Chapter 1109 — Medical Fees
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Yu Xiaoke watched the travelers passing through the train station and could only steel herself to pick out a mark. She hoped only that with so many people about, the police would be too few and too distracted to notice, leaving her a chance to make her move.
Before long, Yu Xiaoke found her target: a young man just emerging from the station's exit.
The young man was rather tall, but one glance told you he was the sort who had come down out of the mountains. His clothes were hopelessly countrified—a blue tank top and black shorts—the kind of rustic that could not be more rustic. A fellow like that was plainly making his first trip to the city, with no worldly experience to speak of, and would be comparatively easy to rob.
It was not that Yu Xiaoke had never thought of stealing from those fat, big-eared bosses, but people of that sort were generally shrewd and careful, hard to work on in a place like this, and likely to draw police suspicion. Only this bumpkin looked like easy pickings.
But Yu Xiaoke had never in her life stolen from good people. This young man might be easy to rob, yet it went against the principle she had always lived by. She followed behind him, deeply hesitant, unsure whether she should make her move.
One way or another, the money had to be paid today. She had already put Nurse Wang to a great deal of trouble and could not add to it. If the hospital bill went unpaid, who knew how the hospital's administrators might criticize Nurse Wang—and that was the last thing Yu Xiaoke wanted to see.
Yet to rob this young man—she truly could not bring herself to do it. From the look of him, he was an honest, simple-hearted fellow from the mountains, and stealing from him gave her a feeling of guilt.
Without realizing it, Yu Xiaoke had been trailing the bumpkin for quite a while and still had not made up her mind.
"Why are you following me?" Before Yu Xiaoke could make her move, the young man ahead suddenly turned his head and stared at her in puzzlement.
Er Goudan was baffled. What was a pretty girl like this doing following him? In truth, he had sensed Yu Xiaoke tailing him from the very start; but since she was a pretty young woman, he had not taken her for a bad sort, and so paid it no mind, assuming they simply happened to be going the same way.
But after walking a while, Er Goudan deliberately veered off course and found that Yu Xiaoke was still behind him. At last he could not help but speak up and ask.
Simple and honest as Er Goudan was, he had grown up at Wei Zhao's side—how could he be an ordinary man? Back in the mountains, even the fierce beasts skilled at concealing their presence could not escape his senses, let alone a Yu Xiaoke.
Er Goudan's sudden turn and question gave Yu Xiaoke a terrible fright. She had never imagined he would notice her following him, and for a moment she was at a loss. Guilt made her heart race; she hastily waved her hand and said, "Nothing... it's nothing..."
Er Goudan frowned at her shifting gaze. "Girl, is there something you want from me? If there is, just say it. Don't hem and haw like some old woman."
"Pfft..." Yu Xiaoke could not help laughing at his words. Wasn't she a girl herself?
"What are you laughing at? What exactly do you want with me?" Seeing her laugh only puzzled Er Goudan further.
Somehow Yu Xiaoke found she rather liked this man, and so she changed her mind and decided not to steal his money.
"What I want... is actually to borrow a little money from you," Yu Xiaoke said, wiping the smile from her face and speaking gravely.
She was certain he was not a bad person and no longer wished to steal, so she meant to ask him for a loan—yes, a loan, and she truly intended to repay it.
"Borrow money? What do you need money for?" Er Goudan asked.
"A child in my family has come down with acute appendicitis and there's no money for the surgery, so I wanted to borrow some to tide us over..." Yu Xiaoke did not lie to him; she told the plain truth.