness, and that the family was living in poverty and couldn't even afford to eat.
Those who can afford hospital stays are mostly people with sufficient financial means, except for a small minority.
After listening to the woman's lament, everyone felt quite sympathetic.
They didn't receive much in cash, but they could still manage to share some food and drinks from one place or another, which gave them a taste of success.
It's even better and more filling than eating at home!
Therefore, it became a habit that when the man of the house got sick, the whole family would come to the hospital to stay and eat with the other patients.
If someone doesn't give them any, his two kids will stare intently at them while they eat. If they're a little shy, they can't resist that stare and will give them a little.
This family became a precedent, and many patients suffered losses at their hands, secretly complaining about it.
Gu Zhiyuan was so unlucky to run into such a thing.
Gu Zhiyuan is a person who doesn't like trouble, especially since this family is crammed into the ward, which is too noisy.
The woman even asked Gu Zhiyuan to squeeze in with her eldest son for a few nights.
Gu Zhiyuan could no longer stay in the hospital. He immediately and strongly demanded to be discharged!
Just then, Sun Zhou, still worried, went to the hospital again before dinner. After learning about the incident, he didn't dare to look at Gu Zhiyuan's face. He quickly went to complete the discharge procedures, got the medicine, packed his things, and picked up the person to take him to his place.
After resting for one night, the original plan was for Gu Zhiyuan to rest at his place for two days until his wounds were almost healed before returning home.
He received a notification that there was a lead on the two people who had run away yesterday. They were in the next county, and he needed to go there to confirm if they were the two people they were looking for. If so, he needed to bring them back.
On their way to the neighboring county, they happened to pass through Hongxing Commune, so Gu Zhiyuan simply asked Sun Zhou to take him along and bring him back.
It was almost noon when we arrived at the Tuanjie Brigade.
He didn't disturb anyone, and only had Sun Zhou help him back to the cowshed via a side path. He was lucky enough not to run into anyone from the brigade.
I grabbed a quick bite at noon, and seeing that the door to Xu Ningyan's little house was always closed, I didn't feel comfortable going over there.
He rested for a while longer, and only when he heard the noise outside did he open the door and come out.
Before leaving, he glanced at the small house where Xu Ningyan lived and saw Tiezhu, the youngest grandson of the brigade leader, coming out of the house. Xu Ningyan stood in front of the house and looked over.
Before he could react, he saw Tie Zhu stop in his tracks, look him up and down, and then run towards the brigade headquarters, shouting incoherently, "Grandpa, Grandpa, Comrade Gu who eloped with Aunt Siya is back too—"
What? Elopement?
Gu Zhiyuan thought he was hallucinating!
She turned to look at Xu Ningyan.
Xu Ningyan covered her face. "Why did you come back when this big shot was injured and wasn't properly recuperating in the hospital? She hasn't even had time to deal with the rumors yet!"
What should I do? Can I just pretend I didn't hear it?
Taking a deep breath, Xu Ningyan steeled herself and walked up to Gu Zhiyuan: "Comrade Gu, this is a long story—"
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