latelenovela Chapter 392 The Beloved Little Sister 27
Chapter 392 The Beloved Little Sister 27
A week after Lin Xiulan's incident, Ji Xiaosong was organizing medicinal herbs at the clinic.
The rain outside the window was heavy, with large raindrops pounding on the tiles, making a pattering sound.
With such weather, there are very few people coming to see the doctor, which gives her the perfect opportunity to calm down and organize the backlog of medical records accumulated over this period.
Suddenly, the door of the clinic was pushed open, and a gust of cold wind mixed with rainwater rushed in.
Ji Xiaosong looked up and saw a young girl, soaking wet, staggering in, clutching a cloth bag tightly in her arms.
"Doctor... save, save my sister..." The girl's voice trembled, and her face was frighteningly pale.
Ji Xiaosong immediately put down the medical record in her hand and quickly stepped forward to support her: "Don't rush, tell me slowly, what happened to your sister?"
The girl's lips were purple, whether from the cold or from fright, it was hard to tell: "She...she fainted at the textile factory...the factory manager asked me to bring her here..."
Ji Xiaosong then noticed that a pale arm was sticking out from under the cloth bag she was holding.
It was a small, thin girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, who was already unconscious.
"Quick! Put it on the examination bed!" Ji Xiaosong hurriedly directed, while calling into the inner room, "Xiao Liu! Prepare the glucose and stethoscope!"
The girl carefully placed her younger sister on the examination bed, but due to exhaustion, she collapsed to the ground.
Ji Xiaosong then got a good look at her: she was about twenty years old, with delicate features but looking tired. Her work clothes were soaked, and there were several needle marks on her hands, clearly indicating that she was a textile factory worker.
"Lie down too!" Ji Xiaosong helped her to another examination bed without giving her a chance to speak. "Xiao Liu, get this comrade a dry towel and some hot water!"
After examination, it was found that the girl fainted due to long-term malnutrition and overwork.
Ji Xiaosong gave her an injection of glucose and prescribed some medicine to replenish her qi and blood.
“Your sister is fine now, she’ll wake up after a rest.” Ji Xiaosong turned to the older woman, “But you yourself aren’t doing too well either, let me take your pulse.”
The girl hesitated for a moment, but still reached out her hand.
Ji Xiaosong frowned as soon as his fingers touched her pulse.
The pulse is weak and thready, clearly indicating long-term fatigue and malnutrition.
"Comrade, what's your name?" Ji Xiaosong asked while writing in the medical record.
"Zhou... Zhou Xiaomei," the girl answered softly, her eyes darting away. "I... I don't have the money to pay the medical bills. Could I pay you back on credit? I'll definitely pay you back next month when I get my salary!"
Ji Xiaosong paused for a moment.
Zhou Xiaomei?
Isn't this the textile factory worker that the matchmaker introduced to Third Brother Ji Jianshe?
"Medical expenses aren't urgent," Ji Xiaosong said gently. "Your sister needs rest, and so do you. Tell me, how long has it been since you two had a proper meal?"
Zhou Xiaomei lowered her head, twisting the hem of her clothes with her fingers: "I...I ate yesterday..."
Ji Xiaosong's heart skipped a beat.
Judging from the way these two sisters look, they probably didn't eat much yesterday.
“Xiao Liu,” she said to the nurse, “go to my house and get some food. Just tell them I need it.”
Zhou Xiaomei suddenly looked up, a hint of panic flashing in her eyes: "No, no need, doctor! We can just eat at home..."
"Go home?" Ji Xiaosong looked at the torrential rain outside the window. "How are you going to get home with your unconscious sister in this weather?"
Zhou Xiaomei stopped talking and just held her sister's hand tightly.
Soon, Xiao Liu returned with a hot meal.
A bowl of braised pork, a plate of stir-fried vegetables, and a few steamed buns.
The aroma instantly filled the consultation room, and Zhou Xiaomei's stomach rumbled loudly, causing her face to turn red.
"Eat up," Ji Xiaosong pushed the food in front of her, "Your sister can eat now that she's awake."
Zhou Xiaomei stared at the food for a long time, then suddenly knelt down with a thud: "Doctor, I will remember your great kindness for the rest of my life!"
"Get up quickly!" Ji Xiaosong hurriedly helped her up. "What kindness is this? Eat it while it's hot."
Zhou Xiaomei then carefully picked up her chopsticks. At first, she tried to restrain herself, but later she couldn't resist and began to wolf down her food.
Ji Xiaosong noticed that every few bites she would glance at her younger sister and push the meat aside, clearly wanting to leave it for her.
Just then, the little girl woke up and weakly called out, "Sister."
Zhou Xiaomei immediately put down her chopsticks and rushed to her sister's bedside: "Xiaofang! How are you feeling?"
"Hungry..." the little girl said weakly.
Zhou Xiaomei quickly took the reserved meat and steamed buns over and fed them to her younger sister bite by bite.
Looking at the two sisters, Ji Xiaosong felt a pang of sadness.
After the rain subsided a bit, Zhou Xiaomei insisted on taking her younger sister home.
Ji Xiaosong was worried and decided to see them off.
"Where do you live?" Ji Xiaosong asked, opening her umbrella.
“The tenement buildings in the east of the city,” Zhou Xiaomei answered in a low voice, “the staff dormitories of the textile factory.”
Along the way, Zhou Xiaomei carried her younger sister on her back, while Ji Xiaosong held an umbrella for them.
When Ji Xiaosong arrived at the tenement building, the scene before her eyes stunned her.
The narrow stairwell was cluttered with miscellaneous items, and the air was filled with the smells of mildew and toilets.
Zhou Xiaomei's home is a small room of less than ten square meters, where eight people are squeezed into two bunk beds: her parents, five sisters and a younger brother.
“This is…” Ji Xiaosong looked at the crowded room in shock.
“My family.” Zhou Xiaomei smiled wryly as she placed her younger sister on the lower bunk. “Xiaofang and I sleep on this bed, the other sisters sleep on the upper bunks, and our parents and younger brother sleep over there.”
Ji Xiaosong noticed that the so-called "over there" was a small space separated by a curtain, where a slightly larger bed was placed, which was obviously much more comfortable than the sisters' beds.
"Xiaomei! Why are you only just getting back?" A middle-aged woman lifted the curtain and came out, pausing for a moment when she saw Ji Xiaosong. "And who is this?"
"Mom, this is Dr. Ji from the clinic. She saved Xiaofang," Zhou Xiaomei whispered.
Zhou's mother looked Ji Xiaosong up and down, then her eyes suddenly lit up: "You're the Dr. Ji who's pregnant with quadruplets? Isn't your brother Ji Jianshe, the greenhouse farmer?"
Ji Xiaosong didn't expect her to ask that, and nodded: "Yes."
"Oh! Please, have a seat!" Zhou's mother suddenly became enthusiastic, pushing aside her other daughter who was sitting on the stool. "Xiao Juan, move aside! Let Dr. Ji sit down!"
Ji Xiaosong stood there awkwardly: "No need, I'll leave now. Xiaomei, remember to give your sister her medicine on time."
"Wait!" Zhou's mother grabbed her arm. "Dr. Ji, I heard your brother doesn't have a girlfriend yet? Our Xiaomei is a full-time employee at the textile factory, earning twenty-eight yuan and fifty cents a month!"
"Mom!" Zhou Xiaomei blushed deeply with embarrassment.
Ji Xiaosong then realized that Zhou's mother had already heard about her third brother from the matchmaker.
She calmly withdrew her hand: "Marriage is a serious matter, I'll be going now."
Back at the clinic, Ji Xiaosong kept thinking about the Zhou sisters.
The next day, she made a special trip to the textile factory to find out about Zhou Xiaomei's situation from the factory manager.
"Xiaomei is a good girl," the factory manager sighed. "She's efficient at her work and never slacks off. It's just that her family... sigh, her parents take all her wages, leaving her only two yuan for food. Her younger sister, Xiaofang, is only sixteen, but she's also forced to come to work. She fainted from hunger yesterday."
Ji Xiaosong's heart clenched: "Where are her parents?"
"Her father works for a transport team, but he only works sporadically. Her mother spends all her time gossiping, and the family relies entirely on Xiaomei to make ends meet." The factory manager shook his head. "I heard they've been trying to find her a boyfriend recently, but the dowry they're asking for is shockingly high, which has scared away several young men."