Chapter 13: Unexpectedly Generous Reward

“Save your affection; I’m tired of fighting fakes,” Su Luoluo sneered.

The Su family were leeches clinging to their daughter. She could live well anywhere after getting rid of them.

She swung the broom at Ma Zhichan again.

“Ah…”

Ma Zhichan ran away.

“This isn’t a straw boat. If you come here to act lowly again, I’ll beat you up,” Su Luoluo said, clapping her hands and watching Ma Zhichan run away.

“Su Luoluo, you shrew! Just you wait; I’ll get your brother to teach you a lesson!”

Ma Zhichan, aching and stinking with feces from the broom stuck to her clothes, could take no more. She left a vicious threat and scurried away.

Su Luoluo was unafraid. She turned and went home, closing the courtyard gate, blocking the onlookers.

Su Luoluo had chased that woman away as easily as chasing a dog – it was truly impressive and domineering!

Zhu Yanhua stared at Su Luoluo in astonishment.

Su Luoluo paused.

Xiao Lei and Xiao Fan also stared at Su Luoluo with wide eyes.

Clap clap—

Clap clap—

Niuniu clapped.

Jingjing, almost scared to tears by Ma Zhichan, sniffed, her eyes brimming with tears, and clapped too.

“It’s nothing, a small matter,” Su Luoluo said.

“I’m just a legend; don’t worship me too much.”

She tossed her long hair and waved at the two little ones.

Xiao Lei twitched his mouth. This bad woman was too shameless.

“Good job!” Niuniu’s wet eyes looked at Su Luoluo, a few tears still on her face as she grinned.

“Good job!” Jingjing echoed.

“Since you praised me, each of you gets a candy.”

Su Luoluo squatted down, wiping the tears from their cheeks.

“Wow…”

The two little toddlers were even happier.

Su Luoluo gave the children candy, which they happily accepted. She’d already told them they could eat the candy and biscuits whenever they wanted, but their fear of her was ingrained; even after she’d given permission, they still didn’t dare touch them.

Xiao Fan, especially, was scared by her sudden appearance that night and was even more afraid to touch them.

Zhu Yanhua, however, frowned worriedly. “Will your older brother come looking for you?”

“What’s to be afraid of? One comes, I beat one; two come, I beat two,” Su Luoluo said lightly.

Zhu Yanhua looked at Su Luoluo in astonishment. This younger sister used to care most about the Su family. What had caused such a drastic change? Her gaze held a hint of inquiry.

Su Luoluo didn’t mind, smiling slightly.

With the chicks and ducklings, Niuniu and Jingjing were even happier, vying to feed them, each holding a leaf and chasing after the birds.

——

At the agreed time, Su Luoluo went to the Piaoxiang Restaurant. She arrived early, but the other party was even earlier.

An old man and a middle-aged man were already waiting for her in a private room.

“Comrade Su,” the old man, whose complexion had improved significantly, stood up to greet her.

“No need for formalities,” Su Luoluo happily sat down; she was here to receive her generous reward.

“My surname is Mu. This is my younger son, Mu Shihui. I forgot to tell you, Comrade Su. If it weren’t for your help, I wouldn’t be sitting here now. You saved my life, and the Mu family will never forget this kindness,” Grandpa Mu said.

Mu Shihui nodded to Su Luoluo.

“You’re welcome, you’re welcome,” Su Luoluo’s eyes sparkled; she was expecting a large sum of money. People who could afford cars in this era were wealthy.

Mu Shihui called a waiter and ordered five dishes and a soup.

Su Luoluo ate heartily. The restaurant’s food was good. Although they were simple home-style dishes, the ingredients were fresh, the cooking was excellent, and the dishes were superb.

After the meal, Su Luoluo noticed Grandpa Mu’s expression was off. She frowned.

“Do you mind if I take your pulse?” As she spoke, her fingers were already on his wrist. Her expression tightened. Her gaze then fell on Mu Shihui.

“I told you not to take those strong medications anymore. They only make you outwardly strong but inwardly weak. Your body needs gentle nourishment and recovery, not those drugs to prop you up,” she said seriously.

“It’s not his fault; I insisted on taking them,” Grandpa Mu said with a wry smile.

“Comrade Su, you should understand my condition. If I don’t take those drugs, I wouldn’t even be able to get out of bed today; I might even fall into a coma.”

They knew this, of course. But rather than being bedridden or comatose, wasting his life, he preferred to live like this.

“If you trust me, I can prescribe some medicine to nourish your body and prevent you from falling into a coma. It will just take some time,” Su Luoluo said after some thought.

“That would be wonderful. Thank you, Comrade Su,” Mu Shihui said with surprise.

Having witnessed Su Luoluo saving the old man, he had complete faith in her abilities.

Grandpa Mu also looked pleased. He thought his frail body was like a flickering candle, waiting to die, but now there was hope for recovery.

Mu Shihui called a waiter for pen and paper, handing them to Su Luoluo.

Su Luoluo swiftly wrote the prescription, including the precautions.

Mu Shihui looked at it, surprised. The cursive script – flowing and unrestrained, full of artistic flair – didn’t look like something a country girl would write.

Grandpa Mu also saw the writing; even famous calligraphers couldn’t match it.

This Comrade Su was extraordinary.

Yesterday, his son mentioned that Comrade Su, with the words “practicing medicine to save lives, a doctor’s compassionate heart,” had insisted on saving him despite opposition. This showed that Comrade Su was a noble person.

Remembering the bag of money in the car, he felt ashamed. Those worldly things seemed inadequate, even insulting to his savior.

Grandpa Mu pondered how to repay his benefactor without seeming vulgar, while highlighting the benefactor’s character.

Su Luoluo had drunk six cups of tea and was about to burst with the need to urinate, but the old man and his son still hadn’t offered their reward.

What was wrong with these wealthy people? They were taking so long to give her the money.

If Su Luoluo knew that the phrase “seeking fame and reputation” was just to elevate her image and avoid being labeled as greedy, that she had set her persona too high, causing Grandpa Mu to feel that money was unworthy of her saintly nature, thus missing out on a large sum of money… she would have spat out a mouthful of blood.

“May I ask where Comrade Su lives?” Grandpa Mu asked.

“Qingshan Village,” Su Luoluo replied, unsure why he suddenly asked.

“Comrade Su, I’ve decided to build an asphalt road from your home to town as a small token of my gratitude,” Grandpa Mu said.

Building roads was a public good, and it wouldn’t insult Comrade Su’s character.

Huh???

What?!

This was the wealthy family’s generous reward?!

Su Luoluo was greatly shocked. They used money to build a road, but her benefactor might not even have enough to eat. What was wrong with them? She was truly speechless.

Su Luoluo would be stabbed in the heart every time she saw that road, every time she remembered the large sum of money, her reward, that white, hard-earned money. Every time she passed by, she’d feel a stab in the chest.

“Comrade Su, you are a great benefactor to our Mu family. If there’s anything we can do to help, the Mu family will do our utmost,” Mu Shihui handed Su Luoluo a piece of paper.

It contained the address and phone number of the Mu family in Kyoto.

Su Luoluo took the paper.

She couldn’t hold it in anymore. She had drunk too much tea and urgently needed to use the restroom.

After receiving the paper, Su Luoluo couldn’t speak; she rushed out to find a public toilet.

Grandpa Mu and Mu Shihui had unexpected matters to attend to in Kyoto, so they left the restaurant.

The wealthy family didn’t give her any money.

Using the public toilet cost her two cents.

Su Luoluo’s already unattractive face was now even less attractive. She was now very worried about making money.

To change her and Yang family’s tragic fate in the book, money was the solution. With enough money, her mother-in-law wouldn’t die from lack of medicine; her uncle wouldn’t have to work in a mine to earn money, avoiding the mine collapse that killed him; her sister-in-law wouldn’t be so busy that she neglected Jingjing, preventing Jingjing from being kidnapped.

With the Yang family’s support, the three children wouldn’t suffer such a tragic fate.