At the time, it was said that while the Liu Family was poor, Liu Yongming showed promise by getting into high school. The thought was that even in a worst-case scenario, he would at least be able to land a factory job after graduation. It was precisely because of this that Lin Yi agreed to the marriage.
He never imagined that Liu Yongming had only married Lin Qin for her dowry!
Lin Yi was now so full of regret that he felt like jumping off a building. Fearing that he might do something desperate, Lin Qin quickly wiped away her tears and said, "Dad, we still have to live. Yaya is still young. We cannot collapse; you have to help me."
With his mind a blank slate, Lin Yi muttered distractedly, "Help? Dad helping you... It is Dad who ruined you!" He began to sob even harder.
Watching her elderly father’s despair, the hatred in Lin Qin's heart overwhelmed her reason. "Dad! I have a way. Trust me. I won't let any of those people who bullied us mother and daughter go. I mean it!"
Lin Yi wiped his eyes and shook his head repeatedly. "Child, you mustn't do anything foolish!"
"Don't worry, Dad. I won't be that impulsive again. Let's wait until the child is discharged before we talk about anything else." Lin Qin patted Lin Yi's shoulder and led him back to the hospital room.
Chen Wenjun was busy using a toy to make Liu Yaya laugh.
The sight made Lin Qin feel a sense of déjà vu, recalling 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 herself had been ill, he had treated her like a child, coaxing her just the same. Now, it was Liu Yaya he was comforting.
Lin Yi stood behind Lin Qin, watching silently without a word.
The elderly woman in the neighboring bed praised Lin Qin, saying, "Your man is quite something. It’s rare to see a man so willing to coax a little girl like that. I actually misunderstood him earlier today; I truly apologize."
Lin Qin smiled awkwardly, giving up on trying to explain.
Because Liu Yaya was neither crying nor fussing, Lin Qin and Lin Yi didn't dare make any noise, simply watching in silence as Chen Wenjun coaxed her to sleep. Once the child was asleep, all the adults instinctively slowed their breathing.
Chen Wenjun gestured silently that he was leaving. Lin Yi immediately went out to see him off.
"I owe you a great debt today. If not for you running around taking care of everything, I wouldn't have known what to do for my daughter!" Lin Yi’s gratitude toward Chen Wenjun was heartfelt.
Chen Wenjun smiled generously. "Uncle, no need to be so formal with me. Lin Qin has had a very bitter life. I didn't know about it before, but after the Liu Family inexplicably dragged her into this mess, I started paying attention to their affairs. I heard that she and her daughter were treated like beasts of burden in the Liu Family, but those people never treated them as human beings. In the past, when things were minor, Lin Qin just endured it. Last time, they went too far and pushed her to the brink. I never thought they would escalate it to something as vicious as splashing boiling water. In my opinion, the Liu Family is no place for a human to stay. If the child goes back there, who knows what might happen to her?"
Lin Yi nodded dumbly, the light gone from his eyes. After seeing Chen Wenjun off, he hunched his shoulders, leaned against the wall, and walked back to the hospital room with heavy steps.
For the next few days, he waited day and night for Liu Yongming to come and check on the child, or for someone from the Liu Family to come and offer an apology. But he waited in vain.
Instead, on the fifth day of the child’s hospitalization, Liu Ling arrived.
Thinking she had come to ask for money, Lin Qin immediately fished out a few one-yuan bills to give her.
Liu Ling quickly waved her hands. "Sister Lin Qin, I didn't come for that. We haven't seen you for so many days, so I just wanted to come by and see how the child is doing."
The elderly woman in the neighboring bed had already been discharged, and there were no new patients in the room 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 terrified that her legs went weak and her teeth began to chatter. "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, "Daughter, Liu Li hurt Yaya like this. Did the Liu Family say anything?"
Liu Ling opened her mouth, a flicker of pity appearing in her eyes as she looked at Lin Qin and Liu Yaya. "Uncle, Xu Manzhi was also burned. I heard she suffered severe burns from her buttocks to her thighs and back. She went to the clinic to get treated, but she didn't come to the hospital. The Liu Family claims that Yaya was being mischievous and bumped into Xu Manzhi, causing her to spill the boiling water, and that Yaya got splashed by accident. They are even saying that Sister Lin Qin is spreading nonsense and slandering Liu Li."
"Outrageous! Simply outrageous!" Lin Yi clutched his chest and slumped back.
Lin Qin was terrified and shouted, "Doctor! Doctor!"
Liu Ling was also flustered and rushed to help.
After a while, Lin Yi recovered. Lin Qin remained worried and insisted he get a check-up. Knowing how difficult things already were for his daughter, Lin Yi didn't want to add to her stress, so he followed her wishes and went for the exam, even though it pained him to spend the money.
Seeing that Lin Yi was fine, Liu Ling breathed a sigh of relief. As she was about to leave, Lin Qin quickly handed her a stack of bills. "I borrowed three yuan from your grandmother, three yuan from Auntie Lanhua next door, two from Uncle Fu, and two from Uncle Yang. Could you please return these for me?"
She had no intention of returning to the Liu Family. At the very least, she knew she couldn't go back while she was so isolated and weak.
Liu Ling looked down at the money, feeling a bit uneasy. "Sister Lin Qin, aren't you afraid I might pocket your money?"
"I trust you!" Lin Qin replied without hesitation.
Liu Ling nodded repeatedly, promising, "Okay! I'll pay them back for you as soon as I get home."
Lin Qin saw her downstairs. As she watched her get on her bicycle, she asked, "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 once more 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, informed the attending doctor, and she and Lin Yi carried Liu Yaya out. The nurses assumed the child was just restless and wanted to go out for some air, so they didn't think much of it and let them leave.
The two of them carried the child all the way to the Second Middle School. Although the school had a main gate, security wasn't as strict as it would be in the future. As long as someone from the family spoke to the guard, they were usually let in. Lin Qin claimed the child was sick and that she needed to get inside to discuss something with her sister-in-law in the ninth grade. Since the ninth-grade classrooms were on the third floor, the guard didn't bother running up to relay the message and told Lin Qin to go in herself.
As the father and daughter carried Liu Yaya toward Class 3, they passed Class 2, where Liu Ling saw them and looked as if her eyes were about to pop out of her head.
At that moment, class was in session. Zhang Hua, the homeroom teacher of Class 3, Grade 9, saw the spectacle of Lin Qin’s arrival. He 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 cried out, "Teacher, the Liu Li in your class tried to kill my daughter and me! My daughter has been harmed so miserably by her. I beg the school to grant us justice!"
Zhang Hua stepped back in shock and abruptly turned to look at Liu Li, whose face had gone pale. "This... is there some kind of misunderstanding?"
Lin Qin, eyes brimming with tears, lifted the gauze to reveal the wounds on Liu Yaya's back in front of everyone. The group of sheltered teenagers were all deeply frightened by the sight. Even Zhang Hua was so shocked that he covered his mouth. "This... did Liu Li do this?"