RGL – Chapter 193

Liao Zhaodi quickly stopped her. “What are you doing?” Her tone carried some anger. Why did it always have to be this way—her mother always forcing her.

Han Lei also reached out to help steady Zhang Hui. But he didn’t have a very good impression of this woman. Even though he knew she was Zhaodi’s mother, hearing her pressuring Zhaodi to marry, and now even kneeling—he really couldn’t stand her.

Zhang Hui’s face was full of tears. “Just go see him, say a few words to ease his mind. I’ve already changed all the bedsheets and covers at home. You’ll have a clean bed to sleep in when you return.”

Liao Zhaodi remained silent, not saying a word.

Zhang Hui wept, “Are you really this heartless? Do you hate me so much? Will you only be satisfied if your uncle dies with his eyes open, unable to rest in peace?”

“…Fine.” Zhaodi let out a long sigh. Going back for a look would at least put everyone’s mind at ease.

Han Lei said, “I’ll go with you.”

Zhaodi shook her head. “Su Wenwen might come looking for Minzi anytime, you should stay here. I’ll just go back for a look. I’ll take the bus back this afternoon.”

Han Lei thought for a moment, then nodded. “Then I’ll pick you up at the station this afternoon.”

This time, Zhaodi didn’t refuse. “Alright.”

Upstairs, Su Min was chatting with Sun Qiufang. With her daughter by her side and her husband’s health improving, Sun Qiufang felt relieved, and her own recovery was progressing quickly. During this time, Jiang Ping also came over to visit.

Jiang Ping’s illness wasn’t serious, but Su Min still insisted she rest for a while and get back her full strength. Jiang Ping, restless as always, came over to discuss matters concerning the supermarket.

The three of them were talking when Han Lei entered the ward.

Su Min looked at him in surprise. “Why are you back so soon? Just going to the airport and back would take at least two hours.”

Seeing another person in the room, Han Lei was momentarily startled. After listening to Su Min’s words, he said, “I ran into her mother downstairs. She said her uncle was very sick and wanted Zhaodi to see him. Just now, Zhaodi left with her.”

Sun Qiufang said, “Zhang Hui? She really hasn’t given up, has she?”

Speaking of this muddle-headed mother, Sun Qiufang also felt a flare of anger. “And that Zhu Qiang—never knew how to discipline his son, squandered all the family savings, and now that he’s sick, they don’t even have money for treatment. Otherwise, his illness wouldn’t have gotten so bad.”

Su Min recalled that in her previous life, Zhu Qiang didn’t seem this gravely ill. She remembered that the next time she saw Zhaodi, it was years later. Back then, Zhu Qiang was still able to go to the hospital himself to buy medicine, with Zhaodi accompanying him. Why was it so serious in this life? Could it be because this time Zhaodi didn’t stay home to marry Zhu Xiaobing—so without her support, Zhu Xiaobing squandered everything, and Zhu Qiang’s illness worsened?

Wait… Zhaodi marrying Zhu Xiaobing…

Su Min’s heart jolted, and she suddenly lifted her head to look at Han Lei, startling him. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

Su Min stood up, her face full of anxiety. “Go find Zhaodi, she might be in danger. Their family has a son who’s always had his eye on Zhaodi. Before, there were people keeping him in check, but now no one is around to stop him. I don’t know if Zhaodi will suffer a loss. Hurry and go!”

Han Lei’s face changed drastically when he heard this. He rushed toward the door, but stopped abruptly at the threshold. “The address!”

Only then did Su Min remember she hadn’t told him. She quickly grabbed pen and paper and wrote it down. “You must hurry.”

After Han Lei left, Su Min still felt uneasy. After what happened with her parents, she was truly frightened now. Fate—it always had a way of forcing certain outcomes. Her mother woke up, but her father still hadn’t regained consciousness. In the previous life, Zhaodi and Zhu Xiaobing did end up married. What would happen in this life?

Han Lei drove all the way to the provincial bus station, but he was still one step too late. He didn’t catch up with Zhaodi and Zhang Hui. He quickly boarded a bus heading toward the county. With Su Min’s words echoing in his ears, his grip on the steering wheel trembled.

Meanwhile, Zhaodi sat in the bus returning to the county.

Zhang Hui kept talking in her ear about the past few years.

The family’s situation had been getting worse and worse. Xiaobing had no education and no business sense, so there had been no income. The family relied entirely on Zhu Qiang’s food stall. Years ago, they had saved some money—Zhu Qiang had planned to open a shop—but Xiaobing incurred debts outside, and when the creditors came knocking, all their belongings were taken. Because of this blow, Zhu Qiang’s health deteriorated. With no money left to open a shop, he could only continue running the stall, but as more and more meat stalls opened, their business suffered. And Xiaobing’s expenses grew larger than before, so the family couldn’t save anything. Zhu Qiang secretly saved a small sum, intending to use it for Xiaobing’s marriage later. Now that he was sick, he still couldn’t bear to touch that money.

“If I had any other way, I wouldn’t have come to you. I know life is hard for you outside too, but you have an education, and you’re working in the big city. You must have more ways than us.”

Then she added, “I heard your second sister opened a factory and became a boss. She hasn’t come back to see me either.”

“How do you know Second Sister opened a factory?” Zhaodi turned her head to look at her.

Zhang Hui froze for a moment, then forced a laugh. “Just heard it from someone. Don’t know if it’s true or not.”

Zhaodi said, “True or not, it has nothing to do with you. You didn’t care about her back then. And as for my education, that was thanks to Minzi. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to keep studying. Back then, you wanted me to drop out and marry Zhu Xiaobing.”

Hearing this, Zhang Hui immediately put on a pained expression. “You’re still blaming me?”

Seeing Zhaodi remain silent, she knew that was her answer. With reddened eyes, she said, “I know I wronged you back then. But I was really thinking of your good. You’re my daughter, and Xiaobing is your Uncle Zhu’s son. If you two married, our families could live well together. Your Uncle Zhu is a good man—better than your father. He never blamed me for not having children, and he never hit me. When times were so hard back then, he was willing to take in the two of us. I’ve never met anyone better to me in my whole life.”

Zhaodi clenched her fists tightly. “So for the sake of this man who treated you well, you thought it was fine to sacrifice me? You knew exactly what kind of person Zhu Xiaobing was, yet you still wanted me to drop out of school and marry him? If I had listened to you back then, I can already imagine what kind of miserable life I’d be living now. Look at the family now—it’s all been ruined. And you still don’t think you were wrong?”

“That’s not the same.” Zhang Hui shook her head. “If Xiaobing marries you, you’ll be able to keep him in check. Men don’t listen to their parents, but they’re willing to listen to their wives.”

Zhaodi was too angry to even speak. She regretted giving in to a moment of weakness and following this woman back to the county. Staying with this so-called mother, she really felt like she might get angered to death.

Once they arrived in the county, Zhang Hui flagged down a tricycle. Neither of them said a word as they rode.

The county had changed a lot. The houses in the alleys and streets where she and Su Min once sold popsicles had all been demolished and replaced with neat rows of apartment buildings.

The only thing unchanged was the Zhu family’s self-built bungalow.

Back then, that house had been considered impressive in the area, but now it looked shabby compared to the new buildings around it.

As soon as Zhaodi entered, she smelled medicine in the air.

Zhang Hui wiped her eyes. “Your Uncle Zhu is inside. Go see him.”

Zhaodi walked into the room. A man lay on the old bed—his once ruddy, healthy face now gaunt as a stick, haggard with illness.

Zhang Hui went over to help him up. “Old Zhu, Zhaodi’s come back to see you.”

Hearing the voice, Zhu Qiang opened his eyes and looked toward the bedside. Seeing that it really was Zhaodi, he grew excited and struggled to sit up. “It really is Zhaodi back again.”

Although she still held resentment toward Zhang Hui and Zhu Qiang, seeing him reduced to this state, Zhaodi couldn’t help but feel her heart ache. “Uncle Zhu.”

“It’s good you’ve come back… cough, cough… You must have had a hard time all these years on your own outside.” Zhu Qiang spoke, short of breath.

Zhaodi shook her head. “I’ve been fine. I had plenty of friends who helped me, I didn’t suffer much.”

“That’s good. You’re a good girl, you deserve a good life. Honestly, it was better you left back then. Otherwise, you’d have been suffering along with us.”

Zhang Hui quickly interjected, “Don’t talk nonsense, life isn’t hard at all.”

Zhaodi thought to herself: her mother really must love Uncle Zhu. She was willing to endure hardship with him, and would rather cry in front of her own daughter than admit to him that life was bitter.

“Someone said Zhaodi’s back—where is she?”

Suddenly a rough voice came from outside. Zhaodi’s heart tightened. Just as she was wondering who it was, a bald man walked in, face full of fat, wearing a leather jacket despite the spring heat, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

As Zhaodi looked at him, he looked back, and the cigarette fell right out of his mouth. “This is Zhaodi? It’s only been a few years, and she’s grown this pretty!”

Zhu Qiang frowned. “Xiaobing, go out first. I still need to talk with Zhaodi.”

“Why should I go out? Auntie already said she’d give Zhaodi to me as my wife. Since she’s back, she shouldn’t leave again—she should just stay here at home.”

Zhu Xiaobing leered at her.

Zhu Qiang snapped, “What nonsense are you spouting? Don’t you already have a woman in your room?”

“That doesn’t count.” Zhu Xiaobing stared at Zhaodi. “Auntie agreed herself. She said she wanted Zhaodi to come back and marry me, so we can all live together as one family.”

Zhaodi had been avoiding his gaze, but at these words, she suddenly turned to Zhang Hui, disbelief written on her face. “You really said that?”

Zhang Hui rushed to explain, nearly in tears. “I didn’t say I promised—just that we’d talk it over when you came back. I only meant to discuss it with you.”

“You actually had such a thought? Do you know what kind of man he is? You want me to marry him?!”

Zhaodi trembled with rage. She never imagined that after all these years, her own biological mother would still try to push her into a fire pit—one that was already blazing.

Zhang Hui was caught off guard. She hadn’t expected Zhu Xiaobing to barge in so quickly. She had planned to test the waters, to ease into it slowly. Seeing Zhaodi so agitated, she didn’t know how to explain. She reached for Zhaodi’s arm, but Zhaodi shook her off. Flustered, Zhang Hui said, “Zhaodi, listen to me. Life is so hard right now. Your Uncle Zhu is this sick, there’s no hope left in this house. If you marry Xiaobing, this family might return to how it was. I gave birth to three daughters, and none of them are by my side. You’re the one I love most—I want you to stay. If you and Xiaobing take care of me and your Uncle Zhu in the future, I can be at peace.”

“Do you even hear yourself? Are those human words?” Liao Zhaodi trembled all over at her mother’s reasoning.

Zhu Qiang also spoke up. “Zhang Hui, how could you even think that way? You’d be ruining Zhaodi! Zhaodi, I knew nothing of this. Hurry and go, don’t listen to your mother. Go back to the city and keep working.”

Even without his words, Zhaodi had no intention of staying. She grabbed her bag and headed for the door, but before she could leave, a pair of arms seized her in a crushing grip.

“Where do you think you’re going? This is your home. You leech—you lived off us for so many years, and now that we’ve fallen on hard times, you don’t want to come back? No way!”

Zhu Xiaobing pulled her tightly into his arms, his tone oily and disgusting.

Revulsion surged through Zhaodi. She struggled desperately. “Let me go!”

Zhang Hui hurried to pull at him. “Xiaobing, let her go! We agreed to talk this through properly!”

But Zhu Xiaobing kicked her aside, sending her crashing into a cabinet and sprawling on the floor.

“Talk my ass! You already agreed, and now you want to back out? Besides, I heard she’s loaded now. Once she’s my wife, won’t you all be living the good life?”

“You beast!” Zhaodi sank her teeth into his hand. He cried out, then slapped her hard across the face, leaving a bloody handprint.

“Hmph. Save your strength. I’ll have you tonight, and tomorrow we’ll register the marriage. From now on, you’ll be mine, Liao Zhaodi.”

Terror and nausea churned in Zhaodi. She screamed, “Help! Help—” but Zhu Xiaobing clamped a hand over her mouth.

On the bed, Zhu Qiang watched, eyes bulging with fury. He struggled to climb down and grabbed at Zhu Xiaobing. “You beast! You can’t treat Zhaodi like this!” But weak as he was, Zhu Xiaobing easily kicked him. His frail body couldn’t withstand it—he toppled backward, his head cracking against the bed frame, blood gushing instantly.

“Old Zhu—!” Zhang Hui shrieked, scrambling toward him.

Even Zhu Xiaobing was shaken. Still clutching Zhaodi, he stammered, “This wasn’t me—it was him, he fell himself!”

Suddenly, screeching brakes sounded outside. Zhu Xiaobing moved to slam the door shut, but it was kicked open from outside.

Han Lei strode in. The sight of Zhaodi held tight, her face bruised and bloodied, made his aura turn ice-cold and murderous. He lunged forward, pried Zhu Xiaobing’s fat arm off her, and twisted it behind his back, making him howl in pain.

Han Lei kicked his ankle hard, then barked at Zhaodi, “Get behind me.” She snapped back to her senses and quickly darted behind him.

Zhang Hui, seeing Han Lei, cried out, “Please, take Old Zhu to the hospital! Please help us!”

Han Lei glanced at them but didn’t loosen his grip on Zhu Xiaobing. With his free hand, he dialed the police and reported everything, also calling for an ambulance.

While waiting for the police, Han Lei pummeled Zhu Xiaobing in the stomach several times until he retched bile. Then Han Lei yanked off one of his shoes and handed it to Zhaodi. “Take it. Slap his face.”

Zhaodi blinked, stunned.

Han Lei urged her. “Didn’t he hit you? Hit him back—quickly. Once the police arrive, it’ll be too late.”

Realizing, Zhaodi nervously took the shoe and slapped him once. Han Lei frowned. “Harder. Remember how he hit you—didn’t it hurt?”

At that reminder, Zhaodi recalled the crushing despair and pain of his earlier slap. Rage flared within her, and she raised the shoe high before bringing it down hard across his face. The loud crack made even Han Lei wince in sympathy.

Once she started, Zhaodi couldn’t stop—she smacked him several more times before finally lowering the shoe, panting.

Just then, the sound of vehicles stopping came from outside.

Han Lei drew his police ID, quickly explained the situation, and handed Zhu Xiaobing over to the arriving officers. Zhu Qiang was rushed to the hospital.