When we left the sanatorium, it was already past four in the afternoon. This time, after getting on the bus, the little rascal sat obediently in his mother's arms and didn't fuss about wanting to sit in his grandfather's arms anymore.
Uncle Wang originally planned to go with them, but after thinking about it, he decided to go two days later. He needed to discuss some things with some of the older comrades before he could leave, otherwise he would have to run back and forth, which would be too troublesome.
"Dad Chu, I heard from my grandma that Grandpa Mu's granddaughter contacted her a couple of days ago and wanted my grandma to ask you to help her with something."
Wang Yueyue, who was sitting in the back row playing with Xiao Choubao, suddenly thought of something and spoke up.
"Who? Old Mu's granddaughter? I haven't heard your grandmother mention this."
Li Chu glanced behind him through the rearview mirror.
“My grandma politely declined her offer. She said it must not be a good thing, otherwise Grandpa Mu would have just told you directly why you had to go through her to find you. He said it’s not like Grandpa Mu doesn’t know you.”
Hey, Aunt Wang really thinks things through.
"Dad Chu, you know what this is about, right?"
"Yes, I know. She contacted me before about the treatment for the disease her grandfather had. She wanted me to treat a few more patients so she could write a paper and publish it in an international academic journal."
"Tch, who does she think she is!" Wang Yueyue said with a disdainful look upon hearing this.
"So what if you studied abroad for two years? You really don't know your place."
Li Chu glanced at his daughter-in-law again through the rearview mirror, smiled, shook his head, and remained silent.
...
"Brother Chu"
"Zhu Zi? What brings you here? Come in."
Li Chu, who had just seen off a patient and was engrossed in taking notes, was startled by a voice calling him.
He Yuzhu glanced at Nurse Zhou in the consultation room and said somewhat apologetically, "Brother Chu, I'm not going in. Could you come out for a moment? I just need to say a few words and then I'll leave."
Li Chu thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay, wait for me outside for a moment, I need to write something down."
As far as I can remember, He Yuzhu hasn't come to see him since his divorce from Cui Chunmei. I wonder what brings him here today.
"Okay!"
After finishing writing the patient's medical record, he put down his pen, gave some instructions to Xiao Zhou, and then walked out of the consultation room, leading He Yuzhu, who was standing at the door, through a side door.
"What's wrong, Zhuzi? What brings you here?" Li Chu felt a pang of emotion as he looked at He Yuzhu, who had aged considerably in just over half a year.
"It's nothing serious." He Yuzhu said, taking out a wad of cash from his pocket and handing it over.
"Brother Chu, I would like to trouble you to give this money to Chunmei and tell her that it is my child support payment."
Li Chu glanced down at the stack of money; it must have been at least four or five hundred yuan.
Why don't you go and give it to her yourself?
"Brother Chu" He Yuzhu said with a wry smile, "Chunmei doesn't even want to see me now. She avoids me whenever she sees me. I had no other choice but to come to you."
"I heard you're still in debt from the famine, where did you get this money?"
"This is... I sold the house and am going to the south with Sister Qin. She'll be there with her son, and we can see each other once a month. I plan to find a job at a restaurant there. I heard there are many more people doing business there than here, and it's easier to make money."
"If you give all your money to the children, how will you live over there?"
"To be honest, I still have some here. The house sold for 700 yuan, I kept 200, and this is 500."
He Yuzhu paused for a moment and then continued, "Once I've settled down over there, I'll write you a letter to let you know how things are going. And if possible, I'll send you some money every month. You can give the money to Chunmei for me then."
He does have some sense of responsibility, Li Chu thought to himself.
"Alright, since you put it that way, I'll help you with this." He reached out and took the money, counting it in front of He Yuzhu; each bill was five hundred yuan, no less.
"Zhu Zi, do you regret it?"
“Uh…” He Yuzhu was stunned by the question, and an indescribable expression appeared on his face.
"Brother Chu, what's the point of saying this now that it's already happened?"
“I remember that time you brought Qin Huairu to see me for treatment, and I reminded you. What did you say then? Was Chunmei not good to you, or was your son not cute enough, or did Chunmei’s two daughters not recognize you? Why did you have to ruin your life and cause your wife and children to break up?”
He Yuzhu stood there with his head down, silent, unsure of what to say.
Do you regret it?
How could he not regret it? He himself didn't understand what possessed him back then, why he couldn't refuse Qin Huairu.
He had thought of many possibilities, even how he should kneel down and beg for mercy if Chunmei found out.
But what he didn't expect was that Chunmei had such a strong temper. She wouldn't listen to a single explanation and insisted on a divorce. If he didn't get a divorce, she would go to the police station.
What was he supposed to do?
It was the dead of night, and a man and a woman were alone in a room. No one could believe that nothing had happened between them.
"Sigh," He Yuzhu sighed, and said in a low voice, "Brother Chu, it's too late to talk about it now. Regret won't change anything. I just hope that Chunmei and the child can live a good life from now on."
"You don't need to worry about that. That mother and her four children are doing very well now. You probably don't know, but your son's surname is now Cui."
“She…” He Yuzhu’s face turned bright red upon hearing this, but he didn’t know what to say.
The son he's cherished for most of his life has now taken someone else's surname. How could he not be heartbroken? But who can he blame?
"You should be glad your son has the surname Cui now. If he had a different surname, haha..."
To kill someone is to destroy their spirit.
Li Chu's barrage of words nearly killed He Yuzhu. If he hadn't been in relatively good health, he probably would have already vomited two liters of blood by now.
He raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder: "Work hard in the South. It should be easier to make money there than here. Back in the day, all of us from the same generation in the courtyard house had families."
Well, in the end, we have to finish him off with another blow.
If He Yuzhu didn't know he was no match for Li Chu, and if he didn't know this was someone else's territory, he would have wanted to fight Li Chu right here.
"I'm not talking to you anymore, I'm leaving."
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and left without any hesitation, as if afraid that if he was a step too slow, he would be so angry that he would die here today.
Li Chu didn't call out to him, but just stood there smiling as she watched He Yuzhu walk away.
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