Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

The corridor of the Municipal People's Hospital becomes as cold as a white cloth soaked in water late at night.

One after another, the stark white light tubes shone, illuminating the walls and making them appear devoid of any human presence.

The air was filled with the smells of iodine, blood, damp cotton clothes, and a hint of coal smoke wafting from the hospital's boiler room. All of these mingled together, filling one's nostrils and making one's chest feel heavy and suffocated.

Erzhuzi has been in the emergency room for almost an hour.

On the peeling wooden sign at the entrance, the words "No Entry for Outsiders" were written in red paint.

Old Hei stood by the door, his eyes fixed intently on the inside.

The monkey squatted against the wall, clutching its hair tightly with both hands, cursing Wang Guowei, then Gao Wenbin, and then muttering curses at itself.

Dazhuang leaned against the corner of the corridor, like a silent iron stake.

Shanpao, Erlengzi, and a few other men from Kaoshantun huddled on a bench on the other side. The exhaustion and tension of the past few days had completely drained them. They leaned on each other's shoulders and fell into a silent, deep sleep on the cold wooden benches.

A slight scraping sound came from the stairwell at the end of the corridor.

Old Xu, wearing a fairly clean gray woolen overcoat, limped over.

His previous injuries have mostly healed, and although his legs are still not very nimble, he can walk now.

Old Xu walked up to Zhao Shanhe and stopped.

Zhao Shanhe leaned against the peeling plaster on the wall, took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Old Xu, his gaze falling on Old Xu's injured leg: "Old Xu, it's been a while since we last met, how's your leg healing?"

Old Xu took the cigarette with both hands, his chapped lips trembling slightly.

He looked down at his right leg, his eyes bloodshot. "Brother Shanhe, I...I..."

Zhao Shanhe raised his hand and patted his shoulder, forcing back the words that were choked with emotion.

"Alright, stop being so effeminate, you grown men."

Zhao Shanhe lit his cigarette with a famous match, his tone calm: "We're all brothers, we'd entrust our lives to each other. There's no point in saying anything formal. As long as we can still stand, we can keep eating."

Old Xu nodded heavily, inhaling the pungent smoke deeply into his lungs, suppressing the tears welling in his eyes.

Just then, a rustling sound came from the empty stairwell.

A young nurse wearing a faded white coat peeked out from behind the wall.

Her bright, watery eyes peered over the bloodstains on the floor as she rummaged around the corridor like a thief.

Da Zhuang, who had been huddled in the corner of the corridor like a silent gourd, suddenly twitched his ears.

Upon hearing the familiar sound of rubber-soled shoes, his towering body shuddered as if electrocuted, and he quickly looked up in the direction of the sound.

The moment their eyes met, the nurse's eyes lit up.

"Comrade Dazhuang!"

She didn't even bother to look at how many people were in the corridor. She scurried over, her shoes clicking as she ran, her two black braids bouncing merrily in front of her chest.

Da Zhuang's dark face, which had been as dark as a stone, instantly turned bright red, and his two large, fan-like hands frantically rubbed against his trouser legs: "Nurse Liu... Nurse Liu."

"Why are you calling me Nurse Liu!"

Liu Mei stopped in front of Da Zhuang, tilting her fair face up and staring at him with her big eyes: "Didn't I already tell you my name? You should call me Comrade Liu Mei!"

Da Zhuang felt extremely uncomfortable under her gaze. His already flushed face turned as red as a burning charcoal, and he struggled to utter a sound for a long time.

Looking at the bear's silly appearance, Liu Mei rolled her eyes at him and bombarded him with a barrage of words.

"You're such a blockhead!"

She scolded him playfully, then unleashed a barrage of questions: "Hey, Da Zhuang, why didn't you even complete the discharge procedures? You just pulled out your IV and ran off! Our head doctor couldn't find you during rounds and threw a huge tantrum!"

Dazhuang shrank back, awkwardly trying to explain himself: "I...I'm almost fully recovered. When I heard that Erga and the others had an accident, I was so anxious and worried that I couldn't concentrate on lying peacefully in the hospital bed..."

"But you can't ignore your own body!"

Liu Mei angrily interrupted him, her fiery temper suddenly flaring up.

Chairman Mao himself said, "Health is the foundation of revolution; how can you function if you don't cherish your health!"

She glared at him with her bright, watery eyes, growing increasingly angry as she spoke: "What if you move too much and the wound reopens and becomes infected! Didn't Director Chen repeatedly warn you during your rounds to avoid infection, telling you to stay in bed for at least another two weeks? Why didn't you listen?!"

Dazhuang was rendered speechless by the scolding: "I...I..."

He struggled for a long time, rubbing his two large, blood-stained hands in front of him, but he couldn't find a single word to refute him.

Looking at this clumsy bear, who wouldn't utter a sound even after being hit three times, Liu Mei felt both angry and heartbroken.

She shoved the two steaming enamel mugs stacked together in her hand forward, pressing them firmly against Dazhuang's muscular chest.

"Here you go! You've been up so late, you probably haven't eaten yet, right?"

Liu Mei raised her chin, her tone revealing an undeniable air of coquettishness: "I happen to be on duty tonight, so I just got some hot soup noodles from the cafeteria kitchen. You should eat them while they're hot; even the strongest body can't withstand this."

Dazhuang hurriedly caught the jar.

The scorching heat transmitted through the metal sheet made his dark face turn even redder, and his voice was so low it was like a mosquito's hum: "Th...thank you."

"Why are you thanking me!"

Liu Mei rolled her eyes at him, her bright eyes filled with reproach: "Why are you being so formal with me now?"

Da Zhuang blushed even more deeply at her words. He awkwardly held the jar and was about to take a half step back when the collar of his tattered cotton-padded jacket opened slightly with the movement, revealing the thick bandage wrapped around his strong chest.

On the originally snow-white gauze, a large patch of glaring dark red fresh blood scabs was suddenly visible.

Liu Mei's gaze instantly became fixed on that bloodstain.

The coquettishness on her face vanished instantly, her brows furrowed tightly, and the worry and heartache in her eyes could no longer be concealed.

"Don't move!"

Liu Mei took a big step forward and reached out to pull up the collar of Da Zhuang's tattered cotton-padded jacket, which was stained with mud and blood: "You still tell me you're fine! Look at yourself, you're bleeding! Let me see how serious it is!"

"No! No need! Really, no need!"

Dazhuang trembled with fear, holding the jar in one hand and clutching his clothes tightly with the other, repeatedly backing away: "This blood got on me when I brought Erzhuzi to the hospital, I'm really fine!"

"I don't believe it!"

Liu Mei was so anxious she stamped her feet, completely ignoring his explanations. She stood on tiptoe and relentlessly tugged at his hand: "Let me see! You must be stubborn! You stupid ox, you never know how to cry out in pain!"

One insisted on checking the injury, while the other insisted on covering it up.

The two were pulling and tugging at each other at the corner of the corridor.

Big Zhuang, being a large man, dared not exert any force and was forced to retreat repeatedly by the petite nurse. Finally, his broad back slammed against the whitewashed wall with a "bang".

Da Zhuang was so flustered that sweat poured down his forehead. He clutched his clothes tightly while pleading in a low voice, his face flushed red.

"Nurse Liu, let go! I'm really fine, I know my own body!"

He looked down at Liu Mei, who was clinging tightly to his collar, and after a long pause, he finally managed to say, "Besides...besides, how can a woman like you be so brazen as to strip a man of his clothes like a bandit!"

"What's wrong with being a lesbian! What's wrong with being a bandit!"

Liu Mei angrily raised her face, not only refusing to back down but tightening her grip even more: "As long as you're in the hospital, you're an injured person in my eyes! Don't try to fool me with that, let go of me right now..."

Liu Mei's words were cut short as she spoke.

She was still tightly clutching half of Dazhuang's cotton-padded jacket sleeve. Following Dazhuang's pleading gaze, she slowly turned her head and froze on the spot.

Old Hei stood at the door of the emergency room, a mocking smile on his lips.

The monkey crouched against the wall, its hands tightly covering its mouth, its shoulders trembling like a leaf. Shanpao and Erlengzi had even forgotten their own pain, staring at her with winks and smirks.

Further on.

Zhao Shanhe and Lao Xu leaned against the mottled whitewashed wall, their expressions ambiguous.

It wasn't until this moment that Liu Mei realized that all the men and women in the corridor, young and old, were staring at her as if she were watching a major show.

Her ears turned bright red instantly, and the burning blush spread down her neck and into the collar of her white coat.

"You...you all..."

She stammered out two words, then jerked her hand back from Da Zhuang's sleeve as if she'd been electrocuted, wishing she could dig a hole in the terrazzo floor and disappear into it.

"Take it or leave it! I'll let you suffer as much as you want!"

The nurse blushed and threw down those angry words without even turning her head. She turned and ran towards the stairwell as if fleeing.

She had just reached the corner of the stairs when she suddenly stopped.

Liu Mei bit her lip hard, held onto the stair railing and turned halfway around, her big eyes looking across the long corridor at the tall, dark man standing against the wall.

She took a deep breath, as if gathering all her strength, and her voice, which had been sharp and fierce, now betrayed a barely concealed panic and shyness: "Dazhuang, before you leave this time, tell me... I have something to tell you!"

After saying that, the nurse's face turned so red it was almost bleeding. She lowered her head and disappeared completely into the shadows at the stairwell.