The two turned around and chased ahead, but the ground was all dirt roads now, and after a rain, it turned to mud. The two did notice the bus just ahead, moving forward slowly.
Qiu Jouxuan got anxious and wanted to run a few steps faster, but he forgot about the current conditions and his age. His foot slipped, and he couldn’t stabilize himself, directly falling into the muddy water with a scream.
Huang Yufeng was so scared that she shouted loudly, "Old man."
Qiu Jouxuan fell on his waist and lay in the muddy water, crying out in pain.
Huang Yufeng wanted to help him up, but as soon as she did, Qiu Jouxuan cried out even more, "Ah ah ah, it hurts, don’t move me, let me rest for a bit."
Huang Yufeng realized this wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t just about the injury from the fall; staying in muddy water for a long time would be unbearable for the body.
It was the station waiting room staff who noticed the situation and kindly ran over to help. After much effort, they managed to get him to the hospital.
The doctor examined him and said he needed to be hospitalized.
But the two of them didn’t have much money on them and couldn’t get admitted. Huang Yufeng then asked the two who brought them to the hospital for help, "Comrades, you are kind people; could you lend us some money?"
This put the two station staff members in a difficult position. One younger male comrade spoke up, "Auntie, the rain is heavy today. I’m afraid the things in my pocket would get wet, so I didn’t bring anything except the lunch ticket. I’m really sorry, I can’t help you."
Huang Yufeng had to turn to the other middle-aged male comrade, "Comrade, can you..."
Before she could finish, the middle-aged man waved his hand, saying, "In my family, my wife is in charge. I never carry money on me, sorry."
Upon hearing this, Huang Yufeng thought they were unwilling to help, and she cried anxiously, "What are we going to do?"
The younger male comrade gave them a look and, seeing that they didn’t look like they were from the village, asked, "Where are you from?"
Qiu Jouxuan had somewhat recovered and replied, "We are from the Mechanical Factory. Thank you for your help today."
The young comrade, upon hearing his words, said, "Our station has a phone, I can help you contact your factory."
Qiu Jouxuan knew they couldn’t borrow money from these two, so they could only do this, giving them the phone number for the gatehouse at the Mechanical Factory residential area: "Then I’ll trouble you."
After the two left, Huang Yufeng said angrily, "So stingy, if you don’t want to lend, just say so and don’t make lame excuses."
Qiu Jouxuan, who had changed somewhat after returning from the capital, said, "Say less. Without their help, I’d still be suffering in the mud."
Huang Yufeng, hearing these words, could only keep quiet. But without money for hospitalization, they could only wait in the hospital corridor. Because they were drenched, and it was raining outside, they were shivering from the cold, so they hugged together for warmth.
*
When Xinyan and the others were brought to the examination venue, many people looked at them with envy.
Inside the examination venue, Xinyan parted ways with Zhao Jianlan and Duan Ruilian; although they were at the same test site, they weren’t in the same exam room.
After Xinyan entered the exam room, she quickly took off her raincoat and placed it in the designated storage area, then went to her seat with her paper and pen and sat down.
She had just sat down when the exam began. If Principal Feng hadn’t decisively let the car go first, they would all have been late if anything had gone wrong.