Chapter 16 Mind Your Own Business
When Granny Li realized the police were really going to deal with her, she first begged for mercy, saying she would never dare to do it again.
When his pleas for mercy failed, he started throwing a tantrum again.
He Shun was glad that he hadn't softened when she begged for mercy. Seeing her throw another tantrum, he stood aside and watched coldly, like a spectator, until she stopped on her own.
“If you don’t come with me, I’ll go back and get a few more people to come and invite you, so that all the neighbors can have a good look at you.”
One sentence silenced Granny Li.
She stood up and said haltingly, "Let's go then."
Oh, how embarrassing! How am I supposed to face anyone now?
He Shundu had already left the hospital with Granny Li, but Song Lubai hadn't caught up yet.
Xiao Yan turned back and urged, "Let's go."
Song Lubai had just removed her hand from Shen Lingyu's forehead when she said, "She has a fever, and she's so sick, she needs to be taken to the clinic."
Shen Lingyu's father-in-law, Old Hu, blocked her way: "She's not that precious. She'll be fine after a couple of days of rest. There's no need to go to the clinic. We don't have any money."
Song Lubai said coldly, "If she dies, who in your family will be responsible? You also participated, didn't you? Someone has to go to jail for beating someone to death."
Old Hu tilted his head and glared: "It's her bad luck that she died. Besides, why did she die? She used to be able to lie down for two days and then be fine. It's none of your business how my family behaves."
Xiao Yan tugged at Song Lubai's sleeve, signaling her that it was time to leave; the rest was not their business, it was someone else's family affair.
Song Lubai recalled the loud banging on the door and suspected that Shen Lingyu was calling for help from inside, as she couldn't leave like that.
Song Lubai went out the door, ran into the alley, and saw Zhao Lujun, who was still peeking around, when she reached the corner. She waved to him and said, "Shen Lingyu is unconscious. Can you take her to the hospital for me?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Lujun followed her into the courtyard without saying a word, pushed aside the old man Hu who was blocking his way, and forcefully carried Shen Lingyu up.
Old Hu jumped up and down behind them, shouting, "Those are my family members! Who are you? How can you do things like this!"
“You send her to the clinic, don’t expect my family to pay a single penny.”
Zhao Lujun ignored him, his mind focused on getting Shen Lingyu to get medical treatment as soon as possible.
Song Lubai was careful and didn't let Zhao Lujun take the person to the street clinic, but instead took him to the hospital.
After everyone left, Yu Dali, who had been huddled to the side smoking, finally spoke up: "If she wakes up, she won't say anything inappropriate, will she?"
Old Hu paced anxiously in circles, saying, "It's all those two wretched women's fault! You stay home and wait for my son to come back. I'll have him go and keep watch at the clinic. I'll go and keep watch now."
Oh dear, what a mess! My wife even got taken to the police station! What a disaster!
After Song Lubai and her team finished visiting this place, there was still another one to visit.
Halfway there, Xiao Yan couldn't help but say that Song Lubai was too enthusiastic.
“You’ve just arrived and are still young. You’re too impulsive. You want to get involved in everything, but you can’t manage it all. Every household has a lot of problems. If you get involved too much, you might get scolded or beaten. I’ve been beaten before. You’ll only learn your lesson after you’ve suffered a loss.”
Song Lubai knew that Xiao Yan meant well, but she was determined to do things the way she wanted to, otherwise she would feel uncomfortable.
“What if she really dies? It’s heartbreaking to see her injured like that. I just can’t bear it.”
Xiao Yan shook her head, "We've gotten through all these years, we'll definitely get through this one too."
She lowered her voice as she spoke, "The winter before last, when I first came here, she had lost a child because she was beaten. She couldn't have any more children, and life had been difficult for her ever since. What could be done? Who could help her?"
Song Lubai felt uncomfortable listening to this, and her disgust for Granny Li's family reached its peak. She also felt a sense of disappointment and frustration towards Shen Lingyu, thinking, "Why are you so useless?"
She tried to calm herself down, telling herself that this wasn't her business and had nothing to do with her, but it was hard not to worry about it.
I visited two more families this morning. One family had relatives visiting, and there were no problems with the letters of introduction. The other family's relatives said that the letters of introduction had been lost, and the family had been taken to the police station.
When it was lunchtime, Xiao Yan dragged Song Lubai to the public canteen.
"If someone isn't enthusiastic about eating, there's something wrong with their thinking. We need to hurry up, or there won't be much left when we get there."
Song Lubai was also starving, so she ran as fast as she could.
People from the subdistrict office have to eat at the public canteen across the street, which is also frequented by people from other organizations.
In the past, eating in the communal canteen meant you could eat as much as you wanted without money or tickets. But in recent years, that's changed; you now need tickets to eat.
Song Lubai has an urban household registration and eats government-supplied grain. Her monthly ration is enough to keep her from starving or overeating. If she wants to eat more, she has to find a way to buy grain herself.
Today, when I registered at the subdistrict office, I also transferred my grain ration records here.
The cafeteria was packed with people, and it took Song Lubai quite a while to get a turn.
Her lunchbox was already in a cloth bag, but the cook, seeing that she was a girl, didn't fill her bowl with soup.
Song Lubai smiled shamelessly and said, "Master, could you have some more? I'm starving."
The tofu was cut into small pieces, and green wild vegetables floated in the soup, along with some mung bean sprouts. It wasn't thick, and there wasn't a trace of oiliness, yet Song Lubai's mouth still watered.
She doesn't eat tofu often, and she's really craving it.
The chef glanced at her and said, "You're quite the eater, girl."
As he spoke, he added another half spoonful of soup to her.
Song Lubai smiled and said, "Thank you, Master."
Two ounces of grain coupons were exchanged for a fragrant scallion pancake, which made Xiao Yan's mouth water.
Scallion pancakes are made with wheat flour and fried in lard. They have a wonderful aroma and are garnished with green scallions. They look good and taste delicious, but the downside is that they are expensive, costing two ounces of grain coupons for one.
Two ounces of grain coupons could be exchanged for four steamed buns.
Xiao Yan wouldn't eat fried dough sticks more than twice a month, at most she'd eat them once to satisfy her craving.
Song Lubai noticed her expectant look and generously broke off a piece for her.
Xiao Yan quickly waved her hand, "No, no, you eat it yourself, I can't take it."
Song Lubai insisted on putting it into her lunchbox. "I'm new here, and it was Sister Xiao Yan who took care of me. I have to thank you for taking care of me. If you're shy, just give me a piece of cornbread. We can take turns eating it, and then we'll both be full."
Since the scallion pancakes were already in the bowl, Xiao Yan naturally couldn't refuse, so she gave Song Lubai a cornbread bun.
Although there is no meat in the tofu and vegetable soup, it is refreshing and delicious, and goes perfectly with steamed cornbread.
After finishing a box of soup, a steamed bun, and half a pancake, Song Lubai was only about five or six tenths full.
She was satisfied with that, since she had never eaten her fill at home.
Song Lubai thought she could organize documents in the office in the afternoon, but Director Wang assigned her more work outside the office.
She figured the next two days would be the same, and Director Wang wouldn't give her any time to organize the materials, so after get off work she packed all the notebooks into her cloth bag.
This work simply cannot be finished if I don't go home and work overtime.
I just don't know when Director Wang will let her go.
Fortunately, there is electricity at home, which allows her to work overtime.
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