CHAPTER 220: CHAPTER 220: MILITARY DISTRICT HOSPITAL

Mr. Yue Sr. nodded, his eyes deep with thought, not sure what he was contemplating.

Lin Xiang hurried back to her bed, only to find that the wealthy woman she had argued with earlier after boarding was now sitting on her bed, quarreling with Mrs. Lin.

Mrs. Lin, apparently unused to such altercations, was so angry she was trembling all over.

Lin Xiang quickly approached her, gently rubbing Mrs. Lin’s back with her right hand to calm her, "Mom, what happened?"

Upon hearing Lin Xiang’s voice, Mrs. Lin felt extremely aggrieved, and tears began streaming down her face with a blink, "Just after you left, this person came over, saw your bed was empty, and lay down without a word."

At that time, Mrs. Lin was fast asleep and didn’t notice. When she woke up and discovered someone on Lin Xiang’s bed, she immediately asked them to make room, but the wealthy woman not only refused but also cursed Mrs. Lin thoroughly.

It seemed as though she was venting the anger she had towards Lin Xiang on Mrs. Lin.

Seeing the mother and daughter sitting together, the wealthy woman smugly said, "Now that I’m lying here, this berth is mine. I see you two have such a great relationship, and your daughter is thin as a stick, you might as well squeeze together."

This time, there wasn’t even the twenty yuan offered for exchanging berths, it was purely a forceful takeover.

Lin Xiang held Mrs. Lin’s hand, "Mom, just wait here for me, I’ll step out for a while and be right back."

Lin Xiang went straight to the train conductor and explained the situation truthfully.

The train conductor was still shocked by the foreign guests’ earlier reluctance to cause trouble upon Lin Xiang’s criticism. Hearing that someone had taken Lin Xiang’s berth, he immediately went over with her.

"Is it you again?" Upon seeing the wealthy woman lying on the bed, the train conductor furrowed his brows, "I recall telling you, every train ticket has a corresponding seat. The holder of this berth ticket is currently Comrade Lin Xiang. Without her consent, you cannot take it."

"She agreed! I even gave her twenty yuan just now!" the wealthy woman retorted with a roll of her eyes, "A train ticket is only twelve yuan fifty, I gave them twenty, making a clean profit of seven yuan fifty. So now they’re not admitting it?"

Mrs. Lin burst out, "You’re talking nonsense! When you came over with money the first time, we directly refused you! This time you didn’t consult anyone and forcibly took my daughter’s bed without paying a single cent!"

"In the end, it’s all about money." The wealthy woman continued to sneer, "In that case, I’ll give it to you."

Saying so, she pulled out a banknote from her crossbody bag and tossed it at Mrs. Lin, "Twenty yuan was the price when you boarded; now halfway through the journey, ten yuan seems fair enough, doesn’t it?"

The banknote flew in the air for a bit before gently floating to the ground.

But no one went to pick it up.

Mrs. Lin’s eyes burned red with anger.

Bullying, it’s just too much bullying!

Lin Xiang turned her head to the train conductor, "The reason I temporarily left my berth, you should know why. But now my berth has been taken, surely I can’t stand for the remainder of the journey?"

The train conductor wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, "Of course not. Rest assured, Comrade Lin Xiang, this berth is yours, no one can take it away!"

He used his intercom to call three female conductors, and with their joint effort, they forcibly removed the wealthy woman from the bed.

"Let go of me! I’ve already paid to buy this berth!"

"You think the train is your home? Saying you paid for it means you paid for it? Where did you learn this corrupt behavior? Beware, I’ll report you to the authorities and ensure you can never take a train again!"

Threatened by the train conductor, the wealthy woman seemed to recall something and ceased causing trouble, cooperating with the conductors to return to her compartment.

Then the train conductor had someone return the bedding and sheets to Lin Xiang. After everything was tidied up, Lin Xiang finally sat on her bed.

Mrs. Lin then picked up the banknote from the ground, holding it up to ask Lin Xiang, "Girl, what should we do with this money?"

"Just set it aside for now; if she doesn’t come back for it later, we can hand it over to the train conductor before we disembark."

The wealthy woman was clearly unreasonable—if they actually kept this money, wouldn’t they be giving her the space to make up stories?

Mrs. Lin listened to Lin Xiang and pressed the money under a cup, then stuffed the two luggage bags wholesale to Lin Xiang, "You’re not going out now, are you? I need to use the restroom; watch the bags carefully."

"Go ahead."

The rest of the night passed without further incidents.

Lin Xiang lay on the bed, while the hallway lights were already turned off, and the train swayed lightly, coaxing her into sleep.

By noon the next day, the train finally reached the station.

Lin Xiang stood up, stretching her body after a night of confined rest, "Mom, we should get off."

Mrs. Lin crammed the last half of an egg into her mouth, followed by a gulp of water, and then stepped off the train with Lin Xiang.

Since they were in a sleeper bed and didn’t have much luggage, it didn’t take long to exit the station.

Beijing Railway Station was at least three times bigger than Mianyang Town’s station. It was Lin Xiang’s first time here, completely unfamiliar.

Following the station’s signs, she led Mrs. Lin out of the platform.

There were rickshaws parked outside the station, and Lin Xiang hailed one with Mrs. Lin, "To the military hospital!"

The major commander had mentioned on the phone that her brother was hospitalized at the military hospital.

"Alright, hold on tight, we’re setting off now."

The distance from the railway station to the military hospital was somewhat far; Lin Xiang glanced at her watch now and then, and it took roughly over forty minutes to reach the hospital.

With the sun overhead, ready to melt anyone in its path, Lin Xiang paid the fare as they alighted and hurriedly pulled Mrs. Lin into the hospital.

Heading straight for the nurse’s station, Lin Xiang asked, "Nurse, is there a patient named Lin Yun? We’re his family, specially coming over from the hometown to visit him."

"Alright, please hold on, I’ll check for you."

Shortly, the nurse pointed to the stairs, "You can go up the stairs to the third floor, turn right, and the fifth ward on the right hosts Comrade Lin Yun."

"Thank you so much."

After expressing her gratitude, Lin Xiang led Mrs. Lin up the stairs.

Throughout the way, Mrs. Lin kept looking around, "Girl, this city hospital is really nice, much bigger than our town’s hospital!"

Lin Xiang chuckled.

"This is Beijing’s hospital, and it’s a military hospital. Naturally, it’s better than our Mianyang Town’s hospital. The fifth ward on the right... here it is!"

Lin Xiang didn’t rashly push the door open but stood at the entrance, peeking through the semi-transparent glass on the door to glance inside.

Indeed, someone was lying on the sickbed, whether asleep or still unconscious was uncertain.