Chapter 423

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

After Wang Xiaohua came out of Niu Chunsheng's home, he drifted alone on the streets of the County Town.

At this time, the last long-distance bus to Guangzhou should have already left long ago.

He could only stay in the County Town for one night.

He actually still had over a hundred yuan on him; staying one night in a guesthouse was actually not a problem.

But thinking that his father's life or death was uncertain, and the treatment costs needed afterwards might be an astronomical figure, he dared not spend money lightly.

In the end, he decided to spend the night at an internet cafe.

An all-nighter at an internet cafe is very cheap; ten yuan can get you through the night.

It is a bit of suffering, but at least it saves some money.

On the internet cafe street in the County Town, Wang Xiaohua found an internet cafe called "Golden Finger," went in and told the waiter he wanted an all-nighter, and the waiter immediately set him up with a computer.

Wang Xiaohua had rushed about for a whole day; right now he just wanted to sleep for a while, and had absolutely no inclination to go online.

But the internet cafe environment was very noisy; there were a few people playing CS nearby with external speakers on, making the whole internet cafe like a battlefield.

Wang Xiaohua could only give a wry smile at this; he was also too embarrassed to ask them to lower the volume. After all, the people at internet cafes are a mixed bag; the majority come to play games. Someone like him who doesn't play games is the odd one out instead.

He just sat in front of the computer screen in a daze. Bored with nothing to do, he could only browse various information about cerebral infarction online. He searched on Baidu, and his mood became even heavier.

Suddenly he recalled his mother's various thrifty behaviors in the past, then looked back at his current decision to pull an all-nighter at an internet cafe. He seemed to finally understand why his mother back then would rather choose to walk home than spend fifteen yuan to take a motorcycle home, why she would rather choose to carry construction materials to the construction site herself, carrying them until she got lumbar muscle strain and left a sequela, than spend an extra ten yuan to hire a tractor to transport them.

As if a bullet struck Wang Xiaohua right between the eyebrows.

In the past, he had no pressure from life; his parents held up that piece of sky above his head for him. Naturally, he felt there was no need to be overly thrifty; spend what should be spent. Being overly thrifty was just eating bitterness for no reason.

Only when he truly, tangibly felt the pressure of life did he awaken. All thriftiness is nothing more than a last resort, forced by necessity, to cope with an unknown future.

His parents actually also wanted to spend money generously; who doesn't want to live a good life?

But if they spend a bit recklessly today, and a bit recklessly tomorrow, the tuition for the three brothers might be gone.

Just like now: if Wang Xiaohua generously stays in a hotel today, and goes to Guangzhou tomorrow and still generously stays in a hotel, then when the time comes for his father's surgery, the family scrapes together money from east and west, borrows from everyone they can borrow from, and still comes up a few hundred yuan short — what then?

After this incident, Wang Xiaohua no longer looked down from on high at his parents' various absurd behaviors born of poverty. He began to gradually understand their hardship.

So it was with his mother.

So it was with his father too.

That former gnashing hatred no longer existed.

In its place were guilt, and understanding.

People are not sages; who can be without fault? Even if his father is a piece of trash who let his mother down, one also cannot deny that these years it was he who took on engineering projects and propped up this family.

Life is not a coin; it doesn't have only a heads and a tails. Many things cannot be judged by right and wrong, nor are they like a college entrance exam paper with a standard answer.

Life is multi-faceted; it doesn't even have right and wrong. Many things don't need to be clung to relentlessly, and there's even less need to pursue who is right and who is wrong.

Hatred cannot solve problems; it only exacerbates them, only makes life worse.

This night, Wang Xiaohua stared blankly at the computer screen for the whole night.

Until past five in the morning, when it got light, did he then get up and leave.

He came to the bus station and alone boarded the long-distance bus to Guangzhou.

When buying the ticket, the waiter asked him which station in Guangzhou he was going to. He didn't know. This was the first time in his life going to a big city. He didn't even know which hospital his father had been sent to, and he wasn't familiar with Guangzhou either. So he said, "Whatever. As long as it reaches the central urban area."

The waiter issued him a ticket to Yuexiu South Bus Station. Yuexiu South Bus Station is in Yuexiu District. At that time, Yuexiu District and Liwan District were still the central urban area; Tianhe District and Haizhu District were just emerging new districts.

So the ticket seller giving him this ticket was actually not wrong.

The first bus in the morning didn't have many passengers.

After Wang Xiaohua got on the bus, he sat in his seat, fastened his seatbelt. He hadn't slept all night and was truly too sleepy. So just as he closed his eyes, he was already asleep.

When he woke up, the long-distance bus had already arrived at Yuexiu South Bus Station.

He came out of the station and immediately went to find a convenience store to make a phone call.

At that time, the penetration rate of mobile phones in the city was already very high; almost everyone had a mobile phone. The business of making phone calls at roadside convenience stores had long since been something few convenience store bosses did anymore.

So Wang Xiaohua searched for several convenience stores; either they had no phone, or they took him for a scammer and chased him out.

In the end, he had no choice but to go find an internet cafe nearby, open a computer for an hour, and then through the internet cafe, log into QQ to contact his Second Brother.

The first time he went to an internet cafe back then, it was his Second Brother who helped him register that QQ. He hadn't used that QQ for a very long time. In the contacts, there was only his Second Brother alone.

"Erhai, I've arrived at Guangzhou Yuexiu South Bus Station. Can you come pick me up? If you're too busy, just send me the route; I can go myself too."

After a good long while, his Second Brother replied with a message:

"I'm at Mom and Dad's side. I'll head over to pick you up right now. It's your first time in Guangzhou; you don't know the place or the people. Don't wander around. Where are you right now?"

"I'm at an internet cafe near the station. I only opened a computer for an hour. How about I go back and wait for you at the bus station exit?"

"Okay, okay. You just wait at the bus station exit. Don't go anywhere. If strangers strike up a conversation with you, don't pay them any mind. There are a lot of scammers these days."

"Okay, Brother. I'll wait for you."

Wang Xiaohua came out of the internet cafe and immediately turned back to wait at the Yuexiu South Bus Station exit.

During the wait, there was a roadside stall selling steamed buns next to him. The fragrance drifted over. He felt hunger, and only then realized he hadn't eaten for a day and a night.

He went and bought a few steamed buns and a cup of soy milk, wolfed down breakfast, and then continued waiting.

After waiting over an hour, his Second Brother Wang Erhai finally drove a car to him.

Got in the car. The first thing Wang Erhai said carried a hint of complaint:

"Why didn't you take the bus to Tianhe Bus Station? That side is closer to where we live. Dad is also receiving treatment at Zhongshan Third Hospital nearby there."

Wang Xiaohua's face was full of apology:

"I didn't know which hospital Dad arrived at, I didn't have a mobile phone, it was hard to contact you all, so I just bought a random ticket and came down."

"Before you came down, you should have called and asked us, making me run all the way here, it's quite troublesome."

Wang Erhai's tone carried some irritation.

"Erhai, sorry, it's my fault."

Wang Xiaohua hung his head, very guilty.

He knew his second brother's heart was definitely blaming him; if not for his disrespectful words to his father, his father wouldn't have been angered into a cerebral infarction relapse.