Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Someone got hurt in an accident Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Someone got hurt in an accident After listening to the conversation between those two people, Luo Qiao went to the state-run restaurant across from the bus station and ordered herself a pork bun and a bowl of noodle soup. After eating, she bought her ticket and boarded the bus, casting a glance at the Adopted Son of Zhao Family, now called Luo Bin.
Luo Qiao took her usual seat near the front, conveniently placing her basket on the engine cover.
It wasn’t a long wait this time before the driver and ticket collector boarded, and soon the bus left the station on time. As they traveled, Luo Qiao pondered about Luo Bin’s return to the village and his intention to ask the Zhao Family for money.
She wondered how Gao Suhua would react. If Su Hua had any sense, she’d refuse to give more money; the man was clearly an ingrate.
The road was rough, causing the bus to jolt violently.
Upon alighting at the commune, Luo Qiao waited for Luo Bin to walk far ahead before making her way back to the village, spotting a crowd gathered in front of the Zhao Family home from a distance.
Once home, Luo Qiao placed her basket down, planning to steam some steamed buns and flower rolls in the afternoon to store in the Spatial Warehouse – in the heat of the upcoming days, the last thing she wanted was to cook again after returning from work at noon.
A pot of soup with dry provisions would suffice for a meal. No sooner said than done.
The dough was already prepared from yesterday – a mix of coarse and fine grains for a healthy, nutritional balance.
After picking chives from the vegetable garden at the back of her house, washing and setting them aside, she took plenty of eggs from the Spatial Warehouse. With the poor state of the roads today and the hubbub about the Adopted Son of Zhao Family returning to the village, no one would notice her activities.
Hence, she chose not to fry eggs in the Spatial Warehouse today but prepared the filling outside instead. Once the filling was well-seasoned, she filled a large pot with water and lit the fire.
Only then did she begin to work the dough on the board, cutting it into small pieces for the buns. Having filled a basin with the prepared filling, she then greased the remaining dough, sprinkling it with Sichuan pepper, salt, and chopped green onions to make flower rolls.
With the buns and rolls steaming away, she moved to the backyard to store the ripe vegetables in the Spatial Warehouse, sowing new seeds afterward. By the time she finished, the buns and rolls were ready, too.
After stowing the buns and flower rolls and tidying up the kitchen, Luo Qiao planned to take her shoes down to the river to give them a wash – that was when she heard wailing from across the river.
Out of curiosity, Luo Qiao stood at her front gate and looked across, seeing a crowd gathered but unable to discern what had happened amid the noise and commotion.
Locking her front gate, Luo Qiao decided to go and see what the fuss was about, when someone came looking for Lu Yichen, hoping he could drive someone to the commune’s health clinic.
It wasn’t until she reached the riverbank that Luo Qiao could see clearly. It appeared that earlier in the day, Gao Shunyi and another villager, Qiao Congshan, took advantage of not having to work, offering to repair the roof for the Secretary’s younger brother.
Perhaps due to the roof being in disrepair and compounded by last night’s rain, the roof could not bear the weight of the two men and collapsed.
Gao Shunyi and Qiao Congshan fell straight down from the roof and were now lying on the ground covered in dirt, waiting for a vehicle to take them to the hospital. It seemed Qiao Congshan had fractured something, while Gao Shunyi had several serious abrasions.
When the brigade leader arrived and saw Gao Shunyi’s condition, he asked, “Where is Doctor Gao?”
One of the commune members replied, “Doctor Gao isn’t home today. His niece got married, and he went to attend the banquet. He hasn’t returned yet.”
Stepping forward, Luo Qiao said, “Brigade leader, if we don’t stop the bleeding for Uncle Gao soon, there might be trouble.”
Gao Jiefang turned to look at Luo Qiao and asked, “That’s right, you’ve mentioned before that you know medicine, haven’t you?”
Luo Qiao replied, “I have a bit of knowledge, not much, but he’s lost a lot of blood right now. It would be best to stop the bleeding before transporting him; otherwise, by the time we get to the hospital, he might have bled out.”
As they spoke, Lu Yichen arrived and said, “Brigade leader, the tractor’s been having bearing issues. I took it apart this morning but haven’t fixed it yet.”