Chapter 3

After emergency treatment, Wang Yazi's condition stabilized. Kong Fanliang arranged for him to be moved into a ward and hung an IV drip.

Su Xinghui had now figured out that Wang Yazi's full name was Damn Lu Dawang. The reckless man was his younger brother, Lu Erwang. Beside him were his third brother, Lu Sanwang, and his younger sister, Lu Sixiu. The old woman was their mother, and there was also an old man who was their father.

Damn Lu Dawang was over thirty years old. He already had three daughters but not a single son. His family had been bankrupted by fines for exceeding the birth quota and was left with nothing but bare walls. However, at the beginning of this year, his wife became pregnant again. To have a son, he hid his wife at the home of his sister Lu Sixiu's in-laws in the mountains. To earn money, he went to the county seat to work as a construction laborer.

A few days ago, the township family planning station received a tip-off from someone, went to Lu Sixiu's in-laws' home, dragged Lu Dawang's wife back to the station, and forcibly performed an abortion on her. Lu Sanwang went to the county seat to notify Lu Dawang. Lu Dawang returned home last night. Seeing his wife who had already undergone the abortion, and not knowing who he heard it from, he was told the aborted fetus had already formed and was clearly a boy. He sat blankly by his wife's bed for the whole night. Early this morning, as soon as the agricultural technology station next to the township government opened, he bought a bottle of Insecticide, ran to the entrance of the township government, and drank it all in one go.

Fortunately, someone nearby recognized Damn Lu Dawang and ran to the Lu family to report the news. The Lu family was not far from the township government, so his family members arrived quickly. However, by that time, Damn Lu Dawang had already fallen into a coma. They thought he couldn't be saved, but they didn't expect Su Xinghui to have managed to save him.

Su Xinghui sighed, left the ward, bought some apples and some nutritional supplements at the small shop next to the hospital, and carried them inside.

Lu's father and mother were honest people; they wiped away their tears and thanked Su Xinghui profusely.

The reckless Lu Erwang looked at Su Xinghui, feeling somewhat sheepish. He always felt that his older brother drinking pesticide was forced by the township government. However, today he also saw that Damn Lu Dawang's life had been saved by this young man from the township government, and he didn't know what to say.

Lu Sanwang and Lu Sixiu were also honest people; they sat silently by Damn Lu Dawang's hospital bed.

Su Xinghui sighed inwardly. Who could say who was right or wrong in this matter? In a mountainous area like Meng Hu Ling, if you couldn't have a boy, you couldn't hold your head up. But family planning was a national policy with hard targets. Although forced abortion seemed somewhat inhumane, what else could the family planning station do if they didn't do it? Trying to persuade her to have an abortion would certainly not work.

Su Xinghui had worked in rural areas for many years in his previous life and was very clear about the difficulties of grassroots work. Without such resolve, some work simply couldn't be carried out. Otherwise, family planning work wouldn't be called the "number one difficulty under heaven."

Su Xinghui said to Lu's father, "Uncle Lu, does Brother Lu really have to have a son?"

Lu's father puffed on his pipe gloomily and said, "How can one not have a son? Without a son, people will point at your spine."

"But Brother Lu already has three daughters. This doesn't comply with national policy! Besides, can you afford to raise so many children?"

Lu's father puffed on his pipe gloomily again, lowered his head, and said nothing. Lu's mother said, "Is it not enough that we pay the fines? His father and I had four, and didn't we raise them? Children in the mountains have cheap lives and are easy to raise."

Su Xinghui thought to himself, "Pay the fines? They've already been fined into bankruptcy and are buried in debt. What will they use to pay the fines?"

At this moment, Damn Lu Dawang woke up and opened his eyes. His mother shouted happily, "Wang Yazi, you're awake!"

Saying this, her tears fell, "How could you be so stupid! Who has ever heard of a man drinking poison?"

People in Meng Hu Ling called grown men "men-generals." They had truly never seen a "man-general" drink pesticide; usually, it was women who were so desperate.

Damn Lu Dawang didn't speak; his eyes stared hollowly at the ward ceiling.

Lu Erwang said indignantly, "It's all the township government's fault. They forced my brother to drink poison. We must go and demand an explanation from them later."

Lu's father said gloomily, "Stop causing trouble for the family. Isn't the family chaotic enough already?"

The Lu parents were honest people, not "stubborn peasants." If the daughter-in-law hadn't been found by the family planning station, they would have just let the child be born. But after all, they felt they were in the wrong; the family planning station had found the daughter-in-law and performed the abortion, so they had nothing to say.

If Damn Lu Dawang hadn't been saved, the Lu family might have gone to the township government to make a scene, and the parents might have let them. Now that Damn Lu Dawang had been saved, and it was someone from the township government who saved him, they already felt very lucky. They didn't think the Lu family had any reason to go to the township government to make trouble.

Although Lu Erwang was reckless, he was also a filial son. After hearing his father's words, he muttered a few times and stopped talking.

Su Xinghui said to Damn Lu Dawang, "Brother Lu, it's great that you've woken up. Please don't do this again. Your lives will definitely get better and better in the future."

Damn Lu Dawang acted as if he hadn't heard; his gaze remained hollow.

Lu's mother felt somewhat embarrassed. She said to her son, "Wang Yazi, it was this cadre Su who saved you today! If it weren't for him, you would have lost your life. Aren't you going to thank him?"

Damn Lu Dawang remained silent. Lu's father glared, about to speak, but Su Xinghui smiled and said, "Uncle, Brother just woke up and must still be uncomfortable. Let him rest a bit more. I have to go back; I haven't even washed my face since I got up this morning."

Seeing Su Xinghui stand up, Lu's father and mother also stood up. Lu's father said, "Cadre Su, thank you very much today!"

Su Xinghui waved his hand and said, "Uncle, it's nothing. By the way, I've already told the health center that today's medical expenses will be put on the township government's account, so you don't need to pay."

In fact, today's medical expenses wouldn't be much, at most a few dozen yuan, but for the current Lu family, it was a significant expense that they could hardly bear. Therefore, Lu's father and mother thanked Su Xinghui profusely again as they saw him out.

Returning to the township government, Huang Sao and Cheng Taoxian asked Su Xinghui, "Was that person saved?"

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "He was saved. He should be fine now."

Huang Sao patted her chest and said, "That's good. I was scared to death this morning."

Huang Sao was a local, in her early thirties. Her husband was a cadre at the forestry station. She had been cooking for the single staff members at the township government. She was quite curvaceous, especially her chest, which was very full. When she patted it, her chest trembled, which was quite eye-catching. Su Xinghui couldn't help but glance at it.

Cheng Taoxian said, "Su Xinghui, I couldn't tell, but you, this college student, are quite capable. You even managed to save someone who drank pesticide. If it weren't for you today, this matter would have blown up."