C3 The Sow Was Pulled away

The sight caused Yun Buhui's heart to wrench with a familiar pain. It was the plight of the poor. A common saying goes, "The rich have distant relatives in the mountain village, while the poor are ignored on the streets!" And it was painfully true. Who would bother with someone as destitute as him?

Despondently, he slumped against the gate, unsure of his next move. Should he just leap over the wall? But what good would that do? Would Dr. Hu agree to treat his mother just because he trespassed? As despair threatened to overwhelm him, a squeak pierced the silence—the door to Dr. Hu's house opened, and someone emerged.

It was a young woman around his age. Despite the encroaching darkness, Yun Buhui recognized her immediately: Hu Feiyan—Dr. Hu's daughter and his former classmate from elementary and middle school. They had gone their separate ways in high school, attending different institutions. They had been close as children, often playing together, making them quite the pair of childhood friends.

"Yun Buhui, I'm so sorry about my dad. Please don't take it to heart. I'll open the gate for you. Don't worry, I'll make sure he visits your mother," Feiyan said, pushing the gate open.

"Thank you!" was all Yun Buhui could muster. A thousand thoughts and emotions were reduced to those two simple words.

Dr. Hu was in a bind. His daughter had outmaneuvered him, leaving the gate wide open. Of all his family, she was the one he could never refuse. After she entered and caught his eye, she issued an ultimatum, "If you don't treat Buhui's mother, I won't acknowledge you as my father anymore."

Dr. Hu's mouth twitched involuntarily before he finally exhaled a resigned sigh. "Girls are so assertive these days! Fine, I'll go." At his words, not only did Yun Buhui's face light up with relief, but Hu Feiyan's smile also spread, reflecting a shared sense of triumph.

"Hu Feiyan, I'm leaving this chicken for you to stew," Yun Buhui said as he handed the chicken he was carrying over to Hu Feiyan.

"Buhui, you should take it back and use it to help your aunt regain her strength. I'll make time to visit her in a few days!" Upon hearing this, Yun Buhui looked at her with renewed gratitude.

Dr. Hu sped off on his motorcycle without any indication that he would offer Yun Buhui a ride. Hu Feiyan was visibly frustrated by this, stamping her feet in irritation. Yun Buhui, however, reassured her with a dismissive wave, saying it was no problem and that he could use the opportunity to get in a good run.

Moments after Dr. Hu's motorcycle vanished from sight, Yun Buhui breathed a sigh of relief, convinced that his mother's life was now out of danger with Dr. Hu on his way to her.

It took him over ten minutes to make his way back home. But before he could even step inside, he was met with the sound of a heated argument: "Enough talk. If you want medical treatment, pay up first. Why should I treat you without payment? I'm not running a charity here. Do you think this is a welfare office? My medicine isn't free, and without your payment, how am I supposed to treat anyone? If everyone acted like you, I'd be bankrupt!"

"Dr. Hu, please, have a heart and look at the illness. We've got a litter of piglets outside, and the price for pigs is climbing by the day. It won't be long before we can sell them and I'll surely pay you back. I've always settled my debts with you in the past..."

"Forget the past. Every time I've treated your family, it's been months of delay. You think I'm made of money? Even the wealthy would be ruined by such delays. Enough excuses. Either pay your debt or give me something as collateral. It's only fair to pay what you owe. If you don't pay, I won't treat you."

Upon hearing this, Yun Buhui's father fell to his knees, pleading, "Dr. Hu, I beg you, Buhui's mother is struggling to breathe. Please, do something. She won't last much longer. We're talking about a human life here. I'm begging you, please... have mercy and treat her."

While speaking, Yun Buhui's father began to kowtow on the ground. Dr. Hu wrinkled his nose and glanced at him, paying him no mind. "Spare me the useless talk. Do you have the money or not? If you're truly broke, I have a solution for you. You've got an old sow outside, right? I'll take that pig in exchange for covering the medical expenses. Don't worry, I won't touch your piglets. You can sell them for cash."

Yun Buhui's father was so incensed by Dr. Hu's brazen words that he nearly laughed. His piglets were less than three days old, still nursing from their mother. If the sow was taken away, how would the piglets survive? However, at that moment, his concern was not for the piglets but for his wife's illness.

"Fine, if you heal my wife, I'll give you whatever you want."

"Get this straight," Dr. Hu retorted, "that's the debt you previously owed me, and it's separate from this situation. I'm set on taking that sow, but the medical fees for this occasion are a separate charge!" Yun Buhui's father, who had been on the verge of laughter from anger, was now shaking with rage. The medical bills he owed amounted to merely three or five hundred, while his sow was worth no less than two thousand.

Dr. Hu's audacious demand left Yun Buhui's father at a loss for words.

"Don't feel shortchanged," Dr. Hu sneered. "You think I want your worthless sow? If you pay up now, I honestly won't bother with it."

Just then, Yun Buhui entered. His face was livid. Poverty had a way of making even the vilest of people look down on you. In that moment, he grasped the full weight of those words.

"Dr. Hu, please, attend to my mother's illness now. Our pig is easily worth two thousand yuan, and since you're so keen on having it, you can take it afterward. But please, see to my mother first." Holding back his fury, Yun Buhui helped his father to his feet.

"Listen here, Yun, what kind of talk is that? If you pay me back now, I won't lay a finger on the pig. But if you're broke, stop wasting my time with your talk. You claim it's worth two thousand, but to me, it's not even worth twenty. As for treating your mother, sure, I can do that. But I need the money up front before I treat her."

Yun Buhui clenched his fists in frustration, the urge to charge forward and give the other person a thrashing was overwhelming. However, he ultimately gritted his teeth and forcefully suppressed his rage, swallowing it back down.

Self-reliance is better than seeking help from others.

He fetched some cold water from outside and returned to his mother's side. Carefully, he took the pill from his pocket and placed it in her mouth. Then, he gently poured the water from the bowl into her mouth, ensuring she could swallow the medicine.