"Mom, now that this has happened, we need to get to the bottom of this. If we settle this privately, who will clear our names?"
"Heh, I was going to give you some face and settle this privately. But since that's the case, let's call the police." The head nurse got angry when she saw that Qin Xiaoyu was still being stubborn and gestured for a nurse to make a call.
"Wait, don't go." Qin Xiaoyu saw the fat woman trying to slip away and quickly went over to grab her.
"I need to get medicine for my dad, why can't I leave? I didn't steal anything," the fat woman said matter-of-factly.
“Our two families are sharing the same hospital room. If something goes wrong, you won’t be able to escape responsibility either. Of course you can’t leave. Even being a witness is your duty, isn’t it? Why are you leaving? Are you feeling guilty?” Qin Xiaoyu smiled coldly and dragged her into the inner room.
"Why would I feel guilty? The stuff isn't under my bed, really!" The fat woman twisted her waist and said nonchalantly.
"Then let's wait here. The police will come soon and take our fingerprints." Qin Xiaoyu smiled slightly.
"Why do you need to take fingerprints?" the fat woman asked, puzzled.
"The medicine bottle has fingerprints from everyone who handled it. Once we collect them and compare them, we can know how many people touched it. Mom, did you touch the medicine bottle?"
"No, I didn't touch it. I didn't even know there was a medicine bottle under the bed. I was just notified to pick up the medicine, and I ran out for a few minutes before coming back. When I came in, I saw them searching the house. That fat guy even said something about how poor people have no ambition!" Seeing that Qin Xiaoyu was calm and composed, Grandma Hanhan knew that everything was alright, so she stopped crying and became more confident.
"That's good. Then there won't be your fingerprints on the bottle, but there will be fingerprints that shouldn't be there, besides the nurses. That'll be interesting." Qin Xiaoyu smiled meaningfully, and the fat woman immediately broke out in a sweat.
"Anyone could grab fingerprints like that, so it's normal to have them. You see, what if I accidentally touch one..." She actually picked up a bottle, but Qin Xiaoyu was quick and used her foot to block the other bottles, preventing her from touching them.
"What are you doing? What do you want to do? Scared now? Too late!" Qin Xiaoyu blocked the medicine bottle. Everyone present was smart enough to understand, and a chorus of accusations erupted.
"Alright! Get out of here! You come back here! Stop embarrassing yourselves!" A furious roar came from the old man in the outer room who had never uttered a sound.
As expected of someone who had fought in wars, his shout was truly powerful. The onlookers scattered in all directions, the nurse was frightened and moved towards the door, and the fat woman slunk back to the outer room.
"Head Nurse, I called the police station, and they said we can handle those bottles of medicine ourselves. Should we contact the security department?" The nurse who made the call ran back and said with difficulty.
"Oh dear, wouldn't it be too easy for them to go to the security department? These petty thieves are used to stealing, who would dare to share a hospital room with them?" Hearing that she didn't need to go to the police station and therefore didn't need to have her fingerprints checked, the fat woman came back to life.
"If you don't want to share a room with them, then move out. There are three empty beds in the hallway," the head nurse said sternly, staring at the fat woman.
"What? Why should we move?" The fat woman exploded, jumping up and nearly slapping the head nurse on the nose, yelling, "You're bullying an old revolutionary! I'm calling the mayor for justice..."
"Get out of here right now and go home. I don't need you to serve me anymore. You'll drive me crazy. Get out!" the old man on the bed said again.
"Dad! Why are you siding with outsiders!"
"I'm so sorry everyone, I've failed as a parent." The old man kept his eyes closed, but tears were streaming down his face. Qin Xiaoyu felt a pang of sadness, exchanged a glance with the head nurse, and decided to let the matter drop.
"I'm sorry about what happened today. I know what to do next time," the head nurse said, apologizing to Qin Xiaoyu first.
"These things are hard to prevent. You only get to know people gradually after spending time with them, so don't take it to heart," Qin Xiaoyu comforted her.
"The old lady is having surgery tomorrow. I've had a nurse come over to explain the procedures. If you need anything, just come to me. You're really something, managing to handle her so well." The head nurse finally managed a smile.
The plump woman, devastated, covered her head with the blanket and hid on the sofa, crying. Grandma Hanhan tidied the room and, seeing her mother staring blankly, asked, "Mom, what do you want? Tell me."
"Give me more food! You're feeding me like a cat all day, starving me!" The wife glared at her, refusing to listen to reason.
"Eat?" Grandma Hanhan and Qin Xiaoyu were both surprised. These past two days, Madam had refused to eat a single bite unless they were strongly persuaded. Qin Xiaoyu had been worried that such a big commotion would upset Madam, but to her surprise, Madam's mood was unaffected, and she even took the initiative to ask for food.
Grandma Hanhan was busy making porridge, and Qin Xiaoyu quietly walked to the bedside of the lady.
"Sigh, after this fall, I was already resigned to my fate and thought I might as well just close my eyes and die. But after all the commotion you've caused today, I think it's good to be alive. Watching my granddaughter-in-law argue with people is more entertaining than watching TV." His wife was the type who couldn't say nice things properly, and Qin Xiaoyu couldn't help but chuckle.
"Then I'll truly be invincible! Madam, please follow Qing." As Qin Xiaoyu finished saying the words "invincible," a face flashed through her mind for some reason, and she quickly brought her thoughts back.
"Let the doctor perform the surgery properly; I want to live to be a hundred!" the wife exclaimed, perking up with renewed energy.
"Okay, we'll have the surgery tomorrow. You'll definitely get better. Live well and live to be a hundred!" Qin Xiaoyu nodded emphatically. Actually, she was just taking a gamble. It was such a small, trivial case that the police wouldn't even need to be called in. Besides, who knew how accurate fingerprint collection would be in the 1980s? She was just trying to bluff, but she didn't expect it to actually work.
She returned to the hairdressing school in a flash, and as soon as she entered, Master Wang led her to a classroom and locked the door from the inside.
"What's wrong?" Qin Xiaoyu knew something serious had happened.
"Qi Si sent someone over, saying he wants to invite you to dinner. What should we do? Maybe you should hide for a bit." Master Wang's palms were sweating with nervousness.
"They're here again? This is going to be difficult." Qin Xiaoyu was also unsure of herself. Last time, Zhou Yue scared them away, but now Zhou Yue is probably hiding in some remote mountain village, too busy to take care of herself.
"They're like a persistent ghost. I just chatted with them, thinking of using the New Year as an excuse to give them two hundred to get rid of them. But they don't want two or three hundred anymore; they want a year's worth of fees, three thousand six hundred. Where am I supposed to get that?"
"Three thousand six? Why don't they just rob us!" Qin Xiaoyu's anger flared up instantly.
Now she was truly at a loss. She had just paid the hospital bills and had no money left. Her family knew that she had savings, but with her injured and bedridden, surrounded by her children and grandchildren, they couldn't very well chase after her for her secret stash of money, could they? It would be too embarrassing to admit it. The whole family looked to Qin Xiaoyu, knowing she had money, but also knowing that her money was limited.
"Xiaoyu, you go back first and don't show your face. I'll coax the people away first. We can't confront them head-on." After saying that, Master Wang opened the door, looked around, and pushed Xiaoyu out the door.
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