The Thirty-Seventh Chapter

On the way back, Dong Qi tried his best to persuade his maternal grandfather and grandmother not to take the so-called miracle medicine. They promised they would, but after returning home, he only went to the bathroom once. When he came back, he found the medicine box opened and two pills missing.

Seeing Dong Qi staring at the medicine box, Jiang's father coughed dryly and quickly put the box away.

This wasn't the only thing that made him despair. At noon, Jiang's mother received a call from Jiang Li.

"Mom, is Qiqi with you?" Jiang Li asked calmly.

Dong Qi expected his mother to be panicked and crying, apologizing for leaving him at his grandmother's and immediately coming to pick him up. But none of that happened.

Jiang's mother was quite impolite to her daughter: "What's going on with Xiao Dong's daughter? She's only been back a few days and she dares to bully our Qiqi like this? And how are you as a mother? Your son has been gone for so long, and you're only looking for him now!"

Jiang Li knew she was in the wrong. If it were before, she would have been anxious, but with Liu Mumu around, she wasn't worried when Liu Mumu said Dong Qi was with relatives.

Among her relatives in Qing City, besides her parents, there was only Jiang Jia. Even if he went to Jiang Jia's place, the child wouldn't be mistreated.

"Mom, this has nothing to do with anyone else," Jiang Li said, looking around and lowering her voice. "Qiqi was really out of line this time. He actually made a fake report card to trick me and his father. His father told him to catch up on his studies at home during the holiday, but he secretly ran away and took the Zhang family's child next door with him."

"Really? It wasn't Xiao Dong's daughter causing trouble?" Jiang's mother asked, half-believing.

"Of course not," Jiang Li quickly denied.

"Then Xiao Dong shouldn't hit the child. So what if our Qiqi's grades are a bit poor? The entire Dong family will be his in the future; he won't have to look for a job," Jiang's mother said righteously.

Seeing her husband glance over, Jiang Li irritably rubbed her temples. "Mom, don't say things like that anymore."

Complained about by her daughter, Jiang's mother remembered that last time she just asked her daughter for some money to tide her over, but her son-in-law not only didn't give her any money but also sent them two pots of cacti to disgust them. Her face immediately turned cold. "Forget it. Anyway, I can't spend your family's money, and I don't need to worry about you. When are you coming to pick up Qiqi?"

Jiang Li glanced at Liu Mumu, who was fiddling with coins by the dining table, and said through gritted teeth, "I've already discussed it with Zhang Yang's family. Let the two children stay with you for a few days first. Old Dong is still angry."

Dong Zhenghao wasn't that angry with his son. Being angry for an hour or two was enough. If he stayed angry for too long, he would still bring him back.

However, Liu Mumu suggested that the runaway child should experience the harshness of society. It didn't have to be too extreme; just cut off his cards and let him stay outside for a while.

Jiang Li really wanted to say that this was their home and her son could come back, but Dong Zhenghao agreed after only a moment's hesitation.

The couple even went outside to argue about it. They were so heartbroken that they had to hide their argument outside to avoid Liu Mumu hearing them.

Jiang Li angrily stated that Liu Mumu was petty. Because Dong Qi had been rude to her, she wanted to make things difficult for the child and take revenge.

Dong Zhenghao countered with sound reasoning. His daughter was a fortune teller. Could what a master said be called taking revenge? It was called every word being a gem, and she didn't even charge extra. He had made a huge profit!

Jiang Li was so angry she didn't want to speak. Finally, when she returned to the dining table and faced "Master Liu," she compromised.

Anyway... her son was just staying at his grandmother's for a few days. Those who endure hardships become strong. If he suffered, her life would be easier.

And so, Dong Qi was arranged.

That afternoon, Dong Qi didn't wait for his parents. He only received the news that all his cards had been deactivated.

It was simply a tragedy.

When he went to sleep that night, his dreams were filled with Liu Mumu. One pointed at him and said, "You didn't step with your left foot; your leg is broken."

Another pointed at him and said, "Your report card is fake."

Then his father came at him with a forty-meter-long rolling pin.

Dong Qi felt a pain in his chest and cried loudly in his dream, furious. This definitely wasn't his real father!

When he finally woke up a little, he realized the pain in his chest was because Zhang Yang, who was sleeping next to him, was punching and kicking. He had just swung an arm into his chest.

Dong Qi kicked Zhang Yang away with disgust. Zhang Yang didn't wake up. He seemed to be having a nightmare, his face fierce, gnashing his teeth as if fighting someone.

"So annoying," he felt a bit thirsty and sat up in bed. He turned on the lamp but didn't see the water cup on the bedside table, only then remembering this was his grandmother's house and his mother wasn't here.

He remembered the dream he just had and felt that his parents might not be his biological parents.

He angrily kicked his slippers to the door, then, feeling the floor was cold, put them back on barefoot and went out to get some water himself.

Passing by his maternal grandfather and grandmother's room, Dong Qi heard voices inside. He pushed the door, which wasn't locked, and it opened a crack.

The room wasn't completely dark. Jiang's father and Jiang's mother's curtains weren't drawn. Moonlight shone into the room, clearly illuminating the outlines of the two people on the double bed.

They were both lying in bed, seemingly talking.

But Dong Qi's movement of pushing the door wasn't small, yet they didn't acknowledge him.

Dong Qi was already feeling something was wrong. Just as he was about to leave, he heard his maternal grandmother say, "So what if she's a mistress? When he divorces, our Xiao Li will be the original wife. He'll have to give us ten thousand yuan in living expenses every month. My daughter can't be his mistress for nothing."

Then he heard his maternal grandfather say, "Why is it another daughter? Our Jiang family will end with me."

After saying that, he started crying.

Dong Qi shivered and realized his maternal grandfather and grandmother were talking in their sleep.

He hesitated but didn't dare to go in and wake them up. Instead, he closed the door.

After drinking water, he didn't return to the previous room. He found another guest room and slept there.

He continued to dream after falling asleep, his dreams a jumbled mess of family matters. There was his father saying he'd kick him out if he didn't get first place in the whole school, his father saying that because his grades were too poor, all the family fortune would go to Liu Mumu, and he wouldn't get a penny. In short, all nightmares.

The next morning, Dong Qi woke up around nine o'clock. His maternal grandfather and grandmother, who should have finished breakfast long ago, seemed to have just woken up.

They looked tired. His grandmother was cooking, and his grandfather was muttering outside, seemingly scolding her for waking up late and delaying his breakfast.

Zhang Yang, who was coming out of the room, yawned and asked Dong Qi, "Why didn't you sleep in the room last night?"

"You snored and woke me up, so I went to sleep in another room," Dong Qi blurted out.

"Is that so? I don't snore," Zhang Yang scratched his head in confusion.

Dong Qi had been staying at Jiang's father and Jiang's mother's house for four days. At first, he just felt the house was too small and he wasn't used to it. By the end, he was too exhausted to care about such trivial matters.

It was bad enough that he had nightmares every night, but the rest of the family was having them too. Zhang Yang started with punches and kicks, then devolved into crying and screaming like a pig being slaughtered.

Yesterday was even more terrifying. His maternal grandmother sleepwalked into the kitchen and was chopping a tomato. It was as scary as it gets.

Having played numerous games, Dong Qi felt that his entire family's abnormal behavior might be a precursor to turning into zombies!

He couldn't stay here any longer. If he stayed, he'd be doomed sooner or later.

Meanwhile, at the Dong family's place, Zhang Yang's dad, Zhang Shijing, had returned from his business trip. He brought gifts and came with his wife to thank the Dong family.

Dong Zhenghao was still on his way home. Jiang Li politely asked the couple to stay in the living room for a chat.

Zhang Shijing was in his forties. Although his appearance was ordinary, he had an air of scholarly refinement. He had reportedly been a teacher before quitting to go into business.

His wife was about the same age, a bit thin, and didn't look very well, but she was quite pretty and spoke softly.

The couple seemed to have a good relationship, occasionally exchanging glances with tender affection.

Liu Mumu and Dong Yue were also in the living room. While they were chatting, Zhang Shijing even asked Dong Yue about her grades and offered some study advice.

As for Liu Mumu, he vaguely knew her identity, but Jiang Li hadn't formally introduced them, so he couldn't say much. Seeing her look at him, he smiled gently at her.

Liu Mumu was actually a bit curious. He and his wife seemed to have a good relationship, so did he know about the incident where his mother slapped his wife in public?

The Zhang family's old woman's behavior that day had truly shocked her. She had heard Jiang Li mention in passing these past few days that the old woman hadn't treated the previous daughter-in-law with such an attitude.

About half an hour later, Dong Zhenghao finally arrived home. Seeing guests, he warmly shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with Zhang Shijing, after which the latter finally stated his purpose.

Mainly, their child had been away from home for four days, and the elders missed him. He planned to bring Zhang Yang back from Dong Qi's maternal grandmother's house.

Jiang Li looked pleadingly at Dong Zhenghao. She also wanted to bring her son back.

"Alright, let's go pick up the child now," Dong Zhenghao replied quite readily.

As Dong Zhenghao was preparing to pick up his son, Dong Qi was already planning his escape from his maternal grandmother's house.

He asked his maternal grandfather for five hundred yuan in pocket money. After calculating for a long time, he felt that this amount might not be enough for a single day's expenses. He scratched his head worriedly in front of his maternal grandmother's house.

Should he go home and apologize to his dad?

But then he'd have to go for extra tutoring and let Liu Mumu laugh at him. The thought made Dong Qi feel terrible.

Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly saw someone standing by the roadside not far ahead. The person was looking in his direction and looked somewhat familiar.

The moment their eyes met, Dong Qi immediately remembered. Wasn't that the professor who gave the lecture that day!

Why was he here? Was he just passing by, or had he come specifically to find them?

Dong Qi's heart skipped a beat. Seeing the other person walking towards him, he scrambled to close the main door and rushed into the house.

Seeing the boy's startled expression as he quickly ran away, Xu Yonglin couldn't help but stop.

He had followed his Gu worm here. After the lecture that day, he discovered that the Gu worm he had kept outside had been taken away by someone. Although this Gu worm wasn't very harmful, it was something he had painstakingly cultivated, and he definitely wanted it back.

He hadn't told his elder brother about this. He had raised the Gu worm at the entrance of the third floor. If his elder brother found out, he would definitely think someone had snuck onto the third floor and might even silence the person directly.

So, he planned to come and check himself first. If it was just an ordinary person, he would just retrieve the Gu worm and be done with it.

He hadn't expected to find traces of the Gu worm on this boy. The boy had acted as if he had seen a ghost upon seeing him.

Xu Yonglin was a bit troubled. Just as he was considering whether to pay a visit, two cars stopped at the entrance of the house.

He hesitated and retreated, deciding to deal with it later.

After being away for four days, Dong Qi finally waited for his dad to come.

He had originally planned to express his anger to his dad, but looking at his dad's calm eyes, he quietly lowered his head, deciding not to stoop to his level.

Zhang Yang was initially quite happy to see Zhang Shijing, but when he saw his stepmother had also come, his face immediately darkened.

"Yangyang, Dad is here to take you home. Did you miss Dad?" Zhang Shijing, seemingly oblivious to his son's change in demeanor, opened his arms to him.

"I missed you." Zhang Yang threw himself into his dad's arms, glaring fiercely at his stepmother standing behind.

Dong Zhenghao saw it, but it was someone else's family business and had nothing to do with him. As long as the person was picked up, that was all that mattered.

He brought the gift boxes that Jiang Li had insisted he bring into the house, said a few words to Jiang's father and Jiang's mother, and then left with the people.

Before leaving, Dong Qi, still worried, turned back and instructed his maternal grandfather and grandmother, "Grandma, don't keep taking that medicine."

"Got it. Be careful on the road," Jiang's mother stood at the door, waving goodbye to her grandson.

As for the miracle medicine, they certainly couldn't continue taking it, because they had already finished it.