Chapter 41

When Xu Wen brought Dongsheng to Haicheng after traveling thousands of miles, it was New Year's Eve.

Haicheng is not a well-known big city. At least it was the first time Xu Wen had heard of it and the first time he had visited it in his two lifetimes.

The only thing she knew about Haicheng was that it housed the First Navy Hospital of the Southern Military Region.

Because Lu Yuanzheng is in this hospital.

The railway station in Haicheng is very small, so you don't have to worry about getting lost.

However, Xu Wen couldn't understand the language here, and he didn't even dare to hail a car, for fear that the mother and son would be taken away and sold by bad guys without them knowing.

Without a cell phone or navigation, Xu Wen held Dongsheng's hand and stood at the exit of Haicheng Railway Station at 8 o'clock, feeling confused.

After waiting for a while, Dongsheng shook Xu Wen's hand and asked, "Mom, are we waiting for Dad to pick us up?"

"Your father probably won't be able to wait." Xu Wen shook his head, "I heard your father is still in a coma. But I don't know how to get to the hospital."

“We can ask someone else.”

Xu Wen smiled bitterly: "I want to ask, but I can't understand what they are saying."

"I understand." Dongsheng let go of Xu Wen's hand and ran away.

Xu Wen quickly picked up his luggage and chased after him, shouting at him: "Lu Dongsheng, you're running around. I'm going to be mad!"

She got lost in a busy train station. Where could she find him?

Dongsheng stopped by the roadside and chatted with a tricycle driver.

Xu Wen was surprised that Dongsheng actually knew the local language.

Dongsheng felt distressed after listening to this for a while, frowned and asked Xu: "Mom, what should I do if I can't remember the route he mentioned?"

Xu asked: "..."

It's impossible for a three or four-year-old to remember so many words.

"Can you help Mama ask how much it costs to take his car from here to the hospital?"

After hearing what Dongsheng said, the man looked Xu Wen up and down, then raised his finger and made a number.

"One cent?"

"He said one."

Xu Wen chuckled and pulled Dongsheng up, "Let's go, let's take the bus."

It’s not that I’m reluctant to spend the money, but judging from the driver’s expression, I can tell that it won’t cost a single dollar.

It's fine if he overcharges passengers, but what if he really has bad intentions? Buses are still safer.

There is a bus stop not far from the station, but it seems there are no buses going to this hospital.

When the first bus arrived at the station, Xu Wen took Dongsheng on the bus and asked Dongsheng which bus to take to the hospital.

After Dongsheng asked, the driver opened the car door again.

Xu Wen looked at Dongsheng, and Dongsheng said, "The driver said to take bus No. 12 directly."

Xu Wen frowned. He didn't see any direct station, but he still thanked politely.

She couldn't understand what the driver said, but the driver could still understand her.

While waiting for bus No. 12, Xu Wen carefully studied the bus route again and indeed did not find the words "Navy Hospital". On the entire bus stop route map, there was only one hospital with the word "hospital" in it, called 422 Hospital.

It was a long time later that Xu Wen found out that, like military unit numbers, hospitals also had numerical codes.

Moreover, even if there is a bus stop at the gate of a certain military unit, it will not be displayed on the route map, and you can't find it even on Baidu.

But that is a story for later. It was two hours later that Xu Wen, who was confused and did not understand the language, understood through practice that the 422 Hospital was the First Navy Hospital.

The mother and son were dry-mouthed after getting off the bus.

After entering the hospital, I thought I would have to spend some time to find out where Lu Yuanzheng was staying. Unexpectedly, the nurse knew the answer after I asked casually. She told Xu Wen, "Inpatient 1st Department, 2nd Floor, Bed 17."

Xu Wen wondered if the medical staff here were of such high quality that they could remember the details of every injured or sick soldier hospitalized.

With this question in mind, Xu Wen found bed 17 on the second floor of the inpatient department.

Hospitals in the 1970s were still quite simple. The wards were as large as classrooms, with more than a dozen beds in each ward.

Seriously ill patients like Lu Yuanzheng live in single rooms, the kind that would still be in the ICU decades later.

Xu Wen found the ward where Lu Yuanzheng was, knocked on the door and went in.

In the ward, there was only Lu Yuanzheng lying on the bed, and there was no one to accompany him.

Such a long journey was a bit tragic. In such hot weather, he was wrapped up like a mummy, with bruises and sores on his face, and one of his closed eyes was swollen beyond recognition.

"Mom, is this my dad?" Dongsheng was a little hesitant to recognize him.

Xu Wen sighed softly: "Yes."

It's a bit miserable, but it's still barely recognizable.

Fortunately, I am still alive.

It was a hot day, and a ceiling fan in the room was creaking. Lu Yuanzheng was naked from the waist up.

Strictly speaking, she wasn't naked, since most of her body was wrapped in bandages.

After a while, Xu Wen finally realized something was wrong. He turned around and looked at Dongsheng who was staring at Lu Yuanzheng and asked him, "Dongsheng, aren't you sad that your father is injured like this?"

Shouldn’t a normal child burst into tears right after crying?

She felt a lump in her throat when she saw Lu Yuanzheng, but Dongsheng seemed to be... used to it?

As expected, Dongsheng said, "I'm not sad. Every time Dad comes back, he goes to the hospital first and then comes to see me. No, I see him. It's just that this time he seems to have the most bandages. Dad said that I'm lucky to be able to come back alive. If I'm lucky, why should I be sad?"

Xu asked: "..."

What kind of ideas does this instill in children?

But I can't say it's wrong.

Xu Wen sighed softly and patted Dongsheng's head: "It is indeed a lucky thing to be alive again, but being injured is also very painful and sad. Being hospitalized is not something that can be taken for granted. Injury or illness is a disaster for anyone and it is a sad thing. Dad told you this because he doesn't want you to be sad."

"Is Dad in pain now?"

Xu Wen nodded: "It should be very painful. Just think about it, you would cry out in pain when you get a little scratch on your skin. It must be painful for Dad to have so many scratches on his body!"

Dongsheng groaned, very puzzled: "How could it be like this before? Dad said it didn't hurt!"

"He said it didn't hurt because he is strong, not because the wound doesn't hurt." Xu Wen felt a little painful. Look at what he had taught his child.

Well, Dongsheng is calmer than other children when facing pain.

It’s hard to say, this itself is a lack of respect for casualties, and it will give Dongsheng some wrong perceptions.

After all, Lu Yuanzheng had "cheated" Dongsheng.

"Oh." Dongsheng nodded, leaned his hands on the edge of the bed, stretched his neck and let Lu Yuanzheng warm his wound.

At this time, a young man in military uniform carrying a water bottle walked in. When he saw Xu Wen, he was startled: "Comrade, who are you?"

"Hello, my name is Xu Wen, and I'm Lu Yuanzheng..." Xu Wen pointed at the mummy on the bed, "the lover."

"Oh! Sister-in-law!" The young man put the green hollow aluminum water bottle in his hand on the bedside table and smiled shyly, "How did you get here? You didn't even tell me in advance so that I could pick you up at the station."

Xu Wen smiled and said nothing.

I thought to myself: I would like to say hello and ask someone to pick me up, but the problem is that no one gives me a way to say hello.

"Sister-in-law, please sit down first. Have you eaten yet? I'll go buy some food for you and the children."

Before Xu Wen could refuse, the young man had already trotted away.

Xu asked: "..."

"Dongsheng, do you know him?"

Dongsheng shook his head, then nodded: "It seems a little familiar."

After a while, the young man came back, but not alone. There were two more people with him.

The young man pointed at one of them and introduced him to Xu Wen, "Sister-in-law, this is our battalion commander..."

Before he could finish his words, Dongsheng rushed towards the man: "Uncle Song!"

"Song Xueqin." The young man finished speaking.

Xu Wen nodded quickly: "Hello, Captain Song."

"Hello, Comrade Xiao Xu. I've heard of you for a long time. By the way, I have to thank you for helping us find Comrade Lu Yuanzheng." Captain Song hugged Dongsheng into his arms. "I haven't seen you for half a year. You've grown taller and become stronger!"

Xu asked: “???” What did you ask me to help you with?

The other person took the initiative to extend his hand and shook hands with Xu Wen, "Hello sister-in-law, my name is Dong Chao, and I am the one who called you. It's like this, Lu Lian had been found by a brother unit and sent to the hospital before we found him, but he was seriously injured and unconscious, and he didn't have any ID on him. The hospital didn't know which unit he was from and failed to notify us in time. And from the information we received, Lu Lian basically had no chance of survival, so we opened his stored suicide note according to regulations and sent it to you as he requested.

I just didn't expect to cause you and the child so much trouble."

Dong Chao smiled apologetically.

Xu Wen shook his head: "It doesn't matter. Then how did you find him? Is it related to me?"

"Yes. It's because of your article." Dong Chao pointed to the newspaper stand in the corner of the room. "It was a coincidence. When he came to check on the ward that day, an intern accidentally knocked over the newspaper stand and dropped the newspaper on the floor. He found this article interesting and read a few sentences. Maybe people are more sensitive to their own names. When Lu Lian heard his own name, he opened his eyes and said, 'I'm not dead yet!' and fainted again.

A doctor was quick to react and thought that he must be Lu Yuanzheng, so he announced the news within the army. We asked and rushed to see that it was indeed him. I also read the newspaper, and was afraid that you were having a hard time at home, so I called you to tell you. I didn't expect that you would come in person. "

Dong Chao called Xu Wen at that time just to tell her that although Lu Yuanzheng was seriously injured, he was out of danger after timely treatment. He told her not to worry. He also told Xu Wen that they had notified the newspaper and radio station to remove the news about Lu Yuanzheng, after all, Lu Yuanzheng was still alive.

Xu Wen didn't say anything at the time. He only asked about Lu Yuanzheng's current situation and the location of the hospital. He didn't expect that he would come here without saying a word.

It is rare to find female comrades who dare to travel far away alone these days.

As soon as the attendant who was in charge of taking care of Lu Yuanzheng reported, Song Xueqin came over with Dong Chao.

After listening to Dong Chao's words, Xu Wen thanked them one by one.

"Well, Comrade Xu Wen. You are very tired after the long journey. Why don't you stay in our guesthouse for one night and come to see him tomorrow morning?" Song Xueqin came to pick up Xu Wen.

Xu Wen was indeed a little tired.

These days, ordinary people can only buy seat tickets when riding the train. She is not eligible for sleeper tickets or the like.

I was carrying my luggage and Dongsheng, and I hardly dared to close my eyes. I was really tired.

Xu Wen thanked him and took Song Xueqin's car to the compound.

Xu Wen was so nervous that her palms were sweating. The scenes she had seen on TV before were now happening to her.

Song Xueqin could tell she was nervous, so he started a conversation with her: "I read that newspaper, too. Are you still the top scorer in the college entrance exam?"

Xu Wen said modestly: "Good luck."

"You can't get the top score by luck!" Song Xueqin shook his head. "You are a good comrade, and so is Lu Yuanzheng."

Xu Wen was about to say a few more humble words when he heard Song Xueqin mutter, "This brat! He really knows how to pick his targets!"

Xu asked: "..."