Song Qingzao was startled by the sudden voice. When she heard what Su Qingwan had said, her expression immediately turned displeased.
“You little brat, what nonsense are you talking about?”
She then casually smacked Su Qingwan.
“Ah! That hurts!”
Su Qingwan pretended that the slap had really hurt.
Hearing her cry out, Song Qingzao snapped back to reality and immediately ran outside.
“Doctor! Doctor, come quickly!”
Seeing her second sister so frightened that she had run out to call a doctor, Su Qingwan was completely dumbfounded.
Was she really that convincing?
She had only pretended to be hurt after all. Then again, her second sister really did have quite a temper, and she wasn’t exactly light-handed.
Before Su Qingwan could figure it out, a whole group of doctors and nurses came rushing over and surrounded her.
Was all this really necessary?
She had only been pretending!
“Comrade Su, you’re finally awake. Is there anywhere that hurts?” Doctor Zhang Wei asked gently.
This Comrade Su was truly a hero. She had gone into the freezing river alone to rescue three children. She had even held the last child up and pushed them toward the shore with sheer force.
If the people who rushed over to rescue her had arrived any later, Comrade Su might not have survived.
Uh…
Su Qingwan really couldn’t keep pretending anymore.
Her pale face wore a shy smile.
“Thank you, Doctor. I feel much better now. There’s nothing particularly uncomfortable.”
Looking at Su Qingwan, who was about the same age as her own daughter, Zhang Wei’s face was full of concern.
“If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, make sure you tell us immediately. After all, you were in the river for quite a long time.”
“Doctor, how is my daughter? Can she be discharged?” Su Tongyu hurried over after hearing that Su Qingwan had regained consciousness.
“At the moment, she appears to be fine. However, I still recommend that she stay one more night and be discharged tomorrow. We’re worried that she might suddenly develop a fever, which could potentially turn into pneumonia. After all, Comrade Su was in the river for far too long.”
“All right, all right. Thank you, Doctor.”
Su Tongyu thanked the doctor gratefully.
“You’re welcome. It’s our job. Just call us if you need anything.”
With that, the doctor left with the group of nurses and doctors.
After seeing them off, Su Tongyu turned around, and her expression instantly became fierce as she glared at Su Qingwan on the bed.
Su Qingwan had just raised her hand when she saw her mother glaring angrily at her.
“Mom, you can’t hit people in the hospital. There are so many people watching. It wouldn’t look good.”
Su Qingwan smiled ingratiatingly at her mother.
Su Tongyu raised her hand and appeared to smack her forcefully, but every blow landed on the blanket instead. Her mouth, however, continued scolding her.
“You reckless little brat! Don’t you know how much you weigh? What were you thinking, trying to show off like that? If your father and I had arrived any later, you wouldn’t be lying here in the hospital right now!”
At this point, Su Tongyu’s eyes began to redden again.
“Didn’t you think about whether your grandfather could handle it if something really happened to you…?”
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and her smacks grew more forceful.
“I’ll teach you to show off! I’ll teach you…”
Su Qingwan cooperated completely, crying out,
“Mom, I was wrong! I was wrong…”
Knock, knock, knock.
A sudden knock on the door interrupted their playful scuffle.
Su Tongyu turned around and saw five middle-aged people—two men and three women. She asked suspiciously,
“Who is it?”
“Excuse me, is Comrade Su Qingwan from Hongxing Garment Factory staying here?”
“I’m Su Qingwan. Who are you?”
Su Qingwan looked puzzled. She exchanged a glance with Su Tongyu, and both could see the confusion in each other’s eyes.
The moment the group heard that she was Su Qingwan, Li Aiguo’s mother, Zhang Xiaomei, excitedly stepped forward and grabbed Su Qingwan’s hand.
“Comrade Su, I’m Zhang Xiaomei, Li Aiguo’s mother. Thank you for saving him. If it weren’t for you, we might have lost our Aiguo. You’re our lifesaver.”
As Zhang Xiaomei spoke, she suddenly started to kneel and bow to Su Qingwan.
Su Qingwan reacted quickly and immediately grabbed her.
“Auntie, please don’t do that! Anyone who saw what happened would have stepped in to help.”
Su Tongyu also hurriedly helped the others who were about to kneel.
“There’s no need to kneel. Please, everyone, get up.”
Although Su Tongyu had just been smacking her daughter because of the danger she had put herself in, she certainly couldn’t embarrass her daughter in front of outsiders.
Zhang Xiaomei’s eyes were red as she held tightly onto Su Qingwan’s hand. The others gathered around as well, all talking over one another as they expressed their gratitude.
Tian He grabbed Su Qingwan’s other hand and spoke excitedly.
“Comrade Su, words can’t express how grateful we are. Our Shaowei was the last child you rescued. If you hadn’t risked your life to save him, I’m afraid our Shaowei wouldn’t have survived.”
Zhang Ming stood beside Tian He and continued, “Comrade Su, we don’t have much to offer, so we brought you some fruit and snacks.”
As he spoke, Zhang Ming placed a pile of gifts on the cabinet beside the hospital bed.
The other two families followed right behind him. Before long, both cabinets were piled high with gifts. Several bags that couldn’t fit on the cabinets had been neatly arranged on the floor.
Su Tongyu was both surprised and delighted by the sight.
Saving people had never been about receiving anything in return, but the families had shown proper gratitude rather than taking her daughter’s sacrifice for granted.
Looking at the countless gifts, Su Qingwan felt a little embarrassed.
“Everyone, you’re being too polite. Really, you didn’t need to spend so much.”
Zhang Xiaomei tightly held Su Qingwan’s hand.
“Child, these are just small tokens of our gratitude. You must accept them. If it weren’t for you, our children would be gone. We’ll never forget what you did for us for the rest of our lives.”
Seeing the sincere gratitude on everyone’s faces, Su Qingwan felt warm inside.
She even thought that if something like this happened again, she probably wouldn’t hesitate to help.
Ha!
This was dangerous thinking.
She wasn’t even fully recovered, yet she was already thinking about the next time.
Seeing that Su Qingwan looked tired, Zhang Xiaomei stood up and prepared to leave.
“Qingwan, get some rest. We won’t disturb you anymore. Once you’re discharged, we’ll come visit you properly.”
“Yes, yes. Comrade Su, get some rest. We won’t bother you any longer.”
Su Tongyu immediately stood up.
“I’ll see you out.”
Zhang Xiaomei quickly stopped her.
“Sister Su, there’s no need. We’re just heading back to the ward anyway.”
“All right, then. Take care. I won’t see you out.”
At the municipal police station, Su Linqiang was no longer as calm and unhurried as usual. He quickly climbed onto his bicycle and headed toward the First Department Store.
Today, he had managed to get a bicycle voucher from Old Zhou. He planned to buy a bicycle for Wanwan as a gift to celebrate her being allocated a house.
That girl was always drooling over other people’s bicycles, yet she couldn’t bring herself to buy one.
A little miser! Such a penny-pincher!
She even kept making excuses, saying the factory was close to home and she didn’t need a bicycle.
Thinking about his granddaughter’s stingy little ways, Su Linqiang couldn’t help laughing.
He wondered who she had inherited that personality from.
Just as he turned his bicycle out of the police station, he heard someone shouting from behind him.
“Brother Su, wait! You have a letter!”
Zhou Manfu was riding a bicycle with a postal bag hanging from his body as he chased after him.
Su Linqiang stopped and turned to look at him.
“My letter?”
Zhou Manfu took out the letter and handed it to him.
“To be precise, it’s addressed to Sister Lu. I don’t know which relative of yours sent it. They probably didn’t know that Sister Lu passed away long ago, and they don’t seem to know that your family moved either.”
Zhou Manfu paused before continuing.
“This letter has been sitting at the post office for quite some time. If I hadn’t known your family’s situation, it would have already been returned to the sender.”
Su Linqiang looked at the return address on the letter. His expression became unreadable.
He forced a smile and said to Zhou Manfu, “Thanks. I have something to take care of, so I can’t chat right now. I’ll be going.”
Without waiting for Zhou Manfu to respond, he got back on his bicycle and headed toward Liuye Alley.
He kept thinking about the address on the letter.
Datong Village, Anyang County, Jiang City.
Ha!
His eldest daughter, who had disappeared for more than twenty years, actually had the nerve to send a letter home.
Her mother had died, yet she hadn’t even come back.
And now she had the audacity to address the letter to Lu Huiwen.
How could she?
Back then, she had eloped with someone and taken away the large sum of money the family had saved for her mother, Lu Huiwen, to undergo surgery.
Because they had to scramble everywhere to raise money afterward, Lu Huiwen missed the best time for treatment and died less than a year later.
Thinking about it, Su Linqiang gripped the handlebars tightly, his gaze fierce.
It was as though the hands he was gripping weren’t bicycle handlebars, but someone’s neck.
He wanted to see exactly why she had suddenly sent a letter after more than twenty years without ever contacting them.