Chapter 15: Forced Discharge

Leng Hui returned to the hospital ward, and Tang Lin, who was lying on the bed, asked, "Did you find out?"

"I found out. Didn't I tell you before? She would go to collect coal with that Qi Da every morning. Well, her luck was a bit bad this time. When she jumped off the train, she probably didn't pay attention to the angle. She got a big bump on her head and cracked a leg bone. She’s in a cast and will have to stay in the hospital for a while."

After saying this, Leng Hui poured herself a glass of water.

"Injured and hospitalized—did anyone find out what they were doing?"

Leng Hui knew she was referring to the train-hopping. "Probably not yet. I haven't heard anyone mention it. Qi Da was the one who brought her back."

*Tsk.*

She didn't know which deity the Leng family had offended lately; two people had ended up in the hospital in less than half a month.

"Hospitalization costs a lot these days. Is Old Lady Leng willing to pay for that 'money-losing goods' she’s always talking about?" Tang Lin was quite curious about this.

When she was hospitalized, there had been a huge fuss over the fees, and that was only because she was a unit employee and could get a portion reimbursed.

Leng Mei was different; all her hospitalization expenses were out-of-pocket.

Leng Hui felt a bit of sympathy for the original owner and her mother, though now that she *was* the original owner, her feelings were a bit subtle. "Old Lady Leng refused to pay. In the end, it was the brothers Leng Yongkang and Leng Yongxing who borrowed money from their colleagues to cover the hospitalization and surgery costs."

Tang Lin was slightly surprised to hear this. "Leng Yongkang actually dared to go against Old Lady Leng's wishes? It seems his 'mama's boy' attribute isn't that severe after all."

Leng Hui reminded her, "Even though you are husband and wife in name, don't pin any hopes on him. You can see from this incident that his defense of his family is mindless. His 'mama's boy' nature only undergoes a qualitative change when it comes to his own family, but that 'family' definitely doesn't include you."

As for Leng Hui herself, she hadn't tested it yet, so she didn't know for sure.

Tang Lin rolled her eyes at her. "After so many years in the apocalypse, have you ever seen me fall for any man?"

"That's for the best. You have to know that you must rely on yourself for everything. Men are only the icing on the cake; don't ever dream of them providing charcoal in the snow."

When disaster strikes, everyone flies their own way!

"Got it, you little housekeeper." Tang Lin listened to Leng Hui speak with such logic, and looking at her teenage age, she only felt a sense of sorrow.

A girl in her prime is in the most beautiful years of her life, yet she holds no illusions about men. As a mother, should one feel relieved or heartbroken?

Tang Lin didn't know if there were any good men in the world; she firmly believed they existed, but they were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Unfortunately, she had never met one.

Both Tang Lin and Leng Hui thought that since the Leng brothers had borrowed money to pay the hospital fees, Leng Mei would at least be able to rest and receive treatment in the hospital.

However, they didn't expect that after only three days, Old Lady Leng would come to the hospital to cause a scene, forcefully demanding that Leng Yongxing carry Leng Mei back home. She firmly believed that "a hundred days of rest for broken bones and tendons" meant that staying home to recover slowly was the only way.

Leng Yongxing and his wife couldn't win against Old Lady Leng, so they had no choice but to discharge Leng Mei.

Leng Hui wanted to go back and watch this family drama. Tang Lin advised, "If you go back now, won't you find it annoying to watch them bicker?"

Leng Hui shook her head and refused. "Not at all. It's too boring staying here with you in the hospital every day. It's a rare chance to see a good show; how could I miss it? I'll go and come right back, then I'll tell you all about it to help you pass the time."

Only those who have experienced it know the bitterness of being a hospital companion.

The boredom was enough to make one moldy.

Walking out of the hospital, she felt the air become fresh.

Leng Mei was carried back by Leng Yongxing and Leng Yongkang using a sliding pole. Not every household had a sliding pole; they had borrowed a sleeping bench and tied it with bamboo poles, which was very convenient for carrying people with limited mobility.

The sliding pole was set down on the first floor, and Leng Yongxing carried Leng Mei upstairs.

At the door on the second floor, Sun Xiaojuan had already boiled pomelo leaves.

When Leng Hui arrived, she happened to see Sun Xiaojuan sprinkling the pomelo leaf water on Leng Mei. "The pomelo leaves cleanse the body, sweeping away all the filth. From now on, good luck will always accompany you, and everything will go smoothly."

"Alright, Second Brother, you can carry her inside."

Old Lady Leng, who was sitting inside the room without coming out, spoke up. Leng Yongxing gave a fawning smile and carried Leng Mei into the room, settling her in the second bedroom's partition.

Leng Hui noticed that the Leng family's stove had been moved to the corridor today. The steam rising from the pot on the stove had a meaty aroma, though the scent was a bit strange.

"Huihui."

Leng Hui withdrew her hand, which had been reaching for the lid, and turned to look sideways at Leng Yongkang. "What do you want?"

Leng Yongkang beckoned to her. "Come here and help me carry the two bamboo poles back into the room. I'm going to return the sleeping bench to its owner."

Leng Hui went downstairs with him. "Leng Mei is being discharged today, so the family bought meat?"

Leng Yongkang glanced at her. As they walked down, he replied, "Didn't you snatch away the family's meat coupons for this month? Where would we get coupons to buy meat? What's boiling in the pot is a cured pig's head smoked last winter."

"There's still meat at home?" Leng Hui was stunned.

When she pried open Old Lady Leng's treasure chest last time, how come she didn't find any cured meat inside?

"It's hanging on the innermost wall of the kitchen. You didn't know..." Leng Yongkang seemed to recall her lock-picking incident and warned, "Your grandma only cuts off a small piece to boil for the holidays. Don't you go wasting it all."

The innermost wall of the kitchen was pitch black, and hanging a piece of cured pig's head of the same color made it truly hard to notice if one wasn't paying attention.

Regarding Leng Yongkang's warning, Leng Hui nodded perfunctorily. When she was hungry, it didn't matter when it was eaten; whose stomach it ended up in was the point.

"Comrade Leng Yongkang—"

"Call me Dad!"

Leng Hui's expression stiffened. "...Dad, since Leng Mei is discharged and the family is cooking meat to celebrate, when my mom is discharged, remember to remind your mom to cut a piece of meat to celebrate for my mom too."

Leng Yongkang frowned slightly. "What 'your mom'? That's your grandma."

Leng Hui twisted her neck, hoisted the bamboo poles, and went upstairs. She didn't intend to change her wording. Some things are acceptable to break the rules for once, but doing it multiple times means having no bottom line.

Don't forget, she was a young girl with principles.

In the corridor, the neighbor next door, Auntie Li, was a typical housewife of this era, so she got along quite well with Sun Xiaojuan, who was also a housewife.

Auntie Li stood aside to make way for Leng Hui. After she carried the bamboo poles into the room, she poked Sun Xiaojuan in the lower back and whispered, "Why is she back? Hasn't she been in the hospital taking care of her mother all this time?"

Sun Xiaojuan curled her lips. "She has a dog's nose; she just follows the scent whenever there's something good to eat at home."

Auntie Li's eyes shone with gossip, though she spoke in a tone of disdain. "A young girl like that, being a glutton won't do. Who would want to marry a gluttonous wife in the future?"

"Who's to say? Last time, just for a bite to eat, she even pried open my mother's lock and stole eggs and flour..." Sun Xiaojuan seemed to realize she had let something slip, covered her mouth, and hurriedly waved her hand to signal she wouldn't say more.

Auntie Li waved her hand and turned to go home first.

Standing there smelling the meat, she was so hungry her mouth was practically flooding.

Sun Xiaojuan carried the pot inside, took the meat out in the cramped kitchen, sliced it, and put it on a plate.

The lunch was quite rich: sorghum pancakes, a bowl of sour eggplant, a bowl of cured pig's head meat, and in the very center, a basin of salted vegetable soup.

Leng Hui looked around at everyone sitting at the table waiting for the meal to start and shouted toward the kitchen, "You've been dawdling for ages, why isn't the cured meat sliced and brought out yet? Auntie, don't be stealing bites in the kitchen!"

The meat that was about to be put into her mouth stopped dead. Sun Xiaojuan threw the meat in her hand onto the plate, so hateful she nearly bit her teeth to pieces.