Chapter 73
It took a long time for Jiang Bai to recover. She poked Lan Shuqing's waist.
Lan Shu gently let her go, rubbed the tear marks at the corners of Jiang Bai's eyes with his fingertips, and asked with concern: "Are you feeling better?"
Jiang Bai nodded, her nose and eyes were red, and she looked at Lan Shuqing.
Lan Shu gently pulled over a chair and sat down, still holding Jiang Bai's hand. "Can we talk now?"
Jiang Bai nodded, his voice a little hoarse, "Lan Shuqing, I told you not to laugh at me."
Lan Shu chuckled softly, looking at her gently with his eyes, "I'm sure I won't laugh at you."
If there was one thing Jiang Tongguo did right, it was that he did not restrict Jiang Bai from going to school, although this was largely because he did not want to lose face.
After all, Sun Mei and Jiang Tongguo were so mean and prideful that they wouldn't tolerate anyone saying, "Oh, the kids from the rich families in our village can't even go to school?"
So Jiang Bai went to elementary school smoothly.
Around the fourth grade, Jiang Bai realized that it was wrong for Sun Mei to pinch her every time she came home. Around the sixth grade, Jiang Bai realized that it was also wrong for Sun Mei to bring other men home when Jiang Tongguo was not around.
On the first day of the new year, S City slowly developed to the surrounding areas. A new electrical appliance store opened two kilometers away from the village. Televisions, refrigerators, fans and other large and small home appliances were placed in the large glass windows. A small round object was hung at the door of the appliance store.
After school, many children would watch free TV at the door of the appliance store, but Jiang Bai was the only one staring at the round object.
The boss told her that it was a surveillance camera that could record everything that happened in front of his store.
So Jiang Bai secretly saved up money and went to a black Internet cafe to find out what surveillance was. It was her first time in an Internet cafe, and many new things came out of her.
So Jiang Bai learned a word: evidence.
Perhaps because of Jiang Bai's sensitivity and intuition since childhood, when she was in the second grade of junior high school, Jiang Bai saved money to buy a surveillance camera and an SD card, secretly installed them in her room, and placed them behind an inconspicuous box, with only the camera exposed.
So when Sun Mei started to pinch and hit her again, Jiang Bai did not fight back.
Academically, Jiang Bai successfully passed the high school entrance exam. The tuition for high school was more expensive, but there were only a few people in the village who passed the high school entrance exam, and Jiang Bai was one of them, which made Jiang Tongguo very proud among his fellow villagers.
So Jiang Bai went into high school smoothly.
When they were in the first year of high school, there were rumors that their village would be demolished. Jiang Tongguo was happy and generously gave Jiang Bai a broken mobile phone. At this time, Sun Mei was in love with another man, the one she is married to now.
High school students had to attend evening self-study classes. One time, Jiang Tongguo was not at home, and when Jiang Bai returned home, the man was also there. As usual, Jiang Bai ignored him and went back to his room, then closed the door, locked it, and did his homework.
But just when she was going to the bathroom, the man squeezed into Jiang Bai's room when she opened the door.
The man had been interested in Sun Mei's high school daughter for a long time, and his words were very rude and obscene.
Jiang Bai was fifteen years old and she had grown up. She knew what the man wanted to do, so she resisted. She hit the man's head hard with a desk lamp. The man's head was covered in blood, and Jiang Bai herself was also covered in injuries.
When Sun Mei found out, she beat Jiang Bai severely. At that time, Jiang Bai started to negotiate with Sun Mei.
The surveillance video recorded everything.
Jiang Bai secretly made several backup copies and placed them in different places. She told Sun Mei that if the man no longer came to their house, she would not go to the police station to report the incident or tell Jiang Tongguo.
She is the best high school student in the family. She always ranks among the top ten in exams and is always on the school's excellent list. She is Jiang Tongguo's face. Because of Jiang Tongguo, and more because of the things in Jiang Bai's mobile phone, Sun Mei dare not touch her and can only agree to Jiang Bai's conditions.
Jiang Bai also said that even if Sun Mei dared to touch her, she would call the police and make both Sun Mei and the man go to jail.
In the end, Sun Mei compromised.
Later, the demolition was finalized, and the compensation was more than 2 million yuan. Sun Mei wanted to divorce, and Jiang Tongguo also wanted to divorce, but Jiang Bai was not yet 18 years old and was still a minor, so he had to be with one.
Sun Mei doesn't want Jiang Bai, and Jiang Tongguo doesn't want Jiang Bai either. His lover is already pregnant, and with the demolition compensation, he can immediately take his lover away from this small place, go to another place to have a son, and make a lot of money.
So Jiang Bai negotiated with them, and first talked to Sun Mei, who had to give her 100,000 yuan, otherwise she would go to the police station and hand over the surveillance footage to the police.
One hundred thousand is only one tenth of the demolition compensation, so Sun Mei compromised.
Originally, Jiang Tongguo didn't want to give so much, but Sun Mei said that even if he did, it wouldn't matter to them. The most important thing was to get the divorce done first.
So, in his third year of high school, Jiang Bai received 200,000 yuan, two agreements, and his parents left.
She lived in the school dormitory during the second semester of her senior year. After the college entrance examination, she had no place to live. Jiang Bai didn't dare to touch the 200,000 yuan. It seemed like a lot, but at that time it was all the money she had in her life. Moreover, as an underage girl, she didn't dare to rent a house alone. She relied on her former neighbor, A Mao's mother, to find a job as a waitress in a restaurant with free food and accommodation. She waited until the university started and arrived in City A.
After Jiang Bai finished speaking, she breathed a sigh of relief, but as she observed Lan Shuqing's expression, her hands unconsciously clenched.
Feeling the strength in his hand, Lan Shuqing looked at Jiang Bai and suddenly smiled.
Jiang Bai didn't understand what was going on and had a blank expression.
Lan Shu chuckled and squeezed Jiang Bai's hand, then suddenly asked, "Jiang Bai, has anyone said Happy New Year to you?"
"ah?"
Although he didn't understand what Lan Shuqing meant, Jiang Bai thought for a moment and replied, "Back in college, everyone would say Happy New Year to each other, and now some of my colleagues do too."
Lan Shuqing smiled again and asked, "Then why did you set an alarm to say Happy New Year to me?"
Jiang Bai was stunned, and then her face flushed. She moved her right hand unconsciously, and under Lan Shuqing's gaze, she stammered, "I just want to say Happy New Year to you." She looked into Lan Shuqing's eyes, "I want to say Happy New Year to you every year."
In the past, Jiang Bai always spent New Year's Eve and Chinese New Year alone.
Lan Shu leaned forward and hugged her carefully. "Then we have to talk about it in person every year from now on, okay?"
The familiar warmth and fragrance enveloped Jiang Bai. She sniffed and said, "Okay."
Lan Shuqing continued to whisper in Jiang Bai's ear: "Also, you're very good. If they don't want you, it's their loss, not yours, understand?"
Jiang Bai only understood this truth later, otherwise she would not have been able to survive alone until now.
But after confirming it again from Lan Shuqing, it is different.
Jiang Bai's fingertips moved slightly, she leaned against Lan Shuqing and replied softly, "Okay."
After Jiang Bai had almost calmed down, Lan Shuqing went to open the door to find Li Liyue and Lan Zhaoting. She briefly explained the situation to them.
Finally, the few people decided to send Jiang Bai's agreement and what Lan Zhaoting had found to Liang Xie, and let him negotiate with Sun Mei. Originally, Jiang Bai wanted to call Sun Mei himself, but Lan Shuqing felt that it was unnecessary and left the professional matters to the lawyers.
As for the Ye family, Lan Zhaoting thought it would be safer to go back to City A, so he thought of Lan Qi.
Yes, Lan Zhaoting only just remembered that Lan Qi was still in Beijing, but he couldn't let his son go back, so he was the only one who went back.
In this case, it seems unnecessary to go see Ye Ze. Lan Shuqing called Liang Xie and asked if he could talk to Ye Ze. Liang Xie confirmed that it was possible.
So the meeting turned into a phone call.
Ye Ze had been in the detention center for a few days and could no longer bear it. He apologized to Lan Shuqing as soon as he got on the phone, "Shuqing, I didn't mean it. You know, we grew up together..."
Lan Shuqing interrupted him, "Ye Ze, are you still immersed in your own fantasy?"
From childhood to adulthood?
Lan Shuqing didn't grow up with him.
Ye Ze's eyes turned red and he began to get anxious. "You don't care about me, but what about Jiang Bai? I..."
Lan Shuqing interrupted him again, "Don't think about doing anything to Jiang Bai, because you can't do anything." After that, she hung up the phone without saying another word.
Several people returned to the hospital, and Aunt Yao also brought them dinner. After dinner, Aunt Yao took the dishes back to clean up. Lan Zhaoting went to catch a plane, Lan Shuqing and Li Liyue went to see him off, and Jiang Bai stayed in the ward.
After staying in the hospital for a few days, Jiang Bai felt a little tired, so he got out of bed and walked slowly back and forth in the hospital corridor. He estimated that it would take a while for Lan Shuqing to come back.
Jiang Bai didn't know how Li Liyue and the others would react after they knew about her situation, but as long as Lan Shuqing didn't despise her, it would be fine.
The smell of hospital disinfectant was everywhere, and Jiang Bai was used to it. This floor was very quiet, with all single wards. She wondered if they were specially used for CEOs like those in novels... In that case, she was being extravagant for once...
While walking back and forth, Jiang Bai was lost in thought.
After Lan Zhaoting got in the car, Lan Shuqing took Li Liyue's arm and walked back. A lot of things happened today, and Lan Shuqing was a little silent.
Li Liyue glanced at her and asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling bad?"
"Um."
Lan Shu nodded slightly.
Li Liyue glanced at her and said nothing more.
The two of them returned to the ward in silence, and saw Jiang Bai standing in front of the window, looking at something.
Lan Shuqing walked over first, "Jiang Bai."
Jiang Bai turned around and saw Lan Shuqing. She smiled, "Lan Shuqing." She then looked behind Lan Shuqing and said, "Auntie, you're back."
Li Liyue glanced at her, said "hmm", then picked up her bag and said, "I'll go back first."
Lan Shuqing turned around in surprise and followed, "Mom, I'll take you there."
Li Liyue waved her hand and walked away.
Lan Shuqing stopped and Jiang Bai slowly walked over. "Lan Shuqing, is Auntie unhappy?"
"Well," Lan Shu's eyes darkened slightly, "I'll ask her later."
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