Practicing Medical Skills in a Small Clinic novel Chapter 748

Chapter 748: Chapter 347: Giving Him a Hand, Fame Spreads Far

"Put on your helmet. Six bucks to the Second Hospital."

The price isn’t expensive.

It’s about four bucks cheaper than a taxi.

Li Jingsheng usually pays around ten bucks for a taxi, or eight if the driver doesn’t take a detour.

Sitting on the back seat, he quickly headed toward the Second Hospital.

"Brother, you must be making quite a bit of money in a day, right?"

"Just barely enough to get by. If there was any other way, who would want to do this? Even though I’m earning money through honest labor, not stealing, not robbing, not hurting anyone, I’m always on edge like a thief."

The motorbike driver’s breath smelled a bit, so Li Jingsheng turned his face to the other side, putting some distance between them.

Thankfully, the bike was moving fast, and the rushing air minimized the impact.

"Is it illegal to run a motorbike like this?"

Li Jingsheng was a bit confused.

"No problem if you don’t get caught, but if you do, it’s bad! They have all sorts of excuses to squeeze money out of you. The city management cracks down, the transport management does too, and if I get caught, I’ll just hand over the bike, forget it."

The motorbike driver poured out his grievances.

The lower you are, the tougher life gets. There’s so much bitterness.

A lot of society’s dark sides are invisible to the average person unless they’re in the industry.

"Do you have to pay a big fine if you get caught?"

"A lot. Towing fees, parking management fees, plus the fines, it’s more expensive than buying a new bike. You haven’t seen the impound lot, it’s full of all kinds of seized motorbikes and electric bikes. I guess many folks just give up on them. When I took mine back, the parking fee was six hundred bucks, towing was two hundred, and after pleading, saying I have a paralyzed wife and a kid in sixth grade, their leader didn’t fine me.

Otherwise, I’d have to pay even more fines.

If caught by the transport management, I’ve heard the minimum fine is two thousand."

The fines for illegal operation are said to be pretty hefty.

Li Jingsheng felt this motorbike driver has it tough.

He’s making a meager income and still has a child and a paralyzed wife to support.

"How much do you usually earn in a month, brother?"

Li Jingsheng was moved. This driver looked honest and faithful, not abandoning his paralyzed wife, fulfilling his duty to raise his child, which speaks well of his character.

His clinic has always wanted to hire a security guard, especially since they launched a nighttime medicine delivery service; security has become an issue.

Hiring a security guard could significantly improve the clinic’s safety.

Old Street of South City is a mixed bag, full of all sorts of people.

"When it’s good, I can make two or three thousand, when it’s bad, just a thousand or even a few hundred bucks. Winter or rainy days, no running. It’s too cold in winter, folks don’t want to ride a motorbike. On rainy days, even raincoats don’t work. Customers prefer taxis."

Earning only a few hundred a month, it’s hard to imagine how his family survives in a first-tier city like Jiangli City.

If you have a bit of money, a meal can cost several hundred.

"Why not find a more stable job?"

Li Jingsheng tentatively asked.

"No choice, my wife is bedridden, needs care for everything. If I go to work, I’d only be back at night, who would take care of her? Running a motorbike is tough and pays less, but it’s flexible. I can go back anytime if needed. Heard delivering meals pays more, seven or eight thousand a month, sometimes over ten thousand, so I tried it too.

But when customers rush you, with too many orders, it was overwhelming.

Got bad reviews easily, made less than the fines in a day."

It seems this brother tried his best to earn more to improve his family conditions.

But with limited abilities and the need to care for his wife and kid, there just wasn’t a suitable job.

"Three thousand a month, and you can still care for your wife. Would you take this job?"

Li Jingsheng asked him.

"Can’t find one! These days, bosses are shrewd, pay you three thousand a month, and you have to earn them six thousand, even ten thousand. I have no skills except some brute force. Did mostly labor on construction sites, at best six or seven thousand a month."

The motorbike driver spoke of his past glory days.

His highest income was six or seven thousand a month, working the toughest jobs on construction sites.

As a laborer, usually moving bricks, carrying cement, and other chores.

"Fair enough. Are you renting now or do you have your own house?"

"Do I look like I can afford a house? Renting, three hundred bucks a month. Just behind the Sunshine Clinic, in an old house from decades ago."

"Where are you originally from, brother?"

"A small mountain village in Beihe County. We moved to the city with my wife and kid for her medical treatment. She needs to go to the People’s Hospital at least once a week. But housing there is too expensive, can’t afford it. My kid can’t get into a school there either, then a kind person showed us this area with cheaper housing, so we came here.

The first two years were hard to get used to.

Our toughest time, we had only seventy bucks left, three of us, bought a bag of noodles to eat for two days."

The brother’s voice changed as he recounted the hardest days.

For anyone, the days they remember are either the hardest or the most beautiful ones.

"What’s your wife’s illness?"

"It’s just high blood pressure, back then we didn’t know, didn’t take medication for control. Because we heard that once you start high blood pressure meds, you have to take them for life. Tried a folk remedy, and one day while working with me on a construction site, she suddenly fainted. At the hospital, we found out it was a stroke. After saving her life, now she’s paralyzed and even speaking isn’t clear.

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