Chapter 9: Visiting My Hospitalized Grandma

"Big Uncle, I'm on my way to the hospital."

"Chuan, don't rush! Your grandma just broke her right hand—it's already been reset and casted. She'll stay two days for observation, then she can be discharged. I asked you to come back just to make your grandma happy."

"Big Uncle, I'm right at Xinzhou Bus Station—I'll take a taxi over immediately."

"Ah?! Okay, Inpatient Department, ninth floor, Orthopedics, Room 905. I'm staying overnight to accompany her."

In the taxi, Wang Chuan's anxiety eased somewhat—his grandma had slipped in the bathroom, but luckily the fracture displacement was minor, and surgery wasn't immediately needed.

The uncle who called wasn't Wang Chuan's biological uncle; his name was Xu Yuntao, forty years old, Deputy Director of the Sports Bureau in Xixian County under Xinzhou City, a Deputy Section Chief.

Before age three, Xu Yuntao frequently fell ill and was hospitalized. After advice from a villager who practiced Ritual Methods, he needed to take on a Godmother to ward off misfortune and cure his sickness.

Wang Chuan's grandma, Tan Chunhua, was the Godmother Xu Yuntao took. Miraculously, after bowing to her, Xu Yuntao rarely fell ill again.

Even more miraculously, at age six, while playing by a village river, Xu Yuntao nearly drowned—just then, Wang Chuan's grandma happened to pass by, jumped in without hesitation, and pulled him to safety.

Since then, the Xu family didn't just visit Tan Chunhua during holidays—they often dropped by on ordinary days too.

The taxi driver's voice interrupted Wang Chuan's memories.

"We're here!"

The newly built eleven-story Outpatient Clinic of Xinzhou People's Hospital stood silently in the night, several floors still lit.

Across from the hospital gate, a street-side late-night snack stall was still open; Xu Yuntao had told Wang Chuan to bring back some dumplings from it.

"Lao Wan, two orders of dumplings—one with a fried egg on top," Wang Chuan called out.

The stall owner was a man in his thirties; Wang Chuan knew him from his past life—everyone called him Lao Wan. Two years ago, when Xinzhou Bus Factory restructured, he was deemed outdated and laid off, then started this snack stall himself.

Stir-fried rice noodles and pork dumplings were his specialties.

Wang Chuan asked Lao Wan, "How much?"

"Three yuan total."

The dumplings floated with seaweed, pickled mustard greens, dried shrimp, and chopped scallions; Wang Chuan added a touch of sesame oil before tying them up to take away.

"Chuanzi, your uncle only asked for one bowl—can your grandma even eat dumplings this late at night?"

Li Wei asked.

"It's not for my grandma."

Wang Chuan, familiar with the layout, bypassed the front Outpatient Clinic and walked to the Inpatient Department entrance.

After graduating in his past life, he had worked at this hospital.

"Visiting hours are over—you can't go in."

Wang Chuan saw a middle-aged security guard with heavy under-eye bags and blurted out, "Lao Wei."

"Who are you? Do you know me?"

Lao Wei eyed the two students suspiciously—they didn't look like thieves coming to steal from the Inpatient Department.

Wang Chuan handed him one portion of dumplings. "From Lao Wan's stall at the gate—extra fried egg on top."

Lao Wei was startled—dumplings with a fried egg were his favorite.

Wang Chuan said, "Lao Wei, I'm Wang Chuan, son of Wang Guming. Do you remember?"

Lao Wei had once been a gatekeeper for the Xinzhou Grain Bureau; Wang Chuan's father, Wang Guming, was the Supervision and Inspection Section Chief. As a child, Wang Chuan would come after school to find his father.

He'd even visited Lao Wei's guard booth and eaten the noodles with fried egg Lao Wei cooked.

Lao Wei pondered, studying Wang Chuan closely—his lips twitched, his eyes brightened.

"You're... Section Chief Wang's son... little Chuan, the clever kid with the perfect memory—Wang Chuan."

"What a pity, Section Chief Wang," Lao Wei suddenly grew somber.

Wang Chuan understood—he meant his parents' car accident. He turned away, eyes damp, nose tingling.

His parents, who dreamed of him becoming a dragon, never saw him triumph in the college entrance exam, never saw him succeed with pride.

In his mother's nature, she would've loudly bragged for a year at the high school where she taught, boasting, "He scored high enough for Tsinghua or Peking University, but I didn't want my son going so far—I made him apply to Jiangcheng University School of Medicine."

His father would've smoked a cigarette, sternly lecturing, "Chuan, college is just a starting point—don't get arrogant." Then he'd go downstairs alone, laugh loudly, and hand out cigarettes to everyone in the neighborhood.

Wang Chuan didn't turn back. He whispered, "Lao Wei, my grandma's in Orthopedics—I'm going up."

"Li Wei, wait for me at the snack stall."

Wang Chuan took the elevator to the ninth floor Orthopedics. After speaking with the on-duty nurse, he didn't recognize her.

Entering Room 905, a four-bed ward—two beds were empty.

"Chuanzi," Xu Yuntao said as Wang Chuan entered. "Your grandma's asleep. Just take a look, then we'll step out to talk."

Wang Chuan walked to the bedside. His grandma slept peacefully, covered with the hospital's blue-and-white checkered thin blanket.

In the dim light, deep wrinkles carved her forehead; her silver-white hair clung messily to her cheeks; her breathing was slightly labored, her lips slightly dry.

Wang Chuan gently smoothed her disheveled hair—he saw his grandma again, not in a dream.

For twenty years, every small memory with his grandma flooded back.

Wang Chuan's eyes welled up again.

The pain of an elder burying a younger generation had struck his grandma hard.

But she couldn't show it clearly—she feared it would affect him, feared he'd fall into despair.

A minor child who lost both parents in a single day was like a boat without sails—likely to sink into the depths.

That's what his grandma feared.

After calming his emotions, Wang Chuan carefully examined the external fixation on the fracture.

His grandma's entire right forearm down to her palm was firmly encased in a thick white plaster cast.

The cast began below the elbow joint and was molded perfectly.

His grandma's right thumb was left exposed, but the majority of her other four fingers were supported by the cast.

He could barely make out the tips of her index and middle fingers—their nail beds still looked pink.

Wang Chuan held his grandmother's left hand; the Golden Finger showed all her vital signs within normal range.

'But no indication of cancer?' Wang Chuan frowned. 'Could it be that at this point, my grandmother's cancer hasn't shown any symptoms yet?'

Ten minutes later, Wang Chuan arrived at the emergency staircase and began talking with Xu Yuntao.

'Chief Su from Orthopedics did the external fixation himself—don't worry.'

'Today I came to the Hospital to see my old superior and got a checkup. At the hospital pharmacy, I found out from your aunt Luo Xiaomei. Your aunt Luo Xiaomei handled this wrong—such a big matter, and she didn't tell me.'

'Your grandmother is my biological mother—I'll call her Mom for the rest of my life.'

The aunt Luo Xiaomei Xu Yuntao mentioned was, strictly speaking, his ex-aunt.

Wang Chuan had another uncle, named Xie Ping'an. After his parents died, Wang Chuan's grandmother went to live with his biological uncle Xie Ping'an.

Xie Ping'an had never been stable since childhood; after marriage, he opened a restaurant in Xinzhou City, but within a few years, he divorced Luo Xiaomei, leaving the restaurant and the house to Aunt Luo Xiaomei.

So in reality, Wang Chuan's grandmother was living in Luo Xiaomei's home.

Wang Chuan asked: 'Can't we get in touch with my uncle Xie Ping'an?'

After the divorce, Xie Ping'an traveled all over the country seeking big-money opportunities, his Mobile Phone always in arrears.

Xu Yuntao nodded.

'Uncle, you go back. I'll stay with Grandma tonight.'

'No need. You rode a night bus for hours—go rest early and come back tomorrow morning,' Xu Yuntao said with an unyielding tone.

Wang Chuan remembered that in his past life, on the day his grandmother died, Xu Yuntao cried more bitterly than even his own uncle—he truly treated his grandmother as his mother.

'I'm usually busy with work, but I just happened to have these two days off—let me fulfill my filial duty.'

Xu Yuntao patted Wang Chuan on the shoulder.

Unable to persuade Xu Yuntao, and knowing he, as a junior, must respect his elder, Wang Chuan went downstairs to Lao Wan's night snack stall.

'Chuanzi, is your grandmother okay?' Li Wei asked.

Wang Chuan looked up and saw Xiao Yuchu sitting at the small table, silently crying.

'Yu Yue, what happened?'