Rebirth: The Courtyard Bride Is Cool and Radiant

Chapter 411: Chapter 411 The Selfishness at the Bottom of Heart Overwhelms the Conscience

It wasn’t as if the Qin Family hadn’t considered saving Qin Lijuan. After all, as Wu Shengjun said, in the eyes of outsiders, she was the Qin Family’s daughter. It was only after seeing the Ye Family’s resolute attitude and weighing the pros and cons that they made their decision.

After leaving the Qin Family, Wu Shengjun hurriedly made a phone call to his son. He was relieved that there was someone on duty at the office of the Agricultural Reclamation Group at night.

When Wu Bingjie heard there was a call for him, his heart immediately panicked. He was terrified there was no way to salvage his mother’s situation.

If it really comes to that, we children will probably be implicated too, he thought. ”Dad, it’s me.”

”Son, your maternal grandfather doesn’t plan to get involved in your mother’s situation. Do you have any progress on your end?”

Wu Shengjun spoke cryptically. Long-distance calls were connected by operators, and he was afraid of causing trouble for his son.

Last time, he’d had his son make the call from the county. That way, even if someone overheard, the operator wouldn’t know whose family it concerned. This time was different; his son was right there at Hua’an Farm Reclamation.

The thought that he might become an outcast, despised and scorned by everyone, made Wu Bingjie’s selfishness overpower his conscience. I could become a pariah, looked down on by everyone, he realized. ”Dad, don’t worry,” he said, ”I’ll get the letter of forgiveness as soon as possible.”

After hurriedly hanging up, Wu Bingjie returned to the dormitory, his mind heavy with worry. Once the lights were out, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep, racking his brains. How can I pull this off without anyone finding out?

His roommate, disturbed by the restlessness, couldn’t sleep. ”Wu Bingjie, are you trying to make pancakes in bed? Are you going to let anyone sleep or not?”

Hearing the protest, Wu Bingjie didn’t dare move again and forced himself to close his eyes and try to sleep.

The next day, Yunyi didn’t go to the canteen for breakfast. Instead, in the small courtyard’s kitchen, she made several scallion pancakes. She filled them with some meat stewed in her space kitchen the day before, along with shredded cucumber and carrots grown in her space. A bowl of Malt Essence completed her meal.

After tidying up, she prepared to go to work.

But as soon as she opened the door, she saw Qiao Wenyu and Zheng Xuewen standing outside. ”What are you two doing out here so early?”

Qiao Wenyu said, trying to curry favor, ”Yunyi, I’ve already given the meat coupon to my second uncle. He should be back around lunchtime. Could we please have stewed meat tonight?”

He was absolutely desperate for meat. The canteen hasn’t had even a whiff of meat lately, he thought. If I can see it but not eat it, the craving will kill me!

Yunyi remembered she had the next day off and wanted to go to the city to find Huo Jingrui. If something delays me, I might not make it back in time to cook a special meal for them, she considered. ”Alright,” she said. ”Come over for meat tonight then. I happen to have some potatoes and cabbage as well.”

Seeing Yunyi agree, Qiao Wenyu’s face lit up. ”Great! I’ll go tell Zijia. We’ll get our meals from the canteen tonight and then come straight to your place.”

With that, he pulled Zheng Xuewen along. ”Let’s go! Zijia’s still waiting for us at the canteen.”

Watching the two jog off, Yunyi locked her door and headed to the clinic.

Heavy snow had been falling relentlessly, bringing construction at the reservoir to a complete halt. At the Agricultural Reclamation Group, apart from a few small, self-run workshops that were still operating, the educated youth had begun their ”winter hibernation.”

There was no ”winter hibernation” at the clinic, however. With more people than usual catching colds and fevers in the dead of winter, their workload hadn’t decreased in the slightest.

Indeed, she had barely stepped into the clinic when a woman rushed in, clutching a child. ”Doctor Chu, help! My little Dog Egg has a fever!”

Yunyi quickly directed the woman to bring the child into the office. ”When did the fever start?”

The woman, who had followed her in, said tearfully, ”We couldn’t wake him this morning, no matter what we did. That’s when we realized something was wrong. When I touched him, he was burning up!”

Yunyi quickly examined the child. ”How long was he playing outside yesterday?”

The woman was frantic. ”Yesterday, he and a few other kids were outside trying to catch sparrows. They didn’t even come home for lunch! It wasn’t until mid-afternoon that he came back with a dozen sparrows. His padded cotton pants were soaked from kneeling in the snow, and I gave him a good scolding for it.”

Yunyi prescribed medication and gave some instructions. She then had them get the medicine and take the child to a bed in the back ward to administer it, telling them to wait until his fever subsided before taking him home.

She had just washed her hands when she heard someone run in, panting heavily. ”Doctor, Doctor! Something’s happened!”