Sha Zhu felt his whole body fly up, and by the time he realized what was happening, he was already in the stinking ditch.
A thin layer of ice had formed in the ditch, and Sha Zhu plunged straight into it.
It was already cold, with the wind howling, and after being soaked in the icy water, Sha Zhu suddenly woke up and realized his current situation.
Sha Zhu rubbed his wet head and scrambled out of the ditch, brushed off the rotten leaves that covered him, and shook his head to steady himself.
The secret passage must not let such a small matter spoil its good mood.
Shivering, Sha Zhu searched for the bicycle by moonlight, but when he found it, he was dumbfounded.
The front wheel of the bicycle was flattened!
This is bad! Sha Zhu's head started to ache. He rubbed his head and cursed himself for being too complacent.
Before leaving the compound, Xu Damao instructed him not to damage the bicycle, as it belonged to the factory. Also, with the wheel flat, he couldn't ride it, and there were still ten miles to go; how was he going to get back?!
After a moment of stunned silence, Sha Zhu, trembling, laboriously hoisted his bicycle and hurried towards the Hongxing Courtyard in the dark.
It was an hour and a half later when Sha Zhu rushed back to the compound.
Meanwhile, Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu had already returned home in the factory's jeep.
The news of Jia Dongxu's injury spread like wildfire throughout the hospital. Everyone was visiting each other to tell the story, and there were even rumors that Jia Dongxu had died on the way to the hospital.
When Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu returned, the neighbors immediately rushed over.
At this moment, the Jia family's house was surrounded by people.
Inside the room, Jia Zhangshi's emotions had calmed down somewhat, and she no longer fainted so easily, but she was still crying miserably.
Qin Huairu was also pale, constantly wiping away tears.
Inside the house, the three stewards, Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, and Xu Damao, were trying to persuade Jia Zhangshi.
"Sister-in-law Jia, it's all fate. We should be grateful that Dongxu is still alive. As long as he's alive, we can overcome any other difficulties." Liu Haizhong sighed, lamenting the unpredictability of fate.
"Old Liu is right, sister-in-law. As long as we're still alive, even if life gets tough in the future, we'll still have something to look forward to, won't we?"
Yan Bugui sighed with regret, "Dongxu is such a good kid. He did have a lot of problems before, but through the screening event a few days ago, I felt that he was changing little by little. No matter what we said to him, we all sincerely hoped that he would be the best for him. I never expected that such a thing would happen today!!"
The neighbors nearby nodded in agreement after hearing Yan Bugui's words.
Xu Damao glanced around, knowing it was his turn to speak, but he couldn't help but twitch his lips, a hint of schadenfreude rising in his heart.
"Aunt Jia, don't be too sad. Now that things have come to this, all we can do is take good care of Dongxu. The doctor said he's only temporarily out of danger, which means he's not completely safe yet!"
It would have been better if Xu Damao hadn't brought this up; the moment he did, Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu cried even harder.
When the two of them started crying, the child next to them also started crying.
"Xu Damao, what the hell are you saying? My dad will be fine."
Bang Gengteng jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed), grabbed a cotton shoe, and smashed it over Xu Damao's head, yelling, "You dare to curse my dad here? Get out of here!"
Even though Xu Damao used his hand to block the cotton shoes, the mud on them still splattered all over his face.
"Hey, you little brat, I'm just telling your grandma not to get so caught up in her own sadness and forget about the important things." Xu Damao muttered as he backed away from the crowd, muttering, "How can she not appreciate kindness? No wonder she raised such a wretch."
Yi Zhonghai's wife quickly advised, "Alright, Damao, this whole thing with Dongxu is quite sudden. Don't add to the chaos, and don't hold a grudge against a child. Go outside for a smoke and get some fresh air, and we'll talk to you about it here."
Although Xu Damao was angry, the Jia family had suffered such a big incident, and after what Yi Zhonghai's wife said, he felt embarrassed to stay in the house any longer.
As soon as they stepped out of Jia's house, they saw Sha Zhu carrying a bicycle into the courtyard.
Xu Damao didn't even notice the cigarette he was holding in his mouth fall onto his feet.
"Idiot Zhu!!!"
After staring blankly at Sha Zhu for a few seconds, Xu Damao roared and ran over quickly.
Immediately afterward, Xu Damao, panting heavily, stared intently at the bicycle that Sha Zhu was carrying, pointing his finger at Sha Zhu and saying, "You...you bastard..."
Xu Damao then stomped his foot angrily and said, "I shouldn't have lent you my bicycle! You owe me a replacement!"
Sha Zhu was still soaking wet and almost frozen. The journey had nearly killed him. He was immediately enraged when Xu Damao berated him as soon as he entered the courtyard.
With a loud crash, Sha Zhu casually tossed his bicycle to the ground.
Xu Damao, heartbroken, almost jumped up and fought him.
"It's just a bicycle. I'll come and fix it for you this weekend. I'm a man of my word, I wouldn't do something so despicable."
"Fine, you idiot Zhu, let me tell you, this isn't my car, it belongs to the government, and you have to restore it to its original condition," Xu Damao said through gritted teeth.
Sha Zhuli ignored him, glanced at the crowd gathered at the Jia family's gate, and turned to go home to change his clothes.
Xu Damao looked at the bicycle with its flattened wheels on the ground and felt a surge of anger.
But at this point, he dared not provoke Sha Zhu again, in case the man changed his mind and refused to fix his car.
Gritting his teeth, Xu Damao bent down, picked up the bicycle, and carried it to Sha Zhu's doorstep.
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