Chapter 4: A Single Penny Stumps a Hero

Hearing these words, Kong Yizhang jumped up, but thinking of something, he held back the words on his lips: "Where are you?"

Liu Chuxue glanced around calmly, lowered her voice, and said: "The Post and Telecommunications Office of the Baiye Commune."

"In an hour and a half, I will come to find you. I also have to trouble you to help me carry the things I need to bring over."

Liu Chuxue naturally understood the meaning in his words: "No problem."

After hanging up the phone, Kong Yizhang hurriedly began to gather people; he understood that Fu Yan Cheng must have encountered trouble, otherwise he would not have risked sending a message through someone, after all, they had previously agreed that this code word would only be used in the most desperate circumstances.

And Liu Chuxue, having left the post office, already had a plan in mind: since her eldest uncle's wife had shown no benevolence, then she should not be blamed for showing no righteousness.

She first went to the school, explained her family's situation to the homeroom teacher, and requested a week's leave.

Afterwards, she wandered around the classroom, greeted several classmates she got along well with, and specifically asked the time from the only male classmate who wore a watch before leaving the school.

After that, she hurriedly ran towards the township hospital.

When she arrived, Liu's elderly couple had already left, and the original owner's mother was wiping away tears in the corridor outside the ward.

Seeing Liu Chuxue approach, she asked: "Why have you come here?"

"I was worried about father, so I asked the homeroom teacher for leave."

Hearing these words, Liu's mother's tears flowed again; afraid that her husband inside the ward would hear, she raised her hand to cover her mouth.

Liu Chuxue peeked into the ward, lowered her voice, and asked: "Mom, what is the situation exactly now?"

Liu's mother wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve and choked out: "The doctors at the township hospital told us to go to a higher-level hospital for treatment; they also said it would be best to go to the city for treatment. The reservoir construction site said that since it was not working hours at the time, the construction site would only be responsible for half of the medical expenses.

I asked the old director of the township hospital; he said your father's injury is quite serious and mentioned that steel nails and such would need to be inserted. It probably won't cost less than two or three hundred yuan, and there is no guarantee it can be cured, let alone the matters afterwards. But your grandfather and grandmother said the family cannot afford too much money."

As she spoke, tears flowed down again.

Hearing these words, Liu Chuxue said: "Mom, no matter how much money it costs, this illness must be treated, and we cannot delay too long, otherwise we might miss the best time for treatment."

How could Liu's mother not know this situation? But her in-laws said they had to go home to discuss it. She was a clever housewife without rice to cook, with no one to consult, and she was nearly driven to despair.

Although Liu Chuxue was not the original owner, she was occupying her body after all: "Mom, don't worry first. Since the reservoir side said they would provide half of the medical expenses, even if the family cannot afford too much, they surely won't contribute nothing. I will go to my sister's place again to see if I can borrow some from my brother-in-law. A living person cannot be killed by being held back by urine, right?"

Hearing her second daughter's words, Liu's mother also found a backbone in her heart; she knew she could no longer escape: "Then I will also go back to the village to see if I can borrow some from the villagers; we cannot bet everything on the family."

With the matter settled, Liu Chuxue entered the ward. Looking at the man on the hospital bed with a weathered face, she felt a mix of emotions in her heart for a moment.

Truly, a single penny can stump a hero; no matter what era, without money, one cannot take a single step.

Sensing someone approach the hospital bed, Liu's father turned his head and forced out a smile uglier than crying: "Chuxue, why have you come?"

Thinking of something, he quickly added: "Father is fine; you should hurry back to school for class."

His second daughter would graduate from high school in a few months; she could not let her studies be affected by him. If she failed to get her graduation certificate then, she would have attended school for nothing. Thinking of his own situation, he despondently clenched the hand hidden under the quilt.