“What?”
Su Yaqin quickly changed into her own clothes. Without even stopping to check on her goddaughter, she immediately rode her bicycle home.
Her mother-in-law had always been in good health—how could she suddenly faint?
By now, the sky had completely darkened.
There weren’t many people on the streets.
As Su Yaqin rode into an alley, three men holding clubs suddenly appeared at the entrance.
One of them raised his club toward Su Yaqin.
She tried to turn around, but discovered two more men with clubs blocking her retreat.
Su Yaqin had no choice but to stop her bicycle.
The leader approached and said, “Hand over all the money you have.”
Su Yaqin quickly pulled the money from her pocket and threw it toward them. “That’s all I have. I have urgent business at home—please let me go.”
She glanced around.
This was a small alley where few people passed through at this hour.
Zhao Qiang usually accompanied her after work—she had never walked this route alone before.
“Don’t be in such a hurry. What business could you possibly have at home? You’re quite pretty—are you married?”
Su Yaqin instinctively took two steps back.
But the men on both sides had already surrounded her.
Her back was against the wall.
“Don’t… don’t come any closer. My brother is the Mayor.”
“Oh wow, the Mayor’s sister walking through this alley?”
“I’m so scared—I’ve never been the Mayor’s brother-in-law before.”
The men exchanged glances and laughed. They reached out to grab Su Yaqin.
Seeing an opportunity, Su Yaqin tried to escape through the gap between two of them.
But one man reacted faster, grabbing her clothes.
“Oh ho ho, the Mayor’s sister is throwing herself at me!”
“Let go of me!”
Seeing his hands reaching for her, Su Yaqin started hitting his face and body wildly.
“Ow! That hurts! Drag her into that alley over there!”
One man covered Su Yaqin’s mouth while the others roughly dragged her toward the alley.
Watching the alley getting closer, Su Yaqin couldn’t control her terrified tears.
Suddenly, bicycle bell sounds came from nearby.
“Yaqin!”
Su Yaqin’s eyes lit up. She turned her head and saw Zhao Qiang riding over on his bicycle.
She struggled desperately, but could only make muffled “mmph” sounds.
Without even waiting for his bicycle to stop, Zhao Qiang jumped off and pulled money from his pocket. “Let my wife go. You want money? I have some here.”
“Hah, such a small amount? You think we’re beggars?”
Zhao Qiang quickly threw the money over. “That’s fifty yuan—it’s quite a lot. My parents and siblings are right behind me. Take the money and I’ll pretend nothing happened. If you don’t let her go, when more people come, someone might call the police…”
The men exchanged glances and released Su Yaqin.
The leader picked up the money and confirmed it was indeed fifty yuan.
“Let’s go.”
It wasn’t worth a trip to the police station for fifty yuan.
Watching the men leave, a terrified Su Yaqin clung tightly to Zhao Qiang.
Zhao Qiang patted her back affectionately. “You must have been terrified. I’m sorry, Yaqin. I should have gone to the hospital to pick you up earlier. I only thought to send someone to tell you your mother had fainted, and remembered to fetch you after we’d already taken Mom to the Health Clinic. Don’t be afraid—I’m here now.”
Su Yaqin was trembling all over.
She didn’t dare imagine what would have happened to her if Zhao Qiang hadn’t shown up.
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll always come to pick you up from now on.”
Even after more than ten minutes had passed, Su Yaqin’s limbs still felt weak. “What happened to Mom?”
“The doctor said Mom hasn’t been eating or sleeping well these past few days. Fortunately, it’s nothing serious. She just needs an IV drip and she’ll be fine.”
“Let’s go home first.”
Su Yaqin nodded. It took her quite a while to regain her composure before she could stand up and push her bicycle.
What normally would have been a ten-minute bike ride took the two of them an hour to walk.
By the time they reached home, it was almost ten o’clock.
When Su Yaqin arrived, she noticed the lights were still on. Her parents-in-law hadn’t gone to bed yet, and they both stood up when they saw her return.
Her mother-in-law anxiously approached her, “Yaqin, what happened to you? Why do you look so pale? And your eyes are so swollen. Did someone at the hospital bully you?”
“I’m fine, Mom. How are you feeling?” Su Yaqin didn’t want to bring up what had just happened. “Why did the doctor say you haven’t been eating or sleeping well?”
Her mother-in-law said guiltily, “It’s all because of my nagging that caused you and A’Qiang to argue. Yaqin, I won’t pressure you anymore from now on. Can you forgive A’Qiang?”
Zhao Qiang quickly stepped forward and said, “Wife, I truly know I was wrong.”
Su Yaqin thought about how she had nearly been dragged into that alley.
If it weren’t for Zhao Qiang, she didn’t dare imagine what might have happened.
Su Yaqin nodded and said, “Alright, I’m not angry anymore.”
“Yaqin, you’re truly wonderful. I swear I’ll love you for the rest of my life.”
Mother-in-law: “That’s much better. I can finally get a good night’s sleep tonight. Yaqin, you don’t look well. Take a few days off and rest at home.”
“Okay.”
Lu Jingyi had been busy these past few days preparing for the Full Moon Celebration Feast. She personally wrote the invitations, planning to invite all her friends and superiors.
After finishing the invitations, she suddenly realized Yaqin hadn’t visited for several days.
So Lu Jingyi asked a sister-in-law to deliver an invitation to Yaqin.
But when the sister-in-law returned from her noon shopping, she reported that she’d asked at the hospital and learned Su Yaqin had taken leave and hadn’t been to work for three days.
Lu Jingyi sensed something was wrong.
If Yaqin had taken three days off, why wouldn’t she come to see Long Bao?
Besides, why would Yaqin take sudden leave when she was perfectly fine?
Too worried to let it go, she asked her mother to personally deliver the invitation to Yaqin’s home and invite her to attend the Full Moon Celebration Feast.