After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future-Chapter 42: It’s All in the Past

After lunch, Lu Liang returned home.

He packed a few sets of clothes to change into, planning to set off early.

"Bye-bye~ be safe on the road."

Li Manli rose on her tiptoes, tipping her head back, her lips puckered waiting for a kiss.

Lu Liang bent down to give her a kiss and, touching her cheek, said, "Be good at home these next few days, call me if you need anything."

After saying that, he pulled his small suitcase and left.

Lu Liang didn't head back home but went to buy some fruit at the fresh market before visiting Zhang Qian's mother in the hospital.

He had promised Zhang Yun to spend a day with her on the weekend, and since he was returning to his hometown, he needed to bring some gifts back.

Zhang Qian was rather mature and thorough and should know what gifts would be best to bring for elders and friends.

Soon after, Lu Liang arrived at the hospitalization department of City Third, vaguely remembering that Zhang Qian's mother was named Zhuang Huilan.

Asking a nurse, he learned there were sufficient funds in the medical account to cover Mrs. Zhuang's discharge, so he carried the fruit basket to her ward.

Because Lu Liang had previously paid an extra sum of money, Mrs. Zhuang had been upgraded from a multi-bed ward to a private one.

Mrs. Zhuang had a fractured coccyx and could only lie on her side. When she saw Lu Liang come in, her face revealed a kind smile.

"Auntie, I'm sorry, I've been tied up with company matters and only now found time to visit you."

Lu Liang walked into the ward with a smile, carrying the fruit basket, and also noticed Zhang Xiaoguai was beside the bed, focused on her homework.

The little one heard Lu Liang's voice, her face broke into a joyful smile, and she put her pen down, nearly flying towards him.

She clung tightly to Lu Liang's leg, looking up with a radiant smile on her face, "Uncle Lu, Xiaoguai missed you so much."

The handprint on her face, left by that abusive woman a few days ago, had almost vanished.

"Where's your mom?"

The ward had 24-hour care, and there wasn't much else Lu Liang needed to help with. Holding Xiaoguai, he chatted idly with Mrs. Zhuang.

"Qianqian just left not long ago; she usually won't come until the evening. Xiaoguai does her homework here on the weekends."

Mrs. Zhuang grasped Lu Liang's hand, thanking him for his help during this time, as well as for taking care of Zhang Qian and her daughter.

Lu Liang was puzzled until he found out that Zhang Qian attributed hiring a nurse and the hospital treatment fees all to his credit.

Xiaoguai also piped up at the right moment, "Mom told grandma about Zhao Tianqi bullying me too."

"Little Lu, you've taken such good care of them, I can die in peace," Mrs. Zhuang said, moved.

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"Auntie, please don't say that. I'm just doing what I should," Lu Liang could only accept this well-meant burden.

Suddenly, Mrs. Zhuang said, "Xiaoguai, didn't you always really want Uncle Lu to take you out to play? Are you done with your homework?"

Zhang Xiaoguai looked up innocently, eagerly saying, "Uncle Lu, just wait for me, I can finish in half an hour at most."

"Focus on your homework and don't be careless; Uncle will check it later."

Lu Liang chuckled, lightly patting Xiaoguai on the back of her head as she hurried off to work on her assignment.

He then crouched beside the bed, sensing Mrs. Zhuang wanted her granddaughter out of the way so she could speak privately with him.

Mrs. Zhuang hesitated for a long time before speaking softly, "Little Lu, do you know what kind of work Qianqian used to do?"

Lu Liang nodded without hesitation, replying, "Qianqian has always been helping me at the company."

Mrs. Zhuang gave a wry smile, "I know, I was just worried that you didn't."

Lu Liang was taken aback.

Mrs. Zhuang's cloudy eyes shimmered with tears, "Qianqian is a good girl, she just had the misfortune of meeting the wrong man."

Mrs. Zhuang started to talk about Zhang Yun's biological father, a scoundrel. The two were nearly at the point of discussing marriage when he suddenly disappeared.

Later, when Zhang Qian found out she was pregnant and tried to find the scoundrel, she couldn't locate him anywhere and ended up having to give birth and raise her daughter alone.

Mrs. Zhuang found out about Zhang Qian's job because the hospital called her late one night for a family member's signature and authorization.

That night, Zhang Qian was in urgent need of surgery due to a bleeding stomach. It was then that Mrs. Zhuang learned her daughter's job involved selling alcohol.

At the time, Mrs. Zhuang was embarrassed, and mother and daughter had a huge argument about it afterward.

"She once said something that I still clearly remember. She said she had no skills, no diploma, and a daughter to raise. If she didn't sell alcohol, was she supposed to sell herself?"

The more Mrs. Zhuang spoke, the more agitated she became until she couldn't help but cough, and Lu Liang quickly poured her a cup of warm water.

"Grandma, what's wrong?" Xiaoguai, hearing the commotion, came running back with a look of concern.

Mrs. Zhuang coughed a few times, trying to steady her emotions, and revealed a smile, "I was speaking too fast and choked a bit."

Xiaoguai, hearing this, moved to the other side of the hospital bed and gently stroked her grandmother's back, "Grandma, are you feeling better now?"

Mrs. Zhuang squinted her eyes with a smile, hiding her tears, "Much better. You should go back to your homework now."

The little guy was smart. He looked at his grandma and then at Uncle Lu, "Grandma, Uncle Lu, are you guys hiding something from me by whispering?"

Uncle Lu smiled and nodded, openly admitting, "Uncle is discussing with your grandma where to take you for a trip later."

"Where to?" The little guy's eyes lit up.

"We'll tell you after you finish your homework."

Lu Liang suddenly realized why Mrs. Zhuang had abruptly talked to him about those things. In the end, she was just worried that he might mind Zhang Qian's past occupation.

Once the little guy went back to his homework.

Lu Liang whispered, "Auntie, I understand what you mean. That's all in the past."

Mrs. Zhuang held Lu Liang's hand tightly, unsure of what exactly to say, "Little Lu, I really appreciate it."

The old lady then told Lu Liang a lot about Zhang Qian's past. Lu Liang didn't know what was true, so he temporarily assumed it was all true and listened.

After a while, the little guy suddenly raised his arms with excitement, shouting, "I'm done writing!"

She approached Lu Liang with a beaming face, bouncing up and down, and offered her work, "Uncle Lu, can you check this for me?"

First-grade questions were still no challenge for Lu Liang. He checked through and found almost everything was correct except for a few characters.

"The 'an' in 'install' doesn't have the lifting hand, and the 'cai' in 'timber' has the wood radical. Take it back and fix them."

Lu Liang looked at Mrs. Zhuang, who was showing affection and hurriedly waved her hand, "Don't mind me. You two should go and have fun. Xiaoli is here to take care of me."

Xiaoli, mentioned by the elderly lady, was a hospital aide, a woman in her forties, and she smiled and nodded at Lu Liang.

"Uncle Lu, I've corrected it."

Zhang Xiaoguai came over again with her textbook.

Lu Liang checked it and, satisfied, patted her head, "Say goodbye to grandma, we're going out to play."

"And mom?" Xiaoguai suddenly asked.

"I'll call her in a bit to see where she is."

"Goodbye grandma, goodbye Auntie Xiaoli, goodbye Nurse Sister."

The little one was very polite, smiling sweetly, waving farewell to everyone she knew.

Lu Liang couldn't help but show an auntie's smile; even without Zhang Qian, he would still like this little one.

So adorable, well-behaved, and polite—how could anyone not love her?

Zhang Xiaoguai, carrying her little backpack, held Uncle Lu's hand and went to the hospital's parking lot.

Lu Liang had her sit in the back seat and buckled her seat belt, then called Zhang Qian.

Learning that she was near Joy City in Hongkou, his eyebrows furrowed.

He was very familiar with that place.

"It can't be that melodramatic."

Lu Liang couldn't help but talk to himself, and Xiaoguai asked curiously, "Uncle, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing, just sit tight. We're off to meet your mom."

"Here we go~~"

On the way, the little one was very excited, chirping about things at school.

"After Zhao Tianqi apologized to me, he hasn't come to school anymore. Later, Mr. Lin said he transferred."

"Really? Has anyone at school been bothering you?"

"No, but all my classmates say you're very handsome."

The little guy's face showed proud delight; a lot of her classmates had been watching that day.

Afterwards, many classmates approached her, all saying how handsome Lu Liang was, like a deity descending to earth.

She ended up making a lot more friends.

Lu Liang couldn't help but chuckle, although the smile didn't last too long on his face because they arrived at Joy City, and he made another call to Zhang Qian to get a more precise address.

Gate number eight, Huaxi Club.

Lu Liang was indeed very familiar with it—it was Lin Wenjing's workplace.