Mu Jingzhe went around to ask about Xiao Wu, but she didn’t manage to find out anything of value. Instead, she found out that Xiao Wu often applied for leave and didn’t go to school. Although Xiao Wu was smart, this situation still didn’t make the teacher feel good.
Even though Xiao Wu’s parent was now Shao Qiyun, the teacher still felt that Mu Jingzhe was more reliable. When Mu Jingzhe went to school to find out about Xiao Wu’s situation, the teacher pulled her aside to talk.
Xiao Wu took leave from school and didn’t go to school often. He spent all his time earning money. Mu Jingzhe realized that Xiao Wu had even participated in a competition program but hadn’t performed well in it. The rhythm of Xiao Wu’s music was clearly pretty good, but it made one feel vexed.
Mu Jingzhe frowned when she heard that. There seemed to be something wrong with Xiao Wu’s music too. It was annoying to listen to. No matter what the rhythm was, one felt that there was something wrong with it.
Some of his music was clearly soothing and should make one feel calm, but when one heard it, they were calm to the point of feeling depressed.
The more Mu Jingzhe listened, the more she felt that something was amiss. Xiao Wu’s music shouldn’t be like this. She even suspected that Xiao Wu had some psychological problem, but she was just suspicious. There was no way for her to confirm it.
“Mommy, you’re secretly asking about Xiao Wu again. Didn’t we agree not to care about him anymore?”
Mu Jingzhe, who had been caught eavesdropping on the radio by Shao Xi, touched her nose. “I just think he’s acting weird, so I wanted to listen.”
“He’s gone back to live with Shao Qiyun for a few months now. Isn’t he living quite well? Just ignore him. Since he gave up on us, let’s give up on him too.”
Shao Xi got angry at the mention of Xiao Wu and really didn’t want to feel angry anymore.
“Mm.” Mu Jingzhe agreed, but for some reason, she felt uneasy.
This uneasiness lasted for a long time, causing Mu Jingzhe to suffer from insomnia. When it was already past eleven o’clock, she still hadn’t fallen asleep.
Originally, her daily routine had improved thanks to the four kids. She usually slept before ten, went to bed early, and woke up early. She rarely suffered from insomnia or anything like that, but tonight, she was inexplicably anxious.
She tossed and turned but couldn’t fall asleep. Mu Jingzhe carefully got up to drink some water. Just as she finished drinking water, she heard a commotion. She turned around and saw Little Bei and Shao Dong.
Little Bei had purely been woken up by the noise, and so had Shao Dong. He usually slept lightly and would be aware of any movements. In addition, Mu Jingzhe had been preoccupied and worried, so he had come to take a look.
“Did I wake the two of you up? Go back to sleep. I’m fine.” Mu Jingzhe suspected that her period was coming early. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be feeling so anxious.
“Are you really fine? Mommy, are you still thinking of Xiao Wu?” Shao Dong got straight to the point.
“I’m really fine. Xiao Wu… I just felt that he was acting weird…” Mu Jingzhe paused and held her chest as she suddenly took deep breaths.
“What’s wrong?” Shao Dong and Little Bei stood up sensitively.
“Nothing. I just feel like I can’t breathe. I’m feeling very vexed and anxious.” There was also an indescribable sense of uneasiness in her heart.
Mu Jingzhe couldn’t help but take two steps forward. Shao Dong was puzzled. “Why is this happening…”
“I don’t know either.” He was just feeling uneasy. Mu Jingzhe looked at their worried faces and wanted to comfort them, but when she opened her mouth, she spat out a mouthful of blood without warning.
“Mommy!”
Shao Dong’s expression changed drastically as he stepped forward to catch Mu Jingzhe.
“Mommy!” Little Bei’s voice was choked with tears. As she looked at Mu Jingzhe, it was as if she had returned to her state of helplessness a year ago, when Mu Jingzhe had been sick.
“Didn’t you say that you had recovered? Why are you still vomiting blood?” Little Bei helped support Mu Jingzhe and called her ‘Mommy’ a few times, but Mu Jingzhe didn’t react at all.
Shao Xi and Shao Nan also heard the big commotion and quickly ran out.
“Quick, take Mommy to the hospital!” Shao Dong’s face was pale, but he tried his best to calm down. “Little Nan, contact Daddy and Uncle Ji and ask them to come and help quickly. We’ll take Mommy to the hospital first.”
Shao Nan responded and ran out, but he stepped on the blood Mu Jingzhe had spat out. He looked down at the dark blood. He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but Shao Nan seemed to see something move in the blood.
Compared to last time, the color of the blood was different, making Shao Nan feel even more worried.
Shao Dong and Shao Xi worked together to take Mu Jingzhe to the rickshaw borrowed from next door. They had a car at home, but they were too young to drive it. On the other hand, they could ride and push the rickshaw.
Shao Dong was about to ride the rickshaw and leave when Xiao Wu suddenly ran over and appeared at the door. His head was covered in sweat. When he saw Shao Dong, he asked, “Did Mommy vomit blood?”
Shao Dong and the rest tensed up. They hadn’t expected Xiao Wu to appear at this time and call her ‘Mommy’. He’d even asked if she had vomited blood.
Didn’t he only acknowledge Shao Qiyun now? Besides, why had he coincidentally rushed over and why had he known that Mommy had vomited blood?
“What do you mean? What did you do to Mommy?” Shao Xi grabbed Xiao Wu’s clothes and stared at him with murderous eyes.
“How did you know Mommy vomited blood?” Little Bei’s eyes were filled with suspicion.
Xiao Wu had already seen the blood at the corner of Mu Jingzhe’s mouth. When he heard Little Bei’s question and confirmed that Mu Jingzhe had vomited blood, he wasn’t as nervous as Shao Dong and the rest. Instead, he heaved a big sigh of relief.
It was fine now. Everything was fine now.
Xiao Wu couldn’t help but laugh even while Shao Xi was grabbing his clothes. When Shao Xi saw Xiao Wu’s laughter, his first reaction was that Xiao Wu was laughing at them and at Mu Jingzhe for vomiting blood.
How could he tolerate this? In a fit of anger, Shao Xi punched Xiao Wu ruthlessly. “You’re laughing? Shao Zhong, let me tell you something. If anything happens to Mom, you can kiss your life goodbye!”
Xiao Wu was beaten to the ground by Shao Xi but didn’t say a word.
Shao Dong felt that Xiao Wu’s words were very strange, and his reaction was also extremely weird. Given when he had come over, it seemed as if he had known beforehand that Mu Jingzhe would vomit blood. Everything seemed strange, but now was not the time to pursue the matter. He glanced at Mu Jingzhe and couldn’t care less, hurriedly riding the rickshaw to the hospital.
Shao Xi and Little Bei couldn’t be bothered anymore and helped push the rickshaw.
Lying on the ground, as Xiao Wu watched them leave, he no longer hid his suppressed emotions and began to wail. He had saved Mommy, but he had also killed someone.
Shao Nan had just contacted Shao Qihai and Ji Buwang and was about to follow them to the hospital when he heard Xiao Wu’s cries from the door.
They were cries of despair. For a moment, Shao Nan couldn’t even describe how he felt.
His voice was clearly despairing, but it also contained joy and relief. Shao Nan’s heart trembled when he heard that. Looking at Xiao Wu’s back, Shao Nan realized that Xiao Wu was awfully thin. It was as if he hadn’t grown since he’d left home, just as Mommy had said.
Shao Nan pursed his lips and stepped forward to pull Xiao Wu up. “So your abnormal behavior in the last few months was really a result of being threatened, Xiao Wu. Or is there more to the story than meets the eye? Hurry up and tell me what happened!”
Shao Nan realized that the fingers of Xiao Wu’s left hand were covered in blood. “What’s wrong with your hand? Did you cut yourself? Why did you not tell us about it instead of taking matters into your own hands?”
He was furious, but Xiao Wu wouldn’t look at Shao Nan. He flung his hand away and turned to leave. “What are you talking about? There isn’t more to it than meets the eye.”
Now that everything was handled, it was too late. There was nothing left to say.
He should turn himself in, but perhaps running away was more reasonable…
