"Doctor Fu, your brother just brought your father to the hospital. It looks like he's had a stroke. You need to get over there right away!"
Doctor Fu's face drained of color. She didn't even spare a glance for Auntie Gao before turning on her heel and rushing out. Fu's mother, already frantic, hurried right behind her, muttering to herself all the way,
"How... how could this happen? A stroke of all things?"
The two of them dashed off in a hurry. Auntie Gao pulled her gaze back and said nothing, while Fang Guodong sighed, stood up, and shut the door.
Fu Ying raced into the emergency room, where she saw Fu's father with his mouth twisted and eyes askew, drooling nonstop. A foul stench hung in the air—he had clearly lost control of his bladder and bowels.
Director Qi was administering acupuncture needles, and her brother was pacing anxiously off to the side.
Twenty minutes later, Director Qi pulled the silver needles out and sighed,
"He's out of immediate danger, but you brought him in far too late. We missed the best window for treatment. We'll keep him here for observation, but if you're worried, you can transfer him to a larger hospital for a full checkup."
Fu Ying rounded on her brother, eyes blazing. "How could we have missed the treatment window? Fu Zhuofan, your wife doesn't have a job, she's home all day long. How come she didn't notice Dad had collapsed? What on earth was she doing?"
As a doctor, Fu Ying knew full well how serious a stroke could be. If her father ended up bedridden like this for good, her mother would have to stay home to take care of him every single day, dealing with his incontinence nonstop. What kind of miserable life would that be?
"If you hadn't insisted on making Mom come live with you to look after your kids, Dad wouldn't have been home alone all by himself when he fell ill, with no one around to find him!" Fu Zhuofan shot back, then leaned against the wall and went quiet. "How do you expect my wife to notice something's wrong? No decent daughter-in-law would just walk into her father-in-law's private room uninvited, would they?"
Having her brother say that right in front of all her colleagues made Fu Ying's face burn, flushing red then pale with humiliation. She was just about to snap back when Director Qi cut her off.
"Doctor Fu, let's get the patient settled in a ward first," he said, pressing the admission form into Fu Ying's hand.
Fu Ying shoved the form straight into Fu Zhuofan's grasp, then stormed out of the emergency room. She wiped the tears off her cheeks, walked back to her department, took a few deep breaths, and then dialed Gao Zhuangxu's number.
"Gao Zhuangxu, Dad's had a stroke! You need to come home right now! You married into my family as a son-in-law, you're supposed to step up like a real son! Mom definitely won't be able to come help us pick up the kids anymore, what are we going to do? How could this be so unlucky? Your mom just got injured by a falling object, and now my dad's sick too..."
Fu Ying rambled on, sobbing and sniffling the whole time.
The young doctor working nearby rolled his eyes. Just yesterday, when Gao Zhuangxu's own mother got hurt, Fu Ying had hidden it from the office so she wouldn't lose her perfect attendance bonus. But now that her own father was sick, with his own children right there to take care of things, she's calling her husband back from work without a second thought about his attendance. Talk about double standards...
Fu Ying hung up the phone, dried her tears, sat in the office for a little while longer, then got up to head to the ward.
Her father had already been placed in a three-bed shared room. He was still unconscious, and her mother had gone home to fetch a change of clothes for him. Only the brother and sister were left in the room.
Fu Zhuofan spoke first.
"Dad's going to need round-the-clock care from now on. You didn't marry out—you had a husband move into our family. We'll split the hospital bills down the middle, and we can take turns looking after him later."
Fu Ying's eyes went wide with shock the second she heard that.
"Fu Zhuofan, have you lost your mind? Both me and my husband are public sector employees, we don't have any time to take care of him! And besides, you're the son. Everyone knows sons are the ones responsible for taking care of their aging parents. Mom's still perfectly healthy, your wife doesn't work, she can help Mom out at home. How dare you, as the son, try to pass this responsibility off onto your sister?"
Her job required her to do frequent overnight shifts, and she had two little kids at home to look after as well—there was no way she had the time to tend to a stroke patient. She knew better than most how grueling that kind of care could be. This illness rarely ever got better; it just slowly wore down every last bit of the family's patience.
"When my wife married into this family, she brought a whole dowry with her. When your husband married into our family, he showed up with nothing but a single bag! You were the one who insisted on taking a son-in-law, just so you could get your hands on those two rooms our parents owned. You got those rooms, didn't you? Back when it was time to fight for family property, you were right there, eyes wide and grabbing everything you could. Now that it's time to take care of the elderly, suddenly you're acting like you're just a married-out daughter?" Fu Zhuofan's words were sharp as knives, he didn't hold back a single bit.
Fu Ying was so stunned by his retort that she couldn't speak for a long time. It was true, she had fought her brother for every little thing in the family when they were younger. But still, no one expected the daughter to be the one to care for her elderly parents, right?
"Fine, I'll split the medical bills with you. But the whole point of raising a son is to have someone to rely on in old age! You're the son, it's your wife's duty to take care of Mom and Dad, that's what daughter-in-laws are supposed to do."
"Alright then, give those two rooms back to me. And pay me the 300 yuan bride price that you took for your husband. We can use that money to pay for our parents' medical care."
Fu Ying was so choked up by his words that she couldn't get a single sound out. Giving back those two rooms didn't even bother her that much—they weren't worth much anyway. But there was no way she was going to hand over 300 yuan.
Just then, Fu's mother walked in carrying a basin and some fresh clothes. Fu Zhuofan went to get a basin of warm water to wash his father and change him into the clean clothes. The sight made Fu Ying feel so nauseous that she turned around and rushed out of the ward.
Meanwhile, Xiao Mandong had already gotten on the ox cart heading back to the village. She had bought some food and daily supplies at the supply and marketing cooperative, and planned to stop by her family's place first before going to look for Xiao Ailin.
She had just stepped down from the ox cart when the Yang family blocked her path.
"Educated Youth Xiao, you're finally back."
Yang's mother reached out to grab Xiao Mandong's hand, but Xiao Mandong subtly pulled away before their hands could touch. She said calmly, "What is it?"
"The Old Party Secretary hasn't been feeling well ever since he fainted. He wants you to come over to our place and take a good look at him," Yang's mother said with an ingratiating smile, though the smile never reached her eyes—her mouth twitched downward for a split second before she smoothed her expression out again.
She was grumbling to herself inside: this city educated youth thinks she's so great, what's the big deal?
"Fine, let's go," Xiao Mandong said. She knew perfectly well the Old Party Secretary didn't just want her to treat an illness.
There were so many villagers watching, they couldn't try anything outrageous. And as the village's barefoot doctor, it wouldn't look good if she refused to go. She might as well go see what they were really up to.
Xiao Mandong followed Yang's mother toward the Old Party Secretary's house, when Jian Qiuyue came running up from behind, linked arms with her, and whispered softly in her ear,
"I'm coming with you. I don't feel safe letting you go there alone." She gave Xiao Mandong's arm a gentle squeeze.
Xiao Mandong glanced at her, smiled, and said nothing, but squeezed her hand back.
Inside the house, the Old Party Secretary was lying on his kang, his face still looking rather pale. When he saw Xiao Mandong, he quickly waved her over.
"Educated Youth Xiao, I'm so sorry to trouble you. Come in, take a seat."
Xiao Mandong walked over, sat down, and felt his pulse. After a moment, she switched to his other wrist, then let go.
"There's nothing serious wrong. You got so angry your qi got stagnant, and you haven't fully recovered yet. Just rest well and don't stress yourself out over things."
The Old Party Secretary sighed. "There's just too much going on at home. I'm getting old, I can't handle all this fuss anymore."
"Then rest up well. I'll be heading out now," Xiao Mandong said, ready to take her leave.
Yang's mother glanced over at the Old Party Secretary. "Dad..."
The Old Party Secretary was quiet for a while before he spoke slowly.
"Educated Youth Xiao, I'm sure you've heard all the trouble going on in our family. Dong Huimin's been staying at our place to recover, and she's turned the whole house upside down. She's been making such a ruckus every day that I can't take it anymore. We were thinking of renting a separate small yard for her to stay in. We noticed your place is sitting empty, so we were wondering... could you sublet it to us?"
