Chapter 81: Reporting

Lu Caiqing began to cry again; there was truly no one as foolish as she was. Even if these things were true, she shouldn’t have spoken them aloud. Shen Qingyi saw her crying and was at a loss for how to comfort her. “I bought dumplings. Let’s have dumplings for dinner tonight,” she said.

Lu Caiqing nodded.

The next day, someone from the supply and marketing cooperative in the family compound came to call Shen Qingyi to answer the phone. Shen Qingyi, excited, said to Lu Caiqing, “Maybe there’s news.”

Such efficiency!

Following the caller, Shen Qingyi arrived at the desk phone in the supply store, picked it up, and said, “Hello, is there an update?”

There was silence on the other end for a long time.

She softly called out again.

“It’s me!”

Hearing the familiar voice, Shen Qingyi was momentarily stunned. “Lu Yan…”

“What result were you just asking about?” It was clear his wife had been waiting for the call.

Shen Qingyi didn’t want him to worry. “It’s nothing. Caiqing resigned from her job and wants to do business with me, so I’ve been asking around about suppliers.”

Lu Yan understood. He recalled how Lu Caiqing had praised his wife the other day, and found it quite normal for her to have such thoughts.

He supported her idea, responding softly. Then he asked, “Are you both doing well these past few days?”

“We’re fine! It’s just that An’an misses you a bit.” An’an really couldn’t get along well with Lu Caiqing.

“I miss him too!” After saying this, he paused. “A female comrade in the performing arts troupe said there’s a charity fundraising performance in Yan Prefecture, and invited me to join. Should I go?”

His wife had told him before: apart from work, he shouldn’t discuss anything unrelated to work with young women.

But he did admire Wang Sisi; she had insisted on donating to students and doing charity for years. It reminded him of how, without that donation, he never could have gone to university or met his professor and his wife.

Shen Qingyi laughed. “That’s a good thing. If you can be of help and you have the time, then go.”

She had no objection to such matters. When she was young, she would donate her New Year’s money together with her father, because he always said there were many talents in their country who were buried by poverty.

Many people suffered hunger due to poverty.

She had never lacked for money from childhood, felt grateful, and wished to give back.

“Alright!” Lu Yan agreed.

“Do you need anything over there? Should I buy and send something for you?” Shen Qingyi asked.

Lu Yan lacked nothing; his material needs were always met promptly. “No, I have everything!”

“Then, if there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up.” Shen Qingyi felt there was nothing more to say.

“I’ll call you again next week.” As soon as Lu Yan finished speaking, the busy tone sounded.

He put down the phone and headed to the dining hall—it was time for the afternoon meal.

Su Yang had already gotten his meal and placed it on a nearby table. Seeing Lu Yan arrive, he pushed the lunchbox toward him. “Are you going or not? Just give them an answer, they’re waiting. I’ve noticed you’ve become oddly hesitant lately.”

Lu Yan nodded. “I’ll go.”

Su Yang breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s the spirit.”

“But what am I supposed to do there?” Lu Yan asked.

“A national first-class engineer from the capital personally standing by the donation box, thanking donors in person—it boosts enthusiasm for donating. That’s a big role.” Su Yang relayed Wang Sisi’s words.

“Alright,” Lu Yan replied absent-mindedly.

Su Yang watched him and felt he was being perfunctory, his interest was low. “What’s wrong? Did the preliminary calculation data go wrong today?”

“No!” Lu Yan replied, thinking for a moment before asking, “How long do you usually talk to your wife on the phone?”

“A minute or two, maybe.”

Lu Yan breathed a sigh of relief and began to eat.

After eating, Lu Yan returned to the lab. Su Yang pulled him aside. “You… you’re working overtime again?”

Lu Yan replied, “What else can I do? I’ve nothing else going on.”

He couldn’t afford to be idle; otherwise, he’d keep wondering what she was doing at home.

When Shen Qingyi returned home, Lu Caiqing asked, “Was it the police calling?”

“It was your second brother!”

Lu Caiqing smiled. “He misses you!”

Shen Qingyi’s lips curled up unconsciously. Would he? Still, he’d called today specifically to report this matter, which meant he truly listened to her words—she was pleased.

The next day at noon, Shen Qingyi went to answer the phone again. This time it was a comrade from the Public Security Bureau.

They said the culprit wanted to apologize to the victim in person, and asked Comrade Lu Caiqing to come to the bureau, bring her hospital diagnosis certificate, and discuss compensation.

On the way back, Shen Qingyi told Lu Caiqing, “I’ll go with you. We should ask him the reason for the trouble—who was he really targeting?”

“Alright.”

Shen Qingyi locked the door, sent An’an to the Cheng family as usual, and went to the Public Security Bureau with Lu Caiqing.

When they arrived at the station, the man immediately apologized upon seeing Lu Caiqing. “I’m sorry, Comrade Lu Caiqing. I was too emotional that day and lost control. I’ll cover your medical expenses.”

He bowed before Lu Caiqing, his attitude sincere.

The policeman looked at Lu Caiqing. “Comrade Lu Caiqing, are you willing to accept his apology and settle?”

Lu Caiqing turned to Shen Qingyi. Shen Qingyi asked, “Did you act out of anger that day?”

The man thought for a moment. “Lu Caiqing’s boss took over the stall that my father used to run. When my father got sick, she seized the spot, even though my father had been there for half a year. I was upset and wanted to cause trouble, and happened to meet Comrade Lu Caiqing.

If she hadn’t argued with me, and had just gone to get her boss to confront me, I wouldn’t have gotten so agitated.”

Shen Qingyi sighed. “Why didn’t you go directly to her boss?”

“My sister tried—it didn’t work!”

Shen Qingyi turned to Lu Caiqing. “What do you think?”

“This was just bad luck for me. Fine, pay some compensation,” Lu Caiqing sighed. She felt bad for all the money Shen Qingyi had spent because of her.

“Alright, how much?”

Shen Qingyi respected Lu Caiqing’s wishes, but the amount was up to her. “Two hundred.”

“What?” The man’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Calmly, Shen Qingyi walked over to Lu Caiqing and rolled up her sleeve. “Look, she can’t work at all now. She’s only had one day of injections; who knows how long treatment will take, or if there’ll be any lasting effects?

If you’re unwilling, then we’ll follow procedure.”

The policeman frowned deeply and chastised the man, “You really went too far.”

The man glanced at Lu Caiqing’s swollen, red arm and fell silent. After a long pause, he finally said, “Alright.”

As soon as he agreed, the policeman called the man’s family, telling them that once they had the money together, he’d be released.

He then told Shen Qingyi and Lu Caiqing to wait for news. “Once the money arrives, we’ll call you to come collect it.”