Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I deliberately drove a little slower on the way there today.

I knew Old Zhang, Wang Cheng, and the other young guys were all feeling a little uneasy by now. And the Ghost Festival was the day after tomorrow.

Fortunately, we made it to Ruihe without incident.

To my surprise, Xiao Hang showed up again while we were unloading the truck.

This time, though, he hadn’t run out on his own. An auntie who looked like a caregiver was with him.

I carried Xiao Hang into my truck and let him play in the cab.

The caregiver auntie watched the group of men going in and out of the experimental building, looking curious. “What are they busy with? That building’s always been empty.”

“Looks like they’re renovating it. Maybe they’re going to start using it,” I answered simply.

“Oh my, besides those children, there aren’t many patients in this hospital. Plenty of empty buildings around here.”

“There are a lot of children here?” I asked, puzzled. I’d thought Xiao Hang was an exception.

“Of course. From little babies to five- or six-year-olds, there are twenty or thirty of them.”

The caregiver auntie explained cheerfully, “It’s all thanks to that Mr. Chen and his wife. They’re filthy rich and have sponsored lots of children from poor families to come here for treatment.”

“Those kids’ illnesses are hard to cure. If it weren’t for those two kindhearted people, they’d really have no choice but to accept their fate.”

“Take Xiao Hang, for example. His dad works himself half to death earning money, and it might not even cover one day’s worth of medicine for him.”

I turned to glance over. The boy was still happily pretending to drive. No wonder he missed his father so much.

“Mr. Chen’s wife is very fond of Xiao Hang. In fact, that lady is in this hospital right now to preserve her pregnancy. She usually brings Xiao Hang along to play with her. She’s covered all of Xiao Hang’s expenses.”

I thought of the wealthy lady who had come looking for Xiao Hang that day. She really had seemed very worried about him.

“I think I saw that madam last time. She didn’t seem to be in very good health?”

“Oh, isn’t that the truth,” the caregiver auntie said with a sigh.

“People, you know, maybe if they gain something, they have to lose something too. Mr. Chen and his wife have always wanted a child, but they just couldn’t have one.”

“This pregnancy might be their last hope. Mr. Chen is getting on in years too. Even IVF won’t work anymore.”

As she spoke, the caregiver auntie seemed to get carried away and deliberately lowered her voice. “But from what I can see, that madam’s condition with this pregnancy isn’t good either. Mr. Chen has been inviting famous doctors from all over. Traditional Chinese medicine, Western medicine-he’s brought in quite a few.”

“Officially, the hospital says they’re going to try to keep the baby until seven months. But everyone talks about it in private. That madam’s baby… I’m afraid she won’t be able to carry it to term.”

Just then, it looked like Liu Wu’s side was almost done moving everything.

The caregiver auntie also called for Xiao Hang to head back.

When I lifted Xiao Hang down from the truck, the caregiver auntie happened to see Liu Wu walking out of the building. She said softly, “Oh, isn’t that Mr. Chen’s friend? A while back, he was always coming with Mr. Chen to visit his wife.”

For some reason, my heart gave an inexplicable jolt.