Chapter 42: It's All in the Past

After lunch, Lu Liang returned home.

He packed a few changes of clothes, intending to set off a little early.

"Bye-bye~ Have a safe trip."

Li Manli stood on tiptoe, raised her head, and puckered her lips, waiting for a kiss.

Lu Liang leaned down to kiss her and stroked her cheek. "Be a good girl at home these few days, and call me if anything comes up."

With that, he grabbed his small suitcase and left.

Instead of heading directly home, Lu Liang stopped at a fresh supermarket to buy some fruit, intending to visit Zhang Qian's mother at the hospital.

He had promised Zhang Yun that he would spend the whole weekend playing with her, and returning home in glory meant he needed to bring some gifts back.

Zhang Qian was relatively mature and meticulous; she would surely know what gifts were best for elders and relatives.

Before long, Lu Liang arrived at the inpatient department of the Third Municipal Hospital, vaguely remembering that Zhang Qian's mother was named Zhuang Huilan.

After checking with a nurse and confirming that the funds in the medical account were sufficient to cover the elderly woman until her discharge, he picked up the fruit basket and headed to the ward.

Because Lu Liang had deposited extra money last time, she had been moved from a multi-bed ward to a private one.

Mrs. Zhuang had a fractured coccyx and could only lie on her side. Seeing Lu Liang walk in, a gentle, kind smile appeared on her face.

"Auntie, I'm so sorry. I've been quite busy with company matters lately and only now have the time to come see you."

Wearing a smile, Lu Liang carried the fruit basket into the ward and noticed that little Zhang Xiaoguai was already there, bowing her head and doing her homework.

Hearing Lu Liang's voice, the little one beamed with joy, put down her pen, and practically flew over.

She hugged Lu Liang's leg tightly, looked up, and beamed a bright smile. "Uncle Lu, Xiaoguai missed you so much."

Having not seen her for a few days, the finger-print bruises on her face from that shrew had almost completely vanished.

"Where is your mom?"

There was a 24-hour caregiver in the ward, so there was nothing requiring Lu Liang's assistance. He picked up Xiaoguai and chatted idly with Mrs. Zhuang.

"Qianqian just left not long ago. She usually doesn't come until evening. Xiaoguai stays here to do her homework on weekends."

Mrs. Zhuang took Lu Liang's hand, thanking him for his help over the past few days and for looking after Zhang Qian and her daughter.

Lu Liang was puzzled, only to learn that Zhang Qian had attributed the cost of hiring the caregiver and the hospitalization fees entirely to his generosity.

Xiaoguai chimed in at the right moment, "Mom told grandma all about how Zhao Tianqi bullied me, too."

"Xiao Lu, with you taking such good care of the two of them, I could die in peace," Mrs. Zhuang sighed with emotion.

"Auntie, please don't say that. It's only right that I do this," Lu Liang said, having no choice but to accept the kind-hearted credit.

Mrs. Zhuang suddenly asked, "Xiaoguai, didn't you keep saying you wanted Uncle Lu to take you out to play? Have you finished your homework yet?"

Looking completely innocent, Zhang Xiaoguai said anxiously, "Uncle Lu, give me a moment. I can finish it in half an hour at most."

"Do your homework carefully and don't be sloppy. Uncle will check it later."

Lu Liang chuckled, patted the back of Xiaoguai's head, and watched her scurry back to her homework.

Then he squatted down beside the bed, realizing that the old lady had intentionally sent her granddaughter away because she wanted to tell him something.

Mrs. Zhuang hesitated for a long time before speaking softly, "Xiao Lu, do you know what kind of work Qianqian used to do?"

Without hesitation, Lu Liang replied, "Qianqian has always been helping me at the company."

Mrs. Zhuang forced a bitter smile. "Actually, I know, but I was worried you didn't."

Lu Liang looked startled.

Tears shimmered in Mrs. Zhuang's cloudy eyes. "Qianqian is such a good girl; she just had the misfortune of meeting the wrong person."

The elderly woman recounted the story of Zhang Yun's biological father—a scoundrel who was on the verge of marrying Zhang Qian before suddenly disappearing.

Later, when Zhang Qian found herself pregnant and tried to track the bastard down, she couldn't find him anywhere, leaving her with no choice but to give birth and raise the child all by herself.

Mrs. Zhuang only found out about Zhang Qian's job because of a late-night phone call from the hospital requiring family authorization and a signature.

That night, Zhang Qian had drunk to the point of a bleeding ulcer and urgently needed surgery. It was then that Mrs. Zhuang discovered her daughter's job was selling alcohol.

At the time, Mrs. Zhuang felt deeply humiliated, and the mother and daughter had a massive fight over it afterward.

"She said something back then that I still remember very clearly. She said she had no professional skills, no diploma, and a daughter to raise. If she didn't sell alcohol, what else was she supposed to do—sell her body?"

The more Mrs. Zhuang spoke, the more agitated she became, and she couldn't help coughing. Lu Liang hurriedly poured her a cup of warm water.

"Grandma, what's wrong?" Hearing the commotion, Xiaoguai ran over, her face full of concern.

Coughing a few times, Mrs. Zhuang tried her best to steady her breathing and forced a smile. "I was just talking too fast and accidentally choked."

Hearing this, Xiaoguai walked around to the other side of the hospital bed and gently stroked her back. "Grandma, do you feel better now?"

Mrs. Zhuang smiled with narrowed eyes, masking her tears. "Much better. Go on back and finish your homework."

The little girl was very smart; she looked at her grandmother, then at Lu Liang. "Grandma, Uncle Lu, are you two whispering behind my back?"

Lu Liang smiled and nodded, admitting it openly. "Uncle was just telling your grandma where he's going to take you to play later."

"Where?" The little one's eyes lit up.

"I'll tell you after you finish your homework."

Lu Liang suddenly understood why Mrs. Zhuang had brought this up. When all was said and done, she was simply afraid that he would mind the nature of Zhang Qian's past job.

Once the little one went back to her homework, Lu Liang spoke softly, "Auntie, I understand everything you mean. That's all in the past."

Mrs. Zhuang tightly grasped Lu Liang's hand, momentarily at a loss for words. "Xiao Lu, thank you so much."

The elderly woman went on to share many more stories about Zhang Qian's past. Whether they were true or not, Lu Liang chose to listen to them as if they were real for the time being.

After a while, the little one suddenly raised her arm high and cheered excitedly, "I'm done writing!"

Beaming with a wide smile, she skipped over to Lu Liang and presented her book like a prized treasure. "Uncle Lu, please check it for me."

First-grade questions could hardly stump Lu Liang. He checked through them and found that almost everything was correct, save for a few misused characters.

"The character 'an' in 'an zhuang' doesn't have a hand radical on top, and the character 'cai' in 'mu cai' has a wood radical. Take it back and correct them."

Lu Liang looked at Mrs. Zhuang. The elderly woman's expression softened with affection as she hurriedly waved her hand. "Don't mind me. Have a good time playing; Xiaoli is here to look after me."

The Xiaoli the old lady referred to was the hospital's private caregiver, a woman in her forties who smiled and nodded at Lu Liang.

"Uncle Lu, I've fixed it."

Zhang Xiaoguai came over with her textbook once more.

Lu Liang glanced at it and approvingly patted her head. "Say goodbye to Grandma, we're going out to play now."

"What about Mom?" Xiaoguai asked abruptly.

"I'll call her in a moment and ask where she is."

"Goodbye, Grandma. Goodbye, Auntie Xiaoli. Goodbye, Nurse Sister."

The little one was extremely polite, flashing a sweet smile as she waved goodbye to everyone she knew.

Lu Liang couldn't help but wear a fond, doting smile. Even without Zhang Qian in the picture, he would still adore this little girl.

She was as pretty as carved jade, well-behaved, and polite—how could anyone not love her?

With her small backpack on and holding Lu Liang's hand, Zhang Xiaoguai walked with him to the hospital parking lot.

Lu Liang had her sit in the back seat, buckled her seatbelt, and then called Zhang Qian.

Hearing that she was near Joy City in Hongkou, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

He was very familiar with that place.

"Surely it's not that cliché."

Lu Liang muttered to himself, prompting Xiaoguai to ask curiously, "Uncle, what did you say?"

"Nothing. Sit tight, we're going to pick up Mom."

"Let's go~~"

Along the way, the little one was brimming with excitement, chattering endlessly about things at school.

"After Zhao Tianqi apologized to me that day, he never came back to school. Later, Teacher Lin said he transferred." K

"Is that so? Is anyone bullying you at school anymore?"

"No, but all my classmates say you're so handsome."

A look of reflected glory and pride washed over the little one's face. Many of her classmates had gathered around watching that day.

Later on, quite a few classmates approached her to say how handsome Lu Liang was, comparing him to a deity descending from the heavens.

As a result, she had made a lot of new friends.

Lu Liang couldn't help but laugh, though the smile didn't linger on his face for long. Upon arriving at Joy City and making another call to Zhang Qian, he obtained a more precise address.

Gate 8, Huaxi Clubhouse.

Lu Liang was intimately familiar with it—it was Lin Wenjing's workplace.