Chapter 30 Visiting - Anyway, the family has no money left.
On a weekend morning, Chu Yanxi and Lu Zhe met at the entrance of the hospital's inpatient department.
Lu Zhe carried the milk powder and canned fruit he'd bought with the money Chu Yanxi had given him, along with some he'd paid for himself. Looking at Chu Yanxi, still wearing her faded work clothes, a hint of pity crept into his eyes. Chu Yanxi was still the same, never caring about herself, only thinking of others. The eighty yuan she'd given him yesterday, though not much, was probably all her savings.
It's important to understand that this is 1998. Although the average wage is much higher than in the 1970s and 1980s, it is still the late 1990s, a time of state-owned enterprise reform. The textile industry is a struggling sector, and wages are very low.
State-owned factories generally implemented a "performance-based" system, where wages were directly linked to factory profits. In a well-run and reasonably profitable factory, a worker's monthly income, including various allowances and bonuses, could potentially reach 500-700 yuan.
However, Hongxing Textile Factory is currently on the verge of bankruptcy, with most of its machines shut down and it operating at a severe loss. As a result, ordinary workers can only receive a basic wage of about 300 yuan, and in the first half of the year, they were owed wages for as long as three months.
Ruan Xiaofen's mother needs dialysis twice a week, with each dialysis session costing about 400 yuan, totaling about 3,000 yuan per month. Ruan Xiaofen's salary is simply not enough to cover her mother's medical expenses.
Chu Yanxi had no idea what Lu Zhe was thinking. When she met his eyes, which seemed to be filled with sympathy, she assumed that he was being overly compassionate again, not only giving everything he had to help Ruan Xiaofen's mother, but also dragging his whole family, and even her own family, into it. She quickly said, "Don't take out all your savings. Just give him four hundred yuan to cover the cost of one dialysis session. Keep the rest to make money."
Lu Zhe naturally had no objections. After all, he wouldn't be staying in this world for long, and he couldn't take anything with him, so what would he need so much money for?
Following the ward number they had found out, the two located the internal medicine ward on the third floor. Before even entering, they could hear suppressed arguing coming from inside.
“…Treatment? What can we use to treat it? This is a bottomless pit!” A middle-aged man’s hoarse and impatient voice rang out. “The doctor said that the best way to treat end-stage renal disease is a kidney transplant, but for a family like ours, it’s out of the question! We have to do dialysis twice a week now, and each time it costs more than 300 yuan! Where do we have the money? If we keep dragging this on, we’ll lose both our health and our money!”
"Dad, don't give up!" It was Ruan Xiaofen's voice, trembling with tears, almost pleading. "Mom is only in her forties. The doctor said that if we keep going with dialysis, there's still hope. Money... I'll find a way to get the money! I'm begging you..."
"You think you can find a way? What way could you possibly find? With your meager salary, it's barely enough to fill a tooth gap!" Another younger, nonchalant male voice chimed in, full of sarcasm. "If you ask me, your mother's illness was caused by your own hard work, and now you're dragging us two brothers down with you! We're not her biological children, we have no obligation to be filial. Besides, we also need to get married and have children, how can we throw all our money into this hopeless hole?"
"Big brother! How could you say that about Mom! When Mom married into the Ruan family, you were three years old and my second brother was one year old. Mom raised you two. Now that she's sick, you're ignoring her. Aren't you heartless?" Ruan Xiaofen's voice trembled with anger and sadness.
Chu Yanxi and Lu Zhe exchanged a glance, then pushed open the door and went inside.
The ward was filled with the smell of disinfectant and the musty odor characteristic of disease.
The six hospital beds were almost full. Ruan Xiaofen's mother lay on the bed by the window, emaciated, with a sallow complexion and a blank stare at the ceiling, as if the surrounding argument had nothing to do with her.
Beside the bed stood a middle-aged man in wrinkled overalls, with a dark complexion and a furrowed brow. This was Ruan Xiaofen's stepfather, Ruan Dacheng.
Beside her were two young men in their early twenties, wearing floral shirts and bell-bottoms, smoking cigarettes, with indifferent expressions. These were Ruan Xiaofen's two stepbrothers.
Ruan Xiaofen stood at the head of her mother's bed, her thin body trembling slightly with emotion, her face still wet with tears.
Their intrusion interrupted the argument. Ruan Xiaofen was stunned when she saw Chu Yanxi and Lu Zhe, somewhat at a loss for what to do.
“Comrade Xiaofen,” Lu Zhe spoke first, his tone calm and formal, “we are from the factory’s trade union. We heard that your mother is seriously ill, so we came to visit on behalf of the union.” He placed the things he was carrying on the bedside table.
Chu Yanxi silently walked to the bedside, looked at Ruan's ashen-faced mother, and smiled, "Auntie, I'm Xiaofen's friend, I've come to see you."
Ruan Dacheng and his two sons were clearly somewhat intimidated by the union representatives, their arrogance lessening somewhat, but their expressions remained grim. Ruan Dacheng rubbed his hands together and said stiffly, "Union leaders, you've come at the right time. It's not that we're heartless, it's just that this illness... we simply can't afford to treat it anymore. We're really starving, and the factory owes us wages..."
“Uncle, you can’t say that.” Lu Zhe interrupted him, his voice not loud, but with an undeniable force. “Auntie is a family member of a factory worker. If she encounters difficulties, the factory and the union will not ignore her. You can’t easily say things like giving up on treatment.”
He looked at Ruan Xiaofen and gave her an encouraging look: "Comrade Xiaofen is filial and grateful, and we should all learn from her. If you have any difficulties, we'll work together to find a solution."
"Find a solution? Easier said than done!" Ruan Xiaofen's older brother couldn't help but sneer. "Can your union really come up with a few thousand or tens of thousands to treat her illness?"
Chu Yanxi spoke coldly, her gaze sweeping over the two stepbrothers before finally settling on Ruan Dacheng's face: "Auntie has worked hard all her life, raising her two stepsons. Now that she's ill, it's only right and proper that the family does everything they can to treat her. Giving up before things have reached a dead end is unacceptable. Aren't you afraid of being gossiped about by the neighbors? Besides, legally, even if they are stepsons, as long as Auntie raised you, you have an obligation to support your parents."
Her words were both compassionate and legal, causing the three members of Ruan Dacheng's family to turn pale and then red with each passing moment.
Ruan Xiaofen looked at Chu Yanxi with some surprise, not expecting that her usually taciturn roommate would speak up for her so forcefully.
"Who...who are you? What right do you have to interfere in our family affairs?" Ruan Xiaofen's second brother said angrily.
“I am Xiaofen’s colleague, Chu Yanxi.” Chu Yanxi met his gaze without backing down. “I can’t stand seeing anyone bully a dutiful daughter, and I can’t stand seeing anyone act against their conscience.”
Lu Zhe promptly took over the conversation, his tone softening but his stance firm: "Uncle, brothers, the most important thing right now is to stabilize Auntie's emotions and get her to cooperate with the treatment. As for the union, we will do our best to help her apply for hardship assistance; although it's not much, it's a token of our appreciation. No matter how difficult the factory's situation is, we won't stand by and watch our employees' families die. As for medical expenses, we can try to find a way, see if we can get help through the neighborhood committee or from the community..."
His words were reasonable and well-founded, giving the Ruan family a way out while also stating the organization's attitude, completely blocking the option of "giving up treatment".
Ruan Dacheng opened his mouth, but under Lu Zhe's calm yet firm gaze and Chu Yanxi's cold stare, he finally muttered dejectedly, "...Anyway, there's no money left at home," and then fell silent.
The two stepbrothers also turned their faces away awkwardly.
This was the first time someone had fought so fiercely for her and her mother. Ruan Xiaofen's tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and the pent-up grievances, helplessness, and excitement from her earlier argument mingled together, turning into a torrent of tears. She could no longer hold back, covered her face, and burst into sobs, her thin shoulders trembling violently.
Chu Yanxi silently handed her a clean tissue, saying nothing more, only gently patting her back. Lu Zhe continued discussing the specific procedures for applying for subsidies with Ruan Dacheng, leaving the two girls alone.
When she left the hospital, Ruan Xiaofen's emotions had calmed down a bit. She saw Chu Yanxi and Lu Zhe to the door of the ward. Her eyes were red and swollen, but there was a bit of gratitude and a faint light in them.
"Xiaoxi, Officer Lu... thank you." She said, her voice choked with emotion.
"Don't be afraid, come find us if you need anything," Chu Yanxi said succinctly.
On the way back to the factory, Chu Yanxi and Lu Zhe remained silent. The scene at the hospital made them understand more deeply the source of Ruan Xiaofen's despair. For her, that home not only failed to provide support but was also a cold burden and a source of pressure. Her mother was her only emotional support, but also a shackle she could not break free from.
Lu Zhe broke the silence, his brows furrowed: "We must solve the money problem as soon as possible; the union's subsidies are just a drop in the bucket."
Chu Yanxi nodded: "Yes, I will also get closer to Ruan Xiaofen. Her stepfather and brother are unreliable, and she has long lost contact with her family. Now she can only rely on the organization and us."
After leaving the hospital, Chu Yanxi returned to her "home" in this world—a cramped two-bedroom apartment in the old dormitory building of the textile factory.
The atmosphere at home is not much better than in the hospital.
The father, Chu Jianguo, sat on a small stool, chain-smoking cheap cigarettes, his brow furrowed, the ashtray in front of him overflowing with cigarette butts. The mother, Wang Guifen, grumbled incessantly beside him, her voice filled with anxiety and resentment.
"Have you heard? Old Liu from Workshop 3, a level 8 electrician, is on the list this time! They said it's for anyone over 45, a blanket ban! What kind of nonsense is this? He's worked his whole life, and they just throw him away like that?"
“Our family is counting on your meager salary. Xixi just started working at the factory and doesn't earn much. If you lose your job, how will we survive…”
“Xiaoxi, your dad has been an honest, simple man his whole life, and he’s never been good at socializing. You, you need to be more shrewd at the factory and see if you can find the workshop foreman, even if it’s just to give him a few things. Please, whatever you do, don’t let your dad lose his job…”
Chu Yanxi ate her meal silently, listening to her mother's nagging and her father's heavy sighs.
She doesn't have a deep emotional connection to the parents of this body yet, but since she has temporarily taken over this body, she has a responsibility to take care of this family.
At this moment, this family, like Ruan Xiaofen's family, is tossed about by the storms of the times.
At night, Chu Yanxi lay on the hard wooden bed, listening to the faint, suppressed arguments and helpless sighs coming from her parents' room next door, and staring blankly at the few lonely, dim streetlights flickering in the night outside the factory.
At this moment, she is no longer merely a negotiation expert who has traveled from another time and has a mission-oriented perspective. She is "Chu Yanxi," Chu Jianguo's daughter, and a female worker at the Red Star Factory. Her fate is now inextricably linked to this particular era, this factory on the verge of bankruptcy, and this gloomy family.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhe returned home to find the house cold and empty. His younger brother, Lu Ming, hadn't come home for dinner again. The neighbors said they saw him go to the city with some stylishly dressed friends, and he even dragged their parents along, saying he was inspecting some big project.
Facing the empty dining table, Lu Zhe was preoccupied with Ruan Xiaofen's predicament, the suffocating scene in the hospital, and also worried that his younger brother might be misled and go astray. In addition, there was a tangle of trivial matters and demands from various parties in the union...
A profound sense of powerlessness washed over him like a tidal wave. In his original world, legal provisions and logical reasoning were the foundation of Lu Zhe's livelihood. But here, he faced a complex web of human relationships, the growing pains of a changing era, and the most primal struggles for survival among the lower classes.
Can he, alone, or rather, with the combined strength of himself and Chu Yanxi, truly resist the relentless march of time and find a way to survive for Ruan Xiaofen, or even for many more people like her?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com