CHAPTER 710: CHAPTER 705: A FALSE ALARM

"It’s a...," Xu He nearly blurted out that Zhuzhu was poisoned by rat poison, but then she immediately realized that she shouldn’t know the reason for Zhuzhu’s hospitalization at this time. She quickly pretended to be ignorant and shook her head, saying, "How would I know, your Luo Family always has so many troubles."

"Which hospital? I’ll go have a look." Luo Zhiming walked to the door, suddenly turned back, and extended his hand to Xu He, "Oh right, give me some money. They must need a lot of money at the hospital. Let’s send them some money."

Xu He was about to reach into her pocket for the money, since she knew she had harmed Zhuzhu and thought to make it up to feel a little better, but then, fearing that Luo Cuilan might get suspicious, she immediately withdrew her hand and said to Luo Zhiming, "I already gave them money this morning. I don’t have anything left on me, and I’m still waiting for the payment from your construction site."

After speaking, she pointed to the things she had just bought for Zhuzhu from outside and said, "You take these to Zhuzhu. I bought them especially for him."

Luo Zhiming thought it was okay and picked up the things, then opened the door and walked out, "Alright, I’m going now."

But as soon as Luo Zhiming opened the door, he saw Zhou Yunmei standing at the doorway, fuming with rage. She was about to knock when the door opened, and she charged in, slapping Xu He across the face and cursing viciously, "Xu He, you damn wretch, I’m going to kill you today. You almost killed my Zhuzhu."

Caught red-handed, Xu He went completely blank as Zhou Yunmei burst in angrily, accusing her of almost killing Zhuzhu. A voice in her head kept saying, it’s over, it’s all over now. Luo Cuilan and Zhou Yunmei must know about her poisoning, and they probably have already reported to the police; she could very well end up being shot.

It was Luo Zhiming, upon seeing Zhou Yunmei come in and start hitting, who worried that Zhou Yunmei might hurt Xu He’s belly, immediately grabbed Zhou Yunmei, urgently asking, "Mom, what happened, what happened? What does Xu He have to do with Zhuzhu’s incident?"

Zhou Yunmei pointed at Xu He, bitterly saying, "How is it not related? The doctor just ran the tests and said that Zhuzhu was poisoned by rat poison. If we were any later, he would’ve died today."

"I..." Hearing this, Xu He felt even colder, as if her heart had fallen into an icehouse. She could even foresee herself being taken away by the Police Station.

At this moment, she naturally had no intention of refuting anymore.

For some reason, seeing Xu He like this infuriated Zhou Yunmei even more. She grabbed Xu He’s hair again, dragging her towards the wall to slam her, all the while cursing, "You deserve to die, your heart is truly wicked."

At this point, Xu He no longer had any strength to fight back.

It was still Luo Zhiming who pulled Zhou Yunmei away, "Mom, let go first, let her go."

After freeing Xu He from Zhou Yunmei’s grip, Luo Zhiming frowned and asked Xu He, "What exactly happened? Xu He, why did you poison Zhuzhu?"

Xu He’s mind was completely blank at this moment, with no thoughts about what to do, she just stammered, "I... didn’t, I didn’t mean to, I..."

Just as she was about to reveal what happened, Zhou Yunmei suddenly interrupted, "Of course, you didn’t do it on purpose. If you had dared to do it on purpose, I would have reported you to the Police Station and had you arrested a long time ago."

After hearing this, both Xu He and Luo Zhiming were taken aback, but Xu He was the first to recover. Sensing that things might not be as bad as she thought, she immediately ventured to ask, "Mom, then you..."

Still, she didn’t dare finish her sentence, and it was Luo Zhiming who continued, "Mom, please clarify what you’re saying. What exactly happened?"

Zhou Yunmei looked at the two and explained, "The doctor confirmed that Zhuzhu was poisoned with rat poison, but it was Xu He who asked me to buy it, saying it was to kill rats. I thought since we had a rat problem around the yard, I put it in every corner of the house, including your elder sister’s room. I was worried the rats wouldn’t fall for it, so I deliberately placed the rat poison on biscuits. Zhuzhu is too young to know better; he probably saw the biscuits on the ground, picked them up, and ate them. That’s how he got poisoned."

Hearing this, Xu He realized it was a false alarm. The tension in her heart finally eased, and a faint smile appeared on her face as she said with great relief, "So it was just that..."

When Zhou Yunmei heard Xu He’s tone, as if it wasn’t a big deal, she got angry again. She glared at her, wanting to act out, "What else do you want? If it weren’t for you bringing rat poison home, would Zhuzhu have been poisoned? You’re the one to blame."

By this time, Xu He was no longer as easy to bully as before. She immediately retorted loudly, "Mom, that’s totally unreasonable. How can you blame me for this? It was out of goodwill that I bought it. How would I know Zhuzhu would mistakenly eat the rat poison? I just wanted to get rid of the rats because there were so many at home. I didn’t buy it intending for Zhuzhu to eat it."

After some thought, Luo Zhiming also felt that Xu He couldn’t be blamed for the accident. He added, "Yeah, Mom, you can’t really blame Xu He for this. You guys didn’t keep a close enough eye on Zhuzhu. You were too careless. With kids at home, you should be more attentive to such things."

Luo Zhiming’s words did cool down Zhou Yunmei’s anger a bit. She, too, knew she was responsible. She sighed, "How could I have known something like this would happen?"

Seeing that Zhou Yunmei stopped going after Xu He, Luo Zhiming didn’t press further but inquired, "How is Zhuzhu doing now?"

Zhou Yunmei replied, "The doctor has pumped his stomach. He said we need to stay in the hospital for a week, but there shouldn’t be any major issues. It’s fortunate we got him there in time."

Upon hearing about a week’s stay, Xu He immediately thought of the money. She screamed, "How much would a week in a provincial city hospital cost? Where is the money going to come from?"

"Yeah, Mom, if it’s not enough, should I chip in?" Luo Zhiming’s concern, unlike Xu He’s, was for Zhuzhu’s wellbeing, while Xu He was worried about the money.

Zhou Yunmei could tell the difference in their responses. After casting an annoyed glance at Xu He, she softly said to Luo Zhiming, "Don’t worry. Your elder sister just happened to run into Fang Pingying on the street, and Fang Pingying lent a hand."

Hearing the name Fang Pingying, Xu He’s face changed color again, "Fang Pingying helped your elder sister? Gave her money? They met?"

While Xu He was puzzled that Fang Pingying would be willing to help Luo Cuilan, she also worried that these two people, who knew her history, might talk behind her back or exchange information.

Of course, Zhou Yunmei was unaware of these concerns. Thinking that Xu He didn’t believe Fang Pingying would give money, she said with a mocking tone, "Yes, she gave several hundred on the spot. Would you be expected to give? If we relied on you, the child might as well be dead already."