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Back then, he had secretly vowed that since Wang Jianjun was gone, he would take care of his family, ensuring they wouldn’t suffer any hardship.
“How can I help? I don’t have any leave left this year, and it’s so far away; I can only do my best.”
“I know, I know that telling you this will cause you trouble. But I… I really have no other choice.”
“Sister-in-law, don’t worry. Tell me what you need me to do.”
The term “Sister-in-law” left Fang Qing momentarily stunned.
After thinking for a while, she whispered, “Could you ask your parents to help me look after Chen Chen when he’s on holiday?”
Lu Jiangting was surprised. “Ask my parents to help with Chen Chen?”
“Yes, I know it will trouble your parents, but I don’t want Chen Chen to see what’s happening at the shop.”
As she spoke, Fang Qing kept sobbing. “Think about it, he’s still so young, and he has to watch his mother struggle to make a living, washing and cutting hair for people—and even being bullied. He doesn’t understand now, but he will grow up.”
Lu Jiangting took a deep breath, his grip on the phone tightening.
Fang Qing continued, “He has his own grandparents, but… you’ve heard the saying, ‘people are fickle.’ Without Jianjun in between, his grandparents are distant to him. I asked his grandmother to help take care of him for a while, but she said she needed to look after her grandson, and that she didn’t have time.”
Lu Jiangting listened quietly, his lips pressed into a thin line. He felt that Wang Jianjun’s wife and child shouldn’t be treated this way. He wouldn’t allow anyone to bully them or make their lives so difficult.
“Okay, I’ll help you. Until things are resolved, if it really doesn’t work—you should close the shop for a few days, and reopen once I’ve taken care of things.”
“Okay, Jiangting, I’m really sorry for troubling you again.”
“It’s alright; it’s what I should do.”
After hanging up, Lu Jiangting thought it over and called home.
The village had a telephone in the office, but they couldn’t make long-distance calls directly from the village. They had to call the city, and then someone would call back to the village to notify his father.
After Lu Jiangting’s father learned he had received a call, he immediately rode his bicycle to the city.
“Hello, Jiangting?”
“It’s me, Dad. Are you free?”
“Yes, what’s up?”
“It’s like this; my friend’s wife and child…”
He explained Fang Qing’s situation to Lu Cong, but he didn’t mention the bullying.
He only said that she was busy with her business on weekends and couldn’t look after Wang Chen.
He hoped they would take Wang Chen to their house on weekends without disrupting Fang Qing’s business.
And when the summer vacation came, he hoped they could help take care of him then, too.
But Lu Cong thought about his situation with Lin Yuyao. The Lin family was already unhappy about their involvement with Fang Qing, and now they had to help take care of her child. He wasn’t sure what the Lin family would say.
“This isn’t good, is it? Your father-in-law’s side—I don’t know what he’ll say. Jiangting, did you discuss this decision with Yuyao? Now that you’re married, you can’t make all the decisions yourself. You should ask your wife’s opinion and consider her feelings more.”
Ask for her opinion?
She didn’t even want to be with him anymore; she wouldn’t even talk to him. Thinking about all this made Lu Jiangting feel frustrated.
Lu Jiangting held back his emotions and said, “I’m doing this for them, that’s why I asked you and Mother to help. If you don’t help, I’ll have to do it myself, and Yuyao will be even more unhappy.”
Lu Cong was speechless.
“Father, you know about my relationship with Jianjun. If I don’t help them, am I still a human being?”
Hearing this, Lu Cong sighed, “Alright, but I thought about it, and we won’t bring him back to the village to avoid upsetting your father-in-law.“
”This weekend, I’ll have your mother go to her shop to help. She can help look after Chen Chen in the shop, so Fang Qing’s business won’t be affected.”
Huh?
Lu Jiangting thought this was a good idea.
The reason people harassed Fang Qing was because they thought she had no husband or family. If his mother was there, it might prevent her from being bullied.
“Okay, Dad, thank you.”
“Oh, what are you thanking your own father for? It’s better for you to live a good life with Yuyao than anything else.”
“Good, good…”
Live a good life?
He wished he could.
But Yuyao…
“Jiangting, are you done with your call?” His superior called him.
“Yes.”
“Then come quickly. The data here is wrong; check what’s wrong.”
He was very busy lately, extremely busy.
Every time he finished a call, his superior would call him.
Just as he was about to finish his work, another task to install military communication equipment in a neighboring city fell on him.
Wait, shouldn’t Fu Huayi be in charge of this task?
“Leader, I remember Fu Huayi was responsible for this area.”
“Well, he can’t go right now.”
“Why?”
“He has the flu. This morning, his temperature reached 39 degrees; he almost burned out. I gave him a leave.”
Lu Jiangting was speechless. What?
“You have a good relationship with him, right? You didn’t know?”
Lu Jiangting’s mouth twitched. “I’ve been busy lately and haven’t paid attention.”
“Yes, things will be better once this busy period is over,” the leader patted his shoulder, saying, “You’ve worked hard. There’s a bonus for good performance. Keep up the good work.”
Thinking of the bonus, Lu Jiangting reluctantly accepted the task.
He thought that if Yuyao became too strict with his wages in the future, he would only be able to rely on bonuses to secretly support Fang Qing and her son.
…
Tonight was Lin Yuyao’s shift, and she was the last one to leave the bookstore.
As she locked the door, she saw Fu Huayi standing under a streetlight at the street corner, carrying a bag of medicine.
Lin Yuyao hurried towards him. “Big Brother Fu, what are you doing here? What’s wrong?”
Fu Huayi was wearing a mask and coughed twice. “Nothing much, just a cold.”
Huh?
He was so healthy; could he really have a cold?
“Is it serious? What did the physician say?”
“It’s fine; I’ll be okay with some medicine.”
“So you are…?”
Fu Huayi pointed to the clinic across the street. “I just finished an IV drip and am waiting for a bus to go home.”
Lin Yuyao found it strange. “Don’t you have military physicians?”
Why would he come here for an IV drip?
“Cough, cough… the military physicians are… not very good at this. The old Chinese medicine physician across the street is quite skilled; his medicine works for me.”
Oh, I see.
Lin Yuyao looked around. “There probably aren’t any buses going back now.”
“What? No more?”
“Yeah, look at the sign; the last bus left a long time ago.”
Fu Huayi looked, his expression troubled.
Lin Yuyao looked at her old bicycle, a troubled look on her face as well.
She had bought this bike from a second-hand market, an old and worn-out bicycle, and she had spent fifty yuan for it after much haggling.
She wasn’t sure if it could carry two people.
He had helped her so much; she couldn’t just ignore him, especially since he was sick. After much deliberation, Lin Yuyao extended an invitation.
“Big Brother Fu, let me give you a ride.”