Li Hehua didn't know what the little guy Gu Jinzhao said to Master Gu. Anyway, a few days later, when she went to the academy to pick up Shulin home as usual, the little Jinzhao rushed out from behind the gate excitedly, walked straight towards her, and threw himself into her arms.
"Aunt Lotus, I have good news for you."
Li Hehua hugged the little guy who jumped into his arms, touched his little head with a smile, "What's wrong?"
Gu Jinzhao grinned and said happily: "Let me tell you, my second uncle has already agreed to it. You said that as long as my second uncle agrees, you will be my godmother's. Have you forgotten it? If you don't believe me, ask my second uncle. He agreed."
Li Hehua looked at Gu Zhijin. Ever since that day, the little guy Gu Jinzhao hadn't mentioned this matter again. She thought that Master Gu didn't agree. Now he agrees?
Gu Zhijin looked at his nephew who was hanging on someone like a monkey, and then looked at Shulin who was looking up at his mother eagerly. He sighed helplessly again. This naughty monkey of his had no idea how many times he had rolled around with him and acted pitifully in order to get him to agree. If he didn't agree again, he would be annoyed to death by him.
Gu Zhijin felt a little embarrassed, but still nodded with shame in her eyes, "Madam, I'm really sorry, this naughty boy is so annoying, he insisted on recognizing you as his godmother, you are not bothered by him, right?"
Hearing this, Li Hehua knew that he had agreed, and said, "No, I like Jin Zhao very much, and I'm very happy that he can recognize me as his godmother."
Upon hearing this, Gu Jinzhao snorted complacently and gave his second uncle a smug expression as if to say 'see, I was right'.
Gu Zhijin hit him with a chestnut, which made him dare not show off like that.
"Madam, please bear with me if Jinzhao encounters any trouble in the future." Gu Zhijin bowed to Li Hehua, formally acknowledging the matter.
"Master, don't be so polite next time."
Li Hehua smiled, patted Gu Jinzhao's little head and said to the little guy, "Okay, my godson, godmother is going to take Shulin back now. I will bring you some delicious food tomorrow."
Gu Jinzhao narrowed his eyes with joy, grabbed Li Hehua's hand and shook it, and asked, "Then godmother, can I often come to your house for dinner and sleep with Shulin often in the future?"
Li Hehua smiled and nodded, "Of course you can, you can go whenever you want, godmother welcomes you anytime, but you have to tell second uncle before you come."
Gu Jinzhao's eyes lit up, and he felt sweet inside. He waved his hands, "Okay, godmother, I know. I am the most sensible person."
Li Hehua was amused by his wide smile, and rubbed his little head. Then he took Shulin home.
Li Hehua walked slowly holding Shulin's hand, thinking that she, a grown-up girl who had never been married, suddenly had two sons. It was quite laughable, but both little guys were very cute, which was her luck.
At this moment, the little person who was being held by her hand suddenly stopped moving and tugged at her hand.
Li Hehua turned around and looked at him, "What's wrong, Shulin?"
Shulin tilted his head to look at her, his big eyes blinking, his little mouth tightly pursed, feeling inexplicably aggrieved.
Li Hehua quickly squatted down in front of the little guy and touched his little face. "What's wrong? Is there anything you want to tell your mother?"
Shulin thought about it, nodded, and suddenly opened his little hands and got into Li Hehua's arms. He hugged her neck tightly with both hands, rubbed her neck coquettishly, and was reluctant to get up for a long time.
Li Hehua smiled, "Do you want your mother to hold you?"
The little head in my arms paused for a moment, then nodded gently.
Li Hehua raised her eyebrows. When she came to pick up Shulin before, she always carried the little one home. Later, Zhang Tieshan told the little one that he was tired and couldn't carry her any more. Since then, the little one seldom let Li Hehua carry her. He always held her hand and followed her carefully with his little feet. Sometimes, even if he was very tired, he would not say anything and always insisted on finishing the walk by himself.
Today was the first time in so many days that the little guy asked her to carry him.
Li Hehua was happy to satisfy the little guy. She held him in her arms, kissed him on the forehead, and said, "Okay, Mom will carry you."
Shulin rested his little head on Li Hehua's shoulder, with one hand tightly around her neck.
Just as they were about to reach the restaurant, the quiet little guy suddenly spoke up, "Mom - I want to hold Shulin -"
Huh? Li Hehua was stunned by the little guy's words. She lowered her head to look at the little guy, and saw that the little guy suddenly buried his face and stopped looking at her.
Li Hehua was stunned for a moment, and after thinking for a long time he finally understood what the little guy meant, and he was immediately at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
Such a little kid is still jealous. When he went there just now, he hugged Jinzhao instead of him. He was sad, so he acted coquettishly and asked to be hugged.
Li Hehua couldn't help laughing immediately. She shook the baby in her arms and kissed his exposed ear. "Okay, mother won't forget Shulin. Mother loves Shulin the most."
The little guy's ears moved, and his little face tilted slightly, revealing a little bit of his eyes to peek at her, and the corners of his mouth also curved a little.
Li Hehua smiled and said, "But, Brother Jinzhao never had a hug from mother before. Now he is your brother, mother can hug him too, okay? We should also love Brother Jinzhao, he treats you very well, right? You are the most generous and the best child, you will also treat Brother Jinzhao well, right?"
Shulin listened, slowly bit his lip, and after a moment, raised his head and nodded to Li Hehua.
Li Hehua kissed him on the forehead again, "Our Shulin is great, mother likes you so much."
Shulin suddenly smiled a little embarrassedly.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Li Hehua was about to carry someone in, but Shulin kicked her calves and patted her shoulders with her little hands, "Mom, we need to go down."
"Hmm? You want to get off? You don't want your mother to hold you anymore?"
Shulin nodded, glanced at the door of the restaurant, and said seriously: "Mom will hold me, Dad will beat me--"
Li Hehua: “…” The little guy has now learned to behave well in front of his father. He knows that his father doesn’t like him to be held by her all the time, so when he reaches the door, he knows to get down and pretend.
Li Hehua didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She put the little guy down and held his hand instead, "Okay, then hold hands with mother."
Shulin smiled secretly and walked in with cheerful steps.
As soon as Li Hehua entered the store, Luo Er, who was standing behind the counter, called him, "Boss, you're back! Go check on Qingshan! Something's wrong!"
"Ah? What happened?" Li Hehua was shocked.
Luo Er was so anxious that his head was sweating. He said anxiously, "Just when you went to pick up Shulin, someone came to our restaurant to report that Qingshan had killed someone and was detained. They asked his family to go to the carpenter's shop quickly. Aunt Zhang and Tieshan had already gone there."
Someone was beaten to death? Li Hehua's heart skipped a beat. The next second, she quickly took Shulin, who was in her hand, to the pastry area and handed him to Cao Simei to take care of him for a while, while she hurried out.
As soon as he ran out of the door, Li Hehua hurriedly stopped, turned around, ran into the room in the backyard, took out fifty taels of silver and put it on his body, then hurried to the carpenter's shop.
When Li Hehua arrived, there were already quite a few people surrounding the carpenter's shop. Everyone was looking inside and pointing and talking about something. Li Hehua squeezed in with great effort, and as soon as he entered, he heard a burst of shouting and cursing.
"My son, why are you so pitiful? It's totally unjust that you were beaten like this by a little beast..."
"Son, if anything happens to you, how will your father and I survive? Our whole family will be forced to death..."
"Son, your mother is dying, wake up quickly..."
The scene was very chaotic with shouting and cursing accompanied by crying sounds. Zhang Lin's crying sounds could be faintly heard.
Li Hehua was even more anxious, shouting, "Make way, make way, I am a family member, let me in."
When the onlookers heard that it was a family member, they moved aside a little, allowing Li Hehua to squeeze into the backyard and see the situation on the scene.
Zhang Qingshan was standing still with his head down, Zhang Lin was standing beside Zhang Qingshan wiping her tears, and Zhang Tieshan was frowning and talking to an old man.
Li Hehua shifted his gaze to the person lying on the ground. He saw that the person had his eyes closed and was lying quietly in the arms of the middle-aged man. His head was wrapped in white gauze with blood seeping through the gauze. There was also a lot of blood on the ground. It looked very serious.
Li Hehua remembered what Luo Er had just said about someone being beaten to death. He shuddered and stared at the man without blinking. When he saw that the man was breathing, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, no one died. At least it’s good that the situation is not so hopeless.
Li Hehua calmed himself down and walked to Zhang Tieshan's side.
When Zhang Tieshan saw her coming, he pursed his lips, reached out and held her hand, "You're here."
Li Hehua nodded, came up to him and asked quietly: "What's going on?"
Zhang Tieshan then whispered the story to her, "Qingshan had a conflict with the apprentice on the ground. They had a fight and Qingshan accidentally pushed the apprentice down, causing a hole in his head. He has now fainted, but his family is holding him hostage and won't let him go. They want justice."
Li Hehua glanced at Zhang Qingshan, who was also looking at them. When he saw Li Hehua looking at him, a hint of uneasiness flashed in his eyes. He lowered his head and stared at the ground without saying a word.
Li Hehua retracted his gaze and said to Zhang Tieshan, "What's going on now? Did the family say how the matter is going to be resolved?"
Zhang Tieshan frowned even more and said, "The doctor said that he lost a lot of blood, but fortunately his life is not in danger. He just needs to rest well. But this family wants to make a big fuss. They say they want to report to the police and have Qingshan arrested and put in jail."
Li Hehua raised his eyebrows, "Have you reported it to the police? Why haven't the police arrived yet?"
Zhang Tieshan pursed his lips and a cold look flashed in his eyes.
Li Hehua understood. It seemed that this family said so, but did not report to the police immediately. This was nothing more than a threat. "Do you want money to settle it? Or report to the police?"
Zhang Tieshan nodded silently.
Li Hehua sighed in his heart. Today's matter was not going to end well. No matter who was right or wrong at the beginning, Zhang Qingshan had beaten the man like this, so he was the one at fault. Even if the government came, Zhang Qingshan would be asked to pay compensation in public, or he would be thrown into jail.
However, others may think so, but family members have to figure out who is right and who is wrong.
Li Hehua waved to Zhang Qingshan, "Qingshan, come here."
Zhang Qingshan froze when he was called. He quickly raised his eyes to look at her, then quickly lowered his head and walked towards her step by step, keeping his head down and not daring to look at anyone.
Li Hehua sighed. He was still a young boy, so he must be scared at the moment. He tried to soften his voice and said, "Qingshan, can you tell us what happened?"
Zhang Qingshan sniffed and said nothing.
Zhang Tieshan frowned and was about to scold, but Li Hehua grabbed him and shook his head at him. Zhang Tieshan then stopped talking.
Li Hehua said in the same voice as usual, "Qingshan, I believe you are not that reckless and ignorant child. You must have a reason for the conflict with him, right? Tell us so that we can understand what is going on and how to solve it later, don't you think? Qingshan, don't be afraid, we won't blame you. Just tell us if you have any grievances."
Zhang Qingshan sniffed, his eyes suddenly turned red, and the tears he had been holding back finally fell.
When his brother came, he was busy negotiating with that family, and his mother kept blaming him. Only his sister-in-law said she believed him and that he was wronged. He couldn't hold back his tears.
Li Hehua patted his shoulder and said, "Okay, it's okay. We all believe in you. Don't worry. Don't cry. You are a man."
Zhang Qingshan was embarrassed and quickly wiped his tears with his sleeves before he told the details of what happened. "Sister-in-law, it's really not my fault. It was Zhang Dawei who slandered me for breaking the furniture that Master had just ordered for someone else. It wasn't me who broke it at all, but he insisted that it was me. I was so angry that I said he framed me, and then he came to beat me. We started fighting, and then I accidentally pushed him into the corner of the wood."
Zhang Qingshan said, sniffing, "Sister-in-law, I really didn't break it. He slandered me. He likes to bully me. He often does this. I usually tolerate it, but if I tolerate it this time, I will have to bear the blame. I will have to pay a lot of money for the furniture. I can't tolerate this, but I didn't expect him to hit his head."
Zhang Linshi listened to it from the side, tears streaming down her face again. She reached out and punched Zhang Qingshan, "Why are you so impulsive? Can't you explain to your master? Why do you have to fight? What should I do now?"
Zhang Qingshan felt a pang in his heart and couldn't help but whispered, "Mom! I told you that he is a relative of Master's. Master favors him and won't be fair. He will definitely make me pay for it. Besides, he hit me first, not me who hit him."
"But...but...but you can't hit anyone..."
Zhang Qingshan closed his eyes and was speechless.
Li Hehua frowned slightly and said, "Don't talk about Qingshan anymore. Qingshan didn't do it on purpose. If there is any mistake, we can solve it and then go back to talk about it. The most urgent thing now is to solve the matter."
Zhang Tieshan shook hands with Li Hehua.
Zhang Lin quickly wiped her tears and said, "Yes, yes, we should solve the problem first. We can't just keep dragging it out like this."
Li Hehua thought about it, looked at the people around him, and said to Zhang Tieshan in a very low voice: "I don't think we can take advantage of this matter today, what do you think?"
Zhang Tieshan nodded. "Even if the government came today, they would still order Qingshan to pay compensation to the other party. And as for the furniture being damaged, as long as Qingshan's master and other apprentices say it was Qingshan who damaged it, then even if it wasn't Qingshan who damaged it, it would be considered that he did. The government wouldn't investigate, but would make Qingshan take the responsibility. If Qingshan doesn't want to take the responsibility, he will be arrested."
Li Hehua knew this very well. If Qingshan's master really favored that family, the other apprentices would point fingers at Qingshan out of consideration for their master even if they knew it was not Qingshan who did it. They would even refuse to admit that it was the other apprentice named Zhang Dawei who started it first. In the end, they would still end up in trouble.
They probably have to admit defeat this time, it's just a matter of how much money they get.
Zhang Lin heard this and whimpered, tightly grasping Zhang Tieshan's sleeve, "Tieshan, you must help your brother, your brother must not get into trouble, and must not go to jail."
Zhang Tieshan pursed his lips and thought deeply.
Li Hehua pulled Zhang Tieshan's sleeve and said, "We have to pay the money today. He was injured so badly. I guess we have to compensate for the furniture. But it's okay to suffer a little loss. It's not good for Qingshan to stay here anymore."
Zhang Tieshan frowned and said in a deep voice, "I will not let Qingshan stay in such a place anymore. I heard from others that it was not bad before, and I thought he was one of the best carpenters in the town, so I sent Qingshan here. Who would have thought that such a thing would happen? Qingshan doesn't need to stay here anymore."
Li Hehua nodded, agreeing with what Zhang Tieshan said. Judging from what Zhang Qingshan said, he had suffered a lot of injustice here, and his master was biased and never helped him. What was the point of being an apprentice like this? Moreover, after what happened today, he could no longer stay here.
Li Hehua and Zhang Tieshan looked at each other and had already made up their minds.
Zhang Tieshan stepped forward, found Zhang Dawei's father and master, and started discussing the matter.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
