The Ruanlin Family matriarch sat by the bed, watching without wanting to take her eyes off Ruan Jiaojiao until the sound of footsteps approached. It was Du Qing, standing at the doorway with a low cough that finally prompted her to tiptoe out.
"Mom, there’s nothing much happening with Jiaojiao here, so we’re planning to head back to town now. If anything comes up, just send someone with a message."
"Right, we can rush back anytime," Wu Le added.
"Alright, you all must be tired too, go back and have a good rest."
"What are you saying, Mom? We’re family; there’s no such thing as tired. Alright, we won’t linger, we’re heading back now, okay? Take good care of yourself too," Du Qing said.
The Ruanlin Family matriarch nodded, escorted them to the door, and watched them leave before turning to go back inside. Upon reaching the courtyard entrance, she saw several grandsons at the door of the room where Ruan Jiaojiao was sleeping, peeking inside, and immediately advanced on them with brisk steps.
"All of you move aside! If you wake Jiaojiao up, you’ll have me to answer to!"
"Granny, we’re just worried about our sister and wanted to check on her," Little Fatty said.
The Ruanlin Family matriarch glared at them and said irritably, "I haven’t settled the score with you for these past few days. What did I tell you last time? Have you forgotten? No taking your sister to the back mountain, but you still led her there!"
"Granny, it won’t happen again, we swear it won’t," Ruan Chi said earnestly, looking at the Ruanlin Family matriarch and raising his hand to swear, truly frightened by this experience.
Seeing his eyes tide with red, and the other grandsons with faces full of guilt, the Ruanlin Family matriarch pressed her lips together, said no more, and pretended to shoo them away impatiently, "Go on, go play on your own!"
Her gaze fell upon Ruan Hao and Ruan Bo, and her face lit up with contentment, "My youngest and third youngest have grown up. We really owe it to you this time. Whatever you want to eat tonight, Granny will make it for you as a reward."
In the haze of these past days, the Ruanlin Family matriarch knew they had been a great help. It was they who had called the police to their home. Even though they hadn’t found Ruan Jiaojiao in the end, in her eyes, these two grandsons had grown up and become much steadier.
Ruan Hao and Ruan Bo exchanged smiles and said nothing. Du Qing had intended for them to go back to the school in town that afternoon, but Ruan Hao couldn’t bear to leave and Ruan Bo also chose to stay, planning to return to school together the next morning.
This upheaval seemed to have finally passed in the eyes of the Ruan Family.
But not in Liao Zhaoji’s eyes.
In the afternoon, as Du Qing returned to his work unit, he also stopped by the hospital to report to Ruan Jun and Ruan Jiandang that Ruan Jiaojiao had safely returned. Ruan Jiandang was ecstatic, and Ruan Jun showed the first smile he had in two days.
Only Liao Zhaoji remained with a troubled expression.
She noticed that now everyone in the Ruan Family treated her as if she didn’t exist. Du Qing outright ignored her, and neither her son nor her husband would say a word to her, making her heart ache unbearably.
Ruan Jiandang might have been so worried about Ruan Jiaojiao that he had been holding his breath, and now, knowing that she had returned, that breath of worry seemed to have dissipated, naturally causing his wound to become inflamed and leading to a persistent high fever that night.
By the next day, when the fever had gone down, the doctor was urging them to pay the hospital fees.
Liao Zhaoji didn’t have a penny on her and was so anxious that she developed a blister at the corner of her mouth.
Ruan Jun had waited for Ruan Jiandang’s fever to subside in the morning before heading back to school. Before leaving, he reminded her once again to go back to the Liao Family for money. Liao Zhaoji had readily agreed at that time, but now when it came down to it, she found herself unable to take the step.