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She had a deep impression of this man because he was the most active and supportive of Zhang Yan in the crowd just moments ago. He had argued heatedly with others who supported the hospital, and from his demeanor, one might have thought he was a relative of Zhang Yan and Lu Yao! It was surprising that the one who supported them the most turned out to be a thief.
Earlier, Zhang Yan and Lu Yao had expressed their gratitude towards him, especially Zhang Yan, whose eyes were brimming with tears as if she were looking at her own brother. If they knew his true identity, it would surely shatter their defenses.
Now, it didn't matter what they thought of him. The last time Zhang Yan returned from Zhangjia Village, Wen Qian noticed that her mental state seemed off; she often hid in corners, shivering and mumbling incoherently. This time, the chances of her going mad were about eighteen or nineteen out of ten.
After visiting the supply and marketing cooperative, they bid farewell to Zhang Li. Before they left, Meng Fang handed them a basket of dried vegetables she had sun-dried herself. She had even prepared a jar of pickled vegetables for Wen Qian since she had noticed how much Wen Qian enjoyed them during her last visit. Meng Fang had made extra just for her to take home!
"Thank you, Sister Meng!" Wen Qian said gratefully.
Meng Fang's eyes turned red as she waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, it's nothing! It's just some pickles. If you want more, just tell me, and I’ll make you some."
Reluctantly holding onto Wen Qian's hand, she sighed deeply. "Sister really likes you. I can't believe we got to know each other so late. Now you're leaving; we won't see each other as often."
"But my sister will have a good life," she added with a smile through her tears.
Wen Qian's eyes also reddened involuntarily as she held Meng Fang's hand tightly. Half-jokingly, she said, "Sister Meng, if you keep crying like this, I won’t want to leave! I might just move in with you and let you deal with me."
Meng Fang shot her a playful glare. "Don't tease me! If you stay because of me, I would regret it for life."
"Who knows? Your brother Lu might get angry and never come looking for my old Zhang again," she added with a laugh.
Lu Zheng chuckled beside them while Zhang Li playfully punched his shoulder. "You better treat my sister well."
"Yes, I must treat my sister well! From now on, Wen Qian is my real sister. If you dare bully her, I'll have Old Zhang deal with you!"
She shot Zhang Li a knowing look, and he quickly accepted the challenge by flexing his muscles at Lu Zheng. "See? I’ll beat you up!"
Everyone burst into laughter, reluctantly gazing at one another.
Meng Fang pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and placed it in Wen Qian's hand. "This has the recipe for the pickles on it. We may be far apart now, but take care of yourself."
She pulled Wen Qian a couple of steps away and whispered, "Don't forget what I told you last time with Yang Liu. Keep the money in your hands. Life in the army must be tough for you, so take good care of yourself. If anything happens, let Lu Zheng handle it. Rest whenever you can; your health is the most important thing."
Wen Qian felt a pang in her heart. It had been so long since she had heard such caring words. Her eyes turned red as she nodded with a smile.
"Okay, sister, don't worry. I will definitely take care of myself."
"Sister, you take care of yourself too. Let's keep in touch through letters."
"Sure, you don’t need to worry about me. Zhang Li listens to everything I say. If he dares not to listen, I'll deal with him."
Wen Qian broke into a smile, and the two exchanged glances, laughing together.
Lu Chen and Zhang Li's two children reluctantly said their goodbyes. He took out some candies from his pocket, which he had saved for several days just to give to them.
Although Wen Qian loved him dearly, she wouldn’t let him eat too many candies—no more than two a day.
Lu Chen handed the candies to them. "These are for you. I like you all."
He cherished his friends because they were the only ones he had; he wanted to give them everything he liked.
"Brother Chen, are you not coming back anymore?" one of the children asked.
"My mom said you haven't been back for a long time."
"Brother, I’ll miss you."
The three little ones hugged each other and cried, their voices growing louder.
The adults outside were startled and hurried into the room, only to find the three children sobbing in each other's arms.
The emotions of children run deeper than adults often realize.
As they were leaving, Lu Chen's eyes were swollen from crying as he stumbled into Lu Zheng's embrace.
The Zhang family stood at the door to see them off; both children were also in tears, calling out Little Chen’s name with reluctance.
When Wen Qian turned to look at Meng Fang’s red eyes as she was leaving, her heart ached with sadness.
She hadn’t expected that she would feel a twinge of reluctance to leave this place. It turned out that her feelings toward it weren’t entirely negative; there were people here she would miss.
They sat on the ox cart waiting for everyone to return. Lu Chen had cried himself to sleep while Wen Qian's spirits were clearly low.
After a while, just as they were about to leave, Lu Yao and Zhang Yan arrived, and surprisingly, the person carrying Lu Yao was none other than the man who had stolen money.
He placed Lu Yao on the ox cart, wiping the sweat from his face.
Zhang Yan stood timidly to the side, watching as Lu Yao sat down. She plopped down beside him, hiding her face behind him.
Lu Yao looked gratefully at the man, "Big brother, thank you. Heaven has truly been helping us."
The man chuckled heartily, "It's nothing, just lending a hand. Don't take it to heart. If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way!"
After the man left, Lu Yao continued to look at his retreating figure with gratitude.
It seemed that Zhang Yan had indeed lost her mind; they must have just come from the police station. Escaping was a stroke of mercy from the hospital.
On the way home, Uncle Liu parked directly in front of the Lu family’s house. Everyone got out of the car, and Lu Zheng carried Lu Chen as they exited, leaving only Lu Yao and Zhang Yan in the vehicle.
Uncle Liu glanced at Lu Yao and quickly called out to Lu Zheng, "Lu Zheng! You need to carry your brother down! I still have to hurry back to feed the cows!"
"Even if you’ve severed ties with your family, you’re still family at heart. Just lend a hand."
Lu Zheng turned to Uncle Liu, "Uncle Liu, my son is asleep; he can't leave me."
With that, he turned and walked away, taking his family straight into the thatched cottage and closing the door behind them.
Uncle Liu glared at Lu Yao still sitting in the car, fuming, "How are you going to get down? I’m an old man; I can’t carry you!"
Feeling awkward sitting there, Lu Yao took a deep breath. He patted Zhang Yan and then looked at Uncle Liu. "Uncle Liu, let my wife carry me; you just need to help support me a bit."
With no other options available, Zhang Yan awkwardly carried Lu Yao as they stumbled along. Uncle Liu wanted to help but was afraid of being knocked over.
Fortunately, they managed to make it inside despite their clumsiness.
Inside the thatched cottage, Lu Father groggily saw Lu Yao and Zhang Yan and instantly opened his eyes wide, sitting up quickly. "How did you come back?"
"Father, we were kicked out of the hospital because our money was stolen."
"What?" This fully woke Lu Father up; he became much more agile.
Lu Yao impatiently replied, "Father, please don’t ask; I’m already annoyed enough as it is! If you keep asking questions, my head will hurt even more."
"You think your head hurts? Mine hurts too! Do you know we have no money left? This was our last bit for your treatment! How could you be so useless? How did I end up with such a foolish son?"
Lu Father was furious and felt utterly defeated as he looked at Lu Yao with disappointment.
Inside the thatched cottage, Lu Zheng stared incredulously at Wen Qian and asked, "Are you saying that Lu Yao isn’t his biological son?"
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