CHAPTER 25: CHAPTER 25: THEY’VE COME LOOKING!

Gu Junming noticed the dimples on the little girl’s cheeks, and his heart stirred. This girl was paler and more spirited than the first time they met. Her eyes sparkled with vivacious light, unlike the haggard and panic-stricken appearance she had before.

"What are you looking at?" Bai Fanglan asked.

"It’s Sun Chan. Has she been staying here all the time?" Gu Junming looked at her and said.

Bai Fanglan couldn’t hide the disdain in her words: "She works here as a caregiver. The hospital’s caregiver market really needs some cleaning up. Is this a job anyone without an education can do?"

Every time she saw Sun Chan, she wished she could rush over and kick her, hit her, curse her. But thinking of her status, she could only walk past coldly. Last time had already embarrassed her greatly, and the most important was Han Dong; she didn’t want to offend this person.

Gu Junming slightly furrowed his brows: "I think her care is quite good. Generally, when the elderly fall ill, it’s the family who takes care of them. There’s no requirement for educational qualifications. In this line of work, experience and kindness are most important."

"Yes, you’re right. Let’s go, otherwise we’ll be late." Bai Fanglan forced a smile.

Gu Junming glanced at Sun Chan again before striding away.

Sun Chan didn’t realize Gu Junming was nearby watching her, otherwise she would have returned the money to him. After subtracting the cost of buying groceries and rice for Wang Dan, she already saved over seventy bucks, repaid his hospital fee and still had over thirty bucks left. This was the biggest wealth in two lifetimes.

Sun Chan returned to the ward, and just as she carried out the basin, she saw two people walking down the corridor. Sun Chan didn’t have time to think much and quickly hid back — it turned out to be Zhao Xiuxia and Sun Lijuan!

Sun Chan leaned against the door, panting rapidly. These two had come to the hospital too!

It turned out that Sun Lijuan couldn’t stay in the city all the time. That day she ran out of money and returned home to get her living expenses. Even though she returned early in the morning, she found Zhou Jinzhu already waiting at the village entrance. Seeing her return, without a word, he dragged her into the field, intending to make her his wife.

"You think you can hide? I do nothing every day but wait for you! You’re going to be my wife!"

Sun Lijuan screamed: "Let go of me, you filthy rogue, I won’t marry you!"

"Fine, pay up! Or give me Sun Chan, or else you won’t have it easy!" He said as he reached to grab her clothes.

If it weren’t for some villagers passing by, Zhou Jinzhu would have violated her.

Her clothes were torn, and there were marks on her neck from his grip. Amid the villagers’ gossip, she cried and ran home, holding her mother and sobbing: "It’s all Sun Chan’s fault! If this continues, I’ll lose my innocence, mom, you have to stand up for me!"

Zhao Xiuxia was already feeling unwell due to the firewood stack incident, groaning on the bed. Hearing her daughter was assaulted, she sat on the bed crying and cursing. If such a reputation were to spread, what decent family would propose marriage! Zhou Jinzhu had been pestering them for so long; what would happen if this continued?

But the family had no savings and still had to pay for her daughter’s school fees. Every year around this time, they used to have Sun Chan go harvest wheat and do odd jobs for money, but this year Sun Chan ran away. Who would they send to earn money? They even lost five hundred bucks of wedding money! The more Zhao Xiuxia thought, the more anxious she became. Her daughter kept shaking her arm, demanding she find a way, until she fainted from the stress.

Sun Lijuan was terrified, quickly took leave and rushed her mother to the hospital for a check-up. Fortunately, it was nothing serious. But remembering Zhou Jinzhu was someone who meant what he said, they both felt anxious and didn’t notice the person who swiftly hid.

Sun Lijuan walked worrying: "What should we do, mom? Paying him might be the only way. Or else I’ll have to marry him."

"No way, I don’t believe she only has your twenty-something bucks. Where else could she have hidden it? She’s probably in the city, a countryside dweller can’t hide anywhere special!"

"Mom, do you think she could have gone to find Wang Dan?"

Zhao Xiuxia slapped her thigh: "You’re right! In our village, she’s the only one who speaks to that wretch occasionally. She’s most likely with her! We’ll go find her, and if she doesn’t hand over the person, I won’t leave!"

The two of them discussed and walked off.

Sun Chan had thought of that too. Most likely, they would go looking for Wang Dan for her, so she took leave and headed towards the mall.

Wang Dan was quite surprised to see her: "What’s wrong? You look exhausted."

"Nothing, my stepmother will demand you hand me over. Just don’t admit ever seeing me. I won’t come to your place again." Sun Chan wiped the sweat from her forehead and said.

Wang Dan nodded: "I understand. Don’t worry, I won’t be afraid of those two scumbags!"

"Then I’m leaving!" Sun Chan quickly turned and ran away.

Before long, Sun Lijuan and Zhao Xiuxia arrived. As soon as they got upstairs, they cursed and demanded Wang Dan hand over the person: "Our daughter was doing well in the village and was about to get married. You seduced her out here! If you don’t hand her over today, I won’t be polite!"

Wang Dan crossed her arms, indifferent to the onlookers’ gossip: "What do you exactly want?"

Sun Lijuan looked at her indifferently: "You don’t want to lose your job because of some outsider, do you?"

"Exactly! Not handing her over will mess up your job!" Zhao Xiuxia was a shrew, fearing nothing; she sat on the ground and started wailing: "My good daughter was led astray by you to the city and now she’s missing. Hand her over quickly, or I’ll fight you to the death!"

Wang Dan had already prepared a response and coldly sneered: "Which eye of yours saw me abduct your daughter? Stop spouting rubbish here, leave quickly, or I’ll call security to detain you for a few days, then you’ll behave! You really think I’m Sun Chan, letting you bully and suppress me? Try bullying me and see if my dad won’t beat you to death!"

The two saw her so justified and began to doubt, perhaps they really had made a mistake? Wang Dan’s dad was tough, and if her job was lost, their lives wouldn’t be spared.

Sun Lijuan gritted her teeth and said: "Wang Dan, it’s better to tear down a temple than ruin a marriage. You caused my sister to leave the village, ruining her good marriage, ruining her life. Don’t you feel guilty?"

Wang Dan’s finger was almost poking Sun Lijuan’s face: "Bah! You almost sold someone into a pit calling it a good marriage. Shameless! Don’t think I don’t know about Zhou Jinzhu just because I’m in the city. He’s a thorough villain and rogue! For a few hundred bucks of dowry, you want to push a good girl into a hell. Since he’s so good, you should marry him, don’t be embarrassed. After all, he dragged you into the cornfield; who knows if he succeeded or not!"