Chapter 59: Chapter 59 Qingqing is Sick
Yue Jiannan triumphantly brought Yue Qingqing back home.
He recounted the event and, as if presenting a treasure, dug out two “Great Unity” banknotes from his pocket.
Looking at her son who was beaming with joy, Lin Chunju frowned tightly and showed no intention of taking the money.
Lin Chunju took her granddaughter from Yue Jiannan’s hands and carefully examined her.
Yue Jiannan, puzzled, said, “Mom, when I went there, Qingqing was sitting well in the stroller.”
Lin Chunju scolded, “Idiot, can’t you use your brain to think? If it was just an accident that she fell into the pond, it would have been good enough if Zhang Tieniu didn’t ask our family for compensation, let alone happily give you money. Clearly, he wanted to calm the situation down.”
Upon hearing this, Yue Jiannan suddenly realized something.
“I… How did I not think of that.”
He stood frozen like a pillar.
Lin Chunju, too lazy to deal with her self-proclaimed clever son, finally found a faint red mark on the back of Yue Qingqing’s neck.
It was obviously strangled unexpectedly.
“The damn Niu Lihua, she actually wanted to snatch this jade!” Lin Chunju immediately guessed their motive.
Yue Qingqing made a sound and nodded her head, her head weakly leaning to one side.
Today, the Curse Technique she had used was called the Puppetry Technique, something not meant for those in the Qi Refinement Realm.
Yue Qingqing had forced herself to mobilize the spiritual energy inside her body, relying on the foundations from her previous life.
Fortunately, the piece of jade around her neck had been constantly nourished lately and was able to store some spiritual energy; otherwise, Yue Qingqing might have really ended up in the water today.
Even so, she had exhausted all her spiritual energy, and her spirits had become scattered.
Yue Jiannan was so distracted by Zhang Tieniu and his wife that he hadn’t noticed this at all.
On the way home, he had carried Yue Qingqing around, completely oblivious to any difference.
After returning home, Yue Qingqing stopped forcing her spirits up. The aftereffects of overusing her spiritual energy showed their strength, and she appeared wholly listless.
It was only then that Yue Jiannan finally realized something was amiss and slapped himself hard on the face, “It’s all my fault. Why did I leave Qingqing alone there?”
In his mind, he imagined that Niu Lihua was about to snatch Qingqing’s jade when suddenly she heard his approaching footsteps, causing her to unexpectedly fall into the fishpond.
And the reason she appeared as if she had seen a ghost after climbing out was because she had committed a misdeed!
Although Lin Chunju knew Yue Qingqing had the ability to protect herself, she couldn’t forgive Yue Jiannan for his negligence.
“How could you dare leave such a small child by the fishpond alone? If Niu Lihua had bad intentions today and had drowned the child before slipping away, we would only be left to grieve, the jade would be the least of our concerns.”
With her experience, Lin Chunju swiftly painted a picture of Niu Lihua’s mindset.
Ashamed, Yue Jiannan hanged his head low, unable to utter a word in his defense.
“Mom, I was wrong. You should hit me.”
Lin Chunju’s face turned iron blue, “Not every mistake can be fixed this way. You are no longer a child. You must think before you act!”
Luckily, Qingqing is no ordinary child; if it had been anyone else, today’s outcome might have been very different.
Even though she suspected that Niu Lihua might have been scared insane, Lin Chunju still felt it was not enough.
That someone could harm even such a small child, a person like that is a scourge just by being alive!
When the brothers returned home in the evening, Yue Jiannan took the initiative to talk about the incident, head bowed, face filled with shame, like a criminal waiting for judgment.
However, Yue Jiandong couldn’t care less about blaming him, “How is Qingqing now?”
Zhang Ying pursed her lips, feeling very upset, “She has a fever. We had a doctor come in the afternoon. He said she’s too small for medication; she can only endure it.”
“Brother, it’s all my fault. I didn’t take good care of Qingqing.” Yue Jiannan was so distressed that he hadn’t even touched a drop of water since the afternoon.
The usually lively little niece now lay in bed with her eyes closed, her complexion dreadfully pale.
And all this was due to his neglect.
The Yue Family was unaware of the real reason, simply assuming the child had been frightened.
Yue Jiandong sighed, seeing his brother’s distress and not reprimanding him further.
“I’m going to check on Qingqing.”
He approached the bed, reached out to feel her temperature, and found his daughter’s forehead burning hot.
This was the first time Qingqing had fallen ill since they had adopted her.