In recent days, Ye Weidong had been trying to mortgage with the bank to cover Ye Qiu's overdue hospital fees. Despite spending so much time on it, the bank still had not transferred the funds.
He hadn't expected that Ye Qiu would actually treat the deputy mayor's precious daughter, and moreover, cure her, thus waiving the tens of thousands in fees owed.
Is this really his son?
Ye Weidong found it difficult to believe.
But he was well aware that his son's academic performance was very poor, not to mention having learned any medical skills.
Ye Weidong was truly baffled but felt a sudden relief that the tens of thousands didn't need to be paid anymore.
Around two in the morning, after a day's hustle, the porridge and noodle shop could finally close and everyone could go home to rest.
From four in the morning, Ye Weidong would get up to buy meat and vegetables at the market, then around five, Chen Fang and Ye Xue would help start preparing breakfast.
Before Ye Qiu's car accident, given his poor academic performance, his parents never imagined that he could go to university, so they would also wake him up early to help with breakfast.
So much so that until after six in the morning, his clothes would still be greasy, before he headed to Jiangbei No. 3 Middle School for classes.
The breakfast rush lasted until after eight, and from around nine o'clock, they would start the porridge and noodle business, which would then transition into fast food service from ten in the morning until past two in the afternoon.
During this time, it was Ye Weidong, Chen Fang, and Ye Xue who were kept busy.
During the lull in customers after two in the afternoon, Ye Weidong and Chen Fang, or Ye Xue, could take turns resting before the business picked up again after five, serving porridge, noodles, and dinner fast food.
Then, towards seven or eight in the evening, Ye Weidong's barbecue stall traffic would begin.
The porridge and noodle shop's sales were thin but high volume, earning not much money; possibly after a whole morning spent making breakfast, the four of them wouldn't clear two hundred yuan.
Day in and day out, year after year, life for Ye Weidong's family and the porridge and noodle shop went on like this. It was very tough, but Ye Weidong felt that life was still manageable.
After the current bustle, Ye Weidong and Ye Xue were thoroughly exhausted, especially Ye Xue, who was still limping. Ye Qiu thought she was having a hard time.
The Ye Qiu of the past was always very quiet, barely speaking to anyone except two classmates in school, including his own parents and sister.
Now, seeing his sister untie her apron and roll down her sleeves, preparing to take them home to wash after a day's work left them greasy and oily.
"Sister, let me carry you home!" Seeing Ye Xue limp, Ye Qiu suddenly stopped and said.
"Carry me? Ye Qiu, you haven't fully recovered from your accident, how can you carry your sister?" Ye Xue asked in surprise.
She had always cared deeply for her younger brother, it's just that before now, Ye Qiu seemed to have never spoken to her.
It had been like this since Ye Qiu finished junior high and started high school.
He didn't know if it was because his classmates talked about his limping sister that he gradually grew distant from her.
To think that now Ye Qiu was actually offering to carry her home, Ye Xue was truly astonished!
"Sister, I'm fine now!"
Ye Qiu said.
Ye Xue was still somewhat disbelieving, and she was well aware of the years of pain and inconvenience her limp had brought her. She didn't want her brother to suffer the same afflictions.
But Ye Qiu didn't give her a chance to say more, bending over to kneel down and then hoisting Ye Xue onto his back. With Ye Xue letting out a startled cry, Ye Qiu was already carrying her back to their old residential complex.
He Xiaoqing, who was following behind, felt something odd watching Ye Qiu do this.
Ye Weidong and Chen Fang, who were closing the shop, were equally surprised to see this scene.
Ye Qiu and his parents, along with his sister, lived in an old residential area previously built by a textile factory through collective funding, which by now was already twenty-five years old.
Thus, the buildings in this old residential area not only lacked elevators but also had no greenery, featuring only a not-so-large courtyard, while the walls of the old campus buildings had turned yellow and black, and some external walls had even started to peel off.
However, for the residents of this neighborhood, their most valuable possession might just be these apartments.
After carrying his sister for about fifteen minutes, Ye Qiu finally arrived at the entrance of the old textile factory neighborhood. There was no security guard at the door; one could simply open the door and enter.
Ye Qiu and his parents lived in apartment 503 on the fifth floor of building B, while He Xiaoqing and her parents lived in building D.
Now, upon entering, Ye Qiu carried his sister directly to the bottom of building B, where they could only ascend by the stairs.
Nowadays, Ye Qiu was just an ordinary human being, no longer the Immortal Doctor from the Imperial Medical World, plus the original Ye Qiu's body was really in poor condition.
Ye Qiu, carrying Ye Xue for a few hundred meters, became exhausted just like that!
Seeing Ye Qiu's state, Ye Xue felt an indescribable sense of emotion and said, "Ye Qiu, put me down, I can walk up the stairs by myself."
Those stairs, which she had walked up and down for over a decade, were familiar to her. When she was younger, her parents used to carry her, but once she started elementary school and her parents got busier, they never again carried her up and down the stairs.
So, this time Ye Qiu carrying her was the first time she had been carried like that since she grew up.
"Sister, I'll carry you upstairs,"
Ye Qiu said.
He Xiaoqing, who was watching from outside, was still looking on.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Ye Xue looked at He Xiaoqing and said, "Xiaoqing, it's late, and you've also had a long day. Go back, take a shower, and rest."
He Xiaoqing was the daughter of the butcher He.
The butcher He and his wife were originally workers at the textile factory, but later they joined the slaughterhouse and would get up at four in the morning to haul one or two pigs to the vegetable market to sell.
He Xiaoqing didn't finish junior high school and started helping her father sell pork, continuing to do so to this day.
However, selling pork was busiest in the morning and afternoon, and by seven or eight in the evening, they were usually done.
After finishing selling the pork, He Xiaoqing would go over to the porridge and noodle shop to help Ye Xue.
But there was a reason for this.
Ye Qiu did not look at He Xiaoqing and instead rested for a moment before carrying Ye Xue upstairs.
Step by step, after nearly five minutes, he finally arrived at the door of apartment 503. As Ye Qiu set down his sister, Ye Xue gave him a white look and said, "Carrying me like that just now, Xiaoqing must be jealous."
"Sister, Xiaoqing and I have nothing to do with each other,"
Ye Qiu said.
Ye Qiu was well aware that because the original owner of this body had not done well academically, his parents had already found him a future bride early on.
And since Ye Weidong and his wife had a good relationship with the butcher He and his wife, and He Xiaoqing also wasn't able to continue her studies, things progressed in such a way that they planned for Ye Qiu to marry He Xiaoqing after finishing high school when they came of age to marry.
There was another very important reason.
Although Ye Xue was beautiful and had suitors, Ye Weidong and his wife knew very well that if Ye Xue married into any of those families, due to her disabled foot, she would definitely be bullied. Therefore, they preferred for Ye Xue to remain unmarried and stay at home for life.
That way, after Ye Qiu married He Xiaoqing, Ye Xue would have someone to take care of her.
The original Ye Qiu seemed to be oblivious to his parents' intentions, but he did not take any notice. However, the current Ye Qiu was no longer the same person, and how could he possibly accept such an arranged marriage by his parents?