Chapter 43: Midnight Call for Help

After walking for a few minutes, before they could get closer, Li Yiyi already heard the excited shouts of the villagers from afar.

“Down with these bad guys, bring them down!” The shouts were loud, but they carried a sorrowful tone.

As Li Yiyi walked into the crowd with her two children, she saw five bloodless individuals kneeling in the center of the open field, their faces numb and expressionless.

Several of them had blood on their foreheads, as if someone had thrown stones at them. It was a sight that made one’s heart ache.

These people were clearly innocent, but in this era, their backgrounds and professions had unjustly labeled them with sins they didn’t deserve.

At that moment, the crowd grew more agitated, and everyone started throwing whatever they had in their hands towards the five kneeling people in the center.

Li Yiyi tightly gripped her children’s hands, her eyes reddening as she watched. Just when she felt she could no longer bear to watch, a large hand suddenly covered her eyes.

Her heart skipped a beat. Slowly, she removed the hand covering her eyes and turned around. Soon, her gaze met the concerned eyes of Jiang Hong, who had placed his hand over her eyes.

“Why are you here?” When she saw it was him, she forced a smile and asked.

Jiang Hong gently squeezed her hand. “If you don’t feel like smiling, don’t.”

Li Yiyi stopped smiling and slowly turned to look at the five people kneeling in the center of the open field. “It’s not that I don’t want to smile, it’s just… seeing this scene makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. These villagers don’t know anything, yet they’re treating them like this. Don’t they feel uneasy?”

Jiang Hong’s face grew cold as he observed what was happening. His eyes darkened. “Stop looking. Let’s go home.”

Li Yiyi nodded, realizing that standing here wouldn’t help the situation.

She thought the matter would end there, but unexpectedly, that night, at a late hour, her third uncle arrived at their door.

The young couple, still deep in sleep, were woken by a knock at the door. Jiang Hong went to open it.

Before long, Li Yiyi, still half-asleep, was gently woken by Jiang Hong.

“Sweetheart, don’t sleep. Third uncle is here,” his voice softly called to her.

Li Yiyi opened her eyes immediately and turned toward him. “What? Third uncle is here? Why is he here so late?”

“I asked him. There’s a patient at the village clinic who needs a minor surgery. He wants you to go help,” Jiang Hong explained while helping her dress.

Soon, with Jiang Hong’s assistance, Li Yiyi was dressed and walked out of the room, finally meeting the anxious third uncle in the living room.

“Third uncle,” she greeted as she walked up to him.

“Good child, I’m so sorry to disturb you at such a late hour, but it’s an emergency. I had no choice but to come now,” Third Uncle explained with an apologetic expression.

Before he could explain further, Li Yiyi interrupted, “You don’t need to explain, Jiang Hong already told me. I’ll go with you right now.”

Third Uncle, moved by her words, nodded gratefully and added, “Wait, let me clarify something. The person we’re saving is one of the five people from earlier today. This surgery could bring trouble if anyone finds out. Are you afraid?”

Hearing this, Third Uncle continued, “If you’re scared and don’t want to help, I won’t blame you.”

Li Yiyi thought for a moment and then responded, “I’ll help. Let’s go.”

To her, saving a life was the most important thing, and the potential trouble could be dealt with later.

Third Uncle’s eyes shimmered with tears of gratitude. “Good, good child. I’ll thank you on behalf of that person.”

Soon, Li Yiyi, supporting Third Uncle, left the house.

Jiang Hong initially wanted to come, but since they had two children at home, he had to stay and watch over them.

After walking for nearly five minutes, the elderly and the young arrived at the village clinic.

As they entered, a middle-aged man, looking rough from hard living, walked out. Despite his appearance, he still carried the air of an educated man.

“Uncle Jiang, when can we do the surgery for my father?” the middle-aged man asked anxiously.

Uncle Jiang, not rushing, calmly instructed, “We’ll start the surgery now. Did you prepare everything I asked for?”

“It’s all ready. Everything that needed to be sterilized has been done,” the middle-aged man answered quickly.

Uncle Jiang nodded and turned to Li Yiyi, saying, “Girl, don’t be scared. Just follow my instructions, and everything will be fine.”

Li Yiyi nodded. In fact, she wasn’t scared at all. After all, it was just a minor surgery. She had seen and experienced much more complicated surgeries.

After sending the middle-aged man out, Li Yiyi was soon face-to-face with the patient.

She quickly recognized him as one of the five from earlier.

As she looked at his injuries, she murmured, “This looks like a spleen injury.”

Uncle Jiang, hearing this, looked at her in surprise. “You can tell?”

Li Yiyi, realizing she had spoken too confidently, quickly corrected herself, “I saw some human anatomy charts during an exam, so I was just guessing.”

“You guessed right. It’s a spleen injury, and it’s likely ruptured. It needs to be stitched up,” Uncle Jiang confirmed.

Li Yiyi, still puzzled, asked, “But this isn’t a minor injury. He should be sent to the hospital, right?”

“You think we don’t want to? But with my brother’s status, the village won’t allow him to go to the hospital. In their eyes, someone who’s been sentenced is already as good as dead.”

“Doesn’t the village chief listen to you?” she asked.

“That guy is as stubborn as a rock. I’ve told him countless times over the past couple of years not to torture people, but he doesn’t listen,” Uncle Jiang said angrily.

With that, Uncle Jiang moved forward to take the patient’s pulse.

“This isn’t good. The bleeding’s increasing. We need to operate immediately,” he said seriously.

Li Yiyi, seeing how accurately he diagnosed with just the pulse, was amazed by his skill.

In modern times, such situations could only be diagnosed with equipment, but here, Uncle Jiang could tell just by feeling the pulse. It was truly astonishing.

Without further delay, Uncle Jiang grabbed a surgical knife and began the operation.

Li Yiyi, seeing this, swallowed her words and began assisting as best as she could.

As time passed, she grew more and more impressed by Uncle Jiang’s skills in performing the surgery.