Chapter 1003 Wish
Song Chaoyuan stayed with Principal Zhou all night. In the middle of the night, he was so sleepy that he took a nap on the sofa next to him.
In the early morning, Principal Zhou finally woke up. Song Chaoyuan heard the noise and quickly got up and walked over. When Principal Zhou slowly opened his eyes and saw Song Yuanchao, he was confused at first, and then gradually woke up. However, due to his serious illness, he was temporarily unable to speak and could only make some sounds in his throat.
"Uncle Zhou, please don't talk. Just rest well. We've already notified family. My wife and eldest brother are on their way here. They will be here soon..." Song Chaoyuan said in Principal Zhou's ear. Principal Zhou's eyes softened and he made a humming sound in his throat.
Sitting beside the bed, Song Chaoyuan comforted Principal Zhou. His words made Principal Zhou feel relieved. After a while, Principal Zhou fell into a deep sleep again. Song Chaoyuan continued to stay by his side until dawn.
At daybreak, the doctor came to check on the patient. After checking on Principal Zhou's condition, he told Song Yuanchao that the patient's condition was improving, but he still needed surgery. The hospital was already working on a surgical plan, which would be available as early as this afternoon.
As soon as the doctor left, Lin Yan arrived and brought breakfast to Song Chaoyuan. When Song Chaoyuan had just finished breakfast, Director Ma also arrived, followed by the current leaders of No. 2 Middle School and comrades from the Education Bureau who came to visit. Because Principal Zhou was not fit to see people, and his family was not around, Song Chaoyuan and his team temporarily received the visitors and communicated the situation.
Around one o'clock in the afternoon, Master's wife and brother finally arrived, exhausted. They had started rushing to Shanghai after receiving the news yesterday, but unfortunately there were no more flights for that day and the train ride took a long time, so they could only buy a flight this morning. As a result of this delay, it was already too late when they arrived at the hospital.
Everyone was an acquaintance. After the teacher's wife and others arrived, they couldn't wait to see Principal Zhou first, and then asked about the doctor's condition. After these things were dealt with, they remembered to thank Song Chaoyuan and them.
"Sister-in-law, do you need to thank me for this? What is the relationship between me and Lao Zhou? Isn't Lao Zhou's business my business?" Director Ma said sincerely while holding the master's wife's hand.
Song Yuanchao also sincerely told his teacher's wife and senior brothers that they were all family members, and Principal Zhou was his elder, and they were just doing what they were supposed to do.
"Thank you... Thank you. If it weren't for you, Old Zhou, I would have..." Mrs. Zhou said while wiping her tears. The senior brother next to her said nothing, but just shook hands with Song Chaoyuan vigorously, his eyes full of gratitude.
In the evening, the hospital's surgical plan finally came out. The dean personally and the attending physician explained it to Song Chaoyuan and others. After listening to the doctor's detailed explanation, Mrs. Zhou hesitated a little. Song Chaoyuan immediately said that there was no problem with the operation and asked the hospital to arrange it as soon as possible. He would take care of the cost.
After leaving the dean's office, Mrs. Zhou held Song Chaoyuan's hand and didn't know what to say. Principal Zhou has labor insurance, but it is different in recent years. With the reform of medical care, even with labor insurance, operations like this can only be reimbursed partially.
Although Principal Zhou has been a principal for many years, he has worked in education for his entire life and has never been an honest person. Apart from some savings from his work, he only has a small pension after retirement.
Influenced by their parents, Principal Zhou's children are all ordinary people. However, except for the eldest son who became a teacher, the others work in enterprises and local areas. Their daily income is also based on wages, and they have children to raise, so they don't have much savings.
Principal Zhou's surgery costs a lot, and even if you take out the reimbursable part, it will cost tens of thousands. This amount of money is nothing to Song Chaoyuan, but it is a large sum of money for the Zhou family, so this is what Mrs. Zhou hesitated about just now, and Song Chaoyuan was already prepared and showed his attitude first.
Principal Zhou's surgical plan has been finalized, but the operation will take a few days . After all, the patient has just recovered and needs to rest and prepare for the operation.
Since Mrs. Zhou and his senior brother had already arrived, there was no need for Song Chaoyuan to continue staying in the hospital with them. He chatted with his wife and senior brother for a while outside the ward, and then went to arrange for Principal Zhou's follow-up treatment. After all this was done, Song Chaoyuan left.
Soon after, Principal Zhou entered the operating room, and the operation was successful. Although Principal Zhou recovered somewhat after the operation, it was impossible for him to recover to his previous state. Now he can only move half of his body with difficulty, and he can't speak as fluently as before. Even holding chopsticks with his right hand to eat is difficult.
After the operation, Song Yuanchao visited several times and was very happy to see that Principal Zhou was getting better day by day. But after asking the doctor, Song Chaoyuan's heart sank again, because the doctor told him that although he could recover through physical therapy after the operation, this recovery was limited, and cerebral infarction was a disease that was easy to recur, and it would be very troublesome if it recurred again.
Sighing, Song Chaoyuan was somewhat helpless. Although he was rich, money was not omnipotent in this situation. Throughout history, the emperor was high above and had everything that could be possessed by the world, but he could not dominate his own life and health.
This is also the reason why many emperors of dynasties pursued immortality but failed. Even the emperor was like this, not to mention ordinary people. According to the doctor, it was a blessing in disguise that Principal Zhou could be cured to this stage.
After the operation, Song Yuanchao originally wanted to arrange for Principal Zhou to stay in the hospital for a few more days and receive physical therapy and recovery in the hospital. But Principal Zhou was unwilling to stay in the hospital and insisted on going home. Mrs. Zhou also had the same idea, thinking that the cost of staying in the hospital was too high. Although Song Chaoyuan told them not to worry about the cost, the two elderly people wanted to be strong all their lives. The fact that Song Chaoyuan could help them to this extent already made the two elderly people feel embarrassed. Since the operation had been completed and they had almost recovered, the next physical therapy could be done at ordinary times. There was no need to continue lying in the expensive intensive care unit every day. Under their insistence, Song Chaoyuan could only reluctantly agree, but still insisted on hiring a nurse for Principal Zhou to take care of Principal Zhou at home on weekdays and assist in his recovery.
A few days after Principal Zhou returned home, his wife called Song Chaoyuan and said that Principal Zhou asked him to take some time to visit his home.
After receiving the call, Song Chaoyuan put down what he was doing and rushed over. When he arrived at the place and saw that Song Chaoyuan came so quickly, Principal Zhou was both relieved and moved.
"Yuan Chao, sit... sit..." Although his eyes were squinting and his mouth was crooked, Principal Zhou was able to speak now, but his articulation was far less clear than before.
"Uncle Zhou, how do you feel? Are you recovering well?" Song Chaoyuan sat down next to Principal Zhou, who was sitting in a wheelchair that his senior brother had bought for him when he was discharged from the hospital. Now, Principal Zhou could only take a few steps with the help of equipment, so he had to sit in a wheelchair on weekdays.
"Good... much better..." Principal Zhou said with a forced smile, and raised his left hand which was feeling better. Song Chaoyuan understood and quickly reached out to hold his hand. Principal Zhou patted Song Chaoyuan's hand lightly with satisfaction to express his gratitude.
"As the old saying goes, at seventy-three or eighty-four, the King of Hell won't invite you to go. I'm already seventy-three this year, and my life is almost over. I thought I was going to die, but I didn't expect there was still a chance to come back to life. Uncle, can I ask you for a favor?"
"Uncle Zhou, what's the matter?" Song Chaoyuan's nose felt sore, and he nodded while suppressing his grief.
Principal Zhou loosened his left hand, raised it up with force, and pointed his index finger in one direction.
Following his finger, Song Chaoyuan quickly stood up and walked to the bookshelf beside him. When he saw the thick stack of manuscripts that he had read before on the bookshelf, Song Chaoyuan instantly understood what was going on and quickly took it down.
"Uncle Zhou, is this it?"
Principal Zhou nodded, his eyes lingering on the manuscript in Song Chaoyuan's hand for a long time, then he sighed and said, "Originally, I planned to find an opportunity to publish the book after it was completed, but later I revised it several times, and each time I revised it, I felt that it was not enough, so it was delayed year after year until today."
"If I hadn't been paralyzed, I might have continued revising until I was truly satisfied. But now, Yuan Chao, you can see that I can't continue in this state. I have never asked anyone for help in my life, but you are an exception. Yuan Chao, if possible, please help me organize these manuscripts and apply for publication. This is my last wish..."
As he was talking, two lines of tears fell from Principal Zhou's eyes. Song Chaoyuan quickly comforted him: "Don't worry, I will help you with this matter. I will definitely do it properly for you."
"Okay...Okay!" Principal Zhou nodded his head and stretched out his hand. Song Chaoyuan put the manuscript next to him. Principal Zhou gently touched the manuscripts as if he was caressing his lover. These manuscripts consumed all his energy over the years and could be said to be the only wealth he could leave behind in this life.
After staying at Principal Zhou's house for a long time and talking to him for a long time, Song Chaoyuan said goodbye and left.
When he left, he was holding Principal Zhou's manuscript in his hand, but his heart was particularly heavy.
A few days later, Song Chaoyuan came to Yanjing from Shanghai. When he arrived in Yanjing, he first dealt with some trivial matters and then met with some old friends.
When they had some time, Song Chaoyuan and Wang Shuo talked privately about Principal Zhou, showed him his manuscript, and asked about publishing.
Wang Shuo is usually carefree and doesn't pay attention to details, especially when it comes to his mouth, he never spares anyone's words, but he is absolutely honest with his friends, and after listening to Song Chaoyuan's story, he also has special respect for Principal Zhou.
He first took the time to read the manuscript, and then told Song Chaoyuan that Principal Zhou's manuscript was well written. Although it was still not as good as that of famous domestic writers, it was not bad in terms of writing style. And most importantly, Principal Zhou's manuscript contained rich emotions, which was particularly rare.
It is not difficult for a writer to write a brilliant work, but it is difficult for the work to move people. Principal Zhou did exactly this, which was Wang Shuo's affirmation of the manuscript. But Wang Shuo also told Song Chaoyuan the truth that Principal Zhou's writing style was a bit traditional, and the story theme was a bit old. If it was published more than ten years ago, many people might like to read such a work, but now with the changes in society, people's senses and preferences have become different, so it may not be very popular after publication.
In addition, publishing now is different from before. Apart from some best-selling authors, such as Wang Shuo, it is much more difficult for ordinary authors to publish their works unless their works are very good and can be seen as best-sellers.
With the reform and institutional changes of various publishing houses, the operation of the publishing industry is also different from before. For Song Chaoyuan, buying a book number for publishing is not a difficult task, but the difficult part is the sales of the book after publication. Wang Shuo must make this clear to Song Chaoyuan in advance.
