Chapter 120: Melon! So sweet!
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
Zhang Fan had a large number of relatives. He had to go visit them all. He wouldn’t have been able to attend college without their financial support. Now that he had a girlfriend and a better life, he absolutely had to go and thank them for their previous help!
“Little Rock’s become successful. His parents will have a good time in the future!” Zhang Fan’s aunt and uncle stood at the door as they watched Zhang Fan and Shao Hua leave after a visit.
“Yeah, how long has it even been? He already has a car and a girlfriend. My younger sister is finally seeing her time now. Jingshu’s grades are so excellent. Her children are both so wonderful,” Zhang Fan’s aunt exclaimed.
“Are you tired? You’re probably not used to this. That’s how things are here,” Zhang Fan said to Shao Hua on his car.
“I’m not tired. Your relatives are all quite nice. Just look, you’ve already received so many red packets from them. The only thing I’m not quite used to is that every meal here seems to have meat in it, with hardly any vegetables.”
“Silly girl, everyone is treating you as an honored guest. That’s why they’re all serving meat. Usually, we eat plenty of vegetables here as well. Alright, today’s mission is complete. You should rest well for these two days. After my sister finishes her college entrance exam, I’ll take you to tour the city.”
“It’s fine. Do you need to go meet up with your former classmates? Will it be convenient for you to take me? If it’s not convenient, I can stay at your home together with Jingshu.” Shao Hua smiled mischievously.
“No such thing! The classmates and friends I got along really well with have all gone to other places. I’m only passing acquaintances with the ones who stayed behind here, and rarely contact them.” Zhang Fan was too embarrassed to tell her the truth—only the best students would typically remain here. Since he had been a below average student, of course he didn’t know them well! Not only that, since he had been so busy with making money to pay for tuition during college, he wasn’t very well acquainted with his classmates.
Two days passed by quite quickly. It was now time for Zhang Jingshu to take her college entrance examination. She wasn’t nervous at all, and was in fact quite calm. However, Zhang Fan’s parents were incredibly nervous. For Lan City, the testing location just happened to be at Zhang Jingshu’s high school. Zhang Fan and Shao Hua drove Zhang Jingshu to the exam location super early. Zhang Jingshu didn’t allow her parents to come!
Before Zhang Jingshu went inside, Zhang Fan held her hand and told her, “Jingshu, relax your mind. Even if you don’t do well, there’s no problem at all. I’ll take care of you. Don’t feel any pressure.”
“Yep, no problem, Brother. I don’t feel any pressure. I’ve been eating and sleeping well over the past two years. I’m always ranked in the top three in my school for grades. Just wait for my good news. You and Sister-in-law should go back now. It will become really hot soon.”
“No need to mind us. Go now! Good luck!”
“Jingshu! Good luck! Your brother and I will be waiting for your good news. Good luck!”
Shao Hua glanced at the front entrance of Zhang Jingshu’s high school as she went in. Shao Hua exclaimed, “I’m so envious of Jingshu. She has such a nice brother. When I was younger, I really wished for an older brother as well.”
“Haha, Jingshu’s grades are so good. She should be able to get a good score!” Zhang Fan didn’t hear what Shao Hua said, as he was only thinking about his sister right now. Although he told her not to be nervous, he was actually really nervous himself.
In China, the annual college entrance examination was one of the most important turning points in a person’s life. This would be the easiest and fairest way up for a commoner—to do good on this exam and get into an excellent college.
Yes, you might also succeed without having an excellent starting point—if you worked and fought hard enough. However, those who succeeded in such a way would best know the difficulties and bitterness involved. That was why the annual college entrance examination was so important for commoners.
Zhang Fan drove Shao Hua all around Lan City. They also took a look at the newly constructed buildings, but didn’t ask about the price. They simply drove around the city with no particular goal. “Don’t worry too much. Jingshu should be fine. Besides, even if you worry, it won’t do any good. You should just properly look at the new buildings. I feel like this place is pretty nice. The nearby districts are all fully developed. It should be quite convenient for your parents to come live here,” Shao Hua told Zhang Fan.
“Let’s just look for now. I haven’t even talked to my parents yet. I don’t know what they’ll think. Sigh, I doubt that they’ll be willing to come back to Chasu City with us, and even if I buy a new home for them, I’m not going to tell them until I pay the deposit.”
Zhang Fan had reserved a hotel near Zhang Jingshu’s high school long ago. Zhang Jingshu had a really happy expression as she exited, so Zhang Fan felt more reassured. They all ate lunch together and immediately went to the hotel to rest for a while. Zhang Fan didn’t dare to ask how she had done on the test, but Zhang Jingshu told Shao Hua, “Sister-in-law, the questions this year were really easy. I think that I can get around 130 points in Chinese 1 .”
“Really? Jingshu, you’re amazing. Keep this up, and do a good job on the math exam this afternoon.”
“Yep, indeed. Don’t think about the Chinese exam from this morning anymore. Rest well at the hotel after lunch; Shao Hua can accompany you. I’ll go walk around outside. Relax and have a good nap. We’ll wake you up when it’s time for the afternoon portion of the exam.” Zhang Fan had been listening to the conversation. He felt even better when he heard Jingshu saying that she had done well.
Later that afternoon, Zhang Fan and Shao Hua took Jingshu back to her high school testing center again. Not long after Jingshu went inside, they heard someone near the high school entrance shouting, “Hurry and call an ambulance!”
Zhang Fan was particularly sensitive to the word “ambulance”. He turned around, and faintly saw the figure of someone who’d collapsed on the ground in the middle of a crowd.
“Let me go take a look,” Zhang Fan told Shao Hua.
“Okay! I’ll accompany you.”
“She was perfectly fine just now. How could this suddenly happen?!” a middle-aged woman who seemed to be acquainted with the patient said.
Zhang Fan went over and saw that a middle-aged woman had collapsed on the ground. She was completely unconscious and was twitching all over while frothing at the mouth. Her eyes were also rolled upwards. This woman required immediate medical attention; otherwise, she would be in grave danger.
“Please let me through, I’m a doctor. Hurry! It’s such a hot day, so please keep your distance. Who knows who she is? Hurry and contact her family members!”
It was a hot day, and it was the day of the annual college entrance examination. This woman who’d collapsed on the ground was having an epileptic seizure. Her teeth were tightly clenched, and there was blood among the white froth that she was spewing.
“This is bad. She might have bitten her tongue,” said Zhang Fan.
Zhang Fan couldn’t worry about how dirty the ground was right now. He kneeled by the collapsed woman’s side and told Shao Hua, “Go find some popsicle sticks for me.”
“Okay.” Right when Shao Hua turned around, a nearby middle-aged man who ran a stall selling cold confectionaries said, “Young man, how many popsicle sticks do you need?”
“Five!”
“Here are five sticks from ice cream bars. Hurry, take them.”
During these few sentences, Zhang Fan was already opening up the patient’s mouth while holding on to her lower jaw. He also tilted her head as he was worried that blood and saliva might cause her to suffocate.
“Luckily, she only bit a little portion of her tongue. Put all five sticks together and hand them to me.”
The middle-aged man swiftly handed the popsicle sticks to Zhang Fan. Zhang Fan placed the sticks between the woman’s teeth as she was currently grinding them. Compared to the teeth roots, the sticks were slightly thicker and larger, but wouldn’t be hard enough to break the woman’s teeth.
Not long after, the ambulance arrived. A doctor and two nurses got out from the ambulance. The doctor glanced at the patient on the ground, and then immediately told the nurses, “I need a medical gag! Hurry, the patient has epilepsy. We can’t let her suffocate to death.”
He then asked Zhang Fan, “Are you her family member? It seems that she often has seizures, and you must be used to dealing with them?”
The male doctor was unable to see the patient’s mouth and face clearly, because her face was tilted. However, he felt that Zhang Fan seemed rather professional about all this, so he asked this question in passing.
“A medical gag won’t be necessary. I already put a bite pad in her mouth. Hurry and take her to the hospital.”
“You already did all that?” The doctor was rather confused! Zhang Fan had been able to open up the mouth of an epileptic without a medical gag? That sounded ridiculous! He ignored Zhang Fan, and bent over to check on the patient himself.
“Oh! Bring the stretcher! A medical gag won’t be necessary! It’s already been dealt with. Dear family member, you should come along in the ambulance as well,” the doctor said to Zhang Fan after issuing some more commands to the nurses.
“I’m a doctor who’s on vacation. I just happened to deal with this as I passed by. I’m not her family member.”
“You opened her mouth with your bare hands?”
“Yeah!”
“Now’s not a good time to chat. If you have the time, come find me at the emergency department of Lan City Hospital. My name is Yang Shuheng. Please remember to come find me!”
The ambulance flashed its lights and sirens, and drove off with the epileptic patient. The nearby parents waiting for their children to finish the college entrance examination had heard the conversation between Zhang Fan and Doctor Yang, and they kept praising him. The confectionery selling middle-aged man gave two bottles with water to Zhang Fan, saying, “Not bad at all, young man. You’re skilled and have a good heart. Let me treat you to some water.”
Zhang Fan took one bottled water and handed the other to Shao Hua. “Thank you! I just happened to be passing by.” Zhang Fan really had gotten a bit thirsty from all this.
“Sigh! Your passing by might have saved a life.”
“I know, I know!” Others in the crowd agreed.
“Young man, here, use this wet wipe to clean your pants. Look at your brand-new jeans, they’ve gotten so dirty. You really are such a nice person.” A woman who seemed like a parent handed Zhang Fan a packet of wet wipes.
“Thank you!”
Before he could say anything else, another person handed Zhang Fan two pieces of melon. “These are melons from the south, they’re really sweet! Just look at all that sweat on you. Hurry and have some. That woman you treated is the mother of one of my daughter’s classmates. Sigh, her daughter owes so much to you. How would she have been able to calmly take the exam otherwise~!”
There was no helping it. Zhang Fan was unable to remain here. He constantly thanked everyone for their gifts as he pulled Shao Hua out of the crowd.
“I’m so proud of you!” Shao Hua grabbed Zhang Fan and voluntarily kissed him for the first time ever in a place with nobody around!
It tasted sweet, just like melon!
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