After saying this, the man turned around and pushed his wheelchair back.
She stood up and ran to his side, then pushed the wheelchair and escorted him back. Neither of them said a word. After she helped him return to the house, she saw how the man got onto the bed and took off his clothes before pulling the quilt over himself.
Only then did she realize that the man's leg was merely disabled—or, more precisely, that he was unable to exert any strength with it.
She quietly withdrew and closed the door, then returned to the room where she had been hiding. Su Jinxia wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes. At least there were still good people in this world for her to meet. After that, she quietly did whatever small things were within her ability.
As long as the man was home, she would take the initiative to cook and then deliver the food to him. Later, the little soldier who had been bringing him meals stopped delivering food and instead took responsibility for buying ingredients and bringing them over.
During this time, she learned from the little soldier that the man's name was Zhao Yue. His rank was Navy major, full-regimental level. He had injured his leg during a maritime rescue, and with the medical conditions available at the time, there was no way to restore it. Thus, he could usually move only with the help of a wheelchair.
But good times did not last long. Song Jianping came looking for her. As it turned out, he had not died; he had merely been beaten unconscious. He had not lost an arm or a leg, and he was still as arrogant as before.
Remembering the scene, Su Jinxia clenched both hands tightly. If that man appeared in front of her at that moment, she would absolutely make him beg for death while being unable to live.
At the time, the people nearby had pointed and whispered because she had been hiding in Zhao Yue's courtyard for so long, and none of the surrounding neighbors knew her. Not a single person spoke up for her.
“Who is this woman? How did she end up in the Zhao family’s home?”
“I’ve never heard that there was a woman living in this courtyard. How strange.”
“Oh my, that man is this woman’s husband. This is clearly a case of catching someone in adultery!”
“But isn’t the person living in this courtyard disabled?”
“What does it matter whether he’s disabled or not in this day and age? A woman can still do things!” The man who said this had the look of a hooligan, and his eyes were roaming up and down her body.
Su Jinxia felt as though the clothes had been stripped from her body. She was terrified of those people’s gazes, yet at that moment she also hoped they would help her, so she pleaded with them,
“Please, help me! If he takes me back, he’ll beat me to death!”
But not a single person extended a helping hand. In fact, they even retreated several steps.
Just as the dispute reached an impasse, Zhao Yue’s specially assigned vehicle drove over, and only then did those people stop gossiping.
Song Jianping seized the opportunity to grab her by the hair. Then he pointed at the people inside the vehicle. “Tell me! Is this man the lover you found? I was wondering how a living person could disappear into thin air. If your younger sister hadn’t come and told me you were here, I wouldn’t have known you were hiding here.”
It struck her like a bolt from the blue. So Su Mingyue had betrayed her.
There had been no salt in the house that day, so she had reluctantly gone out to buy some. Su Mingyue had probably seen her on the way back and remembered where she was hiding.
Su Jinxia bit her lips until they broke. Why had Heaven given her a family like this?
Zhao Yue pushed his wheelchair over. With one swift motion, he seized the man and slammed him to the ground.
The little soldier who had followed him also helped hold the man down.
Finally free, she stared blankly at everything around her.
“Su Jinxia, don’t even think about leaving me in this lifetime! I’ll kill you!” he snarled viciously. Even with his head pressed against the ground, blood still stained the corner of his mouth.
Zhao Yue turned to the people beside him. “Who will go report this to the police?”
Everyone looked at one another, uncertain whether they should help.
Then one of the little soldiers let go. “I’ll go report it!”
Song Jianping seized the moment. He grabbed the wheel of the wheelchair and then used all his strength to shove it over.
Zhao Yue instantly fell to the ground. Seeing this, she immediately went to help him.
Her hair was seized again and yanked viciously. Song Jianping pulled a knife from his waist and pressed it against her neck, then spoke harshly to the people around them.
“If anyone dares meddle in this today, I’ll send the white blade in and pull out a red one!”
She was stunned with fear. Then she was dragged backward again and again.
After Zhao Yue was helped up and placed properly in his wheelchair, he immediately pushed himself after them.
That expression remained vivid in Su Jinxia’s memory. She had never imagined that a man who was usually so quiet and taciturn could have such an anxious look on his face.
Su Jinxia bit down hard on the man’s wrist.
Blood immediately gushed out. The man cried out in pain and dropped the knife he was holding. She instantly ran back, but just then her collar was grabbed.
The world spun around her as she was flung away. A truck came straight toward her.
“Su Jinxia!”
The last thing that lingered in her ears was Zhao Yue’s shout. Then she felt her body grow terribly, terribly hot…
Su Jinxia abruptly opened her eyes. She looked around and gasped for breath. The miserable memories of her previous life would absolutely never happen again.
Judging by the timing, wasn’t this the year Zhao Yue’s leg would become disabled?
Su Jinxia went into the living room and snatched up the calendar from the table. Zhao Yue’s accident would happen in just three days.
While rescuing someone, he had been struck by a wave and swept into deep water. His leg had then slammed against a reef, and the wound had become infected. An abscess had formed inside the joint, coincidentally positioned between the nerves and the blood vessels.
That proud man, who had always been strong-willed, had refused to accept amputation. Later, after being treated and recuperating with traditional Chinese medicine, the abscess gradually disappeared, but his nerves suffered severe damage. His leg gradually lost its strength, eventually leaving him confined to a wheelchair.
“Zhao Yue! You helped me in my previous life. Since I’ve returned now, it’s my turn to help you. Consider it repayment for the kindness you showed me.”
Su Jinxia tore that page from the calendar and put it into her pocket.
She glanced at the clock on the wall. At this time, Xiao Ying and Su Mingyue should have nearly reached the clinic.
Everything that had happened today was merely an appetizer.
She would make them repay every bit of the misery she had suffered in her previous life by forcing them to experience it all themselves!
……
At the clinic.
Seeing the mother and daughter return, Doctor Liu had no choice but to take the matter seriously. He lifted the hair and saw a wound about three centimeters long that was still oozing blood.
“It hasn’t injured anything vital. It only needs a few stitches, and then you can go home.”
Xiao Ying sat on the stool, panting. Everything that had happened just now had felt like a nightmare. If she had merely been suspicious before, then now she could be certain.
Her eldest daughter had changed. She was definitely no longer the timid, useless fool who was accustomed to being bullied by them.
But how had a person changed so drastically? Could she have been possessed by a ghost?
The wound was soon treated, and a bandage was wrapped around her head until she looked like a zongzi.
This time, Xiao Ying took the initiative to pay before pulling her daughter back home.
In the silent night, it was so dark that they could not see their hands in front of their faces.
“Mom, I don’t even want to go home now. Won’t Sister hit me again?”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry and go back. As long as we don’t provoke her, everything will be fine.” Xiao Ying was seething with resentment, but she had no better solution at the moment.
They could neither beat nor out-argue her. Apart from keeping their tails between their legs and behaving themselves, what else could they do?
When they opened the door again and pushed their way inside, neither mother nor daughter was willing to be the first to enter. They both remained rooted at the doorway.
Su Jinxia naturally heard the noise and came out of the room to see whether they had brought anyone from the police station with them.
Instead, she saw the two of them refusing to enter.
The three of them looked at one another.
Xiao Ying forced a smile onto her face. “Why haven’t you gone to sleep yet?”
After holding it in for a long while, she had managed to say only those few words. She did not want to be beaten, and she did not want to provoke this menace in front of her, so all she could do was swallow her anger.
“We haven’t eaten dinner yet. How could we sleep?” Su Jinxia walked toward them one step at a time. When she reached her younger sister, she stretched out a hand to touch the wound on her forehead.
Su Mingyue was so frightened that she stepped back twice and dodged her. That terrified little look in her eyes was truly interesting.
“This wound wasn’t wrapped very well. Going to the clinic twice in one day—that’s quite an achievement.”
Knowing that she could not get the better of Su Jinxia, Xiao Ying spoke in a pleading tone.
“We won’t argue with you anymore. You also can’t hit us. I’m your mother, and she’s your younger sister. We’re connected by flesh and bone!”