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

As dawn approached, the lights in the emergency room corridor of the city hospital were still on.

The stark white fluorescent tubes hung overhead, humming and casting a cold light on the terrazzo floor.

Dazhuang was awakened by a series of hurried footsteps.

He suddenly opened his eyes, his vision still a little blurry, and found that the once deathly quiet corridor was now full of people.

Nurses pushing dressing carts and family members carrying hot water bottles shuttled back and forth, filling the entire emergency room with noise.

Da Zhuang's mind went blank for a moment, and his back was instantly soaked with a layer of white sweat.

He actually fell into a deep sleep.

My last memory is of myself leaning against the back of a wooden chair, trying to close my sore eyes a little, and then I opened them and it was already daylight.

Dazhuang didn't have time to think. He scrambled up from the chair, rushed to the ward door, and pressed his face against the small glass window to look inside.

The ward was quiet.

On the rusty iron frame, the IV drip was still dripping slowly and steadily. The person in the hospital bed was still lying there peacefully, the blanket rising and falling gently with each breath.

Da Zhuang's tense shoulders suddenly slumped, he gasped for breath, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and then turned to look around the corridor.

A dozen or so brothers from Kaoshantun filled the corridor to the brim.

There weren't enough benches to sleep on, so the group simply lay down haphazardly on the cold terrazzo floor.

Some were wrapped in coats, others huddled together for warmth, all fast asleep, their faces still covered in coal dust and mud that hadn't been washed off.

Seeing his brothers lying there all safe and sound, Da Zhuang finally felt the last bit of fear dissipate and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Dazhuang, you're awake."

A low, hoarse voice suddenly came from behind me.

Da Zhuang turned around abruptly and saw Liang Tiejun, the factory director of Hongxing Machinery Factory, sitting on the peeling paint bench at the end of the corridor.

Liang Tiejun was wearing an old cotton overcoat and holding a cold enamel mug in his hands.

His eyes were bloodshot and filled with alarming red veins. He looked extremely tired, yet he stubbornly refused to fall asleep.

Da Zhuang was stunned for a moment, then quickly went over and lowered his voice: "Director Liang, you...you didn't sleep a wink all night?"

Liang Tiejun waved his hand, placed the cold enamel mug on the bench beside him, and forced a smile: "As people get older, they sleep less. If something is on your mind, it's even harder to fall asleep."

He looked at the young men sleeping soundly on the ground, sighed, and said, "It's you guys who have been risking your lives with Shanhe these past few days, working non-stop and suffering a lot. This old body of mine can't be of much help, so I can only keep watch for you young lads and keep an eye on things, so that you can at least get a good night's sleep."

Da Zhuang felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this, and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, unsure of what to say.

Liang Tiejun didn't dwell on this heavy topic.

He bent down, took out a large aluminum lunchbox wrapped tightly in a clean old towel from under the bench, and stuffed it directly into Dazhuang's arms.

"Alright, stop standing there, here you go."

Dazhuang was a little confused. He held the heavy lunchbox, which was still steaming through the towel, in both hands and blinked. "Director Liang, what... what is this?"

Looking at his dazed expression, Liang Tiejun couldn't help but sigh and said in a low voice, "It was given to me by Liu Mei, the nurse in the emergency department. She had just finished her night shift and saw you sleeping soundly on the wooden chair when she left. She didn't want to wake you, so she specially asked me to give this to you."

Upon hearing the name "Liu Mei," Da Zhuang's dark, rough face instantly turned bright red, and he frantically picked at the edge of his lunchbox with both hands: "Why...why did she give me this?"

"What else can I do? I feel sorry for you."

"It's so early in the morning, just as the state-run restaurants outside opened, and the girl ran to line up to buy you dumplings with sauerkraut and pork filling. She kept them piping hot with a towel the whole way, and they're still burning hot."

Seeing Dazhuang's embarrassed expression, with even his ears turning red, Liang Tiejun sighed and said earnestly, "You know how that girl feels about you. Dazhuang, there aren't many people in this world who would treat you so unconditionally and sincerely. If this relationship succeeds, you must protect her and not let her down."

Da Zhuang's neck turned bright red from what Director Liang said. His lips trembled for a long time without uttering a single word. He could only nod his head frantically.

He carefully lifted the lid of the aluminum lunchbox, and a cloud of steam mixed with the aroma of meat immediately wafted out.

Dazhuang was indeed starving. He grabbed a few plump white dumplings with his hands and wolfed them down into his mouth.

The scalding hot broth made him gasp for breath, but after chewing a couple of times and swallowing, he finally felt a little warmth in his stomach.

He suddenly realized what was happening and quickly handed the lunchbox, which still contained more than half a box of dumplings, to Liang Tiejun: "Director Liang, you've been up all night, you should eat a few to fill your stomach."

Liang Tiejun waved his hand with a smile, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his old cotton-padded coat, his tone teasing: "I'm not eating it. This was bought especially for you by that girl because she cares about you. I, an old man, wouldn't dare to interfere with such a thoughtful gesture. You keep it for yourself and fill your stomach."

Da Zhuang scratched his head sheepishly, put his lunchbox back in, and stuffed another dumpling into his mouth.

As he chewed, his chewing motions suddenly slowed down.

Da Zhuang raised his head, his gaze passing over Liang Tiejun and sweeping over his brothers who were lying haphazardly on the cold floor tiles of the corridor.

Old Hei is here, Monkey is here, and all the brothers from the dozen or so villages are here.

When he first woke up, his mind was foggy and he was too scared to focus. Then Liu Mei's box of dumplings made him even more uneasy. It wasn't until he was completely clear-headed that he finally realized something was wrong.

One person is missing.

With half a dumpling still in his mouth, Da Zhuang's憨笑 (simple and honest smile) vanished instantly, and his eyes turned serious.

He casually placed his lunchbox on the bench and stared blankly at Liang Tiejun: "Director Liang, where's Brother Shanhe? Where did he go?"

Upon hearing this, the gentle smile on Liang Tiejun's face vanished instantly.

He picked up the now-cold teacup again, his fingers unconsciously tracing the rim of the enamel mug a couple of times, and his voice deepened: "I'm leaving."

"Gone?"

Dazhuang froze, forgetting to swallow the half-eaten dumpling in his mouth. "Where did Brother Shanhe go? Why didn't he wake us up when he left?"

Liang Tiejun shook his head, his gaze falling on the steaming lunchbox in Dazhuang's hand, and said calmly, "I don't know. Sit down and enjoy your dumplings."

"Director Liang, what time is it? How can I still eat!"

Dazhuang panicked and jumped to his feet. "No, I have to go find him!"

"Sit down!" Liang Tiejun said in a low voice.

Dazhuang abruptly stopped, turned around, his eyes red with anxiety: "Director Liang, Brother Shanhe will suffer if he goes out alone!"

Liang Tiejun looked at Dazhuang, his tone stern yet steady: "Dazhuang, you know who he is. He's no ordinary person. The reason he chose to leave quietly while you were all fast asleep is because there's something he needs to do that you can't help him with."

Dazhuang was rooted to the spot by these words.

He looked like a bear whose neck had been forcibly held down, his chest heaving violently, his hands gripping the collar of his cotton-padded coat so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Finally, Dazhuang clenched his back teeth and slumped back onto the bench.

He looked down at the few plump dumplings left in the lunchbox, and lost all his appetite.

Outside in the corridor, it was completely light.