Zhao Wenyi brought Li Qing to the office.
Li Qing didn’t bring up the earlier unpleasantness again. Instead, she spoke seriously to Zhao Wenyi: “Brother Zhao, I want in.”
She knew Uncle Jiu wasn’t as simple as he appeared on the surface. Besides this bar, he had other businesses behind the scenes.
Zhao Wenyi was taken aback for a moment, then his expression turned serious as he refused her.
“No.”
“You taught me my skills. You should have confidence in me.”
“It’s not about that…”
Zhao Wenyi looked at her helplessly. “I’ve told you many times, I can agree to anything else, but this one thing—no.”
Li Qing didn’t speak, silently meeting Zhao Wenyi’s gaze.
Zhao Wenyi glanced at the date on the desk and belatedly realized something. He asked softly, “Is Aunt Chen in the hospital?”
Li Qing nodded.
“I’ll figure something out, but you absolutely cannot touch this.”
Zhao Wenyi scratched his brow and sighed.
He patiently advised her, “Xiao Li, this line of work is too dangerous. The risk of losing your life is always there… Look at Yuan Miao. You’ll have a family and children in the future.”
Li Qing let out a cold laugh, her tone weary.
“Maybe I really will fulfill Li Jianhui’s wish and latch onto a rich man. Otherwise, how could I give birth to such a spendthrift?”
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
Zhao Wenyi frowned and scolded her.
Li Qing snorted but didn’t argue back.
“Yuan Miao meant well. It also shows that in the future, you protected him too well… Besides, when he gets stubborn, he looks exactly like you.”
Li Qing’s pupils widened slightly, and she froze in place.
She remembered the inexplicable anger she felt earlier when Yuan Miao contradicted her and couldn’t help but connect it to Li Jianhui.
She had almost become just like Li Jianhui.
Li Qing lowered her eyes and remained silent.
Seeing her calm down, Zhao Wenyi patted her shoulder. “Let’s go. Go talk properly with Yuan Miao.”
Zhao Wenyi led Li Qing downstairs, only to find only Zeng Huai and Luo Zhengyu at the bar.
“Where’s Yuan Miao?”
“Him? He went to return the scarf with red eyes.”
“Did you scold him?”
Li Qing’s brow instinctively furrowed.
Luo Zhengyu cried injustice.
“I just briefly explained your situation to him.”
“…There was no need.”
Li Qing’s frown deepened.
Yuan Miao’s appearance was completely unexpected. She had never thought of relying on him to change her fate.
Zhao Wenyi shook his head.
“I know what you mean, but as I said earlier, you protected him too well. Being too sheltered and naive isn’t necessarily a good thing.”
Li Qing was at a loss for words.
She wasn’t taking the blame for that—it was her future self who did those things.
“I’m going to deliver takeout.”
Over the next few days, Li Qing became even busier.
She took on a part-time job tutoring a middle school student. The family paid a high hourly rate, and combined with the money she had saved earlier, she could manage for a while.
After returning the scarf, Yuan Miao prepared a more meaningful gift instead, full of anticipation as he went to apologize to his mother.
However, for several days in a row, he couldn’t see Li Qing.
Yuan Miao felt as if the sky had fallen.
He slumped over the bar, utterly dejected.
“Uncle Zeng, hasn’t Mom forgiven me yet?”
Zeng Huai thought about Li Qing’s recent activities and shook his head. “She probably doesn’t have time to be angry.”
“Huh?”
Yuan Miao straightened up. “What do you mean? Is she very busy?”
Zeng Huai grunted in acknowledgment. “Auntie Chen—your grandmother—is about to be hospitalized for chemotherapy. Xiao Li is busy trying to earn money.”
“What?!”
Yuan Miao froze in place, his eyes widening in shock.
Grandma was still alive?!
“Thank you so much, Uncle Zeng!”
With those words, Yuan Miao dashed upstairs.
He pushed open the office door with a bang.
“Uncle!”
“Huh?”
Zhao Wenyi looked up, bewildered.
Yuan Miao stared at him with burning, eager eyes. “You definitely know which hospital my grandmother is in, right?!”
Zhao Wenyi: “…I do.”
Yuan Miao desperately pleaded and wheedled, begging him to take him to visit Chen Ruohua at the hospital.
In the end, he even resorted to a sympathy ploy, claiming he had never seen his grandmother since he was born…
Zhao Wenyi interrupted him with a headache.
“I’ll take you, alright?”
Chen Ruohua’s illness had already progressed to a late stage. Chemotherapy was just a way to buy a little more time, something they all understood clearly.
When she first learned she had late-stage cancer, Chen Ruohua hadn’t wanted treatment.
But Li Qing insisted desperately, and Chen Ruohua also wanted to see Li Qing go to university, so she gritted her teeth and endured it.
Yuan Miao bought some fruit and happily followed Zhao Wenyi to the hospital.
On the way, Zhao Wenyi warned him that Chen Ruohua might not be able to accept suddenly having a grown grandson, so he should first pretend to be Zhao Wenyi’s younger brother.
Yuan Miao agreed immediately.
He followed Zhao Wenyi into the hospital room.
“Auntie Chen, we’ve come to see you.”
Hearing the noise at the door, Chen Ruohua, who had been staring blankly out the window, turned her head. Her smile was gentle and serene.
“It’s Xiao Zhao. Thank you for coming all this way. And this child is…”
Her curious gaze fell on Yuan Miao.
Zhao Wenyi introduced him without batting an eye. “This is a distant cousin of mine, Yuan Miao. He just came to stay with me recently.”
“Gra—Auntie, hello!”
In his excitement, Yuan Miao almost blurted out “Grandma,” but he managed to bite his tongue just in time.
Afraid of making another mistake, he quickly placed the fruit basket he was holding on the nearby table.
“This is just a small token of my regard. I hope you recover soon.”
Given Chen Ruohua’s current condition, this wish was clearly unrealistic, but she still smiled gently.
“I’m just happy you came. You didn’t need to buy anything… This child, your eyes and brows actually look a bit like Qingqing’s.”
She murmured this to herself.
Yuan Miao heard it.
A faint, tangled sense of bitterness suddenly spread through his gaze.
Yuan Miao struggled to suppress the surging emotions.
To distract himself, he opened the fruit basket.
“…Auntie, let me peel an apple for you.”
Peeling fruit was a small task Yuan Miao often did at home.
Thanks to his father’s influence, he had developed the habit of taking care of his mother from a very young age.
Perhaps because he was too excited to see his grandmother, or perhaps touched by her earlier comment, the apple he peeled ended up full of bumps and pits.
Yuan Miao looked up, embarrassed.
“…Let me peel another one for you. I’ll eat this one later.”
“It’s fine.”
Chen Ruohua shook her head gently and indulgently. “You look quite young. May I call you Miaomiao?”
For some reason, even though it was her first time meeting this youth, Chen Ruohua felt a natural sense of closeness toward him.
“Yes!”
Yuan Miao agreed, his eyes reddening.