Xu Zifan had just finished tidying up the pots and pans when he heard Liu Xia enter the courtyard crying and head straight for the second room.
"Dawei, Zhang Wen, are you two home? Please help your sister-in-law, she's at her wit's end, sob sob sob..."
Zhang Wen was startled and quickly opened the door to support her. "Sister-in-law, what happened? How is Xu Shengnan?"
Liu Xia was crying so hard she couldn't speak clearly. Dong Fan frowned and stepped forward, saying, "Second brother, second sister-in-law, the clinic can't treat her, so we took her to the county hospital. The doctor there said Xu Shengnan's poisoning is unclear, and she's currently unconscious. The poison might have penetrated her internal organs. To treat her with good medicine, we need to pay five hundred yuan first. Sister-in-law doesn't have much money, and neither do I. That's why I have to come and borrow from you."
Xu Dawei and Zhang Wen exchanged a glance, their expressions stiffening. Zhang Wen hesitated and said, "Didn't they say Xu Shengnan was alright? How could they charge five hundred? Is the doctor ripping us off?"
Five hundred yuan! How many years would Xu Dajun and Liu Xia have to work to earn five hundred yuan? It's not that they look down on their older brother and sister-in-law, it's just that the facts are right in front of them, and this money would be wasted if they put it down.
With a heavy heart, Zhang Wen said apologetically, "Sister-in-law, it's not that I don't want to help you. After we separated the family property, I sent the money to my brother's family as soon as I got it. He said he needed it urgently. But I really don't have any money on hand right now. I can only come up with fifty at most. Why don't you ask your relatives and friends for more?"
Liu Xia was stunned when she heard this. Even she, being simple-minded, understood that the other party didn't want to lend the money! She looked at Dong Fan, but how could Dong Fan possibly get involved in this mess? He was just telling his two sons to go back inside and stop causing trouble.
Just then, Xu Zifan pushed open the door and came out. She hurriedly cried, "Dad, Dad, please save Shengnan! Her medical treatment costs five hundred yuan. If we can't afford it, she's doomed."
Xu Zifan said speechlessly, "I left with nothing, not a single penny. How can you help me?"
Liu Xia was speechless and kept crying. At this moment, she truly regretted agreeing to the division of the family property. If they hadn't divided the property, all the money would have been in her father-in-law's hands. Would he have let his eldest granddaughter get into trouble? Now that the property had been divided, she couldn't even borrow money from the second wife's family. This was a lifeline! How could the second wife's family be so heartless?
Xu Dawei and Zhang Wen both looked at Xu Zifan cautiously, afraid that he would pressure them to hand over money. Unexpectedly, Xu Zifan said, "When we divided the family property, we agreed that everyone would live their own lives. When Xu Xiuzhen wanted to buy a job, I told her to borrow from her brothers herself, and I didn't care whether she could borrow or not. Now, if you want to borrow money from the second brother and his wife, I won't care either."
Let me remind you, whether you borrow from relatives, friends, or the village committee, you must get a written IOU, make sure everything is settled, and then work hard to pay it back later.
Unable to rely on her father-in-law, Liu Xia turned to her second brother and sister-in-law, and with a determined heart, knelt down. "Second brother, second sister-in-law, I beg you, please save Shengnan. I'll write you an IOU, and I'll sell everything I own to pay you back. I promise, please."
The second brother and his wife glanced awkwardly at Xu Zifan, then noticed someone outside the yard seemed to have heard the commotion and was coming over. They quickly helped Liu Xia up. Zhang Dawei said in a deep voice, "Sister-in-law, we're not lying to you, Zhang Wen did lend the money to her brother. But we know you're in a hurry. Here's what we'll do: we'll go out and try to borrow some money. We'll lend you whatever we can. But you know, five hundred isn't a small amount. I estimate we can only borrow two hundred at most. You should ask the brigade leader for help. Zhang Wen, come on, let's go borrow some money."
These words were meant for outsiders, and were merely an excuse. The two simply bypassed Liu Xia and left, without giving her a chance to plead further. Left with no other option, she went to find the brigade leader.
If anything unexpected happened in the village, the brigade leader would allocate some money from the team as compensation, or lend some money to villagers in urgent need. But this time, after calming down and thinking it over, Wang Baoguo realized that Xu Shengnan had brought this upon herself, so of course he was unwilling to allocate any money.
Liu Xia was crying so pitifully and seemed to have nowhere else to turn, so he finally had to make her write an IOU and lend her three hundred yuan. People who knew about this were a bit suspicious. Xu Dajun and his wife were really hopeless. They couldn't borrow money, they couldn't get any from their brothers, and they had no other relatives or friends. They panicked and cried when things went wrong, and they couldn't handle anything.
Many people speculate that Xu Dawei and Xu Aiguo have money but refuse to lend it. Although they themselves might not lend much either, when it comes to the Xu family, everyone thinks that these three brothers are not very good, no wonder Grandpa Xu couldn't stand it.
Liu Xia scraped together five hundred yuan, wrote an IOU, and pressed her fingerprint on it, feeling even more desperate. She didn't know if her daughter would recover, and now she was burdened with this insurmountable debt. How had life come to this?!
Xu Dawei and Zhang Wen happened to be there, and feeling bad about not going to see their niece, they accompanied Liu Xia to the hospital. At this point, Xu Zifan also offered to go with them; his granddaughter's fate was uncertain, and he wanted to see her too.
In these days, you need a letter of introduction to enter the city and you need a legitimate reason. He can take this opportunity to go to the county and visit the black market. He doesn't have any money or tickets for this era in his space, so he can't move an inch. Finally, he can also check on how Xu Shengnan is doing.
The group rushed to the county hospital. When Xu Dajun saw Xu Zifan, it was as if he had seen a pillar of support; tears immediately streamed down his face. "Dad! Shengnan, she..."
Xu Zifan raised his hand to interrupt him, frowning as he said, "Hurry up and pay the doctor to treat the illness, take good care of the child, and from now on you'll be in charge of everything and have to make your own decisions. Be a real man!"
Xu Dajun perked up, wiped his face, nodded, took the money Liu Xia gave him, and quickly ran to pay.
Liu Xia rushed to Xu Shengnan's bedside, crying incessantly and softly calling her name. Xu Zifan had Shaohua scan her...
Judging from Xu Shengnan's physical condition, she knew that the poison was under control and that she would wake up in two hours even without treatment. Moreover, the toxins in her body could be completely cleared away by drinking spiritual spring water every day. There was no need to spend five hundred yuan.
But no one would believe him if he said that, and he wouldn't say it anyway. He stepped forward and glanced at Xu Shengnan a few times, rhythmically tapping the cabinet with his left hand. After a moment, he whispered, "Xu Shengnan looks terrible. She must be having a nightmare."
Liu Xia was crying and didn't hear it, but Xu Dawei did. He offered a dry reassurance, "Dad, don't worry, my niece is very lucky, she'll be fine."
Xu Zifan nodded and stopped talking. He saw Xu Shengnan slowly frown and her eyelids tremble slightly with unease, as if she were trapped in some nightmare.
When Xu Dajun returned after paying, the doctor told them to disperse and push Xu Shengnan into the emergency room. Xu Zifan then said to Xu Dajun, "You keep an eye on things, I'm leaving now."
Xu Dawei and Zhang Wen also wanted to leave, but they were family, and Xu Shengnan was still in the emergency room; it seemed inappropriate to leave. They suggested that Xu Zifan wait and leave together, but Xu Zifan refused outright and walked away with his hands behind his back.
After he left, Xu Dajun and Liu Xia felt uneasy, as if no one was making decisions for them. They sat blankly on the corridor floor, staring at the emergency room door. Xu Dawei and Zhang Wen also felt awkward, unsure of what to say, and a little guilty for lying about not borrowing money.
After separating, they seemed to become two separate families, and neither of them had yet adjusted to being in charge. Xu Zifan's hands-off approach, leaving them to make their own decisions, left them unsure whether their choices were right or wrong, filled only with anxiety and confusion.
Xu Zifan left the hospital with a slight smile. "[Shaohua, remember to scan and make a map. Find out where the black market is; we can sell some wild ginseng.]"
Just as he finished speaking, he bumped into a middle-aged man with an anxious expression outside the hospital gate. A bag of ginseng slices fell from the man's arms and scattered at Xu Zifan's feet. As Xu Zifan squatted down to help the man pick them up, he paused, smelled the ginseng slices, and said, "Comrade, this ginseng is fake. You've been cheated, haven't you?"
The middle-aged man was stunned upon hearing this, and holding the ginseng slices, he exclaimed in surprise, "These are fake? How...how did you know? Not a single one is real? They're all fake?"
Xu Zifan examined each of his ginseng slices one by one. "They're all fake. They have no medicinal value whatsoever, and because they were made with counterfeit ingredients, they're harmful to your health. Why don't you go and ask a knowledgeable doctor? I can see you're quite anxious. Whether you believe it or not, don't give this stuff to patients without consulting a doctor. Ask a doctor first."
The middle-aged man nodded, and seeing Xu Zifan about to leave, he grabbed his wrist and said urgently, "Sir, how did you know at a glance? Are you a traditional Chinese medicine doctor? You know, don't you? Do you know where to find genuine ginseng slices?"
Xu Zifan raised an eyebrow. "I have some right now, but we've only just met. Aren't you afraid I'll lie to you?" He glanced at the ginseng slices in the man's hand. "Aren't you too easy to fool?"
The middle-aged man looked anxious. "I have no choice. My wife is having a difficult childbirth, and I can only keep her breathing with ginseng slices. If you have any, please sell me a few slices. But could you please come with me to ask the doctor?"
Xu Zifan could tell that the man still didn't quite believe him, but in such a crisis, it was better to be safe than sorry. He couldn't gamble with his wife and children's lives. If he didn't go in with him, the man would probably grit his teeth and buy a few pieces of ginseng from him, then go in and ask the doctor which ones were genuine.
Seeing the man sweating profusely with anxiety, Xu Zifan didn't delay any longer, nodded in agreement, and went into the hospital with him. The man, seeing how readily he agreed, immediately believed what he was saying. His face darkened as he looked at the ginseng in his hand, but the thought that if Xu Zifan wasn't a fraud, then Xu Zifan possessed genuine ginseng, made him feel much better.
The man seemed to have some ability; he directly asked the vice dean to identify the ginseng slices. The package he bought was obviously fake. Xu Zifan then had Shao Hua take a wild ginseng from the medicinal field, wrapped in red cloth, and take it out of her "pocket".
The vice president's eyes lit up when he saw the whole wild ginseng, and he took off his glasses to wipe them clean before examining it closely. Then he nodded excitedly, "It's real, and it was just dug out of the ground not long ago. It's between fifty and sixty years old. This ginseng slice will definitely be useful!"
Xu Zifan had only been growing this big for a dozen years when he picked it, and he had watered it with a lot of spiritual spring water these past two days. He originally wanted to go to the black market to exchange it for money and tickets, but the person he met was well-dressed and looked like a better buyer.
Sure enough, the man seemed to be all about the money and just wanted the ginseng. He asked eagerly and excitedly, "Sir, how much is this ginseng? I'm waiting to be saved. If you sell it to me, you'll be my savior. I'll be eternally grateful!"