Chapter 164: 90: A Family by the Spring Chapter 164: Sleepless Night, Li Jing Causes Trouble, Wang Fan Injured

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

Each floor of the Dormitory Building had four Dormitory Aunties, three from out of town and one local.

Last time Lin Xiyu had taken two of them to the Wholesale Market to buy Sweaters, and upon returning they had lavishly praised her.

The other two Aunties were also tempted, wanting to tag along for some luck and buy cheap goods to give as gifts for New Year.

Lin Xiyu naturally agreed readily; the four Dormitory Aunties worked in shifts, with only two resting each day, so this time the two who followed her to the Wholesale Market to stock up were the other two.

She had grown familiar with the Dormitory Aunties and knew one was surnamed Liu and the other Wang.

Auntie Liu was from out of town, her Lao Jia being Anhui, while Auntie Wang was local, living in the suburbs of SH City.

Auntie Wang was warm-hearted; hearing that Lin Xiyu bought in large quantities and that Express Delivery at the Post Office was too expensive, she voluntarily offered to have her eldest son handle the shipping for her.

Her son rode a Motorcycle, usually ferrying passengers near the Train Station to earn extra money.

In that era, motorcycle taxis were very popular in Shanghai.

There were many cars on the Road, extremely congested, especially when rushing to catch a Train—the more anxious you were, the worse the traffic jam, enough to make you doubt life itself.

Motorcycles were flexible and convenient, faster than Taxis, and the first choice for people rushing to catch a Train.

Having someone help with shipping, Lin Xiyu was pleasantly surprised.

When she heard that Auntie Wang's son usually solicited passengers near the Train Station and was very familiar with it, she was overjoyed.

A windfall like a pie falling from the sky had landed on her head; naturally she had no hesitation and gratefully agreed.

——

A party of four took the first bus early the next morning, arriving at the Wholesale Market early to secure the most advantageous spot in front of the Warehouse Door.

Just like last time, as soon as the Warehouse Door opened, Lin Xiyu rushed in at the speed of a hundred-meter sprint.

Wu Meng was half a beat slower; by the time she reacted, the crowd was surging forward in a dense mass, beginning a new round of snapping up goods.

"Oh my goodness......"

She was stunned by a sight rarely seen, and after great effort fought out of the encirclement to squeeze in front of Lin Xiyu: "This time I've really seen something, buying Clothes is just like going to war—those people, one and all, rush forward heedless of their lives....."

"The styles that arrive new each day in the Warehouse are different; if you're not fast, you can't get the good stuff."

Lin Xiyu had expected this reaction from her and smiled indifferently, continuing to select the Samples she liked.

Her Luck was decent; she snatched quite a few new Sweater styles she fancied.

"You're like this every time you come?"

Wu Meng looked utterly incredulous.

"More or less."

Lin Xiyu was momentarily distracted, and a Sweater she had taken a liking to was snatched away by someone else.

"Don't say anything yet, watch my goods for me; I'll go look over there."

She couldn't spare more words, threw the Woven Bag to Wu Meng, and herself ran toward one of the few remaining sections.

"Hey hey, wait for me."

Wu Meng, afraid of getting separated from her, pulled a small cart and hurried after her.

——

"Wow, the Sweaters here are really cheap."

"Xiyu, how about this one? I think it's quite Handsome....."

"This pattern suits my mom; I want to buy several more for her so she can praise me....."

"Do you have men's? I want to buy one for my dad and Li Liang too."

After the first round of snapping up goods, they moved from the front rows to the Discount Area; the crowd was no longer so crowded, Wu Meng finally breathed a sigh of relief, regained her spirits, and was in a good mood to joke and chat.

She was naturally outgoing in Personality; upon arriving in a new Environment, her eyes sparkled with Excitement, following beside Lin Xiyu like a sparrow, chirping nonstop.

"This one makes you look a bit old-fashioned; your mom wearing it would be fine....."

"There are men's, but not much to choose from in style."

"Men's Sweaters are generally not bad, all similar styles, and black and grey are the most durable Colors."

"Li Liang is tall; pick him a black tight-fitting slimming style; your dad must get a Loose one, grey suits him better....."

Lin Xiyu listened very patiently to her chatter, and incidentally gave her Advice, helping her choose styles she liked.

The two Dormitory Aunties listened smilingly, also sharing in the benefit; seeing Sweaters they liked, they asked her to give an opinion, and as soon as she said it was good, the two were delighted, quickly stuffed them into the Woven Bag, afraid others would snatch them.

A party of four got along harmoniously, talking and laughing, choosing from morning until Noon, until the four Woven Bags Lin Xiyu had brought were all stuffed full and could hold nothing more, only then did they stop.

After queuing to settle the payment, Auntie Wang's eldest son, Wang Peng, was already waiting outside the Exit.

His Motorcycle was similar to Wang Fan's, could carry passengers, and with ropes tied securely could carry two Woven Bags at once.

"Sorry, there's too much stuff; I need you to make two trips....."

Lin Xiyu apologetically smiled and paid him an extra 30 yuan Labor Fee.

"It's fine; from here to the Train Station isn't far; two extra trips won't take much time....."

Wang Peng took the money and was very Easygoing: "You find a place to sit for a while; I'll be back soon."

"Fine."

Lin Xiyu naturally had no objections and readily agreed.

——

Although Shanghai's Winter was not as cold as Jinan's and rarely saw Snow, when the North Wind howled, it still made people feel a chill to the bone.

The two dormitory aunties were older and couldn't handle the cold like young people.

Lin Xiyu didn't want them to suffer on her account, so she had the two take the bus back to school first, while she and Wu Meng stayed at the wholesale market to wait for someone.

The motorcycle weaved through the streets and alleys, without worrying about traffic jams, and was indeed much faster than a taxi.

Wang Peng returned very quickly, making the round trip in less than half an hour, and even brought back a price list for ordinary freight transport by train.

Lin Xiyu glanced at the price list; shipping from the train station, Shanghai to Jinan cost only six yuan, much cheaper than the post office.

Six yuan per kilogram, 300 yuan for 50 kilograms, 200 yuan cheaper than the post office; after deducting 80 yuan for Wang Peng's shipping fee and labor fee, they could still save 120.

Saving 120 on one shipment; over time, with more shipments, the advantage would become clear.

Lin Xiyu's mental calculator clicked away, thinking it was a good deal to have Wang Peng handle the shipping, and she began to consider a long-term partnership with him.

"No problem, this is my pager number, just call me if you need anything."

With money to be made, Wang Peng naturally agreed readily.

After reaching an agreement, he took another two woven bags to the train station; after shipping them, he brought back the shipping receipt.

Lin Xiyu settled the fees, called her female cousin to give her the freight bill number; once everything was settled and she had no more worries, she finally felt at ease and took the bus back to school with Wu Meng.

—

"Xiyu, did you tell my mom about the bet between me and Wang Fan?"

The two best friends returned to the dormitory, only to find Li Qing was there too; her complexion was very bad, and upon seeing Lin Xiyu, she launched into a barrage of complaints without explanation.

"My mom came to the school yesterday to ask about your situation..."

Seeing Li Qing looking at her with resentment and grievance, Lin Xiyu felt wronged: "I couldn't lie to her, so I could only say you had a boyfriend, without mentioning the bet."

"No wonder my mom told me to cut ties with him; it's all your fault..."

Li Qing was emotionally agitated, refusing to listen to any explanation, and continued to shout at her.

"What do you mean it's my fault?"

Seeing her unreasonable behavior, Lin Xiyu also felt a surge of anger: "I didn't ask you to bet with him, and I advised you too, but you wouldn't listen and insisted on diving in headfirst."

"There are no words like 'admitting defeat' in my dictionary."

Li Qing had been pampered since childhood and had never faced setbacks; Wang Fan was the first person to give her a setback.

She was very stubborn, believing men should revolve around her, and Wang Fan's rejection was hard for her to accept.

"Li Qing, listen to my advice."

Seeing that Li Qing still hadn't faced reality, Lin Xiyu sighed helplessly: "If you have no feelings for Wang Fan and just want to beat him, there's really no need to continue."

"Wang Fan isn't someone you can control; back in high school he had girlfriends one after another. Someone like him won't have true feelings. Betting with a heartless person—think about it, can you really win against him?"

—

"You think you know him very well?"

Li Qing refused to listen to advice and retorted sarcastically: "Saying that makes you the real fool, so arrogant..."

"Fine, I'm foolish, I'm foolish, is that okay?"

Lin Xiyu didn't want to argue anymore and gave up on advising her: "If you don't want to listen, forget it. That's all I have to say; take care of yourself."

"Where is Wang Fan?"

Li Qing wouldn't let it go: "He and your boyfriend are close buddies; don't tell me you don't know. I don't believe it."

"He opened a branch store in Pudong."

Lin Xiyu had run out of patience and just wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible: "I don't know the exact location either; go ask around yourself."

"You'd better not have lied to me..."

Li Qing's eyes lit up; sure enough, she no longer had the heart to keep pestering her and left impatiently.

"Is there something wrong with this person?"

Wu Meng had been unable to interject until now, and finally had a chance to vent her dissatisfaction: "Why bet with him of all people? She was advised with good intentions but wouldn't listen, insisting on crashing headfirst until she's satisfied."

"Stop talking; let her do whatever she wants, I don't want to manage it anymore."

Lin Xiyu rubbed her temples with a headache, feeling vexed; though she said she didn't want to manage it, a nameless panic surged in her heart, as if foretelling that something bad would happen.

That very night, her premonition became reality.

At twelve midnight, the pager suddenly rang; seeing Guben's message, she was so startled she scrambled up from bed, almost losing her balance.

"What are you doing in the middle of the night?"

Wu Meng was woken by her and yawned sleepily.

"Wang Fan had an accident."

Lin Xiyu fumbled to turn on the light: "Guben told us to hurry to the hospital."

"Ah?"

Wu Meng was no longer sleepy, breaking out in a cold sweat: "What happened? What's wrong with this kid? Did he land himself in the hospital for no reason?"

"I don't know the specifics either."

Lin Xiyu smiled bitterly: "Guben didn't say, only that his situation is quite dangerous, he needs a blood transfusion, and asked us both to go get our blood types tested."

"A blood transfusion?"

Wu Meng was so shocked her voice changed: "How serious is the injury? Is it life-threatening?"

"Stop asking, hurry up..."

Lin Xiyu put on her clothes and urged her quickly: "We'll know when we get to the hospital; Guben said we should take a taxi and go as soon as possible."

"I know, I know..."

Wu Meng stopped delaying and nimbly climbed out of bed.

The two left the school gate and took a taxi directly to the hospital.

The blood test results were unexpected; Lin Xiyu turned out to have the same rare Rh negative blood as Wang Fan.

She hesitated not at all, letting the nurse draw blood and send it to the operation room.

—

"Have some water."

Guben waited for her to finish giving blood, then helped her to the corridor outside the operation room to rest; Wu Meng hurried over and handed her a bottle of water.

"What happened to Wang Fan? Why was he stabbed?"

Lin Xiyu was in no mood to drink; she took it and set it aside.

"It's all because that woman Li Qing caused trouble..."

Guben frowned, and at the mention of Li Qing, a flicker of disgust crossed his eyes: "She came to see Wang Fan this afternoon, quarreled with him, and in a huff ran to a bar to drink, where she provoked a gang of little hooligans."

"Wang Fan went to fetch her, clashed with those people, and was stabbed with a fruit knife. If I hadn't noticed his expression was off when he left, cursed him as a crazy woman, and gone with him, this time he would truly have been in danger, nearly losing his life."

"Li Qing?"

Lin Xiyu's heart gave a tremble, and inexpressible guilt welled up: "If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have told her Wang Fan was in Pudong. How can this person be so stubborn, insisting on clinging to someone..."

"Where is she?"

Wu Meng said incredulously: "Wang Fan got stabbed for her, and there isn't even a shadow of her in the hospital. How is this person's heart made? Doesn't she have a bit of guilt?"

"She's at the police bureau..."

Guben said tersely and shockingly: "After something like this, how could she easily get away? Those little hooligans were also arrested and are locked up inside."

"Wang Fan is really unlucky, to be entangled by such a woman."

Wu Meng, unable to contain her anger, retorted sharply: "In my opinion, Li Qing isn't innocent either. Maybe she and those little hooligans plotted together, deliberately luring Wang Fan over to take revenge on him."

"That possibility isn't nonexistent..."

Guben was meticulous in thought, and from Li Qing's expression at the time, he also sensed something was off.

"What was she thinking?"

Lin Xiyu dared not imagine that a classmate she had gotten along with for a semester could be so ruthless: "Murder is a crime; isn't she afraid of going to jail?"

"Perhaps her original intention was not to have Wang Fan die."

Guben analyzed rationally: "She just wanted to use those little hooligans to test him, never expecting things to develop beyond her expectations. Cooperating with a gang of little hooligans is like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth—are those people easy to deal with? Fortunately, Wang Fan went tonight. If Wang Fan hadn't gone, she wouldn't have escaped either, and by then things would probably have been even worse..."

"How terrifying..."

Wu Meng's face changed as she listened: "If she was really defiled by someone, she'd be better off dead."

"Sigh."

Lin Xiyu's eyes dimmed, and she sighed deeply.

—

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

The police investigated and gathered evidence; as Guben had expected, the little hooligans who caused the injury all insisted Li Qing was the instigator, and her parents rushed to the police bureau in great anxiety.

Wang Fan received a blood transfusion in time and was out of mortal danger.

Guben asked a teacher from Fudan University Law School to step forward, contacted one of his nominal senior disciples, and helped Wang Fan resolve this matter.