DLRC – Chapter 55 Still Unable to Be Ruthless

Less than six minutes had passed. The first cigarette of Huo Mingwang’s morning burned out before there was finally some movement from inside.

“All right, let’s go with Auntie now.”

Li Fang walked out from the kitchen carrying a wooden tray. On it were two bowls of wontons that Yu Hui had just ordered.

As soon as the little guy saw her, he hopped off his seat and obediently followed behind her back to the dessert shop.

Huo Mingwang turned casually, his tall frame hidden behind the corner wall as he watched the pair—one big, one small—disappear from view.

He started the engine and followed them by car. This time, when they reached the destination, he didn’t get out—just stayed seated in the driver’s seat, silently watching the two enter the dessert shop.

Inside, the lighting was bright. After waking up, Yu Wei had turned on all the lights to force herself to feel a bit more awake.

When she heard her son’s soft little voice calling her from outside, she forced her exhausted body up and put on a smile as she walked over to the counter.

“Thank you, sorry to trouble you,” she said with a smile, pulling out some bills from the drawer and handing them to Li Fang. “Here’s sixty cents. Please count it.”

“It’s fine, no need to count,” Li Fang replied cheerfully, placing the wontons on the small wooden table in the shop before taking the money. She casually praised, “Your son’s really clever—so young and already coming to my place to buy wontons.”

Yu Wei smiled, gently rubbing her son’s short hair. “Yes, our Huihui is very smart.”

They exchanged a few more pleasantries before Li Fang said her goodbyes.

“Sister Li, I’ll return the bowls and utensils once we finish!” Yu Wei called out after her.

“Alright!”

Li Fang responded and quickly headed back to her noodle shop. Outside, in his car, Huo Mingwang had driven to park directly in front of the dessert shop. The mother and son were too focused on their meal to notice his presence.

This was the most difficult breakfast Yu Wei had ever eaten.

For some reason, ever since she woke up this morning, there had been sharp cramps in her stomach. Now, staring at the noodles, she had no appetite. Even the fragrant wontons made her want to throw up.

She forced herself to chew one, but the moment it reached her stomach, it felt like a storm churning inside. Unable to bear it, she turned away and began dry heaving.

Seeing this, Yu Hui immediately dropped his spoon and looked at her anxiously. “Mommy! Mommy, what’s wrong?”

Yu Wei didn’t turn around. She kept retching for a bit before waving her hand weakly. “It’s okay. Mommy probably ate too fast.”

Worry filled Yu Hui’s little face. He climbed down from the stool and patted her back gently. “Mommy, eat slower. Huihui won’t fight with you over food.”

“Who’s afraid of you fighting with me?” Yu Wei chuckled and tapped his little nose with her knuckle. “I’m fine. Hurry and eat. Once you’re done, Mommy needs to return the dishes to Auntie Li.”

“Okay.” Yu Hui watched her for a moment longer. Seeing that she really didn’t seem to be vomiting anymore, he finally relaxed and returned to his seat to keep eating.

As usual, Luo Lin dropped by the dessert shop around this time. He greeted the mother and son with a smile, but Yu Wei looked pale and drained today. She kept her head down, barely managing to eat. She didn’t even have the energy to look at him.

Luo Lin scratched the back of his head in confusion. He noticed that the little egg cakes he often bought were missing, so he walked over to ask, “Sister Yu Wei, didn’t you make any egg cakes today? The egg tarts seem to be gone too.”

“Hm?” Yu Wei furrowed her brows, lifting her head with some difficulty. Her mind was groggy, and her vision was so blurry she couldn’t even make out the man’s face clearly.

“Sister Yu Wei?” Luo Lin looked at her in concern, wanting to get a closer look at her condition when she suddenly spoke.

Her voice was hoarse and weary, very unlike her usual tone. “The shop’s closed today. Come back tomorrow if you want something.”

She had no energy left to sell pastries. After returning the dishes, she planned to finish the rest of the egg cakes and then get some proper rest for the day.

Luo Lin felt even more confused seeing her like this. But since she said the shop wasn’t open, he didn’t press further. He stood there for a while, glancing at both her and the happily eating Yu Hui, then finally turned and left.

Inside the shop, the mother and son sat together eating hot wontons. The cold winter air made steam rise from the bowl. Yu Hui puffed at the hot soup with his cheeks puffed out.

After finishing the wontons, he scooped up the fragrant broth with a spoon and slowly sipped it. A layer of green scallion bits floated on top, and he carefully blew them away as if playing rather than eating.

“All right, Huihui, eat up now, don’t play,” Yu Wei said softly, holding her forehead and taking a deep breath.

Yu Hui glanced at her half-full bowl of untouched wontons, swallowed, and asked quietly, “Mommy, you’re not eating?”

“Mm. Mommy doesn’t have an appetite today. You eat.”

“Oh.” Yu Hui had already finished his bowl and now eyed the remaining wontons in hers, hesitating before asking, “Mommy, if you don’t eat, you’ll get hungry!”

“It’s okay. Mommy’s an adult. I don’t get hungry easily.”

Yu Hui seemed to understand and finally said, “Then Mommy, can I eat your wontons?”

Yu Wei let out a tired laugh. The dull ache in her head was so intense she barely had the strength to speak, but she forced her lips to part and said, “Go ahead. You can eat them all.”

“Okay.”

Yu Hui picked up her wontons with his spoon. In the end, he ate four of her dumplings, then happily patted his little belly and stood up.

“Mommy, my blanket’s right here. Are you cold?” His short legs pattered over to the cashier counter, where he picked up the crumpled little blanket he’d used the night before.

Yu Wei had been feeling unwell since early morning. After waking Yu Hui, she hadn’t had the mind to clean up the area where he slept, and the blanket was still lying there on the floor.

“Mommy, I’ll cover you with the blanket. There’s a teddy bear on it—it’ll keep you warm,” he said as he draped it over her lap and even tugged at the corners to smooth it out.

Yu Wei managed a faint smile. Sitting on the chair, she gazed at her son in silence. On a normal day, she’d probably shower him with praise. But right now… she felt so awful she couldn’t say a word.

“Huihui, wait here in the shop. Mommy’s going to return Auntie Li’s dishes.”

Yu Wei stood up and took the bowl into the kitchen. She dumped the remaining wontons and soup into the sink, then shakily walked toward the door with the dishes in hand.

But just those two minutes in the kitchen left her dizzy and unsteady. She barely managed to stay upright as she stepped out the door. The cold wind whipped past her neck and head, and in that instant, she collapsed like a kite with a cut string—falling flat on her back and not getting up again.

It was a heavy fall. The bowl and spoon clattered to the ground, the white ceramic clashing with the rough cement. There wasn’t a single soul within a hundred meters. In that moment, she looked like the most abandoned person in the world.

The sound of the porcelain shattering was loud—so loud that even Yu Hui, who had been filling a water bowl for their pet in the kitchen, heard it clearly.

His small body trembled in fright. Without a second thought, he ran out of the dessert shop—and the scene that greeted him was his mother lying motionless on the cold ground!

Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. Just then, everything around him seemed to go black. His desperate cries echoed down the quiet morning street.

“Mommy—! Mommy, waaahhhh!”

In the car by the roadside, Huo Mingwang had witnessed the entire fall. His grip on the steering wheel suddenly tightened. He watched Yu Hui’s tiny, trembling form rush toward Yu Wei, trying in vain to lift her—like a mayfly trying to shake a tree—completely helpless.

His arm was lined with bulging veins, and the cigarette between his fingers was suddenly crushed into his palm. The glowing tip burned his skin out of shape, but he felt nothing—his eyes fixed on the boy not far away, wailing in despair.

Finally, he couldn’t hold back any longer. With clenched fists slamming hard into the dashboard, he quickly got out of the car and strode toward the woman collapsed on the ground.

“Mama! Wuwuwu—Mama!”

Yu Hui used all his strength, but Yu Wei didn’t move at all, slumped on the pavement. He cried like his heart was being torn apart, but his sobs couldn’t wake the unconscious woman.

It wasn’t yet 7 a.m., and normally bustling Boxue Road was unusually quiet today.

Just as Yu Hui was about to stagger up and find someone to help, a shadow suddenly loomed over his head.

He wiped the heavy trails of tears off his face and saw a very tall man bend down and easily pick Yu Wei up. Before he could react, the man had taken his mama away!

The man walked fast, his black suit slightly rumpled.

Yu Hui jogged behind, but with Huo Mingwang deliberately lengthening his stride, the child couldn’t keep up. He ran and cried behind him, his little face flushed red from holding back sobs, with tears clinging to his nose and falling one after another.

“Mama—! Wuwuwu, landlord uncle… Mama! Mama!”

The farther the tall man carrying his mother went, the more Yu Hui cried and called after them in his trembling voice.

The last thing he saw was Yu Wei’s pale, strained face. Her brows were tightly furrowed, and her near-translucent hand clutched the man’s suit jacket. As his cries filled the air, she disappeared from his view.

Huo Mingwang opened the passenger door, placed her inside quickly, then got into the driver’s seat and started the car, ready to rush to the hospital.

He didn’t look back at Yu Hui, just stared at the rearview mirror for two seconds with a cold face before speeding away.

The last thing left behind was the boy’s pitiful sobs from outside the car window, and in the mirror—a small, tear-streaked figure chasing the car, tripping, falling, and getting up again.

But Huo Mingwang turned a blind eye, as if he had neither seen nor heard it. Only when the small figure finally disappeared from the mirror did he exhale and press the gas harder.

The car vanished, turning at a junction not far ahead, out of Yu Hui’s sight.

Mama was gone. Mama had been taken away by the landlord uncle, into that gray little car. He didn’t know where they went. He was terrified. He felt like the whole world had abandoned him again.

Yu Hui’s little world shattered completely. His palms were scraped red by the rough ground, and tender skin began to bleed. He felt nothing. He knew nothing.

“Aiyo aiyo! What happened, little one? Why are you crying on the street like this?” The noodle shop owner had heard his heartrending sobs from afar. She dropped everything and rushed out—only to see this heartbreaking scene.

The little guy was still lying on the ground, sobbing and hiccuping, wiping his tears with trembling hands. But the moment he wiped them, new ones fell relentlessly, making her heart ache.

Li Fang hurried over to help him up. Yu Hui was sobbing so hard he couldn’t even talk. The sound of his choked cries echoed even louder on the empty street.

“Mama… wuwu… Mama…”

That was the only thing he could say. Li Fang asked quickly, “Aiyo, what happened? What happened?! Where’s your mama? Wasn’t she just fine? Why are you crying in the street now? Where did she go?”

Hearing her question, Yu Hui finally reacted. He grabbed Li Fang’s hand shakily and stood up.

“Auntie… Auntie, my mama fainted… wuwuwu—”

He had no one else to turn to, no one here he knew. But now that Li Fang was beside him, her worried gaze fell on him like a tiny ray of hope piercing through the darkness.

Li Fang was shocked. “Fainted? How did she faint? Wasn’t she okay just a moment ago…?”

Not knowing what had happened, she patted the dirt off his little jacket, scooped him up, and hurried toward the dessert shop, his pitiful sobs in her ear the whole way.

The little guy was terrified, haunted by the image of his mother being taken away. While crying, he opened his small mouth and sobbed: “Sorry, Auntie… your bowl got broken… wuwu—my mama fainted… it wasn’t on purpose, wuwuwu…”

Just as they reached the dessert shop, Li Fang saw the shattered bowl pieces scattered everywhere. She started to get a sense of what had happened.

She quickly comforted him: “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s just a bowl. I’ve got plenty more. Where’s your mama now?”

“The landlord uncle… the landlord uncle picked her up and left… wuwuwu—”

Yu Hui’s tear-wiping hand trembled even more. That terrible moment when Yu Wei collapsed had left another deep, vivid scar in his young heart.

Li Fang finally understood. She carried him inside and sat him on a chair before explaining gently, “It’s okay, sweetie, don’t worry. Your landlord probably took your mama to the hospital. Once she gets better, she’ll definitely come back!”

Her words seemed to comfort him a little. Although his heart still ached, his worry for Yu Wei outweighed his sorrow.

He wanted to go find Mama. Right now. But he had no idea where to begin.

Li Fang swept up the shattered pieces, bagged them up, and tucked them into a corner. Then she returned to find Yu Hui.

He’d calmed down slightly, but his trembling little hands betrayed his fear.

Yu Hui couldn’t sit still anymore. He looked up at her with reddened eyes and a hoarse little voice: “Auntie, can you take me to find Mama? I’m so worried about her…”

Though he’d stopped crying, his body was full of unease, which Li Fang could clearly feel.

But the problem was, this was her shop’s busiest hour. Her husband was there alone and couldn’t handle everything, so she couldn’t leave. She crouched and put her hands on Yu Hui’s little shoulders: “Good boy, your mama was definitely taken to the hospital. Auntie’s shop is really busy right now, so I can’t take you… why don’t you come wait at the shop with me? Wait for your mama to come back, okay?”

Yu Hui shook his head immediately. “I want to go find Mama…”

“But you don’t even know which hospital!” she replied, torn. She really didn’t have time to take him. But looking at his tear-streaked, delicate little face, her heart ached terribly.

After thinking it over, she said, “How about this, sweetheart: come with Auntie to the noodle shop first. Once I finish work, I’ll take you to the hospital, okay?”

Yu Hui still refused. His hoarse voice sounded even more pitiful: “Auntie, can you take me now… I want to find Mama…”

That just wasn’t possible—Li Fang had no time.

The longer she delayed, the more anxious she became—not just for Yu Hui, but for her shop. Business couldn’t be left hanging!

Besides, if his mother had already been taken to the hospital, it probably wasn’t anything life-threatening. So in the end, she didn’t take him.

But even so, the little guy still refused to go to the noodle shop. He insisted on staying alone in the dessert shop, saying that if he waited here, Mama would see him right away when she came back.

Li Fang had no choice. After warning him not to wander off, she rushed back to her shop. Her husband was already overwhelmed, and when she returned, he shot her a blaming look.

The busy shop made Li Fang increasingly frazzled. She kept thinking about that poor child in the dessert shop—was he still there? What if he ran off looking for his mom?

A child that young wouldn’t even know where to go!

She shook off her worries, telling herself she had to finish serving noodles first.

Meanwhile, in the lobby of Lucheng Central Hospital, a tall man in a suit carried a small woman through the crowd. His stern, angular face was tight with anxiety.

He kicked open the ER doors without hesitation. Everyone inside turned to look, but he ignored them and headed straight to a doctor in a white coat.

Half an hour later, in a ward on the second floor, Huo Mingwang stood by the bedside, looking down at the sleeping woman. Emotions swirled in his dark eyes, shadows covering half his face.

“It’s nothing serious. Just a fever and cold. She’ll be fine after an IV,” the doctor said, adjusting the drip before leaving to see the next patient.

A nurse stepped up, tucking the blanket around Yu Wei and saying to Huo Mingwang, “Don’t let the patient overexert herself these next few days. Also, keep her away from cold drafts, or her condition might worsen.”

With that, she too left the room.

There was another patient in the next bed, but they were asleep. No one saw the struggle on Huo Mingwang’s face.

No one knew how long he stood there before finally dragging the chair over and sitting down heavily, eyes fixed on Yu Wei’s delicate face, never looking away.

It had been years. This was the first time since she left that he’d stared at her like this.

A dull pain began radiating from his left thigh. He clutched the spot tightly, the look in his eyes dark and dangerous.

She looked just as peaceful and beautiful as always in sleep. Her chest gently rose and fell with her breathing. His gaze slowly moved from her face to her neck… and then, as if possessed, his hand reached out and wrapped around that slender, pale throat.

Her skin felt incredibly smooth under his palm. Huo Mingwang’s fingers began to tighten. Just a little more force… just a little…

A demon inside urged him to press harder, but as her serene face began to turn faintly bluish, he jerked his hand back as if shocked by electricity.

His breathing suddenly grew rough and erratic, throat aching as if something had gripped it hard.

Even after all this time, it seemed… he still couldn’t be cruel.

But what she had done to him in the past—deserved to die a thousand, ten thousand times over!

Yu Wei regained consciousness an hour later.

When she opened her heavy eyelids, what she saw was a white ceiling and the pungent smell of disinfectant.

Trying to move her stiff body, she realized her arm was restrained. Turning her head, she saw an IV needle in her hand, the liquid slowly flowing into her body.

And next to the bed—stood a man in a suit…

“Huo Mingwang?”