Back to the 1970s: Building My Fortune Through Time Trading-Chapter 308: Favoring Sons Over Daughters

The woman who had been standing silently by the bedside turned pale upon hearing this and rushed out immediately.

The old lady of the Zhang Family seemed to suddenly find an excuse: "You must come with me to see my granddaughter first; it’s you who caused her to become like this. You can’t leave."

In a matter of life and death, a few people exchanged glances and immediately followed. The old lady took a couple of steps, then remembered the grandson on the bed.

She grabbed young Chen, who was about to follow: "My grandson is timid, afraid to be alone. Please take care of him for me; we’ll be right back."

Without waiting for young Chen to agree, she pulled Director Liu’s arm and hurried towards a ward at the end of the corridor.

Director Liu frowned, wanting to shake loose, but the old lady’s strength was too great, and he had no choice but to follow.

Su Xiaoxiao and Zhao Fumin also hurriedly followed.

Upon entering the ward, they saw a small figure lying on the bed. If not for the little bump of the quilt, one might not even notice someone was there.

Several doctors were performing emergency treatment on the little girl in the bed, while Wang Aihua stood pale and trembling uncontrollably.

She bit her lower lip tightly, not daring to make a sound for fear of disturbing the doctors’ work.

A moment later, a middle-aged male doctor let out a long breath. Slowly, there was some movement from the thin girl who seemed as light as paper; she stretched out an emaciated hand and weakly called out: "Mom..."

Wang Aihua hastily wiped away her tears and held the girl’s hand gently and carefully, as if afraid she might break it with any force.

"Laide, mommy’s here."

The little girl’s eyelashes fluttered. She inadvertently caught a glimpse of the old lady beside her and shivered involuntarily: "Mom, I... it wasn’t intentional to steal food, I... was just too hungry."

The short sentence took several gasps to complete with great effort.

The girl before their eyes was tiny and skinny, her complexion sallow, in stark contrast to the previously chubby little boy. Su Xiaoxiao realized what was going on.

This old lady was plainly lying. No wonder her granddaughter was ill, yet she still had the mind to enflame trouble and ask for money; it was outright favoritism toward males over females.

It’s likely those pastries were secretly stashed by the old lady for her little grandson to eat, but the little girl was so hungry that she accidentally ate the pastries and suffered food poisoning.

Seeing this, the old lady seized the opportunity to exploit the situation to extort a sum from the department store.

Sure enough, when the old lady of the Zhang Family saw the little girl awake, her face showed no joy, only impatience and disappointment.

Probably wishing for the child to die so she could extort more money.

At this point, the middle-aged doctor who had just performed the resuscitation spoke up: "You parents truly are something. The child is so ill, yet you didn’t immediately seek a doctor."

If he hadn’t just happened to pass by the ward and notice the child’s unusual state, the child might have already been beyond saving.

"Alright, quickly go pay the fees. I’ll arrange for a nurse to come and give the child an IV drip. The child has food poisoning and is too weak, needing detox and some nutrition."

"Isn’t she fine now? Why an IV? I know what you want; you’re just trying to fleece more money!"

The old lady of the Zhang family spoke fiercely, "It’s just a girl; if she’s dead, it’s better."

Doctor Zhao heard this and his brows furrowed tightly, wondering what kind of parents these were. The child was brought to the hospital and they weren’t eager to seek treatment, leaving the child to suffer. Now, they’re unwilling to continue treatment.

During his examination, he found the child’s body was severely malnourished, and the food poisoning was quite serious. Without timely treatment, there could be lasting effects.

But seeing the little girl was truly pitiable, he patiently explained: "The child has food poisoning and is severely undernourished, requiring antidotes and some glucose infusions."

The old lady was about to say something when she suddenly remembered Director Liu behind her and immediately changed her tune: "Alright, let’s do the IV. We’ll go pay soon."

Doctor Zhao sighed with relief upon her agreement.

The child, so skinny like a little kitten, looked pitifully pitiful.

After Doctor Zhao led the team out, the old lady grabbed Director Liu’s arm.

"No matter what, you caused my grandson and granddaughter to end up like this. You must cover the expenses. At worst, I won’t ask for five hundred; just cover the medical bills."

As the old lady spoke, her eyes gleamed with calculation, leaving one to wonder what she was plotting.

Director Liu, looking at the pitiable little girl on the bed, thought for a moment and nodded in agreement; he could personally bear the cost.

"Our department store can cover this expense, but you must promise not to use this as an excuse to cause trouble again."

Director Liu spoke sternly, wanting to resolve this with a small amount without going to the police station to avoid damaging the department store’s reputation.

The old lady’s mood improved significantly upon hearing his agreement to pay.

"Alright, okay, no problem. As long as you cover both children’s medical fees today, I won’t pursue this matter."

Su Xiaoxiao frowned and corrected her: "There’s no evidence that the child’s food poisoning is our problem. Covering your medicine costs is simply because our director is kind-hearted."

After speaking, she turned to Director Liu, "Director, I think we can cover this cost as an act of kindness, but we should still ask the police to investigate, so no one uses this matter to exploit us in the future."

Director Liu immediately understood Su Xiaoxiao’s intent—she wanted to scare the old lady to prevent future trouble at the department store.

He cooperated at once: "Yes, I’ll call the municipal police right away."

The old lady didn’t expect that even after she had made so many concessions, they would still threaten to call the police.

The thought of the police gave her an inexplicable sense of guilt.

The pastries indeed had problems.

Fearful that the wretched girl might steal them, she’d hidden them in a cupboard, only to find they were moldy when she took them out.

She meticulously inspected all the pastries and began feeding the non-moldy parts to her precious grandson.

Who would have thought, upon returning to clean up the moldy pastries, she’d find the wretched girl devouring them on the floor.

At the time, she did not stop her, thinking it might be a blessing if the wretched girl ate herself to death, saving the family some ration.

Later, seeing the wretched girl fall ill, she seized the chance to extort the department store by dumping her at the hospital and went off to make a scene at the store.

Hurriedly she spoke up: "I swear by Heaven, I will never go to the department store over this matter again, the police are so busy, let’s not bother them over such a trivial issue, isn’t it?"

Su Xiaoxiao pretended to ponder before speaking: "Auntie, you’re right, but..."