Chapter 88: The Old Lady’s Farce
Once Grandpa Sheng was officially discharged from the hospital, Sheng Wanyan immediately returned to her regular shifts at the mill. However, she was entirely unprepared for the fact that Mother Sheng and Gu Tong would strike up a fast, genuine friendship in the interim.
Still, Wanyan realized it was actually a blessing. Gu Tong possessed a fierce, independent, and vibrant perspective on life; her influence might eventually rub off on Mother Sheng, teaching her how to live without constantly exhausting herself for the family’s sake.
On the afternoon Wanyan and Father Sheng arrived at the ward to finalize Grandpa Sheng’s discharge papers, they walked into absolute chaos. The shameless old lady in the adjacent bed was locked in a vicious, screaming match with the young man who had bumped into her weeks ago.
And the young man hadn’t arrived alone; he had brought two uniformed public security officers with him.
The old woman had been comfortably lounging in the hospital bed for a full half month. Between the low-occupancy ward fees and her daily demands for premium meals, the accumulated debt was staggering.
The young man had finally reached the absolute limit of his patience. This wretched old woman had ruthlessly exploited his initial guilt, treating him like a personal scapegoat and an infinite bank account.
She demanded to be fed braised meat, white flour buns, and premium meat dumplings every single day, and had even pressured him into buying her a brand-new set of clothes. She was clearly treating the accident as an early retirement plan, viewing him as a permanent cash cow.
The minor scrape on her leg had completely healed days ago, yet she staunchly refused to vacate the hospital, throwing violent tantrums to ensure she could continue eating and drinking like a queen on his dime.
The young man had already blown through an entire month’s salary indulging her demands; the old woman was casually burning through thirty yuan a month on prime cuts of pork alone.
“Old lady, I acknowledge that my bicycle clipped you,” the young man stated, his voice trembling with suppressed fury. “But you have been relentlessly blackmailing me for weeks. If you refuse to leave this ward today, I will absolutely drop all pretense of mercy.”
Hearing his threat, the old woman’s face contorted. She threw herself onto the mattress, violently thumping her chest as she launched into a hysterical wail.
“Heavens above! This monster ran me down in the street, and now he refuses to take responsibility for my broken body!”
“The youth of today are cold-blooded! He’s abandoning a frail, injured old woman here to die!”
The young man’s face darkened with absolute disgust. He had sincerely believed that half a month of grueling servitude and financial compensation was more than enough to cover a scraped knee.
He had absolutely zero desire to waste another breath arguing with such a profoundly unreasonable creature. This extortion was ending today, and she was vacating the hospital whether she liked it or not!
“Old lady, let’s be perfectly clear. The emergency physician explicitly stated you only suffered a minor skin abrasion,” the young man countered loudly, ensuring the officers heard every word. “Yet you threw a massive tantrum, insisting on being hospitalized just so you could gorge yourself on fresh meat and fine grains every single day.”
“Furthermore, you threw yourself directly into my path! I slammed on my brakes in time, which is why you barely suffered a scratch.”
“If you’re looking for a comfortable retirement, go back to your own children instead of exploiting my conscience and faking a severe illness in this ward.”
“I am officially cutting off all funds. The extravagant meals, drinks, and new clothes I’ve financed over the past half month are more than enough compensation for a scraped knee.”
“I brought the public security officers here today for a reason. I am not legally at fault for your continued residency. The chief doctor has your medical charts on file; a quick conversation with him will prove exactly who is in the right and who is committing extortion.”
Seeing that the young man’s attitude had turned completely resolute, the old woman panicked. She slid off the mattress, sitting flat on the concrete floor as she shrieked and kicked her legs wildly.
“You can’t just abandon me here! You struck me with your vehicle! How dare you shirk your responsibility?!”
“Fine, I’ll accept the discharge, but you must immediately compensate me for my lost wages, my emotional distress, and my ongoing nutritional needs!”
“Just hand over two hundred yuan in cash, and we’ll call it even.”
A collective gasp echoed through the crowd of spectators gathered at the door.
The absolute audacity! After draining the poor man’s wallet dry for half a month to fund her lavish lifestyle, she now had the nerve to demand a two-hundred-yuan payout upon discharge?
“I won’t give you a single copper penny,” the young man gritted out. “I am surrendering this entire dispute to the public security bureau. Whatever they decree, I will follow.”
The old woman instantly grew anxious. How could she possibly let the police decide? They wouldn’t tolerate her demands!
The two officers stepped forward to formally mediate the dispute. They had dealt with countless fraudulent extortion cases exactly like this one; they possessed extensive experience in handling rural grifters.
“Madam,” the lead officer warned, his voice stern and commanding. “If you continue to actively blackmail this citizen, you will be formally arrested, jailed, and saddled with a permanent criminal record.”
“We have reviewed the hospital registry. You have intentionally extorted exactly 116.5 yuan from this young man over the past half month. The physician confirmed you merely suffered a superficial abrasion. This young comrade had absolutely zero legal obligation to fund a luxury hospital stay.”
Hearing the words “criminal record,” the old woman’s blood ran cold. She was deeply terrified; if she was formally branded a criminal, the political future and employment prospects of her sons and grandsons would be permanently destroyed.
“Therefore, madam, you are legally responsible for your own hospital expenses over the past half month,” the officer declared firmly. “You will immediately refund 110 yuan back to this young man. The remaining 6.5 yuan will serve as your final medical compensation for the scrape.”
Hearing that she was the one required to pay, the old woman completely collapsed against the floor.
“Pah!” she spat, her eyes wide with disbelief.
“What did you just say?! I have to give him money?!”
“Comrade Officer, I am the innocent victim here! His vehicle struck me!”
“One hundred and ten yuan… are you actively trying to bleed me dry?!”
“He’s a strong young man with a lucrative factory job, a steady salary, and a shiny bicycle! Why on earth should he force a poor old woman to reimburse him?!”
Consumed by blind, desperate rage, the old woman lunged forward, attempting to physically strike the young man. The lead officer’s expression darkened into absolute fury.
“That is quite enough!” the officer barked, grabbing her wrist mid-swing. “If you refuse to refund the stolen funds immediately, we are detaining you. You’re coming back to the station!”
The officer didn’t waste another second, hauling the struggling old woman up by the arm, fully prepared to march her straight into a holding cell.
Seeing that the police were absolutely dead serious, the old woman’s bravado shattered into sheer terror.
“I’ll pay! I’ll pay him back!” she screamed frantically.
The old woman was completely cornered. Her original master plan had been flawlessly simple: orchestrate a minor accident, secure free food and shelter in the city, and save her rural family a massive amount of grain rations back home.
She had been convinced she could escalate the drama upon discharge to force the young worker into funding her retirement. She had never anticipated that a man who looked so timid and guilt-ridden could execute such a ruthless, decisive counterattack by involving the authorities!
“Comrade Officer…” the old woman pleaded, her voice dropping into a pathetic whine. “I don’t have that kind of cash on my person…”
“Can you grant me a few days’ grace period?”
Her mind was racing with escape routes. She genuinely didn’t have the funds on hand, but if they let her walk out those doors, she could flee straight back to the countryside. Since she had never provided her actual village address to the hospital, no one would ever be able to track her down.
“Absolutely not!” the young man shouted, instantly recognizing the evasion tactic.
The officers, well-versed in the tricks of rural grifters, also saw right through her.
“Then we will personally escort you back to your residence right now to collect the funds,” the officer stated coldly.
The old woman’s heart plummeted. Why were these officers so impossibly rigid?
“I… I truly don’t possess that much wealth…” she stammered, sweating profusely.
“One hundred and ten yuan! Even if my entire family broke their backs in the fields for a full year, we couldn’t scrape together that much cash!”
“I don’t care how you source it,” the young man sneered. “Borrow it, beg for it, whatever. You are refunding my stolen wages today.”
Hearing his absolute refusal to budge, the old woman’s eyes darted frantically around the room. Suddenly, her gaze locked onto Sheng Wanyan. She scrambled across the floor, desperately lunging to grab Wanyan’s hand.
“Daughter! Dear, sweet daughter! Can you please lend a poor old woman 110 yuan?”
Wanyan’s face darkened with absolute disgust. She violently wrenched her hand free, stepping back. What kind of delusional madness was this?
Seeing the old crone target his daughter, Father Sheng instantly stepped forward, shielding Wanyan behind his broad frame. This wretched old woman was so profoundly shameless that she was actually attempting to drag his daughter into her extortion crisis.
“Absolutely not. We do not know you,” Father Sheng declared firmly.
The old woman flushed with furious indignation. This family was undeniably swimming in cash!
She had watched them closely. They dined like royalty every single day, feasting on prime meat and eggs, feeding fine grains to the old man lying in the bed as if it cost them nothing at all. They constantly possessed fresh fruit and drank expensive malted milk.
Especially that arrogant girl! She sat in the ward sipping hot malted milk every afternoon; the rich, sweet aroma was enough to drive the old woman mad with envy.
“How can you youngsters be so profoundly unsympathetic?!” the old woman shrieked, pointing an accusing finger at the Shengs.
“Your entire family eats and drinks like kings, yet you selfishly refuse to part with a fraction of your wealth to save a poor old woman!”
“It was bad enough that you cruelly refused to share a single bite of your fine grains, meat, fruit, or malted milk with an elderly neighbor. But now I am standing on the absolute brink of bankruptcy and imprisonment, and you still refuse to lend a hand!”
“Heavens above, the gods are truly blind! How can such a vicious, cold-blooded girl exist in this world? Any man unfortunate enough to marry her will suffer a lifetime of misery!”
Sheng Wanyan couldn’t be bothered to entertain a single syllable of her hysterical cursing. She calmly turned her back on the old woman and continued packing Grandpa Sheng’s belongings. With Father Sheng standing guard, and the police present, the old crone couldn’t possibly execute any further blackmail.
Realizing the Sheng family was an impenetrable fortress, the old woman desperately spun around, her eyes locking onto Commander Ning Weiguo, who was quietly observing the chaos from his bed by the door.
Usually, Gu Tong would return to their apartment to prepare his meals, leaving Ning Weiguo alone in the ward. Over the past few days, she had occasionally seen the stoic, dignified man quietly pouring himself water or slicing his own fruit.
