**Chapter 36: Luxianbei, What Should I Do Now?**
“Two big sisters, wait a moment, please wait!”
Luxianbei and Jiang Li had just walked out of Building 4 when a crisp, light call came from behind them.
Looking back, an old man with a head full of silver threads was pushing a wheelchair, on which sat a little girl with a waxy complexion and missing her right leg.
The newcomers were indeed the two patients from Room 202.
First, they kicked me out, and now they come running after me. What kind of scumbag PUA tactic is this? Luxianbei thought to herself, looking at the old man and the little girl who had come in front of her, “Grandfather He, Tingting, what’s this about?”
“Hmph!” The old man turned his face away coldly, shooting a sideways glare at Luxianbei and stroking the little girl’s head. “Don’t misunderstand, I don’t want to see you again, it’s just that this girl, Tingting, insisted on dragging me here while her dad went to wash the dishes, and I couldn’t refuse her.”
Although the old man didn’t show a good attitude toward Luxianbei, she still respectfully bowed to him, as a greeting and an apology.
She could somewhat understand the old man’s feelings; it was a kind of anger borne out of suddenly discovering a beloved junior entangled with a scoundrel.
But what could she do? She couldn’t possibly tell the old man that being involved with Tan Qiuming was to investigate the terrible urban legends hidden behind him, could she?
After exchanging a few words with the old man, Luxianbei squatted down to the little girl’s eye level, gently touching her head and softly asking, “Tingting, did you come out to chase us because you wanted to say something?”
“I…” The little girl’s waxy face flushed a bit, stuttering for a moment before quietly saying, “I came to apologize for my dad.”
“Sister, my dad, he actually doesn’t have any bad intentions. He just hears that big bad guy’s name and… and, oh dear, I don’t know how to say it.”
The little girl could sense that her father’s anger was entirely directed at Tan Qiuming and not at the two big sisters before her, but she didn’t know how to express it properly, and the words got stuck in her throat.
“Didn’t control his emotions?” Luxianbei tentatively inquired.
“Yeah, that’s what Tingting wanted to say!” The little girl’s eyes lit up, nodding. “Oh, sister, close your eyes; Tingting has something to give you.”
Luxianbei was taken aback for a moment and slowly closed her eyes.
After she closed her eyes, the little girl looked at Jiang Li. “Sister, you close your eyes too!”
Jiang Li glanced at Luxianbei and then at the little girl, following suit and closing her eyes as well.
After both had their eyes closed, the little girl turned around, tugged at the old man’s clothing, with a pleading expression on her face.
The old man looked down and met the little girl’s clear eyes, shaking his head helplessly. He then took out two small red flowers from his hospital gown’s pocket and handed them to the little girl.
“Alright, big sisters, you can open your eyes now!”
Hearing the little girl’s voice, Luxianbei and Jiang Li opened their eyes in unison and, in the next moment, saw the little girl presenting them with two bright red paper flowers.
“Ta-da! Small red flowers! This is what Tingting gets from her dad every time she gets an injection. Now Tingting is giving them to you!”
“Sisters, thank you for coming to see us and chatting with us; Tingting had so much fun today!”
After finishing so many words at once, the little girl seemed a bit tired, her chest heaving with heavy breaths.
Seeing her waxy face gradually pale, Jiang Li quietly said “Thank you” before turning away with a somber expression.
Although she had many questions and wanted the little girl to help her answer, she didn’t have the heart to ask more.
Luxianbei caught the change in Jiang Li’s expression out of the corner of her eye and sighed silently. As she reached out to take the small red flowers from the girl’s hands, she asked, “Since Tingting is so happy, can you give one more reward to your sister?”
If Jiang Li didn’t want to be the bad guy, then Luxianbei would take that role.
After all, she was the Calamity Witch, known for her cunning and trickery, committing all sorts of misdeeds!
“Okay! What does sister want? If… if Tingting has it,” the little girl replied eagerly.
“Yes, yes!” Luxianbei nodded. “Sister wants to know what that big bad guy has done; can you tell her?”
Upon hearing this, the little girl’s eyes revealed a hint of fear, and her small brows furrowed together.
“Hmph, what else can he do?” The little girl’s words had yet to leave her mouth when the elderly man’s voice, filled with disgust and impatience, cut in. “Deceiving and harming people for money, that’s what!”
As he spoke, his hands, filled with needle scars, gripped the wheelchair’s armrest tightly, his chest heaving as he seethed with anger.
“If Tingting’s dad hadn’t found out early, our whole house could have been harmed by that turtle son!”
Pausing mid-sentence, the old man looked Luxianbei up and down, not knowing if it was because of their shared connection through “grandfather” or the fact Luxianbei had made him quite happy before, he sighed silently, and his tone softened a bit.
“Child, if you still have a shred of conscience, heed this old man’s advice: don’t entangle yourself with that surname Tan any longer; that turtle son is no good!”
“Old sir, have you had any contact with Tan Qiuming?” Jiang Li, who had been observing, interjected, “If it’s convenient, could you share the specifics with us? The more detailed, the better!”
Upon hearing this, the old man’s expression suddenly darkened as he turned to Jiang Li, ready to get angry, but then he seemed to remember something, and doubt appeared on his wrinkled face.
In his lifetime, he had traveled all over the country and met many kinds of people; he had seen the world.
When he initially heard Tan Qiuming’s name while in the hospital room, he, like the others, just wanted to drive Luxianbei away, but now that he had calmed down a bit, he noticed the different demeanor of Luxianbei and Jiang Li and began to sense something off.
How strange! These two young ladies, if they were in cahoots with the Tan family, shouldn’t they know what he had done?
Their tone almost seemed like they were interrogating him.
If that was the case, they weren’t just hearing rumors; they might think Tan really has the ability to treat cancer or could be someone related here to investigate?
With that thought, the old man hesitated for a moment and said seriously, “It’s alright to tell you: but things are a bit complicated. I’ll take Tingting back first, and I’ll come out later to discuss it with you in detail.”
With that suspicion in mind, he felt that telling the two girls about Tan Qiuming’s misdeeds might not be a bad thing.
Whether it was to help relevant departments eliminate evil or to remind them how dangerous Tan Qiuming was to prevent them from being deceived, it was all good.
Seeing the old man push the little girl away, Luxianbei quickly got up and stepped forward, “Grandfather He, let me do it! I’ll take Tingting back; you rest here and share the details about Tan Qiuming with my colleagues.”
The old man lightly shoved Luxianbei’s hands away with his shoulder, irritated, “What’s wrong? Do you want to be kicked out again?”
“Uh, hey,” Luxianbei let out two dry laughs with an expressionless face, retracting her hands sulkily and stepping aside, watching the old man push the little girl toward Building 4.
“Goodbye, sister, we are leaving!”
“Mm, goodbye.” As the old man and little girl walked toward the hospital building, they stopped briefly at the entrance, and the little girl poked her head out of the wheelchair, waving at the two, “Sister, remember to come find Tingting to play next time if you have the chance!”
From a distance, watching the little girl’s smiling face half illuminated by sunlight and half hidden in shadow, Luxianbei suddenly felt her heart skip a beat. The emotions that had been dormant since entering the hospital felt like they had been awakened, causing a ripple within her.
“Mm, I’ll definitely come,” she murmured.
“She seems to really like you?” Jiang Li looked at Luxianbei’s profile, tilting her head.
Luxianbei turned to Jiang Li, shrugging, “With someone as likable as me, who wouldn’t like me? Don’t you like me?”
“I do, but it’s different.” Jiang Li opened her mouth, wanting to say something but instinctively felt that in this moment, it was better not to interject, letting Luxianbei bask in her ego.
After waiting a few seconds and seeing Jiang Li completely ignore her banter, Luxianbei pouted and began talking to herself, “That little girl had osteosarcoma since she was three. Growing up, besides the hospital friends who come and go, she doesn’t have any other friends.”
So, it must be that rare visitors from outside the hospital coming to see her and chat made her so happy, right? Jiang Li nodded.
“That Grandfather He fought many battles when he was young, and his temper is stubborn. After falling ill, he kept it hidden from his children; he even told his wife that if he wins this last battle in life, he’ll tell the kids.”
Hearing this, Jiang Li, who had intended to speak about the hairpin, suddenly realized that Luxianbei was sharing the information she overheard in Room 202, so she chose to remain silent and quietly listened to Luxianbei’s profile.
“That girl with shaved hair has a fiancé who loves her dearly, but she hasn’t seen him for half a year. She said she didn’t want her fiancé to see her looking so ugly; that way, if she sadly passes away, she can at least leave the best side of herself for the person she loves.”
“And that boy, his family is actually quite poor. He firmly believes studying can change his fate, but unexpectedly, illness changed his destiny more easily than studying.”
Luxianbei added in her heart and paused slightly, looking over at Jiang Li, “You know? They actually wouldn’t have suffered these.”
“Mm?” Jiang Li was taken aback, showing a confused expression.
“They became like this only after interacting with Tan Qiuming.”
Jiang Li was even more puzzled, “How do you know? Did they tell you?”
“I guessed!” Luxianbei explained, “While chatting with them, I casually inquired about their experiences before discovering their illness, and two of them fell silent right away, while the other two…”
“One of the boys said that his mother had also had a tumor before. During that time, his mother was very uncooperative with hospital treatment and always liked to find some folk remedies outside.”
“Then… what happened?” Jiang Li asked.
Having a tumor, not complying with treatment, and believing in alternative medicine—just like when playing mahjong, while the other three were all aiming for big winning hands, he would likely end up losing everything.
“No, it’s okay.” Luxianbei shook her head. “After his mother recovered, he became ill again, which added to their already difficult family situation. When his mother saw things turning bad, she ran away, leaving him and his father behind.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Li seemed to understand Luxianbei’s meaning, furrowing her brow, “Are you saying that his mother might have encountered Tan Qiuming while seeking treatment with alternative methods and that’s how she got better?”
Luxianbei shrugged in noncommittal agreement, “The other girl, she initially reminisced while shoving dog food into my mouth until she mentioned how half a year ago, she attended an offline painting exchange meeting and her expression changed immediately, and she just stopped talking.”
Jiang Li’s eyes lit up as she pieced Luxianbei’s thoughts together, “She met Tan Qiuming at the exchange meeting?!”
If it was as Luxianbei suspected…
Could it be that Tan Qiuming made them develop their tumors?
Was he merely selling his paintings? Or was he recruiting followers for the soon-to-be-born heavenly child? Jiang Li thought, wondering.
“No wonder it’s you!” Luxianbei complimented, then reached her hand out, “This is what I just mentioned; everything I gained in Room 202. After that, they realized I was prying into their words, and once I confessed, I was kicked out.”
“As for whether my guesses are correct, we should be able to confirm it when we hear what that old man has to say.”
After saying that, she waited a few seconds, and seeing Jiang Li seemed to have no intention of offering any opinions, she shifted the topic, “Didn’t you say you had something important to tell me earlier? Can you say it now?”
At her words, Jiang Li slightly parted her lips. Just as she was about to speak, she hesitated and instead took out a peacock hairpin from her inner jacket pocket, opened her palm, and handed it to Luxianbei.
Looking at the seemingly retrieved hairpin from a trash pile, Luxianbei questioned, “What is this? A love token?”
Just as she was saying this, she noticed Jiang Li’s increasingly odd expression, revealing a tone of “I am very disappointed in you,” and quickly shut her mouth.
When Luxianbei quieted down, Jiang Li sighed silently and calmly said, “This was the first birthday gift I gave my mother when I was young.”
Luxianbei, “!!!”
Goodness! She’s pulling that out; is she trying to propose to me?
Thinking this way, after hearing what Jiang Li was about to say next, she suddenly felt a strong urge to smack herself.
What an annoying thing!
“Earlier, I found someone on Tan Qiuming’s buyer list who has the same name, surname, and is the same age as my mother. I suddenly left the hospital not because I felt uncomfortable, but because I saw someone who resembled my mother from behind.”
“I chased that figure all the way to the rooftop, and there, I found this hairpin.”
“Luxianbei, what should I do now?”
