Ye Yuan drove the Raptor at breakneck speed along the highway to Blue Island City.
"I never imagined Li Hui's family would end up like this."
He had only intended to look after a classmate's family business, but the moment he learned what had happened to Li Hui's family, he did not hesitate in the slightest. He got in his car and headed straight for Blue Island City.
The Raptor roared like a wild beast as it sped toward Blue Island City, while the trees on either side flashed past the vehicle.
All Ye Yuan could think of now was Li's Mother's kind smile, and the times he had eaten at Li Hui's home, when Li Hui's Father would occasionally put meat into his bowl.
Before long, he reached the Blue Island City docks. After searching for a long time without finding anyone, he asked several laborers waiting at the pier for work and learned that Li Hui's Father's condition had taken a turn for the worse, and Li Hui had rushed to the hospital.
After learning the hospital's name, he drove straight there. Upon arriving, he immediately headed for the oncology department.
At the nurses' station, he asked, "Hello, may I ask which room Li Dongming is in?"
The young nurse, whose cheeks still held a trace of baby fat, looked up at Ye Yuan and said coldly, "People like you... He's already seriously ill, so why do you come here every day asking for money? Sooner or later, you'll drive him to his death."
Ye Yuan immediately knew that the nurse had misunderstood him. Just as he was about to explain, he saw a white-haired woman approaching.
The nurse warmly said to the woman, "Aunt Zhao, just press the call button if you need anything."
The woman looked at Ye Yuan, froze for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Ye Yuan? Are you Xiao Hui's classmate?"
At that moment, Ye Yuan recognized the white-haired woman as well. She was Zhao Yueru, Li Hui's Mother.
"Yes, Auntie. I'm Ye Yuan. I heard Uncle had some trouble, so I came to take a look."
Hearing their conversation, the young nurse realized she had misunderstood Ye Yuan. She stuck out her tongue and said, "Sorry, I misunderstood you."
"It's fine, it's fine. You were just concerned about the patient."
"Xiao Hui, the IV drip is almost finished. Please help remove it."
Li's Mother spoke to the young nurse with a smile. Looking at that familiar yet unfamiliar smile, Ye Yuan felt deeply unsettled.
He remembered that Zhao Yueru had married Li Hui's Father at a very young age. Back then, many of his classmates' mothers were already in their late forties, nearing fifty, while Zhao Yueru had only been forty-two that year.
During their senior year of high school, the boys in the class had privately voted for the most beautiful mother, and she had won the honor. Zhao Yueru had been renowned for her beauty throughout the county. She should have been only forty-seven or forty-eight now, yet she looked to be in her early sixties. He had no idea how Li Hui's family had endured these past few years.
Li's Mother took Ye Yuan by the hand and warmly led him toward the ward. Once inside, he found that a room meant to hold only four beds had been crammed with six.
The corridor was filled with folding cots for family members keeping watch.
As soon as Li's Mother entered, she called to the young man beside the innermost bed by the window, "Xiao Hui, look who's here."
The young man lifted his head. When he saw Ye Yuan, his eyes went blank for a moment before tears began to well up in them.
Ye Yuan hurried over, patted Li Hui on the shoulder, and glanced at the gaunt middle-aged man lying in bed with his eyes closed.
Li Hui looked around and saw that there was nowhere for Ye Yuan to sit, so he pulled Ye Yuan out of the ward. At the same time, he said to Li's Mother, "Mom, I'll take Yuan out to talk. There's nowhere to sit here."
"All right, go on."
The two walked to the end of the corridor, where several hospital waiting chairs stood. After sitting down, Li Hui said, "What brought you here? I heard you stayed in Blue Island after graduating. How have you been?" Ye Yuan could hear the distance in his words.
He remembered that the last time they had met was during their freshman year of college. That year, the two of them had gone to a karaoke bar in the county and gotten thoroughly drunk together.
"I went to the docks to find you just now. They said something happened here. What's going on?" Ye Yuan did not answer Li Hui's question and instead asked what concerned him most.
At Ye Yuan's question, Li Hui's eyes reddened. In a suppressed voice, he said, "The doctor called me over and told me that if he doesn't have surgery now, then later..." Before he could finish, he crouched down and buried his head deeply. Faintly, Ye Yuan could see tears sliding down that resolute face.
A saying suddenly came to Ye Yuan's mind: "Men do not shed tears easily, only because they have not yet reached the point of heartbreak."
Looking at Li Hui, Ye Yuan felt terrible. Before he went to college, the man before him had been his best friend. Yet now, his childhood friend was crying like a child.
Ye Yuan did not try to comfort him. He knew Li Hui had been holding it in for too long. The pressure from his parents on one side and money on the other had all fallen upon him, but he was only a young man who had just entered society.
After Li Hui calmed down, Ye Yuan asked, "What's Uncle's condition exactly?"
"If he doesn't have surgery, it'll turn into late-stage cancer soon. Once that happens, nothing can be done. Even though we have medical insurance, a lot of the surgery costs aren't reimbursed, and the nutrition he needs after surgery costs a lot too. My family can't come up with that much money now, so my dad has always refused the operation."
After hearing Li Hui's explanation, Ye Yuan immediately took out his phone and called Eldest Brother Zhao Chuan. If they were talking about medical technology, where could be better than Shangjing? He wanted to ask whether Zhao Chuan could arrange for a hospital to operate on Li Hui's Father.
After hearing Ye Yuan out, Zhao Chuan said easily, "This would be difficult for anyone else, but for you, it's easy. How about Huaguo Navy Hospital? It's a military hospital, with a great environment and advanced technology. They can even invite specialists from other hospitals over for consultations."
Naturally, Ye Yuan agreed at once and wanted Zhao Chuan to contact them immediately. But Zhao Chuan laughed from the other end of the line. "I don't want to owe you this favor. If you want this done, call Grandpa Xu. He's been asking me for your number." With that, he sent over a phone number through WeChat.
Looking at the number in WeChat, Ye Yuan shook his head with a bitter smile. He had not wanted to deal with that grandfather and grandson pair, yet in the end, he still had to take the initiative to seek them out.
He dialed the number directly.
"Hello? Who is this?"
An elderly voice full of vigor came through the phone.
"Hello, Grandpa Xu. I'm Ye Yuan, Zhao Chuan's college classmate. We met at his father's birthday banquet."
Ye Yuan introduced himself politely.
"Haha, it's you, kid. What made you think of calling this old man? Do you need something? Did you get hold of that special kind of fish for me?"
Grandpa Xu sounded to be in a good mood, so Ye Yuan directly explained what was happening here, emphasizing that the patient was an elder who was very important to him.
"No problem. But how are you going to thank me?" the old man teased Ye Yuan over the phone.
"Old Master, this is a matter of life and death. Can we get this taken care of first? We can discuss anything else later."
"All right. Tell me the patient's name and hospital, then wait for my news." Seeing that Ye Yuan was genuinely anxious, the old man dropped his teasing tone.
Ye Yuan sent all the details to the old man's phone by text message. Very soon, he received a brief reply: "Remain where you are and await orders."
Ye Yuan shook his head. That really was a soldier's style. Even his text messages carried a strong military flavor.
PS: Thanks to brother 08a for the reward, and thanks to everyone who voted with recommendation tickets.
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