Chapter 2: They've started new families and don't want their parents anymore...

The snow was falling heavily. The two sixteen-year-olds helped the dazed Qiu Xiaoman through the wind and snow to get to the hospital.

The emergency room doctor quickly had Qiu Xiaoman sit down and took her temperature, which was a whopping 40 degrees Celsius.

They quickly got the hospital admission slip and sent the other two children to pay the fees.

Qiu Xiaoman asked about the fees and was shocked to find that she had to pay a thousand yuan in advance. What a rip-off!

But her life was more important, so she handed it over. She reached into her canvas bag, but didn't have enough money, so she had to let the system put some money into her bag.

She counted out ten green banknotes and handed the money to A-Yue, asking her to pay the bill.

As soon as A-Yue took the money, it was snatched away by A-Yong, who looked like he had a lot of grudges: "I'll take it. You're a girl, so it'll be easier for you to take care of Sister Xiaoman."

Qiu Xiaoman and A Yue didn't think much of it, but that bastard took the money and disappeared.

After Qiu Xiaoman finished her IV drip, she still hadn't returned. When the nurse came to ask for payment, Qiu Xiaoman had no choice but to give the money to the nurse: "Good sister, please pay for me, I'm too feverish to walk."

The nurse sighed and turned to pay the bill for her.

A-Yue was a bookworm and had no idea where A-Yong had gone. As she helped Qiu Xiaoman lie down, she muttered, "Did he get lost? This hospital is too big."

Qiu Xiaoman said with certainty, "No, he took the money and ran away."

A-Yue couldn't believe it: "He's gone too far!"

Qiu Xiaoman was also helpless. They had helped each other along the way, but now that they had arrived in Beidu, they had finally shown their true colors. Did they really think his parents would accept him?

Not necessarily.

Qiu Xiaoman wasn't in a hurry. This kind of person would suffer sooner or later. Once her fever subsided, she would go to his parents' house to ask for money.

She asked A-Yue, "Didn't I tell you to write down everyone's family information? You haven't forgotten A-Yong's, have you?"

"I haven't forgotten. His father lives at No. 16 Dongfeng Hutong, and his mother lives in Northeast China." A-Yue has a good memory; all that information is in her head.

Qiu Xiaoman took the opportunity to ask her to talk about the others, and silently reminded Xiaomi: "Make a note of it, Tongzi."

After diligently entering the relevant information, Xiao Mimi couldn't help but exclaim, "It seems that among all these people, your adoptive parents are the ones who treat you the best."

Yes, so let's get back to work. How many kind and loyal elders like this are there in this world?

They are far better than her biological parents.

But she won't go back to the small town in the southwest; there are fewer opportunities there, and it's not as lucrative as in the big city.

The cold medicine dripped into her body, and her right arm quickly became cold, stiff, swollen, and uncomfortable.

If Xiao Qiao were here, that would be wonderful. Don't let her young age of twelve fool you; she's actually very caring.

If I saw her getting an IV drip, I would definitely find her a hot water bottle to warm her up.

However, her diligence was also a result of her adoptive parents' dislike for her. The poor child treated herself like a beast of burden in order to please her adoptive parents.

On a snowy day, Qiu Xiaoman couldn't bear to bring her along, so she had to bear with it herself.

In a daze, I actually managed to fall asleep despite the discomfort in my right arm.

She dreamt of the scene of her death in her previous life.

That day, the spring snow had not yet stopped, and she was burning up with fever. She had to ask Xiao Qiao, who was taking care of her, to open the window, otherwise she would have been burned to death.

Heavy snowflakes fell on her, but she never got to see any of her relatives come.

After she breathed her last, she was unwilling to accept it, so her soul flew to her biological father's house for a look. Oh, so he was just trying to appease his wife.

His second wife refused to let him come, threatening suicide. For the sake of his own happiness, the scumbag father had no choice but to choose between the two.

She went to visit her biological mother, who had just been transferred to work in Beijing. And what she found was even more outrageous: her mother was deeply in love with her third husband. When her third husband asked her why she didn't go see the children, her mother replied, "Let's have a child too."

How could she swallow this insult from parents like that?

She needed to see them down on their luck, to see them crying and begging her for scraps, before she could feel satisfied.

But there's no rush. She'll focus on recovering first and then proceed gradually.

In a daze, she dreamed again of her adoptive father with a broken leg, lying in a hospital bed, crying and apologizing to her that he couldn't help her realize her dream of going to university.

Qiu Xiaoman couldn't help but cry. Her poor adoptive parents had been honest and hardworking all their lives; they deserved a better tomorrow.

As dawn approached, Qiu Xiaoman's fever subsided.

The doctor came over, took a look, and exclaimed in amazement at the medical miracle that the fever had subsided so quickly.

To be on the safe side, the doctor recommended that Qiu Xiaoman stay in the hospital for seven days for further observation.

Qiu Xiaoman was busy, so she asked how much it would cost if she could reserve a bed and come in every day for an IV drip.

The answer was thirty a day.

So expensive!!!

She couldn't bear to part with it; she could just come to the clinic every time to queue for an IV drip. Her time wasn't worth much for the time being.

She then inquired about the cost of treatment for one night. Fortunately, the 1,000 was just a bluff; the doctor thought she was dying and might need emergency treatment.

I paid the bill and was discharged from the hospital, receiving a refund of 920 yuan.

Qiu Xiaoman was shocked by the prices in Beidu, and even more heartbroken by the thousand she lost when she was delirious from the fever.

Never mind, let's go check on those kids in the waiting room first.

When she passed by the pharmacy, she bought some cold medicine and fever reducers to take with her, just in case she caught a cold last night.

When they arrived at the destination, they found that only six of the eleven people who had come with them remained.

Qiu Xiaoman stared in disbelief: "Where's Xiao Qiao?"

Li Tuantuan said helplessly, "Ayong came over this morning and said he met Xiao Qiao's mother and asked her to leave with him."

Qiu Xiaoman was speechless. Three of Feng Shengnan's group left, and Lü Yong actually took Xiao Qiao with him.

Of the remaining six, the Li family consists of a brother and sister, and the other two are surnamed Song, who are a brother and sister.

Including her and A-Yue, that's it.

Well, it's not like she was the one who drove those five away. She didn't do anything to wrong them.

Qiu Xiaoman glanced at her watch: "Let's go, I'll go with you to find Mom and Dad."

Considering that Li Yuanyuan was the youngest and in poor health, and had cold symptoms, Qiu Xiaoman suggested that they go to Li's parents first.

After the Li siblings' father returned to the city, he started a home appliance repair business. He married a second wife, and due to the one-child policy, they only had one daughter.

The mother remarried a coal mine owner and had two daughters and a son, since she wasn't worried about not being able to pay the fines for having more children than allowed.

Judging from the distance, Li's father was closer, so Qiu Xiaoman bought a map, and a group of children followed the map to find him.

The snow had lessened during the day, and by the time I found Old Li's appliance repair shop, the snow had stopped.

Qiu Xiaoman stepped forward: "Hello, Uncle Li? Long time no see."

Old Li was stunned and almost didn't recognize her. He looked Qiu Xiaoman up and down suspiciously and exclaimed, "Isn't she Old Shen's daughter?"

“Uncle Li, Tuantuan and Yuanyuan’s adoptive parents have died. I’ve brought them here to find their biological parents.” Qiu Xiaoman smiled and stepped aside, revealing a brother and sister behind him.

The smile on Old Li's face instantly froze.

He glanced nervously at the woman who was taking inventory inside the shop, and quickly stood up: "Let's go, let's talk outside."

Qiu Xiaoman could tell at a glance that they didn't intend to admit it, but there was nothing she could do, and she couldn't force them.

He could only glance at the Li siblings and sigh silently.

Old Li's excuse was lame; he said he was just a repairman and couldn't afford to raise so many children, hoping his son and daughter would understand.

But who understands his children?

Li Yuanyuan nestled in her brother's arms, crying, and looked at her father in confusion: "Why? Aren't you my father?"

"I'm sorry, child, your father is incompetent." Old Li's attitude in admitting his mistake was good, but he just wouldn't acknowledge his child.

As they were talking, the woman inside came out, and seeing the scene, she understood everything.

She was a shrewd woman. She immediately turned around, went inside and took out two hundred yuan. She took Li Yuanyuan's hand and wiped away her tears, saying, "I'm sorry, children, things are really too difficult at home. In a while, my husband won't even be able to afford to rent out his shop anymore. I really feel sorry for you, but this is all I can do. There's no room for you at home. You should go back and find your parents there."

“Your parents over there have passed away. Auntie, why do you have to say it to hurt their feelings? They wrote to us last year, you must have known that, right?” Qiu Xiaoman couldn’t stand this hypocrisy and directly exposed the fake couple.

The woman smiled awkwardly: "No, we haven't seen any letter. My husband and I haven't even bought a house yet. We rent here today and there tomorrow. We haven't received anything."

"But my brother clearly sent the letter to the shop!" Li Yuanyuan couldn't stand it anymore. These adults are really disgusting. If they don't want to acknowledge their parents, they should just say so. Instead, they all act like cowards. They only came to find their biological parents because they had no other choice.

Why should they? They have children but don't want to raise them; there's no such logic in the world.

Li Yuanyuan threw the two hundred yuan at Old Li's face: "Fine, remember this, my father is dead! Dead!"

After saying that, the little girl coughed and turned to run away.

Li Tuantuan felt sorry for her younger sister and quickly chased after her. Qiu Xiaoman was very disappointed: "You will be punished. Just wait and see."

She took A-Yue's hand, called out to the Song siblings, and they left together.

As a result, the Song siblings' situation wasn't much better.

My biological father has a bunch of excuses. One minute he says there's not enough room at home, the next he says we're too poor and haven't been paid for months.

The biological mother was even more outrageous, claiming that she had damaged her brain in the fall and didn't remember giving birth in Yunnan, and told them to leave immediately.

The four children suffered a huge blow in their lives, and even A-Yue became disheartened.

It seems that this time, not a single person will be recognized as a relative.

A-Yue was a bookworm, always slower than others. It wasn't until her parents each pretended to stuff a large wad of cash into her hand and urged her to go back that she finally shed two lines of tears.

The stack of bills was so thick, but they were all one-cent notes. The two stacks together only amounted to twenty yuan.

A-Yue carefully put the money away, not because she coveted it, but because she wanted to remember this humiliation and use it to spur herself on for the rest of her life.

"From today onwards, I am an orphan." These were her farewell words to her parents.

From then on, they went their separate ways, even though she was only sixteen and her parents had to support her, she no longer wanted to fight for it.

Of the six children, five had encountered setbacks, and the rest all looked at Qiu Xiaoman: "Sister Xiaoman, what about you?"

“Me? I’m an orphan too.” Qiu Xiaoman smiled. “Let’s go, find a place to rent, and the six of us can help each other out from now on.”

“But you’re the only one of the six of us who’s an adult.” Li Yuanyuan liked Xiaoman very much, and her face was filled with worry. She didn’t want to see Xiaoman bear such a heavy burden alone. So she looked at her brother, “Brother, you and Xiaoman—”

"No need. Your brother isn't an adult yet, so even if he looks for a job, he won't find anything decent. It's better if he finds a craftsman and becomes an apprentice. Don't rush, let's go rent a place first and see if there's a courtyard house that can accommodate six people." Qiu Xiaoman still had more than four thousand yuan given to her by the system, which should be enough to rent a decent courtyard.

A note from the author:

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Fictional city, avoiding harmony