"Auntie, it's alright, I'm not thirsty at all. Please don't call me boss anymore, just call me Xiao Wang. I came here today to tell you that your son has been sent by our company to another city to move goods. Because it's quite far, he might not be able to come back for a while." Wang Shen carefully wove his lie, hoping to give this already broken family a last bit of comfort.
"Huh? How far is it?" The old woman was a little nervous after hearing Wang Shen's words.
“Beijing isn’t that far away. I’ll be back in a few days,” Wang Shen reassured him patiently.
A hint of doubt still lingered on the old woman's face, but at that moment, the child's cries grew louder. The old woman immediately went back to the bedside and began to comfort her granddaughter. She gently patted her granddaughter's back, trying to soothe her. However, the effect wasn't very good; the granddaughter's cries rose and fell, and she kept calling for her father. Occasionally, the child would cry out, "It hurts!" Tears welled up in the old woman's eyes; she held her granddaughter in one arm and wiped away her own tears with the other.
"Sir, I'm so sorry, you must have seen this embarrassing scene." The old woman looked at Wang Shen with remorse. "This child has such a hard life. He lost his mother when he was young and then got leukemia. What terrible things did our family do in our past lives?"
Wang Shen stood up from his chair, took out his wallet, and pulled out five hundred yuan. "Auntie, please take this money first," Wang Shen said, stuffing the money into the old woman's hand.
"What is this?" The old woman looked at Wang Shen, clutching the money.
"This is part of your son's travel expenses for his business trip. Because the mission was assigned so urgently, he didn't have time to give him the money, so I had to bring it to you myself." Wang Shen looked at the grandmother and granddaughter in front of him. The grandmother was trying her best to comfort her granddaughter in her arms, and the granddaughter's crying seemed less sorrowful. "Then I won't bother you any longer." Wang Shen suddenly turned his head, closed his eyes slightly, and prepared to get up and take his leave.
The old woman had intended to get up to see him off, but Wang Shen quickly waved her off. Wang Shen opened the dilapidated door in front of him and his eyes widened when he saw the person standing outside. Xu Xiaolin was about to knock when Wang Shen opened the door. The two women stared at each other in surprise. Wang Shen's gaze suddenly turned cold, and his look at Xu Xiaolin changed. This look carried a mixture of scrutiny, doubt, and anger.
"How could you..."
"It's Writer Xu! Please come in! Please come in!" Before Wang Shen could finish speaking, the old woman suddenly appeared beside him, calling out to Xu Xiaolin familiarly. Judging from the situation, the two seemed to have known each other for a long time. The old woman slightly stepped aside, making way for Xu Xiaolin.
Xu Xiaolin entered the room and placed the fruit and nutritional supplements she was carrying beside the bed. She took a toy doll from a plastic bag and shook it in front of the crying child. While shaking the doll, she sang a nursery rhyme. Wang Shen was captivated by Xu Xiaolin's magnetic voice. Even more miraculously, the crying child finally stopped, took the toy doll from Xu Xiaolin, and smiled. After playing with the child for a while, Xu Xiaolin straightened up and looked at Wang Shen.
"Oh! Look at me, I forgot to introduce him. This is my son's boss at the transportation company." The old woman gently patted her head and introduced Wang Shen to Xu Xiaolin.
"Leader?" Xu Xiaolin looked at Wang Shen and smiled.
"Yes. My son went on a long business trip, and his boss even sent me his travel expenses." The old woman showed Xu Xiaolin the five hundred yuan she was holding in her hand.
"Auntie, please keep this money. Oh, and this too." Xu Xiaolin opened her wallet, took out five hundred yuan, and stuffed it into the old woman's hand.
"I can't accept this, I can't accept it." The old woman immediately tried to stuff the money back into Xu Xiaolin's hand. "Writer Xu, you have already helped us a lot, I can't take your money anymore."
“Auntie, it’s alright. This is the children’s relief fund. Please take it.” Xu Xiaolin curled the old woman’s hand and then gently patted the old woman’s fingers.
The old woman couldn't hold back her tears.
"Auntie, don't worry, the child's illness will definitely be cured," Xu Xiaolin comforted her. "I have some things to take care of today, so I won't bother you any longer."
After saying that, Xu Xiaolin glanced at Wang Shen, and the two of them left the driver's rented room almost at the same time.
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