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After Manman finished her injection, Wu Zhiqiu asked her what she wanted to eat. Manman hadn’t had anything good in a while; Li Fenglan was frugal, and the two of them usually ate very little meat. When she’s asked what she wanted, Manman didn’t know what to answer; she thought dumplings sounded nice, but they were too much trouble to make.
When Grandma asked her, she didn’t want to trouble her, so she said anything would be fine. After settling Manman, Wu Zhiqiu went downstairs. Nutritional food means meat! Buying meat was a sure thing.
There were many restaurants near the hospital, and with business allowed again, there were stalls selling goods on the street. Wu Zhiqiu bought a few apples, some bananas, and ordered a takeout of sweet and sour pork, which a little girl would definitely love. She also bought a pound of donkey meat filling for steamed dumplings and a serving of meatball soup.
She hurried back to the hospital. Back at the large courtyard, after Wu Zhiqiu left, Li Mancang got up, ate the breakfast Wu Zhiqiu left for him, and then rode his bike to work. Li Feng Chun got up early, intending to show her parents a good breakfast. Who knew that by the time she woke up, her parents had already left? There were no eggs left in the kitchen, and the grains were running low. Li Feng Chun made herself a corn cake and left for school after eating.
Li Xing’an got up but didn’t dare go out of his bedroom. After listening for a while and hearing no commotion, he cautiously opened the door, peeking out to ensure no one was home before he went to wash up.
The people in the courtyard were busy eating breakfast and heading to work. Li Xing’an went to the middle of the courtyard to get water, just as Hu Dala came out to get water as well.
“Good morning, Aunt!” Li Xing’an politely greeted her. “Hmph!” Hu Dala snorted, not even looking at the third son, and stopped getting water, heading straight back inside.
He couldn’t count on breakfast at home anymore. After washing up, he rode his bike to work on an empty stomach. Outside, Hu Dala, Liu Dajie, and several aunties from the neighboring courtyard were gossiping in the cold wind.
Hu Dala was the main speaker, her mouth moving nonstop, and her hands gesturing excitedly. As the third son stepped outside, Hu Dala suddenly stopped talking, and all four of them looked at him. In their eyes, he saw disdain, scorn, disgust, and schadenfreude. No need to say more; these women were definitely gossiping about him!
“Are you heading to the hospital?” Hu Dala asked mockingly. Li Xing’an hurriedly nodded, unsure how to escape their gaze as he left the courtyard.
Hu Dala spat behind him. “Giving yourself some credit, with that wolf’s heart and dog’s lungs, you can go to the hospital? For money, you’d push your niece to death; saying you have a wolf’s heart is an insult to dogs!”
“I heard he has his eye on He Meina, that loose woman?” An aunt from the neighboring courtyard said with a gleeful expression.
“What a perfect match; a bitch for a dog, they’re meant for each other!”
“I think they’re quite suitable, but let’s not ruin other good kids!”
The words fell into Li Xing’an’s ears like daggers, and usually, if anyone talked like this about his He Meina, he would definitely argue with them fiercely.
But with everything going on with Manman, he didn’t dare confront them; the entire courtyard of women would come out to scold him! With so many people looking for Manman all night, their anger was palpable. The third son didn’t want to walk into that fire!
He could only pretend he didn’t hear them and hurried to work! When he arrived at the workplace, he felt the people there looking at him oddly, with many whispering and pointing behind his back.
Li Xing’an inwardly cursed; there were people from the neighboring courtyard at his workplace, and surely yesterday’s events had spread throughout the factory. In his mind, he was cursing Hu Dala for being so loud. In just one morning, the story of how he nearly drove his niece to death over his brother-in-law’s compensation had spread everywhere!
At the factory, the few people who had a decent relationship with Li Xing’an avoided him like the plague. They knew how he treated his own sister; how much sincerity could he possibly have for them?
There was whispering everywhere in the factory; Li Xing’an didn’t dare look up as he walked! At lunchtime in the cafeteria, he was given a meager scoop of vegetables by the head cook, a mere spoonful of watery vegetables, with half of it falling off in the process, while others got full scoops.
Li Xing’an looked at the head cook with his lunchbox; the cook glared back with her ladle. Li Xing’an angrily threw away his lunchbox.
The head cook spat. “What a thing! A wolf with a dog’s heart; not something to be pitied!” The workers in line also gossiped, discussing the third son’s actions.
Li Xing’an couldn’t bear the pointing and whispering any longer. In the afternoon, he asked his boss for leave, and the boss dismissed him like he was a fly, telling him to quickly leave and not pollute the factory air.
When Li Xing’an left the factory, the old man guarding the gate looked at him with disgust! Li Xing’an pushed his bicycle aimlessly along the street, wondering why things suddenly turned out this way.
His sister hitting Manman wasn’t his fault; he just wanted to borrow some money from her! Besides, hadn’t she refused? Wasn’t he just trying to be proactive, preventing his eldest brother from getting his hands on his sister’s money? Why was he suddenly cast as a villain? Dejected, Li Xing’an didn’t dare go to see He Meina; he was afraid she would also look down on him.
He had nowhere to go and thought of his grandparents at his eldest brother’s house. His eldest brother’s house was far away, and they hadn’t been in contact much lately; they probably didn’t know what had happened. It would be a good place to mooch a meal. When he arrived, the old man was sitting in the living room with his legs crossed, eating a banana and watching TV. The old woman was eating milk candy and drinking malted milk. The third son’s eyes welled up with envy.
“Third son, what are you doing here?” The old woman asked in surprise when she opened the door. “I came to see you two!” The old woman curled her lips. “You didn’t bring anything to see us?”
Li Xing’an smiled awkwardly. “Grandma, I haven’t received my salary yet; I’m a bit tight on cash!” “If you’re tight on cash, don’t go wandering around. Go home early and help out more at home!” The old woman didn’t even look at her grandson.
“I just wanted to see you two; I came to visit when I had the time,” Li Xing’an noticed that his grandparents didn’t seem to like him either. “Oh, we’re fine. Go back after you’ve seen us! Tell your father we’re fine here, don’t come!” After the old man spoke, Li Xing’an didn’t know how to respond!
Li Xing’an sat next to the old man. On the coffee table were apples, oranges, bananas, various candies, sponge cakes, and peach cakes. He swallowed his saliva; his stomach grumbled several times.
The old man and old woman watched TV; despite all the food, neither of them offered any to him. The old couple were living quite comfortably now.
Every day, the old man would tell Wang Yue to buy whatever looked fresh. Wang Yue spared no expense to please them; she hadn’t given her parents any money this month, instead spending it all on food for the old couple.
As long as she could gather enough money to go abroad, the days of making big money were still ahead! She would bring her brothers and sisters to go abroad to make money. Her family should understand her in the next couple of months; she was doing this for their future!
Wang Yue also hoped that her in-laws would come to visit her soon! To settle the situation quickly; she didn’t want to sleep on the floor anymore!