After the child was taken to the hospital, the doctor examined him thoroughly and confirmed that he was alright. The doctor praised them for their emergency response and asked Tang Cuimei how she knew first aid. Tang Cuimei brushed it off with a few words. When the child's mother arrived and learned that the child was fine but needed to be observed in the hospital overnight, she was so moved that she almost knelt down before Tang Cuimei.
"Sister, what are you doing? Get up! Anyone would help in this situation. Don't worry, the child is alright."
She was about to leave when the young woman grabbed her hand and slipped a ten-yuan note into it.
"Little sister, I'm sorry to have taken up your time. Please take this money as a token of my gratitude. If it weren't for you, I would be a sinner in my family. I sincerely thank you, so please don't feel guilty. Take it. Without you, my son would be dead. If he were dead, I wouldn't want to live either. This is something that can't be done with ten yuan, but this is all I can give you. Please don't think it's too much!"
Tang Cuimei was deeply moved and finally did not refuse. She never expected that some people could break their word, while others could believe in you unconditionally and even give you the money they had. How could the difference between people be so great?
Her family circumstances didn't allow her to refuse, so she accepted, bowed to thank her elder sister, and her elder sister bowed to thank her in return.
After Tang Cuimei left, the neighbors chattered amongst themselves, with some even criticizing the child's mother for being poor but generous.
"Why did you give her the money? You could have used that money to buy some baby formula. Your family isn't well-off, and I don't think she intended to take your money anyway. Why did you force it on her? And that girl too, saving someone is the right thing to do, how could she possibly ask for money from them?"
One person said this, and others nearby nodded in agreement. The child's mother, annoyed by the noise, turned around weakly and said to them.
"Thank you all for your hard work today. I don't think I would have made it through without you. It's getting late, and the baby is out of danger now. You should all go home and rest. I'll share the good news with you all when the baby is discharged. Thank you all so much for today!"
Since you say that saving lives is the right thing to do, then I won't bring any gifts to thank you when I visit you.
The young woman longed to just leave like that, but she couldn't. She had to smile and see them off. When the ward finally quieted down, she pressed her son's little hand to her face and sobbed softly. Her mind was filled with images of being separated by life and death. In her heart, she felt incredibly grateful that she hadn't hindered Tang Cuimei's rescue efforts but had chosen to trust her.
Indeed, there are still more good people than bad in this world. You can't judge a book by its cover; she will definitely remember this saying.
On the contrary, she found these neighbors who talked without understanding the situation very distasteful.
She gave the money willingly because she didn't know how to thank the person. She could also see her daughter's predicament. Since she still had the ability to help her, why not express her gratitude? Giving money would lessen the debt of gratitude, which was better than owing such a huge favor and being unable to eat or sleep.
When Cui Mei happily returned to the guesthouse with the money, she was stopped by the waiter who told her what had happened during the day, which startled her.
She hurried back inside to find her younger sister. After listening, she hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Let’s go back tomorrow, Jiu’er. It’s too unsafe here. Let’s go find my brother and the others in a bit and tell them that we’ll take a car back first thing tomorrow morning.”
Although Xiaojiu was also reluctant to leave the city, mainly because she hadn't explored enough and hadn't exchanged more money or tickets, she knew to stop while she could.
The two sisters packed up the dry rations they had brought. Xiao Jiu secretly put ten catties of meat coupons in the ration bag, while Tang Cuimei put in the ten yuan she had just earned. She still had money in her own hands, and if all else failed, she would go to the county town to earn more. But these brothers ate a lot and were at the age of growth, so she couldn't let them suffer. Therefore, she didn't hesitate at all and put the money in.
That evening, the two sisters spent a little more money to have a hot noodle soup at the guesthouse. Because they didn't have food coupons, the price was a few cents more expensive, but it was acceptable. The key point was that the food was hot, which was already very good.
After making a reservation for breakfast early the next morning, I took the dry food to school. The gatekeeper used a loudspeaker to call my older brothers over.
"Why are you leaving tomorrow? Aren't you going to stay a few more days?"
"No, we came here to visit the temple fair. Now that it's over, we should go back. Staying here will cost us money every day, and we can't stay any longer. We haven't finished our food yet, so you can keep it. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning, so don't come to see us off."
After stuffing the remaining dry food into Tao Zui's arms, Xiao Jiu waved to his three older brothers.
"Goodbye, brothers. Study hard and make progress every day. I'll come see you again when I have time! When you eat dry food, put it on the fire to warm it up. Don't eat it if it's too cold, or you'll get a stomachache."
Tao Zui repeatedly told them to be careful on the road, and even tried to give them some money, but Cui Mei refused, saying, "I have some, I have some here."
Back at the guesthouse, Xiao Jiu thought of countless reasons, but none of them seemed to explain how Cui Mei would believe her if she gave her a hostage.
Who would have thought that money would be the easiest thing to talk about now? Meat coupons and grain coupons—if you're not a state worker or a formal employee, it's inconvenient for you to even go out.
No wonder people need to exchange tickets before going out. Goodness, if you don't have a ticket, you might not even be able to get a meal.
Soon, her fifth and sixth sisters will also be going to study in the countryside. She still has twenty jin of meat coupons, and she plans to secretly give them another ten jin.
Fortunately, these meat coupons were exchanged in small denominations, so it didn't prevent the older brothers and sisters from having extra meals.
She hadn't originally planned to go to school, but now she suddenly thought that if she could go to school in the county town, wouldn't she have a chance to exchange for tickets?
The coupons we exchanged could be used for our older siblings' schooling. Otherwise, our parents would be in a real bind. With so many children, grain coupons were easy to obtain, as they could be exchanged for grain. But meat coupons, on the other hand, were obtained by our parents begging and pleading with everyone they knew, sometimes at exorbitant prices. Even if we had mountains of gold and silver, it wouldn't be enough to keep them all!
If she stayed in the village, there would be no reason for her to go out. When has her grandparents ever felt at ease leaving her?
No, she had to figure this out. Getting the tickets was easy, but giving them to them discreetly and without them suspecting their origin was... that would be hard to fool!
They came with lots of bags, but when they left, the two sisters only carried a water bottle and a schoolbag. The fifth sister paid for the fare, but Xiao Jiu took out four warm eggs and stuffed three into the fifth sister's hand.
"Sister, I got this from the uncle at the guesthouse. It's already cooked. You ate so little this morning, eat more. One is enough for me."
Where did you get the money?
Tang Cuimei looked at the red-skinned egg in her hand with a grateful expression. Holding it warmly in her hand warmed her heart.
"Sis, you forgot, I also have pocket money. My brothers gave me lucky money for Chinese New Year, hehehe, I'm a little rich girl now. It's a pity I don't have any tickets, otherwise I could help my brothers and sisters eat better at school."
One sentence almost brought tears to Tang Cuimei's eyes. "Oh my goodness, how can you be so sensible? No wonder your eldest and second eldest sisters dote on you. Our little sister is truly adorable. Sweetie, I won't eat this egg. Take it back for Grandpa and Grandma. They need to get more nutrition. The Tang family owes them so much."
No matter how much Xiaoli offered her wine, Cuimei refused to drink it. Moreover, after getting into the car, she wouldn't even drink water, for fear of having to go to the toilet halfway through the journey.
The bus was crowded, but since they had boarded at the starting station, there were seats available. The older sister held her and they sat in the corner of the last row. Both of them were thin and only occupied one seat, so no one dared to ask them to stand up and give up their seats. After several hours of bumpy travel, they finally arrived in the county town.
"Sis, I have money. How about we stay in the county town for one night and go home tomorrow afternoon?"
“Even if you hadn’t said anything, I was thinking the same thing. Let’s go say hello to our godparents and your third sister first, let them know we’re safe, then I’ll go to the county town for a bit, and I’ll come pick you up tonight to take you to the guesthouse.”
Xiao Jiu chuckled to herself, "I'm just worried that Mom and Dad won't be willing to spend the money to find us a place to sleep in the distillery dormitory. Sister, let's not book a room yet. You go find Third Sister; what if she's on the night shift? Then a bed will be available. I'll go find Mom; I'll sleep in the same bed with her."
Tang Cuimei smiled and tapped Xiaojiu's forehead: "You little devil, you've got it all figured out. You're right, we should save where we can. Come on, are you hungry? I'll take you to eat. Let's see these small restaurants. If you don't have a ticket, can they make you a bowl of noodles? We can pay a little extra. See, if you're not well-prepared, you'll suffer wherever you go. Next time we go out, we need to prepare in advance."
The two sisters asked at five different shops before finally finding a bowl of noodles for eight cents at the sixth noodle shop, which wasn't doing too well. They added two cents, making it ten cents a bowl of pickled cabbage noodles. They had initially thought it would be purely vegetarian, but the broth contained chili peppers and meat sauce, which was quite good for them. Plus, the noodles looked like a lot, which seemed substantial.
We hadn't even finished our small cup of wine, so we picked out a big mouthful for Fifth Sister in advance.
The pickled cabbage noodles are sour and spicy, which is very appetizing. On a cold day, drinking a bowl of hot soup noodles is incredibly satisfying.
After thanking the boss, we walked five or six miles before arriving at the suburban winery. My parents were at work, and my third sister was indeed on the night shift. When I found her, she had just finished eating and was resting in her dormitory. I was very happy to see them.
"You're back so soon? I was wondering if you guys had a good time. Don't go back this afternoon, rest for the night, and leave tomorrow."
The temporary workers' dormitory was surprisingly large, with twenty or thirty people in it, all on a shared bed. Although it looked a bit messy and disorganized, Third Sister's bed was very clean. Her neighbors on the left and right were not cowards either. The room was close to the window, but it had been covered with newspapers. There was a stove in the middle, so it was quite warm inside.
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