Chapter 120
Qiao Wei only stopped briefly in Yan Village before heading straight to the county seat with Yan Lei’s Mother, Yan Lei’s Father, and Yan Zhu.
The train station where she had arrived was in the county seat, but this trip required taking a long-distance bus.
Fortunately, it was neither the New Year nor a holiday, so the passenger volume wasn’t that high. The driver and the young man who accompanied the bus didn’t leave until they had bought their tickets and boarded.
The four adults and one child boarded the long-distance bus.
By this point, Yan Lei’s Father, Yan Lei’s Mother, and Yan Zhu still felt like they were in a dream.
It was supposed to be Yan Lei’s wife returning home, and she should have been the one staying at the house. How did it end up with them following her, rushing non-stop to the provincial capital?
But after experiencing the better part of the day, Qiao Wei’s image in their minds had undergone a complete transformation.
Even the Party Secretary listened to her.
When she spoke eloquently, the prominent figures of the village listened with rapt attention.
Although Yan Lei’s Father and Yan Zhu didn’t really understand those big issues, her explanation was very clear, the timeline was smooth, and the major events were well-defined, so even they could understand half of it.
What kind of person could know so much about national affairs?
Her father-in-law and brother-in-law couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe toward Qiao Wei.
It was nap time for Yan Xiang, and he had fallen asleep in Qiao Wei’s arms.
Yan Lei’s Mother sighed softly in admiration, “Look at this child, how easy he is to take care of.”
He didn’t fuss, cry, or run around, and he listened to what the adults said.
Her daughters-in-law had said that bringing Yan Xiang along to get the old man treated would just add trouble, and suggested leaving Yan Xiang in Yan Village. Yan Lei’s Mother did not regret ignoring her daughters-in-law’s advice.
My child, it is still better to be with your own mother.
The long-distance bus drove for several hours and arrived in the provincial capital at nightfall.
The four adults got off the bus with Yan Xiang, and the two who had never seen a big city looked around in wonder.
“Look, there’s a building over there! It’s two stories high!”
“The streetlights here stay on the whole time? That must waste so much electricity.”
“So many bicycles.”
Qiao Wei didn’t have so many exclamations. As soon as she got off the bus, she bought a map of the provincial capital at the station window and inquired about the best hospital and nearby guesthouses.
Before the two members of The Yan Household had finished their exclamations, Qiao Wei already knew where to go, “Let’s go, we still need to take a bus.”
The best hospital was the First People’s Hospital, and for medical treatment, it was best to stay at a guesthouse near the hospital.
The people at the long-distance bus station were often asked for this information, so they knew it all. Moreover, Qiao Wei asked in standard Mandarin, so the staff didn’t dare to look down on her.
However, once they boarded the bus, the Yan father and son, being new to the big city and finding everything novel, couldn’t help but say a few words. The conductor cast a glance at them, her gaze clearly saying, “Country bumpkins.”
At this time, it was the bus conductors who especially looked down on country folk. Perhaps it was due to the nature of their work; they came into contact with more people from all over, so the probability of encountering rural people was higher than for others.
This was the social norm, and there was nothing Qiao Wei could do about it.
But when the conductor was checking tickets on the bus, she squeezed past Yan Lei’s Mother and suddenly sniffed, “What’s that smell?”
She frowned, looked Yan Lei’s Mother over a few times, and squeezed past in disgust.
Yan Lei’s Mother hung her head very low, shrinking back like a quail.
Qiao Wei couldn’t help but frown.
She leaned in quietly and sniffed gently.
There really was a smell.
She had been smelling it the whole way on the long-distance bus. She had thought it was just the odor of the bus. But now it seemed… it was the smell on Yan Lei’s Mother?
Yan Lei’s Mother looked up at her, flinching slightly, as if she felt uneasy about her proximity.
The bus passed by the First People’s Hospital.
Yan Zhu clicked his tongue, “What a huge hospital.”
It was as impressive as the government building and the train station in the county.
Soon they got off the bus. The guesthouse Qiao Wei had inquired about was the closest one to the hospital, just a few minutes’ walk away.
Referral letters were the kind of things used when buying tickets and checking into accommodation.
The receptionist at the guesthouse took one look at the four adults, two men and two women with one child, assumed they were two couples, and said listlessly, “Married couples need to provide their marriage certificate for accommodation.”
Qiao Wei leaned over, resting her arms on the counter, “Only one couple. We will stay separately, two men in one room, two women in one room.”
She asked again, “Is there hot water? Can we take a bath?”
The receptionist glanced at the clock, “Then hurry up, the hot water stops at 8:30.”
Qiao Wei nodded, “We won’t wash today, we’ll wash tomorrow.”
“You need to buy a bath ticket to take a bath.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“Serve the people.”
The receptionist was listless, but didn’t forget to add that phrase at the end.
It was evident that the movement here in the provincial capital was much more entrenched than in Bocheng County.
Qiao Wei took the keys and led everyone to find their rooms and settle in.
The room was actually very simple: two beds, two nightstands, a desk, a washbasin stand, two washbasins, and two pairs of plastic slippers, just like the ones in the bathhouse.
But The Yan Household had never seen these things before and found them quite novel.
Qiao Wei went over to check the bedding.
It was dry and clean. Qiao Wei was quite satisfied with this.
“Mother, this room is for Father and Zhu,” Qiao Wei said, “You stay with me.”
Yan Lei’s Mother hesitated for a moment.
But with two men and two women, and since Qiao Wei and Yan Zhu were not a couple, if they didn’t arrange it this way, would they have to open another room?
She had heard just now that the accommodation fee was 25 cents per night.
In the end, she couldn’t bear to spend the money, so she didn’t raise any objections and followed Qiao Wei.
The attendant brought hot water. One thermos per guest, so two people meant two thermoses of hot water.
They were also told where the water room was.
Qiao Wei scalded the cups in the room with boiling water and set out some cooled boiled water. She took out towels, toothbrushes, and toothpaste, “Mother, let’s go wash up.”
It was Yan Lei’s Mother’s first time in the provincial capital, and she was afraid of making a fool of herself everywhere, so she followed Qiao Wei closely wherever she went, doing whatever she said.
Qiao Wei went to call the father and son on the other side to go wash up together.
The two of them were awkward, but they followed along to wash up.
Back in the room, Qiao Wei asked, “What was wrong with Father and Brother just now? If something isn’t appropriate and they are too embarrassed to tell me, let them tell you, and you can tell me.”
“It’s nothing, nothing at all,” Yan Lei’s Mother said hurriedly, “Everything is great. There is even hot water.”
She thought to herself, when had the old man and her eldest son ever washed their faces or brushed their teeth at night before? This was the first time in history, so of course they would feel awkward.
But her daughter-in-law was strong-willed, and now everyone was afraid of her. The two men didn’t dare to say, “We don’t wash our faces or brush our teeth at night, and we don’t necessarily do it in the morning either,” so they could only follow along and wash up properly.
But seeing even little Yan Xiang washing up properly, she knew that this was just the daily routine for city people like Qiao Wei. It wasn’t like she was intentionally being particular in front of them.
So, they would just do as she said.
The next morning, Qiao Wei took them to have breakfast at the guesthouse restaurant.
It was hot and delicious, but it all cost money and required food coupons.
Yan Zhu had a sharp eye and noticed the food coupons Qiao Wei took out, so he whispered to his parents, “Those are all national food coupons.”
Provincial food coupons were not interchangeable; only national food coupons could be used everywhere. People on business trips needed them and would exchange for enough before traveling.
In this era, because they were hard to come by, national food coupons were almost considered hard currency; they were useful for exchanging anything.
But for someone just going out to handle some business, it was very difficult to scrape together so many national food coupons.
Yan Lei was so afraid she wouldn’t have enough that he had exchanged for as many as possible.
After breakfast, they headed to the hospital. Yan Lei’s Mother was still worried, “Did we leave our things there?”
Qiao Wei laughed, “Don’t worry, I locked the door.”
When they arrived at the hospital, she wanted to register for the surgery department. The triage nurse asked, “What is the condition?”
Qiao Wei said, “It should be kidney stones.”
Remove the word “should”; Qiao Wei had known from the beginning that it was kidney stones.
Because this was supposed to be something that Yan Lei would have discovered when he brought Lin Xixi back home to visit in the first half of this year, and then took his father to see a doctor.
Having a god’s-eye view was very convenient.
Of course, the doctor couldn’t just take her word for it. They performed the necessary examinations and tests. The final diagnosis was kidney stones with purulent infection, and it couldn’t yet be determined if there were complications.
Qiao Wei asked, “How should it be treated?”
“It requires surgery.”
“Okay, then please arrange the surgery.”
“That will have to be next month.”
Qiao Wei frowned, “Why?”
The doctor said, “This month is full of study tasks, everyone is in meetings, so there is no time for surgery.”
Qiao Wei said, “You have also seen that my elder’s condition is already very serious. Delaying it for a day means suffering for another day.”
The doctor was a bit impatient, “Well, there is nothing I can do. If you have the ability, go tell the President. Comrade, please move aside, there are people behind you waiting to be seen.”
The people behind also shouted, “Comrade, are you done yet? We still need to see the doctor.”
This doctor was not someone who could make decisions, so pestering him was meaningless.
Qiao Wei stepped out first and stood in the hallway.
Her expression was not good, and The Yan Household didn’t dare to speak.
Qiao Wei had always been strong-willed; if she couldn’t handle it, the two country bumpkins certainly couldn’t.
Yan Lei’s Father and Yan Zhu both signaled to Yan Lei’s Mother. Yan Lei’s Mother had stayed with Qiao Wei for a night and had become much more familiar with her. Qiao Wei had been very kind to her, so she wasn’t as afraid anymore and tried to ask, “Qiao, Qiao Wei, what do you think we should do?”
They couldn’t possibly stay here until next month; every day cost money.
Qiao Wei had no choice but to sigh deeply.
Seeing her sigh, Yan Lei’s Mother was about to say, “Otherwise, let’s go back first and come back next month,” when Qiao Wei suddenly pulled a green bundle out of her military satchel, then took off the satchel and handed it to Yan Zhu, “Brother, help me hold this.”
Yan Zhu obediently took it, holding the strap with both hands like a clothes rack.
Qiao Wei shook out the item in her hands, flipped her arms, and draped it over her shoulders—it was actually a green military uniform.
Qiao Wei put her arms into the sleeves; there was a red armband pinned to the sleeve.
Qiao Wei buttoned it up, took a military cap out of the military satchel and put it on her head, then pulled out a military belt, wrapped it around her waist, and tightened it.
The two members of The Yan Household were dumbfounded. Now they knew why Qiao Wei’s military satchel was so bulging today.
In the blink of an eye, Qiao Wei was dressed and ready.
This was her last resort. She had prepared it, hoping she wouldn’t need to use it, but in the end, she had to.
She slung the military satchel across her body again and pushed Yan Xiang toward Yan Lei’s Mother, “Stay here with Grandpa and Grandma, and don’t run around anywhere.”
She said to her parents-in-law and brother-in-law, “Wait here for me, I’ll be back shortly.”
Dressed in a green military uniform, wearing a military cap, with a belt around her waist and an armband on her arm, Qiao Wei turned and walked toward the other end of the hallway.
People in the hallway saw her outfit and subconsciously made way for her.
The two members of The Yan Household looked at each other.
“Sister-in-law’s outfit… seems to be…” Yan Zhu whispered.
It seems to be the same attire as those Red Guards on the street. They had seen them in both the county seat and the provincial capital.
“What, what is she going to do?” Yan Lei’s Mother asked, feeling uneasy.
Yan Lei’s Father whispered, “No matter what she does, we will listen to her.”
After a while, Qiao Wei returned.
She said, “Let’s go back to the guesthouse first.”
Yan Lei’s Mother asked, “Then what about the medical treatment?”
Qiao Wei said, “If I go to the mountain and the mountain won’t come to me, then I will make the mountain come to me.”
Unfortunately, neither of the two Yan Household members could understand.
When Qiao Wei returned to the guesthouse in this outfit, she gave the receptionist a start.
Just as Qiao Wei expected, less than two hours after returning to the guesthouse, the mountain came to Qiao Wei.
There was a knock at the door, and Qiao Wei, dressed in her military attire, went to open it.
Outside the door, a middle-aged man with several people knew immediately upon seeing Qiao Wei’s attire that they hadn’t found the wrong person.
“Comrade, I am the President of the First Hospital, my surname is Zhang.” President Zhang eagerly extended his hand to shake Qiao Wei’s hand, “Comrade, it is all because our work was inadequate. It is our fault. We have received your criticism and will definitely correct it.”
“Comrade, that manuscript… it, it hasn’t been published yet, has it?” President Zhang asked tremulously.
He had been out at a meeting, and the hospital’s phone calls had chased after him, urging him to return quickly.
Only upon returning did he learn that a female revolutionary comrade had barged directly into the President’s office and slammed a manuscript onto the table.
“Tell your President that I am staying in Room 16 of the guesthouse next door.”
“If I don’t see him today, this manuscript will be published tomorrow.”
President Zhang had been urgently called back. He read the manuscript once, and sweat broke out all over him.
It was an article criticizing the medical system and the hospital leadership. The hospital name section was blank. With President Zhang’s political acumen, it wasn’t hard to see that this was a pre-prepared manuscript; whichever hospital they wanted to target, they just had to fill in the hospital’s name.
He was just unlucky that it fell on him.
That was the situation nowadays. The higher the rank of the person you could take down, the greater the merit.
The writing style of this manuscript was formidable; the wording was sharp and deeply understood the central spirit. This was different from those crude big-character posters posted outside; one look and it was clear the author was an insider. Once sent to a newspaper, no matter which one, they would scramble to publish it.
In this era, the pen was a knife that could kill.
The President was sweating profusely and kept asking the office staff who they had offended.
Qiao Wei had indeed left information. The secretary said, “Her patient has kidney stones and needs surgery. She said she is waiting at the guesthouse, and if she doesn’t see you today, it will be published tomorrow.”
The President brought people and came right over.
He shook Qiao Wei’s hand, his eyes filled with tears, “We won’t publish it. The surgery, isn’t it? We’ll arrange it immediately!”
Yan Lei’s Father and Yan Zhu in Room 15 next door had long heard the noise and were peeking out the door.
Soon Qiao Wei walked out.
“Father, Brother, pack your things and come with me,” she said calmly, “We can handle the hospital admission now.”
