“Xi? What are you doing?” someone asked in confusion.
“Mr. Chen, they aren’t even angry at us despite having sustained such bad injuries. They are obviously not with the same group as people from before! They are good people!”
With that, the girl named Xi walked toward Han Muzi before uttering, “Before I take you to Lin Zheng, your hands need to be attended to. If you don’t mind, I can help you with that.”
Yan hesitated while staring at Han Muzi’s horribly cut-up palm before commenting, “The wounds look serious, so I think it’s best to head to the hospital.”
It would be bad if the wounds got infected.
The girl named Xi didn’t dare answer her; instead, she gazed at Han Muzi sincerely with wide eyes. After weighing her options, Han Muzi smiled at her with a reply, “Thank you for the help.”
Yan gave Han Muzi an incredulous stare when she heard that and called out, “Muzi.”
However, Han Muzi was already leaving with Xi. Hence, Yan had no choice but to follow them.
Once the three of them left, the crowd was left dumbfounded at the site.
“Li Hao, how could you shove others like that? You shouldn’t do that in the future!”
The little boy who pushed Han Muzi was called Li Hao. He pouted the moment the adult scolded him and exclaimed unhappily, “But she is a bad person!”
“Xi already said that they aren’t bad people! Did you really see her bullying your granny?”
Li Hao nodded.
The old woman didn’t want her grandson being scolded, but she didn’t want the crowd to misunderstand those two young women as well. In the end, she sighed helplessly. “They didn’t bully me. They were just chatting with me. The child is most probably mistaken.”
“In that case… were we wrong about them? Are they really Lin Zheng’s colleagues?”
…
“We truly are Lin Zheng’s colleagues. We heard from Xiao Yiyi that he had some trouble at home, and that is why we are here to pay him a visit.”
At the mention of the name ‘Xiao Yiyi’, Xi’s hands, which were busy cleaning Han Muzi’s wounds, paused for a while. Then, Xi nodded while answering, “I believe you. Yiyi drops by often, and she’s close with the people here. She is… really in love with Lin Zheng; in fact, she almost visits him at his house every day.”
Xi glanced at Han Muzi tentatively before asking her softly, “Isn’t it painful?”
Han Muzi was stumped for a while before asking her, “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t even make a noise while I’m attending to your wounds.” Xi stared at the cuts and gashes she was attending to in confusion. “There are glass pieces pierced into your hands, and there are so many wood splinters embedded in the wound too! You have to get them out later with a needle and a pair of tweezers.”
Han Muzi glanced at her palm without commenting.
Yan, who was just beside them, exclaimed in frustration, “How could it not be painful? I can feel the pain just by looking at it. She’s not complaining because she is a tolerant person!”
Throughout the years, Han Muzi had suppressed everything deep in her heart.
Yan could vividly recall an incident. When they just went abroad, Han Muzi had yet to become a fashion designer. She was bullied the first time participating in a job within her industry, and she sustained some serious injuries from that.
In the end, Han Muzi didn’t even say a thing until the job was completed.
Thinking back now, Yan’s heart broke into pieces again.
Xi didn’t comment further upon hearing that; instead, she continued treating the wounds.
Xi realized with a start that this woman in front of her must be extremely tolerant because from the start to that moment, it was obvious that the pain must have been unbearable. However, Han Muzi didn’t even bat an eyelash; there was merely cold sweat beaded across her fair forehead.
After dressing the wound, Xi advised in a quiet voice, “Keep your wounds bone-dry for the next few days. Have your hand checked in a hospital when you have the time. I merely gave you some medical emergency treatment.”
Han Muzi smiled faintly at her. “Thank you.”
Xi’s cheeks were flushed red, and it made her look especially innocent and kind. “Well, let me lead you to Lin Zheng now.”
“Thank you.” Han Muzi and Yan followed Xi from behind as she led them to Lin Zheng’s house.
Since Xi trusted them both, she started chatting a lot about Lin Zheng.
Through the conversation, Han Muzi and Yan came to realize that Lin Zheng’s living conditions hadn’t been great throughout his life. His mother was from a brothel, and she got married to Lin Zheng’s father.
Initially, Lin Zheng’s father was a young and diligent man; he was handsome and had attracted countless pretty young women when he was in his youth. However, for some unknown reason, Lin Zheng’s father fell for a woman from a brothel. The two of them fell head over heels in love with each other, and soon, they had Lin Zheng.
Initially, the married couple enjoyed their lives together, and Lin Zheng had a happy family when he was a child.
However, after several years, Lin Zheng’s mother couldn’t turn over a new leaf; she returned to the brothel to earn a living because she missed the extravagant lifestyle she enjoyed in the past. She thought Lin Zheng’s father was useless because he couldn’t provide her with the life she wanted.
Hence, the couple kept having cold wars with each other. They kept arguing and fighting, which turned physical later on.
After some time, Lin Zheng’s father turned to alcohol, and he became an alcoholic. Each time he returned home after drinking, he would go on a drunken fit. Lin Zheng’s mother would call him a drunkard who couldn’t even earn a living. Hence, she abandoned Lin Zheng and never came back.
Later on, Lin Zheng’s father drank to numb his pain all day long. Therefore, Lin Zheng lived his life in fear and uncertainty day after day.
With time, Lin Zheng’s father became addicted to gambling as well, and he owed large amounts of debts to loan sharks. Naturally, right now, Lin Zheng had to bear these debts.
Loan sharks.
That’s truly horrifying.
The more one owed the loan sharks, the higher the compound interest would be. As long as one failed to pay up, there would be rolled-up interest pushed forward to the next day.
If one couldn’t clear their debt for the month, the interest would be compounded to the next month.
Toward the end, with the rolled up interest, one might not even be able to afford just the interest.
They walked toward the front of an old house, and Xi came to a complete stop before explaining, “Lin Zheng might appear cold and distant usually… but it’s not that he doesn’t want to be friends with others. He just doesn’t want to drag others down. The loan sharks are always going after him to collect their debts. Hence, anyone who gets too close with Lin Zheng would get into trouble with the loan sharks as well.”
Han Muzi was astounded when she heard that, and she glanced at Xi reflexively.
Is that the reason the youngster is so anti-social?
I thought that… he is the way he is due to certain circumstances. Who would have thought…
“You two should wait here. I will go in to check things out first.”
Xi paused before entering the house.
Just when Xi was about to enter the house, Xiao Yiyi, who was crying her eyes out, walked out through the entrance, and she happened to come face-to-face with the trio.
The four of them were stunned to silence. Then, Xiao Yiyi marched to face Han Muzi directly before asking her in an irate tone, “Why are you here? You shouldn’t assume that Lin Zheng would accept your kindness or generosity. Get lost now.”
Han Muzi regarded her calmly without responding to her.
Yan remarked incredulously, “We are here to visit him. What has that got to do with you?”
Xiao Yiyi snorted in disdain before turning around to leave.
Once she was gone, Yan mumbled that Xiao Yiyi was an oddball under her breath.
Soon, there was a loud noise coming from the house, and it sounded as if something was being smashed violently on the ground. Shortly, a thin young man with a white shirt walked out of the house.
“Get lost! You are a bearer of bad luck! You’d better get lost right now!”
