adbindia Chapter 306 - 151: Who Is Opposing "Made in America"?
Chapter 306 - 151: Who Is Opposing "Made in America"?
"Five hundred dollars..."
The woman let go of the counter and took a step back.
She rummaged through all her pockets, only to pull out a few crumpled bills.
"I don’t have five hundred dollars..."
Tears streamed down her face.
"The factory shut down. Pittsburgh hasn’t paid... We haven’t gotten our wages in two months... We can’t even afford rent..."
She suddenly realized she was in Pittsburgh right now—the city that was supposedly undergoing a revival, a city supposedly flowing with money.
Her voice trailed off, turning into a desperate sob.
"Why... Why is this happening..."
Leo stood a few meters away, feeling as if someone had viciously squeezed his heart.
Erie United Steel Company.
According to the original contract schedule, the first advance payment from Pittsburgh should have arrived in the company’s account last week.
If everything had gone smoothly, they could have paid off all the overdue insurance premiums this week, and the workers would have received their long-awaited full salaries.
This child should have been able to walk confidently into the examination room and receive the best treatment.
But now, all of that had turned to dust.
Because Harrisburg had frozen the funds, because of the political battle between Leo and Monroe, that factory couldn’t get paid.
This was the true face of a political struggle, beyond the statistics.
It was a child trembling in pain in a wheelchair, and a mother who couldn’t produce five hundred dollars.
Leo felt his feet were as heavy as lead.
He wanted to turn and leave, to escape this suffocating scene.
But he couldn’t move.
"Ethan," Leo said. "Go pay."
Ethan froze for a moment, then understood what Leo meant.
He didn’t ask any questions, just walked briskly to the payment window and took out his credit card.
Leo took a deep breath, composed himself, and walked toward the mother and son.
He walked over to the wheelchair and squatted down.
The boy was already somewhat delirious from the pain. Seeing someone approach, he instinctively shrank back.
Leo reached out and gently patted the boy’s uninjured knee.
"Don’t be afraid, son," Leo said softly. "The doctor will be here soon."
The middle-aged woman looked up, her tear-filled eyes gazing at the stranger who had suddenly appeared.
"You are...?"
"I’m just a passerby." Leo avoided her gaze. "Someone has already paid the fee for you. You don’t need to worry about the money."
The woman was stunned, seeming to not believe that something like this could still happen in such a cold world.
She opened her mouth, wanting to thank him, but a sob escaped first.
"Thank you... Thank you, sir. God bless you."
Leo felt a sharp pang.
God?
’If God really existed, He should strike Monroe dead right now.’
"I overheard that your husband works at the factory in Erie?" Leo asked tentatively. "Why would the insurance company refuse to pay out? Even if the factory is behind on payments, there’s usually a grace period."
At the mention of her husband, the woman’s eyes instantly dimmed.
"Because... because of that incident."
The woman looked down at her own calloused hands.
"The factory shut down. The boss said there was a problem on Pittsburgh’s end, that the funds were frozen, so they couldn’t pay our wages."
"Our family has no savings. My son hurt his leg playing soccer at school. The school nurse said it might be a fracture and that he needed to go to a proper hospital for an X-ray and a cast."
"But we don’t have any money."
The woman’s voice trembled.
"My husband... Grant... he watched our son in so much pain he couldn’t sleep all night. He was driven mad with worry."
"He heard... he heard that if you get injured at the factory, the insurance company will cover everything in full, and you’ll even get compensation for lost wages."
Leo’s pupils contracted sharply.
He guessed what had happened next.
"So, during the shutdown, he secretly snuck into the factory."
The woman covered her mouth, tears streaming down.
"He wanted to stage an accident, to pretend he fell off the scaffolding and got hurt, then use the compensation money to treat our son’s leg."
"But... it was raining that night, and the scaffolding was slippery."
"He slipped."
"He really fell, from three stories high."
The woman was shaking all over as she cried.
"He didn’t die, but he broke his spine."
"The insurance investigators came. They checked the surveillance footage and found out he climbed up there himself. They saw his hesitation before the incident."
"They ruled it as intentional insurance fraud."
"Not only did the insurance company refuse to cover his medical expenses, but they also blacklisted his insurance credibility across the entire industry. It caused our whole family’s insurance to be voided, too."
"Now, he’s lying in a hospice in Erie."
"We don’t have money for his surgery, or even for his painkillers."
"I brought my son to Pittsburgh to stay with relatives, hoping to borrow some money to get his leg treated, but my relatives lost their jobs too..."
Leo remained squatting, feeling as if all the air had been sucked out of the room.
This was a tragedy, but it was more than just a tragedy.
Because Leo launched the revitalization plan, the factory in Erie got orders, and Grant had hope.
Because Leo and Monroe were fighting, the funds were frozen, the factory shut down, and Grant lost his income.
To pay for his son’s medical treatment, Grant took a desperate risk, tried to commit insurance fraud, and ended up with a broken spine.
Now, this family was utterly destroyed.
"Sir? Sir?"
The woman looked at the dazed Leo and called out with some concern.
Leo snapped back to reality.
He looked at the mother.
Ethan had already returned with the paid receipt. The nurse’s attitude changed immediately, and she began arranging for a doctor to see them.
"Go on, the doctor is waiting for you." Leo stood up, his knees feeling a bit weak.