Chapter 12 – What Were You Doing at the Hospital

Song Kexia took the bus back to the compound. When she stepped into the house, she saw the whole family sitting around the table eating. Most of the dishes were already picked clean.

Seeing her, Song Leyi gloated, “Sis, why didn’t you come back earlier? Since you were so late, we thought you’d eaten outside, so we didn’t save you any food.”

“I already ate outside. You all take your time,” Song Kexia said, returning to her room to put away her belongings.

After finishing her meal, Li Yunmei came in and saw her packing things. “Why are you putting those away?”

“If I don’t put them away, am I supposed to leave them out for people to take at will?”

Li Yunmei’s expression soured. “Didn’t we already return your clothes to you today? Why are you still being so petty?”

“It’s not just today. Ever since she came into this house, she’s been touching my things.”

Li Yunmei’s face darkened further. “Leyi spent more than ten years in the countryside living the hard life in your place. Don’t you feel even a little guilty toward her? These things were prepared for our daughter. If we hadn’t taken home the wrong baby, they would have been Leyi’s from the start. You’ve enjoyed a good life in our family for all these years—how can you still not be content and quibble with Leyi over such trivial things? You really disappoint me.”

Ever since Song Leyi had come back, Kexia had heard this kind of talk countless times. In the past, to avoid making Song Jianshe and Li Yunmei “disappointed” in her, she had bent over backwards to meet their demands—even letting them trick her into handing over her university admission letter.

But now? She didn’t care. The wrong baby incident wasn’t her fault—so why should she be the one to compensate Song Leyi?

“When you swapped us at birth, I was just a baby. How could I have known anything? And besides, even though Song Leyi grew up in the countryside, her adoptive family still sent her to high school. They must have done their best to give her the best conditions they could. You can’t just say they treated her badly because they couldn’t give her rich material comforts.”

Li Yunmei was furious. “How can you talk like that? We kept you here instead of sending you back to that backward countryside, and now you’re turning around and saying Leyi was in the wrong?”

Kexia sneered inwardly. They didn’t send her back—not out of kindness—but because they wanted to “sell” her for a better price someday.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll get back to work. I’ve got a lot to pack.”

Looking at her calm demeanor, Li Yunmei suddenly felt a thread of unease, as though something was slipping out of her control. She drew in a deep breath and asked, “I heard you went to the hospital with a male comrade to the gynecology department. What were you doing there?”

Kexia froze for a moment, then quickly realized—this must have been from when she ran into Lin Sisi at the hospital. Lin Sisi must have told them.

“I did go to the hospital, but how do you know about that? Who told you?”

“Never mind how I know. Why were you at gynecology? You’re so young—what could you possibly have done to need that?”

“My periods are irregular. After today’s blind date, I got worried that maybe there’s something wrong with my health, which might not be good for marriage later, so I went to see if the doctor could help me regulate it.”

That explanation sounded reasonable enough. Li Yunmei knew Kexia really did have that issue—irregular cycles and painful cramps—so it eased her suspicion a little. Still, she asked, “Then why did you have a male comrade go with you? Who was he?”

“He’s just a friend. We happened to run into each other at the hospital. When he found out I was alone, he was worried I’d be scared, so he came along. He was just being kind—nothing else. Can you not think the worst of people?”

Kexia paused, then put on an expression of sudden realization. “Oh… when we came out, we ran into Sisi-jie. She has a habit of exaggerating. Eight out of ten things she says are unreliable. Don’t tell me you came here to interrogate me just because of something she said?”

In truth, Li Yunmei hadn’t heard it from Lin Sisi, but from Song Leyi. Leyi had been visiting the Lin family, overheard the matter, and told her.

“No matter what, you shouldn’t be going to places like that with a man. If you don’t do something that invites suspicion, no one can misunderstand you.”

“Fine. Next time I’ll make sure whether I live or die, no one will have to care. Will that make you happy?”

Hearing her retort, Li Yunmei softened her tone. “That’s not what I meant. As long as you explain clearly, that’s enough. I didn’t say anything bad about you—why get upset?”

“You came here not believing me and wanting to find fault. How could I be happy?”

Li Yunmei decided to drop the topic. What she really cared about was how Kexia’s meeting with Zhao Yinqiu had gone. If not for worrying she might be interested in that male comrade, she wouldn’t have even asked about the hospital.

“You met Director Zhao today—what do you think of him?”

Suppressing her disgust, Kexia replied evenly, “He’s fine. Very polite and well-mannered.”

Li Yunmei brightened instantly. Seeing her calm expression, she thought there was hope. If this worked out, Song Zhengli’s enlistment would be secured.

“What did Director Zhao say?”

“Nothing much. What’s there for him to say? He’s a divorced man with two kids. I already agreed to meet him—that’s good enough. What opinion could he have?”

Though blunt, it was the truth. Li Yunmei didn’t scold her, but worried she might speak so frankly in front of Zhao, she warned, “Don’t talk nonsense. With his conditions, he could easily find a never-married girl. If he heard you say that, he might be offended.”

“He’s not here, is he? Can’t I speak the truth in my own home?”

“You can say that at home, but not outside. You’ll offend people.”

“Got it. If there’s nothing else, I’m going to wash up and sleep. I’ve been out all day and I’m tired.”

Since she was in a good mood, Li Yunmei smiled. “Alright, rest well then.”

She was so pleased she didn’t even notice that since last night, Kexia hadn’t called her “Mom” once. She was too busy dreaming of her happy future.

Meanwhile, Leyi had been waiting for her to scold Kexia harshly. But instead, Li Yunmei came out smiling as if nothing had happened.

“Mom, how did it go?” Leyi asked.

Li Yunmei warned, “Those rumors were just made up. Your sister and that man are only friends. She went to the hospital because of her irregular periods—don’t believe nonsense.”

“No way. I don’t believe it,” Leyi said.

At that, Li Yunmei’s face hardened. What did she mean by not believing it? Was she trying to ruin Kexia’s reputation and sabotage her marriage with Zhao Yinqiu?