Over the past two days, Shen Zishan has systematically handed over all his work one by one.
After everything settled down, he successfully received his monthly wage of 32 yuan.
Not only that, he also successfully resold the job for 800 yuan, but kept 200 yuan of it with the director.
As night fell that day, Shen Zishan did not return home as usual.
Ma Aning, who had been closely following the developments, knew very well that the real show was about to begin.
For the past two days, Shen Xiaoxiao has been in a state of alternating wakefulness and sleep. Although she is still in a daze, she has roughly grasped the outline of the matter through the words and expressions of the adults around her.
At this moment, Ma Aning felt an overwhelming surge of excitement, an emotion that even reached her unborn child.
Shen Xiaoxiao sensed her mother's feelings and happily stretched out her little hands and feet in the warm womb, as if she was also cheering for what was about to happen.
Ma Aning gently stroked her high, swollen belly and whispered, "Baby, Mommy is going to put on a wonderful show in a little while. You have to be a good girl in Mommy's tummy, okay? Don't be afraid."
As usual, Ma Aning patiently waited for all her family members to return from work.
Normally, everyone would wait until Shen Zishan returned home before sitting down together at the table for dinner.
However, today's situation was somewhat unusual; no matter how long they waited, Shen Zishan never appeared.
At this moment, the head of the household broke the silence with a heavy voice: "Let's not wait any longer, let's eat first! Perhaps there's some urgent business at the factory that's keeping him occupied."
Hearing their father say this, the family members, who were already starving, picked up their bowls and chopsticks and prepared to eat.
Ma Aning tried to speak several times, but ultimately held back and silently picked up her bowl and chopsticks to join in the eating.
She seemed to be chewing her food slowly and deliberately, but in reality, she ate very quickly, and before long, the whole bowl of brown rice was empty.
I had just put down my chopsticks when I heard hurried footsteps outside.
Everyone heard it and looked towards the door.
The village chief rushed in with a young man in a great hurry.
"Oh no, something terrible has happened! Your third son has had an accident at the factory, and he's already injured and hospitalized!"
The village chief ran breathlessly, shouting at the top of his lungs. Villagers who were eating at home followed him in twos and threes to the Shen family's door.
Upon hearing this, Zhong, who had been sitting steadily in his chair, suddenly stood up as if struck by lightning, his face filled with astonishment and anxiety.
"Village chief, what did you just say? My third son was injured at the factory? What happened? How serious is his injury? Where is he injured?"
Upon hearing this news, Ma Aning's face turned deathly pale. She staggered towards the village chief, her voice trembling as she asked, "Uncle Village Chief, how is my brother Shan? You have to tell us the truth!"
Seeing Ma Aning on the verge of tears, the village chief felt a pang of pity and quickly turned to the man who had come to deliver the message, saying, "Young man, was it you who was called here to deliver the message, or would you like to tell them the details?"
The man quickly replied, "I'm just a small, ordinary employee in the factory. The director told me to come and inform you that Shen Zishan is injured and hospitalized, and needs his family to come and take care of him."
"Okay, I'll go to the hospital with you right now!"
After speaking, Ma Aning turned and walked towards the room. Although she was about to give birth, she moved very quickly.
In no time, she packed a few changes of her own clothes and Shen Zishan's clothes from inside the house, and then hurriedly ran out.
However, just as she reached the door, Ma Aning suddenly stopped and turned back to her father, who looked heavy-hearted and helpless, saying, "Dad, I don't have a single penny on me. Shan-ge gives all his monthly earnings to the family for common use, so we don't have any money left..."
The implication is self-evident.
With a heavy frown, he glared at Qian Danu in front of him, his tone somewhat urgent: "Stop dawdling! Give me the money right now, I need to go to town with my third daughter-in-law to take a look."
Qian Danu's eyes darted around, avoiding eye contact with the man, and she muttered, "Where would I get any money? The expenses in this household are huge every month, we've been living beyond our means for a long time, we really have no money left."
He was a man who cared a lot about his reputation. Now, in front of the village chief and many villagers, his wife refused to give him a single penny. This made him feel extremely embarrassed, his face burning red and then pale.
Upon seeing this, the surrounding villagers began to whisper and murmur among themselves.
His already heavy expression grew even darker. He stared intently at Qian Danu and urged her again, "Hurry up and get the money!"
Qian Danu trembled at the sight of his heavy, fierce gaze. Though unwilling, she was afraid of angering him, so she could only slowly move into the room.
After a long while, she came out clutching the crumpled 30 yuan, her face full of displeasure.
Without even mentioning that she wanted to go with them to see her injured third son, she shoved the money into her heavy hand, turned around, and quickly walked into the room, slamming the door shut.
A heavy feeling of anger welled up inside him, but he couldn't let it out.
He suppressed his anger, not even bothering to check how much money he had, and casually stuffed it into his pocket before striding out the door.
Ma Aning carefully supported her high, protruding belly and followed closely behind.
The village chief had instructed Old Man Shen to harness the oxcart long ago, and it was now parked outside the gate, quietly waiting for everyone.
Before long, several figures boarded the simple oxcart one after another.
Although everyone was anxious, considering that there was a pregnant woman eight months along on the cart, Old Man Shen, who was driving, tried his best to control the speed and make the oxcart move forward smoothly and slowly.
Time flies, and they soon arrived at the hospital entrance.
As soon as they got out of the car, everyone hurriedly asked a few questions and rushed to the ward.
Upon entering the ward, everyone's eyes immediately focused on the man lying on the hospital bed with his legs in a high sling and thick plaster casts—he was none other than Shen Zishan, the third son of the Shen family.
He was the first to rush forward, his face full of concern as he asked, "San'er, what happened? How did you get so badly injured?" His words were full of worry and heartache.
Shen Zishan looked annoyed and guilty, and answered softly with his head down, "Father, it's all my fault for being careless! I was so focused on working that I didn't see the obstacle in front of me. By the time I realized it, it was too late to avoid it, and I crashed into it."
"As a result, not only did I break the machine, but I also ended up like this..." He couldn't help but sigh heavily as he said this.
Hearing this, Zhong Shen's heart tightened, and he quickly asked, "The machine is broken, what should we do? Do we need to compensate them?"
His voice trembled noticeably, and fine beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead.
Shen Zishan shook his head and said helplessly, "I don't know the specifics. After I got injured, everyone rushed me here. But in my opinion, I'll most likely have to pay compensation..."
After he finished speaking, he lowered his head even further, as if he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
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