Chapter 31: Unconscious

After thanking the brigade leader, Fang Mingyi stuffed the referral letter into his pocket and borrowed a bicycle to head to the village entrance.

Zhu Liyan was already waiting there. When he saw Fang Mingyi, he handed him the money and asked him to get off the bike. He then rode ahead with Fang Mingyi on the back, rushing to the commune.

Once they arrived, they paid for the bike, locked it, and got on the passenger vehicle to the town.

“Yi Ge, Li Zhiqing will be fine, don’t worry too much,” Zhu Liyan tried to comfort him, though he had never seen Fang Mingyi so frantic before. He didn’t really know how to say the right words, so he just offered awkward reassurance.

Fang Mingyi nodded, hoarsely thanking him, “Mm, thanks for helping me.”

“Don’t mention it. We’ve been together since we were kids. It feels strange to hear you say thanks now,” Zhu Liyan said, a little upset.

Fang Mingyi just gave a slight smile, then turned his head to look out the window, silently hoping that Li Lin was alright.

Meanwhile, Chen Dong had arrived at the town hospital, carefully carrying Li Lin out of the car and shouting, “Doctor! Doctor, help!”

The doctor in the room rushed out upon hearing the shout and saw the blood-soaked young woman. They immediately instructed their colleagues to get her into emergency treatment.

However, the town’s medical facilities were very poor. After a simple bandage, the doctor urged them to head to the county hospital.

So, Chen Dong rushed to get in the car again, heading toward the county.

Just as they left, Fang Mingyi and Zhu Liyan arrived at the town hospital. They learned that the patient had just left, so they rushed to the bus stop to follow.

Chen Dong was driving, glancing anxiously at Li Lin, who was unconscious in the backseat, her face pale. He couldn’t help but feel afraid, worried that the poor medical facilities here might lead to Li Lin’s worsening condition.

But fear alone wouldn’t help. They had to get her treated.

Chen Dong anxiously looked at the bumpy dirt road, knowing he couldn’t drive fast with a patient in the car. The journey felt endless, with every bump making the trip feel longer.

When they finally arrived at the county hospital, Fang Mingyi and Zhu Liyan, panting from running, caught up with them.

“Uncle Chen, how is Li Lin?” Fang Mingyi asked, but when he saw Li Lin covered in blood in Chen Dong’s arms, his words stopped short.

“Doctor! Doctor, hurry up and help!”

One angry shout brought all the doctors running.

A flurry of activity later, Li Lin was finally rushed into the operating room.

“Hu Zhiqing, who did this to Li Lin?” Fang Mingyi, still seething with anger, thought of how his beloved Li Lin had been hurt like this and couldn’t contain his rage.

“It was Liu Lan. After we finished cutting pigweed and were on our way back to the pigpen, we ran into her. But who would’ve known she would suddenly charge at us with an iron fork? Li Lin dodged, but she didn’t manage to escape in time.”

Hu Yingying was filled with regret, realizing that if she had noticed something was wrong sooner, Li Lin wouldn’t have been so badly hurt.

Hearing that it was Liu Lan again, Fang Mingyi couldn’t hold it in any longer. He punched the wall beside him in frustration.

Seeing Fang Mingyi’s hand bleeding, Zhu Liyan quickly took out his handkerchief and wrapped it around his hand, trying to calm him down.

“Yi Ge, we’ll deal with Liu Lan when we get back. Don’t hurt yourself now. Li Zhiqing will need you to take care of her when she wakes up.”

“I know.” Fang Mingyi nodded faintly, leaning against the wall, his eyes fixed on the operation room door.

It wasn’t long before the door to the operation room opened.

Fang Mingyi rushed forward in a single stride and asked, “Doctor, how is the patient?”

“The patient is stable for now, but she’s still unconscious. It’s not very optimistic. Also, she injured her lung, so she may not be able to exert herself in the future,” the doctor sighed and explained Li Lin’s condition.

Everyone’s heart sank when they heard this.

“The patient will be moved to the ward shortly. Please take good care of her,” the doctor said before walking away.

Soon, Li Lin was wheeled out.

Everyone followed her to the ward and saw that there were already two other people inside. They frowned slightly, but it was the county hospital’s standard. There were no single rooms, so Li Lin would have to endure being in the shared space.

“Hu Zhiqing, stay here with Li Lin. I’ll go out and buy some things. I’ll be back soon.”

Fang Mingyi took a deep breath, looking at the unconscious Li Lin before turning to Hu Yingying.

Hu Yingying knew that Fang Mingyi was extremely worried about Li Lin and suggested, “Why don’t you stay here? Zhu Zhiqing and I can go buy it.”

“No need. It’s inconvenient for me to stay here. I’ll go instead,” Fang Mingyi shook his head, telling Zhu Liyan to stay with Hu Yingying. “If anything goes wrong, call for a doctor right away.”

Zhu Liyan assured him, “Go ahead, Yi Ge. I’ll make sure to look after Li Zhiqing.”

Seeing no other choice, Fang Mingyi nodded and left quickly, hoping to be back soon.

Chen Dong, who had been quietly watching, sighed and left as well.

His destination was the post office.

He felt this matter couldn’t be kept secret; he had to inform Donghai Ge and his wife.

After all, once Li Lin was discharged, someone would need to take care of her.

Though Fang Mingyi was Li Lin’s boyfriend, it would be inappropriate for a man to constantly care for her. It could lead to gossip, and besides, Hu Yingying had work to do. She couldn’t always be there for Li Lin. She wasn’t obliged to care for her either.

Thus, he figured it was best to have Donghai Ge’s wife come and take care of her. Once Li Lin’s condition stabilized, they could figure out the next steps.

At the post office, he managed to get through after a long wait and reached the Kyoto Textile Factory.

“I’m Li Donghai. Who am I speaking to?”

“Donghai Ge, it’s Chen Dong. To keep it short, Li Lin has been injured and is in the hospital. She’s unconscious. Can you have your wife take leave and come to Haixian Hospital? That’s all. I’m hanging up now.”

Chen Dong hung up the phone, sighed deeply, paid for the call, and headed back to the hospital.

The news of his daughter being in the hospital, unconscious and seriously injured, hit Li Donghai like a thunderclap.

He stared at the phone, not reacting for a long time. A colleague, noticing something was off, approached and snapped him out of it.

Snapping back to reality, Li Donghai slammed the phone down and ran out to find his wife.

Zhao Chunmei, who had been reading the newspaper, saw her husband rush in, out of breath, and asked with a frown, “Why are you so flustered? What happened?”

“Xiaomei, Chen Dong just called. He said our daughter’s been injured and is in the hospital. She’s unconscious. He wants you to take leave and go to take care of her,” Li Donghai said, leaning on his knees, breathing heavily.

Zhao Chunmei nearly fainted when she heard the news, but fortunately, her colleague caught her just in time.

She quickly thanked them and hurried out to ask for leave. Then, she went to get a referral letter and rushed home with red eyes.

Li Donghai quickly followed, but as the factory director, he couldn’t get an extended leave easily.

“Then I’ll quit! My daughter’s in the hospital, and I have to be with her,” he said firmly.

The factory manager, seeing how many years Li Donghai had worked hard for the company, finally relented. “Fine, fine. I’ll agree to your leave, but don’t stay away too long. The factory can’t do without you.”

“Thank you, manager. I promise, once my daughter is out of the hospital, I’ll return to work immediately.”

With that, Li Donghai quickly left, got his referral letter, and went home to pack up. Afterward, he bought train tickets, boarded the train, and set off to the northeast, his mind full of worry.