"Uncle Zhong, so you ca here as an administrator mainly to find a niece-in-law?" Le Tong laughed.
Uncle Zhong laughed but said nothing. Just when Le Tong thought the topic was over, Uncle Zhong suddenly asked, "Why don’t you both set a ti to et tomorrow?"
Le Tong was taken aback, holding her cup with both hands, looking quite troubled, "Uncle Zhong, this matter..."
Seeing her expression, Uncle Zhong seed to understand sothing. With a face full of regret, he reached out to pat her shoulder in comfort.
"Ah, I thought. A girl like you can’t possibly not have a boyfriend."
Le Tong actually wanted to say that she’s not considering matters of the heart for now, but since Uncle Zhong misunderstood, letting him continue to misunderstand seed alright.
"I’m sorry, Uncle Zhong!"
"Silly girl, what’s there to be sorry about? I just thought my nephew is quite good and would match well with you. Such a pity!"
Le Tong smiled, "Yes, what a pity that such a good man isn’t mine."
For Le Tong, marriage and family were things she dared not think about.
Just like in those tis, she dared not cry, could not cry.
"Uncle..." Soone over at the counter wanted to borrow a book and loudly called over here. Uncle Zhong quickly stood up and trotted over.
After dinner ti, the number of people in the library gradually increased, and Uncle Zhong no longer had ti to reminisce with Le Tong.
Le Tong stayed in the library until nearly nine o’clock, took two books, and went through the borrowing procedure.
As Uncle Zhong looked down and registered her books, he asked, "Tongtong, when are you coming next ti? I’ll ask my daughter to bake so cookies to bring over."
Uncle Zhong was quite thoughtful, rembering Le Tong loved those fragrant and crispy little cookies.
"I’ll call you before I co." Le Tong didn’t stand on ceremony, waved goodbye to Uncle Zhong, and left with the books.
The library was two stops away from Le Tong’s small apartnt. Le Tong didn’t take the bus and wrapped her face with a scarf, leaving only her nose and eyes exposed, clutching the books in her arms, slowly dawdling in the cold, windy night.
After the robbery incident a few days ago, Le Tong beca very cautious, only keeping tissues, a comb, and a wallet with a few tens of yuan in change in her backpack.
After nine, Le Tong returned to the alley entrance, slling the fragrant aroma of roasted sweet potatoes. Her stomach, fed only by a bun, growled tily.
"Give a sweet potato."
The man selling roasted sweet potatoes looked sowhat familiar to Le Tong, but for a mont, she couldn’t recall who he was.
"Ah?! It’s you, just got off work?" The man seed to recognize her and smiled at her, packing the warm roasted sweet potato into a paper bag and handing it to her.
"And you are?" Le Tong seriously looked at the man in his thirties.
"Oh... I live across from you, moved in over a month ago..."
Le Tong then rembered that the apartnt opposite, empty for a long ti, indeed recently had activity. She occasionally heard the cry of a child, but they hadn’t encountered each other.
"Oh, hello! How much is it?" Le Tong lowered her head to take out her wallet.
"No need, no need, it’s not worth much, consider it my treat. My kid cries every night, probably disturbed you, right? I’m really sorry..."
This man seed honest; perhaps this family relied on the roasted sweet potato stall to earn a living, making Le Tong feel awkward about eating for free.
She took out ten yuan from her wallet, placed it down, and turned to leave.
"Hey... hey... big sister..."
Le Tong didn’t pay him any attention, holding the warm roasted sweet potato, returned ho, and without bothering to shower, ate the fragrant sweet potato first, then contentedly went to shower, and finally nestled in bed with a book.
...
The next morning, Le Tong woke up quite early because she was going to Luo Yuanyuan’s house as a guest today.
While brushing her teeth, she vaguely heard a child’s crying. The cries were likely coming from the neighbors across the way.
After washing up and having breakfast, Le Tong put on her backpack and went out.
As she opened the door, the loud cries of a child imdiately trickled in.
Looking across, she saw the door of the other house open wide. A thirty-sothing woman, with disheveled hair, was pacing in the hallway, carrying a loudly crying child, patting and wandering around helplessly.
Seeing Le Tong co out, a slight trace of apprehensiveness appeared on her face, "Sister... sorry, did the kid disturb you?"
Le Tong shook her head, "No, I was just heading out. What’s wrong with the child? Why is he crying so terribly?"
Le Tong naturally walked over and saw that the child was crying so hard his face turned red. She faintly felt sothing wasn’t right, and reached out to touch the child’s forehead.
The scorching temperature on her hand startled Le Tong.
"Sister, your child seems to have a high fever!"
The woman embarrassingly nodded, "A little..."
"Why not take her to see a doctor?" Le Tong found it incredible; the child was burning up like that, surely they weren’t just hoping it would pass with ti?
The woman glanced at her with embarrassnt, "Her father went out... I... I have no money..."
Le Tong had already closed the door. Hearing her say this, she didn’t hesitate. She ran back inside to grab a card and ca out.
"Sister, let’s go. I’ll go with you to the hospital."
"But..." The woman hesitated a little.
"Sister, don’t dawdle. I’ll lend you the money first. The child is burning up, and delaying will worsen the condition."
Le Tong didn’t leave any room for argunt. She shut her door, grabbed the woman’s arm, and headed for the staircase.
"Acute pneumonia, luckily you ca early, any later and it would’ve been troubleso. Even as is, hospitalization is required."
Over half an hour later, after diagnosing the child, the doctor concluded.
Le Tong helped the woman pay a deposit of a thousand yuan and accompanied them to settle into the hospital’s ward.
"Sister, thank you so much today. I will repay the money as soon as I can." The honest woman kept nodding in gratitude.
Le Tong patted the woman’s hand, "No rush, first take good care of your child."
A few years ago, her mother’s illness also erged suddenly and critically, so Le Tong understood the woman’s situation and feelings.
Luo Yuanyuan’s call ca for the Nth ti. Earlier, Le Tong was busy getting the child registered, withdrawing money, and handling the hospitalization procedures, so she didn’t take her calls.
"Tongtong, you scared ! We agreed you’d co by ten, but you didn’t show up, didn’t answer the phone. Did sothing happen?" Luo Yuanyuan anxiously shouted from the other end of the line.
"Yuan’er, sothing ca up just now, delayed things a bit. I’m on my way now; let’s talk when I see you."
Le Tong hung up the phone before Luo Yuanyuan could say anything else.
"Sister, sorry, did I interrupt sothing important?" The woman looked uneasy and apologetic.
"It’s okay. I’m leaving now. Sister, take good care of the child."
After eting with Luo Yuanyuan, Le Tong roughly explained the situation. Luo Yuanyuan patted her head, "Aren’t you afraid of being scamd?"
Le Tong paused for a mont and said, "Even if it was a scam, it’s only a thousand yuan, but that’s a life..."
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