Chapter 74: Meeting the Girl in the Hospital Room (Part Three)

“Don’t worry, Qiu’er, your third uncle will give you an explanation.”
Lu Yuan gently patted Lu Yuanqiu’s arm.
“Thank you, Third Uncle.”
Lu Yuan nodded, then said to the bald man, “We’re going to discuss some family matters. Wait by the door; I’ll call you in when we’re done.”
The bald man answered promptly, “Alright, alright.”
Lu Yuan then looked at the uncle in suspenders. Lu Yuanqiu hurriedly said, “Third Uncle, he doesn’t need to go; it’s fine.”
Third Uncle nodded, then turned his gaze to Lu Tian in the corner, his expression growing stern.
He strode over and kicked his younger brother hard.
“Lu Tian! What are you good for?! I gave you one simple task—to look after the child—and you couldn’t even do that?!”
Lu Tian turned around, looking aggrieved. “Third Brother, don’t be angry. I never thought something like this would happen! Of course I didn’t want my own son to get hurt!”
Seeing him admit fault, Lu Yuan turned to the eldest and second brothers. “And you two? What have you been up to? You think you’re busier than me? For a bit of money, you don’t care about your nephew, is that it?”
“He’s the only boy in the Lu family! What if something happened?!”
“If the old lady hears about this, could her heart take it? Can you bear that responsibility?!”
Though he was the third in the family, he had the authority of the family head as he scolded them. The eldest and second brothers exchanged a glance, not daring to speak.
Lu Yuanqiu said, “Third Uncle, don’t be angry. My injury isn’t serious. By the way, Third Uncle, this uncle saved me. Please compensate him; his life is very hard.”
Lu Yuan turned to the man in suspenders, hurried forward to shake his hand in gratitude. “Sir, thank you so much. How should I address you?”
But seeing Lu Yuan had just been angry, the uncle in suspenders was too timid to speak, keeping his head down and silently retreating.
Lu Yuanqiu explained, “Third Uncle, he has a mental illness; he can’t communicate normally.”
Lu Yuan paused, then nodded quietly, feeling pity. “Such a poor soul.”
Lu Yuanqiu had already thought it over and spoke quickly, “But he has family—a daughter. I’d like to thank her in person and give them some compensation.”
Lu Yuan agreed, “That’s right. If his family doesn’t come, and we don’t know where his home is, giving him money won’t help if he can’t take it back.”
With this in mind, Lu Yuan called out, “Xiao Song!”
“Coming, coming!”
The bald man responded immediately and entered the room. After Lu Yuan explained the situation, he began examining the uncle in suspenders.
“If he has a mental disability, he might be a local welfare recipient. I’ll check—it shouldn’t take long to find out.”
Lu Yuan spoke gravely, “Hurry up. He shouldn’t have to spend the night away from home; his family will be worried.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Lu. It’ll be easy to check. I’ll probably bring his family over this evening.”

As soon as he finished, the bald man ran out of the hospital room.
Lu Yuanqiu finally felt some relief.
He pitied the uncle in suspenders and his tragic fate, but if anyone deserved pity, it was his daughter.
The uncle had once been so successful, but his daughter never enjoyed any of his glory. When she was three, her father went bankrupt, and ever since she could remember, she lived in poverty.
Her mother died of illness, her brother perished in a car accident, and her father lost his mind.
He vaguely recalled the sanitation worker telling these stories—Lu Yuanqiu had only felt sympathy then.
But after the uncle saved him today, his heart ached for them.
An unfortunate man, a daughter fated to suffer.
How had the two of them survived all these years…
…
Half past seven in the evening.
Lu City Seventh High, evening study session. Bai Qingxia sat alone at the back of the classroom, nervous and uneasy. At dinner, she’d gone to the gate of Sixty-Fifth High, but hadn’t found her father, searched for half an hour, and still couldn’t find him.
With evening classes about to begin, she had to return to school.
Although her father wasn’t always at the school gate, and very likely had gone home—he did know the way home—still…
Bai Qingxia worried.
She could hardly focus on her studies during evening session.
And Lu Yuanqiu hadn’t come to evening study either, which was odd. Parent-teacher conferences never lasted this long.
Two things at once gave Bai Qingxia a bad feeling, as if something had happened.
Just then, a sound came from the classroom door. Bai Qingxia looked up and saw the homeroom teacher, Liu Wei, leading two men in blue uniforms inside.
The whole class looked over, surprised. Why were the police visiting Class 28?
Liu Wei called out, “Bai Qingxia, please step outside.”
They were looking for Bai Qingxia?!
The whole class stared, even Zheng Yifeng lost his drowsiness and lifted his head.
Bai Qingxia’s heart skipped a beat.
It seemed something really had happened…
She stood up stiffly and walked to the door, each step making her legs feel heavy as if filled with lead.
Outside the classroom, her mind buzzed. She only heard the two officers say, “Come with us.”

Liu Wei couldn’t help but ask, “May I ask what this is about?”
“Sorry, we can’t disclose that.”
So Bai Qingxia returned to pack her schoolbag, her arms trembling as she leaned against the desk, her legs so weak she nearly collapsed.
She was terrified of losing anything else.
She was already tired of living in fear.
She didn’t want to lose anything more.
Following the two officers to the car, Bai Qingxia sat in the back seat, dazed, clutching her schoolbag tightly, occasionally wiping the corners of her eyes.
“Uncle, what happened? Where are we going?”
At last, the girl summoned the courage to ask.
The officer beside her heard the choked tone in her voice, but remembering the chief’s instructions not to say much on the way, could only reply, “You’ll know when we arrive.”
Arriving at Lu City First People’s Hospital, Bai Qingxia’s steps grew heavier.
She slung her bag over her shoulder, quietly walking between the two men, soon reaching the inpatient ward.
Looking up at the dense signage, Bai Qingxia wiped her eyes again.
In the hospital room, Lu Yuanqiu smiled at the uncle in suspenders sitting nearby.
The uncle seemed fond of bananas, having eaten three already and now peeling a fourth.
Just then, the door was knocked, and a police officer entered, saying, “We’ve brought his daughter.”
The eldest uncle quickly helped Lu Yuanqiu sit up in bed, then said, “Let her in.”
The door opened, and a girl entered, wearing a blue-and-white school uniform, carrying a pink schoolbag, her hair in a simple ponytail, her eyes swollen and red, tear stains at the corners of her delicate face.
Bai Qingxia looked up, dazed, meeting the gaze of the boy on the hospital bed.
Lu Yuanqiu too stared at her, dumbfounded.
Years later, recalling this moment, Lu Yuanqiu still couldn’t help but marvel—the encounter with the girl in the hospital room was a scene he would never forget throughout his life.

ps.
Vote for the monthly ticket
(End of chapter)