Chapter 67: He Xi’s Opportunity Arrives

He Xi?

They really did come to the county town!

Fang Mingxi pressed herself tightly against the window glass, carefully tracking the direction the two figures were heading.

He Xi and Liu Xiuhua passed by the guesthouse and continued straight ahead, walking past the garment factory before following the road downhill.

Fang Mingxi turned around, hopped down from the windowsill, and quietly opened the front door.

Just a second before she stepped out, Tong Xueyan on the bed suddenly startled awake. Still half-asleep, she squinted toward Fang Mingxi standing by the door.

“Xixi, where are you going?” She yawned, lifted her wrist to glance at her watch, and mumbled, “It’s only a little past six. Are you hungry?”

Fang Mingxi stiffened and turned back. “Older sister, I want some water.”

“Water?”

Tong Xueyan lifted the blanket and walked to the bedside, shaking the thermos. There was still half a pot left, but when she opened the lid, the water was no longer hot.

She was fully awake now. Pulling on her coat, she headed out. “Wait here! Older sister will go get some hot water.”

“Mm.”

The moment Tong Xueyan left, Fang Mingxi immediately climbed back onto the windowsill.

He Xi was already gone. Even if she rushed down now, she probably wouldn’t catch up. Dejected, she could only sit back down by the bed.

He Xi herself was also in a half-dreamy state. It was her first time coming to the county town, and she kept looking around at the clean, orderly streets, her eyes brimming with curiosity.

“Grandmother, is this the county town?” she asked.

Liu Xiuhua replied, “Yes, this is the county town. Let’s go take a look near the hospital first. When it gets brighter, Grandma will take you around.”

“Okay!”

He Xi agreed at once. After the New Year, she had turned three, and it was as if someone had flipped a growth switch, she had suddenly shot up a bit.

Her face had slimmed down slightly, her chin sharper, though she still retained that soft baby fat.

She bounced along the street, wearing gloves and a bright red padded jacket, with a red butterfly hair clip pinned in her hair.

As they neared the hospital area, they came to an intersection. Crossing it would lead straight to the hospital on the other side.

But just as they were about to step forward, He Xi suddenly stopped and looked toward the right-hand corner, puzzled.

“What’s wrong, Xixi?” Liu Xiuhua noticed and stopped as well.

He Xi took a few steps to the right and pointed. “Grandmother, is there someone lying over there?”

“Someone?”

Liu Xiuhua stared in surprise. Dawn hadn’t fully broken yet, but she could vaguely make out a dark figure lying on the ground at the intersection.

Without hesitating much, she took He Xi’s hand and walked straight over.

Up close, they discovered there really was someone there, an elderly man wearing a Zhongshan suit, lying on the ground.

There was a gash on his head, blood pooled all around him. One hand still clutched a black leather briefcase. He lay face-down, his condition unclear.

The sight startled both of them. He Xi nearly burst into tears.

“Grandmother, what’s wrong with this grandpa?”

Liu Xiuhua didn’t know either. Instinctively, she wanted to grab He Xi and run.

In the pitch-dark early morning, finding an old man collapsed in a pool of blood, what if they had stumbled upon a murder scene?

But He Xi refused to leave. She ran a couple of steps, then stopped. “Grandmother, aren’t we going to save him?”

Liu Xiuhua was flustered and anxious. “Xixi, save who? Who knows who he is? Let’s go!” She bent down, ready to scoop her up and leave.

“I don’t want to! Let’s save Grandpa, okay?” He Xi stood her ground.

At that moment, she felt an overwhelming certainty. She had to save him. This grandpa felt important.

“Oh, you silly child…” Unable to argue with her granddaughter, Liu Xiuhua suppressed her trembling and cautiously stretched out a finger toward the old man.

There was faint breathing. He was still alive.

That instantly calmed Liu Xiuhua. As long as he was breathing, as long as he wasn’t dead, it was fine.

She handed the basket to He Xi, hoisted the old man’s arm over her shoulder, and lifted him up. Years of farm work had left her strong, carrying an old man wasn’t too difficult.

The hospital wasn’t far ahead. Half dragging, half supporting him, Liu Xiuhua got him there.

He Xi followed behind. After a couple of steps, she suddenly remembered something and turned back to pick up the briefcase that had fallen on the ground.

Once inside the hospital, after examination and bandaging, the old man was finally out of danger.

During treatment, someone recognized him and hurried off to inform others.

By the time people from the county government and hospital leadership arrived, Liu Xiuhua finally learned who she had saved.

He was the county mayor, preparing to retire that year. He had planned to leave for the provincial capital for a meeting that very day, only to be struck unconscious shortly after heading out.

Fortunately, He Xi and Liu Xiuhua had brought him to the hospital. Otherwise, in the freezing cold, if he had waited until daylight to be discovered, he likely wouldn’t have survived.

The mayor’s family rushed over as well, clutching Liu Xiuhua and crying uncontrollably.

“Thank you, Auntie! If you hadn’t saved my father, he would have been in grave danger!” A burly man nearly six feet tall dropped to his knees in front of Liu Xiuhua, while the others sobbed nearby.

Liu Xiuhua repeatedly said it wasn’t necessary and pulled him up. “Please don’t say that. The great leaders advocate learning from Lei Feng. How could we just stand by and do nothing?”

Truth be told, it was all thanks to Xixi. If she hadn’t insisted on saving him, Liu Xiuhua would never have brought the old man here.

A county mayor, someone who had only ever dealt with brigade leaders in her life, couldn’t help feeling nervous. Surely such a high official wouldn’t think she was the one who attacked him.

The family echoed her words, saying it was their old man’s good fortune to encounter such kind-hearted comrades.

After some discussion, they each pulled out money from their pockets.

“Auntie, we didn’t bring much cash today. Please take this for now. Once my father stabilizes, we’ll definitely come personally to thank you.”

How could Liu Xiuhua accept that? She pushed it away again and again. “No, no, I can’t take it. How can I accept money for doing a good deed?” She turned to leave. “Xixi, let’s go.”

Guarding the basket, He Xi looked up when she heard that. “Coming.” She pulled out the black leather briefcase from the basket. “Grandmother, this belongs to the grandpa inside.”

The mayor’s son took the briefcase and thanked them profusely again. As he bowed, his gaze suddenly fell on the ginseng inside the basket.

He froze, inhaling sharply. “Little one… are you selling this?”

By the time they finally left the hospital, Liu Xiuhua was still in a daze, clutching five hundred yuan in her pocket.

The ginseng she’d kept at home for months, just like that, it was sold?

Three roots, sold for five hundred yuan. And that was when they were already starting to dry out. This stuff really was profitable.

Looking down at the equally excited He Xi, Liu Xiuhua couldn’t help pulling her close and rubbing her head affectionately. “Xixi, you really are Grandma’s little lucky star. Grandma has money now, we’ll go to the supply and marketing cooperative and buy you some candy.”

“Okay. Candy.”

He Xi finally smiled, the gloom between her brows lifting. For the first time in a while, she felt truly light-hearted again.

Fang Mingxi and Tong Xueyan spent another hour riding the tractor back to Hongqi Town.

Just as Fang Mingxi had predicted, the old driver’s face was stretched long the entire way, as if someone owed him a hundred yuan.

The things they brought back filled every inch of empty space on the tractor, leaving no room for him to pick up any extra passengers along the way.

Fortunately, once they arrived in Hongqi Town, Tong Xueyan handed him an extra five yuan, and the old man’s dark expression finally eased.

He dropped them off in a hurry, the tractor sputtering away with a putt-putt-putt, leaving the two of them staring helplessly at a ground full of bags and bundles.