For a moment, Li Qiuyue didn’t immediately understand what Dr. Zhou meant.
Following his gaze, she finally noticed the man crouched on the ground, picking up pills.
A thin, middle-aged man with a long braid.
Many people in the village still wore long braids, but she immediately recognized him her own father.
Li Gensheng.
“Dad… what a coincidence! You came for medicine too?” Li Qiuyue said, awkwardly.
She hadn’t told a lie in ten years, and now, of course, she ran into a situation like this.
Li Gensheng sprang to his feet. “I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you! Erni and her whole family are all bedridden!”
“If I’d known you’d turn out like this, I should have thrown you in a cesspit and drowned you back then, you beast!” Li Gensheng pointed at Li Qiuyue’s nose, shouting.
Li Qiuyue clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms, watching him coldly for a long moment… then suddenly laughed.
“Dad… has it been so long that you’ve truly forgotten what kind of person I am?” she said, smiling.
But her eyes were devoid of any humor. “Dad… have you forgotten how houses burn, or that your neck isn’t afraid of a knife anymore?”
Her parents had only two daughters.
They doted on Li Erni, elevating her in every way.
Li Gensheng, now fifty, worked from dawn till late at night just to earn money to support Li Erni.
But for Li Qiuyue, just a year older than Li Erni, they wouldn’t feed her properly and made her wear her younger sister’s hand-me-down rags.
By the time she was eleven, they sent her to the river in freezing winters to wash clothes to earn money for the household.
Someone once pitied her and gave her a job watching a warehouse.
When her parents found out, they scolded the person for meddling and handed the job over to Li Erni.
From then on, no one dared to pity her.
Back then, someone told her that once she married and had a man to back her up, life would improve.
She later grew fond of an educated youth in the village and agreed to a formal proposal.
But at that time, she found an injured man.
To save his life, she was forced to take on a debt of fifty yuan and was kicked out of her home.
The very next day, her parents proudly arranged the wedding between the educated youth and Li Erni.
Only then did she realize that Li Erni had also fallen for the young man.
Their wrongdoings were far beyond just fifty yuan.
Later, she found Zhaozhao.
She paid off the fifty yuan, severed ties with the Li family, and just wanted a normal life.
But Liu Jinhua, unable to get money from her, set her sights on Zhaozhao and sold him away.
That day, instead of immediately retrieving the child, she burned down the Li family’s house in anger.
Then, wielding a knife, she chased Liu Jinhua across the entire village.
From that moment, no one in the Li family dared provoke her again.
Li Qiuyue had learned then that only by frightening people could she avoid being bullied.
This was also why she dared come to seek revenge this time, demanding money without fear of retaliation.
Because… they were afraid of death.
She wasn’t.
The old fear was awakened again. Li Gensheng’s dark-red face turned pale.
Back when Li Qiuyue burned the house, she had threatened to use the evidence of their “child-selling” to drag them down with her.
Now, Li Qiuyue had a soldier for a husband. If the police punished them, would they even dare touch her? It was uncertain!
Thinking this, Li Gensheng’s tone softened: “Qiuyue… I think, we’re all family. A harmonious home makes everything prosper.”
He even glanced at Dr. Zhou a few times, hoping the doctor would back him up.
Dr. Zhou sighed and stroked his beard, seemingly unwilling to meddle in family affairs.
Before Dr. Zhou could speak, Li Qiuyue opened her mouth first: “Dad… if you’re so kind as to help the younger daughter buy medicine, shouldn’t you treat the elder daughter the same?”
After scolding her, he still wanted to act like a good man?
Dream on.
“You only care about money!” Li Gensheng perked up at the mention of money.
“If you don’t pay, I’ll go out right now and tell everyone you’re biased, abusing me!” Li Qiuyue rolled up her sleeves, deliberately looking outside and speaking loudly.
As luck would have it, a shadow really appeared at the window outside.
Probably overhearing the commotion, but too timid to come in.
Li Qiuyue smiled. “I want to see if your reputation gets ruined and no one dares let you build houses anymore, will the ‘Top Team’ still want you?”
Li Gensheng saw the figure too.
Around here, several “Top Teams” were competing. If his reputation affected the business, he’d be out of work.
And Li Qiuyue earned money every day, was frugal, and had no descendants.
In the end, everything would be left for Guangzong anyway!
After hesitating, he pinched his nose and reluctantly asked, “What medicine do you need?”
“I only spent 3.2 yuan on Erni, so at most I can spend the same for you,” he added.
“The best painkillers, with no side effects,” Li Qiuyue said, addressing Dr. Sun.
Dr. Sun chuckled: “The best painkillers cost thirty yuan.”
Thirty yuan!
Li Qiuyue’s eyes widened. She sold one bowl of wontons for two mao thirty yuan was one hundred fifty bowls!
But thinking of the blood-stained bandages, Qin Huai’s heavy breathing, and how he had selflessly protected her…
Forget it. She would just return the favor!
“Fine!” she squeezed out a word through her teeth.
Li Gensheng panicked. “You… how can it be so expensive?!”
Every extra penny she spent now meant less for Guangzong later.
“Why should it matter to you what medicine I buy for my dad?” Li Qiuyue shot him a glare, thinking he was fussing over the 3.2 yuan.
Li Gensheng ground his teeth: “I’m standing right here!”
“What? I can use your money to help the younger daughter, but I can’t use my money to get medicine for my dad?” Li Qiuyue rolled her eyes.
Ignoring his grumbling, she waited for Dr. Sun to prepare the medicine.
After Dr. Sun explained how to take it, she pursed her lips and handed over 26.8 yuan.
Ignoring Li Gensheng’s protests, she walked out with the medicine.
Outside, she saw a tall, imposing man holding a child in one arm at the doorway.
The child wore new clothes, and both he and his father had matching blue knit caps.
They looked presentable, but she had already been standing there for a while…
This father was unreliable.
If Qin Huai dared let Zhaozhao freeze outside for so long, she’d make him understand why tomorrow’s sun would be so red!
She turned away and walked.
The child called out anxiously: “Mom!”
It was Zhaozhao.
Li Qiuyue froze for a moment, and her face instantly flushed.
Red with anger!
At this moment, Li Gensheng also emerged from the pharmacy.
Seeing her reaction, he was momentarily confused.
Then he looked at Qin Huai this extraordinary man, tall and upright and immediately realized who he was.
Li Gensheng’s first thought: Qin Huai didn’t look like someone incapable of fathering children.
If Li Qiuyue and Qin Huai ended up together, she’d have descendants.
Then all the 3.2 yuan he spent today would’ve been wasted!
Thinking this, he put on a stern, patriarchal expression and walked over to Qin Huai.