“Was the commotion outside not enough? Why are you, as a mother-in-law, always hitting your daughter-in-law?”
It wasn’t that Lu Jianguo felt any pity; he was just worried about his image. If family matters spread to the factory, his chances of promotion would be almost nonexistent.
“Did you hear what she said? Talking about children being born without anuses—she just spouts nonsense. I think her worthless mouth should be torn apart.”
Li Shaohua was furious.
Lu Jianguo didn’t respond to his wife’s words. Instead, he looked at her and asked about the hospital: “So? What did the hospital say?”
The topic was abruptly diverted.
“Ugh, it’s so annoying. The hospital said she needs to recuperate for at least a month.”
As she spoke, Li Shaohua glared fiercely at Li Yue, slammed her bag on the table again, plopped down on a stool, and began wiping her tears.
“Why? Is Xiao Jing not suitable for surgery right now?” Lu Jianguo also came over and sat at the table, his face filled with anxiety.
Seeing her mother crying nonstop, Lu Qing felt very uncomfortable. It made that Feng Jing seem like some kind of treasure—just a sickly person, that’s all.
No, she had to let her father know that the other person wasn’t suitable for kidney donation. How could they donate to her then?
“Dad, the doctor said Second Sister-in-law has a heart condition and isn’t suitable to be a donor.”
“What?”
Lu Jianguo clenched his fists, not expecting things to turn out this way. If the hospital refused to perform the surgery, then…
Clearly, he had misunderstood.
He looked at his daughter standing by the stairs. No, how could his child donate a kidney to someone else?
If it weren’t for his wife saying that performing the surgery for his eldest daughter-in-law would boost his prestige at the factory, he wouldn’t have bothered.
She wasn’t his daughter, just a daughter-in-law. Her husband was already dead, and keeping her around was just a waste of money.
“Don’t worry. The doctor said it can still be done, but she needs to recuperate properly. Otherwise, her kidneys won’t be healthy, and if transplanted into Xiao Jing, they could cause a rejection phenomenon.” Seeing her husband’s resolve wavering again, Li Shaohua quickly explained.
“What did the doctor say about how to recuperate?”
Lu Jianguo asked again.
Li Yue slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. She already knew what this family was like, but seeing that no one cared about her life or death still made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
She guessed it was the original host’s emotions acting up.
She stood up and brushed off nonexistent dust from her hands. “The doctor said I have low blood sugar, weak qi and blood, and severe malnutrition. I need to eat well and nourish myself.”
Her voice was abrupt, drawing disgusted looks from the whole family.
She paid no mind and continued, “I need to be well taken care of—eat well, live well, and be in a good mood. If I’m not in a good mood, I won’t mind taking a stroll to the factory.”
Lu Jianguo’s dark expression grew even colder. “If you dare go to the factory, I won’t mind breaking your legs.”
Meeting Lu Jianguo’s sinister gaze, she chuckled lightly:
“Oh? Threatening me? Then I’ll have to spread the word—a father-in-law breaking his daughter-in-law’s legs. I bet the factory leaders would love to hear that gossip.”
“What do you want to do?”
Seeing her lift her foot to leave again, Lu Jianguo sprang to his feet, shouting angrily, a hint of urgency and fear flashing in his eyes.
“What else? Just taking a stroll to the factory.” Li Yue’s tone was light, her steps unhurried as she continued moving slowly upstairs.
“Stop right there. Stop. Xiao Xiao, hurry and block her.”
Lu Jianguo shouted at his son with a splitting headache, inexplicably furious. His wife was causing such a scene, yet his son was just standing there watching like a spectator.
Though well-regarded publicly, at home he was utterly useless—letting his wife make such a fuss while he stood by observing.
Lu Xiao stood with his hands in his pockets, his face expressionless as a mask upon hearing his father’s complaints.
He cast a cold glance at Li Yue: “Enough. Stop these pointless attempts to get my attention. The more you act like this, the more I dislike you. So quit wasting your effort.”
Li Yue: “…”
Lu Qing: “…”
Was her second brother out of his mind? Li Yue was causing such a disturbance, yet he thought she was putting on an act?
Li Yue stared at this peculiar creature in astonishment, wondering what could possibly be going through his mind. For a moment, she felt genuinely bewildered.
“You don’t actually think I’m playing hard to get, do you?”
“Aren’t you?” retorted Lu Xiao.
“Lu Xiao, I swear I’m not. You’re completely overthinking this. You’re planning to accompany your sister-in-law tonight, aren’t you? Feel free to go openly. I already spoke up for you outside—everyone knows you’re just showing concern for your sister-in-law on your brother’s behalf.”
Hearing this, Lu Xiao became convinced that Li Yue was simply jealous.
So he turned and directly picked up the luggage he’d just packed: “I’m going to the hospital to stay with Xiao Jing.”
Li Shaohua grew anxious at this: “With Qingqing there, why do you need to go? You should watch your boundaries—she’s your sister-in-law, and you’re the younger brother-in-law. How can you always be alone with her?”
Lu Xiao looked surprised. His mother had never cared about this before—in fact, she’d often asked him to show more concern for Xiao Jing.
She’d said Xiao Jing had a pitiable background, and that his elder brother was no longer around.
What was going on today?
“I understand. Xiao Jing must be scared staying alone at night. I’m just keeping her company. Besides, the hospital is full of people. If I accompany her openly, who could possibly criticize it?”
“Go on then, hurry up. You’d be inhuman if you didn’t go,” Li Yue sneered coldly.
Lu Xiao: “Wipe that look off your face. Even like this, I won’t develop feelings for you.”
“Fine then. Let’s divorce,” Li Yue said.
Her smile vanished too, her eyes turning cold as sharp blades as she met Lu Xiao’s gaze without flinching.
Hearing this, Lu Jianguo and Li Shaohua exchanged glances, both seeing the hidden delight in each other’s eyes.
Divorce would be excellent. After donating a kidney, having children would be difficult, so a divorce would allow Lu Xiao to remarry.
Lu Jianguo had originally wanted his son to marry the daughter of the textile factory director—he never expected him to end up with such an embarrassing match.
After a few seconds of silence, Lu Xiao responded calmly: “Are you serious?”
“Yes, dead serious,” Li Yue replied with a composed, mocking smile.
“Alright. After your surgery, we’ll divorce.”
Li Yue curled her lips into a brilliant smile, her eyes filled with sarcasm: “Lu Xiao, listen carefully. I want a divorce now. Right now. And I won’t be donating the kidney either.”
She had never intended to donate in the first place. This was just giving them a forewarning—who would honor an agreement after taking it back?
This matter would eventually require police involvement, but not yet. She hadn’t finished investigating the Lu Family’s assets.
She hadn’t worked all these months for nothing—she definitely needed to collect some interest.
With this thought, she took two steps toward Li Shaohua’s bedroom door and began silently reciting in her mind: Gold, silver, antiques, jade pieces, money, watches, gold rings, gold earrings, gold bracelets…
She silently recited everything she could think of.
Whether it worked or not, she would try it first. After all, they were going to fall out anyway.
She absolutely would not stay with the Lu Family—these people were just too awful.
Especially Lu Xiao, that self-righteous scumbag.
On the other hand, Li Yue’s words actually calmed Lu Xiao down a bit. To put it bluntly, Li Yue was just feeling resentful because she had to donate a kidney to Xiao Jing. So, he decided to give in to her this once.
Thus, he reluctantly said, “You stay at home. I’ll go to the hospital to accompany Xiao Jing. Qingqing, you bring dinner to your sister-in-law tonight.”
Lu Qing: “Why should I? I’m not going.”
Her eyes darted around, and she suddenly looked at Li Yue. “Second sister-in-law, you go. Don’t you want to keep an eye on my brother?”
She winked at Li Yue.