The next day, Du Heng arrived at the scene at 9:30 am. By then, the whole of Shang Ling Village had been completely cleared.
Rescuers had already withdrawn, leaving only the villagers to clean up their courtyards, which no longer even had surrounding walls. Everyone looked lifeless; it was a heartbreaking sight.
Du Heng didn’t want to witness this scene. Seeing that the leader hadn’t arrived yet, he headed towards a group of people he knew. As expected, Gong Daoyang was at the scene, personally arranging the eting area.
Du Heng saw he was busy, so he didn’t disturb him and instead went to look for Du Fei in the crowd. Truthfully, Du Heng was quite surprised to see Du Fei at this event.
"Fei, you’re here early."
"Hmph, Dean Song called bright and early, insisting I co. How could I not be here early?" Du Fei looked very unhappy as he spoke.
"Did Song ask you to co?"
"Yes, he said sothing about my ritorious service in treating Zhang Xi, that the leaders wanted this and that, and that I absolutely had to be here."
After hearing this, Du Heng was speechless regarding Song. This clearly ant he was determined to manufacture so credit for himself.
The leader’s timing was very "precise"—he said the eting would start at ten, and he arrived exactly at ten o’clock. Accompanying him were the heads or deputy heads of all district departnts. Du Heng also spotted An Chunhui, the head of the Health System.
As soon as the leaders arrived, the eting comnced. They inspected the extent of the villagers’ disaster on-site, discussing right there with the relevant leaders how to provide assistance.
But this had nothing to do with Du Heng, or even the village head of Shang Ling Village—they were all at the very edge of the crowd.
Just as the leaders stood on a pile of rubble, gesturing and loudly discussing how to rebuild the houses, three vans rumbled up. They stopped on the rubble next to the leaders.
The doors opened, and more than ten people—n, won, and children, including so middle-aged individuals—got out of the vehicles. With grieving expressions, acting as if no one else was around, they all gathered by the foremost van, and then a patient was carefully carried out.
Afterward, a few people quickly cleared an open space in the rubble, laid down blankets, and gently put the patient down.
Both the leader and Du Heng were bewildered. Before they could process it, two more trucks arrived.
Another group of people started unloading items from the trucks, and the villagers joined in to help. The unloaded items were then set up: tents, all of them tents.
Seeing the calm village head beside him, Du Heng sensed he knew sothing and asked quietly, "Mr. Zhang, what’s going on?"
The village head watched everyone helping to set up the tents but didn’t go over. Instead, he lit a cigarette and began to smoke.
"The woman on the ground is Li Qiuhua. She’s fifty-five this year. A pitiful soul."
Du Heng’s gaze passed through the crowd and fell on the woman on the ground.
The village head flicked the ash from his cigarette. "When she was young, her first child was a girl. Her mother-in-law wasn’t too pleased and didn’t look after her properly during her confinent period. I think it was winter, and her mother-in-law didn’t even heat up the bed for her. She fell ill from it and has been coughing ever since. Whenever the seasons change, she not only coughs but also gasps for breath, struggling to get any air."
"What about her husband?"
"Their family was poor back then; they couldn’t make a living from farming. Her husband went to work as a loader at the freight yard and was away from ho most of the year. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have developed this illness."
The village head sighed and continued, "Later, she had two more children, both sons. Fortunately, her mother-in-law passed away within a couple of years. Just when they thought life might get a little better, her husband got drunk and was killed in a hit-and-run. The driver fled. Back then, it wasn’t like now, with surveillance caras everywhere. If a driver fled, they were usually gone for good."
The village head took a deep drag from his cigarette, then threw it on the ground and stomped on it twice. "At that ti, her eldest daughter was seven, and her two sons were five and two. She was all alone, dragging her sickly body, raising three children until they grew up and started their own families."
"Just when she thought she could finally enjoy life, she got caught in the rain on the 30th. On the night of the 1st, she was admitted to the Respiratory Departnt of the Municipal Hospital. She was in so ward—I don’t even know what they call it—and in four days, she spent over 70,000 yuan. Last night, her eldest son called. He said the hospital told them to discharge her as the treatnt was no longer effective. She has to go ho and prepare for her final affairs. He asked to tell the villagers so everyone can help out when the ti cos."
Misfortune truly singles out the vulnerable, and bad luck only finds those already suffering. Alas!
The leader frowned, his face burning with embarrassnt. Even though he wasn’t sure of the exact reason, seeing this scene, he knew they were waiting for the patient to draw her last breath. To have this elderly woman placed on the ground right in front of him, blatantly waiting for death—it was like a slap in his face. Thinking back to his earlier high-flown discussions, he wished the earth would swallow him whole.
He turned and said sothing, and then the Town Party Secretary waved to the village head, beckoning him over.
Before they could exchange more than a few words, Li Qiuhua’s daughter and daughters-in-law started crying out, "Mom! Mom!"
As they sobbed and called out, they quickly patted the elderly woman’s back.
The leader pulled An Chunhui aside and said sothing; An Chunhui then called Song over.
Du Heng’s eyelids twitched. He prayed Song wouldn’t co over to him.
But his prayer ca too late; Song was already walking towards him. "The leader wants you to take a look."
Du Heng cursed inwardly, These three are absolute animals! Asking to examine a patient whom the Municipal Hospital has already sent ho to die? Are they insane? Why don’t these three bastards do it themselves?
Cursing was one thing, but despite his unwillingness, Du Heng knew he had to act.
Du Heng approached the patient and saw she was gasping, her breathing shallow and weak. The won were crying because the patient had phlegm stuck in her throat due to her gasping and weak breathing, and she couldn’t draw a breath.
Du Heng gently patted her back, helping to clear the phlegm from her throat.
Seeing the patient could breathe again, the shaless trio approached. They actually had the audacity to say, "Xiao Du, why don’t you examine her?"
Du Heng really wanted to kill them. This wasn’t sothing any decent human being would do. And Song was the worst of them! What do they want to examine? When she’s going to die? The Municipal Hospital already sent her ho to wait for the end. Isn’t the situation perfectly clear? What good would an examination do, other than upsetting the family and making look like a fool? Besides, even if they want to examine her, did they even ask the family for permission? If I get attacked while examining her, will they take responsibility?
Du Heng was internally unleashing a storm of curses, but he felt helpless. Steeling himself, he asked the family, "I’m Du Heng from the Health Clinic. May I examine Auntie, please?"
Two of the daughters-in-law had been in the square on the 1st and recognized Du Heng. They explained to the patient’s eldest daughter, who hesitated for a mont before nodding in agreent.
"Auntie, can you hear talking?"
The patient’s mouth moved, but her voice was so faint it was inaudible.
User Comments
0 comments from readers