Difficult To Raise Chapter 10
byChapter 10: The Accident
Time flies forward relentlessly, leaving no room for a moment’s rest. In the blink of an eye, Jiang Ran had entered his final year of High School.
His grades had improved significantly over the past two years. At this rate, getting into a public university would be more than achievable. Jiang Ran had already planned to apply to a local school, making it easier to look after Jiang Jin and Old Man Chen.
He could apply for a Student Loan for tuition and repay it slowly after he started working. This would save more money for Jiang Jin, ensuring he could support him until he graduated from university.
Jiang Jin was still in Junior High, fourteen years old, and shooting up in height. His appetite was growing too. Even though he ate enough during the day, he occasionally woke up hungry in the middle of the night. Jiang Ran would have to fight off sleepiness to get up and cook him a bowl of noodles, adding an egg.
His cooking skills hadn’t improved much over the years—it was merely edible—but Jiang Jin was never picky and always ate with gusto.
Both of them had grown taller, and sleeping in the same bed was getting a bit cramped. Furthermore, due to certain physiological reactions typical of teenage boys, Jiang Ran often felt awkward, secretly getting up early countless mornings to wash his underwear.
He started thinking about sleeping in separate rooms again. Once, he hesitantly brought it up with Jiang Jin, but Jiang Jin absolutely refused. He threw a tantrum whenever the subject was mentioned, claiming he couldn’t sleep alone.
Jiang Ran had no choice but to figure out a solution, eventually buying a bunk bed. Jiang Jin slept on the bottom, and he slept on the top.
However, eight out of ten times, Jiang Jin would sneakily climb onto his bed with his pillow after Jiang Ran fell asleep. Jiang Ran told him off a few times, and each time Jiang Jin would agree, saying he understood, but he always went back to his old ways. Jiang Ran couldn’t do anything about it and eventually let it go.
That morning, from the moment Jiang Ran opened his eyes, his eyelid twitched uncontrollably. He felt an inexplicable sense of panic in his heart, a feeling that something bad was about to happen. He didn’t say anything, but his movements betrayed his anxiety.
Jiang Jin noticed his unease—he observed everything about Jiang Ran meticulously. He reached out and touched his eyelid, comforting him, “I heard that a twitching left eye means you’ll strike it rich. Your left eye is twitching, Ge, maybe the heavens are giving you a hint. Why don’t we buy a lottery ticket later?”
Jiang Jin leaned in close, his fair face smiling. The boy’s skin was as smooth as a peeled egg, with barely visible pores.
Jiang Ran was momentarily stunned by his overly delicate face. Snapping back to reality, he smiled and joked, “You Little Money Grubbing Fellow. If I really strike it rich one day, I’ll let you live in a huge villa and drive a luxury car, how about that?”
To his surprise, Jiang Jin suddenly stopped smiling and asked seriously, “Will you be in that big villa, Gege?”
Jiang Ran teased him, “Your villa will naturally house your wife and children. Where would there be room for me?”
Jiang Jin frowned upon hearing this. “Then I don’t want a big villa, and you shouldn’t strike it rich either. They say men go bad when they get rich, and Gege would even abandon me.”
Jiang Ran burst out laughing. “Do you know what you sound like right now?”
Jiang Jin asked, “Like what?”
Jiang Ran laughed heartily, “Like a little wife who’s been wronged.”
*
After their playful banter, neither of them thought much of the strange feeling. However, not long after, as they headed out with their bags, the accident occurred.
It started when they saw Old Man Chen taking his morning stroll around the street corner. The old man was holding the breakfast he had bought. He spotted the two brothers and smiled, waving hello.
But before the two could respond, a speeding tricycle, like a mad beast, suddenly swerved onto the sidewalk and crashed straight toward the side of the road. People on the street screamed and scrambled to get out of the way. Only the old man, walking slowly, was too late. By the time he realized what was happening, all he saw was the rapidly approaching front of the vehicle.
With a loud bang.
Blood splattered everywhere. The smile on the old man’s face hadn’t faded before his entire body collapsed onto the ground.
The breakfast he was holding flew out of his hand. Soy milk spilled everywhere, spreading a sticky white film that reminded Jiang Ran of the cream cake smeared all over the room on that birthday years ago.
“Someone’s been hit!” someone shouted in panic. “Call 120 quickly!”
“Is he still breathing?”
“Yes.”
The tricycle stopped, but the driver was slow to get out. Some kind-hearted onlookers blocked the vehicle, preventing it from driving away, shouting, “How are you driving?! Driving onto the sidewalk?”
“That’s truly wicked! An old man that age!”
“Oh my god, I hope he’s okay.”
…
Jiang Ran felt his head spin; he couldn’t hear anything. He rushed over like a ghost, reaching Old Man Chen, seeing his hands trembling incessantly, blood gushing from his mouth, and his whole body convulsing.
Jiang Ran didn’t dare touch him. He only checked his breathing, then fumbled with a shaking hand for his phone to call the emergency services.
But perhaps because he was too nervous, or too scared, his fingers were shaking so badly that he couldn’t dial correctly after several tries. Finally, Jiang Jin snatched the phone, dialed the number, and calmly relayed the details of the accident and the location to the operator.
After hanging up, he saw Jiang Ran’s red-rimmed eyes. With a pang of heartache, he squeezed the back of his neck and whispered comfortingly, “Ge, don’t be afraid. He’ll be fine. He definitely will be fine.”
He repeated, “You still have me.”
After an unknown amount of time, the ambulance finally arrived. Medical staff lifted Old Man Chen onto a stretcher and loaded him into the vehicle. Jiang Ran and Jiang Jin followed them in.
The ambulance sped toward the hospital, the loud siren blaring in Jiang Ran’s ears. He unconsciously clenched his fists, the force so great that his nails dug deep into his flesh.
Jiang Jin reached over and gently separated his fingers one by one, lightly rubbing the red marks where he had dug in. He coaxed him softly, “Gege, calm down. Don’t scare yourself with wild thoughts. Nothing bad will happen, trust me.”
It was just like that birthday, when Jiang Ran had held him close and gently comforted him.
Jiang Ran snapped back to attention and grasped Jiang Jin’s hand, holding it tightly.
Upon reaching the hospital, a group of medical staff rushed the stretcher out and hurried Old Man Chen into the emergency room. Throughout the entire process, Jiang Ran’s mind was blank until Jiang Jin tugged at him and whispered, “Ge, did you bring money?”
Jiang Ran finally woke up as if from a deep dream. He pointed to his phone and stammered, “My phone… my bank card is linked to it.”
“Okay,” Jiang Jin said, trying to remain calm. “It might cost a lot of money, Ge.”
Jiang Ran gripped his phone, his heart tightening, and his face grew even paler.
Soon after, the police and the driver responsible for the accident arrived. Unexpectedly, the driver had a head of gray hair, looked about the same age as Old Man Chen, but was very thin and small. He wore a dark blue striped short-sleeved shirt, and his exposed skin was exceptionally dark, clearly indicating years of manual labor.
He followed the police with a pale face, trembling all over, looking utterly pathetic. The moment he saw Jiang Ran and Jiang Jin, his knees buckled, and he dropped to the ground, kneeling. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! The brakes failed! I… I have poor eyesight.”
His eyes were red, and tears were about to fall. He fumbled for a long time, pulling out a worn-out wallet. He opened the zipper; inside were only a few crumpled bills. “This is all the money I have. I’ll give it all to you. I have no choice! I have no choice! I have a son with cerebral palsy at home to take care of… I can’t go to jail. If I go in, he won’t survive. I beg you! I’m kneeling to you!”
“Please, have mercy? I really didn’t mean to.”
The old man wiped his tears as he spoke, looking incredibly pitiful, more like a victim than Jiang Ran and Jiang Jin.
Jiang Ran stared at him blankly. In that moment, he felt a massive sense of powerlessness wash over him.
If the person had been a young man, Jiang Ran would have rushed over without hesitation and beaten him severely, venting his rage. But the person was just a frail, elderly man. What could he do? Beat him to death?
“Who are you kneeling to here?” Jiang Jin gritted his teeth. “You’re the most pitiful one? We owe you something? Our old man is still lying in the emergency room, and you think you can just write it off with an ‘I have no choice’?”
The old man paused his kowtowing motion. He lowered his head, wiped his tears with his sleeve, and his voice was hoarse. “I know I’m wrong… but I really don’t have money, and I have no ability…”
Jiang Jin clenched his fists, glaring at him. “Shut up! Don’t say useless things!”
The police officer nearby was a middle-aged man with an upright demeanor. He seemed used to such situations and didn’t even blink. He just said, “What he’s saying is true. He has a son with cerebral palsy, and no other relatives. The family can’t afford much money.”
Jiang Ran looked at him with bloodshot eyes.
The officer struggled to continue, finally sighing. “Prepare yourselves mentally. To be honest, in situations like this, you can only consider yourselves unlucky. Even if you win a lawsuit…”
He didn’t finish the rest of the sentence, but Jiang Ran understood perfectly. The driver was definitely at fault, but someone like him, even if sued successfully, simply wouldn’t have the money to pay compensation. All they would get was an extra legal fee with no other gain.
“Is there no other way?” Jiang Jin asked. “Like car insurance?”
“Theoretically, yes, but the old man doesn’t understand any of that and didn’t buy any to begin with.” The officer gave a wry smile. “We don’t support driving these kinds of vehicles. They dart around the city, and the safety risks are too high. But for old people like him, they rely on this to make a living. We can’t completely ban it.”
Hearing this, Jiang Ran felt almost despairing. Even Jiang Jin fell silent. The emergency costs, the subsequent treatment fees—they were like a massive mountain pressing down on the shoulders of the two boys, suffocating them.
The officer offered a few more words of comfort, but knowing such words were meaningless, he eventually fell silent.
Perhaps such incidents were truly too common. The police officer didn’t stay long and left. He had witnessed too much human suffering; even if he had some sympathy left, it had mostly been worn away.
Only Jiang Ran and Jiang Jin remained in the hospital corridor. The smell of disinfectant permeated the air, particularly pungent. Jiang Ran paced back and forth in the corridor, each step feeling like he was treading on cotton. He repeatedly asked Jiang Jin, “Little Jin, Grandpa Chen will be okay, right? He will, won’t he?”
“He will be fine,” Jiang Jin repeated patiently.
“What if… what if he can’t be cured?” Jiang Ran asked, his lips trembling.
“He won’t,” Jiang Jin pulled him over and hugged him, hoping to soothe his panic. “Gege, no matter what happens, you still have me. I will always be with you.”
He was a head shorter than Jiang Ran, but in the face of trouble, he was much calmer, as if his presence alone could block all storms. In this moment, their roles seemed to have completely reversed.
The light above the emergency room stayed on for four full hours. It finally went out in the afternoon.
The doctor walked out, looking exhausted. He was clearly surprised to see the two boys waiting at the door, then softened his tone. “The patient is temporarily out of danger, but we need to observe him further. He is very old, and his body is weak.”
He looked at the boys’ red eyes and haggard faces, hesitated, and then asked, “Does the patient have any other family members?”
Jiang Ran silently shook his head.
The doctor sighed, his tone troubled. “Given his current condition, he needs to be observed in the ICU for a few days. The cost will certainly not be low. You… you need to give us a definitive answer on whether you intend to proceed with treatment.”
“Can he be cured?” Jiang Jin immediately pressed.
The doctor was honest. “No one can guarantee that. I can only say that if you decide to treat him, there is still hope of saving him.”
The implication was that if they chose not to treat him, there would be no hope at all.