The words of the two women drilled into Zhou Zhijun's ears, not missing a single syllable.
Thinking that Chuntao was suddenly missing, his heart contracted sharply, as if gripped tightly by large iron tongs. His throat tightened, and he couldn't even catch his breath.
His bronzed face instantly drained of color, turning a deadly pale. He staggered forward, grabbing the woman's arm, his voice trembling uncontrollably, "Sister, the person who was stabbed... how is she?"
Startled by his panicked appearance, the woman furrowed her brows into a tight knot and hurriedly lowered her voice, "She was carried away on a stretcher from the clinic. I heard she lost a lot of blood. It looks like she's badly injured!"
Zhou Zhijun couldn't care less about anything else; he took off running toward the health clinic.
Running to the clinic's main gate in one breath, his throat felt like it was stuffed with water-soaked cotton, sticky and swollen, but this slight discomfort couldn't suppress the panic in his heart.
From a distance, he saw his mother huddled at the base of the wall, her back hunched over, her eyes red and swollen, and her face as pale as rough paper.
"Mother!" Zhou Zhijun rushed over, taking the steps two at a time. When he squatted down, his knees hit the hard dirt ground heavily, but he didn't feel the slightest pain.
When Aunt Zhou saw it was him, the tension holding her up instantly collapsed, and her tears fell in a steady stream.
"Zhijun, Chuntao... Chuntao was stabbed! The blood was running down her wrist, and no matter how hard I pressed, I couldn't stop it!"
The words "couldn't stop it" were like a sharp sickle, slicing a huge gash in Zhou Zhijun's heart.
He felt completely hollowed out, as if his internal organs had been scooped away. A chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, making the very marrow of his bones clench with cold.
"Where is she? Where is she?"
With bloodshot eyes, like a provoked bull, the veins on his neck throbbing, he grabbed Aunt Zhou's arm and roared with a sob, "How is Chuntao?"
"She's inside..." Aunt Zhou wept uncontrollably, turning her head to look at the tightly closed door nearby.
Zhou Zhijun stood up and was about to rush inside, but Aunt Zhou held him back tightly. "What are you doing? The doctors are trying to save her; you can't go in!"
Zhou Zhijun clenched his fist and smashed it hard against the wall, leaving a shallow dent. Blood immediately seeped from his knuckles.
He didn't care to ask about the cause and effect; his eyes were fixed dead on that tightly closed door. The rims of his eyes were a purplish red, and his back teeth ground together with a grating sound.
This girl's life was bitter enough; why did she have to suffer like this? God was truly blind!
Chuntao had come to the fair with Aunt Zhou when the accident happened. If anything terrible happened to her, what would they do?
Aunt Zhou, who was never afraid of anything, was now completely at a loss, feeling as if the sky had fallen.
"It's all my fault, it's all my fault... This girl must be alright..."
Zhou Zhijun's heart ached fiercely. Seeing his mother like this, he had to squat down, hold her rough hands, and comfort her in a hoarse voice, "Mother, it's okay. Chuntao is a survivor; she will definitely pull through."
With a creak, the door was pulled open from the inside.
A male doctor in his fifties walked out. His white coat was stained with spots of blood, and his face was so grave it looked as though it could drip water.
"Doctor! How is she?" Zhou Zhijun shot up, his eyes red, speaking with a tearful voice.
Aunt Zhou also forced herself up from the ground, her legs giving way so she almost fell over, but Zhou Zhijun caught her just in time to steady her.
She gripped the doctor's arm tightly, her voice trembling, "Doctor, please save this poor girl!"
The doctor sighed, his voice heavy. "The wound has been stitched and bandaged, but she lost too much blood and is still unconscious. You need to transfer her to the county hospital immediately. If you delay, I'm afraid... it will be too late!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Zhiguo and a few others ran over, panting heavily, beads of sweat rolling down their cheeks.
"Grandma, Second Uncle, where is sister-in-law Chuntao..." Zhou Xiaowei's cheeks were flushed red, and his voice trembled out of tune.
"Transfer her to another hospital as soon as possible!" The doctor glanced at them and dropped those words before turning to leave.
"Doctor, please help us contact the county hospital's ambulance!" Zhou Zhijun suddenly grabbed the doctor's arm, his palms covered in cold sweat.
In the early 1980s in the Qingshan Commune, the township clinic didn't even have a decent tricycle, let alone an ambulance.
From here to the county town, it was twenty or thirty li of dirt roads, full of potholes. It would not be easy to transport the unconscious Chuntao there.
The doctor frowned and hesitated for a moment, then sighed, "The county hospital only has two ambulances, and it takes time for them to get here! You need to quickly think of another way!"
Hearing the doctor's words, Zhou Zhijun's heart felt as if it were on fire, and he paced around anxiously.
He suddenly remembered his old comrade-in-arms, Wu Mingwei, who was now the director of the Qingshan Police Station. Perhaps he could help!
At this moment, Zhou Zhijun had only one thought in his mind: get Chuntao to the county hospital quickly!
Just as he was about to step forward, he saw Aunt Zhou and Zhou Zhiguo entering the room. He paused for a moment, ultimately didn't go in, and turned to rush out of the clinic.
Running to the main gate, he ran into three people.
A middle-aged man in a Mao suit, whom Zhou Zhijun didn't recognize, was the newly arrived commune secretary, Wang Jinlong.
The other two were in uniform, and one of them was Wu Mingwei.
"Mingwei!" Zhou Zhijun called out to him urgently.
Wu Mingwei stopped and saw Zhou Zhijun's anxious face, surprise flashing in his eyes.
He turned to Wang Jinlong beside him and said, "Secretary Wang, you go in first. I need to have a word with my comrade."
After the two men entered the clinic, he pulled Zhou Zhijun aside and asked, "Zhijun, what are you doing here? What happened?"
"My sister... was stabbed with a knife. She's still unconscious and needs to be transferred to the county hospital, but we have no car!"
Zhou Zhijun's voice carried an uncontrollable tremor, and his hands shook violently.
Wu Mingwei's heart skipped a beat.
He had just returned from a meeting in the county and heard that a woman on the street had been stabbed and lost a lot of blood. He was rushing over to check the situation. Could the sister Zhou Zhijun mentioned be the injured woman?
He and Zhou Zhijun were life-and-death brothers who had crawled out of the same trench. During flood relief efforts back in the day, Zhou Zhijun had forcefully pulled him back when he was about to be swept away by the floodwaters.
After being discharged from the army, he used his uncle's connections to get into the police station and was now the director. During holidays, he always went to visit Aunt Zhou and repeatedly told them to come to him if they needed anything, but Zhou Zhijun had never troubled him once.
"Take me to see her!"
Zhou Zhijun quickly led Wu Mingwei toward the room. Just as they reached the door, they saw Wang Jinlong coming out.
"Secretary Wang!" Wu Mingwei called out immediately.
Wang Jinlong's face also looked grim. He grabbed Wu Mingwei's arm, "Hurry, go to the director's office and make a call. Have the supply and marketing cooperative bring over that Jiefang truck, as quickly as possible!"
Wu Mingwei immediately understood the situation. He glanced at Zhou Zhijun and turned to run toward the director's office.
Zhou Zhijun had long heard that a new Secretary Wang had arrived at the commune, but as a simple peasant, he had never had the chance to meet him.
Hearing Wu Mingwei call out, he realized the man in front of him was Wang Jinlong. He quickly nodded in greeting, "Secretary Wang, I'm going in to see my sister."
Just as he was about to step into the room, he heard a flurry of footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw Liu Cuilan and a few others.
The news of the young wife getting stabbed on Qingshan Street had already spread like wildfire. The more Liu Cuilan and the others heard about it, the more they felt it sounded like Chuntao, so they rushed over.
Where is that Damn Xiuzi? Where did she run off to? Seeing Zhou Zhijun made Liu Cuilan even more certain, and she hollered at the top of her lungs.
Zhou Zhijun swept his bloodshot, hostile eyes over her. Terrified by his glare, Liu Cuilan shuddered, shrank her neck back, and did not dare utter another word.
The group followed Zhou Zhijun into the room, only to see Chuntao lying on the bed, her face deathly pale.
Her left wrist was wrapped in thick white gauze, but blood was still seeping through, soaking a large patch of the bandage dark red and dripping down the edge of the bed.
Liu Cuilan's face darkened as she rapidly calculated her own interests in her head.
Serves her right! Instead of staying properly at home, this bitch had to come out and join the crowd. Ending up like this was purely her own fault!
Cursing aside, she knew very well that saving someone cost money. Now that the family had split their assets, she had no money to fill this bottomless pit, and even if she did, she would never take it out.
Did Old Woman Zhou not acknowledge her as a goddaughter? Did Zhou Zhijun not protect her at every turn?
Besides, she got into this accident today while accompanying Old Woman Zhou to the fair, so naturally, the Zhou family should be the ones to take care of it!
Liu Cuilan quietly tugged at Wang Haibao's sleeve and shot a meaningful look at Wang Haihu and Wang Hailong. The few of them tiptoed away, slipping out without a sound.
Aunt Zhou tightly held Chuntao's ice-cold hand, rubbing her rough fingertips against the back of the girl's hand. Her lips trembled as she murmured softly, My girl, do not go to sleep, do not sleep...
The police comrades are here, and Secretary Wang is here too. There will be a car to take you to the county hospital in a bit. Just hold on a little longer, just a little while...
