Chapter 108: Chapter 108 I’ll Wait for You to Grow Up Chapter 108: Chapter 108 I’ll Wait for You to Grow Up Childhood, a rainy day, a pavilion by the lake.
Both cheeks of the little girl were swollen high, with clear palm prints on her tender face.
She was still wearing an ill-fitting single-layer garment, with the rolled-up sleeves revealing faint bruises of green and purple.
A surge of pity welled up in Sheng Tingyuan’s heart, “Who hit you?”
“My mom.”
“Why did she hit you?”
“Miss pushed Little Pear Blossom into the lake, and after Little Pear Blossom was saved by an adult on shore, she pushed Miss into the lake.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
“My mom said it was my fault for not protecting the Miss properly, she also told me to tell Madam that I was the one who pushed Little Pear Blossom, not the Miss. When I refused to say it, she just kept hitting me.”
Sheng Tingyuan clenched his fists, “Come on, I’ll take you to the police.”
The little girl shook her head, “It’s not necessary, brother, I’m okay.”
After a long while, Sheng Tingyuan asked her again, “Where is the clothing I gave you? It’s getting colder, why aren’t you wearing it?”
“The Miss took it away, saying that I stole it, and she told my mom about me stealing the clothes. When I said it was a gift from you, she didn’t believe me.”
Another long silence followed.
“Little Hehua, come with me!”
“Brother, where to?”
“To my home, you can live at my place from now on, don’t go back home.”
“I can’t, brother, I can’t cause you trouble by going to your house. Besides, I have to wait at home for dad to come back. He said before he left, if I behaved well, he would definitely come back.”
Sheng Tingyuan grabbed her hand, rolled up her sleeve, and upon seeing each and every shocking bruise, he felt a tightness in his heart, “If you continue living at home, you might end up dead.”
The little girl gently covered his hand with her other one, “Brother, your hand is so warm, I wish I really had a brother like you.”
Sheng Tingyuan let go of her, took off his own coat, put it on her, and then took her hand again, “Come on, I’ll take you to buy some medicine.”
The little girl didn’t move, she lowered her head in a somewhat embarrassed and ashamed manner, “Brother, I don’t have any money.”
Sheng Tingyuan patted her head, “It’s okay, Brother has some.”
“Then, when I have money in the future, I’ll pay you back, brother.”
“Alright.”
Sheng Tingyuan opened the umbrella, took her hand, and went to the drugstore to buy ointment, then under the eaves of the drugstore, he carefully applied it to her face and arms.
He put the remaining ointment and money into her pocket.
He cautioned her, “Hide the medicine and money well, don’t let anyone find out.”
The little girl hurriedly refused, “I can’t, brother, you’ve given me too much money, I can’t repay it.”
“You don’t need to repay it now, wait until you grow up and can earn your own money, then you can start to pay me back slowly. Of course, you don’t have to pay me back if you don’t want to, brother doesn’t lack money.”
“I must pay it back, brother, rest assured, I will work hard to earn money when I’m big, and then I’ll give you a lot, a lot of money, let’s pinky swear!”
Sheng Tingyuan stretched out his finger and pinky swore with her, “Then I’ll wait for you to grow up.”
The little girl was very excited, “I want to grow up fast, I want to earn a lot of money!”
Sheng Tingyuan spoke softly, “It’s enough if you can grow up, you don’t need to earn a lot of money.”
“I must earn a lot,” she insisted, “I’ll earn money to spend on brother, on dad, on Little Pear Blossom.”
She counted so many people but didn’t count herself, which made Tingyuan’s heart feel uneasy.
Like a treasure, she clutched the ointment in her pocket and naively asked him, “Brother, the ointment is expensive, right? Can you earn a lot of money by making medicine?”
“Mm, indeed, it earns money.”
“Then when I grow up, I will sell medicine!”