Chapter 5

Bai Zhi silently sighed. She could be fierce toward other people, but she simply couldn't bring herself to be harsh with her own child. “Grandma is inside getting treated. She’ll be fine, so don’t be scared.” Lu Deren was very good to the children. He gently rubbed Lu Tuan’an’s head and explained things to her. Lu Tuan’an finally felt relieved. She didn’t want to suspect her own mother, but in her heart, she was still much closer to her grandparents, so she was even more afraid that something might happen to Lu Shuyu. “Dad, Tuan’an asked me to bring a quilt over, so I went to Sister-in-law’s room and brought one…” The young girl carrying the quilt behind them was Bai Zhi’s sister-in-law, or more precisely, one of her two sisters-in-law, Lu Qingqing. The two sisters-in-law were twins. Lu Qingqing was the older sister, while Lu Cuicui was the younger one. As Lu Qingqing spoke, she didn’t even dare to look at Bai Zhi, afraid that Bai Zhi would get angry and scold her. “You…” The moment Bai Zhi began to speak, Lu Qingqing shrank her neck in fear. If Lu Tuan’an hadn’t told her that Grandma was sick and needed a quilt, she would never have dared to take Bai Zhi’s things without permission. “Why did you only bring one? And it’s so thin.” As she spoke, Bai Zhi reached out and touched the quilt, clearly dissatisfied. She had specifically told them to bring two thick quilts. “Ah, I… I…” Lu Qingqing had never expected Bai Zhi to say that. She stared at her in disbelief, completely at a loss for words. “Forget it. Take this one inside and cover Mom with it first. I’ll bring some thicker quilts and food later.” “Oh, okay, Sister-in-law.” Lu Qingqing walked toward the hospital room in a daze, still hugging the quilt. She hadn’t recovered from Bai Zhi’s attitude toward her. Her sister-in-law, who normally wouldn’t say a single kind word to her, had actually spoken to her so gently. It felt almost like a dream. “I want to go see Grandma too!” Lu Tuan’an tugged on Lu Deren’s hand, but she was actually speaking to Bai Zhi. She didn’t want to admit that she was afraid to get too close to Bai Zhi. “Go with your eldest aunt.” Bai Zhi nodded. Lu Tuan’an immediately ran after Lu Qingqing as if she had just been granted a pardon. Bai Zhi had sent the child away because she needed to deal with what came next. She turned her attention to the group of people still blocking her way. “I see you’re all so reluctant to leave, so fine. Since you came to the hospital to visit someone, you can’t just leave empty-handed. Each of you should show some sincerity. Hurry up and contribute something.” Wasn’t Bai Zhi’s meaning obvious? She wanted them to give money or something of value. “Hey, don’t go too far! Why should we give you money?” Chen Xiufang was the first to object. Her entire family was waiting to be fed. Where would they get extra money to give Bai Zhi? “Exactly, Bai Zhi! Not only did you hit people, you also damaged Brother Daqiang’s things. And now you want us to give you money? You’re really going too far!” He Suya chimed in from within the crowd. “You two haven’t been beaten enough yet?” Bai Zhi stepped forward and rolled up her sleeves, looking as though she was about to hit them again. The crowd immediately backed away several steps in fear. Even Liu Daqiang’s face darkened, but he didn’t dare say another word. “If you’re not here to visit someone, then what are you still doing here? Are you waiting for me to personally escort each of you out?” Bai Zhi waved her arm, and several timid women immediately fled in fright. Chen Xiufang was among them, but even while leaving, she couldn’t resist running her mouth. “With such a vicious wife, just wait until Lu Yanting comes back and divorces you! Let’s see if you can still act so arrogant then!” “Uncle Lu, we came here in such a hurry. We’ll definitely come back tomorrow to see Auntie.” After saying that to Lu Deren, Liu Daqiang led his group of brothers away. He Suya followed behind them, but as she left, she gave Bai Zhi a deeply resentful look. Bai Zhi had no idea why He Suya was so hostile toward her. She guessed that the problem probably had something to do with her husband, who had been away from home for three years. When she thought of Lu Yanting, Bai Zhi realized that she didn’t know much about the man from the original owner’s memories. She only knew that he was a soldier. When they got married three years ago, he hadn’t even returned home for the wedding. Instead, he had arrived a week after the wedding had already taken place. That was the only time the two of them had been together, which resulted in their child. After that, Lu Yanting never came home again. No one even knew whether he was alive or dead. In fact, there was a reason why the original owner had treated her in-laws and sisters-in-law so badly. On the day she married into the family, the groom hadn’t even been there. She had been the only one wearing wedding clothes, going through the wedding ceremony as if she were marrying thin air. It really had been a terrible humiliation. In any case, Bai Zhi had no feelings for this legendary husband of hers. Since the two of them had no affection for each other, she wouldn’t mind getting a divorce. After everyone had left, Lu Deren suddenly took a neatly folded stack of money from his pocket. “Yanting’s wife, this is the last ten yuan our family has left. Could you use it to pay for your mother-in-law’s treatment first? I’ll give you the rest of the money.” Lu Deren’s attitude was extremely humble, almost as though he were begging Bai Zhi. Hearing this made Bai Zhi feel uncomfortable. She quickly helped Lu Deren over to the side and had him sit down to rest. “Dad, I was too unreasonable before. I haven’t even spent the money you gave me a few days ago. I’ll return it to you now. Use it to make sure Mom gets proper treatment. Also, don’t stay in that thatched hut anymore. You, Mom, Lu Qingqing, and Lu Cuicui should all move back here.” Bai Zhi took out a large sum of money that she had already prepared and placed it in Lu Deren’s hands. There were five hundred yuan in total. It was obvious how long the Lu family must have saved to accumulate such a sum, yet they had given it all to Bai Zhi. “This… this…” Lu Deren stared at the money in disbelief, then looked at Bai Zhi. For a moment, he couldn’t figure out what she meant. “Yanting’s wife, what are you doing? This money…” “Dad, I mean every word I said. I did a lot of terrible things before, but I’ve thought everything through now. I won’t do those things anymore. From now on, let’s live peacefully as a family. Please believe me.” Lu Deren had been an honest and kindhearted man his entire life. Naturally, he was willing to believe Bai Zhi. Whether she would change again in the future was something no one could know, but at least today, when it came to Lu Shuyu’s illness, he had witnessed everything with his own eyes. He could tell that Bai Zhi genuinely wanted to save Lu Shuyu. “Dad, put the money away quickly. It isn’t safe to keep holding it like that.” “Then… all right. Yanting’s wife, if you ever need money, just tell me.” “Okay, Dad. Thank you.” “You’re the patient’s family, right?” At that moment, a nurse came over. “Yes.” Bai Zhi quickly answered. “Go take a look. The patient has regained consciousness and is no longer in any danger.” “Okay, thank you.” Bai Zhi finally let out a sigh of relief. In fact, she knew that one of the reasons Lu Shuyu had become ill without seeing a doctor right away was probably because the original owner had taken all the family’s money. Now that she was safe, at least there was a good outcome. “Dad, go take a look. I’ll go home, get a few things, and come back.” “It’s fine. You don’t need to get anything. We’ll be able to go home later.” Lu Deren hurriedly stopped her. “Since we’ve come all this way, we should make sure Mom gets properly treated. I can see that her health isn’t very good either, so let’s take this opportunity to have her get checked and treated for her other problems too.” With that, Bai Zhi left without another word. Seeing that his daughter-in-law had truly changed, Lu Deren didn’t dare stop her again and returned to the hospital room first. “Grandpa, Grandma is awake!” Lu Tuan’an came running over excitedly. “All right, all right.” When Lu Deren saw that Lu Shuyu had already regained consciousness and looked to be in fairly good spirits, the heavy weight in his heart finally lifted. “Dad, where’s Sister-in-law?” Lu Qingqing asked. Lu Tuan’an wanted to know too, but she assumed Bai Zhi probably didn’t want to deal with them anymore and had already gone home. “Your sister-in-law went home to get some things. She said she’d come back later to check on your mother.” Lu Qingqing: ? Lu Tuan’an: ? If Lu Deren hadn’t said those words with his own mouth, neither of them would have believed them.