"Fu Zhi pushed me!
"She just can't stand the fact that I'm better than her! Only one of us can remain in the house. It will either be me or her!
"Mom, you have to kick her out! You have to get her back to the orphanage! I don't want to see her again for the rest of my life!"
September was the season when the weather in their town was oppressive, and people would get irritated more easily than in the other months of the year. As she was standing outside the ward with the bill in her hand, the commotion in the room was getting clearer and clearer in Fu Zhi's ears.
"I don't care, Zhao Mingquan. You must send her away this time!
"In any case, I will not keep an ingrate like her in my house anymore!"
"But when we adopted Fu Zhi from the orphanage last year, we promised the director that we would take good care of her," said the man, leaning against the bedside pitifully after shooting a glance at his daughter, whose right leg was in a cast.
After a short while, he pitched his voice low and told his sobbing wife, "Lanzhi, you should know Youyou better than anyone else. There is no way Zhizhi would push her…"
"Who told you that she wouldn't do something like that?!" Xu Lanzhi snarled, staring indignantly at her husband for not being on their side. "Look carefully, Zhao Mingquan. Your daughter is in her sickbed right now. If Fu Zhi didn't do it, how could your daughter possibly say that she pushed her down?"
Zhao Youyou, who was lying in her sickbed, turned her head toward her father and added indifferently, "Dad, I'm your daughter. She is just an outsider. She's the one who tried to harm me. I don't understand why you still want to defend her."
"Youyou, she is your younger sister…"
"Have you ever come across a younger sister who would push her elder sister down the stairs? The doctor has said that there is a high possibility our daughter will develop complications if we don't take care of her leg properly. This is all Fu Zhi's fault!
"I have contacted the orphanage, and they said they will send someone to take her away today. I'm warning you to stay out of this. If you try to stop them from taking her away, I'll divorce you."
The woman's voice was ear-grating, and this was undoubtedly a killer move.
Zhao Mingquan had always been a nose of wax, so he never dared to talk back to his wife. As a result, he shrank back a little and said, "Don't say that, Lanzhi. I promise you that I won't stop them from taking Zhizhi away…"
It had all happened roughly a year ago. At the time, his eldest son had been in need of money to pay for his university fees. Had the orphanage not told them that the government was willing to provide 200,000 yuan to the family that would take in Fu Zhi, Zhao Mingquan would not have been foolish enough to adopt someone else's child.
As he was immersed in his own thoughts, his phone rang. He took it out, and then he froze. The director of the orphanage was calling.
He stole a glance at his wife. However, upon seeing the frigid expression on her face, he knew there was nothing he could do to change the situation anymore. Therefore, he forced himself to open his mouth and said, "Yes, we are at the town hospital right now. You can come and take her away."
He then walked out of the room peevishly to continue speaking on the phone. Just as he was about to light a cigarette, he saw Fu Zhi, who was standing beside the door.
Her eyes were kind of tilted, and her eyelashes were long and delicately arranged. The light in the corridor was dazzling, and her features were veiled by the crooked shadow of the first-aid box in the distance, rendering Zhao Mingquan unable to read her expression.
"Yeah, that's all."
The man then hung up the phone, as he could feel a surge of anxiety begin to spread in him. He knew the girl must have heard everything since the walls in the hospital provided little to no soundproofing effect. Rubbing his hands in guilt, he said, "Did… Did you hear everything, Zhizhi?"
Upon hearing his voice, Fu Zhi raised her head and stared at him silently, boring into him with her clear almond eyes.
It took no longer than a second for Zhao Mingquan to avert his gaze, as he felt as if his soul was being stripped bare under her gaze. After a short while, as if he had suddenly remembered something, he pulled a few notes out of his pocket and handed them sincerely over to Fu Zhi. "Here is 500 Yuan. Consider it a little something from me and Aunt Xu. You don't have to thank us. The director of the orphanage will come to pick you up in a while. You can take the money and live a better life. You can buy anything you want. Don't be too harsh on yourself."
Fu Zhi looked at the money in the man's hand and said, "It's okay. I don't need it."
He was still holding the bill in his hand. When she spoke, her voice was faint. She looked past Zhao Mingquan and stared at Zhao Youyou, who was in the ward, as she said, "You know I didn't push her."
Zhao Mingquan froze.
Yes, both Zhao Mingquan and his wife knew very well that Fu Zhi would never push someone off the stairs. After all, it was their daughter who had been constantly making things difficult for Fu Zhi since the day they had taken her in.
However, at the end of the day, Zhao Youyou was their biological daughter and Fu Zhi had no blood relation of theirs. Right now, it was Zhao Youyou who was lying in her sickbed, so the two of them could only blame Fu Zhi for being so inconsiderate because she was depending on them.
"Zhizhi, there is no use saying such things right now. Don't blame your sister and Aunt Xu. Both of them are facing their own difficulties…"
As Zhao Mingquan talked, he shoved the money into Fu Zhi's hand. "Just take the money. I'll feel bad if you don't take it."
Fu Zhi took a step back. As she felt unable to get herself out of the situation, a woman of a certain age approached them and said, "Mr. Zhao, I'm here to pick up Fu Zhi."
Zhao Mingquan turned his head around. When he saw the director of the orphanage, he was stunned for a moment. Holding the money in his hand, he nodded blankly. "Okay."
The director did not look at him again. She turned to Fu Zhi and said, "Zhizhi, I already know everything. This isn't your fault, so you don't have to feel sad. Anyway, I have found you a new family."
She then added, "Do you remember the aunty who adored you very much when you returned to the orphanage last time? I called her before I came here, and after hearing about your situation, she's eager to take you in to live with her."
The director's voice contained the gentleness of an eldery person. "She and her family are waiting for you outside the hospital. If you want, you can follow me and meet them right now."
A pretty and gentle face surfaced in Fu Zhi's mind.
She thought for a moment before she nodded slowly.
From the window came a ray of gentle sunlight. It shone on Fu Zhi's face and melted the coldness in her dark irises and eyelashes.