Sister Tao was out, and Granny Zhu was helping to watch the fruit shop.
Wen Changling was supposed to work the day shift today, but a colleague whom she had helped in the past took over her shift, so she had some free time and also helped out at the fruit shop.
Sister Tao did not come back until after ten o'clock.
Granny Zhu asked her, "Is that old lady alright?"
"She's fine, just spent quite a bit of money," Sister Tao sighed, "The old lady insisted on having some tests done, and that cost Shifang over two thousand three hundred."
Liu Shifang is also a resident of Lotus Pond Street.
Last summer, her husband died trying to save someone from drowning. Granny couldn't handle the blow of a parent burying their child and suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed. Then, last winter, her child was diagnosed with a heart condition.