Chapter 77: Family Matters

Although Lu Qingjiu knew from the start that there must be a discrepancy between what they had guessed and what had happened, he couldn't help but be angry when he found out the truth. Children are still too young to express themselves clearly when they are being bullied, and sometimes parents are too careless to notice when it is too late. Lu Qingjiu asked Le Le some more questions, such as who had stung him and whether other children had been stung.

Le Le dutifully answered Lu Qingjiu's question, saying that all the people who stung him had been sent to hospital by Xiao Jiao, that no other children had been punished and that everything seemed to be directed at Le Le alone.

This is strange for Lu Qingjiu, because normally, when there is a problem like this in a kindergarten, many children are the victims. The teacher had already used the needle as a punishment for disobedience, but here, Le Le was the only one being punished, so there was something special about Le Le!

Two of the three people injured were teachers, except for one, a noblewoman with connections to the investor, who had done the same to Le Le. From Le Le's account, Lu Qingjiu learnt that he had never seen the noblewoman until one day the teacher suddenly took him to a separate room and found an excuse to chastise him. The woman, whom he had never seen before, was the one who carried out the punishment, and she hated Le Le so much that she even stabbed him and cursed him with vicious words, and Le Le was so scared and in pain that he cried.

Le Le wanted to tell his mother about the incident, but she didn't come home and the maids didn't care about him. Then the two children saw each other. Xiao Jiao avenges Le Le's death and Le Le finds out that Xiao Jiao likes honey and carries a jar of honey from home every day to meet Xiao Jiao.

When Lu Qingjiu found out the whole story, he planned to take Le Le home to talk to his mother. He felt that most mothers love their children, although there are a few exceptions, but as Le Le's parent, he felt it was important to let her know about it.

And Le Le is still so young that if something like this happens to him in the future, he won't be able to ask the pride bug to step in every time.

"But mummy is not at home, mummy is busy with work." Le Le's expression looked forlorn when she heard Lu Qingjiu's offer, her long eyelashes drooping and her eyes beginning to glisten with tears again, " Le Le didn't know when mummy would be back."

"So when does Le Le usually get to see her mother?" Lu Qingjiu asked.

"I don't know." Le Le says, "Sometimes on Sundays Mum will eat with Le Le, but only for a while"

Lu Qingjiu said, "What about Le Le's father?"

Le Le said, "Dad's been busy too and hasn't been around for a while."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Does Le Le know Mum's phone number?"

Le Le nodded, but his expression was a little hesitant: "But Auntie said not to call Mum on the phone."

Auntie is the maid who takes Le Le home, so it seems that she is not too concerned about Le Le, or else Le Le would not have noticed all the cuts on his body, and according to Le Le, she has repeatedly told Le Le that his mother is very busy and that he should talk to her about everything, otherwise she will be angry if he bothers her.

The more Lu Qingjiu listened, the angrier he became, and finally, with a stomach full of anger, he said, " Le Le, tell your uncle your mother's phone number, and I promise you that she won't be angry."

Le Le hesitates for a moment, looks at the pride bug standing next to him and sees it nod before he puts in the call.

Lu Qingjiu called straight away, the first time he was hung up, the second time it took a while for someone to pick up, and a somewhat impatient female voice came on the other end, asking Lu Qingjiu who he was.

Lu Qingjiu said, "Are you Le Le's mother?"

" Le Le Le Le What's wrong" The woman heard her son's name and became nervous all of a sudden, "Who are you please? Is something wrong with my son?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "Something serious has happened to your son and I'm going to send him home now, so you'd better come back right away too."

The woman said, "But I have a meeting downstairs, can I"

Lu Qingjiu said coldly, "No." It was reasonable to be nice when talking to a stranger for the first time, but Lu Qingjiu had no intention of being nice to Le Le's mother.

"You'd better come back now or I can't guarantee anything will happen to Le Le." Lu Qingjiu gave a direct ultimatum.

The woman was taken aback by Lu Qingjiu's tone of voice and tried to ask for more, but Lu Qingjiu simply hung up the phone.

"Come on, let's go home." Lu Qingjiu stroked Le Le's little head, "Say goodbye to Xiao Jiao."

"Xiao Jiao, goodbye, I'll see you tomorrow." Le Le came over again and kissed Xiao Jiao's puffy cheeks.

Xiao Jiao's ears flushed red again, but he waved his hand at Le Le in a goodbye gesture. He knew that Le Le still had to return to human society, and he could help Le Le out of a temporary problem, but there was no way to fundamentally change anything, and it was actually best for Lu Qingjiu to step in and guide him.

Besides, what if Le Le doesn't see him one day.

Lu Qingjiu picked Le Le up and left the park with Bai Yuehu, under the watchful eye of the proud insects, and took Le Le back to his home nearby.

It was clear that Le Le's family was well off, living in a large garden-style flat, but the aunt who looked after Le Le was a little surprised to see Lu Qingjiu carrying Le Le back.

Lu Qingjiu simply said that he was an employee of the kindergarten and that something had happened at the kindergarten, so he had brought Le Le back on purpose and there were still some questions to be answered with the parents.

The aunt looked at Lu Qingjiu and Bai Yuehu and, although suspicious, agreed that they should enter the house.

While the three of them waited for Le Le's mother in the living room, Lu Qingjiu looked around the house, noticing that there was no trace of children's life in the house, at least not in the living room.

Le Le's mother, presumably afraid of what Lu Qingjiu might do to Le Le, put off the meeting and drove home in a hurry.

When she arrives home, she sees Lu Qingjiu sitting in the living room and asks, "Who are you?" She is very successful in her career and is very aggressive in her questioning of people.

But Lu Qingjiu was having none of it. He beckoned to Le Le's mother and said, "Come here."

Le Le's mother frowned and hesitated for a moment, but then slowly walked up to Lu Qingjiu.

Lu Qingjiu took a deep breath and said, "You watch." As he finished, he reached out and lifted the corner of Le Le's shirt, revealing Le Le's back.

Le Le's mother was about to get angry at Lu Qingjiu's actions when she noticed the inconspicuous marks on Le Le's back, she looked at the dots and immediately understood what had happened, her expression changed dramatically and her voice became distorted with anger: "Who did this to Le Le, someone stuck you with a needle".

It was her scowl that scared Le Le into Lu Qingjiu's arms, looking at her mother with frightened eyes.

Le Le's mother's heart ached at the look in Le Le's eyes and she said in a trembling voice, " Le Le, don't be afraid of your mother, she loves you".

Lu Qingjiu hugged Le Le and gently patted Le Le's back to calm the child down. Le Le was stabbed by the kindergarten teachers, but both of them are in hospital now."

Le Le's mother was furious after hearing Lu Qingjiu's words, but she was afraid she would scare her child by reacting too much, so she swallowed her anger and gave Lu Qingjiu a very forced smile: "Hello, my name is Du Qinghong and I am Zhuang Le's mother, who are you? "

"My name is Lu Qingjiu." Lu Qingjiu said, "I saw your son crying in the park when I passed by today and asked about the situation and wanted to tell the parents to be careful."

Du Qinghong said, "Thank you, Le Le, come on, tell your mother what happened."

Du Qinghong's eyes almost burst into tears at Le Le's wandering gaze, but Le Le stayed in Lu Qingjiu's arms, his eyes cautiously watching his mother.

Lu Qingjiu said, "I've asked all the details, so I'll tell you." He told Du Qinghong directly what Le Le had told him, focusing, of course, on the noblewoman who had sneaked into the kindergarten and stuck Le Le's needle, a person he always felt was the key to the whole thing.

As a result, Du Qinghong's face became more and more ugly when he told her these things, and in the end, if she hadn't been concerned about the presence of her child, she would have cursed, but even so, she couldn't suppress her anger: "I thought who dared to do something to my Le Le? I let her off the hook, but she did this to my son, what a bitch", the last word was squeezed out of her teeth, looking at Du Qinghong's hateful expression, if that person was in front of her, she would want to eat her flesh and blood.

"Why on earth would she do that to such a young child?" Lu Qingjiu couldn't understand what kind of personal vendetta would make that person do that to a five-year-old child.

Du Qinghong looked at Le Le and let out a long sigh, "Let's go outside and talk." She stood up and got some desserts from the fridge and said, "Le Le, you sit here and be good, I'll go out with uncle and talk." It seemed that she didn't want Le Le to know too much about this dirty business.

Le Le nodded cluelessly and sat dutifully where he was without moving.

Looking at the child's well-behaved face, Du Qinghong could not hold back her tears and bit her lower lip with all her strength before she got up from the chair and walked outside with Lu Qingjiu.

Du Qinghong then briefly told Lu Qingjiu about their family. It turned out that Zhuang Le's father had cheated on him six months ago and wanted to divorce Du Qinghong, but Du Qinghong still had feelings for him, so he did not agree. Because Zhuang Le's father had joined the family, Du Qinghong managed almost all of the family's assets, including the company where Zhuang Le's father worked.

Du Qinghong was so busy with her work that she neglected her family. To compensate Zhuang Le, she even invested in a garden nursery in advance, only this investment was in the name of Zhuang Le's father Du Qinghong is still at loggerheads with her husband, trying to get him to change his mind and give Zhuang Le a complete family, but she has neglected the most important people around her. But she has neglected the most important person around her, not even noticing Zhuang Le's abnormalities.

Zhuang Le was a good boy and rarely cried like other children, because he could not see his mother for a long time and he had no way to tell her about his grievances. Du Qinghong also did not expect that the woman would dare to do something under her nose.

"She's crazy to do such a thing." Du Qinghong hated it so much that he gripped the railing of the corridor so tightly that he didn't even notice his fingernails splitting in half, "I want her to pay the price now."

Lu Qingjiu said, "She's still in hospital, whether she'll make it or not is another matter."

"What's wrong with her?" Du Qinghong frowned.

"She was stung by a bee." Lu Qingjiu said, "That's probably what happens to evil people."

Du Qinghong laughed coldly, "Such a small injury from a bee sting, and she wants to escape punishment, no way." She took out a tissue to wipe the tears from her face and returned to her strong woman appearance, her tone was cold and frightening, "If she dies I'll let it go, if she doesn't huh."

Lu Qingjiu said, "What about your husband?"

Du Qinghong said, "He's not going to run away either, so let's leave." She let out a breath as if she had let go of something, "Don't take anything from the house." Du Qinghong's heart ached violently at the thought of the needle holes in Le Le's body and the child's cautious look. It was good that it was not too late and that it was not irreversible.

With this in mind, Du Qinghong looked at Lu Qingjiu with gratitude: "Thank you Mr. Lu, if it wasn't for you, Le Le".

Lu Qingjiu said, "You're welcome." He thought for a moment, "Why don't we go to the hospital and see the patients?" He wanted to know what was happening to the people.

Du Qinghong said, "That's fine."

Then they decided to go to the hospital in the evening to see how the bee-stung people were doing. After talking, they returned to the house to see Bai Yuehu and Zhuang Le sitting on the sofa, eating a bite of cake.

Despite Bai Yuehu's unfriendly demeanour, Zhuang Le and Bai Yuehu are quite friendly and Zhuang Le likes his good-looking uncle and generously gives Bai Yuehu two red cherries from the cake.

Lu Qingjiu looked at the two of them and thought they were really two little kids.

Du Qinghong's eyes also show some tenderness, and his expression is somewhat similar to Lu Qingjiu's.

After dinner, Du Qinghong put Zhuang Le to bed and drove to the hospital with Lu Qingjiu. The hospital was quite close to them, a 20-minute drive away.

It was just that Du Qinghong was on the phone all the way, seemingly asking about the condition and identity of the injured man, and after Lu Qingjiu's story was fully confirmed, she simply hated it.

The three stung men were lying inside the ICU, which they, as outsiders, were not supposed to enter, but somehow Du Qinghong managed to get them to the hospital and they were led directly into the ICU by a nurse to see the noblewoman, who had been completely disfigured.

Du Qinghong should have been happy to see the object of her revenge in such a miserable state, but she was not happy at all, as she did not do it herself.

The noblewoman seems to have regained consciousness, but cannot yet speak, and upon seeing Du Qinghong enter, there is a look of great fear in her eyes, apparently recognising him.

Du Qinghong looked at her expression but smiled as she said gently, " Zhu Xiaorong, you must get well soon."

Zhu Xiaorong tried to speak, but his swollen mouth could only produce syllables like "ah-ah".

"Don't you like to torment my son?" Du Qinghong smiled, "I like to torment people too, especially ones like you, get well soon, get well so I can enjoy myself."

Zhu Xiaorong was so frightened that he burst into tears.

It's just a pity that the tears are not moving, they are just the tears of a crocodile, and it's only when disaster strikes that one realises exactly what one has done will bring one to oneself.

They looked at the condition of the other patients and according to the doctors the patients were stable and not in danger of dying, although they still needed a long recovery time to heal.

Du Qinghong said coldly, "It's okay, I can wait."

I have to say that angry mothers make terrible avengers, or at least Du Qinghong's expression, which Lu Qingjiu finds terrifying to look at.

The three of them were about to leave when they saw an unexpected person in the car park, Du Qinghong's husband, Zhuang Wenshi, Zhuang Le's father.

When they met, before Du Qinghong could say anything, Zhuang Wenshi took the lead and ranted at Du Qinghong, saying that Du Qinghong had really done it and he knew that Du Qinghong would not let Zhu Xiaorong go. He also said that he did not expect Du Qinghong to be so vicious as to do such a terrible thing to Zhu Xiaorong. It seems that he blamed Du Qinghong for Zhu Xiaorong's bee sting.

After he had finished speaking, he expected Du Qinghong to retort with the same anger as before, but to his surprise, Du Qinghong just looked at him indifferently, with a look of utter disappointment and a dense hatred in his eyes, which sent a chill down his back.

"Tomorrow morning, come to my office." Du Qinghong said, "Bring the documents and we will go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get a divorce."

Zhuang Wenshi froze, seemingly not expecting Du Qinghong to suddenly agree to this, and to be so decisive. He opened his mouth to say something, but when he saw the cold, frosty look in Du Qinghong's eyes, he swallowed his words.

"You really want to leave," said Du Qinghong, who had never wanted to leave before, and Zhuang Wenshi had no choice but to talk to her.

"Of course I want to leave." Du Qinghong said, "You are the one who cheated on me in the first place, you can forget about the shares of the company, and since you want your love so much, let me see if love can fill your stomach." She finished this with a cold smile and stopped paying attention to Zhuang Wenshi, only leaving him with a cold back.

Lu Qingjiu let out a long sigh as the three of them sat in the car.

"Are you all right?" Lu Qingjiu asked her.

"It's okay." Du Qinghong said, "I can handle this." She said slowly, "Besides, this is just the beginning, it's still early days before it ends." She would not take Zhu Xiaorong and Zhuang Wenshi's lives, because only the living can taste the pain, and she would get back what had happened to her son, piece by piece.

Du Qinghong dropped Lu Qingjiu and Bai Yuehu off near the kindergarten and watched them get into the van before saying goodbye to each other. Of course, before they parted they exchanged contact details and Du Qinghong and Lu Qingjiu agreed that they would let him know if anything happened to Le Le.

Lu Qingjiu made a trip to the park before returning and found the pride bug.

"You live here," said Lu Qingjiu, "you are the god of the mountains here what do you eat?"

The proud insect grunted and raised his chin, "I eat a lot."

Lu Qingjiu: "For example"

Pride Bug: "Like the honey Le Le brought me."

Lu Qingjiu said, "So what do you eat when Le Le doesn't bring you honey?" He would never have thought about this before, but seeing his poor fox spirit and mountain god friend, he was miraculously worried about the daily life of the little mountain god in front of him.

The proud worm said, "Eat the fruit or something." He said it in a whisper.

Lu Qingjiu knew at first glance that Jiao Worm was lying, there were no fruit trees in the park, so there was no fruit to eat.

Bai Yuehu remained silent until he suddenly said, "You went through the trash."

When Bai Yuehu said that, he was furious and said, "What do you mean by going through the bins?

Lu Qingjiu, who was listening to the story, even wanted to cover his face with his hands. The point was not why the worm had gone through the rubbish bin, but how Bai Yuehu had guessed that the worm had done so.

Thinking of this, Lu Qingjiu's heart rose with infinite love for them both, and even his voice was softer: " Xiao Jiao, do you want to come back with us".

The pride bug said, "Go back where?"

Lu Qingjiu: " Shuifu Village is right next to the city, I can cook for you at home"

The proud insect said, "I can't go that far." He refused Lu Qingjiu's kind offer.

Lu Qingjiu said, "So how wide is your range of movement?" He guessed that the pride bug was somewhat similar to Yin Xun in that it was confined to a range and could not leave it.

The pride bug said, "Just about inside the city."

Lu Qingjiu said, feeling a little sorry for himself, and the matter had to be left at that.

On the way back, Bai Yuehu told Lu Qingjiu that Jiao Worm was lying, that he and Yin Xun were not the same kind of mountain gods at all, and that he just didn't want to leave the park, so he came up with that excuse.

"But he can still manipulate the bees." Lu Qingjiu said. Lu Qingjiu said, "There's still honey to eat, so why is he reduced to rummaging through the rubbish?"

Bai Yuehu: "Do you get tired of eating honey for 100 years?"

Lu Qingjiu :""

Bai Yuehu said, "I'm sure I will anyway."

Lu Qingjiu hadn't thought of this at all, so he burst into tears and said, "By the way, how did you know that the pride bug had gone through the trash?"

Bai Yuehu looks straight ahead, calm and collected: "Guess."

Lu Qingjiu: "Well," he said, deciding not to bring it up, lest it bring up Bai Yuehu's sadness.

The author has something to say: Lu Qingjiu looks at the rubbish bin and weeps silently: what kind of life did my fox have before me?

Bai Yuehu: I'm not I'm not

Lu Qingjiu: No really

Bai Yuehu: I just looked, I didn't go in

Lu Qingjiu.