Chapter 10: Going to Liu Li's School

It was said at the time that the Liu family was very poor, but Liu Yongming was promising and had been admitted to high school; even in the worst-case scenario, he could get a job at a factory after graduation. It was precisely because of this that Lin Yi agreed to the marriage.

He never imagined that Liu Yongming had married Lin Qin for her dowry!

Lin Yi now regretted it so much he felt like jumping off a building.

Fearing he might do something desperate, Lin Qin quickly wiped away her tears and said, "Dad, life still has to go on. Yaya is still young, we can't collapse. You have to help me."

With his mind a blank slate, Lin Yi muttered in a daze, "Help... Dad help you... It was Dad who ruined you!"

Lin Yi cried even harder.

Watching her elderly father’s despair, the hatred in Lin Qin’s heart washed away her reason. "Dad! I have a way. Trust me. I won't let any of those people who bullied us mother and daughter off the hook. I mean it!"

Lin Yi wiped his tears and shook his head repeatedly. "Girl, you mustn't do anything foolish!"

"Dad, don't worry. I won't be that impulsive again. Let's wait until the child is discharged from the hospital before we talk about anything else." Lin Qin patted Lin Yi's shoulder and led him back to the ward.

Chen Wenjun was currently using a toy to amuse Liu Yaya.

The sight made Lin Qin vaguely recall many things from her past life. Back then, when Chen Wenjun’s son, Chen Ping'an, was sick, he had coaxed him with the same patience. Even when she was sick, he had treated her like a child, and now, he was doing the same for Liu Yaya.

Lin Yi stood behind Lin Qin, watching silently without saying a word.

The woman in the next bed praised Lin Qin, "Your man is quite good. It’s rare to see a man willing to coax a daughter like that. I misunderstood him earlier today; I’m truly sorry."

Lin Qin smiled awkwardly and gave up on explaining.

Because Liu Yaya was neither crying nor making a fuss, Lin Qin and Lin Yi didn't dare make a sound, just watching silently as Chen Wenjun coaxed her to sleep.

Seeing the child was asleep, the adults all tacitly slowed their breathing.

Chen Wenjun gestured silently that he was leaving.

Lin Yi immediately went out to see him off.

"Thanks to you today. If you hadn't been running around for us, I wouldn't have known what to do for my daughter!" Lin Yi was genuinely grateful to Chen Wenjun.

Chen Wenjun laughed generously, "Uncle, no need to be so polite with me. Lin Qin’s life has been too bitter. I didn't know before, but this time, after being inexplicably dragged into the Liu family's mess, I started paying attention to their affairs.

I heard that she and her daughter were worked to the bone like beasts of burden in the Liu family, but those people never treated them like human beings. The matters were small before, and Lin Qin endured them, but last time, they went too far and pushed her to the edge.

I didn't expect them to get even worse, resorting to such vicious methods as splashing boiling water. In my opinion, that Liu family is no place for a human to live. If the child goes back, who knows what might happen to her!"

Lin Yi nodded numbly, his eyes devoid of any light. After seeing Chen Wenjun off, he hunched his back, leaned against the wall, and walked back into the ward with heavy steps.

For the next few days, he hoped day and night that Liu Yongming would come to see the child, or that someone from the Liu family would come to apologize.

But he waited for nothing.

It wasn't until the fifth day of the child's hospitalization that Liu Ling arrived.

Lin Qin thought she had come to ask for money and immediately took out a few one-yuan bills to give her.

Liu Ling waved her hands quickly, "Sister Lin Qin, I saw that you hadn't returned for so many days, so I thought I'd come and take a look. How is the child doing?"

The woman in the next bed had already been discharged, and no new patient had moved into the ward yet, so Lin Qin had no reservations. She lifted the gauze on Liu Yaya's back to show Liu Ling the wound.

Liu Ling was so frightened that her legs went weak, and her teeth chattered as she spoke, "It's so severe! That crazy woman Liu Li actually laid such a heavy hand on a child!"

Lin Yi couldn't help but step forward and ask, "Girl, Liu Li hurt Yaya like this—did the Liu family say anything?"

Liu Ling opened her mouth, her eyes filled with a bit more pity as she looked at Lin Qin and Liu Yaya. "Uncle, Xu Manzhi was also scalded. I heard her back, buttocks, and thighs were badly burned. She went to the health center for treatment and didn't come to the hospital.

The Liu family claims that Yaya was being naughty and bumped into Xu Manzhi, causing her to spill the boiling water and get splashed herself. They also said Sister Lin Qin was spouting nonsense and slandering Liu Li."

"Outrageous! Simply outrageous!" Lin Yi clutched his chest and fell backward into his seat.

Lin Qin was terrified and shouted, "Doctor! Doctor!"

Liu Ling panicked as well and hurried to help.

Lin Yi recovered after a while, but Lin Qin was worried and insisted he get a check-up.

Knowing his daughter was already having such a hard time, Lin Yi didn't want to worry her, so he went along with the check-up, though his heart ached at the cost—it was all money!

Seeing that Lin Yi was fine, Liu Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as she was about to leave, Lin Qin quickly handed her a stack of money. "I borrowed three yuan from your grandmother, three yuan from Aunt Lanhua next door, Uncle Fu gave me two yuan, and Uncle Yang gave me two yuan. Please help me return them."

She had no intention of returning to the Liu family; at the very least, she couldn't go back while she was so weak and alone.

Liu Ling looked down at the money, feeling a bit uneasy. "Sister Lin Qin, aren't you afraid I'll pocket your money?"

"I trust you!" Lin Qin replied without hesitation.

Liu Ling nodded repeatedly, promising, "Okay! I'll return the money for you as soon as I get back."

Lin Qin saw her downstairs, watched her get on her bicycle, and asked casually, "Liu Li is in Class 3, Grade 9 at the Second Middle School, right?"

Liu Ling nodded, "That's right! It's the class next to mine."

Lin Qin thanked her again and watched Liu Ling leave.

The next day, the doctor said Liu Yaya could be discharged after one more day of observation.

Lin Qin rented a stretcher from the hospital for the day, greeted the attending physician, and together with Lin Yi, carried Liu Yaya out.

The nurse assumed the child was restless and wanted to go out to play, so she didn't think much of it and let them go.

The two of them carried the child all the way to the Second Middle School.

Although the school had a gate at the time, management wasn't as strict as it would be in ten or twenty years. As long as someone from the family told the guard, they would be let in.

Lin Qin used the child's illness as an excuse, saying she needed to go in and talk to her sister-in-law in the ninth grade.

The ninth grade was on the third floor, and the guard wouldn't bother running up to pass a message, so he let Lin Qin go in herself.

The father and daughter carried Liu Yaya all the way to Class 3, Grade 9. When they passed Class 2, Liu Ling saw them and her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

Class was in session at that moment.

Zhang Hua, the homeroom teacher of Class 3, Grade 9, saw the scene Lin Qin was making, immediately put down his book, and walked out. "Comrade, what is the matter?"

In front of everyone, Lin Qin knelt before Zhang Hua, tears streaming down her face as she shouted, "Teacher, Liu Li from your class tried to kill us mother and daughter! My daughter was harmed so badly by her—I beg the school to seek justice for me!"

Zhang Hua stepped back in shock and turned his head sharply to look at the pale-faced Liu Li. "This... is there some kind of misunderstanding?"

Lin Qin’s eyes were filled with tears as she lifted the gauze on Liu Yaya's back in front of everyone.

A group of young boys and girls who had never seen such things were all deeply frightened.

Even Zhang Hua covered his mouth in shock. "This... did Liu Li do this?"