Volume One, Chapter Seventeen: Still Need One Hundred and Twenty

Page 1/3

Old Tang peered through the gap and glanced at the bullet, his expression momentarily stunned. Tang Wanwan’s eyes darkened with an unclear shadow. She was deep in thought, lost in contemplation. Then she said, “Doctor, could I have this bullet?” The old doctor paused for a moment before nodding, “Yes, you can.” Immediately after, he asked somewhat hesitantly, “Because the patient’s infection area is quite large, if we use the best anti-inflammatory and antibiotics, the cost would be about 120 yuan. The regular kind would only be around 30 to 50 yuan.” “What do you think? Which should we use?” “The best!” Tang Wanwan answered without hesitation. Lu Hang’s wound had been left unattended too long already. If delayed any further, she feared it would recur or leave a chronic problem. Lu Hang was still young and couldn’t afford to have a crippled leg! Old Tang sighed quietly beside her but did not oppose. By eight in the morning, everything at the hospital was settled. Tang Wanwan and Old Tang pulled the cart and exited through the hospital gates. Outside, an elderly man selling roasted sweet potatoes was calling out loudly, "Roasted sweet potatoes, sweet and hot—" Hearing the robust shout, Tang Wanwan suddenly recalled something. She stopped, then called to Old Tang who was ahead pulling the cart, “Dad, wait a moment, I’ll just go over there.” Saying that, she dashed toward the roasted sweet potato stand. “Sir, how much for the roasted sweet potatoes?” “Young lady, fifty cents per jin (half a kilo). Want two?” The old man had squinting eyes and a face lined with wrinkles. Two front teeth were missing, giving him a simple yet warm appearance. Tang Wanwan smiled, “Then pick out four please, the big, fiery ones with red flesh!” At the market, fresh sweet potatoes sold for just eighty cents per jin, so fifty cents for roasted ones—even allowing for moisture loss during roasting—was no small price. Not just expensive, it was practically exorbitant! But since it was right outside the county health clinic, she understood and didn’t hesitate to buy four. “Alright then!” Tang Wanwan smiled as she watched the old man rummage through the clay stove, squeezing this one, pressing that one. Anyone who has bought roasted sweet potatoes knows the way to tell if they are thoroughly cooked is to squeeze them. He picked out four palm-sized sweet potatoes and weighed them. The old man, being kind, nudged the scale toward Tang Wanwan so she could see the numbers. Then he smiled and said—

Page 2/3

“Miss, that’s two jin and seven liang (about 1.35 kilograms) total, one yuan thirty-five cents. I’ll round it down and only charge you one yuan thirty. How’s that?” “Thank you very much, sir!” Tang Wanwan smiled brightly and took out the money from her pocket, handing it over. After receiving the roasted sweet potatoes wrapped in oil paper, she casually asked, “Sir, how much do you pay for your stall space each day?” “Eh—no stall fee at all. Small business. If they charged fees, people wouldn’t survive!” “Nobody checks or regulates you then?” In previous years, doing business could even be considered profiteering or illegal speculation. Now that policies had relaxed, she wasn’t sure if enforcement was still strict in the county town. “No, no. Our Yunshui County is small; it’s not that strict!” The old man pointed across the road at a pancake stall. “See over there? That pancake seller is my wife. A few years back, pancake stalls weren’t allowed, but now all the local girls with steady government jobs often buy pancakes from her!” “Wow—that’s good policy!” “But large businesses are another matter. Small businesses like ours are pretty much left alone.” After this brief chat with the roasted sweet potato vendor, Tang Wanwan took the oil paper bundle and crossed the street to the pancake stand the old man mentioned. It was a simple setup: a small cart with a large clay stove and a flat pan on top. First, the fermented pancake dough was placed on the oiled pan to cook. One side was sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, and once the pancake formed layers, it was moved to a special compartment inside the clay stove to bake for another minute. This method produced pancakes with a crispy, fragrant crust and a soft, fluffy interior. It was somewhat like the fire-baked mahjong pancakes people would come to love in future years, only without the mahjong tile in the center. At this time, mahjong tiles were expensive and hard to come by, and few people would indulge in eating them inside pancakes. The woman running the stall was taciturn. Tang Wanwan bought ten pancakes without much conversation and headed back. She handed one pancake and a roasted sweet potato to Old Tang, kept one pancake for herself, and carried the rest as she hurried into the clinic. It didn’t take long before she handed the food to Wang Xiuying and rushed back out. She hadn’t slept last night and now the two of them still had to make a round trip to Shitou Village and the county seat. Time was tight, and Tang Wanwan was still concerned about the fish traps in the river. She didn’t dare linger on the road, biting on a pancake as she walked. The cold air turned each exhale into a white mist, but holding the warm pancake made the chill seem less harsh. The road was much easier to travel during the day. By just before ten o’clock, the two arrived at the village. As they pushed the cart to the doorstep, they saw their neighbor, Mrs. Xu Lanzhi, pouring water outside. Seeing Tang Wanwan and Old Tang return, she snorted coldly, turned her back, carried her laundry basin, and went inside. With a heavy bang, the door slammed shut.

Page 3/3

Old Tang’s expression darkened at the sight. Tang Wanwan remained silent—she regarded Mrs. Xu as a stranger, irrelevant to her. She pulled her father into the yard, then went inside her own room. She took out a small straw-woven box from the dresser. The box was small, holding just a few pieces of clothing and several pairs of socks. She recalled that she had hidden some money inside one of the socks before. It was originally saved to buy a wool coat. Now that Lu Hang was hospitalized and urgently needed money, she had no choice but to rummage through everything. There were seventy yuan in total. She had already paid 140 yuan for the surgery, so after covering the remaining 60 yuan, only 10 yuan remained. This amount was far from enough for the upcoming medication costs. Tang Wanwan was troubled. Thinking of the fish traps in the river, she hurried out again to find her father. But after circling the yard, she could not find him. She guessed that, since money was tight, her father must have gone to borrow some. Her gaze fell on the fence gate between the west and east courtyards. She opened the gate and walked in a few steps before hearing a quarrel inside. Sure enough, her father was in the east courtyard. Sharp voices rang out—Mrs. Xu Lanzhi was speaking harshly: “Where do you still have money? If you ask me, after spending so much, the boy should just be brought back and left untreated!” “The second girl is still young. Wait until the live-in son-in-law has died and then marry her off again. You might even get some bride price then! What are you thinking, spending money on treatment?” Old Tang, angered, called out sharply, “Xu Lanzhi, how can you speak so cruelly? Hangzi is still young—a life! How can you say just leave him untreated?!” “What’s cruel about what I said?” “Go ask around—how much does it cost to get a wife in the village now? And how much have you spent on that live-in son-in-law? Do you think we have it easy at home?” Then came the voice of the elderly matriarch, Sun Guijuan: “Sure enough, it’s a losing proposition! Other families marry off their daughters to make money, but your daughter not only doesn’t earn, she’s a burden!” “If you ask me, we should never have taken that girl back!” Old Tang stared incredulously at his mother. “Mother! Wanwan is still your own granddaughter—how can you say such heartless things?” “Bah! A worthless, losing cause. What granddaughter or not, I only recognize my grandson!” ---