Chapter 207: Chapter 207

Li Jianwen seemed not to hear Ge Sanmei’s complaints as he turned away and walked off. Seeing her son leaving, Ge Sanmei quickly followed after him: "Jianwen, slow down. Where are you going? Come home with Mom, and study for your exam."

Li Jianwen turned around, glaring fiercely at Ge Sanmei, and said: "Stop talking to me about studying!"

Ge Sanmei was taken aback by the sudden change in her second son’s demeanor, but she couldn’t give up and whispered, "How can you get a job assignment without an education? Mom is still counting on you to provide for her in old age."

Li Jianwen, who was about to leave, suddenly spun around. His fierce face unexpectedly broke into a smile and he said, "Then Mom should go beg Qin Xi. Beg your daughter and son-in-law to get me a good job. Qin Xi has now returned to the capital. His grandfather is a high-ranking official. It would be easy to get into the government or even secure supply rations with a word from him."

Ge Sanmei looked at her son’s sudden smiling face with not a trace of happiness, but immense fear instead. Ever since failing the exam for two years in a row, her second son had changed completely.

He constantly asked for money to go to the county to "make connections", but where could she get money? The money from adopting Li Xianglu had run out long ago, and the few hundred yuan she received from the divorce from Li Erfu was also spent over time. In these last two years, the work points from the fields were managed by her eldest and his spouse, even the grain was locked up. She had to create a scene just to persuade that despicable An Cuicui to give her a few yuan, but that was hardly enough.

Begging that heartless girl? She had knelt before her, and she wouldn’t even forgive or acknowledge Ge Sanmei.

Watching her son’s departing figure, Ge Sanmei’s no longer young body also swayed. Who could she rely on in the future?

No, she still had a promising youngest son. San’er was the apple of her eye, the one she had cherished from a young age. Yes, she would send a telegram.

At the end of the year, San’er had even given her twenty yuan. It’s unknown what spell Li Dafu’s family had cast on the boy, they even brought back a brand-new cotton quilt for that old man, claiming it was from Xiang sent from the capital for San’er to bring back. Impossible, a girl still schooling, how could she afford a quilt!

Thinking of this, Ge Sanmei suddenly felt a burst of strength in her feet and briskly walked back. She was going to Li Dafu’s to get San’er’s address and send a telegram.

Meanwhile, Li Xianglu had been sitting in the hospital for a long time before she finally regained some strength. Qin Xi, having brought some food for them both, took Li Xianglu out.

They didn’t speak much on the way, first stopping at the state-owned canteen in the county for some stir-fried dishes and rice, and ordered an egg soup.

After eating, they returned to the guesthouse. Seeing Li Xianglu so powerless, Qin Xi comforted her, "It’s okay, we’ll go back home in a couple of days. Just don’t think about it."

Li Xianglu felt emotionally exhausted. She crawled over and hugged Qin Xi’s waist, resting her head in his arms, silent.

Qin Xi didn’t speak either, just held her in his arms quietly, stroking her hair.

After a long time, just when Qin Xi thought she had fallen asleep, she suddenly spoke, "Qin Xi, we need to visit Grandpa Lan. We owe it to him for his help this time. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so convenient."

Qin Xi nodded and replied, "Okay, we’ll buy some good wine and meat and go."

Li Xianglu then drifted off to sleep, and Qin Xi carried her to the bed to sleep properly before he shut the door and lay down beside her.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that they brought food to the county hospital, only to find Chunhua absent. Li Erfu explained, "She went back to share news with the family; she was worried Mom would be concerned. She’ll be back tonight."

Li Xianglu nodded without saying a word, served the meal to Li Erfu, and after he finished eating, she said, "The person who helped us borrow the car, we need to go and thank him. We won’t come over tonight, we’ll come again tomorrow morning and might go back then."

Li Erfu looked at his daughter with a calm expression and smiled, "Good, I’m all better now. You guys go back early and focus on your studies when you get back."

Li Xianglu cleaned up the lunch boxes and then left with Qin Xi.

Li Erfu looked at his daughter’s departing figure and actually felt regret inside. During these past two years living with He Chunhua, whenever he saw her doting on her daughter, he couldn’t help but think of Xiangxiang’s childhood.

A child not yet six was already stepping on stones to reach the stove and wash dishes; if she didn’t do well, she would get beaten. Originally, he used to protect her, but Ge Sanmei got annoyed a few times and said that if a girl is not taught well, she will bring shame to her maternal family after she marries.

So, he stopped interfering. Many times when he saw his daughter secretly crying, he just told her to obey, not to anger her mother.

But now when he thinks about it, he feels incredibly shameful. That’s not how you teach a child; it was Ge Sanmei being biased, and he himself also felt that having a son was more important.

But what was the result? He raised an ungrateful son, even wanting to hit his own father. Was this the result of favoritism? Over these two years, he regretted more and more, and the more he regretted, the less he wanted to contact his daughter, fearing he might bring trouble to her.

He never expected the child to treat him well, yet she had come all the way back to take care of his treatment. The food was unimaginably good, every meal was white flour and included meat and vegetables. The human heart grows from flesh; the better she treated him, the more guilty he felt.

Li Xianglu and the others brought two bottles of Moutai, which they had bought from the Overseas Chinese Store. Meat was unavailable and the grocery store had already closed.

Mr. Lan was very pleased to see the two, with only himself at home; he happily offered them water.

Seeing that Li Xianglu had brought fine liquor, he couldn’t stop smiling and kept asking Mr. Li how life was in the capital, and also inquired about other acquaintances. After hearing about their situations, he felt that all his old friends were getting old.

After a brief chat, as it was getting late, the two bid their farewell. Before they left, Mr. Lan mentioned that he might go to Shandong again in late August, returning only in the winter.

Li Xianglu said she would inform Grandpa and they could keep in touch by phone.

Back at the guesthouse, the two quickly washed up and lied down on the bed to chat.

Li Xianglu was stunned to hear that Li Jianwen wasn’t admitted, "Wasn’t he a good student?"

Qin Xi snorted, "College admissions are not solely about academic performance, political vetting is also critical."

Ah? So it turned out Li Jianwen’s failure to get admitted also involved Qin Xi’s maneuvers. Amused, she said, "So was that why that person came looking for me yesterday?"

Qin Xi kissed the forehead of the little girl in his arms and smiled, "Probably, I didn’t follow him out then, but I saw Li Jianwen waiting on the side."

Li Xianglu scoffed, "What a neat scheme they’ve concocted, still fantasizing that I could forgive them, treating everyone else like fools!"