NOVPUB“Dad…”
Liu Zhiyue clearly still wanted to say something more, but Liu Changqing cut him off and spoke first.
“Don’t think too much right now. Just get some rest. The doctor said you’ll be on the drip for quite a while. If there’s anything you feel like eating, just let me know and I’ll go buy it for you.”
“No need, I’m not hungry right now…”
“Alright then. Try to sleep for a bit. I’ll step out and call your mom.”
“Okay.”
After adjusting the height of his son’s pillow and waiting for him to close his eyes, Liu Changqing turned and left the room, heading outside the hospital.
He pulled out his phone and called An Yuanyao.
Once the call connected, his wife explained why Zhao Xuanwen had gotten her clothes wet. After she finished explaining the situation on her end, Liu Changqing updated her on things from his side.
Hearing that everything was more or less okay, he could clearly hear the sound of relief in An Yuanyao’s voice from the other end of the call.
After she reminded him about a few more things, Liu Changqing ended the call.
He put the phone away and had just turned to head back when he suddenly saw a man standing right behind him, startling him.
He instinctively took a step back and looked at the man in front of him.
The guy looked to be pushing forty, dressed in plain clothes, about 175cm tall, and had an average face. Maybe he hadn’t groomed himself in a while — he looked a bit scruffy.
Liu Changqing felt slightly surprised as he looked at the man staring at him. After thinking for a moment, he asked,
“Who are you…”
“Liu Changqing?”
The man actually called him by name.
That caught Liu Changqing off guard. Hearing his name come out of this stranger’s mouth made him pause for a second, searching his memory for any clue about who this might be.
Nothing came up.
“And you are?”
“We’re from the same village — you don’t remember?”
With that sentence, the man clearly confirmed who Liu Changqing was and looked genuinely surprised.
His eyes scanned Liu Changqing up and down.
“It really is you! I thought it looked like you from behind. You’ve lost a lot of weight, huh? Last time you came back home you were pretty chunky, weren’t you?”
“…”
After a moment of silence, Liu Changqing feigned surprise.
“Oh, it’s you! Long time no see. Ah… don’t even bring it up. I gained weight from eating too much, so I had to slim down… You don’t know how bad it got — I went for a check-up at the hospital and they told me I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol… So the doctor told me to lose weight.”
“Yeah, makes sense. Eating too much isn’t good for your health.”
The man nodded, then looked at Liu Changqing’s outfit and compared it to his own. With a bit of emotion, he said,
“Looks like life’s been treating you well…” 𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝑏.𝘤𝑜𝘮
He paused, then suddenly asked,
“By the way, are you still living with that Li woman?”
“That Li woman?”
“Your wife… I remember the two of you came back together once, didn’t you? Let me think… a few years ago, maybe? Can’t remember exactly, but I clearly remember the car you drove.”
The man’s face took on a look of yearning as he spoke.
He muttered to himself,
“Back in our little place… who had ever seen a car like that…”
Looking at the man in front of him, Liu Changqing was sure he didn’t recognize him. Must’ve not been anyone he was close to.
As the guy rambled on nostalgically, Liu Changqing interrupted him and asked,
“So, what are you doing here? Not feeling well and came to get checked out?”
“Nah, it’s my mother-in-law. She’s sick. The county hospital couldn’t handle it, so we had to transfer her to the city.”
“What kind of illness? That serious?”
“Honestly, I can’t remember the exact name… Something with the brain blood… something or other.”
“Cerebral thrombosis?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
“That is serious.”
After saying that, the man seemed to run out of things to say. He paused for a moment, then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a soft pack of cigarettes.
He tapped the pack a few times, pulled out a cigarette, and offered it to Liu Changqing.
“Have one.”
Seeing this, Liu Changqing quickly replied,
“No thanks, I quit.”
“Alright then…”
Hearing that Liu Changqing had quit, the man didn’t insist. He took one out for himself, stuck it in his mouth, lit it up with a lighter, and took a deep drag.
Then he pulled it out and exhaled a puff of smoke.
Liu Changqing watched him light up, and after thinking for a moment, was just about to find an excuse to leave when the man suddenly said,
“Ever since your folks died, we haven’t seen you come back. People in the village say your parents had bad luck… Look, Changqing, I’m not trying to lecture you, but no matter how successful or rich you get out there, you should still come home now and then. That’s your roots, after all.”
“…”
Liu Changqing frowned slightly. Hearing that, something stirred uncomfortably inside him.
The man continued,
“Ever since your folks passed… we never saw you come back to burn paper offerings. It’s always your uncle’s family doing that. Back when you got married, you even made your parents so mad they went back to the village… It’s been years, and you’ve only shown up once or twice.”
He flicked some ash off his cigarette and let out a deep sigh.
“Sigh… If your mother-in-law hadn’t called them to come to the city, they wouldn’t have been on the road… wouldn’t have had that car accident… Sigh… They didn’t even get to enjoy life a little. Gotta say, you weren’t exactly a model son.”
He hesitated for a second before still saying those last words — weren’t exactly a model son. And he wasn’t lying. In the eyes of the village, Liu Changqing had long been synonymous with “unfilial.”
His parents, on the other hand, had always been well-regarded in the village.
For a good couple like them to have a son like Liu Changqing… people couldn’t help but talk. And today, seeing Liu Changqing at the hospital entrance by chance, the man couldn’t hold back from saying what was on his mind.
But Liu Changqing didn’t respond to the accusation about being a bad son. His mind was stuck on something else entirely.
His expression shifted to one of confusion, and he raised his voice.
“Wait… what did you just say? My mother-in-law? She’s the one who called my parents to the city?”
“Eh… you didn’t know?”
The man looked confused at Liu Changqing’s strong reaction. He took another drag from his cigarette and then added,
“Heard they crashed into a big truck… Didn’t even make it to the hospital. What a shame. They were such good people… how could something like that…”
The rest of the man’s words faded into nothing for Liu Changqing.
Right now, all he could think about was the real cause of his parents’ death — and the deep, gnawing suspicion blooming inside him.
That woman, Ye Rong… why did she ask the parents of this body to go to the city?
