NOVPUB
Chapter 558: 548
After arranging the specific time with his classmate Wu, Li Hongqi was anxious to return. He planned to put Qiu Shuping through a crash course in gaining others’ sympathy—the quickest way was to make the situation seem as dire as possible. Once he was back, he intended to come up with a decent story, give it to Qiu Shuping, and let her perform well at school tomorrow.
When he walked out of the Agricultural University campus, he saw Zheng Guilin’s mother nearly tearing her hair out in anxiety.
"Mom, what’s wrong?" Li Hongqi approached and asked.
When Zheng Guilin’s mother saw Li Hongqi, she was overjoyed. "Hongqi, hurry up. Your second sister-in-law just rode off on her bicycle that way. My legs can’t catch up to her, so you’ve got to chase her down. You should still be able to catch up."
Upon hearing this, Li Hongqi didn’t dawdle and immediately took off in the direction pointed out by Zheng Guilin’s mother.
Shen Yunfang, riding her bicycle ahead, had no idea someone was tailing her and leisurely made her way home.
Only after he saw the second sister-in-law lock her bicycle and go upstairs did Li Hongqi crouch near the building, panting like a dog. He had run for more than ten minutes straight. With his small frame, it was sheer dogged spirit that kept him going; otherwise, he would have collapsed long before.
After catching his breath and memorizing the location, Li Hongqi staggered back on trembling legs.
Back at the guesthouse, he couldn’t hold himself upright anymore and flopped down onto the bed.
"Ah, Hongqi, what happened to you?" Zheng Guilin was startled and hurriedly leaned over to check on her husband.
"It’s nothing, just ran for too long, and my legs won’t cooperate," said Li Hongqi weakly.
"Hongqi, did you catch up?" Zheng Guilin’s mother also leaned in to ask.
Qiu Shuping also came over wanting to show concern for her son, but her daughter-in-law and her child’s mother-in-law had already crowded around him. Squeezed to one side, she felt somewhat left out.
"I caught up. I know where the second sister-in-law lives," Li Hongqi said.
"Ah, that’s great. Let’s go there later and give her a piece of our mind," Zheng Guilin said, directing all her hatred towards Shen Yunfang. She blamed all her misfortunes on Shen Yunfang; if not for her, Zheng wouldn’t have lost her child, and it was due to her that Zheng couldn’t have any more children. It was a clear case of misplaced anger. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝔲𝔟.𝔠𝖔𝖒
"No, we can’t go tonight. Wait until everything is settled tomorrow, then we’ll deal with her," Li Hongqi disagreed with the idea of confronting the second sister-in-law immediately. He felt that getting an apology tomorrow mattered more than stirring up trouble today.
And so, Li Hongqi repeated the plan for tomorrow morning to everyone.
Upon hearing it, Qiu Shuping recoiled. "No, no, I can’t cry in front of so many people." She was blatantly lying but truthfully, she was timid. When her son suggested she take the front line, she was terrified.
"Oh come on, my dear mother-in-law, don’t I know what you’re capable of? Don’t be modest. Besides, whether we have money for the train tickets home depends on you. Do you want to end up begging here?" Zheng Guilin’s mother quickly flattered her in-law. Indeed, this task was something only Qiu Shuping could accomplish.
Though they were both old ladies, one could tell at a glance that Qiu Shuping came from the countryside. She herself didn’t seem like someone who had suffered much, so it had to be Qiu Shuping who would step in.
"I, I, I don’t know how to say it either," Qiu Shuping admitted her deficiency eloquently at this moment.
"No worries, if you can’t speak, I will teach you. Come come come, we have time now, I will teach you how to say it." Zheng’s mother took her away, ready for some intensive training.
Li Hongqi watched his mother-in-law nod in satisfaction.
That night, several people in the guesthouse room toiled away until very late, and in the end, they simply didn’t let Qiu Shuping sleep, which would make her appear even more haggard the next morning.
The next step was for Li Hongqi and Zheng’s mother to train her on how to cry and tell the story, while Zheng Guilin was also busy borrowing needle and thread from the staff to patch up a few spots on Qiu Shuping’s clothes.
The next morning, Li Hongqi had a full breakfast, and then, together with Qiu Shuping who hadn’t slept all night and hadn’t eaten breakfast, set off to find their classmate Wu.
Classmate Wu also put in a lot of effort the previous day, spending an afternoon creating a large banner and a display board. Several of them carried these and left Agricultural University.
Without dwelling on the process of the group traveling to other schools, let’s just say that the donation activity that morning went very smoothly.
Classmate Wu and a few others set up the prepared banners at the entrance of the teaching building, then began passionately describing the tragic life of Qiu Shuping, the poor woman with nobody to rely on.
The college students at that time were all full of zeal, eager to step in wherever they saw injustice, so it wasn’t long before the front of the teaching building was crowded with students.
Qiu Shuping was shrewd and didn’t need instruction; when she saw people pointing at her, she sat down on the ground and started sobbingly telling her tale of misfortune.
Of course, this was just a story, one that Li Hongqi and Zheng’s mother had processed. According to the truth, claiming that her daughter-in-law was unfilial seemed somewhat unconvincing, so they directly changed the unfilial person to be her son. Moreover, Qiu Shuping now had only this son, and of course, they couldn’t say that her son was a soldier. They simply said he was a college student, but they were vague about which school.
Li Hongqi had also come, but he was acting as a shill hidden among the onlookers. After Qiu Shuping tearfully finished her sad story, Classmate Wu also stood up fervently and proposed that as university students encountering such a situation, they should shine their light, initiating a fundraising drive for the lonely and helpless elderly.
At this point, Li Hongqi’s role came into play; he was the first to step forward in response. He took out a yuan from his pocket, his face full of compassion as he looked at Qiu Shuping sitting on the ground, "This old lady’s suffering is really pitiful. We all have elderly people in our families, and if our own elders were to face such an ordeal, I believe we would wish for people to extend a hand to help them too. As university students, we should not be bookworms disconnected from reality; we need to discover the society’s injustices. Though each of our strengths may be insignificant, I believe that if we all lend a helping hand, I trust that even sparks can start a fire." After speaking, he threw the yuan into the donation box and walked away with big strides.
His speech truly inspired a group of youths, and seeing someone leading the donation, no one wanted to be left behind. They generously donated, throwing one-yuan and fifty-cent pieces into the donation box, and each of them offered comfort to Qiu Shuping on the ground after their donation.
Qiu Shuping wasn’t listening to what they were saying; she was just watching the money being tossed into the box. After all, this money was for her.
By noon, the donation box was nearly full, and Classmate Wu walked back proudly, supporting Qiu Shuping.
Qiu Shuping grumbled, wondering why they had to use such a small box; they could have collected more money otherwise.
The group, in high spirits, returned to the entrance of Agricultural University. Li Hongqi, with words that cost him nothing, churned out flattery at Classmate Wu and the others until they were completely bamboozled, and only then did he return to the guesthouse with Qiu Shuping and the box in tow.
