Sun Lanzi couldn’t worry about Lu Xu anymore; she quickly followed them to the hospital.
Throughout this process, news of Lu Xu’s situation had already spread to many people.
Lu Guangrong definitely couldn’t try to pull any strings to get him out. After so many years, it was impossible he hadn’t made enemies. Lu Xu’s case was a major vulnerability. If he dared to make a move, not only would he fail to free Lu Xu, but he’d also bring trouble down on himself.
“How did you raise that child!”
Unable to reach Lu Xu for the moment, Lu Guangrong could only vent his anger on Sun Lanzi.
Holding her swollen cheek from being hit, Sun Lanzi felt utterly wronged: “He’s not just my son. When he does well, it’s all your doing; when something goes wrong, it’s my fault.”
“Besides, Xiao Xu is innocent. It’s obvious someone set him up.”
Everything was too coincidental. Neither Lu Guangrong nor Sun Lanzi was stupid; they could definitely sense something was off. But without concrete evidence right now, all they could do was suspect.
“I never imagined Shuangshuang could hate me this much! I just tried to introduce her to someone. If she didn’t want it, fine, but why treat me like an enemy?”
Sun Lanzi knew where the boundaries were. She dared not criticize Ye Zhiqiu, because bringing her up would mean confronting the Yue family.
Everyone knew how protective the Yue family was, especially Yue Mingyuan and Ye Zhiqiu, who were also famous figures in the compound. It was well known that Yue’s youngest son was a lovesick fool, completely captivated by that ‘fox spirit’ Ye Zhiqiu.
If they dared to touch Ye Zhiqiu, Yue Mingyuan would probably charge over from the suburbs by afternoon if they made a move in the morning.
Not to mention the two formidable figures, Yue Guohuai and Wan Jiayin.
And since the Yue family was close with the Huo family, and Old Man Huo’s grandson was always hanging around Ye Zhiqiu’s daughter…
This meant that behind Ye Zhiqiu stood not just the Yue family, but also the Huo family.
No one would dare provoke that, even if they had the guts of a bear and the heart of a leopard.
So Sun Lanzi shifted all the blame onto Lu Shuangshuang, hoping Lu Guangrong would take his anger out on her instead.
“You worthless creature! She’s asking for trouble!”
Lu Guangrong pointed to the phone on the small coffee table beside the sofa: “You call her. Tell her to get her ass home right now! I’m going to ask her properly: does she want to keep the name Lu from now on, or switch to Feng?”
“Old Lu, how could I possibly call Shuangshuang? Even if I did, she wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Forget it, forget it! I’ll call!”
Even without Sun Lanzi’s instigation, Lu Guangrong held no love for Lu Shuangshuang.
He used to like this daughter well enough. But ever since Feng Wan offered to raise her, and ended up teaching her to be arrogant and unreasonable – causing him to lose face several times – he couldn’t stand the sight of her.
Lu Guangrong found Feng Wan’s home internal number in his phonebook and dialed it using the internal line.
It was picked up quickly: “Hello, who is it?”
Hearing it was Lu Shuangshuang’s voice, Lu Guangrong bellowed: “Your father!”
“Lu Shuangshuang, you think you’re so smart…”
“Father? Grandson? What kind of talk is that? I’m your grandpa!”
Lu Shuangshuang had obviously recognized Lu Guangrong’s voice; she was being deliberately defiant.
Ye Zhiqiu covered her mouth, stifling a laugh. After cursing him out, Lu Shuangshuang hung up, her eyes sparkling brightly.
“How did that feel?” Ye Zhiqiu winked at Lu Shuangshuang.
Lu Shuangshuang pressed her hand to her chest; she could feel her heart racing beneath it. She let out a deep breath: “A weight lifted!”
They had guessed Lu Guangrong would call her back, and also guessed he’d start yelling at her.
Ye Zhiqiu had coached Lu Shuangshuang: if she didn’t want to be berated, she should curse him back before he finished his tirade.
At first, Lu Shuangshuang was too scared. She had always been terrified of her father.
Back then, he rarely came home, but whenever he did, his expression was particularly grim. In her memories, he was always arguing with her mother.
Of course, she sided with her mom, and then her father would hit her. It hurt terribly.
That was when she became especially afraid of pain.
Later, what happened between Lu Xu and Sun Lanzi made her completely lose heart towards her father. That was when she truly realized how differently he treated her compared to Lu Xu.
Sure, he would often scold Lu Xu, but deep down, he felt that only Lu Xu was truly his child. She was just like water that would eventually be poured out. So, no matter what Lu Xu did to her, it was always her fault.
He also never cared about the kind of men Sun Lanzi tried to set her up with, or what kind of life she might have after marriage.
“Here it comes again.”
The phone rang once more. Ye Zhiqiu encouraged Lu Shuangshuang, patting her shoulder. “Don’t be afraid. Just like before. Curse him back, let out everything you’ve been holding in.”
This tactic wasn’t actually Ye Zhiqiu’s idea; it came from Yaya. She’d heard Yaya muttering to herself that holding onto emotional baggage could make you sick.
Lu Shuangshuang might seem carefree and thick-skinned, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel hurt.
Ye Zhiqiu saw a bit of her former self in Lu Shuangshuang. She was willing to put aside the past and help her, firstly because she knew Lu Shuangshuang was different from Shen Liya or Kang Zhixin, and secondly because Lu Shuangshuang had sincerely apologized to her.
People find it easy to forgive, actually. Often, when we’re hurt, we just want a genuine apology from the other person.
Besides, her mother had always taught her that in some matters, you should be forgiving and give people a chance. Doing so makes your own path in life wider.
Lu Shuangshuang took a few deep breaths and picked up the phone. Before she even brought it close to her ear, Lu Guangrong’s furious roar came through: “Lu Shuangshuang, you…”
“Ouch! What’s that dog barking for? So annoying!” Lu Shuangshuang’s voice was even louder than his, and she slammed the phone down hard.
“Zhiqiu!”
Lu Shuangshuang grabbed Ye Zhiqiu’s hands and hopped around in a little circle. “I can’t describe how I feel right now! It’s like running to the top of a mountain, shouting a few times, and then running back down!”
“Right here!”
Lu Shuangshuang pointed a thumb back at her own chest: “It doesn’t feel so tight and blocked anymore.”
“If he had called to show he cared, even if I knew he was lying, I’d probably still be willing to live in that lie.”
“But all he had for me was blame. He really doesn’t think Lu Xu did anything wrong. He thinks it’s all my fault.”
The warmth in Lu Shuangshuang’s eyes faded a little more. When she spoke of Lu Guangrong now, it wasn’t with the same lingering attachment and hope as before.
The phone rang again. This time, Lu Shuangshuang couldn’t be bothered to say anything; she just picked it up and hung up immediately.
He wouldn’t give up and called back.
After six or seven times, the line finally went silent.
“He must be absolutely furious, right?” Lu Shuangshuang felt immensely satisfied. “Tomorrow – no, he’ll probably storm over here right away.”
“Zhiqiu, thank you for this. You should head back now. My aunt and I can handle him.” Lu Shuangshuang gently tried to push Ye Zhiqiu towards the door, not wanting to drag her into it.
“If I’m here, he’ll have to restrain himself a bit because there’s an outsider present.”
Ye Zhiqiu pulled Lu Shuangshuang back down onto the sofa. “Aunt Feng is getting on in years too. You need to hold onto her in a bit, make sure she doesn’t get too angry.”
