Chen Ruohua’s various indicators were gradually meeting the standards, and the doctor said chemotherapy could be arranged soon.
Li Qing breathed a temporary sigh of relief.
There was still a monthly exam this month, so she shifted her focus to studying.
But she suddenly noticed that Yuan Tingshen seemed to be spacing out a lot lately? And during class, he would occasionally pull out his phone to check it.
…Was he completely ignoring her now?
Li Qing was stunned.
At the same time, Yuan Tingshen’s dismissive behavior ignited her competitive spirit, and she started frantically grinding through three sets of practice questions a day.
Yuan Tingshen, who was clueless about what was happening: “”
Was his mere presence enough to make her this angry?
He had expected the illegitimate child to continue withdrawing money, so he had the bank monitor the supplementary card, but surprisingly, there had been no activity for several days.
Yuan Tingshen almost wondered if he was hallucinating.
However, he had already booked a flight back to Jinghua for the next day to personally test his parents’ reactions.
He wanted to tell Li Qing that he would be taking a few days off.
But—
Yuan Tingshen turned his head and saw Li Qing glaring at her test papers with a look of “deep-seated hatred,” sending a slight chill down his spine.
…Better not.
……
The first monthly exam of senior year arrived.
Li Qing hadn’t expected Yuan Tingshen to be absent from the exam.
Not only was he absent from the monthly exam, but he also didn’t show up afterward.
Li Qing didn’t care about his whereabouts, but before the holiday, she took the opportunity to ask Liao Ting about changing seats.
With Yuan Tingshen absent and her insistence, Liao Ting, after seeing the “demilitarized zone” piled up between them, finally gave in with a headache.
Li Qing happily got a single desk and breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen Ruohua’s first chemotherapy session was over, and Li Qing brought Yuan Miao, who insisted on going, to pick her up from the hospital.
Thinking of Li Jianhui at home, Li Qing really didn’t want Chen Ruohua to return to that house, but she couldn’t bring Chen Ruohua to live with her on Ninth Street either.
Chen Ruohua, however, sensed Li Qing’s thoughts first.
She patted the back of Li Qing’s hand reassuringly and said, “It’s fine. He wouldn’t dare do anything to me now.”
Li Qing frowned but still took Chen Ruohua home.
Yuan Miao, standing nearby, vaguely sensed something was off.
…It sounded like his grandpa was pretty awful.
When they arrived downstairs at the residential complex, Yuan Miao stared wide-eyed at the old neighborhood filled with the marks of time.
He carried his grandmother’s luggage, walking behind the two of them.
Looking at the worn-out corridors and moldy walls, Yuan Miao finally gained a clear understanding of what Luo Zhengyu had described.
As soon as Li Qing opened the door, a mix of strange odors and mountains of piled-up garbage greeted them.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
Yuan Miao had never seen such a scene before and immediately started coughing uncomfortably.
Chen Ruohua pulled him behind her and looked at him apologetically. “Sorry, Miao Miao. I didn’t expect the house to be like this.”
“I-It’s fine, cough, cough!”
Yuan Miao shook his head while forcing himself not to run away.
No wonder his mom hadn’t come home all this time—what was the difference between this and living in a garbage dump!
Chen Ruohua wanted to tidy up but was stopped by Li Qing.
“I’ll do it.”
Li Qing, clearly accustomed to it, walked in calmly.
She opened the windows to air out the room and found a broom to sweep the floor.
She picked up several large bags of grease-stained garbage to take downstairs and throw away.
Seeing this, Yuan Miao couldn’t just stand by. He immediately spoke up, “M—I’ll take them out!”
“…Do you know where the trash can is?”
“I do, I saw it when I just came in!”
“Alright.”
Li Qing naturally handed those bags of trash to him. She still had to mop and disinfect the floor, so it was all the better if Yuan Miao could help share the load.
But Chen Ruohua stared at this scene in astonishment.
“Qingqing, how could you let…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Yuan Miao had already furrowed his brows, picked up those bags of foul-smelling trash, and huffed and puffed as he ran downstairs.
Li Qing calmly turned around.
“It’s fine, Brother Zhao said he can be ordered around freely.”
“……”
Chen Ruohua sat on the cleaned-up sofa, watching Li Qing’s busy figure with words left unspoken.
By the time Li Qing finished mopping and the house was restored to cleanliness, she saw Chen Ruohua looking deeply troubled.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Qingqing…”
Chen Ruohua wore an awkward expression, and only under Li Qing’s puzzled gaze did she slowly speak up. “Are you and Miaomiao…?”
Are what?
The confusion on Li Qing’s face grew even stronger.
Then, in the next second, Chen Ruohua blurted out something shocking: “Are you two dating?”
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Li Qing choked on her own saliva, coughing violently as her face flushed red.
Chen Ruohua hurriedly stood up to pat her back and help her catch her breath.
“…Mom, don’t talk nonsense.”
After calming down, Li Qing felt goosebumps rise from the shock of Chen Ruohua’s earlier words.
“My relationship with Yuan Miao… is like Brother Zhao’s—we’re family.”
Li Qing paused.
She wasn’t sure if Chen Ruohua could accept suddenly having a grown-up grandson, so she could only hint at it for now.
Seeing her daughter’s serious reaction, Chen Ruohua realized she had overthought things and felt deeply embarrassed.
“I see.”
Footsteps echoed in the stairwell. Li Qing recognized them as Li Jianhui’s, along with Yuan Miao’s.
Had the two of them run into each other?
The thought had just crossed Li Qing’s mind when she saw Yuan Miao and Li Jianhui standing at the doorway, staring each other down.
“Kid, you’ve got the wrong door.”
Li Jianhui sized up Yuan Miao from head to toe.
Smooth-skinned and delicate-looking, he seemed like someone from a wealthy family… but what kind of decent person would show up in their neighborhood?
Li Jianhui curled his lip in disdain, then turned around and saw Chen Ruohua sitting on the sofa with a grim expression.
How dare this wretched woman come back?!
Li Jianhui’s eyebrows shot up, and he was about to hurl insults when he met Li Qing’s dangerously sharp gaze.
“I’m in a good mood today—don’t make me do something I’ll regret.”
Li Qing warned him coldly.
Damn it!
Li Jianhui cursed inwardly, still haunted by the memory of Li Qing kicking him into the hospital last time.
But backing down in front of his own daughter was something he couldn’t bring himself to do.
So, Li Jianhui grumbled discontentedly, “Is that any way to talk to your father? All these years raising you for nothing!”
“Mom’s the one who raised me. What are you, anyway?”
Li Qing sneered, showing him no respect whatsoever. “A useless good-for-nothing who can’t accomplish anything but only messes things up. The sooner you die, the better.”
Infuriated and humiliated by her words, Li Jianhui instinctively raised his hand to strike.
“You damn—”
“What are you doing?!”
Yuan Miao had been standing dumbfounded at the doorway for a moment, but when Li Jianhui tried to hit her, he finally snapped out of it and rushed forward to stop him.
He stared at Li Jianhui with disappointment and anger.
“How could you hit her?!”
At her angriest, his mother would at most give him a slap on the head.
Yuan Miao called it a slap of love.
But the ferocious expression on Li Jianhui’s face, the look in his eyes that seemed to regard him as a sworn enemy, wishing he could be torn to pieces—he saw no trace of love in it.
Li Qing hadn’t expected Yuan Miao to intervene.
Frowning, she pulled him behind her and pushed him toward Chen Ruohua.
“Mom, keep an eye on him.”
“Alright…”
Chen Ruohua’s voice was filled with unconcealed worry.
Anxiously, she watched as Li Qing grabbed Li Jianhui by the collar and unyieldingly dragged him outside.
Then, with a loud “Bang!”, the door slammed shut.