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Chapter 392: Chapter 382: Take this money
When Li Hongjun and his wife arrived at the hospital, they happened to see the nurse drawing blood from Jiajia.
Don’t be surprised, even traditional Chinese medicine hospitals need to draw blood for tests.
"Big sister, how is Jiajia doing?" Li Hongjun only asked after the nurse had left.
Seeing Li Hongjun return seemed to give Li Xianglian some backbone. "I really don’t know. The doctor comes and goes, and I don’t understand what he says. You hadn’t been gone long when a nurse brought some herbal medicine soup, and just now they came to draw blood." As a rural woman who could barely write a few characters and couldn’t even read the whole newspaper, she truly couldn’t understand unless the doctor spoke in plain language. Moreover, she dared not ask too much, for fear of annoying the doctor and affecting her child’s treatment.
"Hongjun, go ask the doctor how things are and if there’s anything we as family members should do to help," Shen Yunfang instructed Li Hongjun to find out the situation.
"Yunfang is here too." Li Xianglian only then noticed that her sister-in-law had come as well.
"Alright, I’ll go ask," Li Hongjun nodded and left.
"Hey, big sister, I heard from Hongjun that Jiajia was sick, so I came over to see her," Shen Yunfang said, noticing Li Xianglian’s exhaustion. She quickly moved the stool to a spot against the wall, pulling her down to sit.
The ward where Jiajia was staying had three beds, all of which were now occupied, so there wasn’t an empty bed to sit on. Fortunately, there were two stools in the ward, and since no one was using them at the moment, Shen Yunfang brought them over.
After the nurse had finished drawing blood, Jiajia fell into a drowsy sleep again. Shen Yunfang, pulling her to the side to sit, wanted to avoid disturbing the child with their talk.
"No need, no need. You go on with your work, don’t let us hold you up. I don’t know what to say for all the help you and Hongjun have given me," Li Xianglian mumbled, not sure if her brother-in-law’s wife knew about the money her brother had given her. So, she spoke in vague terms, but she knew she had to express her gratitude.
Her brother was her own flesh and blood, so he might not mind spending money on her and her child, but her sister-in-law was not a relative, and Li Xianglian was acutely aware of this (she couldn’t even expect her own mother to help in a life or death situation, let alone others). She was scared that paying for Jiajia’s treatment might lead to a conflict between her brother and his wife, as her brother mentioned that his wife was now a college graduate, different from before. In the future, she’d be a state employee, someone they had married up to.
"Big sister, what are you talking about? What kind of person do you think I am? I came here to see the child, not to demand money from you," Shen Yunfang said with a mix of laughter and tears. She also understood that this was the sorrow of the poor: speaking so cautiously, for fear of angering someone and not having money for the child’s treatment.
"No, no, it’s not like that, Yunfang. I didn’t mean it that way. Listen to me," Li Xianglian panicked, thinking Shen Yunfang was upset, and hurriedly began to explain.
"Big sister, I understand what you mean, no need to explain. I came here today not only to see Jiajia but also to talk about the money," Shen Yunfang stopped Li Xianglian from continuing.
Li Hongjun pushed the door and came in just in time to hear his wife’s last sentence.
Shen Yunfang also saw Li Hongjun come in and knew he had heard her. She raised an eyebrow at him, waiting to see his reaction.
Li Hongjun’s reaction was... "You and big sister go outside to talk, don’t disturb the other patients."
His voice sounded normal, and Shen Yunfang was somewhat satisfied.
"Okay, I’ll go have a chat with big sister, then take her to buy some daily necessities. We’ll be back soon," Shen Yunfang whispered to Li Hongjun.
Li Hongjun quietly squeezed his wife’s hand and nodded.
Shen Yunfang led Li Xianglian out of the ward, and they sat down on the long bench in the corridor.
Seeing Li Xianglian’s expression of utter despair, Yunfang knew that her elder sister had misunderstood.
"Elder sister, here is one hundred yuan and fifty kilograms of Food Coupons. Take them," Shen Yunfang said as she checked that no one was around, then took out one hundred yuan and a stack of Food Coupons from her pocket, which, in reality, came from her space, and stuffed them into Li Xianglian’s hand. "Jiajia is being treated here; you should have some money on you. Otherwise, if something happens, you’ll be at a loss."
Li Xianglian had not expected her sister-in-law to call her out to give her money, and her hand trembled as she held the one hundred yuan.
"Yun, Yunfang, I can’t take this money. I’ve already troubled you and your husband enough; I can’t take it no matter what," Li Xianglian said with tears in her eyes, pushing the money back into Yunfang’s hand.
She knew she desperately needed the money, but she couldn’t just take it. Her family had already covered Jiajia’s medical expenses, and it didn’t seem right to take more money from them.
Shen Yunfang pushed the money back to her. "What do you mean, trouble? You are Hongjun’s elder sister, which makes you my elder sister, and Jiajia is my dear niece. We can’t just stand by when Jiajia is sick, and we are able to help. I believe if our situations were reversed, you’d do the same."
"That’s not necessary either. Hongjun gave me forty-five yuan this morning; that’s already quite a bit," Li Xianglian said, moved by the gesture, and inadvertently confessed. She thought to herself that if her younger brother’s family ever needed money, she, as the elder sister, must help them no matter what.
Shen Yunfang smiled and said, "Elder sister, Jiajia is sick now, and seriously so. During this time, you need to feed her well. When you buy food, you should choose something nutritious, so the child can have the energy to fight the illness, don’t you think? Besides, if you’re going to be taking care of the sick, you need to eat well and keep your strength up. You can’t fall ill yourself; who would Jiajia rely on then, right? Also, when Hongjun goes back to his unit the day after tomorrow, I might not be able to come here daily, so you will have to manage on your own. That’s why it’s comforting to have a little extra money in your pocket, isn’t it?" Shen Yunfang said and pushed the money toward her again.
Seeing Li Xianglian still seemed reluctant to accept it, Yunfang hurriedly said, "Elder sister, let’s not push it back and forth anymore. It wouldn’t be good if someone sees us and starts getting ideas. Just put it away, quickly."
Li Xianglian, hearing that others might covet the money, clutched it tightly in her hand and glanced around nervously to see if anyone was indeed watching. Only when she saw there was no one in the corridor did she relax.
"Elder sister, the hospital is a place with lots of people, and things can get lost. Keep the money close to your body, even when you sleep at night," Shen Yunfang shared some advice.
Li Xianglian nodded to show she understood.
"Yunfang, you’ve taken out so much money all at once..." Li Xianglian wasn’t oblivious to life’s hardships and knew that even though her younger brother had a salary, it wasn’t easy to suddenly take out five or six hundred yuan like this.
"Don’t worry about that, elder sister. Hongjun has comrades here who can help out with things," Yunfang said ambiguously, leading Li Xianglian to deduce that her younger brother had borrowed the money from his comrades.
"Yunfang, don’t worry, I regard this money as a loan from you, and once Jiajia is better, I’ll work and earn money to pay you back," Li Xianglian promised.
"Let’s not talk about money for now, elder sister. I noticed you didn’t bring everything you might need, and since Hongjun is inside with Jiajia, let’s go outside and buy some things," Yunfang suggested.
So, Shen Yunfang and Li Xianglian went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought some everyday necessities.
