Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 53 The Power of Sixth Aunt

Ran Qing always told himself this over the years.

You will become capable in the future, get into a good university, have a wonderful life, and live better than many people in the world. Your poverty is only temporary, so don't belittle yourself.

Even if he sees city kids wearing branded clothes worth hundreds of dollars and discussing trendy things like cinemas and game consoles, he will be envious, but never feel inferior.

He firmly believes that he can get everything he wants through his own efforts.

But now, he stood stiffly outside the ward, like a wet rat crawling out of a gutter, standing dirty outside the warm and clean door of someone else's house, secretly seeing a corner of someone else's warmth and happiness through the crack of the door.

The warm family of three in the ward were like dazzling sunshine, illuminating the darkness in him and making him feel ashamed.

Ran Qing instinctively moved back with his stiff feet, wanting to leave.

But the little girl sitting on the hospital bed and combing her doll's hair happened to see Ran Qing outside the door.

The big and the small looked at each other.

The little girl, who was fair and tender, without any snot or dirt on her face, and as cute as a porcelain doll, was stunned at first, and then waved in surprise.

"Wow! It's my brother!"

"Mom, it's my brother!"

The little girl happily called out to the woman beside the bed: "Mom, it's Brother Ran Qing!"

Ran Qing's body froze when he heard the little girl's Mandarin, which was as clear and pleasant as an oriole.

He subconsciously looked towards the bedside and found that the gentle and dignified woman had stood up.

"It's Ran Qing," the woman's face was full of fatigue. Taking care of patients and keeping watch over the night these days had obviously exhausted her energy.

But she still greeted Ran Qing in a friendly manner: "Come in quickly, your father hasn't woken up yet."

This woman, who was completely different from the glamorous and mean image in memory, treated Ran Qing politely, friendly, but distantly, just like last time.

She stood up, gave up the only stool, and explained the man's condition to Ran Qing.

The other patients' families in the ward heard the noise and looked over, but after taking a few glances and seeing that there was nothing exciting to see, they turned their gazes away.

Ran Qing stood beside the bed, listening to the woman's explanation of the condition. For a moment, his mind went blank and he didn't know what he was thinking.

The man's condition was as expected.

The scrapes on his body are almost healed, and the fractures have been effectively treated. He only needs to rest. He has no other injuries, but he has not yet regained consciousness. A brain examination was performed yesterday, and no problems were found. However, if he continues to remain unconscious, there is a risk of him becoming a vegetative state.

...Ran Qing knew and confirmed all of this.

If the man's soul trapped in the ghost world of Wujiang is not retrieved, he will become a vegetable forever.

Ran Qing stood beside the bed, staring blankly at the unconscious man lying on the bed, not knowing what to say for a moment.

The woman bent down and picked up her daughter. "Please sit down for a while. I'll take Xiaoya downstairs to eat something. You've arrived just in time. You can help me take over my shift."

The woman had a gentle and polite smile on her face.

The little girl she was holding looked surprised: "Mom, didn't we already eat?"

The little girl's voice is as clear as an oriole and is pleasant to the ears.

The woman smiled and tapped her nose, saying, "You've eaten, but I'm not full yet. I'm hungry."

So the woman took her daughter away, leaving the father and son alone in the ward.

In the corridor, the voices of mother and daughter gradually faded away.

The woman chuckled coquettishly and teased her daughter, and the little girl laughed like a silver bell, her voice full of joy.

Ran Qing stood alone by the bed, listening to the mother and daughter's voices fading away, and the expression on his face became more complicated.

He sat beside the bed, staring blankly at the unconscious man on the bed. For a moment, he didn't know what he was thinking.

After sitting there blankly for a long time, Ran Qing slowly lowered his head and muttered to himself. "...Is this your life?"

It is indeed warm, happy and nostalgic.

The young man sat on the bed, head bowed, fists clenched tightly until his nails dug into his flesh...

……

In the afternoon, at the door of Aunt Liu’s house.

Ran Qing, carrying a schoolbag, emerged from the fog and saw Aunt Liu sitting in the yard washing bacon.

A layer of black oil solidified on the surface of the smoked bacon.

Aunt Liu used a hard steel wool to scrub the dirt off the surface of the bacon while looking at him sideways.

"Third Middle School finishes school quite early."

Ran Qing twitched the corners of his mouth, smiled somewhat reluctantly and nodded.

"Aunt Liu, let me help you," Ran Qing put down his schoolbag and wanted to help Aunt Liu.

But the woman holding the pipe in her mouth glanced at him sideways and suddenly said, "...did you go to the hospital to see your father?"

Ran Qing was stunned subconsciously: "Huh?"

Aunt Liu's question was extremely abrupt, without any preparation. She asked it out of the blue, which confused Ran Qing.

He nodded subconsciously: "Yeah, I went to see it at noon."

Ran Qing didn't say much.

Aunt Liu stared at Ran Qing for a long time, then she smiled and said.

"Looking at your miserable appearance, I know you're going to the hospital."

"You usually walk with a cocky air, afraid that others won't know you're a top student at No. 3 Middle School. You act like a complete jerk."

"Now he's tucked his tail between his legs, like a stray dog..."

Aunt Six scrubbed the bacon and shook her head, her tone as sarcastic as ever: "That's why I told you not to bother with that guy in the hospital."

"Why bother with such a heartless person?"

"If I were you, forget about saving him. I wouldn't even bother watching him die in front of me."

"Not only will I ignore him, but after he's buried, I'll shit on his grave and feed his tributes to the dogs, so he knows what tit-for-tat means!"

Aunt Six scrubbed the bacon vigorously and sneered, "Your son has read too much and become stupid. He's been trapped by the moral principles of benevolence and morality in the books."

"What's with all the talk of gratitude for life and raising children, or of inhumanity... People are meant to be selfish when they live in this world!"

"You are not selfish enough, that's why your life is so hard."

"Look at your father, Ran Laosan. He threw his conscience away and fed it to the dogs. He didn't care about his mother and children anymore. He married a new wife in the city and lived a carefree life."

Aunt Liu scrubbed the bacon vigorously, as if she mistook the bacon for the man, and rubbed it with the hard steel wool more and more vigorously.

Ran Qing was speechless.

Aunt Six was as sarcastic and sharp-tongued as ever, her words were fierce.

Originally, he was feeling a little depressed after leaving the hospital at noon.

But when I saw Aunt Liu and heard her sarcastic and harsh scolding, I suddenly felt both amused and helpless.

The depression in my heart also completely dissipated.

Ran Qing smiled bitterly and said, "Sixth Aunt, if you keep rubbing this hard, this piece of bacon will be torn to pieces..."

(End of this chapter)