Chapter 475: The Uninvited Guests in the Small Town

He Yuzhu smiled: "Man Yatou, I'll put on a disguise in a moment. If anyone asks, just say we are doctors from a medical team, just passing through."

"Thank you, brother!" A sudden light appeared in Man Yatou's eyes.

He Yuzhu grabbed a large handful of candies and stuffed them into her pocket.

Man Yatou reached out to touch her bulging pocket, feeling the candies packed inside, and felt extremely happy.

"Man Yatou, how many children are in your family?" He Yuzhu asked.

"My name is Liu Siman! I have three older sisters: Liu Daman, Liu Erman, and Liu Sanman."

He Yuzhu smiled: "Good, I'll go take a look at your house once I've changed my clothes."

He went out to call Kajia in, briefly explained the situation, and handed her a white coat.

Before long, Man Yatou walked in front, followed by two "doctors" in white coats, heading toward the outskirts of the town.

The group of children gathered at the entrance of the town government office still followed closely behind.

He Yuzhu took out another bag of candy and said loudly: "I'll give each of you some more candy, and once it's finished, hurry home. Whoever keeps following won't get any tomorrow."

Soon, the children dispersed.

At the very edge of the town was a low-lying courtyard containing three rammed-earth thatched huts.

Next door was a two-story wooden building; although it was quite old and creaked in the wind, it was much more imposing than Man Yatou's home, and a cow was tied in the courtyard.

If he wasn't mistaken, this was Li Sigou's house.

He Yuzhu calmly activated the Scanning Function and immediately discovered two people hiding in a room of the wooden building, each with two Mauser C96s strapped to their bodies.

This Man Yatou had really been a huge help; without her, it probably wouldn't have been easy to find these two people.

"This is my home." Man Yatou pushed open the creaking wooden door.

He Yuzhu followed her into the house.

The house was bare, with only a large wooden bed on which lay a woman as thin as a rail, her complexion sallow and her breathing faint.

"My mother... has a perforated stomach, and we have no money to treat it..." Man Yatou's voice lowered, choked with sobs.

Kajia sat beside the woman and began to open her medical kit to perform some basic examinations.

He Yuzhu chatted with Man Yatou outside the door: "Where is your father?"

"Father was taken away by the Bald Party... and never came back." Man Yatou wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

He Yuzhu sighed softly: "Now, what does your family rely on to get by?"

"I have three older sisters; they are the ones who work in the fields and usually sell some vegetables."

"Doesn't your family have any elders to help?" He Yuzhu asked.

"I have two uncles, both of whom are lazybones. They pretend to be sick whenever there is work to do, so they have never been able to get married. Grandma has always wanted to sell my sisters to arrange marriages for my uncles... My sisters don't dare talk back, so I argue with her, and she often hits me..."

Man Yatou rolled up her sleeves, which were covered in scars.

He Yuzhu sighed, feeling a bit unsettled. It seemed that the custom of valuing men over women was truly hard to change for the time being.

"Why doesn't your grandmother live with you?"

"After my father left, she drove us out, saying we were money-losing goods, and that this house was left behind by my great-grandfather."

As Man Yatou spoke, she began to cry: "Grandma even wants to marry my eldest sister off to the blacksmith's son in town, and that man... is an idiot."

He Yuzhu patted Man Yatou on the shoulder and said: "Man Yatou, you helped your brother this time, so your brother will help you once too. We'll take your mother to the hospital in a moment."

"But... but my family has no money." Man Yatou looked up, her eyes filled with sorrow beyond her years.

"We will pay for it. Go call your sisters back so we can discuss how to get her to the hospital."

Man Yatou stared at him blankly, seemingly unable to believe this sudden stroke of good luck, and tears suddenly rolled down in large drops.

She wiped her tears, turned, and ran off.

Hearing He Yuzhu's words, Man Yatou's mother opened her eyes slightly and said in a thread-like voice: "Th-thank you, benefactor..."

"Don't mention it, ma'am; Man Yatou helped me out as well," He Yuzhu said gently.

Not long after, the sound of hurried footsteps approached from afar.

Man Yatou led two slightly older girls back, both of whom were carrying bamboo baskets on their backs.

They wore patched clothes, their faces filled with unease, and they looked at He Yuzhu timidly.

"Your mother has a perforated stomach; we can't treat it here, we must get her to the hospital immediately," He Yuzhu said to Liu Daman, who had just returned.

Liu Daman looked at her mother's haggard, sickly face and burst into tears in her anxiety: "We... we have no money!"

He Yuzhu didn't say much, directly pulling a stack of money from his pocket and stuffing it into her hand: "Take this money first; saving her life is what matters, get her to the hospital quickly."

Liu Daman looked at the stack of money in her hand, more than she had ever seen before, and was completely stunned, her lips trembling, unable to speak for a moment.

Man Yatou, however, had already taken action.

She tugged on her eldest sister's sleeve and whispered: "Sister, I'm going to borrow the ox cart from Li Sigou's house next door!"

He Yuzhu nodded to himself.

This little girl didn't panic in a crisis; her mind was indeed quick.

He took out some small change and handed it to Man Yatou: "Take this to pay for the cart. If you go to borrow it empty-handed, they might not be willing."

"Mm!" Man Yatou gripped the money tightly and turned to run toward the neighboring courtyard.

At this moment, in the main room of Li Sigou's house, the atmosphere was somewhat strange.

Two young women in coarse cloth clothes, with murderous intent in their eyes, were pressed against the window, nervously observing the movements in the Liu family's courtyard through the gaps.

They were Xie Zhuqing's personal bodyguards—Xie Hong and Xie Lan.

The sudden arrival of strangers at the Liu house next door, accompanied by a blonde, blue-eyed foreign woman—even though they were all wearing white coats—had made them suspicious, and they were discussing how to go and investigate.

A knock on the door suddenly rang out, giving all three people in the room a start.

Although Li Sigou was a hoodlum, he didn't have much courage.

His heart was pounding, and feeling somewhat at a loss, he looked at Xie Hong and asked with a trembling voice: "Two ladies, have they discovered you? Should I open this door or not?"

Xie Hong and Xie Lan exchanged a glance.

Xie Hong nodded and lowered her voice, "Open it! They probably want to borrow your family's ox cart."

"Then should I lend it or not?" Li Sigou's voice was trembling.

Xie Hong kicked him and cursed, "What a damn waste of space! Put on that bastard look you usually have and tell her you'll only lend it if she pays! Don't give the game away."

"Alright... alright!" Li Sigou steadied himself, took a deep breath, and walked out slowly.

The door creaked open, and Man Yatou's anxious little face appeared in the doorway.

"Fourth Uncle, my mother is dying, can I borrow the ox cart?" Man Yatou pleaded.

"My ox eats several catties of grain a day! A single trip will cost at least five catties of grain... can your family afford that?" Li Sigou said, squinting at her.

"We can afford it!" Man Yatou took out ten thousand yuan and handed it over.

"Hey! Man Yatou, how did your family suddenly get so rich?" Li Sigou asked suspiciously.

"We ran into a kind medical team, and they are willing to help us!"

"Once this money is given to me, it cannot be taken back!" Li Sigou said.