Luo Fen’s daughter, Guo Xiaona, had just come home from school when she saw Yang Zhiqiang hitting her mother. Without stopping to think, she charged forward and began hitting him.
The female police officer was still holding Luo Fen and had no free hand, while the male officer had only just released Yang Zhiqiang’s arm. Yang Zhiqiang immediately raised his hand and slapped Guo Xiaona across the face. Guo Xiaona fell to the ground. The female officer hurried forward to stop him, but Luo Fen suddenly went berserk. She lunged at Yang Zhiqiang and bit down hard on his ear…
The officers tried to pull her away but couldn’t. Guo Xiaona got back to her feet and clawed at Yang Zhiqiang’s face.
Just then, Yang Zhiqiang’s daughter came home as well. Seeing her father being attacked, she rushed over, grabbed Guo Xiaona by the hair, and yanked hard. The two girls fell to the ground together. For a moment, the onlookers were so stunned that they forgot to intervene. It wasn’t until one of the officers shouted that they finally rushed forward. After quite some effort, they managed to restrain the flailing Yang Jinfeng, and Luo Fen finally released her bite.
Blood from Yang Zhiqiang’s ear ran down onto his shoulder, and he grimaced in pain…
The four members of the Yang family sat on the ground, panting heavily. Luo Fen spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, wiped her face, and stood up. She said only two words:
“Divorce!”
Yang Zhiqiang had also come back to his senses after his moment of rage. Seeing the scene before him, he was filled with regret.
He knew that Luo Fen was not a bad person and had always treated both children equally. But she shouldn’t have humiliated him in front of so many people.
The two police officers were exhausted as well. After handling cases for so many years, this was the first time they had encountered anything like it.
The Yang family had been arguing for a month, and tensions were already close to boiling over. Even if the fight had not happened today, it would have happened sooner or later.
The older officer glanced at everyone in the room and closed his notebook.
“As for the flowerpot incident, go and discuss it with the injured person’s family yourselves and see if they’re willing to settle. If you can’t reach an agreement, come back to us. And when family members fight, don’t try to seriously hurt each other. If you have something to say, talk it out.”
The female officer turned to Yang Zhiqiang. “As a grown man, you need to take responsibility. Don’t try to shirk it whenever a problem arises…”
With that, the two officers turned and left. The onlookers gradually dispersed as well. Xiao Mandong gave Yang Zhiqiang a deep look before turning and heading downstairs.
After leaving the Yang family’s home, Xiao Mandong did not hurry back. Instead, she went around to the rear courtyard. She knew that one of the households there raised chickens.
She knocked on the door, and an auntie poked her head out. After Xiao Mandong explained what she wanted, she pulled a ten-yuan note from her pocket.
The auntie had not intended to sell any chickens, but Xiao Mandong offered far more than the usual price. A chicken normally sold for just over two yuan, while she was offering five.
The auntie agreed without hesitation. She caught the only two chickens in the house, tied their legs with straw rope, and handed them over.
After carrying the chickens home, Xiao Mandong put one of them into her personal space. She then boiled water, slaughtered the other chicken, plucked it, and cleaned it. It took her more than an hour before the chicken soup was finally simmering with water from the spiritual spring.
Auntie Gao had helped her avoid a disaster, so Xiao Mandong couldn’t simply stand by and watch. Judging from Auntie Gao’s daughter-in-law, Xiao Mandong was worried about the older woman’s situation. She wanted to prepare something nutritious with the spiritual spring water and hoped Auntie Gao would recover as quickly as possible.
The chicken soup simmered over low heat until evening. When Xiao Mandong lifted the lid, the broth had turned milky white, with a layer of oil shimmering on top. The aroma was irresistible. She added only a little salt.
She found an enamel mug and filled it with soup, wrapping it in a towel to keep it warm. Then she put two steamed buns into a lunchbox, put on her padded coat, and headed out.
When she arrived at the hospital, she saw Doctor Fu speaking with Gao Zhuangxu outside the ward.
“I’m doing this for your mother’s sake. Look at how seriously she’s been injured—she’ll definitely need time to recuperate. Wouldn’t it be better to send her back to her hometown to recover? The children are both in school now, so she could get some rest too. My mother could come stay here for a while and help take the children to and from school and prepare the meals.”
She had wanted to send her mother-in-law back to their hometown for a long time. Her own mother and her sister-in-law were like fire and water, and her mother had already mentioned wanting to come stay with her. But there was no spare room at home. Now that this had happened, she wanted to use the opportunity to send her mother-in-law back home.
Gao Zhuangxu leaned against the wall and sighed. “My mother has lived here for seven years. She raised both children herself. The house back home is practically falling down, and it’s the middle of winter. How can you send her back? She doesn’t even have enough firewood to burn.”
Hearing this, Doctor Fu glared at him.
“Enough. We’ll wait until your mother wakes up before discussing it.”
When Xiao Mandong heard that Auntie Gao was still unconscious, she did not go any farther. Instead, she returned directly to the family compound and took the chicken soup to Xiao Li’s home.
The heated brick bed at home had become wonderfully warm from simmering the soup. Lying against it was soothing and comfortable, and she slept through the night without a single dream.
Early the next morning, Xiao Mandong reheated the leftover chicken soup, adding more spiritual spring water. She also boiled ten eggs before going to the hospital again.
By then, Auntie Gao’s face was deathly pale, and she stared blankly at the ceiling.
“Auntie Gao, you’re awake?” Xiao Mandong walked to the bedside and opened the container of chicken soup. Its fragrance instantly filled the entire ward. “I made some chicken soup for you and added a few medicinal herbs to help with your recovery.”
Auntie Gao managed a faint smile. “Oh, tell me, how unlucky can I be? The night before, I dreamed about my old man, and the next thing I knew, I nearly followed him. Thank you, Doctor Xiao. I won’t stand on ceremony.”
Auntie Gao had not eaten anything since the previous day and was truly starving.
Xiao Mandong helped her sit up and handed her the soup. After taking a sip, Auntie Gao’s eyes lit up.
“You made this, girl? I’ve lived my whole life, and this is the first time I’ve ever had chicken soup this delicious.”
Xiao Mandong placed the eggs in the cabinet beside the bed. “I boiled a few eggs for you. Keep them here and eat them when you’re hungry.”
Just then, the ward door opened, and Gao Zhuangxu and Doctor Fu walked in. Doctor Fu was carrying a lunchbox.
As soon as she entered, Doctor Fu caught the rich aroma of the chicken soup. She placed the lunchbox on the bedside table, glanced at the enamel mug in Auntie Gao’s hands, and then looked at Xiao Mandong. The corner of her mouth twitched.
“Doctor Xiao has been very thoughtful. There are a few things we need to discuss with my mother. Would you mind…”
Xiao Mandong smiled. “Auntie Gao, I’ll come back for the enamel—”
Before she could finish, Auntie Gao interrupted her.
“You don’t have to leave. Whatever you have to say, say it here. Doctor Xiao came to visit me. How can you ask her to leave?”
Gao Zhuangxu smiled awkwardly. He sat down beside the bed, peeled one of the eggs he had brought, and handed it to her.
“Mom, Yang Zhiqiang came to our house yesterday and said he was willing to pay compensation. He seemed quite sincere. I told him we’d wait and see how well you recover before making a decision.”
Auntie Gao did not take the egg. She had heard what they had said outside the door the previous day. Just because she was temporarily unable to do the housework or pick up the children, they wanted to send her back to her hometown. And now that she was in the hospital, they had not even asked how she was—they had gone straight to discussing compensation.
Thinking of this, Auntie Gao’s nose began to sting.
