That evening, both Wu Yuanyuan and Bu Ling were in low spirits and went home in silence.
When she got home, seeing that Aunt Wu had already returned, Buling hurried over and asked, "Aunt Wu, how is Congcong? Has his fever gone down?"
Wu Yuanyuan watched anxiously; the child was so young, and no one could bear to see him suffer such a fate.
Aunt Wu's expression wasn't very relaxed: "It went down, but the fever came back up right away."
What did the doctor say?
Aunt Wu sighed, "The doctor said the child needs to be hospitalized for the next few days so they can treat him promptly if anything goes wrong. For now, we won't use any medication." Doctors wouldn't choose to give a child strong medicine unless absolutely necessary.
Bling frowned. "So you mean we're still not out of danger?"
Aunt Wu nodded: "Your Aunt Zhao is with her there. She won't be back tonight. I'll go check on her again tomorrow."
"Aunt Wu, we can help too."
"What do you young people know? We're enough. Don't let this interfere with your work."
"Aunt Wu, please let me know if you need any help."
Aunt Wu waved her hand and continued cooking.
Seeing this, Bu Ling didn't disturb her. She greeted Wu Yuanyuan, pushed her bicycle back into the house, and, too lazy to cook, simply made herself a cup of brown sugar water, ate a few biscuits and rice cakes for dinner, and then sat by the window reading comic books.
As darkness fell completely, the factory workers all went home, and a flurry of noise erupted from their homes once more.
After waiting for a while, Grandpa Wu came out, holding a gong in his hand. He struck it twice with great force, and the sound carried far.
Immediately afterward, Buling saw that everyone was coming out, even the backyards. Buling quickly followed and squeezed next to Wu Yuanyuan: "What's wrong?"
Wu Yuanyuan gave her a wink, signaling her to look.
Bling followed her gaze
Grandpa Wu moved a stool, stood on a higher spot, and once everyone was present, he cleared his throat and said, "Quiet!"
The crowd stirred briefly before quieting down.
"You all know about what happened to Tian Meizi this morning. Her child will have to stay in the hospital for who knows how long. It's not easy for Tian Meizi to raise her child alone. My idea is that we should lend a hand. Those who have people can help, and those who have money can contribute some. We're all neighbors, and we should do our part when someone is in trouble."
After Grandpa Wu finished speaking, Grandpa Qian was the first to respond: "You're right, we're all neighbors, I'll donate twenty yuan!"
Bu Ling was astonished; this was quite a generous gesture. She hadn't expected Grandpa Qian to be so wealthy.
Grandpa Wu nodded and said, "Everyone should do what they can afford, and we shouldn't force anyone." After saying that, he took out ten yuan himself, "My family isn't well-off either, so I'll just give you ten yuan."
He had originally prepared five yuan, which wasn't a small amount, but Grandpa Qian's sudden move left him speechless, so he had to add another five yuan at the last minute.
Uncle Tie from the backyard chimed in, "Ten yuan too." He was the most worried; those were the orphans of martyrs. He thought the amount was a bit small, and decided to tell his wife another day to prepare more money.
Old Mrs. Zheng from the backyard, who wasn't very noticeable, also donated ten yuan this time. Then came Aunt Lan, who shyly handed a wad of money to Grandpa Wu: "My family isn't well-off, so please don't mind these three yuan, Lao Tian."
After saying that, she glanced at the money with a pained expression, then immediately turned and left. She was afraid that if she didn't leave, she might try to take it back.
The older generation, except for Aunt Shen, all donated.
Then came the younger generation. Qian Xinglai, the eldest son of the Qian family, stepped forward at his father's prompting: "Well, my family has many children, so it's just two yuan. Please tell Aunt Tian not to mind."
Qian Xingliang, the second son of the Qian family, followed suit, also earning two yuan.
Yu Dabao and his wife, Sister Mo, also had two yuan.
Brother Wu only donated one yuan, and Sister-in-law Lu still had a long face.
Then came the two sons of the Wang family, each donating one yuan. Jiang Nian donated two yuan, while Jiang Sheng, at Widow Liu's prompting, donated five yuan.
We are both widows, so it's just a case of feeling sorry for each other.
Oh, you mean Jiang Sheng? He's nothing!
Finally, among those who were still unmarried, Wu Yuanyuan took the lead and donated one yuan.
Buling, Sangshen, and Tiehe followed suit. Actually, donations are usually made by family, rarely by individual; it mainly depends on personal connections.
This shows that Aunt Tian was well-liked in the compound; everyone except Aunt Shen donated, and Uncle Wu counted the donated money in front of everyone.
"It's a total of seventy-three yuan. I've already had Yuanyuan write down all the money everyone donated. Don't worry, I, Lao Wu, will absolutely not keep a single penny."
"Alright, it's getting late, everyone's had a long day, let's get some rest." Grandpa Wu said, getting downstairs.
Upon seeing this, Wu Yuanyuan immediately stepped forward to help her up, while Brother Wu remained unmoved, still trying to comfort Sister-in-law Lu.
Before entering the house, Grandpa Wu remembered something: "Xiao Sang, your aunt brought back the lunchbox you borrowed this morning and washed it. Come and get it, and return it to her tomorrow."
Sangshen glanced at the little black girl and said, "Okay, Uncle Wu." He turned and followed Uncle Wu into the house, quickly returning with two lunchboxes.
After thinking for a moment, he walked towards the main house.
I knocked on the door, stepped back, and saw Bling sitting at the table reading a comic book. "Bling, have you eaten?"
"I've eaten, what about you?"
Mulberry shook her head: "I haven't yet. I wasn't planning on coming back to eat with you, but you didn't wait for me."
Bling, distracted by his words, explained, "I only ate a few cookies, I didn't cook at all. If you want some, I can make it for you?" She made a move to get up.
"Come on, with your cooking skills, what's there to crave? Just tell me what you want to eat, and I'll make it for you."
Buling wasn't annoyed and sat back down: "I'm fine with anything, just make less, I'm not very hungry."
Mulberry nodded and rummaged through the cupboard. "There's still some flour left. I'll make some tomato dumpling soup; it'll keep you warm."
He took another egg and started mixing the lumps.
Buling glanced at the handsome young man skillfully cooking, smiled, said nothing, and lowered her head to continue reading her comic book.
Speaking of comic books, she's recently developed a new business in the compound: renting them out to the kids. Because of this, her relationship with the neighborhood's mischievous children has improved dramatically; even the two Wang family kids call her "Sister Buling" all the time.
Moreover, the business was quite good; she didn't charge much, just one cent for two books, but they couldn't be damaged. If they were, she would have to pay for them.
Although the adults in the courtyard had their complaints, thinking that Buling was stingy for charging money to read a children's book, the children were happy to oblige.
Actually, Bling wasn't mainly in it for the money; she just couldn't appear too generous. Besides, what if she didn't charge them and they got damaged? These were her precious intellectual nourishment.
She has a wide variety of picture books here, and they're not expensive. Kids love reading them, and after they're done, they discuss them with each other. Now, the kids don't play "General" anymore; they're all vying to be Sun Wukong (the Monkey King).
Bling was very satisfied, and both parties were happy. It didn't take long for them to earn back the money they spent on the comic books. This business had great potential!
In the evening, I ate mulberry dumpling soup, read a comic book for a while, and then went to bed.
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