Chapter 38: Settling the Score

While Zhou Chongshan and Military Doctor Pei were talking outside—

The sound of Jiang Rou’s voice came from the infirmary.  

“Xiaochuan, you’re awake. How do you feel? Does it hurt?”  

Zhou Xiaochuan had woken up.  

He had only regained consciousness a few minutes ago.  

The memories of last night were hazy, mixed with too much pain. To Zhou Xiaochuan, it felt like a dark nightmare.  

The only light within it…  

Was the presence of his mother that he had vaguely felt in his daze.  

No child does not long for their mother.  

Zhou Xiaochuan was no exception.  

It had been a very, very long time since he last dreamed of his mother.  

Last night, he even felt as if she were right beside him, just like when he was a child, carrying him on her back and softly soothing him.  

That warmth had made all the pain from the previous night seem insignificant.  

But the moment he opened his eyes—  

The person he saw was Jiang Rou.  

A woman he had firmly believed in his heart to be a wicked stepmother.  

Yet she was leaning over his hospital bed, holding his hand while she slept in exhaustion.  

At the same time, the memories of last night became clearer and clearer in his mind.  

Zhou Xiaochuan suddenly snapped awake.  

There had been no mother. It was Jiang Rou!  

In the dark, stormy night, the person who had carried him on her back, step by step, moving forward without stopping—it had been Jiang Rou.  

At that thought—  

Zhou Xiaochuan reacted as if he had been burned.  

His dark pupils trembled, and he abruptly pulled his hand away from Jiang Rou’s grasp.  

That single action—  

Instantly woke Jiang Rou from her sleep.  

The moment Jiang Rou opened her eyes, she was not even fully awake yet, but her instinct was to check on Zhou Xiaochuan.  

Her urgent questions, her worried expression…  

None of it could be faked.  

Zhou Xiaochuan stared at Jiang Rou, dazed and bewildered.

The young boy’s chest was surging with intense emotions, rolling like waves in the ocean.  

There was shock, disbelief, rejection, and resistance.  

And yet…  

He couldn’t help but steal a few more glances at Jiang Rou.  

Such a complicated mix of emotions was something Zhou Xiaochuan couldn’t make sense of at the moment.  

He had been running a fever for an entire day and night. His body was weak and powerless, and his throat felt as if small blades were scraping against it, hoarse and unbearably sore.  

At this moment—  

Zhou Xiaochuan couldn’t speak, nor did he know what he should say.  

Jiang Rou, however, was still watching him nervously, anxiously waiting for his response.  

The atmosphere grew slightly awkward.  

Just then, Zhou Zhongshan and Military Doctor Pei pushed the door open and entered, breaking the tense silence.  

Jiang Rou snapped back to her senses slightly.  

For some reason, Zhou Xiaochuan let out a quiet breath of relief as well.  

He looked toward Zhou Zhongshan. Seeing the man’s tense expression, he spoke in a small, weak voice.  

“Dad…”  

“Xiaochuan, you’re not feeling well. Don’t talk for now. Let Military Doctor Pei examine you.”  

Zhou Zhongshan’s expression was heavy, but he did not scold the boy the moment he opened his mouth.  

After all…  

Zhou Xiaochuan’s sudden illness—he bore a significant share of the responsibility.  

In his heart, there was a deep sense of remorse and guilt.  

When Zhou Zhongshan stepped inside, Jiang Rou glanced at him a few times.  

She noticed the mud-stained military uniform he wore and the fact that his shoes were still soaked through.  

From this, she could roughly guess—after receiving the news, Zhou Zhongshan must have rushed straight from the coastal defense line, not even taking the time to return home and change.  

Her gaze silently revealed her concern.  

Then, as she turned away—  

Jiang Rou quietly removed the damp towel from Zhou Xiaochuan’s forehead, along with the cooling patch for reducing fever, discreetly folding and tucking them away.  

Without a trace, without a sound.  

Everything went smoothly.  

Her movements went completely unnoticed—so much so that even Zhou Xiaochuan himself did not realize anything had changed.  

Military Doctor Pei placed a thermometer in Zhou Xiaochuan’s mouth and pressed a stethoscope against his chest to examine his heart and lungs…  

A few minutes later—

Military Doctor Pei spoke in a steady voice: “The child is recovering well. His fever has gone down in just one night. But just to be safe, let’s give him one more IV drip. There’s a nurse on duty in the infirmary. You two have been exhausted all night—go back, get some rest, change your clothes, and make something light and nutritious for him.”  

“Alright, thank you, Military Doctor Pei. We understand.”  

Jiang Rou listened attentively and nodded earnestly.  

After finishing his instructions, Military Doctor Pei did not linger to disturb the family of three. He turned and left the hospital room.  

Zhou Zhongshan walked up to the hospital bed.  

He reached out and touched Zhou Xiaochuan’s forehead. The fever had indeed gone down. Then, he gently touched the back of his son’s hand, where the IV needle was inserted.  

His heart ached for the boy. “Xiaochuan, does it hurt?”  

Lying on the hospital bed, Zhou Xiaochuan shook his head. “Dad, it doesn’t hurt.”  

Medical standards in the 1970s were poor, and IV needles were thick and rough.  

Zhou Xiaochuan had been on an IV drip the entire night, and the back of his hand was bruised and swollen.  

Just one look, and it was obvious that it hurt.  

Yet, Zhou Xiaochuan kept a straight face and shook his head without hesitation.  

Zhou Zhongshan’s heart grew even heavier.  

At that moment—  

Jiang Rou looked at the father and son, but her mind was on something else entirely.  

After some thought, she asked: “Xiaochuan, what did you eat for lunch yesterday?”  

As soon as the question was asked, Zhou Xiaochuan lifted his eyes to glance at Jiang Rou. His thin lips pressed tightly together, and he remained silent for a long time.  

Zhou Zhongshan listened to Jiang Rou’s question, then recalled Military Doctor Pei’s earlier mention of “malnutrition.”  

His thick brows furrowed deeply, forming deep creases between them.  

He looked at Zhou Xiaochuan and repeated Jiang Rou’s question in a low, serious voice.  

“Xiaochuan, what did you eat for lunch yesterday?”  

This time—  

Zhou Xiaochuan had no choice but to answer.

He averted his gaze, his hoarse voice murmuring softly.  

“…There’s rice soup, and… potatoes.”  

The moment he heard this answer, Zhou Chongshan’s expression darkened instantly.  

He had hired Xu Chunxiang as a teacher, not only paying ten yuan a month but also providing a generous amount of grain tickets and flour tickets, enough to cover the meals of both children.  

With all those tickets combined, there should have been more than enough food for Zhou Xiaochuan and Zhou Xiaohua to have proper meals every day.  

Both were children in their growth phase—how could they survive on just rice soup and potatoes? That wasn’t nearly enough to fill them up.  

Zhou Chongshan’s face turned grim, his voice sinking.  

Jiang Rou, however, was not surprised by Zhou Xiaochuan’s answer.  

She continued asking: “What about Xiaohua? Did she also have rice soup and potatoes?”  

Since Zhou Xiaochuan had already started speaking, he no longer avoided Jiang Rou’s questions.  

He continued weakly: “Xiaohua doesn’t like potatoes, so she only drank the rice soup… I gave her my breakfast steamed cornmeal bun.”  

Over the past few days, Jiang Rou had also been secretly giving them an extra boiled egg.  

Zhou Xiaochuan had quietly handed his boiled egg to Zhou Xiaohua as well.  

So even if Zhou Xiaohua refused to eat potatoes, at least she wouldn’t go hungry.  

After hearing Zhou Xiaochuan’s response, Jiang Rou had already reached her conclusion.  

A sharp glint flashed in her eyes.  

It was time to settle accounts with Xu Chunxiang!