Chapter 76 Selling Children, Causing a Scene at the Hospital
When Master Qiu saw her own mother coming over, her expression changed, and her voice softened instinctively.
"Mom, what brings you here?"
"If I hadn't come, you would have given your brother's house to someone else!"
Master Qiu's biological mother slammed her cane on the ground, her angry voice filled with disappointment and frustration.
"Look at you! You don't even think about your brother when there's something good going on, and you actually want to raise someone else's child?"
"Your brother's whole family is crammed into a rented room; the place is so small there's barely any room to put your feet down."
"I'm crammed in every day, I can't even get a good night's sleep, and I have to go to work as soon as it gets light. I'm so tired every day that my back is bent!"
"You heartless, money-losing wretch! You have money to burn, why don't you give it to your brother!"
"Who do you think you are to ask others to spend money for you?!"
When her own mother publicly called her a "worthless good-for-nothing," Master Qiu's face immediately darkened.
Before she could speak, she was suddenly pushed aside.
"You rotten old bastard! What nonsense are you spouting!"
Master Qiu's mother-in-law pushed her grandson, who was standing right next to her, aside, rolled up her sleeves, and reached out to grab Master Qiu's mother's face.
That's clearly my son's house!
"Your daughter has been eating and drinking at my house for so many years, yet she can't even give birth to a son."
"You're still trying to steal my house? I'll beat you to death, you heartless devil!"
Grandma Qiu pushed her in-laws to the ground, straddled them, and raised her hands to slap them left and right.
"If you want to turn my son's house into your son's, you'd better see if my Qiu family agrees first!"
"You old geezer, you greedy devil! You even want to take home dog poop from the roadside!"
You'll eat yourself to death sooner or later!
She slapped her repeatedly, and Master Qiu's own mother screamed in agony.
Her son was standing right next to her, but he was too cowardly to come up, so she only dared to chase after her daughter and yell at her.
"You good-for-nothing, you just stand by and watch your mother get beaten!"
"What was the point of me giving birth to you? I might as well have given birth to a piece of barbecued pork!"
"Are you still looking? Come and help me!"
But amidst her cursing, Master Qiu simply stood beside her husband, coldly watching her being beaten.
Only after her mother-in-law had finished beating her and was panting heavily did Master Qiu's younger brother dare to step forward.
"You old hag, that's enough! If you hit my mom like that, do you believe I'll call the police?!"
"Call the police! Call the police right now!"
Just as Master Qiu's mother-in-law was about to take a break, she jumped up again upon seeing the scene.
"Coward! Squirrel! Timid old coward!"
"You're already thirty years old, and you still watch your mother fight for you while you just hide behind her and wait to be fed!"
"He's clearly a coward who eats shit, yet he tries to play the hero!"
Grandma Qiu raised her hand and slapped him, hitting Grandma Qiu's younger brother squarely on the cheek.
"Trying to play the hero, huh! You spineless coward! I'll beat you to death!"
Master Qiu's younger brother was used to loafing around and was not as strong as an old lady.
In the blink of an eye, he was slapped twice by Granny Qiu, and his cheeks swelled up high.
Covering her face in disbelief, she exclaimed, "You! You hit me?"
His daughter was so frightened that tears welled up in her eyes, but she still stood in front of her father and pushed away Master Qiu's mother-in-law.
"Don't hit my dad! Don't scold my dad!"
"My dad isn't a coward! Your son is the one who's spineless!"
Grandma Qiu looked down at the little girl who was crying her eyes out, and was furious.
"Your father is a coward, but you, a worthless good-for-nothing, are incredibly bold!"
"You good-for-nothing who wants my son's house? I'll beat you to death, you freeloader!"
She raised her hand to reach for the little girl's back, but Master Qiu and Uncle Qiu couldn't stand it.
"Mom, what are you doing!"
Uncle Qiu grabbed his mother's hand, his eyebrows furrowed, and he was furious.
How could you hit a child!
Master Qiu carried her crying niece aside and glared at her mother-in-law with displeasure.
When Master Qiu's mother-in-law saw her son's condition, she couldn't catch her breath and almost choked to death.
She slapped her son and howled.
It was impossible to tell whether she was faking it or really crying; in any case, her wailing was deafening.
"You good-for-nothing! That good-for-nothing called you a coward, and your mother stood up for you. Is your mother wrong?"
"You char siu! That good-for-nothing wasn't wrong! You're a spineless coward!"
"You didn't even realize you were being taken advantage of! I'm your mother, would I ever harm you!"
When she got tired of hitting him, she sat on the ground and cried.
He grabbed his grandson, who was standing there dumbfounded, and started crying while indirectly criticizing him:
"Son! You might not be able to be a spineless man who only listens to his wife in the future!"
"Your uncle and your father have both been cursed by the troublemaker. You are the lifeblood of our Qiu family, you can't be like them!"
The chubby boy was uncomfortable being held by his grandma and tried to struggle, but his grandma pinched his flesh and he burst into tears.
Taking the opportunity, Granny Qiu scolded her son, "You good-for-nothing! Even your nephew knows to care for his old mother!"
"You're all grown up, but you're not even as good as your nephew!"
Her grandson, however, refused to cooperate and pushed her forcefully, trying to get out of her arms.
"No, Grandma! You're the one who pinched me!"
"You pinched me so hard! I don't want to stay here anymore, I want to go home and find my dad!"
"Waaaaah, I'm going to tell my dad and my mom, and they'll pinch me! Waaaaah!"
Grandma Qiu: "..."
She looked at her silly grandson, who was wailing loudly with his mouth open, and couldn't catch her breath.
"You...you coward! You..."
Her hand trembled as she pointed at her grandson, her chest heaving with anger.
Finally, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the ground.
Seeing that the person was about to faint from anger, the doctors and nurses, fearing something might happen, dared not watch any longer.
"Quick, quick, to the emergency room!"
"Everyone, please move aside, we need to take a patient to the emergency room!"
"Excuse me, please move aside! This is a matter of life and death!"
Seeing that the old lady was so angry that she fainted, Master Qiu's younger brother wanted to take the opportunity to let his mother take over, but he was pushed aside.
His daughter was also pushed over and stepped on his foot.
He frowned and shoved his daughter's shoulder.
"What are you looking at? Go find your aunt!"
The daughter glanced cautiously in Master Qiu's direction, her voice soft:
"My aunt has to take care of my little sister, she doesn't have time for me..."
"Pah! Pah! Pah! What sister? She's just a cripple who's trying to steal your brother's house!"
He spat and yelled at his daughter:
"What did Grandma and I tell you? Didn't we ask you to help your younger brother get that house?"
The little girl clutched the hem of her clothes, her head bowed, not daring to look her father in the eye.
But her father wasn't so easily persuaded to give up.
He forcefully twisted her shoulders and carried her towards Master Qiu.
"When you see your aunt, you should cry!"
"Say thank you to your aunt and uncle for helping you just now, and that you want to stay and help take care of that little cripple, do you hear me!"
He scolded his daughter in a low voice, "If they let you stay, you have to find a way to steal that cripple out..."
-
As Master Qiu and Uncle Qiu watched the old lady being wheeled into the emergency room, they exchanged a glance and couldn't help but sigh.
Master Qiu sat outside the emergency room and nudged her husband, saying, "I'll stay here and watch over things. You go and keep an eye on Shuangshuang."
Her expression was sorrowful, and her voice was cold, "Don't let my mother and the others hurt Shuangshuang."
"good."
Uncle Qiu was also worried about his daughter, so he quickly turned back.
Fortunately, the child was still lying in the machine, sleeping soundly.
As for the mother-in-law and brother-in-law, they probably ran away because they were afraid of losing money.
He found a place to sit down, and as soon as he sat down, he felt someone touch his arm.
Turning his head, he saw the little girl standing timidly beside him and stared in shock.
"Didi, what are you still doing here? Did your father and grandmother leave without you?"
The little girl lowered her head, and her eyes suddenly reddened.
She shook her head, choking back tears, "No, my dad sent me to find you and your aunt..."
Uncle Qiu immediately understood what the two were up to and sighed helplessly.
Although his wife repeatedly told him not to pity Didi, he felt very uncomfortable seeing the little girl being kicked around like a football.
"Okay, then Didi, wait here for your aunt. Your aunt will be here in a while."
The little girl wiped away her tears, nodded, and obediently sat in the spot he had just pointed out.
Seeing how well-behaved the little girl was, Uncle Qiu couldn't help but curse under his breath.
It's clearly a conflict between adults, yet they insist on dragging the children into it.
But looking at the little girl's profile, which resembled his daughter's, he couldn't help but be stunned.
When he came to his senses, he heard a rumbling sound in his abdomen.
The little girl next to me was clutching her stomach tightly, her face, which looked just like my daughter's, was flushed red.
Uncle Qiu: "..."
He pursed his lips and asked, "Has Didi not eaten yet?"
The little girl glanced at him quickly and nodded almost imperceptibly.
Her voice was faint and barely audible, "My dad picked me up from school and said he'd go to the hospital before we came home for dinner..."
But her father and grandmother abandoned her at the hospital and left on their own.
So she hasn't eaten anything since she had breakfast this morning.
Uncle Qiu cursed his mother-in-law and brother-in-law in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. He gently patted the little girl's shoulder.
"Then Didi, wait here for your uncle. Your uncle will go buy you something to eat, okay?"
The little girl's eyes lit up, but then quickly dimmed again.
"Thank you, Uncle, but no need, I can eat at home."
Uncle Qiu, however, didn't know when he could send the child back.
He said softly, "It's so uncomfortable to be hungry. Your uncle will go buy it for you right now. Wait for your uncle."
After he finished speaking, he pointed to the baby girl inside the machine.
"Didi, can you watch your sister here for your uncle?"
"If anyone gets close to your sister, just call out to the nurse over there."
The young girl quickly glanced at the instrument and nodded in agreement.
Uncle Qiu left with peace of mind, and as he left, he saw his own nephew at the corner.
The chubby boy was so frightened by his grandmother's anger that she fainted and dared not show herself.
Her eyes were red from crying, and she was hiccuping.
Seeing Uncle Qiu approach, he quickly stood up, hiccuping and choking back tears: "Uncle..."
Uncle Qiu couldn't help but sigh and pat his big head.
Did Grandma take you to lunch?
The chubby boy nodded, glancing at Uncle Qiu through sobs, clearly having heard what he had just said.
Touching her round belly, she choked back tears, "But I can still eat."
Uncle Qiu: "..."
He looked at his nephew's obedient head and sighed helplessly.
"Okay, then wait here for me, I'll bring you one in a bit."
The chubby boy nodded happily, his disappointment largely gone.
"Then hurry up, Uncle!"
Uncle Qiu: "..."
He shook his head helplessly and took the elevator downstairs.
Not long after he left, the little girl guarding the equipment slowly moved to the baby girl's incubator.
She looked at the baby girl in the transparent incubator, who was missing half a foot, and gently bit her lip.
"You're so lucky..."
Despite being a cripple, she was raised by her aunt and uncle, who were not sexist.
She stared at the sleeping disabled baby girl in the incubator, her fist clenching quietly at her side.
Just as she touched the lid of the insulated box with one hand, intending to open it, a hand suddenly grabbed her.
"Little friend, you can't just open the lid of the insulated box."
The little girl was startled and turned her head to look. A familiar-looking person was standing next to her, smiling at her.
She remembered her father and grandmother saying that this person was a master whom her aunt and uncle trusted very much, and her shoulders trembled.
He quickly explained, "I just wanted to see the little girl, not that I wanted to..."
"I know."
Chu Ci didn't expose her, but smiled and pulled her aside.
"Sit down, your uncle has gone to buy you some food, he'll be back soon."
The little girl's heart pounded, and she sat down uneasily, glancing at Chu Ci sitting next to her every now and then.
I gripped the hem of my clothes tightly, feeling like my heart was about to jump out of my throat.
After a long while, she finally couldn't bear the torment of unease and turned to look at Chu Ci.
With tears welling up in her eyes, she pleaded, "Master, could you please not tell my aunt and uncle?"
Her voice choked with emotion, "My aunt and uncle are the only people who have ever been kind to me, and I don't want them to resent me..."
Chu Ci looked down at her, a smile on her face, but her voice turned deep.
"Since you know that your aunt and uncle are the only people who are good to you, why did you still want to take that child away?"
"I was forced!" the little girl exclaimed, looking up in panic. "My dad forced me!"
“If I don’t do this, he’ll definitely beat me when he gets home!”
"If my grandma and mom find out, they'll beat me and scold me, and they might even stop me from going to school..."
"I don't want to work, I want to go to school. Only by going to school can I have a good life when I grow up!"
Tears streamed down her tender cheeks as Chu Ci calmly looked into her stubborn eyes.
“I sympathize with your family and your experiences, but that is not a reason for you to hurt others.”
She looked at the incubator containing the baby girl. "Do you know what would have happened to her if you had taken this child out just now?"
The little girl lowered her head, her tightly clenched hands trembling, tears wetting her faded trousers.
Soft sobs surrounded her.
Chu Ci: "She will be thrown away, or even die."
"But her death wasn't because she did anything wrong, just like what you're going through now isn't because you did anything wrong."
"..."
The little girl didn't expect her to say that, and her crying stopped abruptly.
She suddenly looked up at Chu Ci, her shocked gaze meeting Chu Ci's calm eyes.
In that tiny pupil, she saw her own small, disheveled self.
She clutched the hem of her clothes, looking down helplessly.
Perhaps it was the other person's softened expression that gave her the courage to question them. She lowered her head, tears falling onto the back of her hand.
"Since I didn't do anything wrong, why should I have to go through all this?"
She looked at the baby girl sleeping peacefully in the incubator, her two thin, light eyebrows furrowed together.
"I envy Shuangshuang. Her aunt didn't give her a younger brother. All she has to do is wear pretty clothes and eat delicious food every day."
“Even if she eats just a couple more bites, her aunt and uncle will praise her for being great. But it's different for me…”
Her tears flowed more and more fiercely, but her voice became clearer and clearer.
"I had to carry my younger brother on my back and help with the housework, including sweeping, cooking, and washing clothes. I also had to be observant."
"I can't wear pretty clothes, I can't eat delicious food, and I can't laugh."
“If I dress well, my mother and grandmother will say I look like a woman from the red-light district and that I am a disgrace to the family.”
“If I eat well, my mom and grandma will say I’m a reincarnation of a starving ghost, and that I don’t leave the good food for my younger brother.”
"I can't laugh either. If I do, my mom and grandma will scold me, saying I'm always laughing like an idiot and stealing my brother's good fortune."
“My dad is the only person in the family who doesn’t hit or scold me. I wanted to make him happy, so I tried to take my little sister away…”
Chu Ci: "So, you think your father is the only person in the family who is good to you, is that right?"
The little girl looked up at her and said, "He doesn't hit me or scold me."
Isn't he the only person who's been kind to her?
Looking into her tear-filled eyes, Chu Ci understood the question she wanted to ask and calmly shook her head.
"No, he doesn't hit you or scold you, it's just because your mother and grandmother have already done these things for him."
"If he really cared about you, he wouldn't have left you here, wouldn't have let you go hungry so late, and he certainly wouldn't have encouraged you to do bad things."
"As for what you say is good, it's not really good; it's just that he's ignoring you."
So I neither hit nor scolded him, but I also ignored him.
The little girl looked at her blankly, her expression a mixture of confusion and pain, tears streaming down her cheeks, but she didn't know what to say.
She looked at her own reflection, so small in Chu Ci's eyes, hesitated for a moment, and then asked:
"You haven't answered my question yet. Since I made a mistake, why should I go through all this?"
"You are a master, you should know... Is it because I did something bad in my past life that I went through all this?"
"Of course not." Chu Ci shook his head.
He looked at the precocious little girl with gentle eyes and said, "Once a person is born, what kind of life they live is up to them."
"Doing good deeds brings good fortune, while doing bad deeds brings bad consequences."
"It's not your fault to have such parents, but if you do bad things under their influence, you will have to bear the consequences."
The little girl lowered her eyes. "This isn't fair."
Why should it be calculated this way?
She also wanted parents like her aunt and uncle. If her parents were her aunt and uncle, she definitely wouldn't do bad things.
But living in such a family, she had no choice at all.
"Of course you have a choice."
As if guessing what she was thinking, the master in front of her suddenly spoke.
"Huh?" The little girl looked up abruptly.
“I said, you have a choice,” Chu Ci repeated.
She pointed towards the stairwell, where Uncle Qiu was carrying two lunch boxes back, accompanied by a chubby little boy.
"If you ever encounter something you have to do but don't want to do, come find me."
"Your uncle and I live in the same building; we run a shop downstairs."
"Come to me, I can help you."
Just as she finished speaking, Uncle Qiu walked over with the chubby boy.
Seeing Chu Ci sitting there, he smiled with delight: "Master, you've come!"
"Yes, I've come to see the child and Jiali."
Chu Ci nodded and watched as he handed the boxed lunches to the two children.
The chubby boy quickly took it, opened the box, and exclaimed, "Wow! What a huge piece of char siu!"
The little girl, feeling guilty for doing something wrong, dared not accept the offer.
Chu Ci patted her shoulder, "Your uncle bought this especially for you, eat it."
The little girl glanced at Chu Ci before taking it, and whispered, "Thank you, Uncle."
Uncle Qiu looked at Chu Ci with some surprise and laughed, "Didi and the master are so familiar with each other?"
The little girl ate her food in small bites without saying a word.
Chu Ci smiled and nodded, "Didi is a very well-behaved child, and we hit it off immediately."
Hearing her evaluation, the little girl lowered her head even further.
The two children were eating when Chu Ci wanted to go check on Wang Jiali.
Didi hesitated for a moment, then grabbed her.
Are you going to see the woman in that hospital room?
She pointed to Wang Jiali's room, with a grain of rice still hanging from her lips.
Chu Ci was surprised for a moment, then, realizing something, quickly asked:
"Didi, how did you know?"
Didi wiped the rice grains from her mouth and said nervously, "My dad said he wants to find out who gave birth to the child that my aunt and uncle adopted."
“He told his grandmother that he was going to cause trouble for that family, that they gave birth to him but didn’t raise him, that they wanted to take my brother’s house, and that he wanted to let everyone know that they were shameless.”
Chu Ci's heart skipped a beat.
Uncle Qiu, flustered and pale, said: "My wife and I can raise whose child we want, what does it have to do with them!"
"We're not even dead yet, and they're already treating the house like their own!"
Didi lowered her head and poked at the rice in the lunchbox, not daring to touch her chopsticks anymore.
Chu Ci: "Don't worry, stay here and watch over the child. I'll go check on Wang Jiali."
Uncle Qiu exclaimed "Hey!" and Chu Ci quickly headed towards the ward.
In the ward, Wang Jiali sat on the hospital bed reading a book, and seemed to be in good spirits.
She was startled when she heard the door of the ward being suddenly pushed open, but she relaxed when she saw that it was Chu Ci.
“Master,” she mimicked the way Master Qiu and her husband addressed her, “you…”
Chu Ci quickly asked her, "Has someone been here just now?"
Wang Jiali looked bewildered by her question, "Well, the nurses and doctors have just been here."
"Besides the doctors and nurses, has any man in his thirties or an elderly woman come by?"
Wang Jiali's expression changed, and she bit her lip, "An old lady did come by."
The old woman came in and immediately started saying she was shameless, that she had gotten pregnant at such a young age, and other extremely offensive things.
He left after saying only a few words.
She wanted to cry, but remembering what Master Qiu had told her to take good care of her health, she forced herself to hold back.
Seeing Chu Ci's pale face, she suddenly felt a little scared.
"Is...something wrong?"
"Yes," Chu Ci didn't hide it from her, "That old lady is Master Qiu's mother, and she's determined to get Master Qiu to give the house to her grandson."
“Now Master Qiu wants to adopt your daughter, but that old lady thinks your daughter stole her grandson’s house and wants to cause you trouble.”
"Oh, I see," Wang Jiali said, holding the book in her hand, relieved. "She just scolded me a couple of times, I don't mind."
Chu Ci looked at her bewildered expression and chuckled: "They want to cause you trouble, but it's not that simple."
As she spoke, she picked up her bag and started tidying up her things.
"They must know someone in this hospital, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to find us so quickly."
“I’m worried they’ll use your information to find your home, and your family will come back and cause trouble.”
Seeing Wang Jiali's face turn deathly pale, Chu Ci packed up his things.
“You can’t stay in this hospital anymore. You’re feeling better now, so I’ll take you to another hospital.”
-
When Master Qiu and her mother-in-law were out of danger, they came to see Wang Jiali. When they heard that Chu Ci wanted to change hospitals, they disagreed.
“Master, you have never had a child, so you don’t know.”
"You can't keep moving around like this during postpartum confinement, or you'll develop health problems later!"
But Wang Jiali herself was very insistent, her face pale as she grabbed Master Qiu's hand.
"Auntie, please, can you let me go to another hospital?"
"I'll earn money to pay you back after I'm discharged. I don't want to stay in this hospital anymore!"
Master Qiu hesitated, "Jiali, this isn't about money..."
But looking at the child's red eyes, she sighed helplessly.
"Okay, okay, let's transfer to another hospital then, stop crying. Let me tell you, getting sick during postpartum confinement is no joke..."
After quickly arranging the transfer to another hospital, Master Qiu still felt that Chu Ci and Wang Jiali, being two young people, did not understand the implications of the matter.
That evening, while she was feeding her baby formula, she heard a commotion outside.
She asked her husband, "What's going on outside?"
Uncle Qiu had just returned from fetching water outside, his face grim.
“My uncle’s daughter works at this hospital. She recognized us and told my mom.”
This is why his mother, knowing they were going to adopt a child, brought her nephew over to make a scene.
He and his wife both share the surname Qiu, and they are related to the person who works at the hospital.
That man had been envious ever since he saw the couple buy a house.
At the funeral, it was learned that both his and his wife's nephews were vying for the house, eager to see the drama unfold.
Knowing they wanted to adopt a child, I notified both sets of parents, which led to the farce at noon.
Master Qiu understood the whole story, frowned deeply, but felt helpless.
“Ever since we bought the house, many of our relatives have been envious, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”
She coaxed the child and asked, "I just asked you what's making so much noise outside, but you haven't told me yet!"
Uncle Qiu glanced at her and put the kettle down.
"Your mother and your brother found out Jiali's hospital room from that person and even found out about Jiali's home."
"Now Jiali's father and brother have arrived and are making a scene outside."
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