Chapter 90: A Wild Heart
One of the boys couldn’t hold it in anymore.
"My grandpa was a soldier too! He was in the service for thirty years!"
When they heard that, everyone turned to look at him.
Just then, the school bell rang. DING-A-LING-A-LING.
The class fell silent in an instant. They scrambled back to their seats, opened their textbooks, and lowered their heads.
The class was over in the blink of an eye.
The moment the dismissal bell rang, the children RUSHED toward the classroom door.
Shanshan was the fastest.
She spotted the familiar figure in the crowd at a glance.
"Daddy!"
She darted into Ling Anxun’s arms.
"Daddy, didn’t you say Fourth Uncle was picking me up today? Why are you here?"
Ling Anxun looked down at her.
"I postponed a meeting at the last minute because I wanted to pick you up. Are you happy?"
As he spoke, he naturally wrapped his arms tighter around his daughter, but his eyes subconsciously scanned the crowd.
"Of course I’m happy!"
Shanshan beamed, her eyes curving into crescents. SMACK. She planted a kiss on his left cheek.
"When I saw you in the classroom just now, the whole class was stunned! They said you’re even cooler than Superman! The class monitor even said you’re a real-life Iron Man!"
She cupped Ling Anxun’s face with her little hands, her pinky finger even playfully hooking his ear.
"Dad, you really made me look good! They all said that compared to you, their own dads are like fireflies next to the sun! Not a single speck of light! I was so proud! Everyone was crowded around me today asking all sorts of questions, I felt like a little celebrity!"
Ling Anxun listened.
He really couldn’t hold it in anymore. Finally, he just buried his face in his daughter’s soft shoulder, his whole body trembling slightly with laughter.
Shanshan tilted her head, not quite understanding what he was laughing about.
’I was just telling the truth!’
"Daddy, stop laughing, let’s go home."
She hugged his neck tightly.
No one noticed a small, thin figure squatting secretly under the old locust tree behind the classroom.
The figure was curled into a ball, back pressed against the rough bark, shoulders trembling slightly.
Cao Jiajia bit her lower lip hard, her eyes fixed on the classroom door.
She had never imagined that a father could actually treat his child with such tenderness.
But she, Cao Jiajia, couldn’t even dare to dream of such a hug.
Then she thought about how her own dad’s attitude toward her had grown colder and colder recently.
Every day after school, he would stand in the most remote corner of the school gate, waiting for her to walk over to him.
’Why?’
’Why could that man, who wasn’t even her biological father, dote on another girl like that?’
’He wasn’t her dad, but the warmth he gave her was more than her own father ever did!’
’And what about her?’
She followed her dad in silence, not even bothering to sit on the back of his bike.
Cao Daqiang had even less interest in paying attention to her.
He twisted the handlebars and straddled the old bicycle with its peeling paint.
By the time she got off the bicycle, Cao Jiajia’s heart was already in turmoil.
She stood at the courtyard gate, staring at the mottled iron door, but her mind was filled with the scene she had just witnessed.
’Other people’s children get to sit in their dad’s new car, eating snacks.’
She looked down at the patched-up old cloth shoes on her feet, and her heart ached with a sharp pain.
’Why?’
’Why can’t my dad even afford a car?’
Ignoring the bowl of cold dinner on the table, she abruptly turned and rushed into her room without a backward glance.
"Cao Jiajia! Eat! What is this attitude?"
Liu Yingzi shot up from the table, her face darkening, and reached for the door.
But just as she was about to take a step, she saw the look her daughter shot at her from the crack in the door.
The gaze rooted her to the spot, her fingers frozen in mid-air.
Liu Yingzi had never seen Cao Jiajia look at her like that.
She suddenly felt that the child before her was no longer the Cao Jiajia she had raised.
Staring at the closed door, her lips trembled slightly.
"What... what’s gotten into her?"
"What else could it be? She sees other families eating well, living fancy, and wearing nice things. She thinks we’re useless as parents and feels it’s unfair."
Cao Daqiang muttered, his head down as he shoveled rice into his mouth.
Hearing this, Liu Yingzi’s anger flared.
"And whose fault is that? I told you that key elementary school was too far, the tuition was too expensive, and it was no place for a family like ours! But you wouldn’t listen, insisting on selling everything we owned to send her there! Now look at what she’s become! Her ambitions have grown wild, she has a terrible temper, and she won’t even eat properly!"
"Fine, fine, it’s all my fault."
Cao Daqiang put down his bowl, his face cold as he slammed his chopsticks on the table.
"Have you forgotten who it was that went to the principal’s office every day with boxes of pastries, begging them to accept her? Who was it that brought gifts to the teachers’ homes during every holiday, practically getting on their knees to kowtow? You say it wasn’t suitable, so why didn’t you say so back then?"
His words left Liu Yingzi speechless, her face flushing red.
Her finger trembled as she pointed at Cao Daqiang, but she couldn’t utter a single word.
The two of them went back and forth, their argument growing more and more vicious.
Cao Jiajia lay motionless in her bed, curled up under the covers.
She was so upset she wished she could crawl into a crack in the floor where no one could see her.
But while they were having their explosive argument, the Ling family next door was, in fact, facing their own difficulties.
Recently, the situation from above had been getting tense. The political climate was complex and volatile, and a single misstep could bring disaster upon them.
Although Ling Zhenkang had long since retired from the front lines and was no longer involved in active affairs, his former status and position still commanded respect and caution.
More importantly, his children and grandchildren were still in the service, and a single move could affect the entire family.
Because of this, many eyes were watching the Ling family, waiting to see what they would do.
"The old leader’s health has been poor, and he was hospitalized again recently. The situation is not good. The doctors have been taking turns treating him, and they’ve almost lost him a few times. They say there’s nothing more they can do... What if we let Shanshan go take a look?"
Ling Antao had been a clerk in the service for years and understood the ways of the world better than anyone.
But his nephew immediately shook his head after hearing him out.
"No! Absolutely not!"
"Do you know what kind of times these are? At a critical juncture like this, it doesn’t even matter if Shanshan has the ability or not. Even if she could actually cure him, so what? Getting involved is just asking for trouble! If she cures him, people will suspect she used some forbidden methods, or that someone put her up to it. And if she can’t cure him? Then a little kid like her will have to take all the blame! How old is she? Can she withstand that kind of storm?"
"You’re right. We really can’t touch this."
Another relative sitting nearby nodded in agreement.
"This is too risky. One wrong step, and there’s no coming back. If we’re not careful, she’ll become a target for those who want to attack the Ling family. They could make an example of her, and no one would dare to speak up for her."
This exact conversation was overheard by Shanshan, who was washing fruit in the kitchen.
She slowly put down the fruit bowl and walked out of the kitchen.
"Uncle, that old grandpa... is he a good person? If he’s a good person, Shanshan can help treat him. I’ve been learning some medical skills recently, maybe they’ll be useful."
"Kids shouldn’t interrupt!"
Ling Anxun shot up from the sofa.
He crossed the room in a few strides, scooped Shanshan up in his arms, and turned to walk toward her room.
No one in the room dared to argue with him.
At home, Ling Anxun was always authoritative. His word was law.