Chapter 435 - 156: To Survive, Amputation is Necessary
The process was truly agonizing, but the result was good. The baby now had milk to drink.
Qin Xiang, waiting outside, felt his heart hammer in terror at the sounds. He was relieved it wasn’t his little sister’s voice. If he’d heard her scream in pain, he would have charged in without a second thought.
"Young lady, thank you so much! You’re our family’s savior," the woman said, full of gratitude.
Qin Mei smiled. She had grown numb to such words of gratitude. She said to the woman, "Ma’am, please take me to Old Zhang’s house."
"Of course, I’ll take you right now." The woman led the way.
Qin Xiang was full of questions, but with the woman present, he just looked at Qin Mei and kept them to himself.
Qin Mei thought they would have to walk a ways, but the woman led them directly to the house next door and knocked. "Old Zhang."
A moment later, an old woman in simple clothes opened the door. "Erhu’s mother, what is it?"
"This young lady is looking for Old Zhang. You might not know her, but your husband does. She’s the one who buys all the herbs he gathers from the mountain," the woman explained with a chuckle.
"Miss, my husband broke his leg while gathering herbs. We don’t have any herbs to sell you." The old woman mistakenly thought Qin Mei had come to their home to buy medicine.
Qin Mei was shocked. She never would have dreamed that Old Zhang’s house would be even more dilapidated than the other woman’s. ’That shouldn’t be right,’ she thought. ’Where did all the money from selling herbs go?’
"Wife, let her in," came Old Zhang’s weak voice.
The old woman’s expression was grim. She raised an eyebrow, then stepped aside to let Qin Mei and Qin Xiang enter. She did not, however, let the other woman in, closing the dilapidated door and sliding the bolt shut.
As Qin Mei stepped inside, the smell in the room made her wrinkle her nose instinctively. Qin Xiang, following behind her, was also taken aback. The home could only be described as having four bare walls.
There was no decent furniture to speak of. A tripod was missing a leg, propped up with a rock. A battered enamel basin. A washcloth more tattered than a rag. A flimsy-looking bed, a small table, and on the table, three bowls...
Their life was truly awful, comparable to a rural labor camp.
Old Zhang lay weakly on the bed, covered by a tattered quilt. He let out pained groans from time to time, the agony too much to bear.
The already gaunt little old man was now nothing but skin and bones.
"Wife," Old Zhang rasped, his eyes unfocused.
The old woman was also sallow and emaciated, her clothes covered in patches upon patches. With tears in her eyes, she sat on the edge of the bed and helped Old Zhang sit up, letting him lean against her.
"Young lady..." Old Zhang was so weak, even speaking was an effort.
Qin Mei snapped back to her senses and took a step forward, reaching to lift the quilt. The old woman immediately stopped her. "Miss, don’t..."
Qin Mei didn’t pull the quilt all the way off, only exposing the part of Old Zhang’s leg below his calf. It wasn’t just Qin Mei; even Qin Xiang, standing to the side, gasped in shock at the sight.
Old Zhang’s left calf was broken—truly broken. The fractured bone had pierced through the skin, and the subcutaneous tissue had already turned necrotic. The only reason the little old man hadn’t died from the pain was likely because he was being kept alive with ginseng.
But while it was keeping him alive, his broken leg hadn’t been treated. The little old man was just waiting to die.
"Why didn’t you take him to a hospital?" Qin Mei’s voice was calm.
"No money," the old woman answered bluntly.
"..." Qin Mei fell silent. ’What about the money from selling herbs?’ she wanted to ask, but she swallowed the words before they could escape.
"We’re taking him to the hospital," Qin Mei said decisively.
The old woman’s eyes lit up for a moment. But over the years, they had tasted the full cruelty of human nature. There had been others who showed them kindness, but always with ulterior motives. Once those people got what they wanted, their true colors were disgusting. As the old woman stared at Qin Mei, the hope in her eyes slowly faded, replaced by gloom and indignation.
"We have no money," the old woman said, her voice cold.
"I do." Believing in a healer’s compassion, Qin Mei couldn’t just stand by and watch someone die.
The old woman sneered, her eyes filled with ice as she looked at Qin Mei. "Take a look around this house. It’s all clear at a glance, isn’t it? Young lady, don’t waste your efforts. We don’t have anything you want."
Qin Mei raised an eyebrow. The old woman actually thought she had an ulterior motive. "Your house is already down to its four bare walls. What could I possibly want from you?"
"You want..." Seeing the man in her arms go limp, the old woman’s voice stopped abruptly. An anxious and worried cry followed. "Old man..."
Qin Mei took a small bottle from her shoulder bag, tipped out a pill, and fed it into Old Zhang’s mouth right in front of the old woman. The woman’s face fell in panic. The pill dissolved instantly with the moisture in his mouth. She immediately stuck her hand into his mouth to try and dig it out, but it was futile.
"What did you give him?" the old woman demanded, glaring at Qin Mei with tears in her eyes, which blazed with uncontrollable rage.
"You have two choices. One, we leave, and he waits to die here at home. Two, we take him to the hospital, and I’ll pay." Qin Mei cut straight to the point, not bothering with pleasantries as she laid out the options for the old woman.