Chapter 38: Just Do It, Don’t Worry About Anything Else

Satisfied after finishing her beef noodles and putting the remaining money back in her pocket, Jiang Ning planned to head home.

Accompanying someone in the hospital? Taking care of them? Giving money? Not a chance.

When she left the noodle shop, the sky was already pitch black.

Jiang Ning hurried to catch the bus back. After walking a few steps, she heard a voice calling out from behind, but she didn’t pay attention.

However, the footsteps behind her grew closer. The person seemed hesitant, and after confirming it was her, he awkwardly scratched his neck and said excitedly, “Sister-in-law? It’s really you!”

Jiang Ning was surprised, finding the person vaguely familiar.

The young man grinned shyly, revealing eight pearly white teeth. He quickly saluted, “Sister-in-law, good evening! I’m Heizi, my real name is Zhao Weinan. We met on the battalion commander’s car that day. You don’t remember me?”

As he smiled, Jiang Ning recognized him: “It’s you, I remember.”

Zhao Weinan lowered his hand and smiled, a tall young man with a hint of shyness on his face: “Sister-in-law, what a coincidence to meet you here. Hey, where’s the battalion commander? Isn’t he with you?”

Jiang Ning smiled and shook her head, glancing at the People’s Hospital across the street: “I have something to do at the hospital, I’m not with him. He’s busy outside too.”

“Such a coincidence? I just came out of the hospital.”

Mentioning this topic, a hint of gratitude appeared on Zhao Weinan’s sharp, thin face: “Thanks to the battalion commander, my mother was transferred back from the city hospital. Her condition has improved a lot now. Don’t worry, sister-in-law, I’ll repay the medical expenses the battalion commander paid as soon as possible.”

This statement contained a lot of information, but unfortunately, Jiang Ning was unaware of it.

She stopped and asked, “Your mother is sick?”

Zhao Weinan’s mouth slightly opened, he hesitated, then realized, “Sister-in-law, the battalion… no, the factory manager didn’t tell you?”

“My, my mother, she’s not well. She had stomach problems before. I just returned from military service, I don’t know much about these things. The factory manager helped me a lot with my mother’s hospitalization and transfer, and he paid a lot of medical expenses…”

“But don’t worry, sister-in-law, I’ll definitely pay it back soon!”

Jiang Ning noticed Zhao Weinan becoming stammering, his face filled with anxiety, as if he was worried about saying something he shouldn’t have.

Hearing this, she understood. It was simply Lu Dingquan helping out a comrade-in-arms, which was normal for his personality.

She nodded slightly, giving a faint smile: “I know, thank you for telling me this.”

“It’s what Lao Lu should do to help you. Comrades-in-arms are like brothers. Heizi, don’t worry too much about this. Right now, the most important thing is to accompany your mother and help her recover quickly. As for the expenses, don’t worry about it. If you keep thinking about repaying it, it will make Lao Lu uncomfortable. That would be too formal.”

Her voice was gentle and soft, her eyes clear and sincere, without any trace of insincerity.

Zhao Weinan, who was initially a little flustered and worried about saying the wrong thing, felt his eyes welling up as he listened to the gentle, beautiful, and dignified sister-in-law comforting him. His heart felt warm.

Zhao Weinan: “Okay, I understand, sister-in-law.”

He simply walked Jiang Ning to the bus stop, continuing to talk as they walked: “I heard everyone at the factory say that the factory’s performance isn’t good now. The factory manager is using his own savings and subsidies to support the factory’s expenses. Sigh, also, the last time he went to the city for a meeting, I heard Shi Tou say that the factory manager was trying to find someone to raise money for the factory that day.”

“Right, sister-in-law, you know this, right? Also, that car, the factory manager’s Red Flag car is actually a second-hand car, no, I don’t know how many hands it has gone through.”

“Our battalion commander is really capable. He got a scrapped car from someone, brought it back, figured out how to repair and assemble it, and then repainted it. Now it looks brand new, and it’s so impressive to drive!”

Once Zhao Weinan’s chatterbox was opened, it couldn’t be stopped. He unknowingly told her everything.

Jiang Ning remained silent.

Until she got on the bus, Heizi waved goodbye to her from the roadside, and she smiled back. After sitting down, a heavy feeling gradually filled her heart.

After all, from the beginning until now, she had always thought that Lu Dingquan wasn’t short of money.

She thought he was at least not poor.

Even though she knew from the original plot that his machinery factory was performing poorly, the situation was bad, funds were scarce, and it was on the verge of bankruptcy, he never mentioned anything about work to her, and his actions were always calm and reliable. She simply ignored those situations.

If she hadn’t met Heizi outside the hospital today and heard him talk about these things, she would have been completely in the dark.

As Heizi said, Lu Dingquan’s current financial situation could be said to be very bad.

He was using his own money to cover the factory’s expenses and part of the workers’ salaries…

How much pressure must he be under?

And his car.

She had indeed not expected him to have a car before, thinking he was much more respectable and wealthy than she imagined. But she didn’t expect that the car was just an old car he had found someone to repair.

She stared at the dimly lit streets outside the window, the evening wind blowing through the treetops, carrying down two leaves. She suddenly felt powerless.

She felt a sense of guilt and shame.

.

When she got home, it was already late.

Jiang Ning saw a light under the door, knowing that Lu Dingquan was back.

She opened the door and went in. The man’s figure was at the window, putting away clothes.

He looked over at the sound, his expression calm, as if casually asking, “Why are you so late?”

Jiang Ning looked at him silently, took off her coat, and changed her shoes by the sofa.

She said, “I went to the hospital for a while.”

“Hmm? What happened?” Lu Dingquan immediately asked, “Are you feeling unwell?”

“No, it was my dad. He had a minor problem and caused a commotion at the hospital. It turned out to be nothing, so I came back.”

He had already come to the sofa. Hearing this, he paused for a second: “Elderly people are prone to minor ailments. It’s good to go to the hospital for a check-up.”

Jiang Ning thought about the farce at her parents’ house tonight, raised her head, and seriously reminded him:

“My dad is really fine. But if my parents come looking for you, or happen to meet you, and want to ask you for money for treatment, don’t believe them, and don’t give them any. They just want to take the money back to my older brother.”

As she looked up, her clear eyes seemed particularly large, filled with a gentle light, and her figure was small and slender.

Without waiting for him to respond, she lowered her eyes and said softly, “I’m a little tired, I’m going to take a shower.”

Lu Dingquan couldn’t help but frown slightly.

He thought she was sad about her parents’ favoritism towards her older brother.

When Jiang Ning came out of the bathroom after showering and wiping her slightly damp hair, the man’s tall and sturdy figure was still sitting by the window, but today he was looking at the two textbooks she had given him.

She quietly looked at him, then went to the curtain-separated area to organize her things.

The slightly deep voice from the window sounded, asking, “Did you have dinner?”

Jiang Ning: “I did.”

She was facing the closet, her voice sounding muffled.

After a while, she heard the man’s footsteps, neither light nor heavy, walking towards her.

The overhead light flickered slightly, and his tall shadow fell on her shoulder, as if enveloping her.

Jiang Ning turned her head uneasily, wanting to go out, but he was standing there blocking her way.

She pursed her lips: “I’m done packing, if you need anything, just take it.”

But Lu Dingquan’s lowered voice was very firm, he looked at her steadily: “It’s nothing for your parents to take some money. You don’t need to care. I married you, so it’s only right that I should be filial to your parents as well.”

“But if you don’t want to interact with them in the future, I’ll just take the money to them. Spending some money can make them feel at ease at home, it’s nothing. As for what you want to do, what you want to run, just do it, don’t worry about anything else.”