Chapter 31

Her eyes scanned the ward, and she asked in surprise, “Where’s Xiaobao?”

“You look like this, I was afraid Xiaobao would be scared if he saw you, so I asked Xu Li to take him to play.”

Looking at Su Yaqin’s messy hair, the redness on her cheeks, and the bruises on her arm, Song Shishi felt uncomfortable.

After all, Su Yaqin was only trying to protect her and ended up being bullied by that shrew.

She was so lucky to have met someone so good to her.

“Sigh… I’ve never been beaten up like this in my whole life. If my husband saw this, he would probably be so angry that he would…”

Su Yaqin kept talking, while Song Shishi lowered her head, her eyes silently reddening.

She got up, walked behind Su Yaqin, and gently combed her hair with her fingers.

Su Yaqin’s hair tie probably fell off during the struggle with the woman.

She simply untied the hair tie from her own hair.

Su Yaqin sensed Song Shishi’s emotions and didn’t know what to say for a moment.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally spoke again, “It’s just a skin injury, it’ll be fine in a couple of days.”

There was a knock on the door outside the ward, and then Li Chengde walked in with a worried expression.

As soon as he saw Su Yaqin, he strode over to her and embraced her.

“How did you get hurt like this? That stinking woman, I’ll make her pay.”

As soon as Li Chengde arrived, Su Yaqin became a little woman, snuggling in his arms and acting cute.

One moment she was saying her head hurt, the next she was saying her arm hurt, completely forgetting the “just a skin injury” she had said in front of Song Shishi.

It was awkward for Song Shishi to stay there while the couple was being affectionate.

So, she made an excuse to go find Li Haoyang and left the ward.

As she walked out of the hospital, she saw Xu Li holding Li Haoyang by the roadside, and Li Haoyang was holding a candied hawthorn.

His smiling eyes showed how happy he was.

“Pretty Auntie!”

Seeing Song Shishi, Li Haoyang immediately reached out to her, wanting her to hold him.

“Pretty Auntie, candied hawthorn, you eat.”

He said, handing the candied hawthorn to her mouth.

After calming Li Haoyang down, the little guy finally obediently stayed in her arms and nibbled on the candied hawthorn.

She turned to meet Xu Li’s worried gaze and gave a faint smile, “It’s nothing serious, she’s just being affectionate with her husband.”

Xu Li breathed a sigh of relief and also smiled, “Sister Qin and Brother-in-law have such a good relationship, it’s really enviable.”

“Don’t envy others, you’ll also meet someone who cares about you deeply.”

She noticed that ever since Xu Li was forced into marriage by Xu Guiying, she often mentioned things related to her “partner.”

Last time, she envied Meng Xunzhou for being kind to her, and this time, she envied the relationship between Su Yaqin and Li Chengde.

Perhaps, in her subconscious, only when she found a partner she liked would her aunt truly let her go.

Xu Li looked into the distance with longing, “Who could it be?”

“Who knows?” Song Shishi shrugged.

She couldn’t even predict her own future, let alone someone else’s.

“Shishi.”

Li Chengde walked out of the hospital with Su Yaqin in his arms. If it weren’t for the injury on her face, just looking at Su Yaqin’s expression, how could you tell she had been beaten?

“It’s already noon, your brother-in-law wants to treat you to a meal at the state-owned restaurant, let’s go.”

After saying that, Su Yaqin took Song Shishi’s hand and walked towards the car.

Song Shishi turned back and gestured for Xu Li to follow, then said, “Xu Li and I can just grab a bite, you’ve been scared and injured today, you should go back and rest with your husband early.”

“It’s okay, you two can continue to shop after dinner. I still have to go to the police station to take care of some follow-up matters. I’ll come back to pick you up after I’m done.” Li Chengde let go of Su Yaqin, walked to the front to open the door for them, and said.

Seeing that he insisted, Song Shishi could only nod in agreement.

Li Chengde drove his own car, so Song Shishi and Xu Li sat in the car driven by the rich uncle, while Su Yaqin and Li Haoyang went to sit in Li Chengde’s car.

Xu Li leaned out the window and looked out, muttering, “I really envy Sister Qin, a woman’s life like this is fulfilling.”

Song Shishi raised her hand and tapped Xu Li’s head, saying seriously, “Don’t envy this and that, self-love and self-reliance are most important.”

Xu Li stared at her blankly and didn’t say anything.

She pretended to hit Xu Li’s head again, and Xu Li finally reacted, dodging back, “I know, sister, don’t hit my head, it will make me stupid.”

“Pfft~”

Song Shishi was amused, but she still tried to persuade her, “Lili, your life is in your own hands now, don’t try to rely on others.”

Afraid that Xu Li wouldn’t understand, she continued, “Like before, you relied on Xu Qiang for your life, and then you went to your aunt’s house, and you relied on Xu Guiying for your life.

This kind of reliance will make you lose yourself and will not last.

Your brother can’t take care of you for a long time, he has to make achievements in the army.

Your aunt can’t take care of you for a long time either, because she has her own family and her own children, which is why she later had the idea of marrying you off.

But if one day, you become strong, you don’t need to rely on anyone to live.

By then, you don’t need to envy anyone, because you will be an example to others.”

No one had ever said these things to Xu Li.

Ever since she met Song Shishi, she had clearly felt that her life had changed.

But along with these changes, something in her heart seemed to become unbalanced.

She started to want more, but she couldn’t explain what those things were.

But what Song Shishi said to her today gave her a different perspective.

Although this idea was still a seedling, she believed that one day, she would also be as capable as Song Shishi and Su Yaqin.

…

When they arrived at the state-owned restaurant, the rich uncle and Li Chengde were the ones making arrangements.

Song Shishi, Su Yaqin, and the others just sat at their seats and waited to eat.

Li Haoyang got out of the car and clung to her, never leaving her side.

With Su Yaqin’s family there, Song Shishi and Xu Li ate like it was New Year’s Day.

Braised pork, sweet and sour pork, steamed fish, and rice.

Xu Li’s eyes widened, and if Song Shishi hadn’t been picking food for her, she probably wouldn’t have dared to eat.

After dinner, Su Yaqin said she wanted to take them to the tailor shop to order coats, but they had just reached the entrance when several people dressed as beggars rushed over.

“Give us some food, give us some food.”

Song Shishi and the others were so scared that they retreated back into the state-owned restaurant.

These beggars stood at the entrance of the restaurant, not going inside, but their eyes were fixed on them.