Chapter 22.022. Can you not let go of the past?

Xia Chan was rushed to the hospital.

Grandma and Siyi rushed over immediately after hearing the news, still riding in Uncle Chao and Aunt Chao's car.

Grandma cried again, standing at the door of the hospital ward, sobbing uncontrollably. Siyi and Shen Zhoudu comforted her for a long time before finally calming her down.

Fortunately, Xia Chan's injuries were not serious. She had external injuries on her face and head, and the blood she vomited was mostly from cuts and abrasions on her tongue and mouth. However, she still needed to be hospitalized to observe whether she had a concussion.

Zhang Guozhong has been taken away by the police. At the time, Ajiang called the police, and when the police arrived, Zhang Guozhong was still cursing and insisting that he was just disciplining his daughter.

To prevent the police from treating it as a typical domestic dispute, Huang Mao voluntarily went to the police station to explain the situation. At the police station, he took on the role of the parent who had previously watched over him and prevented him from leaving, inevitably leading to another argument.

After Xia Chan was bandaged up, she was sent to a regular ward.

It was late at night, and she was exhausted both physically and mentally from the ordeal. The doctor gave her a sedative injection to relieve her pain and put her into a deep sleep.

Grandma, Siyi, Uncle Chao, Aunt Chao, and Chenzhoudu all volunteered to stay with her at the bedside. In the end, Grandma was worried that Siyi's heart couldn't take it, so she asked Uncle Chao to take her back first. Aunt Chao also had to help look after the two shops, and Chenzhoudu had to go to school the next day, so they all went back together.

After the four of them went downstairs together, Chen Zhoudu made an excuse that he had left something upstairs and told the three of them to go back first while he would take a taxi back later. After watching them leave, he packed a serving of wontons and went back to the ward.

"Hey? Watari? Why aren't you here yet..."

"Grandma, you haven't eaten much today." Grandma was wiping Xia Chan's hands. Chen Zhoudu squatted down in front of her, opened the takeout box, and handed it to her with a smile, "I bought you some wontons, eat them while they're hot."

Grandma understood Chen Zhoudu's thoughts perfectly. She took the wontons, sipping the broth gently, and said, "Little Du, I'm sorry you had to see this today. It's too late, and you have school tomorrow. Go home now, okay? I'll watch over things here. You've been up all night and haven't eaten anything. Keep these wontons for yourself..."

"I'm not tired, and I'm not hungry, Grandma." Chen Zhoudu waved back the wontons her grandmother offered, her gaze falling on Xia Chan on the hospital bed, her expression darkening slightly. "Xia Chan, she..."

Grandma sighed, "You've heard about Chanchan stabbing her father three times, haven't you?"

Chenzhoudu lowered his eyes and remained silent.

Grandma's sigh deepened, "This is all my fault... If only I had insisted more back then..."

According to my maternal grandmother, she actually had a daughter named Xie Xuan, who was also Xia Chan's mother.

My maternal grandmother came to Qingshui during the Down to the Countryside Movement. She always wanted to return to her hometown in the south but never had any hope until she met Grandpa Xie. She stayed in Qingshui and married him. Unfortunately, Grandpa Xie passed away early, and my grandmother spent most of her life raising her daughter alone and supporting her through university in Tongcheng.

Xie Xun and Zhang Guozhong met at Tongcheng University; they were classmates.

Xie Jun was young and beautiful at the time, and Zhang Guozhong was also a handsome young man with a romantic flair.

He was tall and handsome, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and always had a refined and elegant demeanor. He could also write poems and sing to make girls happy, and Xie Jun quickly fell in love with him.

Zhang Guozhong's home is in Qixian County. Although it is some distance from Qingshui, neighbors can easily find out about each other's family circumstances by asking around.

Grandma didn't approve of their relationship from the start, because Zhang Guozhong's family situation was terrible. It wasn't a matter of wealth or poverty, but rather that Zhang Guozhong's father had been divorced three times.

In an era when divorce was considered shameful, such a family situation naturally raised alarm. However, Xie Jun was determined to be with Zhang Guozhong, even going so far as to steal her household registration book to get married.

"Zhang Guozhong... he's a domestic abuser?" Shen Zhoudu had witnessed everything Zhang Guozhong had done to Xia Chan today, so he could guess a little. But saying those two words still felt a bit difficult.

"Yes." Grandma smiled gently, using a hot towel to carefully warm Xia Chan's veins, which had become cold from the IV drip.

"Things were alright for the first few years, but then, little by little, her true colors came out. At first, she didn't say anything, afraid of being embarrassed! She endured it, endured it, until eventually she couldn't hold it in anymore and came to me crying. But what's the use of crying? It's too late for regrets..."

At first, Zhang Guozhong's performance was really quite good. In order to show his "loyalty", he was even willing to settle in Qingshui with Xie Jun after marriage.

But after a few years, his true colors began to show.

At first, they just argued, but when the argument got heated, they would smash things and curse.

Xie Jun was so frightened that she cried and demanded an abortion and a divorce. Zhang Guozhong then knelt down in front of Xie Jun and begged her to apologize.

Xie Xun wavered and forgave him each time. But gradually, his fists finally landed on Xie Xun and Xia Chan.

"Did Xia Chan stab Zhang Guozhong... to protect her mother?" Shen Zhoudu's voice was hoarse and slow.

"Yes." Grandma's eyes also filled with sorrow, and she held Xia Chan's hand with a towel, almost bursting into tears again.

During those years, Zhang Guozhong was unhappy with his job and was also a gambler, losing almost all his savings and family fortune.

He was in a bad mood, and his beatings of Xie Yun and Xia Chan became increasingly severe. At its worst, the mother and daughter's injuries didn't heal even slightly for a week, and their grandmother was also extremely worried. However, Zhang Guozhong refused to agree to a divorce by mutual consent.

The day the incident occurred was the day Xie Jun brought up divorce with Zhang Guozhong again.

After drinking, Zhang Guozhong grabbed a stool and smashed it on Xie Xun and Xia Chan, breaking three of her ribs and leaving her face covered in blood. He then grabbed Xia Chan's arm and tried to "sell" her to a rich man.

Xie Xun cried and grabbed Xia Chan's hand, refusing to let go. He kicked Xie Xun's arm, breaking it. Just as he was about to kick Xie Xun's head, Xia Chan grabbed a fruit knife from the table and stabbed him hard!

"..." Shen Zhoudu listened with a pounding heart, completely unable to imagine how tragic the scene must have been.

He looked at Xia Chan, whose head was wrapped in thick gauze, making him unable to bear looking at her. His fists clenched silently in front of his knees, and his heart felt like it was being slashed open by blades.

Grandma wiped her eyes. "What could she do? She was so young, powerless, so when she saw a weapon to fight back, she didn't have time to think before she stabbed. She didn't even know if she could kill him, but if she hadn't, she probably wouldn't have survived that day... Zhang Guozhong said she committed intentional homicide and insisted she go to jail. But what could she do? What could she possibly do..."

After the incident, Xia Chan was taken away and later sent to the juvenile detention center in Tongcheng.

Xia Chan never mentioned her days in the juvenile detention center, but her grandmother and Xie Jun both knew it wasn't a good time, so they never dared to ask and could only silently wipe away their tears in secret.

Zhang Guozhong was determined to get Xia Chan severely punished, though he said it wasn't for money, but in reality it was for money.

He had privately discussed with his grandmother and Xie Jun that the Xia family should give him 500,000 yuan. He said that as long as he received 500,000 yuan in compensation, he would be willing to drop the lawsuit against Xia Chan and divorce Xie Jun.

But Zhang Guozhong had been holding onto Xie Jun's salary for so many years, and her grandmother had already been laid off. Where would they get 500,000 yuan?

They believed that Xia Chan would also be unwilling for them to bow down to Zhang Guozhong, so Grandma and Xie Jun began searching for people everywhere.

They filed a lawsuit with the court alleging that Zhang Guozhong had committed domestic violence for many years, and that Xia Chan's assault was in self-defense.

However, Xie Xun's injuries had already passed the assessment period, and they had no additional evidence to prove it. Ultimately, the court found Xia Chan guilty of intentional assault and sentenced her to six years in a juvenile detention center.

"Six years?" Chen Zhoudu was taken aback.

"Yes... these beasts, what a terrible sentence! Six years... Chanchan was probably nineteen when she got out, which is still a prime of her youth, a chance to start over. But isn't this ruining a child's life? I'm really not convinced! It's really..."

Grandma and Xie Jun naturally wouldn't let Xia Chan go to jail, so they immediately appealed after the initial verdict and went around the world trying to find someone to help her.

If they couldn't find them in the county town, they would look for them in the city.

Since they couldn't find it in the city, they continued their search in the provincial capital.

They encountered many setbacks and received a lot of cold shoulders along the way, but fortunately, hard work pays off. Through some channel, a female prosecutor in the city learned about the case and took the initiative to review it.

In addition, after hearing about Xia Chan's story, Aunt Chao and the others took the initiative to organize all the neighbors in Shanfeng Lane and Xia Chan's family to sign a petition for acquittal and to come forward as witnesses to prove that Zhang Guozhong had indeed committed domestic violence against Xie Jun and Xia Chan and her daughter for many years.

The city court finally ruled that Xia Chan's actions constituted legitimate self-defense and acquitted her, releasing her immediately. Zhang Guozhong, unable to stay in Qingshui any longer after this incident, moved back to Qixian overnight.

After many twists and turns, a happy ending was finally achieved. Chen Zhoudu gazed silently at Xia Chan, his heart filled with mixed emotions. Then, as if remembering something, he asked in a hoarse voice, "Then... what about Aunt Xie?"

"She ran away." Grandma smiled with a sense of relief when she mentioned Xie Jun. Chen Zhoudu, however, was stunned.

Grandma stroked Xia Chan's hand. "After the divorce, her mother went to work in another city, and then she met another man, who was rich... so she went with him. That family probably thought Chan Chan was too old and didn't want her to take Chan Chan with her. I told her that if she really dared to abandon Chan Chan, I would sever our mother-daughter relationship, but she still chose to leave. I was very angry, but I thought, 'Let her go! I'll just pretend I never raised this thing.' Fortunately, there's still Chan Chan... fortunately, there's still Chan Chan..."

The sunken boat was even more astonishing.

After Xie Jun's divorce, she went to work in another city. At first, she would often bring back some money and gifts.

Later, she returned less and less frequently, only once or twice during the Spring Festival and National Day holidays, and she would leave in a hurry after only two days. She also dressed more and more fashionably and beautifully, and neither Grandma nor Xia Chan knew what she was busy with.

Finally, two summers ago, she came back and stayed for half a month. Xia Chan thought it was a short vacation, but she didn't expect it to be a farewell.

Grandma initially thought that Xia Chan didn't know the real reason for her departure, but how could Xia Chan not know?

On the day she was to leave again, Xie Xun stood under the tree at the entrance of the courtyard to say goodbye to her, handing her the food, clothes, and other necessities and giving her instructions one by one.

"These foods, drinks, and clothes are all the most popular in big cities right now, and young people love them! Remember to eat and dress well."

"Study hard and don't think about too much. I heard from your director that your grades have dropped a bit lately? Have you been playing around too much? The college entrance exam is coming up soon. Your main task now is to study hard, get into university, and go abroad! Do you understand?"

"Also, Grandma is getting old, so listen to her and help her out more often. Running a hotel is tiring, and you have to stay up all night... When you have time, try to persuade your grandma that money isn't that important and that she shouldn't overwork herself; her health is the most important thing..."

"Okay, okay!" Xia Chan took the things and urged them with a slight frown, "You'd better hurry up! You'll miss the train."

Xie Xun's gaze lingered on her face for a long, long time before she said, "Chanchan, would you like to hug Mommy one more time?"

Xia Chan pursed her lips and turned her eyes away, refusing to look at her.

She slowly lowered her raised hand, finally sighed, patted her shoulder lightly, turned and left. As she got into the taxi and closed the door, a single tear silently fell.

That day, when the train from Qingshui to Tongcheng departed, Xia Chan still chased after it, running along the railway tracks in the fields, calling out as she went:

"Mom! Can you please not leave?!"

"mom!"

"I can make money too... I'll definitely make tons of money in the future! More money than that man! Can you stay here?"

"mom--"

As the train gradually pulled into the distant sunset, her steps came to a halt, and she collapsed onto the grass, weeping silently. Beside her, the wind blew across the fields of wheat, stretching far, far away.

Xia Chan's original name was Zhang Chan.

Later, Zhang Guozhong and Xie Xuan divorced, and she changed her name to Xie Chan.

Later, Xie Jun also left.

She stubbornly insisted on taking her maternal grandmother Xia Shengnan's surname and being named Xia Chan. Sometimes she felt that her life was like that of a cicada in summer, desperately chirping for a season before being buried in the long earth and never living again.

On the hospital bed, Xia Chan's eyes were tightly closed as if she were still fast asleep, a tear rolling down her cheek.

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Author's Note: Thank you "Monkey's Monkey" for the nutrient solution! Thank you "Fifteenth Floor," "catty," and "55931805" for the landmines! [Sprinkling flowers]

See you tomorrow, goodnight [blue heart]