Compensation

This was an ordinary hospital ward. Zhang Shuai, dressed in a patient gown, sat on the bed.

Since Zhang Shuai was somewhat overweight, the gown looked a little tight on him. A man and a woman sat in the chairs beside the bed.

The man was about 175 centimeters tall, skinny, with small eyes and a face full of pockmarks. He was quite ugly. This was Zhang Shuai's friend, Wang Qiang.

The woman was around 165 centimeters tall. She wore a black spaghetti-strap tank top beneath a white long-sleeved shirt, along with a knee-length skirt that revealed two smooth, fair legs. She wore high heels, and her face was decent-looking with light makeup.

By Zhang Shuai's standards, she scored above eighty.

This beauty was He Qing, the proprietress of the barbecue restaurant where Zhang Shuai had gotten into trouble.

After Wang Qiang and He Qing asked after Zhang Shuai's condition, they soon got down to the matter of compensation.

Wang Qiang said, "Boss He, Zhang Shuai got hurt while installing wiring in your shop. Normally, live electrical work shouldn't have been allowed, but you said it couldn't disrupt the restaurant's business and made us work on it live. Zhang Shuai nearly lost his life. How do you think this should be handled?"

He Qing knew that she would definitely have to bleed money this time. It was already an enormous stroke of luck that no one had died. Medical expenses and lost wages were certainly unavoidable, but she did not want them to open their mouths like lions.

"I'll cover Zhang Shuai's medical bills. On top of that, I'll compensate him for three days of lost work—one thousand yuan. Is that enough? It's not like he died."

Wang Qiang shook his head. "That definitely won't do. Zhang Shuai was injured this time. He'll need at least half a month of rest and won't be able to work. Add emotional damages, nutritional expenses, and so on—one thousand yuan is nowhere near enough. At least twenty thousand!"

He Qing grew somewhat annoyed and looked toward Zhang Shuai, only to find him leaning against the bed, completely absorbed in a mobile game, as though he had not noticed what they were discussing. But He Qing understood. This fat man was definitely doing it on purpose. He could not bring himself to ask for money directly, so he had Wang Qiang do it for him.

She had hired these two electricians through some professional plumbing-and-electrical job platform. She had thought that anyone called in through a professional electrician platform would at least have some skill. Who would have expected even simple live electrical work to result in an accident? What useless trash!

"Five thousand yuan, not a cent more! You can't even handle a wiring job properly. If your skills aren't up to scratch, stop working as electricians and harming people!"

As she spoke, He Qing took five thousand yuan from her small handbag and tossed it onto the hospital bed, then left without looking back.

Wang Qiang and Zhang Shuai did not argue further, because they felt guilty too.

There was a problem with Zhang Shuai's electrician's license. He was nothing more than an untrained, counterfeit electrician.

Wang Qiang gathered up the money He Qing had thrown onto the bed and stuffed it into Zhang Shuai's hand. "Brother, there's nothing we can do. That woman is way too stingy. She was only willing to pay five thousand, so we can only swallow our bad luck. Get some proper rest at the hospital first. I still have to work today. I'll come pick you up for discharge tomorrow!"

Zhang Shuai held the money, counted out one thousand yuan, and stuffed the remaining four thousand back into Wang Qiang's hand. "Take these four thousand first. I still owe you six thousand. I'll pay you back bit by bit later."

Wang Qiang froze for a moment. "You don't have any money in hand right now. Keep it and use it first. I'm not short of spending money for the time being."

Zhang Shuai stubbornly said, "Keeping one thousand is enough for me. Let me repay you four thousand first. You still have a family to support, while I'm single. When one man is full, the whole family is full—I'll be fine. If I really don't have money to eat, I can always mooch meals at your place!"

Wang Qiang laughed. "All right, then I'll take it for now. Brother, I still have to install wiring at someone's home later, so I can't keep you company. Rest well in the hospital. I'll come pick you up for discharge tomorrow."

After Wang Qiang left, Zhang Shuai no longer had any mood to play games. He sat on the hospital bed in a daze, thinking for the first time in his life about how he should walk the road ahead. Could he really drift through life in such a muddleheaded way?

He was twenty-five this year. No girlfriend, no car, no home, no savings—he could be called someone with nothing at all. Even his only job had been found for him by Wang Qiang. Wang Qiang had lent him money for the electrician's license, then helped him obtain it through some improper channel and took him along to accept jobs through an online electrician platform.

In truth, Zhang Shuai's skills were limited. He had never received formal electrician training. During this period, he had always worked alongside Wang Qiang, learning as he worked. Wang Qiang handled all the dangerous, difficult jobs. It could be said that Wang Qiang had taken great care of him, helping him in life and looking after him as much as possible at work.

Unfortunately, no matter how careful they were, a slip-up had still occurred.

This electrocution accident also made Zhang Shuai realize that he could not keep doing this job. Without real skills, continuing would only harm others and himself. If there were a next time, he feared he would not be lucky enough to survive again.

At that moment, a nurse in uniform walked in. She was probably making ward rounds. Her looks were average, but her skin was very fair and her figure was quite good. With some dressing up, she could count as a beauty.

After taking Zhang Shuai's temperature and blood pressure, the nurse recorded them in her notebook. Before leaving, she also glanced at Zhang Shuai's lower body.

That was right. Zhang Shuai was certain that the female nurse's gaze had landed on the lower half of his patient gown. Though it had only swept past for an instant, Zhang Shuai could tell that she had been looking down there.

After the nurse left the ward, Zhang Shuai felt puzzled and lowered his head to inspect his patient gown.

How strange. The gown was neither torn nor revealing anything, and he had not had any physiological reaction. Why had that nurse worn such a strange expression?

Just as he was wondering, Zhang Shuai suddenly heard several female nurses laughing and talking in the next room.

The room next to Zhang Shuai's ward was the nurses' duty room. There was quite a bit of background noise in the hospital, so logically, Zhang Shuai should not have been able to hear what they were saying next door.

But perhaps those nurses were speaking loudly, or perhaps Zhang Shuai's ears had become more sensitive and his hearing better. In any case, he actually heard the nurses' conversation.

"Xiao Ya, when you made rounds just now, did you see that little fatty Doctor Liu mentioned?"

"I saw him!"

"Is he the one Doctor Liu said was nearly mistaken for dead? That guy really has a life as tough as grass. Doctor Wang used a defibrillator to save him for two minutes, shocking him dozens of times before bringing him back. Doctor Liu said that when he woke up, he was even shouting things like, 'Don't stop, I want more.' Who knows if he was having a dirty dream? That's hilarious."

"Doctor Liu said that when this little fatty was being shocked with the defibrillator, he had a... thing this big! Is that true?"

Zhang Shuai's face turned green. These nurses were actually discussing him as a joke. No wonder the nurse had looked at him so strangely during rounds.

"I couldn't tell."

"That makes sense. After all, you can only see the signs when a man has a physiological reaction. But in my judgment, Doctor Liu was probably exaggerating. Generally speaking, fat men aren't very big..."

"Hehe, Li Fei, you sound very experienced!"

"No, I saw science videos about this while scrolling Douyin."

At that moment, Zhang Shuai suddenly did not want to remain in the hospital. His body had already recovered, so he might as well go home. There was no need to stay here and let these nurses laugh at him behind his back.

As for the medical fees, the female owner of the barbecue restaurant had already paid them. The doctor had told him to stay under observation for a day and leave tomorrow, but Zhang Shuai felt that he was already fine and there was no need for observation.

So Zhang Shuai quietly changed into his own clothes. Taking advantage of no one paying attention, he slipped out of the ward with nimble movements, left the hospital, and returned to his rented room.