Chapter Fifty: Relatives Being Beaten

  Chang Fang has been looking unwell for the past few days, so Ye Pingyu thought she was sick and told her to rest more, letting Zhao Yanan handle the work at hand.

  Listening to Ye Pingyu's words of concern, Chang Fang's eyes turned red, and her gaze at Ye Pingyu had an additional layer of tenderness, a look that made people love her dearly. Ye Pingyu dared not look at her too much, fearing he couldn't control his emotions.

  It seems that she could see through Ye Pingyu's current thoughts, Chang Fang got up from her desk and deliberately walked to Ye Pingyu's side with a gentle swaying motion, her body very close to his, and said in a sweet voice: "Pingyu, then I'll go back to the dormitory to rest for a while!"

  Ye Pingyu didn't dare to indulge his own heart and said in a low voice, "Go, Fang Jie, your body is the most important thing. I'll have Ya Nan take care of work matters."

  Two people were standing close together, making it seem as if they were whispering to each other. Unexpectedly, Zhou Xue suddenly burst in from outside and caught sight of this scene. Seeing the ambiguous appearance of the two, he pretended not to have seen anything and hastily slipped away.

  As soon as he saw Zhou Wei, Ye Pingyu felt that it was easy to be misunderstood, so he hastily said to Chang Fang: "Sister Fang, I still have something to do outside, you go back and rest first!"

  Chang Fang twisted her body, looked at Ye Pingyu again, and then reluctantly left the office to rest in the dormitory.

  Chang Fang had just left when Zhao Yanan came from outside, accompanied by an elderly man. Ye Pingyu took a look and felt somewhat familiar, but couldn't recall who he was.

  As soon as she entered the office, Zhao Yannan smiled and said to Ye Pingyu: "Director Ye, this is your relative coming to find you with something."

  Ye Pingyu felt strange and couldn't recall what relative it was, so the old man hastily came over and said: "Pingyu's child, I'm your family's old aunt, I heard you've become an official, I want to ask for your help with something!"

  Ye Pingyu heard her say that she was his own aunt, but he was not very familiar with this aunt, as he had seen her less often than his other aunts. Just as he was feeling puzzled, the old woman said: "You used to come to our house when you were little, and I even held you in my arms! Now you've grown up so big!"

  Ye Pingyu smiled and said: "Auntie, which village are you from?"

  The old man said: "I am from Daling Village, do you still remember? You were young at that time, maybe you don't remember!"

  As soon as he heard the three words "Daling Village", Ye Pingyu suddenly remembered that when he was in elementary school, he often went to Daling Village. There really is a paternal aunt of his mother's family there, and by rights, he should call her Auntie. The person in front of him should be her.

  "Auntie, I remember now, you haven't been to our house in so many years." After that, Ye Pingyu asked Zhao Yanan to pour a glass of water for the old lady and had her sit down.

  The old man sat there trembling and said: "My legs are inconvenient, I can't walk anywhere. Is my sister doing well now?"

  Ye Pingyu poured the water Zhao Yan had prepared in front of her and smiled: "My mom is doing well, how about your health?"

  The old man sighed and said: "It's useless, I've got rheumatism, my legs are inconvenient, staying at home is just waiting for death!"

  When people in rural areas fall ill, it's a huge burden. Hearing her say this, Ye Pingyu felt very sympathetic, although she wasn't particularly close to his family relatives.

  "Auntie, take good care of yourself at home and how's your husband's health?" Ye Pingyu asked again.

  The old man shook his head again, saying: "He's no good either. When he was young, he was as strong as a donkey, but now his body is also crippled. At home and outside, I still have to take care of everything."

  As people get older, they are no longer useful. Ye Pingyu sighed and said: "Then you all stay at home and take good care of your bodies. Let my cousins do the farm work, you rest more!"

  The old woman's eyes turned red as soon as she heard this, as if she was about to cry. Ye Pingyu hastily asked her: "Auntie, what happened?"

  The old man cried and said: "Your brother was beaten by someone and is now in the hospital, we are so scared to death!"

  As soon as she heard that her son had been beaten, Ye Pingyu was shocked and asked hastily: "Auntie, what exactly happened, who beat him, and how serious is it?"

  The old man cried out: "It was our village secretary who had someone beat him up, his arm was broken and he is now lying in the hospital, but there's no money for treatment. They don't care about us at all. When we went to report the case, the police station staff didn't even ask questions, they just told us to settle it privately."

  The secretary of Dalin Village is Yan Bengli's brother, Yan Bengche. Ye Pingyu knew this, but he didn't expect him to beat his own relatives. His several cousins were usually honest people, why did he beat them?

  Ye Pingyu asked about this matter, and the old man told him what had happened. It turned out that one of the old man's sons had brought a foreign client to the village in a tractor to buy livestock, but when they arrived at the village entrance, they were stopped by the villagers who were collecting tolls and demanded five yuan from them.

  The driver knew that the county is now rectifying this matter, and no tolls are collected on rural roads. Now they still charge him here, so he's not willing to pay. The old man's son was speaking emotionally beside him, after all, it was he who brought them here, and he is also a local villager, saying that they shouldn't be charged at all.

  However, the person who stopped the car didn't give the old man's son any face and insisted on collecting the money, so they started arguing. This startled Yán Bǐngchē's son, who was a local tyrant. When he came over and saw that someone was causing trouble, he immediately wanted to hit the driver. The driver was scared and quickly drove away. The old man's son said a few words in anger, and Yán Bǐngchē's son went forward and beat him up, leaving him with a bruised face and swollen nose, but fortunately without any broken bones, just looking a bit battered.

  After the fight, Yan Bengche's son swaggered away. It wasn't until later that the old man and his family found out and hastily sent their son to the rural health clinic, then ran to the police station to report the case. However, the police were familiar with Yan Bengche and only made a record of it without immediately sending someone to investigate.

  The old man thought about it and had no way out, so he finally thought of Ye Pingyu working in the countryside and heard that he was also an official, so he came to find him, wanting him to help solve the problem, just paying some medical expenses would be fine.

  After listening to the old man's introduction, Ye Pingyu couldn't help but slap his hand on the table. The village is currently rectifying the setting up of toll booths and collecting fees. The county has already received a report about Daling Village, and Cao Daifu is arranging for Zhang Wei to come and investigate and handle the matter. Now, not only are they collecting fees, but they are also openly beating people. Is this really lawless? Don't the police care?

  Zhao Yanan listened to this matter on the side, didn't say much, but walked in front of Ye Pingyu and whispered: "Pingyu, Yan Bingli is still in the countryside, be careful!"

  Ye Pingyu glanced at her, extremely grateful for her reminder. Yan Bengche was able to roam freely in the village, and a large part of it had something to do with Yan Bengli. If he made too much noise now and let Yan Bengli find out, it would be bad. Even if he wanted to help, he had to be careful.

  After some thought, Ye Pingyu had Zhao Yanan stay in the office to keep watch while he accompanied his aunt to the rural clinic to take a look. First, they would check on his cousin's injuries and then decide what to do next.

  The old man was deeply moved to see that Ye Pingyu attached great importance to her affairs. After all, the kinship between them was somewhat distant and they had not been in contact for many years. Now, as soon as he found him, he could help himself with things, this kind of relationship is hard to come by.

  He took her south, out of the office building. Yan Bengli happened to be walking over from the front, glanced at him and his aunt, didn't say anything, and walked past. Now this old man seemed to have a grudge against him, still not putting him in his eyes. Although he is now the director of the Party and Political Office, in charge of auditing matters, but this old man thought of a way to directly find Zhao Yuangong to sign, and then went to the finance department for reimbursement. Because Cao Dafu also didn't dare offend him, he turned a blind eye, didn't support him on this matter, and let this old man be arrogant in front of him again.

  Ye Pingyu ignored him and walked past, then arrived at the rural health clinic. Under Lao Yi's lead, he entered a ward where someone was lying in bed - his cousin.

  There was no doctor in the ward to treat him, only applied some medicinal liquor, and he didn't have enough money with him, so the hospital refused to treat him.

  Seeing this, Ye Pingyu hastily walked out to give him some medical expenses. When he arrived at the cashier's office, he coincidentally bumped into Ye Meina. Ye Meina looked up and saw him, then exclaimed in surprise: "Brother Pingyu, why are you here? Are you seeing a doctor?"

  After meeting Ye Ming last time, I haven't had a chance to see her yet. Now seeing her wearing a nurse's hat and white coat, she has become more and more lovely and charming. Ye Pingyu hasn't seen her for a long time and almost didn't recognize the Ye Meina in front of him.

  "Meina, I saw your brother in the county town last time. How's work here?" Ye Pingyu asked with a bright and concerned tone.

  Yemina lowered her head and smiled: "It's okay, not as good as my sister Ye Jing in the county hospital. What brings you here?"

  Ye Pingyu said: "I have a relative who was beaten and is now in the hospital, I'm helping him pay some medical expenses, is Director Li around?"

  Yemei Na hesitated for a moment and said: "I don't know about this, why don't you go take a look!"

  Ye Pingyu thought for a moment and said: "Meina, can you help me go take a look at that relative of mine? I'll go find your principal."

  Yemina immediately agreed to his request and walked towards the ward, Ye Pingyu first paid a portion of the money to the hospital, then went upstairs to find Li Jingguo, the director of the county health bureau.

  Li Jingguo was young and ambitious, having been the director of the rural health center for over a year. Although his rank was not high, he managed around 50-60 people under him, and the hospital's annual income was substantial. As a result, his life as the director was quite comfortable, with frequent interactions with local officials. However, he had never interacted with Ye Pingyu before. Typically, the director of a rural health center is appointed by the county health bureau, not directly by the township party committee. Therefore, except for some powerful township officials, Li Jingguo generally looked down on other ordinary officials.