Hospitalization
It's not hard to find out who Luo Hui saved; many people witnessed it at the scene, and children are the least likely to keep secrets.
As soon as Xu Tangmian arrived at work, she pieced together a rough truth from the gossip circulating at school. She couldn't understand how her once-respected Comrade Xu Zhilian could be involved in every evil deed and yet escape unscathed.
A child died because of him. The child was only two or three years older than his son. How could he leave the scene as if nothing had happened, and even have the leisure to go to the printing factory to cause trouble for others?
Xu Tangmian didn't know if Yu Chunsheng knew about this. She hadn't even asked him what he thought of the harsh words Xu Zhilian had said before leaving, so how could she cause him any more trouble now?
The thought that Xu Zhilian could cause so much trouble without any punishment still made her feel resentful and upset.
Legally, he doesn't seem to have done anything heinous that makes him untouchable; morally, he's done a whole host of things, but unfortunately, he lacks morality.
Xu Tangmian thought for a moment. When her father was teaching her numbers when she was little, he seemed to have told her about his old landline number. He also said that the number had never changed and was easy to remember.
"Nothing's changed, right?" Xu Tangmian frowned slightly, a wicked thought rising in her mind. She picked up the school landline and dialed the number she remembered.
Xu Tangmian was in a great mood after complaining and was happily grading homework when the phone rang again.
Xu Tangmian was filled with anxiety, muttering to herself, "Could it be that Grandma thinks something's wrong and is calling back to scold me?"
But the landline didn't have caller ID, and without answering and finding out who was on the other end, Xu Tangmian hesitated for a long time before the phone finally stopped ringing.
It seems like nothing serious has happened.
But a short while later, the phone rang again. Xu Tangmian guessed that something really had happened, and this time she answered the phone without hesitation. A man's voice came from the other end.
"Hello! Is this Teacher Xu?"
Xu Tangmian nodded in agreement, "I'm Teacher Xu, and who are you?"
"Oh dear, I'm from the printing factory. Teacher Xu, please come quickly! The factory manager fainted in his office and we took him to the clinic. His child is being cared for by a female employee at the factory. Please go home and check on him!"
"I've fainted!" Xu Tangmian jumped to her feet and grabbed a teacher urgently, saying, "I have something to do at home. Please tell the director that if I can't get back in time, I need to find a teacher to cover my class!"
He then rushed to the bike shed, got on his bike, and headed home.
After Song Weidong left, the clinic sent a college student in addition to the new male doctor. Compared to this college student, the once clueless male doctor seemed much more experienced.
When Xu Tangmian arrived at the clinic, she saw Yu Chunsheng lying quietly on the hospital bed, with a factory employee watching him from the side.
Upon seeing her arrive, the employee reacted as if a goddess had descended to earth, quickly rising to greet her and wishing he could say "Amitabha."
"What happened at the factory? Why did he faint?" Xu Tangmian looked at the pale-faced man on the bed who was still unconscious with a worried expression.
"Nothing happened." The employee looked bewildered. "We don't know what happened either. We heard the child crying in the office, so we went to check and found the boss lying motionless on the table. I reached out to poke him, and he collapsed. It scared us all."
The male doctor came out at the right time and said, "It's nothing, he just has a cold."
"A cold?" Xu Tangmian turned her head to look at the sleeping man again. "Is a cold that serious?"
The male doctor smiled. "He rarely gets sick, does he?"
Xu Tangmian nodded.
"That's how it is. Some people don't get sick usually, but when they do, it gets really bad. He just had a cold and a high fever and fell asleep. Once this IV drip is finished and the fever goes down, he'll be fine. Let him sleep for a while."
"Wait a minute!" Xu Tangmian was still worried. "Isn't it serious if he faints from a high fever? Won't his brain be damaged?"
"It's nothing. The fever was just a trigger. Maybe he's been thinking too much and is feeling restless, so he just fell asleep while he had a fever."
The doctor raised his hand to touch his forehead again, nodded, and said, "It's okay, the fever has gone down, you'll be fine after you wake up."
Xu Tangmian thought that perhaps Xu Zhilian's arrival had indeed brought a lot of trouble to Yu Chunsheng. Although the man didn't say it, he must have been annoyed inside. Therefore, she didn't doubt the doctor's statement.
"Thank you." She was relieved and told the printing factory employees to go back first. Then she went back to the bedside and sat down to indicate that she would keep an eye on things here.
Looking down, Xu Tangmian saw three or four needle marks on Yu Chunsheng's hand where the syringe was inserted, and she became anxious again.
"Don't go! Don't go! What happened to the needle marks on his hand?"
The staff member didn't speak, but the new doctor weakly waved his hand, "Sorry, that was where I inserted it, I didn't find the right spot..."
Xu Tangmian glanced at the distinct blue veins on the back of Yu Chunsheng's hand, then jumped up from the bed angrily, "His veins are very obvious!"
The doctor lowered his head even further, repeatedly saying, "I'm sorry..."
...
Xu Tangmian began to miss Song Weidong.
After the IV drip was finished, the male doctor came to remove the needle.
Xu Tangmian's heart clenched as she looked at Yu Chunsheng, who showed no signs of waking up. She asked the doctor in a panic, "Didn't you say he'd be fine after the IV drip? Why isn't he awake yet?!"
The male doctor scratched his head. "He should be awake by now." He then touched Yu Chunsheng's forehead and exclaimed, "Hey, why is he running a fever again?"
"That's enough." Xu Tangmian completely lost her patience and decisively gave up the idea of continuing to linger here. She said in a serious tone, "You guys bring down his fever first. I'll go to the factory and drive the car over. We'll go straight to the city hospital."
The male doctor was also afraid of something going wrong, so he nodded repeatedly.
Xu Tangmian got back on her bicycle and rushed to the factory without taking a break.
Fortunately, she had learned to drive a manual car before, so driving Yu Chunsheng's car wasn't difficult for her. It's just that the child was still at the factory; it was fine to have someone else watch him, but going to the hospital would take a long time, and she wasn't comfortable leaving the child's basic needs like eating, drinking, and toileting to someone else.
After much deliberation, Xu Tangmian disregarded the germs in the hospital and first used the factory's phone to call Song Weidong, asking him to inquire if Li Yutao was free to look after the child.
Firstly, she felt embarrassed to trouble Sister Li Youlan and the others every time, as if she were treating them like maids; secondly, it was best to involve Li Yutao in her private contact with Song Weidong, so as to avoid suspicion.
Song and Li bought a house near the hospital as their marital home, where they could temporarily send their child. However, Xu Tangmian was still worried about leaving Xiao Qiushi at the hospital 24 hours a day.
After receiving the call, Song Weidong made preparations in advance, and rushed out of his office as soon as he saw the car arrive.
Song Weidong carried the unconscious Yu Chunsheng on his back. When he turned around and saw that Xu Tangmian was still holding the child, he immediately felt overwhelmed.
He took the keys off his waist and tossed them to Xu Tangmian. "Judging from your description, it's probably pneumonia. I'll take him straight to the hospital. You take Qiushi to my house, and Xiaotao will be back soon."
"Okay, okay!" Xu Tangmian panicked and could only obediently listen to him. She was already at a loss just because Yu Chunsheng was sick, let alone now that she had to take care of the child.
With Song Weidong taking care of her at the large hospital, she could temporarily relax and quickly got back into the car to settle her child in.
Li Yutao received the call and quickly took leave to return home. By the time she arrived, Xu Tangmian had already fed the baby and changed the diaper.
Xu Tangmian told Li Yutao some precautions and then rushed to the hospital. Song Weidong told her that Yu Chunsheng had indeed contracted pneumonia.
Xu Tangmian asked, puzzled, "He's always been in good health, could it be contagious?"
Thinking back on those three years, Xu Tangmian's nerves were on edge. She spoke off the cuff, seemingly explaining to no one: "Apart from that day when he brought Sister Li over, he never wanders off."
"Yes, Sister Li!" Xu Tangmian grabbed Song Weidong's wrist anxiously again, "How are Sister Li and the others? Are they alright?"
"It's alright, it's alright!" Song Weidong swung his arms halfway around and then grabbed Xu Tangmian's arm to comfort her. "There are still things to do in Beiping. I took my uncle and aunt to the station early this morning. Chunsheng's illness isn't contagious pneumonia; it's just a lung infection caused by a sudden chill."
"Suddenly caught a cold?" Xu Tangmian murmured, "But he was wearing very thick clothes, except for the jacket he lost when he came back yesterday, and then he took a shower..." Thinking of what happened while he was showering, Xu Tangmian quickly shut her mouth.
Song Weidong didn't notice her unusual behavior and just smiled and said, "Then you probably caught a cold while taking a bath. Did you take a bath at home? It's better to go to a public bathhouse in this weather. It's easy to get pneumonia from the sudden change in temperature."
"Hmm..." Xu Tangmian's feelings were complicated.
Yu Chunsheng had a fever several times during the night and spent three days in the hospital before his condition finally improved.
However, this resulted in three days being wasted, which made some people unhappy.
Yu Chunsheng missed his child and refused to stay in the hospital any longer. Xu Tangmian had no choice but to confirm with the doctor before going to process his discharge procedures while he was receiving an IV drip.
Yu Chunsheng was left alone in the ward again.
Occasionally, doctors and nurses would come to check on the patients to see if they had any more medicine, so Yu Chunsheng didn't pay much attention to the footsteps at the door.
It wasn't until a pair of leather shoes came into view that Yu Chunsheng finally dared to shift his gaze from the floor to the person who had arrived.
Yu Chunsheng had been pondering Xu Zhilian's matter for the past few days, and hadn't yet figured out what to do with him, when he unexpectedly fell ill with pneumonia himself.
Xu Zhilian walked straight to the next bed with his hands in his pockets and sat down. He snorted coldly, "I thought you'd changed drastically after being reborn and wouldn't even care about important matters anymore. Turns out you're in the hospital."
Yu Chunsheng had no idea what he wanted, so he could only ask indifferently, "Why did you come here?"
"I have to see you before I leave," Xu Zhilian grinned and patted Yu Chunsheng on the shoulder. Anyone who didn't know better would think the two were putting on a show of deep teacher-student affection.
"Leave?" Yu Chunsheng frowned. "Why so soon?"
“You’re not being sincere.” Xu Zhilian laughed again, though there was a hint of sarcasm in his laughter. “Since I’m insignificant and practically invisible to you, then I might as well go back.”
In his haste, Yu Chunsheng blurted out, "About the cable-stayed bridge..."
“Of course not.” Xu Zhilian snorted coldly. “You don’t think the world has become a better place while you’re unconscious, do you?”
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