Corpse Retriever

”You’ll understand when we get to the hospital. That big buddy of yours, he really surprised me. Ruthless. Seriously, he’s damn ruthless.”

Li Zhuiyuan could tell—Uncle Qin wasn’t angry about the injuries themselves. He was upset things hadn’t gone according to plan. And the one responsible… seemed to be Xue Liangliang.

”Get in the car.”

”Uncle, are you sure you can drive?”

”You want to drive instead?”

Li Zhuiyuan obediently got into the car.

When they reached a house on the outskirts, Uncle Qin stopped the motorcycle, walked into the yard, and took a jacket off the drying line to throw over his shoulders. He tucked some money under the line as well.

He was too banged up—just a tank top couldn’t cover all the injuries. He probably wouldn’t even be allowed into the hospital like that.

At the hospital, Uncle Qin parked the vehicle.

As Li Zhuiyuan got out, he asked, ”Uncle, is Bai Family Town going to stir up trouble again?”Those Bai Family Matrons were like a lingering curse. Li Zhuiyuan was genuinely afraid another one might pop up any day now.

”They’ll quiet down for quite a while. The biggest Bai Family Matron already made her pronouncement.”

In fact, compared to his physical wounds, it was the outcome of this Bai Family affair that gave Qin Li more of a headache.

His mission was to slap back at the Bai Family—hard. But just as he landed the first half of that slap, the second half... he couldn’t swing it no matter how he tried.

Now he had to figure out how to explain things to Liu Yumei.

”Uncle Qin, Granny Liu was just in a bad mood yesterday. It’s been a whole night now. I think after some sleep, she’ll be calmer.”

Qin Li nodded. He felt the boy made sense. And he could tell—the boy was trying to comfort him. Not that he wasn’t used to it by now.

”Come on, Little Yuan. Let’s go check on your friend. Then we’ll go home.”

”Alrighty.”

They went upstairs. As they reached the ward, Luo Tingrui happened to be coming out with a hot water flask. ”You’re back. Good timing. Liangliang woke up earlier, but he fell back asleep. Watch him for a bit—I’m going to refill this.”

Li Zhuiyuan entered the room and saw that Xue Liangliang was no longer hooked up to any machines. He wasn’t in a coma anymore—just sleeping peacefully.

”Uncle, he’s okay now, right?”

”He’s in deep trouble.”

”What?”

”Ask him yourself when he wakes up. I’m going downstairs to buy some bandages.” Uncle Qin stood up and left the ward.

At that moment, Xue Liangliang began mumbling in his sleep, grinding his teeth as he spoke:

”Two years? No, two years isn’t enough. At least three. I can only promise to visit you once every three years.”

He turned over in bed, hugging his blanket, and kept murmuring:

”We’re not gonna have kids, right?”

Hearing this, Li Zhuiyuan’s eyes widened in shock. He felt like he’d just pieced together something unbelievable—but it was so absurd, he told himself he had to be wrong.

Then Xue Liangliang seemed to wake up. He looked at Li Zhuiyuan standing by the bed. Li Zhuiyuan looked back at him.

After a long pause, Xue Liangliang looked away, sat up, leaned against the headboard, and stared blankly ahead like someone who’d just suffered a devastating blow.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up an orange from the nightstand and quietly began peeling it.

Finally, Xue Liangliang spoke, his voice laced with desolation and melancholy.

”Little Yuan, I have to tell you something terrifying.”

”Yeah, go ahead, bro.”

Li Zhuiyuan finished peeling the orange, pulled off a slice, and held it to Xue Liangliang’s mouth. Liangliang opened up and ate it. That sorrowful expression on his face suddenly gained an extra layer of bitterness.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but couldn’t. The emotion he’d built up had just been derailed by a chunk of citrus.

Just as he recalibrated and was about to start again, Li Zhuiyuan handed him another orange slice.

”Little Yuan, you eat too.”

”No thanks. It’s sour.”

”Then why are you—” The second slice went in his mouth.

Tears welled up in Xue Liangliang’s eyes. As he chewed, his voice trembled.

”Little Yuan… your brother got married.”

”Congrats.”

Li Zhuiyuan handed him another slice. This time, Xue Liangliang didn’t resist. He took the orange, and whether it was from the sourness or true feelings, tears streamed down his face.

”Your sister-in-law’s actually pretty nice.”

”As long as she’s a good person.” Li Zhuiyuan nodded. ”My grandpa always said, when picking a partner, character and personality matter most. Looks and whether they’re alive or dead, that’s all secondary.”

Xue Liangliang gave him a long, bitter look and chewed another slice. ”Your grandpa’s quite open-minded.”

”Yeah.”

At that point, Li Zhuiyuan finally understood the logic of what had happened. Uncle Qin had been fighting on the front lines. Xue Liangliang had been negotiating at the table.

He and Uncle Qin had come all the way from the village to the hospital, and then to the riverside—step by step applying pressure. That had forced the other party to keep making concessions, giving Liangliang better and better leverage for the negotiation.

Only, Liangliang himself hadn’t realized any of this.

Right when Uncle Qin was about to bring the fight to their doorstep and wrap things up for good, Liangliang thought he’d already secured the best possible deal—and signed the papers.

If he’d just held out a little longer, the marriage could’ve been avoided.

No wonder Uncle Qin was furious. He’d been fighting tooth and nail on the front lines, only for his side to surrender early.

That “buying bandages” excuse was probably just that. If he’d stayed in the room any longer, he might’ve punched Liangliang in the face.

Li Zhuiyuan didn’t have the heart to tell his brother the truth. That would’ve been more bitter than the half-eaten orange in his hand.

The deed was done, and facts were facts. The best he could do now was help him look on the bright side—ask a few cheerful questions to ease the gloom a bit.

”Bro, did you need to give a betrothal gift?”

”No, I didn’t.”

”Nice. Modern love, modern marriage.”

”Actually… your sister-in-law wanted to give me a betrothal gift.”

”See? That’s great. Most people would kill for that.”

”But I flat-out refused.” Xue Liangliang lifted his chin like a proud little rooster.

”Yeah, my brother Liangliang’s got backbone.”

”Exactly. I’m not gonna be some live-in son-in-law.”

”Respect.”

”I made it clear to her—and she agreed. I only have to visit her once every three years. The rest of the time, I can go wherever I want, do whatever I like.”

”That’s awesome.”

Li Zhuiyuan suddenly realized he’d been worrying for nothing. This was Xue Liangliang. The guy had an iron will. No matter how tough things got, he never lost his head—and even managed to turn bitterness into a kind of bragging.

Most people can barely smile through pain. Liangliang turned his pain into syrup.

”But, Little Yuan… I did make one concession.”

”Oh?”

”I promised her… our second child would have her last name.”

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