This time, Lin Yao's disguise was relatively mild, only changing his hairstyle and skin color, which made him look less like a dejected gangster. Among the group of people with less-than-ideal skin, he looked quite good.
The cold weather did not dampen the residents' enthusiasm. There were many pedestrians on the streets, and the merchants' advertisements and promotional activities were in full swing. Occasionally, loudspeakers would broadcast tempting announcements such as "Don't miss this opportunity" and "Clearance sale."
Lin Yao felt very happy. He was satisfied with his current life, and he guessed his parents were too. Seeing the pedestrians on the street, some hurrying and some strolling leisurely, he could also feel their happiness—a happiness that was either busy or tense.
Yes, it's so good to be alive!
Lin Yao, having boarded a taxi, planned to quickly take in the city and its people. The driver was very talkative, his authentic Northeastern accent was pleasant to listen to, and he chatted enthusiastically about all sorts of things, his witty remarks making Lin Yao burst out laughing.
The talkative driver clearly liked the quiet young man, and having a good listener made him even more excited.
"Huh." The driver slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. Lin Yao noticed a crowd gathered on the side of the street ahead. Passersby paused briefly before continuing on their way. In the gaps between the crowd, an old man in coarse cotton clothes was lying on the ground.
The driver hesitated for a moment, the taxi was moving at a snail's pace, and his head was resting on Lin Yao's left shoulder. His worried expression showed that he was a kind-hearted man.
"Go down and take a look?" Lin Yao's voice was very soft, as if he were talking to himself.
"Okay, okay, okay." The driver nodded like a chick pecking at rice, his loud voice making Lin Yao's left ear go numb.
The taxi driver quickly parked the car and rushed out. His agile figure didn't look like that of a middle-aged man who weighed at least 180 pounds.
Lin Yao got out of the car and noticed that he was on Taiping Street, in front of the East Market Post Office. The crowd parted, and the driver rushed to the old woman's side, helping her sit down on the ground, her back against his knees as he squatted down.
The old man's eyes were tightly closed, his complexion was very bad, and his lips were somewhat bluish. Lin Yao rushed over and squatted down to take his pulse.
Lin Yao quickly concluded that the old man had diabetes and also suffered from severe rheumatism, indicating that his health had deteriorated to a very bad state.
The driver didn't say anything and simply dragged the old man into the taxi. Lin Yao helped settle the old man in and then injected a little bit of medicinal gas from the grass tendrils that was beneficial to the pancreas into the old man's body. It was difficult to get the grass to release effective medicinal gas, and he had to talk to it. Besides, Lin Yao was very frugal, since the old man's condition could be treated by modern medicine, and he didn't need to do favors indiscriminately.
The driver took the taxi directly to the entrance of Yanji City Hospital. The elderly man had woken up but was still somewhat weak. Lin Yao helped the driver assist him into the hospital and completed the registration procedures.
"Please pay the fees. Pay 2,000 yuan first, and prepare for hospitalization." A middle-aged female doctor wearing a chief physician badge instructed them while handing the prepared prescription to the driver and Lin Yao.
"Brother, this, I only have two hundred and forty here..." The driver looked at Lin Yao with some difficulty, holding the bill. The old man was still confused and could not speak clearly, so there was no way to contact his family immediately.
"I'll go pay the bill, you come with me." Lin Yao said and went to pay the bill. The hospital accepts cards, so this amount of money was nothing.
After paying the internet fee, the elderly man was arranged for emergency treatment. The taxi driver, who had to make a living, said goodbye and left without exchanging names or contact numbers with Lin Yao. This kind-hearted act seemed ordinary to them, and their mutual appreciation remained only in their hearts. On the surface, they acted as casually as acquaintances.
"Who is the culprit?" A sharp female voice rang out at the entrance of the endocrinology department, interrupting Lin Yao's thoughts. He was admiring the serious and focused work of the endocrinologists.
Looking up, Lin Yao saw the loud and boisterous woman. For a moment, he couldn't connect her to him, and he just found the heavily made-up woman annoying.
The woman looked to be in her thirties. Her good features were obscured by a ton of makeup, giving her an inexplicably tacky appearance. Her shoulder-length hair, styled in curls and dyed blonde, had a somewhat withered look. She wore a brand-new down jacket and a fluffy white scarf, probably made of fox or mink fur.
At this moment, those thin, scarlet lips began to fire like a machine gun again, "Which heartless bastard hit my mother? Come out and explain yourself! If you hit someone, don't think you can just get away with it. Do you think you can get away with paying a deposit?"
Lin Yao didn't move, turning his head to continue watching the doctor's work, until the raging woman was brought in front of him by the chief physician, and only then did he realize that the woman was actually talking about him, the one who was utterly heartless.
Pointing to his own nose, Lin Yao stared wide-eyed at the chief physician in surprise, "You mean me? You must have made a mistake?"
"This gentleman brought the patient to the hospital. You two can talk slowly." The chief physician said and then left.
"You have to take responsibility!" The woman's voice became even sharper. She walked up to Lin Yao and grabbed his clothes, as if afraid he would run away. "You hit my mother, so you have to take responsibility. You have to pay for her hospitalization and treatment, as well as lost wages, physical injury compensation, and compensation for emotional distress. Oh, right, and also the nursing care we need to hire and the lost wages for both of us."
"Sister, you've got it wrong." Lin Yao stood up, his expression a mix of amusement and exasperation. "I saw the old man lying on the street after his illness, so I kindly helped take him to the hospital. I even paid for his hospitalization myself. And you're saying I hit him?"
"Of course you hit her! Would we falsely accuse you if you didn't hit her?" A male voice interrupted Lin Yao, rushing to the woman's side and pointing at him, shouting, "Kid, don't even think about running away from this accident! You have to take responsibility for your actions. If anything happens to my mother, I'll never forgive you!"
Looking at the middle-aged fat man who had suddenly joined in, Lin Yao felt nauseous at the sight of his ruddy face and the fat piled up on his head. How could he accuse someone so wrongly without even knowing the facts?
"Sir and Madam, I think you've made a mistake. I didn't hit anyone. Your mother collapsed on the street for some reason, and I kindly asked a taxi driver to take her to the hospital for emergency treatment. You can't wrong me." Lin Yao understood the family's anxiety and explained kindly.
"If it wasn't you, then who was it? It was you!" The woman's shrill voice rang out again, spitting as she flew towards Lin Yao's face. "We will never wrong anyone; you must take responsibility!"
"Ma'am, what evidence do you have that I hit her? I was just trying to help." Lin Yao was getting angry at this unreasonable behavior. The other party wouldn't listen to his explanation at all. "Go ask that old lady and see if I hit her."
"Of course, we came to find you after asking the old man. Do you think you can hide from us?" The woman's words plunged Lin Yao into an ice cave. Wasn't this a complete distortion of the truth?
Undeterred, Lin Yao followed a male and female family member to the ward. The old woman's apologetic gaze and hesitant expression evoked sympathy in Lin Yao, but the words that came out of her mouth ignited Lin Yao's anger: "It was him, he hit me, I grabbed him to prevent him from running away."
Lin Yao stared at the old man without saying a word. How could this man spout such nonsense? How could he spread rumors and slander his savior?
"Old man, speak with your conscience." Lin Yao's voice was cold, and his heart was cold as well. "I kindly saved your life. If it weren't for me and that driver, you would probably be lying on the street in an accident right now. How can you go against your conscience and slander me?"
The old man looked up at Lin Yao, his face full of apology. His lips moved, but no sound came out. Then he turned to look at the middle-aged man and woman beside the hospital bed, lowered his head in fear, and squeezed out a few words, "It was him, he hit me."
Lin Yao took in that fleeting expression and immediately understood many things. Beside the bed were the old man's son and daughter-in-law. Judging from their clothes and the old man's coarse old cotton clothes, it was obvious that the old man had not been well taken care of at home. Such a heartless slander against him was probably instigated by his daughter-in-law to try to get him to pay the medical bills.
"I'm going to make a call." Lin Yao didn't say anything, took out his phone to dial, but the middle-aged man snatched the phone away.
"We can't do it. You need to pay 20,000 yuan to the hospital first, and we can talk about the rest later." The man was very arrogant.
"I didn't bring that much money. I need to contact a friend to send some." Lin Yao had no more intention of wasting time with them and wanted to contact Yi Yang to handle the problem. This experience made him feel utterly hopeless. He had done a good deed but ended up being the perpetrator. Was there no justice in the world?
“You have money, you brought your card.” The woman’s sharp voice lowered slightly, her tone somewhat smug. “I asked the cashier, and the 2,000 yuan you paid for hospitalization was also paid by card.”
Lin Yao jumped up, stared at the middle-aged man and woman without saying a word, then turned to look at the old man on the bed receiving an IV drip, and said through gritted teeth, "Are you really trying to extort money from me? Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"
The old man turned away, looked down at the ground, and the only response he gave Lin Yao was a humming sound coming from the woman's nostrils.
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