Chapter 23: An Unforgettable Apology 3

  Li Tong returned home. There was no one at home, which shouldn't be the case. His mother's work only went until 4 pm, and usually she would be in the kitchen cooking when he got back from school. He walked into the kitchen, but there was still no one there.

  "Mom—," she pushed open the bedroom door, but saw her mother half-reclining on the bed, her head almost hanging down. Li Tong desperately shouted: "Mom! What's wrong with you, Mom? Mom! Xinxin!"

  Xin Xin is Li Tong's sister. Li Tong was shocked and forgot that his sister should be in kindergarten at this time.

  Li Tong picked up her mother and struggled to support her onto the bed. Only then did she see the scattered pills and empty medicine bottles on the bed. What to do? What to do? She grasped her mother's shoulders, shaking her desperately: "Mom! Wake up, Mom! Mom... wu wu wu... Mom... wu wu wu..."

  Ling Shuiyue and Xia Qinniang asked Song Xiwu for the address of Li Tong's family, but as soon as they entered the house, they saw such a scene. He pushed away Li Tong, picked up his mother: "Hurry! Go to the hospital, my car is outside. Take the empty medicine bottle! Empty medicine bottle!"

  The driver was also frightened by the scene in front of him and asked "What's wrong? What's wrong?" while opening the car door to help get Li Tong's mother inside.

  "I don't know, it seems like she took some medicine. Hurry up and go to the hospital." Seeing Li Tong still standing stupidly outside the car: "Get in quickly, your mom will be fine, hurry up!"

  Li Tong came back to his senses and got on the bus after hearing Ling Shuiyue say that.

  ——————&&&——————&&&——————

  Ling Shuiyue handed over the empty medicine bottle to the doctor and described what she had seen. Li Tong's mother was pushed into the emergency room.

  Li Tong sat on the chair in the corridor, shrinking into a ball. Everything had come so suddenly, could it be true that mom would really die? Would she really die? Dad had run away with a load of debt, and if mom also... She didn't dare to think any further.

  "Will she die?" Li Tong asked Ling Shuiyue foolishly.

  Ryo said something he didn't even know himself: "No! The doctor said no. It'll be fine after the stomach is cleaned."

  Xia Qian Ning poured hot fruit juice into Li Tong's hand: "Drink some of this, after Mom comes out you still have to take care of her."

  "Really... wu wu wu... really... wu wu wu... nothing wrong... wu wu wu..."

  "It's really going to be okay." In fact, Ling Shuiyue didn't know if everything would be alright either. The doctor hadn't said anything earlier, and those words were just something he came up with to comfort Li Tongxian.

  Li Tong's hands wouldn't stop shaking. The juice in his hand was about to spill over, Xia Wenjing grasped Li Tong's trembling hands: "Really, nothing will happen, do you want your mom to come out and see you like this? She'll definitely think she scared you. It's okay, drink the juice. For now, this is all you can do for Mom."

  Li Tong gazed into Xia Wenjing's sincere eyes, his hand shaking less severely, and he was able to bring the juice to his mouth.

  "Someone from Mayanru's family come and pay the medical bill in the emergency room!" The nurse shouted at the end of the corridor.

  Li Tong glanced at Ling Shuiyue and Xia Qianying, and whispered: "I..."

  Looking at Li Tong's expression, Ling Shuiyue knew what was going on: "Don't worry, I have it here." After saying that, he followed the nurse away.

  Looking at Ling Shuiyue's back, Li Tong's mind went blank. What was going on now? She couldn't figure it out. Except for one thing that was clear: her mother was in the emergency room.

  Xia Qian Ning sat with Li Tong on the corridor, recalling Li Tong's damp and cramped home from earlier. Except for the necessary old household items, there was nothing else. Without thinking, Li Tong could hand over Ni Shi Luo's money, which should be forced by life. Rumors might be true - Li Tong would do anything for money.

  Even if it was really Li Tong's fault, what could she do? The family situation had already made Li Tong very difficult. Now, her mother... Until Li Tong's mother came out of the emergency room, Xia Xianying, Li Tong and Ling Shuiyue remained silent.

  ——————&&&——————&&&——————

  As soon as he entered the classroom, Mingde put his schoolbag on Lishong's desk: "Lishong! Let's swap seats."

  "Ugly eight! Are you going to be with Yaw all the time except for classes from now on?" Ming De sat in front of Xia Xian Ying.

  "What's wrong? Yesterday was busy, so... what's up? Mingde. It's really depressing!"

  "You also know I'm depressed? You two are now so close, neither of you is willing to care about me."

  "So who am I talking to now and why are our secrets among three people instead of two or four?"

  When Xia Wen heard this, Ming De laughed: "Wen'er! You're really good! What do you plan to do?"

  Thinking of Li Tong, Xia Xianying shook her head: "What else can I do? Work hard, work harder and even harder! I must enter the top five!"

  "Is this your solution?" Mingde questioned.

  "Hmm. Mingde, you'll support me, right?"

  Mingde's attitude was very resolute: "No! They bullied you so much. I couldn't swallow this bad breath. At least that rotten mud should be punished!"

  Xia Qian Ning said in a low voice: "But Li Tong and Ni Shi Luo, the two of them are tied together, can't be separated..."

  "Then... kiss me once and I won't expose her!" Ming De leaned his face in.

  Xia Qian Ning was so frightened that she backed away, almost falling off her chair.

  Ming De laughed with a schadenfreude expression: "Ugly eight! Don't be afraid! I'm just joking, and by the way, taking out my anger on you. Who let you and Yao run so fast yesterday? Like avoiding a plague god, avoiding me!"

  Xia Qian Ning sat down shakily, holding onto the table for support. Through her thick glasses, she glared at him and said, "You really are 'not satisfied until you've shocked people to death'!"

  Ming De flew over quickly and pecked Xia Qian's cheek. Suddenly, Xia Qian's body, which had just barely sat up straight, fell to the ground along with the chair.

  Ji Sisi lost her hair clip and wanted to ask Zhou Yuan if she had seen it when they bumped into each other yesterday, but as soon as she entered the classroom, she was knocked to the ground by Xia Yanni.

  She struggled to sit up, and before she could see who had knocked her down, she saw the glasses on the ground - that big, broken, old antique glasses. She was so lucky to have found them when they were nowhere to be found, without thinking, she stepped on the glasses with her foot.

  "Ka-ching!"

  So refreshing!

  What a pleasant surprise!

  Ming De wanted to help Xia Xian Ning, but when he heard the pleasant 'crunch' sound, his outstretched hand stopped in mid-air: He had made a mess of things, a big mess!

  "What are you doing, Sisi? Didn't you see Ugly Eight's glasses?" Mingde pushed aside Ji Sisi and picked up the already broken glasses.

  "How can I see? As soon as I entered, she knocked me to the ground. All I wanted was to get up quickly, where could I still see what's on the ground? Obviously, I'm the victim, how did it become my fault?"

  "..." Ming De was speechless. Ji Si Si was right. In the end, it was all his fault, he had made a joke that went too far.

  Xia Qian Ning saw her own glasses lying in Ming De's hand, a look of helplessness on her face: it was already beyond salvation.

  Mingde was even more ashamed: "Good Xian'er! You can't blame me."

  Ming Xin arrived at Class 2, wanting to confirm with Xia Wenjing whether what Ming De told her yesterday was true. Seeing the two teachers standing at the classroom door, she didn't dare squeeze in and stood behind them, sneaking a peek.

  Wow! So powerful! Ji Si actually trampled Xia Xian's glasses into pieces.

  A faint smile crept up, and Ming Xin almost wanted to applaud. This was something she had been wanting to do for a long time. But Xian Ning wouldn't allow it, so she could only gaze at that old, tattered antique glasses every day. Ming De did great today too, although it was Ji Si Si who stepped on the glasses, but Ming De's contribution wasn't negligible either.

  Xia Qian Ning stood up with the support of the table and stood in front of Ji Si Si: "Sorry! I bumped into you."

  Xī Sī stared at Xiāo Wényīng, who had lost her glasses. She was shocked. Xiāo Wényīng casually used her pupil as a mirror, looking straight into Xī Sī's pupil, using her index finger to hook her bangs, and took out a hairpin from her pocket to pin up her hair on top of her head.

  Two Teacher Wangs stood at the classroom door, watching what was happening in front of them, neither of them saying a word.

  Mingde was very nervous. What if because of this matter, Chou Baigui would not care about him from now on? "Good sister! You can't ignore me, I was just joking and didn't mean to start a fire. I didn't expect that SiSi would burst in at this time and even put her foot on your glasses."

  "Thank you! Ming De! I was worried about how to get rid of that broken glasses, didn't expect someone would be willing to help. Too thankful! Thank you! Sisi!" Xia Xianying turned her gaze back to Ji Sisi, although she smiled brightly, her eyes were cold and piercing.

  She is that cover girl! She is that cover girl!

  Indeed, Ji Sisi went to step on the glasses because of her suspicion. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't believe that Xia Wenjing was the girl in the mask. After stupidly watching Xia Wenjing tie up her hair, she stood still in the same spot, not moving at all.

  Almost all of her classmates saw only Xia Qing's back and were unclear what had happened, plus the two teachers standing there, the classroom was extremely quiet.

  Ni Shi looked at the scene with a sense of unease, unaware why she was expecting the true face behind the glasses, and that expectation contained more ominousness and unease.

  Ming De burst out laughing, his laughter sounding particularly loud in this quiet classroom.

  "Ugly freak! Why didn't you say so earlier? If I had known that taking off those glasses wouldn't get me in trouble, I would have taken action long ago. Why wait for SiSi to come and steal the credit...” Ming De noticed two teachers standing at the classroom door, gently tugging on Xia Xian's clothes, signaling her to return to her seat.

  Seeing Xia Wenjing and Mingde return to their seats, Teacher Wang said loudly: "Everyone get ready for class. Where's Li Tong?"

  Li Tong stood behind Teacher Wang and hummed like a mosquito: "Over here."

  "What took you so long? Come with me to the office." Teacher Wang shook his head directly.

  She was the girl who stood next to Mu Wu at the party, it's strange that Ni Shi Luo didn't realize how surprised he was. He knew that under those glasses wasn't ugliness, but he also didn't expect her to be so familiar.

  As the two teachers left, the room erupted into a cacophony of chatter, which made Ni Shi Luo feel dizzy and anxious.

  "Stop making so much noise! The teacher just said class is about to start, everyone be quiet!" Ni Shi Luo somewhat lost control and stood up shouting loudly. But in that noisy classroom, her voice was drowned out, overwhelmed by the cacophony.