CH 77

Although Lu Qingjiu had his suspicions, he was still furious after learning the truth. The child was still too young to express himself after being bullied. Sometimes, a parent’s carelessness would lead them to miss the warning signs and by the time they do notice, it was all too late. Lu Qingjiu asked Le Le a few more questions such as who poked him and if other children had been poked.

Le Le obediently answered his questions, saying that those people who poked him were sent into the hospital by Xiao Jiao. No other children received this punishment so it seemed this matter was entirely targeting Le Le alone.

This made Lu Qingjiu confused. In a case like this, if it were the kindergarten that was the problem, many children would be the victims because the teachers had already made needles a form of punishment for misbehaving children. But now, Le Le was the only one to suffer this punishment. Could Le Le’s identity be somewhat special?

Out of the three injured, two were teachers while the remaining injured person was the upper-class lady with connection with the investor. From Le Le’s explanations, Lu Qingjiu understood he had never seen the upper-class lady until one day when his teacher suddenly found an excuse to punish him and brought him into an empty room. In that room, a woman he had never seen before was instead the one who carried out the punishment. She showed extreme hatred towards Lele, not only ‘stinging’ him, but also using poisonous words to scold him. Frightened and hurt, Le Le could only cry in confusion.

After going home that day, Le Le had wanted to tell his mother but she wasn’t home. The domestic worker in his home often ignored him, so Le Le could only run out pitifully to the park near his house. Like usual, he cried underneath a tree, pouring his heart out to the beehive hanging in the tree. Unexpectedly after his continuous tears, a boy called Xiao Jiao suddenly appeared from the surrounding bushes and the two instantly became friends. Xiao Jiao helped Le Le take revenge while Le Le, after discovering Xiao Jiao’s love for honey, would bring a bottle of honey everyday to meet Xiao Jiao.

After understanding the whole matter, Lu Qingjiu intended to look for Le Le’s mother for a talk. He believed that the majority of mothers loved their child. Although there were exceptions, he believed that, as Le Le’s mother, she had an obligation to know what was going on.

Moreover, Le Le was still young. If he met a similar situation again, he couldn’t always rely on the Jiaochong.

“But mommy is not at home, she’s busy with work.” Hearing Lu Qingjiu’s suggestion, Le Le’s expression grew lonely. His long lashes quivered and beads of tears began to form. “Le Le doesn’t know when mommy will come home.”

“When does Le Le usually see your mommy?” Lu Qingjiu asked.

“I don’t know. Sometimes Mommy will accompany Le Le to eat on weekdays, but even then it’s usually just for a short while.”

Lu Qingjiu asked, “What about your daddy?”

Le Le replied, “Daddy is also busy. I haven’t seen him for a long time…”

Lu Qingjiu continued, “Does Le Le know your mommy’s number?”

Le Le nodded with a little hesitation. “But Auntie said I shouldn’t casually call mommy.”

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The more he heard, the angrier Lu Qingjiu grew. “Le Le, tell uncle your mommy’s number. Uncle promises that your mom won’t be angry.”

Le Le hesitated for a moment and glanced at the Jiaochong by the side getting his nodding approval before revealing the number.

Lu Qingjiu immediately called. His call was cut off the first time and it rang for quite a while the second time until finally someone picked up. An annoyed woman’s voice was heard, asking who it was.

Lu Qingjiu asked, “Are you Le Le’s mother?”

“Le Le? What happened to Le Le?” Hearing her son’s name, the woman grew anxious. “Who is this? Did something happen to my son?”

Lu Qingjiu replied, “There’s something wrong with your son. I’m sending him home now, you need to come immediately.”

The woman answered, “But I still have a meeting later, can I…”

Lu Qingjiu said coldly, “No, you can’t.” Logically, his attitude should be much better considering this was his first time speaking to the other person. But Lu Qingjiu had no intentions of giving Le Le’s mother a good attitude.

“It’s best if you come back now or I can’t guarantee Le Le will be fine.” Lu Qingjiu gave one final warning.

The woman was frightened by Lu Qingjiu’s tone and wanted to say something else but he had already hung up.

“Come on, let’s go home.” Lu Qingjiu patted Le Le’s head. “Say goodbye to the Jiaochong.”

“Xiao Jiao, bye bye. I’ll come find you tomorrow.” Le Le stepped forward and kissed the Jiaochong’s cheeks.

Xiao Jiao’s face reddened but he still waved goodbye and made a farewell gesture. He knew Le Le needed to return to human society. He could help Le Le solve a moment’s matter but in actuality that couldn’t address the root of the problem. With Lu Qingjiu to guide him, there should be a better outcome.

Moreover, what if there came a day… Le Le could no longer see him?

Lu Qingjiu picked Le Le up and left the park with Bai Yuehu under the Jiaochong’s gaze, heading to Le Le’s house near the park.

He could tell Le Le came from a comfortable lifestyle. He lived in a garden-like home. The Auntie, whose job was only to take care of Le Le, was surprised to see Lu Qingjiu return with Le Le in his arms.

Lu Qingjiu merely said that he was a kindergarten worker. Something had happened at the kindergarten, so he had brought Le Le back and wanted to take the chance to speak to Le Le’s guardian.

She looked at Lu Qingjiu and Bai Yuehu with suspicion but still allowed them in.

They sat in the living room waiting for Le Le’s mother to return. Meanwhile, Lu Qingjiu observed the entire house and found no traces of a child living there. At the very least, he couldn’t see any toys for children in the living room. The empty house appeared cold and lonely. No wonder Le Le liked to play outside.

Due to fear that something had happened to Le Le, his mother rushed home after cancelling the meeting.

Arriving home, she saw Lu Qingjiu sitting in the living room and asked rudely, “Who are you?” She was evidently a successful career woman, her aura when speaking to others was very assertive.

However, Lu Qingjiu was unaffected. He beckoned to her, “Come here.”

Le Le’s mother frowned and after a moment of hesitation, she slowly walked towards him.

Lu Qingjiu sighed deeply. “Look closely.” He lifted Le Le’s shirt and exposed his back.

Just as she was about to explode from Lu Qingjiu’s actions, she suddenly noticed the marks on Le Le’s back and immediately understood. Her expression changed and her tone was strained with anger. “Who did this? Le Le, did somebody stab you with a needle?”

Her sinister expression must have startled Le Le who ducked into Lu Qingjiu’s arm as he stared fearfully at his mother.

His mother was hurt by Le Le’s frightened expression. “Le Le, don’t be afraid of mommy. Mommy loves you…”

Lu Qingjiu hugged Le Le and gently patted his back to comfort him. “Calm down, don’t scare the child. Le Le was hurt by his kindergarten teachers but those two are already in the hospital now…”

Le Le’s mother grew even more furious when she heard this but she was afraid of further scaring her child. So, she forcefully suppressed her anger and forced a smile at Lu Qingjiu, “Hello. I’m Du Qinghong… Zhuang Le’s mother. May I know who you are?”

“I’m Lu Qingjiu.” He replied, “I saw your son crying in the park while passing through. Upon asking him about it and learning about his circumstances, I thought of informing his parents to raise their awareness.”

Du Qinghong replied, “Thank you. Le Le, come here, tell mommy what happened?”

However, Le Le remained motionless in Lu Qingjiu’s arms, staring at his mother cautiously. Du Qinghong nearly cried from seeing her son’s hesitant gaze.

Lu Qingjiu, “Since I’ve already clarified the situation, let me tell you the whole story.” He concisely told her about the matter and naturally, the main focus was on the upper-class lady who’d snuck into the kindergarten to stab Le Le with the needle. He felt that this was the crux of this situation.

Unsurprisingly, Du Qinghong’s face turned ugly when she heard this. However, bearing in mind that her child was still present, she did not curse out loud. Even so, she couldn’t hold back her anger. “I knew it… who would dare to touch my Le Le? So, it’s her. I let her off once but she actually did such a thing to my son, that bitch!” The last word was practically spat through gritted teeth. Looking at Du Qinghong’s poisonous expression, the other party would probably have become mincemeat if she were standing in front of her.

“What are her intentions? For her to be able to do such a thing to a child?” Lu Qingjiu just couldn’t understand how a personal grudge could lead a person to hurt a five-year-old child.

Du Qinghong looked at Le Le and gave a long sigh. “Let’s go outside.” She got up and took out some snacks from the freezer. “Le Le, wait here for me. I need to talk to this uncle.” Evidently, she didn’t want Le Le to know too much about these dirty things.

Le Le nodded blankly and obediently sat on the spot without moving.

Watching her cute obedient child, Du Qinghong couldn’t hold back her tears. She bit her lips and exerted all her strength to get up from her chair to go outside with Lu Qingjiu.

Outside, she concisely revealed all their family matters to Lu Qingjiu. It turned out that Zhuang Le’s father had an affair half a year ago and wanted to divorce Du Qinghong. However, she refused because she still had feelings for him. As Zhuang Le’s father had married into his wife’s family, most of their assets were in Du Qinghong’s name, including the company he worked at.

Du Qinghong was often too busy with work and thus neglected her family. In order to make it up to Zhuang Le, she invested a huge sum in the Kindergarten. However, it was made under Zhuang Le’s father’s name… As Du Qinghong was still in a deadlock with her husband, she was hoping that this would make him turn around and give Zhuang Le a complete family. In the end, she neglected the person most important to her and didn’t even notice something strange happening to Zhuang Le.

Zhuang Le was very obedient. Unlike other children, he rarely threw any tantrums because he could not see his mother often. Even when he was being wronged, he would still hold in his sadness. Du Qinghong never imagined that that woman would dare to hurt her child under her eyes. She had underestimated the cruelty of humans and never imagined they would do something so sinister.

“That bitch is crazy! How dare she actually do such a thing?” Du Qinghong hated her with a vengeance. The mere thought of that woman made her so angry she didn’t even feel it when her nails cracked from gripping the banister so tightly. “I’m going to make her pay.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “She’s currently in the hospital. It’s hard to tell if she’ll survive.”

“What happened to her?” Du Qinghong frowned.

“She was stung by bees.” Lu Qingjiu replied, “It’s probably a case of karma.”

Du Qinghong laughed coldly. “Some bee stings? She wants to escape punishment with such small injuries?” She used a piece of tissue to wipe away her tears, returning to her previously strong and independent appearance. Her tone was frighteningly cold, “I’ll only let her off if she’s dead. Otherwise… Hehe.”

Lu Qingjiu asked, “What about your husband?”

Du Qinghong asked, “Him? Since he wants to leave so much, I’ll give him the divorce he wants.” She spat, as if she had put down a huge weight. “But he doesn’t need to think of taking a single thing.” Recalling Le Le’s injuries and her child’s cautious expression, Du Qinghong’s heart hurt terribly. She never imagined that her negligence would cause her child to encounter such a thing. It was so preposterous she didn’t even think such a thing could happen, but it had actually happened. Luckily, nothing irreversible had happened yet.

Du Qinghong looked gratefully at Lu Qingjiu. “Thank you, Mr. Lu. If it weren’t for you, Le Le…”

“You’re welcome.” Lu Qingjiu replied. “Why don’t we pay them a visit at the hospital?” He was kind of curious about their current situation.

“Alright.”

The two decided to go to the hospital that night to visit those people who were stung. After their discussion, they went back inside the house and saw Bai Yuehu sitting on the sofa with Zhuang Le. They were taking turns to eat cake.

Although Bai Yuehu looked cold and unapproachable, he and Zhuang Le could be considered kindred spirits. Zhuang Le loved the beautiful uncle and even generously gave Bai Yuehu the red cherry on the cake.

Lu Qingjiu looked at them and felt they were like two little kids.

At the side, Du Qinghong’s eyes carried warmth. Her expression resembled Lu Qingjiu’s to a certain extent.

After eating dinner, Du Qinghong put Zhuang Le to sleep before driving to the hospital with Lu Qingjiu and Bai Yuehu. The hospital was relatively near, only a 20 minute drive away.

On the way there, Du Qinghong made phone calls to enquire about the condition of the injured people. After confirming that Lu Qingjiu had told the truth, she hated that she couldn’t reach the hospital faster.

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Normally, seeing her enemy’s wretched state should bring Du Qinghong joy but she couldn’t feel an ounce of joy. After all, these injuries weren’t caused by her.

The upper-class lady had already regained consciousness but was still unable to speak. After seeing Du Qinghong appear, fear filled her eyes. She had evidently recognised Du Qinghong.

Du Qinghong looked at her expression and laughed gently, “Zhu Xiaorong, you have to recover quickly.”

Zhu Xiaorong wanted to speak, but could only make ‘ah’ sounds from her swollen face.

“Didn’t you like torturing my son?” Du Qinghong smiled. “I also like to torture others, especially those like you. You have to get better quickly so that I can enjoy myself.”

Zhu Xiaorong cried from fright.

Unfortunately, these tears couldn’t summon any sympathy. At any rate, they were nothing more than crocodile tears since it was too late for her to just have realised what her actions had brought her.

They visited the other patients and according to the doctor, their conditions had already stabilised so they weren’t in any danger. However, they needed a long time to recover.

Du Qinghong said coldly, “It’s okay, I can wait.”

There is no greater warrior than a mother protecting her child. At the very least, Lu Qingjiu was a little frightened when he saw Du Qinghong’s expression.

Just as the three people prepared to leave, they saw an unexpected person at the parking lot – Du Qinghong’s husband and Zhuang Le’s father – Zhuang Wenshi.

Upon meeting each other, Du Qinghong was silent but Zhuang Wenshi took the lead to express his dissatisfaction. He began to shout at Du Qinghong, accusing her of being the culprit. He just knew that Du Qinghong wouldn’t let Zhu Xiaorong off and even accused her of being overly ruthless to Zhu Xiaorong. It seemed like he intended to hold Du Qinghong responsible for Zhu Xiarong being stung by bees.

After releasing his anger, he expected Du Qinghong to retort furiously as she always did. Unexpectedly, Du Qinghong looked at him coldly with utmost disappointment and hatred, causing a chill to go up his spine.

“Come to my office tomorrow afternoon.” Du Qinghong said, “Bring the papers. We’re going to the Bureau of Civil Affairs to complete our divorce.”

Zhuang Wenshi froze as if he hadn’t expected Du Qinghong to agree to this matter, at least not so quickly. His mouth opened and closed like he was trying to say something, but he forcibly swallowed his words back down when he saw Du Qinghong’s icy gaze.

“You’re really going to divorce me?” Previously, Du Qinghong had refused no matter what he said. Now, her attitude changed so suddenly that Zhuang Wenshi couldn’t understand.

“Of course.” Du Qinghong said. “You’re the one who cheated on me, so don’t dream about getting any company shares. Since you want to pursue your love affair, let’s see if that affair can fill your stomach.” She laughed coldly and no longer bothered with him, turning around to walk away leaving him behind.

After the three people got in her car,Lu Qingjiu sighed deeply.

“Are you alright?” Lu Qingjiu asked.

“I’m fine.” Du Qinghong replied, “I can still deal with this.” She said softly.

“Moreover, this is just the beginning. It’s too early for this to end.” She didn’t want Zhu Xiarong and Zhuang Wenshi to pay with their lives, because only living people could feel pain. Everything that her son had experienced, she would pay them back in full.

Du Qinghong sent Lu Qingjiu and Bai Yuehu back to the vicinity of the kindergarten and watched them get onto the pickup truck. Of course, they exchanged contact information before bidding farewell. Du Qinghong and Lu Qingjiu came to an agreement; she would let him know if anything happened to Le Le.

Before heading home, Lu Qingjiu headed to the park to look for the Jiaocong.

“You’re living here?” Lu Qingjiu asked, “Are you the mountain god here? What do you eat?”

The Jiaochong snorted and lifted his chin. “I have a lot to eat.”

Lu Qingjiu: “Such as?”

Jiaochong: “… Such as the honey Le Le gives me.”

“Then, what do you eat when Le Le doesn’t give you honey?” If it were before, he definitely wouldn’t care about this but now, looking at how his family’s poor fox was friends with the mountain god, he miraculously began to worry for this mountain god’s living condition.

Jiaochong: “Eat… I eat fruits.” His voice was very soft.

Lu Qingjiu immediately knew he was lying. There were no fruit trees in the park, where did the fruits come from?

Bai Yuehu was silent by the side until he finally spoke up, “You rummaged through the bins?”

Unexpectedly, the Jiaochong exploded upon hearing these words.

“Why is rummaging through the bins a bad thing? This is originally my territory, everything in the bins are mine! Why must I be looked down for rummaging through them?!”

Lu Qingjiu couldn’t bear to watch any longer and even wanted to cover his face. The main point wasn’t that the Jiaochong went through the bins, but that Bai Yuehu managed to guess it. Could it be that his family’s fox had also been forced by his situation to do such a thing before? This was too pitiful.

Thinking of such, tenderness surged through Lu Qingjiu’s heart and even his voice was softer than before. “Xiao Jiao, do you want to go back with us?”

Jiaochong: “Go back? To where?”

Lu Qingjiu: “Shuifu village is just beside the city. When we go back, I’ll give you many things to eat…”

The Jiaochong refused Lu Qingjiu’s goodwill. “I can’t go to such a faraway place.”

“How wide is your range?” He had guessed the Jiaochong was similar to Yin Xun in the way that they both couldn’t leave beyond a certain area.

“Just about the range of this city area.”

Lu Qingjiu made a sound and felt a little regretful, but this matter could only end here.

On the way back, Bai Yuehu told Lu Qingjiu the Jiaochong had been lying. He wasn’t the same type of mountain god as Yin Xun. He just didn’t want to leave the park and found a random excuse.

“But at the very least, can’t he find control bees?” Lu Qingjiu asked, “Since they make honey which he can eat, why must he go through the bins?”

Bai Yuehu: “Won’t you get sick of eating honey after a hundred years?”

“…”

Bai Yuehu: “I would definitely be sick of it.”

Lu Qingjiu had not thought this far and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Right, how did you know that the Jiaochong went through the bins?”

Bai Yuehu’s gaze immediately straightened and he calmly replied, “It was a guess.”

Lu Qingjiu: “Oh…” He definitely wouldn’t mention this topic again, otherwise, it may dig up Bai Yuehu’s tragic past.