Miaomiao and her companion were on their way home. As they neared the spot where they had met the cat the day before, they saw a crowd of people gathered together.
The chatter of the passers - by reached their ears, piquing Miaomiao's curiosity beyond control. She grabbed Wei Ziqi and headed straight for the crowd.
Unfortunately, the two kids were still too short compared to the adults. They craned their necks but couldn't see what was going on inside.
However, after getting closer, Wei Ziqi also heard what the passers - by were saying. She pulled Miaomiao and whispered, "There should be an old man who has collapsed inside."
"Why did the old man collapse?" Miaomiao asked, looking up in confusion.
Wei Ziqi shook her head and replied, "I don't know. Maybe he was hit by someone or just fell down."
The crowd was gathered on the sidewalk where there were no motor vehicles. Occasionally, a few cyclists would pass by. Falling on this road could only be due to these two reasons.
"Is the old man okay?" Miaomiao frowned, looking worried.
"I'm not sure. I can't see what's going on inside either." Wei Ziqi could only judge the situation from the snippets of conversation of the passers - by. But since no one had even called an ambulance, it probably wasn't an extremely urgent situation.
"Little teacher, wait for me a moment."
With that, Miaomiao let go of the hand that was tightly clutching Wei Ziqi's.
Before Wei Ziqi could stop her, she saw Miaomiao wriggle into the crowd like a little loach.
Finally, squeezing her way to the center, Miaomiao looked at the old man on the ground in surprise and then glanced around the crowd in confusion.
The old man on the ground looked very old. His hair was gray and he was on the verge of death. There were no external injuries or bleeding. His eyes were closed and his breathing was gradually weakening.
Miaomiao was shocked that with so many people watching, not a single one stepped forward to help.
Thinking back to when she saved Cheng Ruan, many uncles and aunts had helped call an ambulance and find her parents. After that, some kind - hearted uncles and aunts had even blocked their way, afraid that something might happen to Cheng Ruan.
Why was it that in a similar situation, no one was willing to help the old man?
Miaomiao couldn't understand, but the most urgent thing now was not to think about these things. The old man's chest was barely rising. She had to do something quickly to wake him up.
Miaomiao quickly knelt down in front of the old man, dropped her schoolbag on the ground, reached out to feel his breath, and then bent down to listen to his heart.
The situation was not looking good.
Finally, she took his pulse and checked his carotid artery. Miaomiao had a general idea of how to solve the problem in her mind.
But she wasn't sure if this method would work for the old man's situation.
The old man's current condition was similar to that of a drowning person, but it wasn't exactly the same. He was unable to breathe properly, which led to oxygen deficiency, and his heart was in danger of stopping at any moment. The medical knowledge she had learned before was mainly about dealing with various sudden injuries.
For example, stopping bleeding, first - aid for drowning...
These were all situations that could occur during a fight. Now, it was obvious that the old man had collapsed and lost consciousness in the middle of the road because of an illness.
"Miaomiao, do you have any confidence?"
Wei Ziqi finally managed to squeeze through the crowd and crouched down beside Miaomiao, asking gently.
Miaomiao shook her head honestly, "Not much confidence."
"Then I'll call an ambulance. You watch over him first." Wei Ziqi took out her phone and quickly dialed the emergency number, reporting their current location.
Miaomiao's hand never left the old man's pulse, afraid that something might happen the next second.
While waiting for the ambulance, Miaomiao's pupils suddenly dilated. Without saying a word, she straddled the old man and tapped twice on his neck, heart, and lungs with two fingers.
"Help me turn him over." Miaomiao tugged at the stunned Wei Ziqi and said quickly.
Those who knew Miaomiao well knew that unless it was an extremely urgent situation, she would always discuss things with those around her. Now that she had started taking emergency measures without much confidence and without saying a word, it seemed that the old man was in a very bad condition.
Wei Ziqi didn't dare to delay and quickly cooperated with Miaomiao to help the old man sit up.
Miaomiao went behind the old man and slapped him hard on the back. The old man suddenly opened his eyes wide, opened his mouth, exhaled with difficulty, and then fainted again.
"How is it?" Wei Ziqi asked nervously. This was the first time she had encountered such a situation. Facing a human life, anyone would be nervous.
"The old man can't wake up. I can only keep him alive for now." Miaomiao shook her head regretfully. The old man had been in a coma and lacking oxygen for a long time when they arrived. Even if his breathing was unblocked now, he still couldn't wake up.
When she felt the old man's pulse just now, she felt it stop for a moment. She could only try to help the old man restore his heartbeat first.
But she couldn't guarantee if there would be any sequelae.
"Hey, what are you two kids doing? Aren't you afraid he'll frame you? Even if he fainted not because of you, you'll still have to pay for it after what you've done."
A young man in the crowd couldn't stand it anymore and reminded them.
Miaomiao didn't understand what "frame" meant at all. She just gave him a casual look and then looked away.
"Hey, kid, where are your parents? Don't just learn a little bit from TV or school and randomly try to save people. If something goes wrong, your whole family will be in big trouble." Seeing that Miaomiao ignored him, the young man made the situation sound even more serious.
Seeing the young man so excited, Miaomiao asked Wei Ziqi in confusion, "What does he mean?"
"He means that he's afraid the old man will wake up and falsely accuse you of making him faint and ask you to pay for it. Or if your first - aid method is wrong and makes the old man's condition worse, you'll still have to pay." Wei Ziqi explained in a way that Miaomiao could understand.
It all came down to "money". Most of the onlookers who had been watching the commotion for so long and were reluctant to leave were afraid to step forward because of money, but they also wanted to watch the excitement and were reluctant to go.
Wei Ziqi just felt it was a bit helpless and ridiculous. But such things were indeed happening recently. For example, kind - hearted people who helped the elderly up from the ground had to pay hundreds of thousands. People who helped send a comatose old man to the hospital were accused of hitting the old man when the person woke up.
This kind of news had been emerging one after another recently, making people panic. As soon as they saw an old person fall, they were on high alert and no one dared to step forward.
"It doesn't matter. Dad has money." Hearing that the worst - case scenario was just having to pay money, Miaomiao waved her hand indifferently.
Since childhood, Lin Yao had instilled in Miaomiao the idea that money was not important and that the family had plenty of it.
After all, it was said that boys should be raised in hardship while girls should be raised in wealth. One day, Miaomiao would have to enter society and leave home.
Silly Dad didn't want his daughter to go astray because of money problems one day, or to be easily coaxed by someone with expensive gifts. Although the probability of such a situation happening to Miaomiao was almost zero according to her way of thinking, silly Dad still took precautions and firmly did a good job in this aspect of education.