Chapter 2: Lu Bo is Beaten

  After sitting on the bus for a long time, Lu Li got off and walked for another distance. A row of low bungalows appeared in front of him.

  Looking at this row of somewhat dilapidated low-rise houses, Lu Li felt a sourness in his nose. As someone who had experienced two lifetimes, Lu Li now placed even greater importance on family ties.

  The family's living conditions were poor, but for the convenience of Lu Li going to school, her parents found work in Huaqing City and rented two rooms in a poor area of Huaqing City.

  Lu Li calmed down her emotions and her eyes became deep and profound. She then walked towards the low and humble house.

  "Dad and Mom, I'm back!"

  Lu Li burst into one of the rooms and started yelling at the top of her lungs.

  "A Li is back, sit in the house for a while, and we'll eat soon." Along with the sound, a woman in her 40s walked into the room, seeing Lu Li's face reveal a happy smile.

  "Mom, hasn't Dad come back yet?" Lu Li asked, looking around the house and seeing only his old mom.

  "Uh-huh, your dad has added a class and will be back soon." Zhang Wenhui said as she walked inside after hearing Lu Li's words.

  "Oh, then I'll help you." Lu Li put down his own backpack and followed Zhang Wenhui inside.

  "You kid, what can you help with? Don't make more trouble. Go read a book, I'm enough by myself." Zhang Wenhui saw that her son was so sensible and smiled even happier on her face. However, she still pushed Lu Li out and didn't let him enter the kitchen.

  Unable to persuade him, I could only sit on a wooden sofa with a bitter smile and no longer mention helping.

  "Aunt Zhang, Aunt Zhang, go and take a look quickly, Uncle Lu has been beaten by someone!"

  Lu Li had barely sat down on the couch when a panicked cry came from outside.

  Lu Li's smile on his face immediately froze, and he ran out in a tense mood.

  "Hu Zi Ge, what did you just say?" Lu Li ran outside and saw a young man who was not much older than himself running towards him with a big sweat on his face, and asked in a hurry.

  "It's Ah Li, your dad and a few workers went to find the boss for wages, but they didn't get the money and were even beaten up." Li Hu was out of breath, but he quickly told the whole story.

  "Hu Zi, where is Uncle Lu now?" Zhang Wenhui, who came out slightly later than Lu Li, also heard Li Hu's words and asked nervously while rubbing her apron with both hands.

  "Aunt Zhang, Uncle Lu has been sent to the hospital, I'll take you there now." Li Hu saw that Zhang Wenhui had come out and didn't even have time to rest, he turned around and quickly walked outside.

  "A Li, you go back first, I'll go to the hospital and take a look." Zhang Wenhui said, glancing at Lu Li who was following behind.

  "Mom, let's go take a look together." Lu Li had never seen his father in this plane before, but when he heard the news that his father was hospitalized after being beaten, he was filled with worry.

  "Where are you going? Go back first, I'm cooking rice in the electric pot. Wait a bit and unplug it after the rice is cooked." Zhang Wenhui said without turning her head, and before Lu Li could react, she had already followed Li Hu out.

  Lu Li looked at the two people who had already gone far away, feeling a bit helpless, and could only return to the house.

  Lu Li sat on the sofa, worried and frowning. However, Lu Li didn't have any good ideas either, and could only sit here anxiously. At this moment, Lu Li had already lost the thought of going online to search for answers.

  At this moment, in a ward of the Third Hospital of Huajing City, there were three to five people surrounding, each with an angry expression. However, considering that this was a hospital, they spoke in hushed tones so as not to disturb others.

  "These developers are so black-hearted, not only did they not pay our wages, but they even got thugs to beat us up. This is outrageous! We're not done with them yet, do they think we migrant workers are easy to bully?" one of the burly men with a thick beard cursed.

  "Who says it isn't? The wages have been in arrears for so long, this time Lu Ge is really suffering. Not only did he not get the money, but he also got beaten up for nothing." A somewhat thin and haggard-looking man next to him spoke up with a gloomy face.

  "Ah, let's talk about the wages later, first let's gather some money for Lao Lu's hospital fees." Another man who had been silent until now sighed and said.

  "Alright, no problem, let's wait for Brother Lu to recover from his injuries first." The bearded man said generously.

  "This is necessary." The thin man had no objection.

  "Cough...cough, I have the money to treat my injuries myself." The man lying on the bed had a resolute expression, and upon closer inspection, he looked somewhat similar to Lu Li. It was Lu Li's father, Lu Yanxin, who spoke up.

  "Lu Ge, what are you talking about? Just focus on recovering from your injuries. We'll figure out the hospital expenses." The mustachioed man said with dissatisfaction upon hearing this.

  Lu Yanxin was about to say something else when Zhang Wenhui arrived at this time.

  "What's going on, what's going on?" Zhang Wenhui was now walking ahead of Li Hu, her eyes welling up with tears, her voice trembling as she asked, while running in and looking around.

  "Zhang Shuo, over here." The thin man moved the fastest, turned around and saw Zhang Wenhui, and hastily called out.

  Zhang Wenhui heard the call and rushed towards the hospital bed in three strides.

  Seeing Lu Yixin lying on the bed covered in injuries, Zhang Wenhui couldn't hold back anymore and burst into tears despite others being present.

  The others and Li Hu who came later also retreated upon seeing this.

  "Why are you crying? I'm fine." Lu Yanxin comforted Zhang Wenhui who was crying sadly.

  "You're saying it's nothing, but look at the state you're in! Our family is relying on you, if something happens to you, how can I and Ah Li survive?" Zhang Wenhui heard this and cried even more sorrowfully.

  "Wenhui, I'm sorry. After marrying you, I didn't give you a good life, but instead made you suffer with me." Lu Yanzhen said with some self-blame after hearing Zhang Wenhui's words.

  "I have never regretted marrying you, I just want our family to be safe and sound."

  "It'll be alright, we'll be safe and sound." Lu Yanxin said, somewhat moved.

  "A Li came back today on holiday, I just thought of calling him, but I didn't let him come." Zhang Wenhui finally stopped crying and said.

  "What's he doing here, don't let him come. Wait for two more days and he'll go to school, there's nothing going on here, you can go back and cook dinner for Ali first." Lu Yanxin heard Zhang Wenhui's words and also agreed with Zhang Wenhui's approach.

  "Aren't you worried at all?" Zhang Wenhui asked with some concern.

  "It's really nothing, there are many nurses in this hospital, and many workers are also helping out. You can't help much even if you're here." Lu Yanxin said with a smile.

  "Alright, I'll head back to cook dinner for Ah Li first, and then come back to take care of you later." Zhang Wenhui said this as she saw that Lu Yanshen was indeed fine, and also seemed to be telling the truth about not being able to help much by staying there.

  Out of the ward, I found that several workmates and Li Hu were outside. Zhang Wenhui said: "Li Hu, you guys help to take care of it, I'll go back and cook rice for Ah Li."

  "Aunt Zhang, don't worry, you go back and attend to your business first. We'll keep an eye on things here." Li Hu heard this and hastily patted his chest.

  "Yes, Aunt Zhang, this time Lu Ge was injured is our fault. We will take good care of Lu Ge, you go back and busy." The others also said in a hurry.

  Zhang Wenhui nodded at this point and didn't say anything else, hurrying back home in a flurry.

  Lu Li turned off the power after seeing that the rice was cooked. At this moment, she was worried about her father's injury and her mother had been gone for so long without any news coming back. Lu Li felt a little anxious at home.

  Suddenly, Lu Li saw a woman quickly walking over from outside, if it wasn't her own mother, who else could it be.

  "Mom, you're back! How's Dad?" Lu Li hurriedly went up to greet her old mom and asked anxiously.

  "A Li, don't worry, your dad is fine, just a bit injured. He'll be okay after a few days of rest." Zhang Wenhui heard Lu Li's words and forced a smile.

  "Really?" Lu Li was no longer the bookworm he used to be, and his mother's forced smile was not something he couldn't see through. He asked skeptically.

  "Of course it's true, why would I lie to you? Otherwise, how could I have come back?" Zhang Wenhui said with a bad temper when she heard that Lu Li didn't believe her.

  "Alright, then I'll go visit Dad at the hospital after dinner." Lu Li stopped pestering him about this issue, he could just go take a look himself later.

  "Where are you going? Just stay home and study hard. Your dad said so, you're about to take the college entrance exam, can't be distracted. As long as you do well on the exams, everything will be fine." Zhang Wenhui's eyes widened after hearing Lu Li's words.

  "Oh." Lu Li heard this and was somewhat speechless. Alas, why did they have to treat him like a bookworm?

  "Is the rice cooked? After we finish eating, I'll go to the hospital to take care of your dad. You stay home and study hard." Zhang Wenhui said, seeing Lu Li no longer mentioning the matter.

  "Ah, it's already cooked, just stir-fry two dishes and we can eat. Lu Li replied with a mouthful of words, but in her heart, she was thinking about secretly following her mother to the hospital later."

  The two of them were talking and had already returned to the house.

  Zhang Wenhui stopped Lu Li who was about to enter the kitchen to help and went in alone.

  Lu Li looked at Zhang Wenhui's back with some helplessness, in his previous life he didn't want to help his parents do things, now he wanted to help his parents do something but they wouldn't let him.

  Soon, Zhang Wenhui finished stir-frying the dishes.

  The mother and son were worried about Lu's father, so they didn't eat much.

  After dinner, Lu Li wanted to collect the bowls and chopsticks, but was stopped by Zhang Wenhui.

  Zhang Wenhui hastily cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks and rushed to the hospital.

  Only Zhang Wenhui, who was in a hurry, did not notice that after she left the house, a figure followed her out and trailed behind her all the way.