Chapter Two: The Little Hand Summons the Worthless Father

The bolt on the main gate was as thick as an arm, and Luo Yan gave up, plopping down on the ground. She sank her anger deep into her abdomen and tilted her head back, crying bitterly.

Unfortunately, the sound that came out was more like a cat’s meow—pitifully quiet.

She had been starving too long; this was the loudest cry she could manage.

Fortunately, Wu Cuihua next door happened to be washing clothes in her yard and heard the crying, climbing over the wall to investigate.

Seeing little Luo Yan sitting on the ground wailing, Wu Cuihua smirked with a sense of schadenfreude.

“Oh, you little bastard, did your mother run away and leave you?”

Hua Li was naturally aloof and, having been violated on her wedding night, suffered from deep-seated insecurity. She rarely socialized with neighbors.

Outsiders, unaware of Hua Li’s inner turmoil, saw her as a peerlessly beautiful woman who ignored everyone, and assumed she was haughty and looked down on others.

People are like that: if you despise me, I will surely despise you in return.

Wu Cuihua was dark-skinned, overweight, and unattractive; she often rolled her eyes at Hua Li’s aloofness.

Knowing that Luo Shicheng was especially cold toward his own daughter, Wu Cuihua would insult Luo Yan behind her back, calling her a bastard. Even if Hua Li overheard, she would only hide and cry; no one stood up for Luo Yan.

Luo Yan remembered this foul-mouthed woman from her reading and knew that, deep down, Wu Cuihua had a kind heart.

People always have two sides; nothing is purely black or white. Luo Yan decided to give Wu Cuihua a chance to atone.

“Aunt Wu, please save me and my mother. We’re going to die.”

Before she finished speaking, Luo Yan’s eyes rolled back and she collapsed onto the ground.

Wu Cuihua was frightened and immediately climbed over the wall, rushing into the yard to pick up Luo Yan.

Feigning unconsciousness, Luo Yan slowly opened her eyes and weakly said in a babyish voice, “Aunt Wu, I want Daddy.”

Any mother would find it unbearable to see a child like this; Wu Cuihua held Luo Yan and went inside to find Hua Li.

Seeing Hua Li burning up like a charcoal ember and unconscious, Wu Cuihua closed the door tightly, then carried Luo Yan over the wall and back to her own home.

She placed Luo Yan in the child seat strapped to the crossbar of her bicycle, locked the door, and pedaled straight toward the military camp.

The military compound was only a five-minute bike ride from the barracks.

Outside the camp’s gate, Wu Cuihua called a soldier on guard to fetch Luo Shicheng.

When Luo Shicheng heard a woman had come with a little girl looking for him, he thought it must be Liu Jingqiu and An Xiaotong, so he hurried out.

“Sister Wu? What brings you here?”

Luo Shicheng remembered Wu Cuihua as their neighbor and was somewhat surprised.

Seeing Luo Shicheng full of vigor made Wu Cuihua’s anger boil over.

“I ask you, how can you be such a man? Your wife is at home dying, your own child is so hungry she can’t even walk, and here you are, fat and well-fed, yet you have the nerve to ask me what’s going on?”

Luo Shicheng’s face darkened under Wu Cuihua’s harsh scolding.

Luo Yan studied Luo Shicheng’s physique—slim when clothed but solid beneath, his features sharp and his brows like swords framing starry eyes. He looked like a man of integrity, but sadly, his mind didn’t seem very sharp.

After she finished berating him, Wu Cuihua thrust Luo Yan into Luo Shicheng’s arms.

“Take care of your own child. I have a mountain of work waiting for me. I’m leaving now.”

There was no way Luo Shicheng could care for a child while stationed in the barracks, he called after Wu Cuihua.

“Sister Wu…”

But she didn’t look back and rode off swiftly.

Luo Shicheng frowned, looking down at the tiny bundle in his arms.

Luo Yan looked up, her big eyes reflecting her scoundrel of a father’s handsome face. The miserable image of the sick, unconscious Hua Li flashed through her mind, and anger surged. She raised her small hand and slapped Luo Shicheng hard across the face.

A baby’s slap didn’t hurt, but it stunned Luo Shicheng.

Still unsatisfied, Luo Yan gave him two more slaps.

“Ouch! My hand hurts!”

“Wah!”

Fearing that Luo Shicheng might retaliate by slapping her in turn, Luo Yan burst into a tremendous, earth-shaking wail.

A military vehicle screeched to a halt nearby, and a silver-haired, distinguished-looking officer stepped down.

“Luo Shicheng, what’s going on here?”

Sun Bailing hated hearing children cry. He stepped down and reached out to take Luo Yan from Luo Shicheng’s arms.

Luo Yan thought to herself: her worthless father was a battalion commander, but this old gentleman could call him by name. Setting aside his seniority, this man’s rank was definitely higher than Luo Shicheng’s.

As the saying goes, a higher-ranking officer can crush a lower one; this was a big, powerful leg she had to try to cling to.

Luo Yan sniffled, “Daddy’s bad, Daddy’s bad!”

After all, she was only three and a half years old. If she listed all of Luo Shicheng’s misdeeds clearly, there was no doubt she’d be sent off for a psychological evaluation. So she could only scold her rotten father in a babyish voice.

Sun Bailing frowned upon hearing this.

“Children don’t lie. Luo Shicheng, what’s really going on?”

He tested the weight of Luo Yan in his arms—she was light as a feather, lighter even than his own one-year-old grandson. Looking at the child’s face, her large eyes like lanterns, it was obvious she had been chronically malnourished.

Sun Bailing’s expression darkened. “Luo Shicheng, come with me to the office.”

Those familiar with Sun Bailing knew this was a sign he was about to lose his temper.

Luo Shicheng hesitated, then called after Sun Bailing.

“Instructor Sun, my neighbor told me my wife is seriously ill. I have to go home and check on her.”

Without a word, Sun Bailing got into the vehicle holding the child, and Luo Shicheng had no choice but to follow.

In the car, Sun Bailing scolded Luo Shicheng with a stern face.

“I’ve watched you grow up, and never did I think you’d have such tendencies toward child abuse. When your wife recovers, I’ll have a serious talk with your grandfather. If you can live together, fine; if not, then separate. Taking out your frustrations on your child still makes you a person of sorts.”

Luo Shicheng rarely went home, and even when he did, he never paid attention to his wife and daughter. This was the first time he truly looked at Luo Yan.

A scrawny bastard carrying his surname, her big eyes full of fear and unease, tears brimming but not falling—she looked like a fragile doll.

For some reason, Luo Shicheng felt a sharp pang in his heart seeing her like this.

Just then, the car stopped at the courtyard gate, breaking his thoughts.

Ignoring the fleeting pang of guilt, Luo Shicheng got out and knocked on the gate.

Wu Cuihua, washing clothes in the yard, heard the knock and opened her own gate with a harsh tone.

“What are you knocking for? Your wife’s already passed out from the fever. Jump in from my side.”

A woman alone at home must lock the doors; what if something happened? This was also why Wu Cuihua hadn’t opened her gate when she left with Luo Yan.

Luo Shicheng climbed over the wall and opened the door. Sun Bailing carried Luo Yan inside while Luo Shicheng strode into the house.

Previously, Luo Shicheng usually returned home after dark, slept, and left before dawn without even eating. This was the first time he entered his home in broad daylight.

Seeing the house nearly bare, Luo Shicheng was surprised, but then recalled that Luo Yan’s biological father wouldn’t have refused to provide any living expenses for the mother and daughter, and steeled his heart.

In the master bedroom, Luo Shicheng immediately saw Hua Li lying on the bed, her cheeks flushed red from fever.

He tried calling her a few times; Hua Li showed no response. He pushed her gently, but she still did not wake.

Sun Bailing stood outside the door, angry enough that his military cap almost flew off.

“Hurry and help her get dressed and send her to the hospital. Calling out, calling out—who do you think you are? You think just calling will make her better?”