Chapter 421

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Very soon, Niu Chunsheng arrived at the County People's Hospital.

"Chunsheng, thank you so much!"

When Niu Chunsheng handed the thirty thousand yuan to Li Xiulan, Li Xiulan wept with gratitude.

Her slightly hunched body was about to kneel directly to Niu Chunsheng; only by kneeling could she express thanks for his kindness.

"Sister-in-law Xiulan, don't be like this, it was just a small effort."

Niu Chunsheng hurriedly supported her, not letting her kneel.

Looking at Li Xiulan's weathered face like tree bark, looking a whole generation older than Niu Chunsheng, Niu Chunsheng felt even more sighs in his heart.

This invisible knife called life can truly change a person's appearance.

They say appearance arises from the heart; looking at Li Xiulan's face full of hardship, one knows she has had an extremely difficult time these years.

"Chunsheng, you've helped me too much! Besides kneeling to you, I truly don't know how to repay your kindness!"

Li Xiulan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Niu Chunsheng hurriedly said:

"Don't be like this, I treat you as a friend; you're being too polite like this."

Then he also urged:

"You hurry and take the money to pay the fees; I still have to go back to the company to be busy, so I won't stay here longer."

Li Xiulan hurriedly said:

"Then you go be busy first; later I will definitely return the money to you. My family isn't without money; it's just that we came in too much of a rush and forgot to bring the passbook down."

"Then I'm leaving, goodbye."

Niu Chunsheng, following his wife's meaning, stayed at the hospital for a short while, then found an excuse to leave.

Now toward Li Xiulan, he simply felt pure sympathy and pity; beyond that, there was not a shred of any other thought.

And he also knew he could not intervene in others' karma, nor could he bear others' karma; he was no saint, no immortal, just a mortal.

A mortal struggling for his own small family.

Ranked most important in his heart was family, second was career.

For this old friend Li Xiulan, he would at most help with small favors within his ability.

Li Xiulan, holding the money borrowed from Niu Chunsheng, immediately went to the registration window to pay.

After signing the surgery risk agreement, Wang Changgen was soon pushed into the operating room for treatment.

"Xiao Hua, you go home and bring the passbook; this afternoon go to the credit union to withdraw money, then return it to your Uncle Chunsheng."

Li Xiulan and Wang Xiaohua sat in the family waiting area outside the operating room; Li Xiulan said this one sentence to Wang Xiaohua.

She was just this kind of person; she didn't want to owe others favors.

Niu Chunsheng had been truly too good to her; she had to return these thirty thousand yuan as soon as possible, otherwise her heart would be uneasy.

"Mom, why not return it later? Dad's medical expenses specifically need how much is still uncertain; it's not sure if even more money will be needed..."

Wang Xiaohua's face was full of guilt.

Now he had completely recovered his reason.

No longer like before when he angrily scolded his father, losing control of his emotions.

So he gave this suggestion most favorable to this family.

He also said:

"Besides, Uncle Chunsheng isn't short of these thirty thousand yuan; us returning it a bit later should be fine."

Li Xiulan, however, said:

"Xiao Hua, you must remember, the hardest debt to repay in this world is the debt of human relations. Your Uncle Chunsheng's thirty thousand yuan, return it as soon as possible if you can; if there's really no money, I'll call your eldest brother and second brother to send some back. I know you have your own opinions, but this time listen to Mom, okay?"

Li Xiulan's tone carried a trace of pleading.

Wang Xiaohua looked at his mother, silent for a moment.

Finally agreed.

"Okay, then I'll go get the passbook now; after withdrawing the money tonight I'll make a trip to Chunsheng's house and return the money to him."

Li Xiulan hurriedly said:

"Then go and return quickly; the passbook is in the room where your dad and I sleep, in the cabinet beside the bedhead, the top compartment, inside a mooncake box, tied with a red plastic bag."

"What's the password?"

"The password was set by your dad; he said it's your lunar birthday. Before it was always your dad who went to withdraw money; I haven't gone much. You go try first; if the password is wrong, come back and tell me."

Wang Xiaohua's nose couldn't help but turn sour: "Okay okay, then I'm going home now; you give me the house key."

Wang Xiaohua received the house key from Li Xiulan's hand, then immediately went outside, took the bus back to Shanggou Village.

This noon bus trip, there weren't many passengers on the vehicle.

Wang Xiaohua sat in the window seat, watching the scenery outside the window continuously flowing backward, his heart's thoughts undulating in unceasing waves.

He thought: if his father had any mishap, what would he do?

He thought: why was he so impulsive as to say those hurtful words?

He thought: using his own cognition to judge his father, was that also a kind of stubbornness, a kind of obstinacy?

His temperament, in essence, was it not much different from his father?

He thought and thought.

His mind was in utter chaos.

Even the hardest questions on the college entrance exam, he could easily find the answers to.

But now, faced with these problems in life, problems that seemed easy to answer, he was at a loss, and he was at his wit's end.

The only thing he could be sure of was that this problem at hand was one he had created with his own hands.

No matter what answer he finally got, it would become a hurdle in his heart.

A hurdle that might make him blame himself for a lifetime.

Returning to Shanggou Village, Xiao Hua found the passbook at home.

Opening the passbook to look, he discovered there was only 0.34 yuan on the passbook.

This number, he would never forget for a lifetime.

Check the withdrawal records.

In the past half year, he had withdrawn several times, tens of thousands of yuan each time, probably all used for building the new building.

Now the main structure of the building had been built, and the bricks were almost all laid.

The remaining seventy thousand yuan should barely be enough to make the whole raw house.

But now, with his father having collapsed like this, forget about building the building; whether this bit of money in the passbook was enough for medical expenses was still uncertain.

The building being left unfinished again seemed to have become a settled matter.

Thinking of this, the guilt in Xiao Hua's heart turned into knife after knife, fiercely cutting at his heart.

He slapped himself hard twice, wiped the tears from the corner of his eye, and then went to the side of the highway to wait for a vehicle.

Waiting for about half an hour, taking the township bus, Xiao Hua returned to County Town at around three in the afternoon.

Near the County Hospital, there happened to be a Rural Credit Cooperative.

Xiao Hua went in and queued for a while, then took out the passbook to withdraw money.

The bank staff asked him to enter a password, he entered his lunar birthday as the password, and the password was correct.

"How much do you want to withdraw?"

"Thirty thousand... no, seventy thousand, withdraw seventy thousand." Xiao Hua thought, withdrawing seventy thousand; if more medical expenses were needed later, he wouldn't have to come running a second time, withdrawing money from the passbook was troublesome.

"Is this passbook yours?"

The staff member glanced at Xiao Hua, with a hint of vigilance in his eyes, and asked just this one more question.

"No, it's my father's, my father is in the hospital now and urgently needs money."

"Then have your mother come to withdraw it; you're withdrawing too much at once, I can't process it for you."

The staff member replied with this sentence.

Xiao Hua was helpless and hurriedly said:

"This is my family's household registration book, this is my ID card, I can prove my relationship with my father, my mother is in the hospital now, it was she who asked me to come withdraw it, can't you let me withdraw money?"

The staff member said coldly:

"No, who knows if you stole the passbook from home; have your mother come over, and then I can let you withdraw money. This is a rule set by the Leader above, I have no choice."

The staff member's attitude was actually also out of no choice.

Because in rural areas, it had happened not a few times that children stole the passbook from home to withdraw money and spent it recklessly.

Afterwards, parents would generally make a big scene at the bank, demanding compensation from the bank.

To avoid this kind of dispute, some banks issued such a rule.

Children bringing their parents' passbook to withdraw money must have their father or mother accompany them before they can be allowed to withdraw money.

If it were the Xiao Hua of before, he probably would have argued with the bank staff, demanding they show the relevant legal clauses for not letting him withdraw money, and if they couldn't produce them, he would report them.

Just like doing a math problem, every step, you have to be logically rigorous, and you have to prove to me that your method is correct.

But now he no longer had that kind of temper.

He just nodded repeatedly:

"Okay, okay, I'll go call my mother over right now."

Life is like a millstone; no matter how hard the edges and corners, they may eventually be ground smooth.