Chapter 272: A pitiful family

After lunch, Li Long rested for a while, there was still rain in the sky, but the rain wasn't big. He waited for more than half an hour, and after the rain stopped, pushed the bicycle and went out.

"Ride slowly on the road," Du Chunfang reminded at the door, "There's a lot of mud, don't show off."

"Mom, I know." Li Long waved his hand with a smile, stepped on the bicycle, pedaled out of the courtyard, and went toward Gu Xiaoxia's house.

Before arriving at the Gu family, Li Long saw Gu Xiaoxia riding a bicycle and walking toward the big road, and he was happy.

Li Long stopped to wait for Gu Xiaoxia to ride over, and asked with a smile:

"Why did you come out?"

"What about you, why did you come out?" Gu Xiaoxia was a bit unhappy, and asked.

"When I left your house, I heard Uncle Gu talking about you. I guessed he must want you to rush back to the county this afternoon, so I came over to take a look."

"Exactly! My dad said, work is work, don't always think about home, he's not old at home, and can work..." Gu Xiaoxia was clearly a bit unhappy, "Then I'll go... what about you?"

"Our bike is broken, I have to go to the county to buy a tire. Let's go, let's go together."

The two rode side by side. Although there wasn't much mud on the road, it still stuck to the tires, Li Long discovered that the further west they went, the more mud there was, it seemed like it rained more in the west than in the village.

"Stop, stop." Li Long said to Gu Xiaoxia who was trying hard to twist her body and pedal, "Let's clear the mud on the wheels."

He propped up the bike, went to the side of the road and broke off a red willow branch, brought it over, first cleared the mud under the mudguards of Gu Xiaoxia's bike, and then started clearing the mud on his own bike.

Gu Xiaoxia stepped carefully on the ground, trying to ensure her small leather shoes didn't get too much mud.

"Let's go, ride for a while more, and it will be fine when we reach the township."

The road from the county to the township went straight north to the Huke Highway, this section was paved with stones, there was no mud, and rain didn't affect riding.

As for the road from the team to the township, it would take three or five years to pave with stones, and then another seven or eight years to pave with asphalt. And paving this asphalt was also tossed for many years.

The two rode from the team to the township, the five or six kilometers of road took more than half an hour, but looking at the road in the township, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

There was only one retail department in the township, no place to repair bicycles, and no place to sell tires, to buy tires you had to go to the county.

At the bridge hole, Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia about the mother and daughter.

"The little girl is still quite grateful, even sent me fish—at that time I also felt not to hurt her self-esteem, so I took it." Li Long said with a smile.

They continued forward, rode out less than five hundred meters, and Li Long saw someone in front walking hurriedly, and seemed to be walking while crying—this person also had a child on her back.

When they walked to the front, Li Long heard clearly, the one carrying the person was a woman, on her back was a little girl. The woman was crying there and saying:

"Girl, don't sleep, we'll be in the county soon, when we get to the county I'll find a hospital for you..."

It was that mother and daughter!

Li Long immediately said to Gu Xiaoxia:

"These two are the mother and daughter I encountered, the girl should be sick..."

"Saving people is urgent." Gu Xiaoxia immediately said, "You take them to the county hospital..."

"Good." Li Long pedaled a few times to the woman's front and then braked to a stop, saying:

"Big sister, is the child sick? Get on the cart!"

"Mm, fever... burning so much she can't speak..." The woman said subconsciously, then looked up and saw Li Long, and was stunned for a moment.

"Get on the cart quickly, I'll take you to the hospital!" Li Long said, "I know the way!"

The woman couldn't care about so much at this time, she immediately helped the girl down from her back, turned to holding her, and then with Li Long's assistance sat on the back seat of the bicycle.

Li Long carefully crossed his leg from the beam, stepped hard on the pedal, let the bicycle turn, he got on the cart, and drove quickly toward the county.

The county hospital

"Saving people is urgent," Gu Xiaoxia said immediately. "You take them to the county hospital..."

"Alright." Li Long pedaled hard a few times to reach the woman, then braked and stopped, saying:

"Sister-in-law, is the child sick? Get on the bike!"

"Yes, she has a fever... she's burned so much she can't even speak..." the woman said subconsciously, then looked up and saw Li Long, pausing in surprise.

"Get on quickly, I'll take you to the hospital!" Li Long said. "I know the way!"

The woman couldn't care about anything else at this moment; she immediately helped the girl down from her back, switched to holding her, and then, with Li Long's assistance, sat on the back seat of the bicycle.

Li Long carefully swung his leg over the crossbar to mount the bike, stomped hard on the pedal to get the bicycle moving, and once he was on, he sped toward the county seat.

The county hospital was in the east of the town, not far from the compound where Li Long and the others lived. Gu Xiaoxia didn't return to the compound but followed Li Long to the county hospital.

At this time, there was only a doctor on duty at the county hospital. Li Long parked the bike, waited for the mother and daughter to get off, and then ran quickly into the hospital. The woman followed behind holding the child, and they entered the main gate in just a few steps.

By then, Li Long had already called the doctor on duty out. The doctor came up, felt the girl's forehead, listened to the child's lungs with a stethoscope, and then asked the woman a few questions, saying:

"It's a cold and fever caused by catching a chill, and the child's body is too weak to fight it off," the doctor said. "I'll give her an injection to bring the fever down first to avoid it turning into pneumonia, and then I'll prescribe some medicine. She should be fine after a few days of taking it. Go pay the bill, and take the child to the treatment room."

"I'll go pay," Li Long said, standing up. "Sister-in-law, you take the child to the treatment room first."

Human life is at stake. Li Long could tell from the woman's expression that although she was in a hurry to take the child to the hospital, she likely had no money.

When it comes to saving a life, there is no time to delay.

In the eighties, pneumonia was also a very serious illness and could not be taken lightly. It wasn't like in later generations, where many people perceived ordinary pneumonia as just a bad cold.

After paying the bill and getting the slip, the nurse prepared the medicine and gave the child the injection. Li Long then went to pick up the medicine and handed it to the mother.

Gu Xiaoxia stayed with the woman to watch the child. Not long after the injection, the child's face wasn't as red, and her breathing had stabilized.

The process looked simple, but in reality, Li Long, Gu Xiaoxia, and the mother all knew that without this injection, and without Li Long bringing them over on his bicycle, the girl might have been in trouble. "Alright, let's go," Li Long said, feeling relieved as he saw the situation improve, and whispered to Gu Xiaoxia:

"Let's go take care of our own business."

"Okay." Gu Xiaoxia quietly left the hospital with Li Long.

While pushing the bike, Gu Xiaoxia said:

"I left two yuan for that sister-in-law so she can buy the child something to eat later. After hearing what you said, that child is quite nice. When you were getting the medicine earlier, I asked a bit; they came here looking for the child's father, but they didn't find him."

"Poor people," Li Long nodded.

There were plenty of poor people in these times.

Li Long sent Gu Xiaoxia to the compound, and he went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy two new tires—the bicycle at home was used frequently and for heavy labor, so having a spare tire was beneficial.

After getting the tires, Li Long returned straight to the team. The weather had improved, and he believed the ground would be firm enough by tomorrow, so cycling wouldn't be significantly affected.

After returning that day, Li Long got home to find Li Qing Xia and Tao Daqiang both there, but they hadn't dared to go set the nets.

!.

"I was afraid you wouldn't be able to bring the tires back, and then we wouldn't be able to sell fish tomorrow, which would make catching them a waste," Li Qing Xia explained.

"Well, it's fine now. Let's get the bicycle tires installed, and then we'll go set the nets," Li Long said. "We'll sell fish tomorrow."

Actually, he also wanted to sell cynomorium, but he thought he'd wait another two days. The corn hadn't been harvested yet, and there should still be people digging up cynomorium and bringing it to the old horse corral. He'd wait and sell it all together; otherwise, the small bits and pieces later would be hard to handle.

Li Qing Xia originally wanted to stay and help Li Jianguo fix the bicycle, but Li Jianguo told him to go set the nets. He could see that his old man had been particularly happy and full of energy lately, which was good. As long as he could earn money, was in a good mood, and didn't talk about missing his hometown, that was enough.

After setting the nets, Li Long cast a few more times and got some fish, preparing to take them back to roast. This roasted fish was similar to barbecue and tasted quite good, though it required patience, as river fish generally had many fine bones.

The next day, when retrieving the nets, Li Qing Xia didn't let Tao Daqiang follow, fearing the bicycle would be weighed down and damaged again. Plus, the road surface was still a bit soft; if they added another person, it would be impossible to ride fast on the stretch from the team to the township.

Li Qing Xia went to sell fish in the county, and Li Long went to Shicheng.

The road from the county seat to Shicheng was relatively easy to travel, and he rode with the wind. Li Long set up his stall in Shicheng. There didn't seem to be many people buying fish today, but Li Long didn't mind; market fluctuations were normal.

After selling the fish in over an hour, Li Long pushed his bicycle through the various stalls. There were people selling watermelons, vegetables, and eggs here, but no one selling meat—likely because it was summer and they were afraid it would rot if it didn't sell.

To Li Long's surprise, there was someone selling flatbreads, using a modified handcart. A wooden support was made at the handlebars, which served as a stall when not being pushed. On the cart was a stove made from a tin bucket, and next to it, on a wooden board, was a stack of flatbreads and a bucket of pickled vegetables.

There were also knives and boards on the cart; Li Long guessed that if someone wanted a flatbread with pickled vegetables, it would be sliced on the spot.

Not many people were buying, but there was a steady stream of customers—mostly stall owners. A flatbread was larger than a palm and not expensive; twenty-five cents with vegetables, twenty cents without.

The cart also carried boiled water. Li Long observed that those eating flatbreads could get water for free, and if they didn't have a cup, the seller provided a bowl.

This person had a good head on their shoulders.

Li Long praised them and continued walking forward.

He walked around all the stalls and then left.

The goods here were more abundant than in the county, but there was nothing Li Long needed. Moreover, because this was a new city, there were no antiques for sale, so Li Long's plan to hoard them while they were cheap couldn't be realized here.

After going to a milk tea shop to have some tea and chatting with the young man making naan, Li Long finished and returned to the county.

At the free market, Li Qing Xia had brought fewer fish and had already sold out and returned. Li Long walked around, and seeing no antiques for sale either, he returned to the compound.

It was almost noon.

Gu Xiaoxia hadn't finished work yet. Li Long entered the courtyard, parked the bicycle, took down the basin to wash it, put it back in its place, and then started preparing lunch.

They had rice at home yesterday, so today he'd make some hand-pulled noodles. In these times, lunch had to be filling, as they were doing physical labor.

By the time Li Long finished cooking, Gu Xiaoxia hadn't returned, so he ate first. He also pulled the noodles for Gu Xiaoxia and coated them with cooked oil, which ensured they wouldn't stick or spoil for a while.

After Li Long finished his meal and soup, Gu Xiaoxia hurried back.

"I went to the hospital to see that sister-in-law," Gu Xiaoxia explained. "The child's fever has broken now, but it'll probably take a few days to recover. I've already asked about her situation; she's truly pitiful—it was thanks to you a while ago, and she keeps saying she's grateful to you."

"That's normal," Li Long waved his hand. "Everyone has moments of urgency. Sit down first, I'll heat up your noodles, eat."

"Okay," Gu Xiaoxia said. "I bought them a few steamed buns earlier, and I haven't eaten yet—so fragrant! Did you stir-fry hot peppers?"

"Yeah, it helps you eat more."

"I smelled it while I was still outside, and my mouth started watering immediately. By the way, do you know? That sister-in-law's husband came here to support the border two years ago. She said it was some 'Si' or some 'Shi'. She originally had letters, but on the train, her money and letters were stolen. After getting off the train, she asked around, and people pointed her to us."

"Isn't that like looking for a needle in a haystack?" Li Long shook his head. "Northern Xinjiang is so big; there are at least five or six divisions (Shi) alone, and there are plenty of 'Si's too. There's even a Kanas in the far north..."

"Hehe, you know quite a lot," Gu Xiaoxia said with a smile while mixing vegetables into her noodles. "I didn't even know..."

"What's so special about that? Read more books, and you'll know everything," Li Long said, keeping a straight face. "Everything is in those books."

"Mhm, mhm." Gu Xiaoxia picked up a large mouthful of noodles and started eating, saying as she did, "That sister-in-law reached the bridge tunnel when it got dark, and they stayed there, picking up wheat ears and helping people harvest wheat to trade for food, and salt and such.

Her daughter, Xiaoni, got caught in the rain while harvesting wheat and wasn't wearing enough clothes, so she caught a cold that night. I guess she must have been exhausted during this time and wasn't eating well..."

Poor people.

(End of chapter)