Electronic Nezha

Chapter 19 Emergencies
Men, when they're drunk, can do all sorts of things—to put it nicely, their true nature comes out; to put it bluntly, they display all sorts of ugly behavior. Old Wang had clearly had his fill today, but the thing is, I hadn't had much to drink either. So—

"Follow me, I'll follow you!" I immediately stood up, and Old Wang kept his promise and followed closely behind. We solemnly entered the restroom together, arms around each other's shoulders...

Two jets of water slammed into the toilet. I nudged Old Wang and said, "Let's see who can pee the longest." Since we didn't have the resources, we decided not to compete on who could pee the highest.

"Then you definitely can't do it. Your brother is a virgin kidney."

"Pah, I don't believe your nonsense—if you're so capable, then don't control the data usage."

When I came out after draining the water and passed by Liu Zhenhua's room, I reminded him that it was time to go to sleep. Time flies when you're drinking, and it was already past 11 o'clock.

Liu Zhenhua responded with an "oh".

When we got back to our room, Li Ping was staring blankly at the mess on the table, her eyes red.

Old Wang was in a better mood after winning the "urination control" contest. Seeing her like this, he teased her, "Ping, are you still sad? It's okay, it's all in the past."

Li Ping rolled her eyes at him and said, "What a jerk! Everyone has their troubles. Can't I take care of myself?"

Old Wang sat back in his chair, rested his head on the corner of the table, and studied Li Ping. He said, "It's been so long, and there's something I've been hesitant to say."

Li Ping put on a stern face and said, "Then don't talk about it."

Old Wang shamelessly said, "Ping'er, with your looks and figure, you're still a few years away from aging and losing your beauty. Why don't you hurry up and find a rich man to marry? How much money can you make selling apples in the market? You're just trying to make a living without any effort."

It's presumptuous of me to say this, and I only managed to say it because I was drunk, but it's actually something I've always wanted to say...

Don't let her manner of speaking and doing things fool you into thinking Li Ping is a sturdy middle-aged woman. I've seen her ID card and know she's 35 this year, but she and Lao Wang are the opposite; they look much younger than that. People in the market privately call her "Apple Beauty."

Let me put it this way: Li Ping's natural face is a 7 out of 10, but if she puts on some sunscreen, it's an 8. She's the typical "strikingly beautiful" woman—long eyebrows, slender eyes, a high nose bridge, and full lips. She's usually aloof and indifferent to everyone, hiding her great figure in a military overcoat. However, her occasional smiles and frowns reveal a different kind of charm. After all, she's older, and compared to younger girls, she has a more composed air of having seen the world's glitz and glamour. In short, Prime Minister Cao would go crazy if he saw her once…

When Li Ping first came to talk to me about renting a fruit stand, I immediately imagined a dramatic scene where "the boss's woman helps his younger brother who has just been released from prison find a place to live." I never expected that she would end up doing it herself and doing it for many years.

Old Wang and I are both single, so when we're free, we inevitably gossip about Li Ping in the tone men use when discussing women. Later, as we spent more time together, she told us many of the unsolved mysteries herself.

We know she was married and divorced. Her ex-husband was a minor manager in a state-owned enterprise. The reason for the divorce was that he had an affair. She wouldn't say anything more.

After hearing what Lao Wang said, Li Ping scoffed and said, "Haven't you learned your lesson once? Ha, men."

I said, "You're exaggerating a bit. There are still good men out there, like me."

"Then why did you get divorced too?"

Before I could even argue, Old Wang leaned in again and said, "Tell us what kind of woman your ex found this time. Someone like you couldn't keep his heart. His mistress must be an angel!"

Li Ping said, "They found someone rich—their boss's sister."

Old Wang said disappointedly, "Chen Shimei?"

I said, "He didn't give you any compensation or anything? He just divorced you like that?"

"What compensation? If he had money, he wouldn't need to try to climb up to someone else's sister. Besides, his behavior after this matter became public disgusts me even more."

Old Wang said, "He slept with another woman right in front of you?"

“If that’s the case, then I’d consider him a real man. He’s probably afraid I’ll cling to him, so he’s been thinking of all sorts of dirty tricks to force me to leave that home.”

I said, "The worst thing you can do is take the pot with you, right?"

Li Ping said disdainfully, "So you're still too green. Li Haohan took away all kinds of remote controls: TV switch, set-top box switch, air conditioner remote control—he would set it to 30 degrees Celsius in the middle of summer before leaving. He never forgot to change the Wi-Fi password before leaving. Not to mention the door lock, he even hid my ID card and household registration book, making it impossible for me to explain myself to the locksmith and get into my house."

I exclaimed, "Awesome!"

Old Wang sighed, "What a petty man."

Li Ping said, "Those days were particularly surreal. Later, when Li Haohan asked me to leave with nothing, I agreed without hesitation. People who didn't know the situation might have thought I had cheated on him."

Old Wang said, "You're acting too impulsively. You should at least give up half of your house and savings before you start talking about it."

"Consider it a lesson for myself. So many people were pursuing me back then, but I was blind to choose him."

I said, "You're not really the school beauty, are you?"

Li Ping smiled faintly: "Go ahead and ask around."

I'm pretty busy. First, I need to check if Lao Wang has ever won a championship, and then I need to find out if Li Ping is the school beauty.

But it seems...it appears...neither of them were bragging.

Li Ping gritted her teeth and said, "I don't believe that a grown woman like me can starve to death. But then I found out that it's really not easy for a woman to do anything. Everyone who is willing to talk to you is just looking to take advantage of you."

Old Wang nudged me and said, "Hey, are you trying to put us down?"

Li Ping said earnestly, "Old Liu, you were the only one who was willing to take me in when I was going through the toughest time."

"No, no, no, how can it be called taking in someone when you pay rent and I collect rent?"

Li Ping said, "Before I met you, I asked several other landlords in the market, and none of them were willing to rent their stalls to me because I'm a beautiful divorced woman." I had heard about this before; business people are most afraid of getting into trouble. Even my dad warned me not to rent my stall to Li Ping after meeting her...

I raised my glass and said, "Sigh, it's not easy for anyone. I'm in a mess too. Liu Zhenhua lost his mother in the first semester of fourth grade—"

Old Wang interjected, "You make it sound like Han Shiya is dead."

Li Ping said, "Anyway, I'll just pretend Li Haohan is dead."

I suggested, "Let's drink to what we've all done."

When the three of us parted ways, it was already past 2 a.m. My legs were trembling and my eyes were glazed over. After I went to the bathroom, I remembered to say hello to Yuanyuan before going to sleep. Usually, when we play duos, we don't finish until this time.

When I arrived at Liu Zhenhua's room, he was already asleep. I knew that he had stayed up more than an hour later than usual today because I was drinking and didn't pay attention to him, but I didn't call him out on it at the time.

Yuan Yuan had already come out of the wardrobe by itself and said softly, "Master, it's getting late, you should rest." The light on its face flickered as it spoke.

"You need to 'sleep' too?"

"Yes, I should go charge my charger too."

"Let's all take a break then, and continue duo queueing tomorrow."

"Okay, Master, goodnight." After saying that, Yuan Yuan still brought me a glass of water and placed it on the bedside table.

I plopped down on the edge of the bed, ready to bury myself under the covers, when my phone suddenly rang!
My heart skipped a beat, and I sobered up a bit. A phone call at this hour can't be good news.

Then I looked at the caller ID—Mom.

The little bit of alcohol I drank suddenly came out through my pores. When you get to a certain age, the thing you fear most is receiving a call from your parents in the early hours of the morning. As for why, you'll naturally understand when you get older.

"mom."

"Xiaofeng, come back quickly, your dad has had a heart attack."

After hearing that, I didn't know how to describe my feelings. Sometimes, "what you fear most is what happens" isn't the worst outcome, especially when what you fear has happened before. My dad had a heart attack a few years ago and had to be taken to the hospital for IV fluids to recover. So I have some experience in dealing with these situations, and it would be a lie to say I wasn't panicked. But as the pillar of the family, I can't afford to panic now.

"Mom, don't panic, have you called 120 yet?"

"I called, but they said the ambulance was busy outside."

"Huh?" The promise to stay calm is now out of the question. It's common sense to call 120 when you have a heart attack, and it's also common sense that ambulances are very busy. But no one told me what to do if I have a heart attack and the ambulance can't come.

"Master, let's ask about the patient's condition first," Yuan Yuan whispered to me.

"Oh right, how is my dad doing now?"

"She's in so much pain. She took a nitroglycerin tablet but it didn't help. Now she can't even talk to me. She keeps saying she feels like vomiting."

Yuan Yuan immediately said, "Tell the patient not to move around and to stay lying on their side."

I repeated, "Tell Dad to lie on his side and not move. If he needs to vomit, he should vomit on the floor."

My mom answered, "And then?"

"I'll be there soon!"

After hanging up the phone, I quickly put on my pants and went to Liu Zhenhua's room while putting on my coat. I hesitated whether to wake him up. Children this age are hard to wake up unless you kick them, especially at this time of day.

Yuan Yuan followed me closely, and then said, "Master, you don't need to wake up Number 0. We have the same data on home first aid, so I can help you."

"How to help?"

"First, you need a driver."

I immediately realized this was a critical issue. Someone who had drunk so much was definitely not able to drive. Calling a taxi would take a long time, and what was more difficult was whether my mother's family would even be willing to take a heart patient to the hospital. So the fastest way was to drive my own car.

I asked Yuanyuan, "Can you drive?"

Yuan Yuan said succinctly, "My battery is low, but you can take me with you."

"How to bring it?"

“You can just hold my ‘head’ and go down.”

"Uh..." I observed Yuan Yuan's "neck" and realized that its head and body were connected by the kind of plug used to connect broadband in the past. It can be seen that Liu Zhenhua was very adaptable when making Yuan Yuan. The advantage is that it is very convenient to plug and unplug.

"Then I'll pull it out—you won't die, will you?"

"It's okay, Master."

I unplugged it, and the bamboo pole crashed to the ground again. Yuan Yuan's head was still bobbing. Just as I was about to leave, Yuan Yuan said, "Don't forget my 'pillow'."

I understood and brought its charging dock with me. I was a little unsteady on my feet when I went downstairs. After getting into the car, I looked at Yuan Yuan in the passenger seat and asked, "What do we do now?"

(End of this chapter)