Chapter 319: Chapter 319: An Old Friend Arrives Chapter 319: Chapter 319: An Old Friend Arrives Bai Xiao returned to the hospital and, as it happened, was greeted by an old acquaintance.
In the consultation room, she saw the travel-worn Liu Hong.
“What is this…” Bai Xiao wanted to curse. Liu Hong had always been pestering her to get out, and Bai Xiao had been one hundred percent against it. The only explanation for her showing up in Bai Xiao’s office now was that Liu Hong had run off on her own, definitely without the consent of Liu Baoguo and Li Chuni.
That couple treated their daughter like the apple of their eye; how could they possibly allow Liu Hong to go to another place, and such a long distance at that.
Liu Hong saw Bai Xiao and threw herself at her.
Clinging affectionately to Bai Xiao’s arm, she cajoled and acted cute, “Xiao, you’re the best. I have co to seek shelter with you. You wouldn’t turn away, would you? If you do, I’ll be left holess on the streets. I am your elder sister after all; you wouldn’t be so heartless, right?”
Her face had the look of soone who would burst into tears if Bai Xiao didn’t agree, which annoyed Bai Xiao to the point of rolling her eyes. This was emotional blackmail.
“Have you eaten yet? Did you just arrive, or have you been here for a while?” Bai Xiao figured she could forget about getting any work done today.
She would have to continue her leave of absence.
Liu Hong touched her stomach and said pitifully, “I’m starving to death. I didn’t eat anything on the way here. You don’t know how tough it was for ; I almost got abducted by human traffickers. Thankfully, I’m smart, or else I would’ve been done for. I was so scared, I didn’t dare to eat anything random. Hurry and find sothing to eat.” She certainly wasn’t shy.
Xiaoli walked in, “Dr. Bai, this comrade has been waiting for you for quite a while, about three hours. Do you want your na removed from the registration list this afternoon?
Bai Xiao shook her head, “You see, there’s just no way these next few days. Everyone in my family has had issues; how could I possibly focus on work? I’ll go and ask the Director for ti off.” Suddenly, Bai Xiao felt like she was being a really inadequate doctor, but with everything happening so fast and all at once, there was nothing she could do.
Upon reaching the Director’s office, Wang Dachuan readily approved a week’s leave.
Anyway, the doctors in their Traditional Chinese dicine departnt weren’t that indispensable. The prestigious doctors were all in Surgery or Internal dicine. They just gave the patients acupuncture and prescribed dicine, dealing mostly with chronic diseases which weren’t likely to cause any serious problems if Bai Xiao didn’t show up for a week.
Although Dr. Bai Xiao had by now established her place in the field of acupuncture at the Traditional Chinese dicine departnt, and many people ca to see her specifically for her needling technique, she still didn’t surpass the importance of the Surgery or Internal dicine departnts.
Bai Xiao led Liu Hong to her dormitory, as Liu Hong had nowhere else to stay! If she didn’t stay with Bai Xiao, where else could she go?
Liu Hong was curious about everything, just like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden.
Once inside the room, Liu Hong threw her backpack on the floor, looking at all the things in Bai Xiao’s room without daring to breathe out loud, seeing that everything seed so valuable! She of course recognized things like the television; their village only had one black-and-white TV in their ho, which was sothing her elder brother managed to buy last year. The signal was not good, barely able to receive one channel. While watching TV, Liu Baoguo always had to stand in front of the set, holding the antenna and adjusting it, or else it was just snow and static. Their own set was nothing compared to the large one Bai Xiao had here.
Sure, “It must be quite expensive,” thought Bai Xiao, who had seen many items here she had never seen before. She suddenly regretted rashly coming here and wondered if she was bothering Bai Xiao.
Bai Xiao did not notice Liu Hong’s wilted deanor. She took off her coat, turned on the gas, and started to cook noodle soup for Liu Hong. She didn’t usually cook, so all she had at ho was so dried noodles and eggs, not even any vegetables! Fortunately, she still had so pickles that her sister had brought specially for her last ti. There were also so atballs and roast pork left in the fridge. She had planned to give them all to her elder sister, but her sister refused, saying, “What if one day you want to cook a al for yourself and you have nothing? That would never do, right?”
She tossed a few atballs into the noodles and poached a couple of eggs.
The bowl was simply prepared with soy sauce, vinegar, and sesa oil. There were so leftover green onions from last ti, so she chopped them up and sprinkled them over the noodles. Once served, the atballs and poached eggs on top looked very appetizing.
“Let’s eat!” Bai Xiao brought it over to her.
Liu Hong shuffled over to the table and sat down. She picked up her chopsticks but didn’t start eating.
Bai Xiao glanced at her. “What’s wrong with you? Aren’t you hungry? Why aren’t you eating?” The girl seed to be weighed down with thoughts.
Liu Hong glanced at Bai Xiao, “Xiao, am I disturbing your life by coming here? I’m telling you, right after we finish eating, I’ll go out and look for work. It’ll be fine as long as I find a factory job that includes room and board. I definitely can’t disturb you here.” She felt a little sad. They used to live in the sa village, and back then, her own life was even better than Bai Xiao’s.
At that ti, Liu Hong felt exceedingly superior; after all, she was the village chief’s daughter.
Now, having co here, she suddenly realized that the gap between her and Bai Xiao was growing larger and larger. Even the dormitory where Bai Xiao lived now, with its facilities and belongings, made it clear that the hospital valued Bai Xiao greatly.
Here she was in a strange place, becoming soone who could only rely on the relationships with fellow villagers to be a burden to others, and this disparity made her feel really uncomfortable.
Bai Xiao laughed, flicking Liu Hong’s forehead with a snap of her fingers. Liu Hong’s eyes flashed with indignation. “I an, look at you, the older you get, the heavier your thoughts beco. Your parents are like my godparents, you know. By rights, I ought to call you ‘sister’. We’re relatives, after all; so what’s all this talk about being a burden or being troubleso?
If you talk like that, you’ll really make angry. Since you’re already here, just settle down and stay with without being in a hurry to find a job. If you’re really intent on making sothing of yourself, then of course we should find the right job for you. You’re young; you should look for sothing where you can learn a skill, learn while you work, and earn money at the sa ti.
Nowadays, you won’t starve doing just about anything. Just stay here with in peace. In a bit, I’ll call your dad and you better not glare at .” Upon hearing that Bai Xiao planned to call her parents, Liu Hong felt as if she was being betrayed and her eyes widened more than brass bell.
“Think about it, you sneaked off alone without saying a word to your parents; they must be out there searching for you with a team right now. Just imagine their gray hairs; don’t you feel guilty? The last ti they looked for you, your mom got so sick, and your dad didn’t sleep for days and nights. Though they didn’t agree with you coming out here, they aren’t stubborn people. Since you’ve already co, the least you can do is let them know you’re safe here and that soone is taking care of you; that will put their minds at ease.
Don’t just consider yourself, okay? Rember the old saying, ‘Children want to support their parents, but sotis parents are not around.’ Look at — I want to be filial to my parents, but I don’t even get the chance. Don’t leave yourself with any regrets.”
Liu Hong hung her head, “I was wrong. Go ahead and call.” Thinking about her parents worrying themselves sick over her, she genuinely felt guilty.
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