Chapter 2: It’s Over, I’ve Time-Traveled

Sun Qing said, “Here’s the deal, you pay the five hundred yuan for the hospital fees, and give me another five hundred, and this girl is yours. The village chief is here, let him be a witness for both of our families.”

She couldn’t take the risk, it would be best to shift it to Lin Xinghua, and then earn a profit on top of that.

The village chief of Xiaoxigou Village, along with a few young men from the village, had carried Ye Xiaozhen to the hospital on a door panel, and they were all there now.

The village chief looked at Ye Zhengguo with a black face, “Zhengguo, what do you think?”

Ye Zhengguo said, “Listen to the child’s mother.”

The village chief stomped his feet in anger, “You’re the child’s father, you only care about money and not life, right?”

Ye Zhengguo said with a helpless expression, “Third Uncle, you know our family’s situation, I don’t run the household.”

“Bah, you two are good at playing good cop, bad cop, I know you well! You don’t care about this child normally, but now it’s a matter of life and death, you, the father, can’t be like this.”

“No, how can I not care about her? If I didn’t care about her, how could she grow up so big?”

Sun Qing also said, “That’s right, Third Uncle, you’re being too harsh. Raising a child with a mental illness is not easy, you don’t know how hard it is. To raise her well, my own child was born prematurely, how can you say that we don’t care about her life or death?”

The village chief knew that Sun was the best at twisting the truth and being unreasonable, no matter how much he said, it wouldn’t work.

He could only look at Lin Xinghua and say, “Lin Laogui, what do you say?”

Lin Xinghua looked at Ye Zhengguo and cursed them with gritted teeth for being heartless.

Sun Qing retorted, “What do you mean we’re heartless? She’s like this because of your grandson’s curse. I tell you, the police can’t do anything to you, but I have a way to deal with you. If you don’t agree, I’ll spread the word after my Xiaozhen dies. You’ve already killed four wives, I wonder if your grandson can ever marry a wife in this lifetime.”

“You…” Lin Xinghua stomped his feet in anger.

Seeing their expressions, they definitely wouldn’t be willing to pay.

In the end, he couldn’t bear to watch the child die, and agreed to pay the hospital fees.

However, he also said, “I can pay the hospital fees, but you heard what the doctor said, five hundred might not be enough, so I can’t give you five hundred.”

Sun Qing felt a pang of heartache, she gritted her teeth and said, “Then how much do you say?”

“One hundred yuan, just a token of appreciation.”

“What? One hundred? Even a pig costs more than one hundred, how can you say that? One hundred won’t do, at least four hundred.”

“I’ll only give one hundred, if you want it, I’ll give you one hundred now, if you don’t want it, then forget it.”

“No, four hundred.”

“One hundred, if you don’t agree, get out of the way, I’m leaving.”

“Oh, don’t rush, don’t rush, let’s talk about it.” Sun Qing and Ye Zhengguo stopped Lin Xinghua.

Ye Zhengguo said, “It’s not easy for me to raise my daughter so big, four hundred is a bit too much, but one hundred is too little. How about three hundred, let’s not argue anymore?”

Lin Xinghua refused to budge, he turned around and left.

At this time, the doctor came out again to urge them to pay quickly, otherwise they would stop treatment.

The village chief saw that the child’s life was hanging in the balance, and they were still haggling, he got angry.

“Enough, shut up. This is a hospital, not a market, you’re haggling like you’re selling pigs?”

Ye Zhengguo quickly stepped forward to support the village chief, “Third Uncle, you judge for yourself, my daughter is so big, is one hundred yuan reasonable? Even a live pig costs one yuan per pound, a whole pig costs more than one hundred yuan. He’s insulting people, isn’t he?”

“Bah, how dare you say he’s insulting people? In my opinion, you shouldn’t take a single cent.”

Ye Zhengguo: “…”

Sun Qing: “…”

“This… Third Uncle, what do you mean?”

“What do you mean? Didn’t you hear what the doctor said? The patient is still in critical condition, meaning she could die at any moment. A live pig costs one yuan, can a diseased pig sell for one yuan?

Five hundred yuan is just the beginning, we don’t know how much more we’ll need to spend later. If she doesn’t survive, they’ll lose both their money and their daughter, and they’ll have to pay for a coffin.

At this point, if it were any other parents, as long as someone was willing to pay to save their daughter, they would have to kowtow in gratitude. But you two are different, your daughter is about to die, and you’re still haggling to get more money.”

“This…”

“Alright, alright, keep arguing, you two. Hopefully, you’ll argue until she dies. Then you won’t get a single cent, and you two will have to pay for the medical expenses.”

After saying that, he called a few young men from the village and was about to return to the village, not wanting to deal with this anymore.

Ye Zhengguo and his wife saw this and knew they couldn’t do this.

Thinking that the girl could die at any moment, they didn’t dare to delay any longer, and had to agree to Lin Xinghua’s terms.

The village chief borrowed a pen and paper from the doctor and wrote a note for both parties, with him and a few villagers as witnesses.

This farce took place in the hospital corridor, with many people watching.

While the village chief was writing the note, everyone was whispering, saying that this bizarre couple was not good people.

A young nurse curiously asked a villager from Xiaoxigou Village.

“Is the girl in the room not their biological daughter?”

The villager said, “The father is biological, but the mother is a stepmother.”

Everyone suddenly understood.

They said that biological parents wouldn’t do such a thing.

“A stepmother means a stepfather, it seems this saying is true.”

“Poor thing.”

The village chief wrote two notes, borrowed some red clay from the hospital, and had Ye Zhengguo and Lin Xinghua each press their fingerprints, each taking one copy.

After Lin Xinghua paid one hundred yuan, Ye Zhengguo and his wife took the money and left, not even willing to go to the ward to take a look.

Lin Xinghua sighed.

The village chief patted him on the shoulder and said, “Old Lin, if this girl survives, you’ll have accumulated great virtue. That couple is not good people, don’t bother with them.”

Lin Xinghua nodded, “Thank you, if you hadn’t stepped in, I wouldn’t have been able to get it down to one hundred yuan.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. I’ll have someone call your Lin’an back from the dam to help, don’t worry about the two children at home, they’re so big, you just stay here.”

“Okay, I’ll stay here and watch over her, you guys go back quickly.”

Lin Xinghua limped to pay the five hundred yuan, and after returning, he stayed in the corridor.

The young nurse felt sorry for him at his age.

She poured him a glass of water and bought him two steamed buns.

Lin Xinghua looked up at the young nurse, “Thank you, I’m not hungry.”

The young nurse smiled and said, “Old man, take it. I saw you here this morning when I changed shifts, it’s already noon and you haven’t eaten anything.”

Lin Xinghua was touched and took it, thinking that there were still many good people in this world.

…

In the ward.

Ye Zhen accepted the unfamiliar memories and guessed that she must have time-traveled, traveled to a poor era, a poor and bizarre family, and a very harsh living environment.

She was so excited that her whole body trembled, her heart raced… then she had difficulty breathing, her heart stopped… scaring all the doctors and nurses.