Chapter 32.2

The next day, Jiang Rou asked Li Xiao to take care of An An at home while she went to the hospital to pick up her sister. She brought congee and steamed dumplings and completed the discharge procedures once her younger sister finished eating.

Jiang Rou’s younger sister was named Fu Xiaoyue. After resting for a day, she was already able to get out of bed and walk. Her injuries would mainly depend on subsequent care. Li Xiao had even planned to have Jin Dayou come over to check on her, but Jin Dayou had been missing for the past few days and was nowhere to be seen.

On the way back, Jiang Rou took her to a barbershop, where they shaved all her hair off. It was unclear how long it had been since she had washed her hair; there were still lice on it.

After they came out, Fu Xiaoyue awkwardly touched her head. Jiang Rou put her hat on her head and said, “It will grow back after a while. No need to rush.”

Fu Xiaoyue shook her head and said, “I don’t care.”

If she had cared about her appearance, she wouldn’t have let her hair get into that condition.

Jiang Rou then took her to buy some toiletries. After leaving the small store, Fu Xiaoyue cautiously said, “Sister, I will work hard to earn money in the future and give all the money to you.”

Jiang Rou felt her heart soften upon hearing this. She smiled and said, “I don’t want you to earn money for me. Right now, your main focus should be on taking care of yourself. In the second half of the year, your brother-in-law and I plan to send you to school. Study hard and become a capable person in the future—that’s the best way to show your gratitude to us.”

Fu Xiaoyue was speechless when she heard this. After a long moment, she suddenly whispered, “Sister, I wish I had met you earlier.”

Jiang Rou didn’t know how to respond to this.

If they had met earlier, the “her” at that time wouldn’t have been herself.

Jiang Rou felt a pang of sadness; she didn’t know what kind of ending this girl had in her past life.

She held her hand and said, “It’s not too late to meet now.”

The girl softly replied, “Mm.”

-o-o-o-o-o-

At home, Li Xiao had already cleaned up the storage room. It was a bit small, only fitting a bed and a desk, but it received plenty of sunlight, with windows facing west.

Li Xiao had pasted old newspapers on the walls in the afternoon and replaced the overhead light with a new one.

The room was clean and fresh. The windows had been open all night, so there was no unpleasant smell inside anymore.

Li Xiao was outside, airing out the quilt in the sun. It was rare to have sunshine today, but the morning had been quite humid, so he waited until now to take it out to dry.

There weren’t many quilts in the house. Usually, Jiang Rou and Li Xiao slept separately, but with an extra person at home, they would have to share a quilt at night.

Li Xiao suddenly felt that having an extra person at home was quite nice.

Fu Xiaoyue was very pleased with the small room. She touched the newspaper on the wall, looking at it over and over. Turning to Jiang Rou, she asked uncertainly, “Is this really for me? ”

She felt like everything was a dream. She had thought she was going to die, but suddenly she had a sister and a brother-in-law. Now she had her own room and the chance to study in the future.

This was something she hadn’t dared to imagine just a few days ago.

Jiang Rou pulled her out of the room. “Of course it is. It’s just a bit small. I’ll have your brother-in-law make a small wardrobe for you in a few days.”

Fu Xiaoyue hurriedly shook her head. “No, this is more than enough.”

-o-o-o-o-o-

In the afternoon, Jiang Rou and Li Xiao took Fu Xiaoyue to the police station to handle the household registration transfer. Li Xiao was quite familiar with the county police station; as soon as he walked in, several people looked over with curious glances, and someone even greeted him, “Li Xiao, hey, you cut your hair. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Li Xiao walked up to the counter, naturally taking out a cigarette from his pocket and offering it. “Is Captain Li here? I need to talk to him.”

The young officer waved his hand, refusing the cigarette, and joked, “What’s up? Did you commit a crime again?”

Li Xiao felt a bit uncomfortable hearing this and cleared his throat. “What are you talking about? My wife and child are here.”

The young officer glanced behind him. He knew Li Xiao had a wife—she had come to bail him out once in the first half of the year. After that, he hadn’t seen her again, so he assumed they had separated. But now, seeing them together, it was clear they were still together.

Recently, the station had been discussing Li Xiao, mentioning that he hadn’t been around for a while and that he seemed to have started a business and made quite a bit of money. They hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, so they weren’t sure if it was true or not.

But now, seeing him in clean clothes with a neatly shaved head, they realized he had indeed changed.

The young officer’s gaze finally fell on the chubby little girl in Jiang Rou’s arms. She had a plump face and big round eyes, and her hair was styled in two little buns on top of her head, which made her look extremely cute.

The little girl was curiously turning her head around, clearly recognizing that she had never been here before.

The young police officer’s heart melted at the sight of the little girl, and he replied to Li Xiao, “Captain Li seems to be in a meeting on the third floor. You can go up and wait.”

“Okay,” Li Xiao responded, putting away his cigarette. He then led Jiang Rou and the others up to the third floor.

As Jiang Rou walked, she glanced around, feeling an odd sense of familiarity—almost like she was returning home.

They didn’t have to wait long on the third floor before Captain Li, Li Xiao had mentioned, came out. He was a man of medium height, somewhere in his 30s or 40s.

Upon seeing Li Xiao, his first words were, “What trouble have you gotten into now?”

“……”

Jiang Rou felt embarrassed on Li Xiao’s behalf. It was clear that Li Xiao’s past behavior had left a lasting impression—everyone who saw him assumed he was in trouble again.

Li Xiao, however, had thick skin and didn’t seem too bothered. He stepped forward and briefly explained the situation.

As Captain Li listened, his expression grew more serious. He then said, “Come over here and tell me in detail.”

Li Xiao nodded, and, as they started walking, he took the chubby little girl from Jiang Rou’s arms. Captain Li glanced back at them but said nothing.

They entered an empty room where Li Xiao asked Fu Xiaoyue to explain her situation to Captain Li. Fu Xiaoyue clenched her hands on her lap.
clearly very nervous.

After she finished speaking, Jiang Rou took out the hospital examination report from her pocket and said, “I am her third sister. When my parents sent my younger sister away, I was still young and couldn’t do anything at that time. Now, I want to take care of her.”

“The adoptive parents of my little sister are now suspected of child abuse and child trafficking. I brought her here to report the case and to transfer her household registration to ours. I wonder if that’s possible.”

Jiang Rou knew that simply transferring the household registration wouldn’t be enough. The adoptive parents needed to be scared into compliance; otherwise, they wouldn’t let her sister go so easily.

Captain Li reviewed the documents, his expression growing darker as he read the details. Finally, he made a firm decision: “We’ll open a case for investigation.”

Jiang Rou sighed in relief. Next to her, Fu Xiaoyue did not understand what was happening and held Jiang Rou’s hand with confusion. Seeing Jiang Rou’s calm expression, she felt somewhat reassured.

As they were leaving, Captain Li patted Li Xiao on the shoulder and said with a touch of satisfaction, “You’re doing well now. Make sure to live a good life from here on out.”

He had noticed how much Li Xiao had changed. Just a year ago, Li Xiao had been a troublemaker who disregarded rules, often getting into bloody fights and constantly saying harsh words. Now, that old behavior seemed like a distant memory.

Li Xiao smiled and replied in a calm yet slightly boastful tone, “My wife is great.”

He then lifted the little girl in his arms and playfully asked Captain Li, “Isn’t my daughter pretty?”

“…”

Captain Li was momentarily speechless but nodded with a slight smile.

However, when his gaze fell on An An being held up, his expression softened. “She looks very good, just like you.”

Li Xiao added, “And she looks like her mother.”

Captain Li felt a twinge of bitterness but also found it amusing. Who would have thought that a once troublesome kid like Li Xiao would one day become a doting husband and father?

Jiang Rou, who was walking behind them, overheard the conversation and blushed slightly.

As they left the police station, Li Xiao reassured Jiang Rou, “With Captain Li handling this, there shouldn’t be any problems now.”

Jiang Rou nodded. Li Xiao’s confidence in Captain Li indicated that he was indeed a reliable person.

Sure enough, in the following days, news spread that the police had arrested Fu Xiaoyue’s adoptive parents and the old bachelor. The adoptive parents were arrested without resistance, but the old bachelor caused trouble—his fellow villagers were united and even injured two of the police officers.

Fu Xiaoyue’s foster parents were originally supposed to face criminal charges, but Fu Xiaoyue did not wish to pursue them. She told Jiang Rou that she had been raised by the Fu family, and despite how they had treated her, she did not hate them at all because it was her biological parents who had abandoned her, and she couldn’t blame anyone else.

Moreover, her younger brother was only in the third grade of elementary school. If they went to prison, no one would take care of him, and she did not want him to end up like her.

As for the old bachelor, whatever happened to him was whatever happened.

After the case was concluded, Li Xiao gave Fu Xiaoyue’s foster parents a hundred yuan and obtained the household registration from them, directly transferring it to the police station.

Jiang Rou had their names recorded under Li Xiao’s household registration. Then she turned to Fu Xiaoyue and said, “From now on, you’ll have the same surname as your brother-in-law—Li Xin, which means ‘prosperity.'”

Li Xiao, holding An An, was momentarily stunned.

Fu Xiaoyue, now Li Xin, didn’t react. She simply trusted her sister’s decisions and would follow whatever she said.

She softly repeated the name “Li Xin,” which she liked very much.

The female police officer who was handling the paperwork also heard this and said, “Come back to register after the name change is complete.”

“Okay.”

The foster parents looked at the household registration book and saw that Fu Xiaoyue had been removed from it.

From then on, their family would only have Fu Cong as a child.

Seeing the happy family on the other side (Jiang Rou), she felt an odd discomfort in her heart.

Once the registration was complete, Jiang Rou immediately arranged for the name change. She told Li Xiao, “In the future, when Xin Xin became successful, I don’t want her foster parents and Zhang Yan to come to suck blood.”

Changing Li Xin’s name and registering it under Li Xiao’s would prevent a lot of future issues.

Li Xiao nodded, not particularly concerned about these matters.

To him, it was just gaining one sister.

Jiang Rou then said, “Let’s get our marriage certificate in a few days.”

She suddenly remembered that after the New Year, she would be twenty and could get a marriage certificate.

Li Xiao looked at her deeply and responded with a simple “hmm.”

Then he added, “When I return from the south with some money, we’ll have a proper wedding.”

Just like Zhu Qiang did—they would invite people to a hotel for a celebration. Whatever others had, Jiang Rou deserved to have too.

On the way back, the family of four purposely took a detour to the vegetable market. Because it was the New Year, only a few stalls were open. Jiang Rou bought some meat and a few vegetables.

Back at home, Jiang Rou displayed her cooking skills and made a sumptuous meal.

Li Xin helped her in the kitchen while Li Xiao went out to look for Jin Dayou.

As Jiang Rou was putting the rice into the pot, Aunt Wang from the next house came over. She had known about Jiang Rou’s sister from the day before and noticed that their door had been closed all day, so she figured they must have been busy.

Now, hearing the noise, she came over with some cooked dishes. Seeing the skinny Li Xin, she commented on how tough the child’s life had been.

Li Xin, however, smiled brightly and said, “Aunt, I’m not miserable anymore. I have my sister now.”

She didn’t call her “third sister” because, in her heart, she only had Jiang Rou as a sister.

Aunt Wang’s eyes welled up with tears at this and said, “Listen to your sister and brother-in-law. They are good people.”

Li Xin nodded enthusiastically, “I know.”

Not long after Aunt Wang left, Li Xiao came back with Jin Dayou.

As soon as Jin Dayou entered the yard, he complained about being hungry and, seeing Li Xin carrying the brazier out of the room, asked with a grin, “Brother, why do you have a monk at home? You’re not having vegetarian food for dinner, are you?”

“…”

Jiang Rou heard this as soon as she came out of the kitchen. She was so angry that she wanted to throw the plate in her hand at Jin Dayou.

She had heard Zhou Jian say that Jin Dayou was mean before, but she didn’t expect it to be true.

Li Xin didn’t feel anything at all and went straight to the kitchen with the brazier to add charcoal to the fire.

Li Xiao slapped Jin Dayou on the head in annoyance. “Be polite; that’s my sister.”

He then went directly into the room to help Jiang Rou.

With four people, they even moved the big table outside so that everyone could sit comfortably.

After the meal, Li Xiao asked Jin Dayou to take a look at Li Xin. Jin Dayou had a playful grin, which made Li Xiao’s hand itch, and he said irritably, “Will you look at her or not? If not, get lost.”

Jin Dayou laughed again and said, “Look, your little sister is my little sister.”

He then asked Li Xin to extend her hand.

Li Xin’s face was stern. Although she wasn’t particularly concerned about her appearance, she wasn’t pleased with being called a monk as soon as the person walked in.

Nevertheless, she extended her hand because it was her sister and brother-in-law’s good intentions.

Jin Dayou took her pulse, pondered for a moment, and said, “Sister, your health is quite poor. Western medicine won’t help much; you need to take some traditional Chinese medicine for adjustment.”

Li Xiao, irritated by his slow speaking, urged, “Just prescribe some Chinese medicine.”

“Okay.”

Jin Dayou pulled out a small notebook and a pen from his pocket and began writing in a flamboyant manner.

After he finished writing, Li Xiao drove him away without any hesitation.

Li Xin stood up and cleaned up the dishes and took them to the kitchen to wash.

Seeing this, Jiang Rou carried An An to the kitchen and comforted Li Xin, saying, “Your brother-in-law’s friend is just like that. Don’t take it personally. After a while, when your hair grows back, it’ll be fine. In the meantime, you can wear a hat. It’s cold now, so it’s just right.”

Li Xin didn’t mind at all. “If it’s ugly, it’s ugly. I think it’s fine like this.”

Seeing that she didn’t really care, Jiang Rou was relieved.

She went to the living room to check on Li Xiao and, as if remembering something, asked in confusion, “I remember Jin Dayou studied Western medicine. How can he practice Chinese medicine? ”

Why does it feel like he’s a little unreliable?

Li Xiao casually replied, “He learned it by myself. He has loved treating people since he was young. One time, his neighbor’s pig was having difficulty giving birth. After he prescribed a medicine, it gave birth smoothly.”

Jiang Rou didn’t know how to respond.

That was her sister, not a pig.

Li Xiao added, “Anyway, no one has died from taking his prescriptions; don’t worry.”

“……” How could she not worry!

-o-o-o-

That night, because two blankets were given to Li Xin, Jiang Rou had to share the same blanket with Li Xiao.

An An, who was not used to being separated from her parents, woke up shortly after being put to sleep—whining and making a fuss. Finally, Li Xiao took a sweater that Jiang Rou was wearing and put it on her head, and she fell asleep quietly.

When Li Xiao returned to the quilt, he directly hugged Jiang Rou in his arms.

Jiang Rou blushed, and she pushed him away. “What are you doing? ”

Li Xiao calmly replied, “I’m cold.”

Jiang Rou: “…

‘You’re clearly lying.’

He was as hot as a fireball. “That doesn’t mean you need to hold me while you sleep.”

So clingy.

Li Xiao: “Yesterday at noon, we slept in each other’s arms. I saw you sleep soundly.”

Jiang Rou didn’t know what to say. It was obviously him who wanted to sleep in my arms, but why did he say it as if it was for her good?

Jiang Rou didn’t know what to say. He made it sound as if he was doing it for her benefit when it was really his own desire.

She couldn’t help but say, “I slept just as well without being hugged.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“……”

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Lucia: Hi~ I unlocked Chapter 32.2- Chapter 34.3 ~ Happy Reading~ (●’◡’●)

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