Ning Qiaozhen arrived in a flurry of activity. She was slightly overweight, with yellowish curly hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a T-shirt, black skinny jeans, and a thin jacket—a very ordinary and common outfit.
Wan Qiu stood up when Ning Qiaozhen appeared, his eyes clearly flashing with a light different from his coldness towards others, and he even took two steps toward Ning Qiaozhen.
Ning Qiaozhen stopped in front of Wan Qiu and looked him up and down: "Just a hand injury?"
"Yes." Wan Qiu nodded.
"Which one is the driver who caused the accident?" Ning Qiaozhen's eyes darted around, and her tone became hesitant when she saw the two burly men. Chu Jianshu stood not far away, quietly observing Ning Qiaozhen.
Ning Qiaozhen must be living a good life, at least she has a rosy complexion and a loud voice, while Wan Qiu, who is fourteen years old and has reached the age where he can start to grow taller, forms a stark contrast between tall and strong and short and thin standing next to Ning Qiaozhen.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's me." The pale-faced, thin driver immediately stepped forward, glancing nervously at the two people beside him.
“My child needs a full check-up. It was a car accident. If any problems are found later, who am I supposed to turn to? He also needs to be hospitalized for observation. You have to pay for the medical expenses, and you also have to pay for the emotional distress.” Ning Qiaozhen glanced at Wan Qiu’s arm with disdain. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll settle this privately for ten thousand.”
The driver was already pale with fright from the strange scene, and when he heard Ning Qiaozhen's words, he broke out in a cold sweat.
"Hey," the man who brought Wan Qiu into the hospital couldn't help but remind him, "Shouldn't you be more concerned about your child first?"
"Whether I care about my child or not is none of your business." Ning Qiaozhen glared at the man. With so many people at the hospital, she felt confident. Ning Qiaozhen tugged at Wan Qiu's injured arm shoulder. "Does it hurt anywhere else too? You need to get checked out, right?"
Chu Jianshu frowned deeply as he watched Ning Qiaozhen's actions.
Ning Qiaozhen's words to Wan Qiu were less of a question and more of an order to make him do what she wanted.
Wan Qiu stared intently at Ning Qiaozhen's expression, then lowered his head and nodded: "It hurts."
The child who kept saying it didn't hurt suddenly said it did under his mother's gaze. It wasn't because he was being affectionate, but because he had observed his mother's reaction and then did something that pleased her.
Chu Jianshu's brows furrowed, his mood extremely bad.
"Look," Ning Qiaozhen glanced at the man with disdain, "Don't meddle in other people's business."
"Children are not tools for you to make money." The man already had a somewhat fierce look, and when he turned gloomy, he became even more terrifying. "This child has other injuries on him; you didn't do that, did you?"
Ning Qiaozhen suddenly remembered something, and her confidence suddenly dropped a notch. She glared at the man fiercely and didn't say a word.
Ning Qiaozhen looked down and nudged Wan Qiu: "Does it still hurt?"
Wan Qiu looked up again and glanced at Ning Qiaozhen's face, his eyes filled with observation.
After observing, Wan Qiu lowered his head and shook his head: "It doesn't hurt anymore."
Ning Qiaozhen snorted: "It must be hard for you to drive. I'm not an unreasonable person. Five thousand, give me the money now and I'll leave immediately."
"This is too much." The driver who caused the accident looked bitter. Usually, a few hundred yuan would be enough to settle such a minor car accident. Who would have thought that this woman would ask for such an exorbitant amount?
"My child was in a car accident, and that's lucky for him. If something else had happened, could you have guaranteed his safety? I'm asking you for more money so you'll learn your lesson. The more money you have, the less likely you are to do it again..."
Listening to Ning Qiaozhen's aggressive and sharp voice, Chu Jianshu kept observing Wan Qiu.
Wan Qiu kept his head down, not saying a word. His sleeves, soaked with blood, were not fully pulled up, and he looked quite disheveled.
"Five thousand it is." Chu Jianshu couldn't calm himself down. Wan Qiu looked unwell and had just been in a car accident. As a mother, she was making a scene here demanding compensation. It was definitely not a good experience for the child. He took out his phone to transfer the money, wanting to end this farce as soon as possible. "Take the child back to rest and give him some good food to nourish him."
"You're giving it to me?" Ning Qiaozhen looked at the handsome man suspiciously. Because of his outstanding appearance and tasteful attire, her tone was noticeably less sharp than before.
"Yes," Chu Jianshu replied.
Although she was puzzled about the relationship between these people, Ning Qiaozhen beamed with joy when she saw the 5,000 yuan arrive in her account. Noticing that others were looking at her, she glared at them fiercely, then pulled Wan Qiu away.
Wan Qiu stumbled as he was pulled, and it was his injured arm that was pulled, which made Chu Jianshu frown.
Chu Jianshu saw Wan Qiu turn around, his eyes staring straight at him.
Although the two were gradually moving further apart, Chu Jianshu clearly saw Wan Qiu say to him, "Thank you."
“You have to pay us too, just give us the normal price.” The blond man discussed with the driver who caused the accident, while whispering in the driver’s ear, “You should be glad that you’re only paying now. If the boss finds out… tsk, you’d better be careful next time, or your taxi driver career might be over.”
The man's phone rang. He answered it and said to Chu Jianshu, "It's been sent for a paternity test, boss."
"Yes," Chu Jianshu replied.
"There seems to be something going on; there might be domestic violence," the man reminded Chu Jianshu. Chu Jianshu had also noticed the wound on Wan Qiu's arm that didn't appear to be from a car accident.
"You guys go and keep an eye on them," Chu Jianshu said.
"Okay, boss." The man pulled his companion along and chased after Wan Qiu in the direction he had left.
Chu Jianshu sat in the bustling lobby of the hospital and let out a long sigh.
That child is very beautiful.
Even if the child was malnourished and had developmental delays, Chu Jianshu could still understand the child's unique beauty when he saw that face and met those eyes.
He looks just like his wife.
However, the child's eyes lacked liveliness, making her beauty appear somewhat lifeless. Moreover, she seemed to harbor a hidden dependence on her mother, who was likely abusive.
There are some very difficult psychological problems.
If it really is his child...
The two who chased after him immediately saw Wan Qiu talking to the woman.
Then the woman took three yuan out of her pocket and gave it to Wanqiu before riding away on her bicycle.
"That damned woman..." The blond man was so angry that his veins were bulging. He wanted to go forward and do something, but the man stopped him.
"It's not certain yet whether he's the boss's son, so it's not appropriate for us to interfere." Although the man spoke rationally, he was still somewhat conflicted emotionally.
If they are the boss's son, then they won't need to do anything in the future.
If not, helping that child now would be harming him.
"There are countless damned parents in this world." The man sighed, keeping an eye on Wan Qiu.
Wanqiu appeared calm, showing neither disappointment nor sadness.
He calmly accepted the situation, carefully wrapped the three yuan in the five yuan in his pocket, put it away carefully, and then walked home.
The man's eyes twitched; just looking at him stirred an indescribable feeling within him.
"Can you go back by yourself?" Ning Qiaozhen asked.
Wan Qiu nodded.
Ning Qiaozhen took out three yuan from her pocket and gave it to Wan Qiu: "Go back by yourself, buy your own breakfast."
Wanqiu looked at the three yuan in her hand, blinked, and seemed quite happy: "Thank you, Mom."
Ning Qiaozhen was in a great mood. She had suddenly received 5,000 yuan early in the morning, which was more than her monthly salary. How could she not be happy?
He didn't care what Wanqiu did and rode his bicycle to work.
Wan Qiu carefully put the money away, rolled up his sleeves. The wind was a bit chilly, and the blood on his sleeves had congealed somewhat. Fortunately, it was red, so it didn't look too frightening at first glance.
Looking around, I wasn't very familiar with the roads here, but it didn't seem to be very far from home.
If you walk around a bit more, you might find quite a few bottles to collect along the way.
Wanqiu pondered whether he could pick up anything useful along the way.
As Wanqiu passed by a breakfast shop, the aroma of steamed buns made her stop in her tracks.
He clutched the eight yuan in his pocket tightly.
A big steamed bun costs one yuan and fifty cents. He was injured today, and that handsome man said he should get some tonic.
Wan Qiu stood at the entrance of the breakfast shop for a full three minutes, but in the end he simply put on his hood and left as if he couldn't see anything.
In the black car that was secretly following behind, the man gripped the steering wheel tighter.
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