The 1970s: Married First, Fell in Love Later-Chapter 234 - 233: There’s a Ghost!!

"They beat someone up, and they’re still this arrogant?"

"Husband, what do you think we should do? Calling the police is probably hopeless; they have connections. Getting money from them will be tough, too. I heard that old biddy say her daughter-in-law was put in the hospital by Hongjun and just got back. She might even come after us for compensation! Ugh, if I’d known, I never would have come. That whole family is trouble, and those two kids have no manners at all. Look at my new clothes! Those two little brats splashed them with who-knows-what. It breaks my heart."

"Why don’t we wait for Hongjun to wake up and discuss it with him, see what he thinks."

Niu Hongjun’s mother spat. "What’s there to discuss with him? He went down to the countryside, and now that he’s in university, he’s not close to us anymore. He used to listen to everything I said. But now? He married some village girl, for one, and he’s not filial at all. I’m telling you, we shouldn’t have come. You just had to come and give them money. And look what happened! We’ve sunk so much money into this—it’s a total loss."

"No matter what, Hongjun is my son. How could I just stand by and let him suffer!"

"So are you going home or not? I don’t want to stay here another second. This place is just bad luck."

The couple muttered and whispered in the room for a long time. Afraid the other party would try to extort them, they left in the middle of the night without a word to Li Lanying and caught a ride home.

They only told the two children at home.

Li Lanying was at the hospital taking care of Niu Hongjun, still waiting for the old couple to come and relieve her for the night.

When they still hadn’t shown up by the middle of the night, Li Lanying gritted her teeth. She had long since grown to despise this family, and by extension, she found Niu Hongjun more and more detestable.

To hell with it.

She was going home.

She was starving, and she was also worried about her two children, afraid Niu Hongjun’s parents wouldn’t look after them.

Sure enough, when she got home, the stove and pots were cold. The two children were curled up asleep on the bed, still fully dressed.

Li Lanying’s heart ached at the sight. With reddened eyes, she took off the children’s clothes, covered them with a blanket, and only then went to get a bite to eat for herself.

「At the hospital」

Not long after Li Lanying left, Niu Hongjun woke up.

He woke up to find himself in the hospital. He tried to move and felt pain all over. He was alone in the room; Li Lanying was nowhere to be seen, which displeased him.

He called out several times before a nurse came over.

"Where did your family go?"

Niu Hongjun was still a bit dazed. How would he know?

The nurse instructed, "When your family member gets back, have her get you some liquid food. Try not to move your arms; we just set them."

Only then did Niu Hongjun realize both of his arms were in casts and he couldn’t move them at all. He remembered what happened before he passed out and shuddered with lingering fear. ’Were those people human? They were devils.’

Niu Hongjun stayed in the hospital alone all night. Li Lanying didn’t show up until late the next morning.

As soon as she entered the room, she saw Niu Hongjun glaring at her, his face full of rage.

"Where the hell have you been? Don’t you know I can’t move? Are you trying to starve me to death? Hurry up and get me some water."

God only knew what kind of night Niu Hongjun had endured. First, he was so thirsty he had no choice but to shout for a nurse to help him drink a few sips of water. Later, he needed to use the toilet.

He was too embarrassed to call a nurse for help, so he just held it in. He held it until he couldn’t anymore, and with a shiver, he felt the bed become wet.

’It was so humiliating.’ He didn’t dare make a sound and just lay there. By now, the soaked mattress pad had almost been dried by his body heat.

Li Lanying brought him his food and picked up a spoon, ready to feed him.

Niu Hongjun glanced at it and complained, "This is what you’re giving me to eat? Can’t you make some chicken soup? Don’t you know I’m a patient? I’ve been starving for a whole day."

Li Lanying said flatly, "Are you going to eat it or not? If you don’t, you’ll get nothing. This is the last of the food we have. Once this is gone, we’ll have nothing left. Oh, right. Your parents came, but they snuck back home. They didn’t even say a word to me. They don’t treat me like a person at all, and clearly, they don’t think much of you, either."

Niu Hongjun’s face stiffened. "My parents were here? You called them?"

"What do you think? You didn’t actually believe we had the spare cash for your surgery, did you?" Li Lanying stated the truth, her face expressionless.

After a long silence, Niu Hongjun opened his mouth and started eating the bowl of congee.

Then, in a sudden burst of charity, he asked, "Those people didn’t do anything to you and the kids, did they?"

A flicker of emotion crossed Li Lanying’s eyes. "No. What does it have to do with us?"

Niu Hongjun glanced at her and said no more.

Niu Hongjun stayed in the hospital for two days. He had to be discharged and go home because the hospital fees Father Niu had paid ran out.

Back home, because both his hands were useless, he even needed Li Lanying’s help to go to the toilet.

On his first night back, Niu Hongjun needed to use the toilet late at night. Li Lanying, who had been busy all day and had just managed to get the two children to sleep, now had to wait on him.

She helped him to the outhouse and waited outside.

For some reason, she suddenly felt a chilling wind swirl around her, and it seemed like something was moving nearby.

Li Lanying glanced left and right but saw nothing. Just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she saw a figure with long hair floating in the air. Suddenly, a beam of light illuminated its face, which was frighteningly pale and had blood streaming from its eyes.

"AHHH! A GHOST!!!"

Li Lanying shrieked, trembling with fear, and ran for the house, covering her head. She ran so fast she lost her shoes.

Inside the outhouse, Niu Hongjun heard Li Lanying’s scream. He stood up, not even bothering to pull up his pants, and took two steps outside, coming face-to-face with a ghostly visage.

Long hair cascaded down over a pale, blood-streaked face. A pair of red eyes stared fixedly at him.

"A GHOST! A GHOST!!!"

Niu Hongjun also screamed in terror. He stumbled back two steps and fell right into the latrine pit.

When Xue Xingjun saw Niu Hongjun flailing in the latrine pit, he took the flashlight from under his chin and quickly ran away.

When he reached the alley, Xue Xingzhou saw him emerge and helped him take off the wig.

Xue Xingjun pinched his nose. "Big Bro, I scared him so bad he fell into the latrine pit. It stinks! The smell is killing me."

The corners of Xue Xingzhou’s mouth lifted. "Let’s go. We’ll talk back at home."

「Back home」

Xue Xingjun asked his brother, "Big Bro, do you think scaring them like this will really drive that family away?"

Xue Xingzhou narrowed his eyes. "If once isn’t enough, we’ll do it again. They have to leave. We can’t let this trouble remain." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Xue Xingjun nodded. "Alright then, we’ll go again tomorrow. But I think we scared them pretty good today. Just thinking about it is hilarious."

Xue Xingzhou smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "You’re a bit smelly. You should probably go wash up first."

Xue Xingjun lifted his sleeve and sniffed. He really was a bit smelly. The thought of how much... filth... that man in the latrine pit must have swallowed... ’Ugh, that’s disgusting.’ He hurried off to wash up.