Sell the job?
Ning Xin’s words made Ning Yi’s heart skip a beat.
It was such a good job, how could she just sell it?
But since the job had been given to his sister, Ning Yi had never thought about taking it back.
And now, she had even been beaten because of it. If he were to take the job back now, what kind of brother would he be?
He wouldn’t even be human!
Seeing Ning Xin so determined, with a firm look of refusal, Ning Yi’s heart ached even more.
He could only blame himself for being useless, for failing to protect his sister, for scaring her so badly.
Sell it, then. If it came to that, he would just let her sell it. The money could be saved for her future dowry.
With that money in hand, Xiao Xin would probably feel a bit more secure.
As for himself, Ning Yi didn’t give it much thought at all.
He was young and strong, wasn’t there plenty he could do? It wasn’t as if losing this job meant he couldn’t go on living.
With that in mind, Ning Yi silently swallowed his reluctance and asked, “Have you thought it through? Who are you planning to sell it to?”
Ning Xin: ?!!!
She stared at him in shock, unable to believe that he had actually agreed to let her sell the job!
“No, wait, brother. You go to work. I was just kidding, I was joking! Don’t take it seriously…”
“If you want to sell it, then sell it. Since you really don’t want to go, I won’t force you. But have you thought about who you’re going to sell it to?”
“I don’t know. I never actually thought about it.” Ning Xin was a bit flustered by this sudden reversal.
Feeling that she might have said the wrong thing, she hurried to make amends. “Brother, don’t be impulsive. Don’t go back to the coal yard. Just go to work at the factory like you’re supposed to. We’re not selling the job. Never mind me, I really was just joking. Don’t overthink it.”
Hearing his sister say this, Ning Yi became even more determined not to compete with her for the job.
Since Xiao Xin truly didn’t want to take it, he would turn it into cash for her to fall back on!
He stopped arguing with his sister and instead turned to look at Wang Jinying. “Auntie Wang, how about giving this job to your Liu Sheng?”
Wang Jinying had been unable to get a word in ever since she entered the ward.
Especially when the two kids started talking about the job.
If you asked Wang Jinying, her thoughts were the same as Ning Yi’s, this was a great job, the kind you could search for with a lantern and still not find!
Aside from job inheritance, how could an ordinary family ever get their hands on such a quota?
When she heard Ning Xin say she wanted to sell it, her heart ached so much for the siblings that she could barely stand it.
But after listening to Ning Xin’s explanation, Wang Jinying hesitated. She felt the girl’s concerns were reasonable.
Putting aside everything else, given how vicious her third aunt was, if something like that happened again and the girl got seriously hurt, what would they do?
She stood by, worrying about one thing, then another. So when Ning Yi suddenly asked her a question, she was completely caught off guard.
It took her a moment to blurt out: “You’re saying… give this quota to Xiao San?”
“Yes, give it to Sheng. He’s been back in the city for over half a year now and still hasn’t been assigned a job. Auntie, what do you think? Should you discuss this with my Uncle Liu?”
“No need!”
Before Ning Yi’s words had even faded, Wang Jinying jumped in: “I can make this decision myself!”
This pie falling from the sky was so huge that Wang Jinying could hardly believe it even after agreeing.
She couldn’t help but ask one more time: “Xiao Yi, Xiao Xin, are you… are you serious?”
“Of course. Auntie, don’t worry. Once Xiao Xin is discharged, she and Sheng can go handle the paperwork together.” Ning Yi answered without the slightest hesitation.
Ning Xin stared at her brother, utterly speechless.
Only one thought filled her mind: I must have been kicked in the head by a donkey just now!
Otherwise, how could she have said something like that?
But now, seeing Ning Yi’s stance, she knew that no matter what she said, it was useless. The matter was already settled.
Ning Xin lowered her gaze and silently made up her mind: As long as she was alive, she would protect this brother of hers and never let him be taken advantage of or bullied.
If the enamelware factory job really had to be sold, so be it. Once they had the money, the two siblings would at least have some capital.
In that case, forget the steamed bun stall, they could do something else.
Anyway, she had skills and craftsmanship, and her brother had strength.
Ning Xin felt that if brother and sister worked together, their combined strength could break metal, and they would surely be able to support this family.
Having received a definite answer, Wang Jinying was absolutely overjoyed!
She couldn’t afford to stay any longer. After making sure Ning Xin was all right, she hurriedly left.
Both siblings knew she was rushing home to raise the money, so no one tried to stop her.
The doctor required Ning Xin to stay in the hospital for two days of observation before she could go home, so she spent the night at the clinic. The next morning, after Ning Yi brought her breakfast, she urged him to go to work.
But what Ning Xin didn’t expect was that no sooner had her brother left than someone came looking for her.
When the ward door was forcefully pushed open from outside, Ning Xin only had time to see that a middle-aged man and a girl about her age had entered.
“Are you looking for—”
“Ning Xin, are you even human? How dare you have my mother arrested?! I’ll kill you!”
Before Ning Xin could finish her sentence, the girl had already charged at her.
Still lying on the hospital bed, Ning Xin had no time to react before the girl grabbed her by the collar.
She felt a sudden suffocation.
Staring at the ferocious face practically pressed against her own, she felt a moment of despair.
—What kind of melodramatic plot had she even transmigrated into?
What kind of people are these?!
Fortunately, just then, the man who had followed behind rushed over.
He bellowed, “Ning Ling, stop it this instant!”
Then he lunged forward, grabbed the girl, yanked her away, and shoved her hard to the side!
The girl stumbled, lost her footing, and crashed to the ground with a thud.
With her hands on the floor and her legs kicking wildly, she wailed, “Uncle, you’re still taking her side! She’s the one who’s getting my mother sent to labor reform, and you’re hitting me because of her!”
The man cursed harshly, “Go on, cry! Cry a little louder and the police will come and lock you up with your mother!”
That threat proved extremely effective. Ning Ling’s howling stopped abruptly, replaced by resentful little sobs.
In this book, Ning Xin and Ning Yi were nothing but the most insignificant supporting characters.
Especially her, she was a pure cannon fodder character who hadn’t even lasted three chapters.
When the author wrote her, not much ink was spilled. Her social circle, her romantic interests, there was none of that.
She was just a flat, two-dimensional character, devoid of any real emotion.
So when these two people entered, Ning Xin had no idea who they were.
That put her at a disadvantage, leaving her no time to defend herself.
Fortunately, during her time as a physician, she had not only visited the mansions of the rich and noble but also walked the streets among common folk.
Therefore, apart from medical skills, self-defense had also been a mandatory part of her studies from a young age.
What’s more, she was her master’s last closed-door disciple, already receiving extra favor. Coupled with her exceptional beauty, her master had pushed her to work especially hard in this area.
Just like the kicks she had landed on Zhu Chunhong earlier, those were highly skillful.
Each one had caused that woman excruciating pain, yet left no trace at all.
Even if Zhu Chunhong had gone to the police station and claimed Ning Xin had beaten her, no one would have believed her.
It was the same this time. Ning Ling had come at her fiercely, and Ning Xin had no way to dodge.
Yet, in the instant she was grabbed, she used a technique to shift her body slightly, minimizing the harm.
The harm was lessened, but, Ning Xin remembered this grudge!
Ning Chengyou finished scolding Ning Ling and turned around, intending to comfort Ning Xin a bit.
But when he looked, his little niece was lying on the bed, her face deathly pale, unconscious.
He was utterly terrified!
Forgetting everything else, he kicked the troublesome Ning Ling out of the way and bolted out of the ward.
Panicking, he ran and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Doctor! Doctor, come quick! Something’s wrong! Hurry, save her!”
The small clinic on the street didn’t usually have many patients. Moreover, since Ning Xin had been admitted, many neighbors had come to visit.
Especially those who had gone to the police station to testify, they had all stopped by the clinic afterward to tell the Ning siblings what had happened.
Bad news travels fast.
So, by the afternoon, it seemed the entire neighborhood had heard that the young Ning girl had been severely beaten by her aunt.
Let alone the clinic itself.
Ning Xin was pretty, and since childhood, she had been the apple of Ning Chengwen’s eye. Unlike most girls of this era who emphasized a healthy, robust look, she carried an innate delicate and gentle temperament.
A girl like that being beaten naturally garnered more sympathy than others. What’s more, so many people had seen how desperately she had tried to cover for her aunt before Zhu Chunhong chased her down.
This only made people feel even more compassion for Ning Xin.
Ning Chengyou’s frantic shouting brought all the doctors and nurses rushing over.
They burst into the ward and saw, first, the unconscious Ning Xin, and then the ring of purple bruising around her neck!
“Who did this?” The attending physician was the first to become furious.
“Don’t you know she was beaten and has a concussion? Strangling her like this, are you trying to kill her?”
After scolding, the doctor immediately ordered the nurse beside him, “Go get the oxygen tank. She’s unconscious due to hypoxic asphyxiation.”
“And,” he glared at Ning Chengyou indignantly, “call the police! Tell them someone came to the clinic to assault a patient!”
“Oh no, don’t!” Ning Chengyou was terrified, sweat pouring down his face.
He pleaded and tried to grab the doctor’s arm, but someone shoved him aside!
“Are you trying to stop the doctor from giving her emergency treatment? Do you think she’s not sick enough already?”
Those words froze Ning Chengyou in place, not daring to move an inch.
The nurses quickly brought in the oxygen tank, and everyone worked swiftly and orderly to administer first aid to Ning Xin.
Seeing such a large piece of equipment and a mask being placed over his niece’s mouth and nose, Ning Chengyou’s legs went weak with fear.
He shot a hateful glare at Ning Ling, who was curled up in the corner watching the scene with terrified eyes. At that moment, Ning Chengyou felt like killing someone himself.
Ning Chengyou had received a call from the police station, relayed through the village brigade, the night before.
The police told him that his third brother’s wife was being sent to labor reform for intentional injury, and that they needed to bring clothes for Zhu Chunhong the next day.
After hanging up, Ning Chengyou was completely stunned.
He was the captain of the Jing Village brigade. His third sister-in-law had to request leave from him when she went to the city.
All he knew was that when Zhu Chunhong left, she had said she was going to the city to see her husband, who was working on a construction crew. How had she, in just half a day, ended up beating Ning Xin and landing herself in detention?
Ning Chengyou didn’t remember how he got home. His mind was consumed by a single thought: his mother must not find out about this.
His father had died young, and his mother had raised all of them on her own.
The sudden death of his second brother had already made his mother seriously ill. She had just started to recover, and now his third sister-in-law was being sent to labor reform?
If his mother found out about this, her health would surely give way.
Having made up his mind, Ning Chengyou didn’t mention the matter when he got home.
Before five in the morning, he had his wife wake up Ning Ling, his third brother’s daughter, to get some clothes for her mother. Then he rode his bicycle and brought her to the city.
Ning Ling hadn’t known that something had happened to her mother when she came. She thought her mother was just going to stay at the construction site for a few days.
Then her uncle took her directly to the detention center!
Seeing her mother, who looked haggard after just one night, and then hearing that she was about to be sent to a labor reform farm, Ning Ling completely lost her mind.
As for Ning Chengyou, he was also somewhat indignant when he heard that his third sister-in-law had been arrested simply for disciplining a younger member of the family.
He didn’t think Zhu Chunhong was right, but he did feel that the two siblings from the second brother’s family had been unreasonable.
Couldn’t they have resolved something like this behind closed doors? Was it necessary to make such a big scene?
If Zhu Chunhong really got sent to labor reform, how would the two of them ever show their faces in the village again? How would they face their third uncle?
And that wasn’t even the worst of it. What if their grandmother got so upset that something happened to her? What then?
So, when Ning Ling said she wanted to go to the clinic to plead with Ning Xin to let her mother out, Ning Chengyou didn’t hesitate. He brought her straight there.
But what he never expected was that Ning Xin had been beaten so badly, nor that things would escalate like this!
Hearing the doctor’s words and seeing his niece lying there like a rag doll, being poked and prodded without even waking up… Ning Chengyou’s legs went weak.
His second brother had only been buried a few days ago. If something happened to Ning Xin now, his old mother probably wouldn’t be able to go on living.
Speak of the devil.
No sooner had Ning Chengyou thought of his mother than a familiar voice came from the hallway: “Zhigang, help me see, is that the room where Xiao Xin is staying? Why are so many doctors going in and out?”
His legs gave way, and he fell to his knees with a thud.