Ruan Tang: "What's going on next door? I heard it sounded like Vice Dean Zong's voice. Is her family having troubles lately?"
When the family members saw that Ruan Tang was not arrogant and wanted to hear gossip, they hurriedly told her what they knew.
Ever since Ma Gaoyang lost his job, he'd become a househusband, which was fine at first. But after Ma Gaoyang refused to give his wife's unborn child the surname Zong, the sounds of fighting and quarreling began to spread frequently in the Zong household.
In order to force Ma Gaoyang to obey, Vice President Zong made him do a lot of work every day. He was not allowed to sleep or see his wife until he finished it.
The neighborhood committee member was afraid that something might happen, so he came to the house to persuade them.
Vice President Zong looked like a victim and told people that she had her own reasons for doing so.
She would rather bear the stigma herself.
If her eldest grandson took Ma Gaoyang's surname, his status would be unclear. Also, Ma Gaoyang's status was not good. The higher-ups sympathized with him because he was young and helpless and did not punish him. However, they, the family, could not ignore this matter. They must be strict with themselves and use practical actions to spur Ma Gaoyang.
After these two hats were put on him, others dared not say anything for fear of being implicated.
After no one cared about Ma Gaoyang's affairs, Vice President Zong became even more harsh and even asked Ma Gaoyang to wash his own underwear.
Ma Gaoyang is also a stubborn person, but he refuses to give in when it comes to changing his surname.
Later, this matter reached the ears of Ma Gaoyang's relatives. She made a big fuss in the Zong family and even dragged Ma Gaoyang's wife from the hospital.
She was really arrogant. She pulled Ma Gaoyang's wife by her hair and dragged her all the way from the hospital to the Zong family, scolding the Zong family's daughter for mistreating her son.
Zhan Tingqi was furious and wanted his son to divorce, but Ma Gaoyang refused. He then asked his wife if it was her idea to change the child's surname.
His wife nodded, and Ma Gaoyang agreed without saying anything, then went back to work.
Zhan Tingqi wanted to make more trouble, but was driven away by Ma Gaoyang.
Ruan Tang frowned upon hearing this. "Ma Gaoyang has already agreed to change his surname, so why won't the Zong family just stop?"
The family members sneered, "Look, Ma Gaoyang is easy to bully, and he has no one to back him up, so they bully him as much as they want."
"His wife doesn't care?"
"Who cares? I was only dragged here that day. I've never been here before."
After a while, there was a sound of a door slamming next door.
"After all that trouble, that old hag definitely didn't leave any food for Gao Yang."
The wife of one of the old professors took out a large bowl from the kitchen. It was filled with rice and topped with neatly arranged vegetables, a combination of meat and vegetables.
The old professor's wife asked her grandson to bring food to Ma Gaoyang.
Turning to meet Ruan Tang's puzzled gaze, he explained, "A while ago, a swindler came and said he was a family member of a patient in the hospital. He had come a long way to see a doctor, but the national food coupons he had exchanged at home had run out. He wanted to exchange them for some food coupons in Beijing, otherwise the patient and his family would have nothing to eat.
This isn't uncommon in Beijing. With Xieyi Xie, many patients come to see him. There's also a lot of university students, and people often come to the family housing complex to exchange their tickets. As elderly people like us, we can't bear to see people cry, so we often exchange some for them.
That time was the same. That swindler was so hateful. It was almost summer and he was still wearing a thin cotton jacket. As soon as he saw us, he knelt down and begged us old guys to exchange some food coupons. We went into the house to get the coupons, but who would have thought that the swindler would break in and rob us. If Ma Gaoyang hadn't heard the cries for help from the next door and rushed over in time, no one would have known that we old guys were silenced.
Even so, when Lao Jin's wife was pushed to the ground, her hand was broken and she is still in the hospital.
Later, we would occasionally send some food to Ma Gaoyang. At first, he refused, but later we agreed that he would give us 10 yuan a month in exchange for our food.
Ruan Tang didn't expect that even though Ma Gaoyang was already unable to take care of himself, he was still willing to help others.
After Ruan Tang said goodbye to her family members, she went out and saw the children watching at the entrance of the alley.
Ma Gaoyang was sitting on the threshold of the Zong family, holding a bowl and trying hard to eat his meal.
After Ma Gaoyang finished the last bite, he burped contentedly and asked the children to collect the bowls. When he looked up, he saw Ruan Tang.
"Sister-in-law--" Ma Gaoyang shouted, and only after he finished shouting did he realize that he was not recognized at all.
"What do you want to do if you stay in the Zong family?"
Ma Gaoyang's eyes slowly turned red. "She is pregnant with my child. I have to stay in the Zong family and wait for the child to grow up..."
Ruan Tang was slightly stunned.
Ma Gaoyang like this gradually overlapped with Ji Nanfeng in his previous life.
"In three months, my child will be born. I will definitely teach him well, teach him to be patriotic and to be a good person."
Ruan Tang looked at Ma Gaoyang deeply and said, "If you run into trouble, come to my house and find someone."
Ma Gaoyang's eyes lit up, but then returned to silence in an instant. After nodding slightly, he watched Ruan Tang disappear around the corner of the alley.
He slowly stood up, staring at his palms bathed in sunlight. With such an identity, he would be monitored wherever he went. He should not bother the Ji family...
After Minister Ji got off work, Ruan Tang relayed Ma Gaoyang's situation to Minister Ji, who was silent for a long time.
Ma Gaoyang has to protect the Zong family and his children, and no one else can do anything.
"You did the right thing. We'll talk later."
The next day, Ruan Tang asked Professor Lao Jin about the address of his wife's hospitalization, and went to Xiehe Hospital with two cans of malted milk.
Professor Lao Jin's wife was flattered to see Ruan Tang coming. She had one hand in a plaster cast and was peeling an apple for Ruan Tang with the other hand.
Ruan Tang couldn't bear to let her suffer, so she helped the old lady sit back on the bed and took the apple and started peeling it.
Old Lady Jin looked at Ruan Tang with satisfaction. "Look at how evenly the apple skin is peeled! I heard my old man say that Dean Ruan's hands are used to holding a scalpel, saving lives and healing the wounded. What good deeds must I have done in my past life to deserve to eat an apple peeled by Dean Ruan himself..."
Even someone as thick-skinned as Ruan Tang blushed at the old lady's praise.
Ruan Tang blushed as she handed the apple to Mrs. Jin, who took a contented bite. "I've already told my husband not to tell anyone. I'm fine in the hospital all by myself, and I don't need anyone to take care of me. I'll be discharged in a few days, so don't worry about me..."
The old lady was in good spirits, and the other patients and their families in the ward were also very welcoming. Ruan Tang sat for a while and then came out.
The old lady walked Ruan Tang to the door and whispered, "Xiao Lu is my old man's student. He was very ambitious when he was studying. He was the deputy director ten years ago. He has superb medical skills. You can put your mind at ease with him treating my hand. Don't worry about me. I will be discharged in a few days."
Ruan Tang agreed, but paused when she passed the doctor's office.
After thinking about it, since I was already here, I decided to ask the old lady's attending physician how the patient was doing.
After all, if the fractures of the elderly are not treated properly, they will suffer in the future.
Ruan Tang asked the nurse and found out that the old lady's attending physician was Deputy Director Lu of the Orthopedics Department. He was a good doctor with good medical skills and patience, and many patients' families liked to see him.
As the old lady said, Deputy Director Lu had a good reputation, and Ruan Tang felt relieved.
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