Chapter 2 You're Playing with Fire (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
"It must be because she did too many bad things that even God couldn't stand it anymore and deliberately turned down the fire to dampen her spirit."
"Perhaps it was a deity from the mountain who happened to pass by and couldn't stand Wang Xiuzhi's bullying nature, so he taught her a lesson."
Immediately, gloating voices arose.
Wang Xiuzhi's screams grew louder, but the fire in her palms continued to burn. She tried desperately to shake off the broom, but her hands gripped the broom handle tightly and she couldn't shake it off at all.
She looked strange and comical.
"If you let go of her hand, won't you just drop the broom?" someone reminded her, suppressing a laugh, after being taken aback by her silliness.
Wang Xiuzhi deliberately shook her hand vigorously in front of that person, and said in a panic, "I can't let go, it's like it's welded to my hand, help me..."
She was in so much pain that she half-knelt on the ground. She looked up and saw a bucket of water next to her, and she stumbled over to it.
Before her hand could even reach the bucket, a tiny figure appeared in front of it and kicked the bucket, which was almost as tall as her, to the ground.
Wang Xiuzhi was dumbfounded, as were everyone else around her.
Xu Qingmo's small body appeared in front of Wang Xiuzhi. She looked up at Wang Xiuzhi, and her childish voice rang out again, "Pay up!"
Despite his small size, he exuded an aura of power, causing Wang Xiuzhi's words of refusal to suddenly catch in her throat.
For some reason, she suddenly felt a sense of awe towards the little man in front of her.
But the thought was fleeting. How could Wang Xiuzhi be afraid of a five-year-old child, who was also a financial burden in the family?
Wang Xiuzhi sneered, "Why should I pay? You mother and daughter only think about money all day long, you're obsessed with money!"
Xu Qingmo, too lazy to waste words, reminded her, "Don't you want your hands anymore?"
"You..." Wang Xiuzhi's hands were still burning from the flames, and the pain made her kneel on the ground.
From an outsider's perspective, Wang Xiuzhi, who always looked down on everyone, was now kneeling in front of her granddaughter whom she despised the most.
"I'll give you three breaths to think it over. Money or your hands, the choice is yours." The childish voice rang out again.
In interstellar space, she would have kicked the person in front of her away long ago.
But not now. She was still injured, and her body was small and thin. Just kicking over a bucket of water had already taken a lot of her strength, and with the added strain of controlling fire-based abilities, her body couldn't take it anymore.
But she couldn't show that she was incapable at that moment.
Once she falls, the mother of this body will surely suffer from this old woman's bullying.
"I... I can't take my hands off the table, how can I give you the money?" Wang Xiuzhi's previous arrogance had vanished, and her voice softened.
Xu Qingmo said, "Take out your money now, whatever you have."
As soon as she finished speaking, Wang Xiuzhi released the broom handle with one hand. Her palm was burned and mangled, but the back of her hand and fingers were intact.
Wang Jing gazed at the small figure, and once again stood in front of her, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
"MoMo, why did you come out? You're not feeling well, go back to your room and lie down." Wang Jing took a few steps forward and walked to Xu Qingmo's side, as if to carry the little one into the house.
"Wait a minute." Xu Qingmo refused, turned to Wang Xiuzhi, and urged, "Hurry up and take out the money, don't dawdle."
Wang Xiuzhi, being watched by Xu Qingmo, dared not be negligent. After hesitating for a while, she took out one yuan from the twelve yuan in her pocket and said, "This is all the money I brought with me. You can take it first, and I will go home and get two mao (0.2 yuan) for you and bring it over."
She clearly wanted to run away.
Xu Qingmo didn't catch the money. "I'll give you one more chance. Take out all the money you have on you, or you won't be leaving here today."
Wang Xiuzhi clearly felt the pain in her left palm double. She didn't dare to delay and hurriedly took out the remaining eleven yuan, along with the original one yuan, and handed all twelve yuan to Xu Qingmo.
Xu Qingmo took the money and said to Wang Xiuzhi, "Get out."
With a thud, the broom fell from her hand to the ground, and Wang Xiuzhi rushed out of the barefoot doctor's house without a care.
Until she could no longer see the other person's back, Xu Qingmo closed her eyes and fainted completely.
"MoMo..." Wang Jing rushed forward anxiously, but it was too late. She watched helplessly as Xu Qingmo collapsed in front of her.
Suddenly, a strong arm caught Xu Qingmo's small body, and the other hand pulled Wang Jing, who was about to fall to the ground.
Wang Jing looked up and saw Shen Jiang in military uniform standing in front of her. He had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and a high nose. The sunny boy who was still a bit naive in her memory had become more mature and steady after the tempering of time.
In her memory, on the high school campus, Shen Jiang stood in front of her with a flushed face, and after a long period of hesitation, he finally spoke, "Wang, can we be friends?"
After graduating from high school, Shen Jiang joined the army. Before leaving, he asked someone to deliver a letter to her. In the letter, he said that he had long been in love with her and that if she was not married and he was not married when he returned, he would definitely try his best to pursue her.
Time flies, and eight years have passed in the blink of an eye.
Shen Jiang is now 29 years old, and Wang Jing is 27 years old.
She is no longer a carefree heiress; now she is just a weak and incompetent woman who needs her five-year-old daughter to risk her life to protect her.
Wang Jing composed herself, pretending to have encountered a stranger, and said politely, "Thank you. Can you let go of me now?"
Shen Jiang noticed that the little person in his arms had a flushed face. He touched the other person's forehead and found it was very hot.
"She has a fever."
Upon hearing Xu Qingmo's name, Wang Jing panicked and immediately called for a barefoot doctor to examine her.
The barefoot doctor examined Xu Qingmo and frowned. "This child is burning up, and with her long-term malnutrition and such severe injuries, I can't treat her here. I should send her to the county hospital."
The barefoot doctor first used medicine to lower Xu Qingmo's temperature, and then asked Wang Jing to borrow a donkey cart from the village chief's house to take Xu Qingmo to the county hospital.
Xujia Village is dozens of miles away from the county seat, and the county hospital requires a letter of introduction from the village. If she goes through all that now, Xu Qingmo might not be able to make it through the ordeal.
Wang Jing begged the barefoot doctor to think of a solution.
The barefoot doctor could do nothing and shook his head helplessly.
Shen Jiang gave Wang Jing a deep look. In his memory, she was a bright and carefree little girl, but now time had worn away her former radiance.
His heart was deeply moved, and he offered to help, saying, "I have a car, I can take you to the county hospital. I can be your guarantor, you don't need to go get a letter of introduction."
With tears welling up in her eyes, Wang Jing forgot everything else and thanked Shen Jiang profusely.
Without hesitation, Shen Jiang hugged Xu Qingmo, grabbed the barefoot doctor's wrist with his other hand, and pulled her into the car.
The explanation given was that they were worried about unforeseen circumstances on the road, and that barefoot doctors could help resolve them.
In reality, having someone from Xujia Village on the bus would stop those gossipy women from spreading rumors.
They drove in silence until they arrived at the county hospital. The doctor noticed the person in Shen Jiang's arms, his face showing displeasure, and he reprimanded Shen Jiang and Wang Jing.
"I'm telling you, you parents, you have no sense of responsibility at all! Your child was so sick, why did you only bring him to the hospital now?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
