Just as Sangshen had predicted, Buling got up refreshed the next day. Before dawn, she was all ready, pushing her bicycle out of the yard.
"Sister Yuanyuan, I'm going to see Congcong, do you want to come?"
"Okay, wait a minute, I'll be right there!"
Wu Yuanyuan rushed out of her room with a toothbrush cup, quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face, then drank a bowl of thin porridge so thin it reflected her face. She said to Aunt Wu, "Mom, I'm leaving now. Is there anything you want to bring for Aunt Tian?"
"I don't need you to take me, I'll go by myself in a bit," Aunt Tian said. "Drive carefully!"
"Okay~" Wu Yuanyuan rode her bicycle with Bu Ling on the back towards the county hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital, after parking the bicycle, Bu Ling led Wu Yuanyuan towards Chen Cong's ward.
Chen Cong's ward was on the third floor, room 309. Because he was a child, the doctors hadn't assigned any other patients to that room, so it was very quiet at the moment.
Bu Ling knocked on the door and pushed it open to enter. Aunt Tian and Aunt Zhao were both up and talking to each other; they both looked over at the sound of the knock.
"Aunt Tian, Aunt Zhao!" the two greeted each other in unison.
"Let's go see Congcong. How is Congcong?"
Aunt Tian's face darkened slightly: "You've all been so kind. Congcong's condition is fluctuating. The doctor said it's his own body's own strength fighting the virus."
Bling immediately understood, "Is it resistance?"
"Yes, yes, that's immunity."
"This is good news. I believe Congcong will recover soon."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Tian's wrinkles smoothed out, and her sorrow lessened somewhat, though a lingering worry remained in the depths of her eyes.
"Oh, by the way, Aunt Tian, I brought you and Aunt Zhao some breakfast. The hospital cafeteria isn't open yet, so please eat something first, don't go hungry." Bu Ling took two lunchboxes out of her bag.
"Oh dear, that's why everyone says girls are so thoughtful. Whoever marries Xiaobu will be so lucky!" Aunt Zhao said with a smile, picked up a lunchbox, opened it and said, "Oh dear, it's still dumpling soup mixed with wheat flour. Xiaobu, you're going to spend too much."
Aunt Tian opened another lunchbox, which also contained dumpling soup, with tomatoes added inside. The soup was a beautiful mix of red and yellow, with a few specks of white mixed in. Aunt Tian's eyes welled up with tears.
"Xiao Bu, thank you. I won't stand on ceremony with you."
"It's nothing, Aunt Tian. Please don't be so polite. Please eat with Aunt Zhao. We won't wait here any longer; we have to go to work." They're neighbors, and these two have taken good care of her before. It's just a meal.
"Alright, you guys go to work now. I'll take your lunchbox back with me when I get home later." Aunt Zhao
"Okay, then we'll be going now."
Wu Yuanyuan: "Goodbye Aunt Tian, goodbye Aunt Zhao."
The two went downstairs together. Halfway down, Wu Yuanyuan sighed, "Aunt Tian is so strong." If this had happened to her, she probably would have collapsed long ago.
Bling seemed to recall some unpleasant memories: "If possible, no one would want to be this strong."
Wu Yuanyuan fell silent, looking at Bu Ling's slightly dark profile, and felt that her best friend was someone with a lot of stories to tell.
The two remained silent all the way to the state-run restaurant. The timing was perfect; they greeted Sister Ma and returned to their respective posts, neither feeling particularly interested in chatting.
After getting off work, Wu Yuanyuan said to Bu Ling, "Ling, let's go to the recycling station. I want to find some old newspapers to use for wallpapering the walls. We don't have any at home."
“Sure, I’m free after get off work.” Brint was easygoing; perfect timing, she’d almost finished reading her comic books and was thinking of going to the junkyard to find some novels to read.
At first, she thought the scrap yard only had wood blocks, but after getting to know Old Yu better, she learned that all the newspapers, books, and other items that came into the scrap yard were sorted out and piled up in another room.
She used to have comic books, but never paid any attention to them. Now, she's almost finished reading the comic book, isn't she?
The two walked towards the scrap yard.
Inside the scrap yard, Old Man Yu was huddled in his small hut roasting sweet potatoes. Hearing someone enter, he immediately became alert, hiding the sweet potatoes in a crack in the wall and using the bed to conceal them. He opened the door and came out, relieved to see it was Bu Ling.
He was about to greet them when he noticed a little girl beside him, and his expression immediately returned to its cold demeanor.
"What's up?"
"Grandpa, do you have any old newspapers? We'd like to find some to wallpaper the walls," Wu Yuanyuan said.
"Yes, come with me!"
Old Man Yu led the two to the door of another small, dilapidated house. He pushed the door open, turned his head to avoid the dust, and waited until it had dispersed before saying, "It's all inside, one cent per pound."
After saying that, he didn't even bother to look at her before returning to his dilapidated little house.
"Let's split up and look," Bling suggested, still hoping to find something worthwhile.
Wu Yuanyuan had no objections, and the two of them, one on each side, rummaged through the small, dilapidated house. After a while, Buling gave up on her unrealistic hopes. Inside, besides newspapers, were mostly books—textbooks, poetry collections, and novels. The only slightly dated item was a cookbook.
She picked up the menu, casually grabbed a stack of newspapers, and then focused on choosing novels. About half an hour later, Wu Yuanyuan said, "I've almost finished looking. What about you?"
"That's enough for today, we'll come back after we've finished watching." She asked Old Man Yu to save some for her next time, so she wouldn't have to search through the library again.
The two left the house, closed the door, and took the items to the front to be weighed.
"Grandpa, this is mine." Bu Ling stepped forward first, giving Old Man Yu a wink.
Old Man Yu quickly flipped through the items and weighed them: "Twenty-one pounds in total, give me two cents." These were mostly books, so they were quite heavy. Some of them weren't supposed to be allowed out, but since it was Bu Ling, Old Man Yu turned a blind eye.
Bu Ling paid the bill readily. Wu Yuanyuan's nine jin (2.5 catties) cost nine cents in total. Before leaving, Bu Ling even slipped Old Man Yu a piece of candy.
Old Yu's eyes softened as he watched the two figures leave.
Wu Yuanyuan knew about Bu Ling's habit of showering people with sweetness, so she wasn't surprised. However, she said, "Ling, you shouldn't have too much contact with this old man. His background is problematic!"
"I know, Sister Yuanyuan, I'm just used to it~" Buling knew she meant well.
Seeing that she had taken the advice to heart, Wu Yuanyuan didn't say much more. In her mind, Buling had always been a smart person, so she didn't need to give her too many instructions.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Aunt Tian's eyes welled up with tears as she looked at the seventy-three yuan that Aunt Wu had brought, along with a piece of paper covered with names.
"Sister, I...I really don't know what to say. Thank you everyone, thank you so much." After buying food last time, she didn't have much money left; in the past few months, she had only saved twenty yuan.
Congcong is in the hospital, and the medical expenses, hospital fees, and doctor's consultation fees are adding up every day. She's almost out of money, so this money is a lifesaver, because she won't be able to pay tomorrow. What will Congcong do then?
Although this is just a drop in the bucket, it can at least help in times of emergency. She has already figured out how to raise the rest of the money.
She had nothing else left but three houses that were still worth some money.
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