Chapter 124: Chapter 121: Oh God, I Really Can’t Let Go

When Lin Lan got home, she told Lin Yuezhen about buying the house. “Sis, I’ll take you to see the house I bought this afternoon. It just needs a little tidying up, and it’ll be ready to live in.”

Lin Yuezhen looked at her worriedly and gestured, “Little Lan, what if it happens again? Will they confiscate it from you?”

Lin Lan took out the deed and showed it to her. “Sis, Third Brother and Ding Bang both said things won’t be like they were before.”

Hearing this, Lin Yuezhen was still on edge, worried that Lin Lan’s money had gone down the drain.

That afternoon, after Little Douzi went to school, Lin Lan took her sister by bike to see the house. When they arrived, the workers Chen Dongming had hired were on the roof sorting through tiles, while others were inside the storefront building partition walls.

When Chen Dongming saw her arrive, he smiled and said, “Little Lin, I was going to have you take a look before we put up the walls, but Little Hong said you wouldn’t mind, so I had the men get started. It’s good you’re here. You can see how it’s coming along and get a feel for it.”

Lin Lan smiled, reassured. “Brother Chen, I trust your work completely. I’m going to take my sister to see the back.”

After looking around, Lin Yuezhen felt it was too expensive. She thought that for so much money, you could build a house in the countryside big enough for dozens of people.

After closing her stall for the day, Lin Lan rode her bike into the city with Yang Liying and Little Douzi to see the house. They found that the surrounding wall was already built and there were still workers on the roof sorting tiles.

Little Douzi’s eyes were wide with wonder as he looked at the pond and rockery in the courtyard. “Mom, is this our home too?”

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “Mhm! When you start middle school, you won’t have to walk so far.”

Little Douzi looked at her. “Can I bring Brother Dandan to see it?”

“Of course. How about you bring him after we move in?”

“Brother Dandan asked me if you and Great-grandma got into a fight. He said Great-grandma hasn’t let him come to our house to play lately.” Little Douzi pouted. “I think you fought, too. When you make food, you don’t take it to her yourself, you make me do it. And Great-grandma doesn’t come visit anymore.”

Lin Lan didn’t know how to explain it to him, so she just smiled. “That’s not it at all! You know Mommy’s busy, and whenever Great-grandma comes over and sees me working, she always insists on helping. She said she was a little tired the other day, and Mommy was afraid she’d overexert herself, so I told her to rest at home. See? Great-grandma still accepted the pastries Mommy had you bring her!”

Little Douzi thought for a moment. “Great-grandma’s back was hurting yesterday. She couldn’t even stand up.”

Lin Lan ruffled his hair. “Tell your youngest uncle. He should take Great-grandma to the hospital to get it checked.”

“Okay!” Little Douzi agreed, then went back to looking at the rockery.

Yang Liying came out after looking around, her eyes shining with excitement. “Lin Lan, I never dreamed you’d be able to buy a house in the city, and a huge storefront property at that!”

Lin Lan laughed. “Third Sister, with your business doing as well as it is, buying a house would be a piece of cake for you.”

Yang Liying nodded. “Ever since I got the orders for those two cafeterias, I’ve been making forty to fifty yuan a day. Can you ask around for me? I’d like to buy a storefront property too by the end of the year.”

“Sure, I’ll talk to Sister Zhou. She has a lot of connections and is always in the know,” Lin Lan said.

Yang Liying smiled and nodded. “Eldest Sister told me she’s going to start grinding tofu and set up a stall as soon as the stonemason delivers the millstone. Could you please also ask Sister Zhou to help her get a spot?”

Lin Lan asked in surprise, “Eldest Brother-in-law agreed?”

“Eldest Sister said he didn’t object. He even said he’d help push the millstone to grind the soybeans,” Yang Liying laughed. “We’ll also have to trouble you to buy some coal and soybeans for us.”

“Okay,” Lin Lan readily agreed.

The three of them rode their bikes home. Lin Yuezhen was already making dinner. Lin Lan remembered what Little Douzi had said about the old woman’s severe back pain, and after a moment’s hesitation, she left the house and walked toward Grandma Yang’s place.

She reached the back door and saw it was open, but there was no one in the kitchen. She called out twice but got no answer. After checking the courtyard and seeing no one in the vegetable patch, she grew worried.

Then, she heard the pigs in the sty SQUEALING frantically and hurried over.

Inside, she saw the old woman collapsed on the ground in front of the trough, pig feed spilled everywhere.

“Grand-aunt, what happened?” Lin Lan rushed forward to help the old woman up. She saw a bloody mark on her temple, her face was pale, and her forehead was covered in cold sweat. Lin Lan quickly pinched the philtrum below her nose. “Grand-aunt, Grand-aunt…”

The old woman slowly opened her eyes. Lin Lan let out a sigh of relief and helped her sit up against the wall. “Did you hit your head on the trough? Does your forehead hurt badly? I’ll take you to the hospital.”

As she spoke, she crouched down and lifted the woman onto her back, only then realizing she barely weighed more than Little Douzi.

“I’m old… useless now,” the old woman murmured, her voice so faint it was almost inaudible on Lin Lan’s back.

Lin Lan’s nose tingled with emotion. “Don’t talk. I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“Mhm,” the old woman responded weakly.

Lying on Lin Lan’s back, she felt how truly old and frail she had become. ’She thought of Ding Bang, still unmarried, and of young Dandan, whose mother was as good as absent. What if something happens to me…’

The old woman cried out in her heart, ’Heavens, I just can’t let go!’

Lin Lan carried her and walked quickly toward her own home. When she reached the gate, she said to Lin Yuezhen, “Sis, take Little Douzi and go lock up Grand-aunt’s house. Grab some money and then meet me at the city hospital.”

“Mom, what happened to Great-grandma?” Little Douzi, who had been doing his homework in the courtyard, chased after them.

Without turning back, Lin Lan shouted, “Go back! Bring your aunt to the hospital to find me!”

Little Douzi turned and ran back. He met Lin Yuezhen, who had grabbed the money and was running out, and together they hurried toward the old woman’s house.

Lin Lan, gasping for breath, reached the entrance of the police station just as Yao Xiuyun was getting off work. Seeing Lin Lan carrying the old woman, Yao Xiuyun hurried to follow.

“Lin Lan, what happened to Grandma Yang?”

“Xiuyun, Douzi said Great-grandma’s back was hurting so much she couldn’t stand up…” Lin Lan said, then took two ragged breaths. ’It would be so much better if we had cell phones,’ she thought. ’I could have just called for an ambulance.’

Yao Xiuyun looked at the old woman’s deathly pale face and sighed. ’She’s getting old. If something happens when she’s home alone, no one would even know!’

When they arrived at the hospital’s emergency department, Yao Xiuyun anxiously went to find the doctor and nurse on duty.

A nurse quickly wheeled out a gurney. Lin Lan placed the old woman onto it, and her own legs went so weak she nearly collapsed onto the floor.

The orthopedic doctor arrived as well. Lin Lan took a deep breath and quickly explained the old woman’s situation—the back pain and weakness in her legs.

The doctor gave the old woman a simple examination, pushed her into a treatment room to administer some medication, then hastily wrote out a payment slip and handed it over. “One of you go pay this, and someone else come with me to take her for an X-ray.”

“I’ll go pay.” Yao Xiuyun took the slip and ran toward the payment office.

Lin Lan and a nurse wheeled the old woman to the radiology department for the X-ray.

At the door to the X-ray room, the doctor told Lin Lan to wait and wheeled the patient inside.

Lin Lan saw the doctor take Grandma Yang in without even seeing the payment receipt. Feeling completely drained, she collapsed onto a long bench outside the radiology department. ’Doctors now are so different from how they’ll be in twenty or thirty years,’ she thought.

Yao Xiuyun returned to the radiology department after paying the fee, with Little Douzi and Lin Yuezhen in tow. She gave the receipt to Lin Lan. “I’m going to find Ding Bang and let him know.”

Lin Lan nodded. “Go ahead.”

Little Douzi tugged on Lin Lan’s hand. “Mom, what’s wrong with Great-grandma?”

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