Chapter 7 The ointment is a bit expensive; it costs 100 yuan!

Ren Jing let out a yelp and leapt up, pointing at Su Jiaojiao and cursing loudly.

"Are you trying to kill yourself? Are you blind?"

The scalded area immediately began to blister.

Su Jiaojiao panicked, "I didn't do it on purpose, what should I do?"

Zhao Hua rushed into the kitchen like a whirlwind, grabbed the soy sauce bottle, and poured it over Ren Jing's legs.

"It's okay, it's okay, just pour some soy sauce."

"And vinegar, Jiaojiao, go get some."

All three of them were in a chaotic flurry, completely ignoring Lin Anning's words.

"Rinse with cold water!"

As they poured out all the soy sauce and vinegar, the pain only got worse instead of better.

Ren Jing was furious and pushed away the hands of Zhao Hua and Su Jiaojiao.

"Stop it, it's useless. Anning, help me, it really hurts terribly."

"Oh, right, right, right, didn't you learn some medical skills from your grandfather? Quick, check on your Aunt Ren."

Zhao Hua pulled Lin Anning over and pushed her in front of Ren Jing.

Lin Anning looked closely, frowning and sighing.

"The burn is quite severe; it's likely to scar."

Upon hearing this, Ren Jing's face went pale. She was famously concerned about her looks. What would she do if it left a scar?

"Anning, sweet child, Grandfather Lin is highly skilled in medicine. Since you've learned from him, you must have a way to cure it, right?"

There was a burn ointment in the pharmacy. Lin Anning pondered for a moment.

"Grandfather did prepare some ointment for me, but... it's a bit expensive! It costs a hundred yuan!"

Before Ren Jing could say anything, Su Jiaojiao interrupted Lin Anning abruptly.

"Sister, if Aunt Ren got burned in our house and you can cure her, how can you have the heart to ask for money?"

Zhao Hua was even more frightened by the shock of the hundred-yuan asking price and exclaimed in surprise.

"What kind of ointment is worth three months' salary for me and your dad? That's absolutely extortion!"

Lin Anning spread her hands, pretending to leave.

"To be precise, Aunt Ren was burned because of you. The medicine for the ointment was also purchased with money. If there isn't enough, I'll have to buy more ingredients. If you keep interfering, I'm afraid the burn ointment won't be of any use either..."

Ren Jing panicked and slapped the talkative Su Jiaojiao.

"It's all your fault. If I really get scarred, you can forget about ever entering the Huo Family's door."

Then she pulled a stack of money out of her purse and counted out ten bills for Lin Anning.

"Anning, don't listen to them. Hurry up and bring me the ointment, and prepare some extra if you can."

"Ouch, it's killing me."

Su Jiaojiao was stunned by the slap, standing there teary-eyed, on the verge of crying, looking at Zhao Hua.

"Mom..."

Although Zhao Hua was also upset, she could only give Su Jiaojiao a look, telling her to bear it.

Lin Anning took the money and helped Ren Jing into the kitchen, plunging her hand into a sink.

"What's with all this pouring, are we cooking? Soak it first."

She then went upstairs, fussed around in the room for a while, and brought down a tube of burn ointment from the pharmacy, squeezing it into a small jar and sealing it.

Then, she handed it to Ren Jing.

"After you've cleaned it, apply this ointment three times a day. Just to be safe, go to the hospital and get some anti-inflammatory drugs. It's hot outside, and we want to prevent infection."

She had all sorts of medicine in the pharmacy, but she was hesitant about bringing out too much at once, fearing they might get suspicious.

Hearing they still had to go to the hospital, Zhao Hua was annoyed.

"Why didn't you say we should go to the hospital earlier instead of extorting a hundred yuan from your Aunt Ren? Lin Anning, how could you be so mean?"

Ren Jing's body was soaked through, her curly hair wet and sticking to her forehead, with a piece of vegetable leaf adding to her disheveled look.

Shivering, she stood up from the sink, took the ointment, and shoved Zhao Hua.

"What are you waiting for? Take me to the hospital."

"Oh, hurry up, Jiaojiao!"

Zhao Hua glared at Lin Anning, called Su Jiaojiao, and the two of them quickly escorted Ren Jing out the door.

Just as they left the house, they collided with Nie Big Mouth, pale-faced.

Holding her stomach and frowning, she desperately pulled at Zhao Hua.

"Anning's mom, are you going to the hospital? Can you take me with you? I'm not feeling well."

"There's no one at home, I really can't..."

Zhao Hua was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, who had no time to deal with Nie Bigmouth and pushed her away impatiently.

"I'm not your husband. Go to the hospital if you're sick. Why do you need me?"

Nie Bigmouth stumbled backward, falling down at the doorstep of the Lin Family.

In so much pain that she saw stars, she didn't even have the strength to cry out for help.

"Wah," she opened her mouth and vomited all over the ground.

At that moment, the people of Glory Lane were either at work or at school; no one was around.

Just when Nie Bigmouth thought she would die from pain, she heard Lin Anning walk up to her, squat down, and press on her stomach.

"Where does it hurt? How long has it been? What have you eaten these past two days?"

Nie Bigmouth, dizzy with pain, grabbed Lin Anning's hand and pressed it on the right side of her stomach.

"Here, it hurts! It's been hurting for two days now, and I haven't eaten anything."

Lin Anning took out acupuncture needles and inserted them into several acupuncture points on Nie Bigmouth, including Zusanli, Hegu, and Neiting.

"I suspect it's appendicitis. I'll stop the pain first, then carry you to the hospital."

Nie Bigmouth glanced at Lin Anning's slender back, thinking to herself that her slight frame probably couldn't bear her weight.

Fortunately, her husband had just come home from the late shift.

"What's going on here?"

Lin Anning quickly explained the situation to Nie Bigmouth's husband, who panicked immediately, picked up his wife, and rushed out.

At the hospital, the doctor confirmed it indeed was appendicitis. They had arrived just in time; any later and a ruptured appendix could have been troublesome.

As Nie Bigmouth was being wheeled into the operating room, she thought hazily.

During this time, she had said so many unpleasant things to help Zhao Hua! And yet, Lin Anning was still willing to help her. She truly was a good comrade.

Thinking about it, she really felt worthless.

————————

In the evening, Zhao Hua and Su Jiaojiao supported Ren Jing from both sides, chatting and laughing on their way home.

Ren Jing was scalded quite badly, but the immediate treatment and burn ointment provided quick pain relief.

After the doctor examined her, he confirmed there was no serious harm and prescribed some anti-inflammatory medication before discharging her.

Ren Jing wasn't comfortable staying at the guesthouse, so she stayed at the Lin Family's place these past two days. Lin Jianguo, being a gentleman, naturally found it inappropriate to stay and went to live in the factory dormitory instead.

As they entered the house, they were met with darkness.

Click, Zhao Hua turned on the light and glanced upstairs with a frown.

"Did Anning go out to watch a movie with a comrade again?"

Upon hearing this, Ren Jing frowned.

"Does your Anning usually like going out alone with comrades? And she isn't back yet even though it's so late."

Su Jiaojiao helped Ren Jing sit on the sofa and poured her a cup of hot water, then squatted down by her feet to take care of her scald.

"No, not often. Aunt Jing, you know my sister just returned to Jiangcheng. She's unwell and cannot go to school or work. It's good for her to go out and clear her mind occasionally."

Ren Jing looked at the sweet Su Jiaojiao and lovingly patted her little face.

"Jiaojiao is so considerate. You haven't been back in Jiangcheng for long either, right? Perfect, Brother Wenchang is visiting tomorrow; he can show you around."

"He's been to Jiangcheng a few times, more familiar with it than you!"

"Yeah, I want to meet Brother Wenchang too! Aunt Jing is so pretty; Brother Wenchang must be very handsome!"

Ren Jing was amused and affectionately pinched Su Jiaojiao's nose.

"This girl, the more I see, the more I like."

Seeing this, Zhao Hua sighed in relief.

She had said it: her Jiaojiao was so good-natured, who wouldn't like her?

"You two chat. I'm going to fetch Anning. She may have no shame, but Jiaojiao still needs to maintain hers!"

Zhao Hua made a move to leave when the upstairs room door suddenly opened, and Lin Anning walked out, looking at them coldly.

"Can't sleep at night without slandering me for a while?"

Just moments before when Ren Jing had left, she was all about scolding and punishing Su Jiaojiao. Now, she seemed like a different person, as if she didn't care at all about Jiaojiao scalding her.

Zhao Hua was embarrassed getting called out by Lin Anning to her face but didn't know what to say in front of Ren Jing.

After helping Ren Jing up to rest, she signaled Su Jiaojiao back to her room, and the mother and daughter cuddled up together, whispering through the night.

The next day before dawn broke, Su Jiaojiao tiptoed out of the house quietly...