The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 142: Chapter 142: Repeatedly Redefining the Lower Limit

Han Xiaorui tiptoed closer and took a look, slightly stunned. ”Sister Cuicui, you’re here. Why aren’t you going in? What are you crying about out here?”

Hearing Han Xiaorui’s voice, Wu Cuicui hastily wiped her tears. ”It’s... it’s nothing!”

Seeing this, Han Xiaorui took out her key and opened the door. ”Sister Cuicui, the kids are asleep, so you don’t have to worry about them seeing you. If something’s wrong, you can tell me.”

Wu Cuicui breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the children were asleep. She looked up, revealing her red eyes, and followed Han Xiaorui inside.

”It’s nothing major, really. My husband’s aunt is paralyzed on one side and she’s always in a bad mood. She cursed me out a bit. I couldn’t hold back and talked back to her, so she told me to get lost. I got angry and came back from the hospital.”

Upon hearing this, Han Xiaorui understood everything.

”Someone like Zhang Xiufang is so self-righteous. She thinks everything others do for her is a given. Honestly, if it weren’t for Uncle Yang, who would even bother with her?”

Wu Cuicui gave a bitter smile and sighed. ”I can’t say it’s all for Uncle Yang’s sake. When Jianguo and I got married, his uncle and aunt helped build our house and arranged the wedding. She was good to me, and I have to repay that kindness.”

”I try to be good to her, but the things she says are just infuriating. I can’t even look after my own kids, and when my own parents were sick, I didn’t have time to care for them because I was here taking care of her. But what does she do? She tells me to go find her husband, but he’s busy dealing with Zhang Lili and Jianming’s mess and doesn’t have time, so she takes her anger out on me and starts yelling.”

After speaking, a bitter smile returned to her face as she wiped away her tears.

Han Xiaorui thought with a sigh of relief, ’Thank goodness I got divorced.’

’Otherwise, I’d be the one getting yelled at by Zhang Xiufang right now.’

’I wouldn’t cry, but I probably wouldn’t be able to stop myself from punching Zhang Xiufang.’

”So, Zhang Lili found out about Yang Jianming and that foreign girl? I bet she’s causing a huge scene again, right?” Han Xiaorui asked, wanting to know the latest.

’Yang Jianming is so shameless. He just keeps sinking to new lows.’

Wu Cuicui gritted her teeth in anger and cursed, ”That bastard Jianming! The blonde he’s been messing with on the side actually hired a lawyer to confront Zhang Lili, telling her to drop the lawsuit and get a divorce.”

”Zhang Lili threw a fit at the hospital, crying and screaming. The doctors couldn’t do anything with her. Her checkup showed she’s pretty much recovered, so they told her she could be discharged, but she keeps complaining about this pain and that ache, refusing to leave. Zhang Lili doesn’t want the divorce now, but her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Zhang, are suddenly very interested. They’re making an outrageous demand for five hundred thousand!”

”If that was all, I’d just let it be. After all, none of them—not Jianming, not the foreign girl, and not Zhang Lili—are good people. It’d just be dogs biting dogs.”

”But the child... Zhang Lili is insisting on getting custody. Even after Uncle Yang scraped together two hundred thousand, she won’t give in! My husband’s uncle was even crying today. She thinks that since Yang Jianming betrayed her, she has to punish him.”

Hearing this, Han Xiaorui got angry too and cursed, ”Is there something wrong with Zhang Lili’s brain? Is she trying to get revenge on Yang Jianming? This is clearly revenge against Uncle Yang! She’s not giving that poor, premature baby a chance to live!”

Wu Cuicui’s eyes filled with tears again as she choked out, ”Exactly. If Yang Jianming actually cared about her and the child, would he be messing around like this?”

”If custody of that child ends up in Zhang Lili’s hands... if that baby dies young, her uncle will blame himself until the day he dies. He’ll never be able to rest in peace.”

Han Xiaorui deeply agreed. ”Uncle Yang is kind and upright. When dealing with shameless people like these, he’s bound to get taken advantage of.”

”How about this? I’ll write down a phone number and address for you. You guys should go find Lawyer Chen. He’s an expert at both litigation and mediation. Uncle Yang just needs to tell him what he wants, and Lawyer Chen will figure out a way.”

Wu Cuicui paused, blinking. ”Will... will that work?”

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Instead of just sitting here getting angry, it’s better to find someone capable to help you fight this. Especially for a kind person like Uncle Yang—he’s not good at playing dirty. Trust me, this lawyer is very skilled and has a lot of connections in Shencheng.”

’Wu Cuicui thought what Han Xiaorui said made sense. When dealing with unreasonable and unkind people, the reasonable and kind ones often lose out.’

”Alright then, give me his contact information. I’ll call him as soon as I get home.” Wu Cuicui wiped her tears.

Han Xiaorui went into the room and handed Chen Nanyang’s business card to Wu Cuicui. ”Here it is! It’s dark out, don’t rush back to the hospital tonight.”

Wu Cuicui gave an embarrassed laugh. ”How did you know I was planning to rush back in the middle of the night?”

Han Xiaorui shook her head and chuckled. ”Because you’re too kind. Zhang Xiufang was good to you, and she’s your elder. You wouldn’t just leave her.”

”But you can’t be a doormat, either. You don’t need her to be grateful, but at the very least, don’t let her say things that upset you. After all, since her stroke, you’re the only one who can take care of her. Even if they hire a caregiver later, without a family member there to watch over things, the caregiver might take advantage of her.”

Wu Cuicui was taken aback again, but finally nodded. ”You’re right, Xiao Rui. What you’re saying makes sense. I won’t go to the hospital tonight. I’m going to go home, take a shower, and get a good night’s sleep.”

”Exactly!” Han Xiaorui agreed. ”I’ll walk you home.”

”No need, you’ve had a long day too. It’s just a few steps, it’ll be quick.” Wu Cuicui refused.

But Han Xiaorui was still worried, so she had Wu Jiao and Wu Yao escort Wu Cuicui all the way home.

As Wu Cuicui was leaving, Han Xiaorui pressed a basket of peaches into her hands.

The next day, Han Xiaorui put two crates of peaches in Song Sixth’s van and had Han Xiaoqing take them to the gatekeeper, Uncle Liu, and to Expert Wang and the other doctors and nurses.

Around nine o’clock, Song Sixth drove back. ”Xiao Rui, where are you headed?”

Han Xiaorui pointed at several crates of peaches on the ground. ”I’m going to deliver some gifts. Sorry to trouble you, Uncle Six.”

”No trouble at all.” Song Sixth folded down the seats in his van and helped Han Xiaorui load the crates of peaches and two boxes of seafood.

Having called Boss Zhang in advance, Han Xiaorui had Song Sixth drive directly to the Fa Cai Grand Seafood Restaurant.

Boss Zhang had received Han Xiaorui’s call that morning and had specially taken a shower. He even put gel in his hair, slicking it back so perfectly that a fly could do the splits on it.

”You’re too kind, Xiao Han. To think of me when your peaches ripened.” Boss Zhang said with a chuckle, looking at Han Xiaorui and then at the two crates of peaches.

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”They’re homegrown, so I’m giving some to all my friends and family. I won’t come in, I still have to make deliveries to other friends.”

Zhang Fa Cai nodded and waved. ”Go on then, Xiao Han. Don’t let me keep you.”

Han Xiaorui waved from the passenger seat. ”Goodbye.”

Zhang Fa Cai watched the van carrying Han Xiaorui drive off into the distance before finally looking away. He said to Xiao Liu, ”Take all of this to my office.”

”Yes, Boss.” Xiao Liu replied, and he and Xiao Zhang each carried a crate to the boss’s office.

Not far away, a middle-aged woman had been secretly watching Zhang Fa Cai. Her brother-in-law, Zhang Fa Cai, was acting very special toward this Han Xiaorui person.

’Last time, he didn’t even charge Han Xiaorui for that seafood feast that cost over two thousand.’

’Yesterday, she even saw Zhang Fa Cai transferring money to that homewrecker at the bank. He must be keeping her as a mistress.’

’Her sister was at home like a fool, raising children and serving her in-laws, while that bastard Zhang Fa Cai was messing around outside and now even wants to divorce her.’

’This is intolerable!’