Chapter 289: Regretting Adopting Her

Dawdling, she had originally wanted to eat before Jiang Sinian.

Jiang Sinian had praised her mother's sweet and sour pork ribs for being delicious before.

Once Dad brought the food over in a little while, she planned to make Jiang Sinian really crave it.

"There's been a car accident!"

"Right at our school gate!"

Suddenly, there was a clamor at the gate, and Bai Mo felt a sudden panic in her heart.

"Let's go take a look too!" Bai Mo's deskmate was a girl who loved to join in the excitement; she pulled Bai Mo along, "Maybe we'll even run into your dad in a bit!"

Seeing that Jiang Sinian wasn't looking in this direction at all, Bai Mo thought for a moment, "Alright then!"

At the school gate.

A tall, middle-aged man was lying in the middle of the road in a strange posture, clutching a thermal food container in his arms, his yellowish mid-calf boots having fallen off onto the ground, looking as if they were still standing there.

"This man is truly pitiful! I wonder when his family will be able to come?"

"I was just standing across the street; the car was still quite far away when it hit him, but I saw him holding his waist, looking like he had trouble moving."

"It's also bad luck, crossing the road at noon of all times and running into a drunk driver!"

Bai Mo hadn't intended to squeeze in, but she couldn't resist her deskmate, who was eager to see; the first thing that caught her eye was those shoes.

They were very familiar, the pair her father wore most often.

Then came a shrill cry, "Guosheng—"

Bai Mu, after all, couldn't set her mind at ease about her husband of many years, who had been suffering from back pain, delivering food; after washing the pots and bowls, she had hurriedly rushed over as well.

Only, she hadn't expected—

Following Bai Mu's scream, Bai Mo felt her ears ringing, unable to hear anything at all.

Her eyes were filled with blood.

Dad... Bai Mo's body went limp, and she fainted.

When she woke up again, Bai Mo felt dizzy after a moment.

Where was Dad?

She propped herself up and only then saw that she must be in a hospital room; why was no one watching over her?

Ever since she was little, whenever she was sick, Mom and Dad would be by her side when she woke up.

But this time, after waiting for quite a while, no one came to check on her.

She propped herself up, put on her shoes, and went out, finding a young nurse in the hallway, "Where are my mom and dad?"

The nurse looked at her with pity, "Your mother, she should be busy right now; there's nothing seriously wrong with your body, you just fainted after being shocked."

"Then did she say when she would come to see me?"

Bai Mo recalled the last image in her mind before she passed out: her father lying on the ground, bleeding so much.

"Your mother told you to go back by yourself," the nurse said.

After Bai Mo took a deep breath and walked out, she heard the two young nurses behind her complaining.

"She's such a grown person, why does she still need her mom to come pick her up?"

"You can tell at a glance she was spoiled growing up at home!"

"It's a pity, things from here on out are hard to say; I heard that man's back injury had flared up, and the woman told the man to stay home..."

"But this girl insisted on having her dad cook for her; maybe if that man had just stayed home, he wouldn't have died."

"What a shame, and he was a veteran too..."

They kept their voices very low, but Bai Mo still heard them.

These nurses had such long tongues; was Dad really dead?

Bai Mo's tears flowed down, blurring her vision.

She was terrified, so scared that her upper and lower teeth were chattering.

Dad was dead; this was the first time she had been this close to death.

If the nurses all thought this way, would Mom also feel that she was the one who caused Dad's death?

But if she had known sooner, she wouldn't have insisted on having Dad come to deliver her food.

Returning home, many people had already arrived, including relatives and friends she knew, as well as strangers.

They were noisy in the house, making Bai Mo feel annoyed.

Especially the way these people looked at her, carrying blame and accusation, making Bai Mo feel uncomfortable all over.

"I said it long ago!" An old woman with silver hair looked as if she wanted to poke her finger into Bai Mo's forehead, "I told him not to adopt you, not to spoil you; someone like you, with drooping eyebrows, drooping eye corners, and a drooping mouth, is a jinx, with a hard fate! He wouldn't listen to me!"

"Now I, an old woman, have to experience the white-haired burying the black-haired!"

The old woman cried as if she were performing in a play, with dramatic ups and downs, making Bai Mo's whole heart tighten.

Nainai had never liked her, and Bai Mo didn't want to engage with her; she only wanted to find Mom quickly.

Now that Dad was dead, only she and Mom were left to depend on each other.

Bai Mu sat in the room; ever since Bai Fu passed away, she had already fainted from crying several times, and now she could only hold the clothes Bai Fu had worn in her arms, clutching them tightly, as if she could keep him that way.

"Mom~" Bai Mo felt miserable watching.

She walked to the bedside, thinking Bai Mu would take her into her arms like in the past and say something to comfort her.

But she didn't.

Bai Mu only glanced at her indifferently, a look that made Bai Mo feel very ill at ease.

There was no love, no tenderness in it.

It carried a chill.

Was Mom blaming her?

"It's my fault," Bai Mu sighed, "The monk who told fortunes back then said he was destined to have no sons or daughters in his life; it's my fault for forcing it."

If she hadn't asked someone to help adopt Bai Mo back then, her husband would surely still be alive and well now.

He was so gentle and accommodating; ever since he retired from the military, he had taken over all the trivial household chores.

Now that he has passed away like this, she doesn't even know where to go to pay the electricity bill, doesn't know how to pay the water bill; she doesn't know how to do anything.

She doesn't even know how to fix the lightbulb when it breaks at home.

Bai Mo took two steps back, feeling completely incredulous; was Mom regretting adopting her back then?

"Mom~"

She suppressed her distress and called out again.

This time, Bai Mu merely waved her hand, lying prone on Bai Fu's pajamas with her eyes closed, not moving.

Bai Mo shook her head gently.

This once-warm home had now become so strange to her that she turned and ran out.

Perhaps when people are exceptionally weak, they subconsciously seek support; she wanted to see Jiang Sinian.

Bai Mo returned to school, and by this time, it was almost time for school to end.

She returned to her seat and slumped over her desk, crying.

By now, the students in the class already knew about the car accident involving Bai Mo's father.

The gazes that fell upon her were very complex.

There was pity, there was the detachment of onlookers watching the spectacle, and there was also gloating.

"Who told her to be so hypocritically aloof all the time, constantly showing off how much her dad doted on her? Now she's met with misfortune, hasn't she?"

"But it really is enviable; I heard that before her dad died, he was still clutching the meal he was delivering to her!"

"Yeah, I wonder if she'll still be able to eat pork ribs in the future?"

School ended soon after.

Seeing that Jiang Sinian was about to pack his bag and leave, Bai Mo's deskmate hurriedly followed him.

This was her own unauthorized decision.

Bai Mo was already so pitiful, yet Jiang Sinian remained indifferent; he was just too cold-blooded.

"Bai Mo has been crying for two periods already, you should go and check on her!"