Perhaps the conversation between Chen Lan and Jia Yao, mother and son, touched a chord deep within Director Huang’s heart. At that moment, Director Huang suddenly spoke, "What you said is true, but such a state of being, while easy to talk about, is difficult to achieve. This kind of broad-minded, calm attitude isn't something everyone can attain, as every family has its own difficulties."
After speaking, Director Huang felt an urge to unburden himself. He sighed and continued, "Take my old mother, for instance. After my father passed away, it was just her and me, an orphaned mother and son, fending for ourselves. She scrimped and saved, working tirelessly to raise me and, through sheer hard work, managed to send me to college. Perhaps it was from that time that her health began to deteriorate. But when I graduated from university and got this job at the hospital with a decent income, she should have been able to rest and enjoy her later years, right? Yet, she then worried about me getting married and having children. After the grandchildren were born, she helped care for them. Now that the grandchildren have grown up, she's worrying about them finding wives. Alas! My mother has always had endless worries. She's accustomed to worrying. How can you expect her to let go of everything and achieve true equanimity?"
Chen Lan echoed his sentiments with deep understanding, "Yes! This is what people often call—the suffering heart of a parent. Almost every mother, for the sake of her child's future, will grit her teeth and persevere through any hardship. This is the reason why mothers are strong."
Director Huang agreed wholeheartedly, "Yes, sister-in-law, you are absolutely right. My mother has been strong-willed and worried her entire life. She has never lived a single day for herself. But now she feels that her health is holding back her two grandsons from finding wives. So, she often broods about it and blames herself. This is how sorrow builds up in her heart, and her body deteriorates day by day."
At this point, Jia Yao, out of curiosity, asked, "Director Huang, that can't be right! Brother Da Yong and Brother Xiao Yong are both handsome and have cheerful, generous personalities. Moreover, both of them have good, stable jobs in Harbin. By all rights, they shouldn't have trouble finding wives, should they?"
Chen Lan chimed in, "Yes! Director Huang, with your family's circumstances, finding good wives for your two children shouldn't be difficult, should it?"
Director Huang sighed and explained, "Sister-in-law, it is indeed as you say. With four stable jobs in the family, life should be quite good. But every family has its own struggles. Let's not even talk about my mother's medical treatment and the need for nutrition, or the care she requires. Let's talk about the housing problem at home. The housing issue alone is a major problem. You saw our home; it's just two cramped rooms. Even if a girl fancied our Da Yong and Xiao Yong, where would they live after they got married? So, any girl who takes a liking to Da Yong and Xiao Yong, upon visiting our home and seeing the situation, will lose interest. This is the reality."
Jia Yao asked persistently, "Director Huang, with your family's income level, you could completely buy a larger house nearby, couldn't you? That would solve the housing problem!"
Director Huang smiled and said, "Young man, you don't understand the cost of living when you're not running a household. Like you said, buying a house is a lifelong major decision for people like us. If we were to buy, wouldn't we want to get it right the first time to avoid further trouble later? Don't you think so?"
Jia Yao and Chen Lan, hearing Director Huang say this, both felt it made sense and nodded.
Director Huang, perhaps rare to find someone to pour out his heart to, seemed particularly talkative today. He continued, "If we want to buy a decent house, with four or five rooms, it would cost at least a thousand yuan, and that doesn't even include renovation and furniture costs afterward. Let's not even discuss whether the family has the money. Just finding a house that's both close to our hospital and appropriately sized is a matter of luck, something that's hard to come by."
At this point, Chen Lan and Jia Yao, mother and son, were at a loss for words. They could only nod helplessly.
The three of them walked and chatted, and soon arrived at the Harbin Railway Central Hospital. The sky had already begun to darken. They went to the inpatient department, and Director Huang went directly to the nurse to get Wei Dang's medical records. Chen Lan and Jia Yao went to Wei Dang's ward first.
The mother and son gently pushed open the ward door. They found the light on in the room, but it was quiet inside. Wei Dang was already asleep, and Jia Xing was reading with his head bowed. Hearing movement at the door, he looked up and saw his mother and elder brother. Jia Xing quickly stood up and softly called out, "Mom, Elder Brother, you're back!"
Chen Lan nodded and held up a finger to her lips, signaling for quiet. Jia Xing nodded and remained silent, merely gesturing for Chen Lan and Jia Yao to sit.
Jia Yao nodded, stepped forward, and sat down. He began to take Wei Dang's pulse again. He found Wei Dang's pulse to be steady, but he still had a slight fever. This indicated that the anti-inflammatory medication was working, and Jia Yao felt slightly relieved.
At this moment, Wei Dang also woke up. Seeing Chen Lan and the others return, although his face was sallow and he was still very weak, he quickly greeted them, "Auntie, Jia Yao, you're back!"
Chen Lan smiled and asked, "Wei Dang, is your wound hurting badly? We've already invited Director Huang, and he'll be here to examine your leg shortly."
Wei Dang smiled weakly and replied, "I'm much better today. It's not throbbing with pain like before."
Upon hearing this, Chen Lan quickly instructed, "Jia Xing, go quickly and make your Brother Wei Dang a cup of brown sugar water, with a little bit of salt."
Saying this, she took a packet of brown sugar and a small paper packet of salt from the cloth bag she was carrying.
Jia Xing agreed and busied himself with the task.
At this moment, Director Huang, wearing his white coat and carrying the medical records, walked in, followed by a female nurse in her thirties. Director Huang nodded to Chen Lan and Jia Yao, acknowledging their presence.
The female nurse, holding a thermometer, first had Wei Dang place it under his armpit to measure his temperature. Director Huang then instructed, "Xiao Liu, unwrap the bandages on the patient's leg and let me see the wound's healing condition."
Director Huang carefully examined the wound at the fractured bone ends, then said to Jia Yao, "You handled it very well. The wound was indeed infected. He'll need a few more days of injections for inflammation. Once the swelling and inflammation have completely subsided, we can consider proceeding with surgical bone grafting."