Chapter Seven: Huo Qingqing Gets Hit

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Huo Shancheng was startled and quickly bent down to cover Huo Qingqing’s mouth. Qingqing’s face turned red from crying, her small fingers pawing at Huo Shancheng’s hand, pale as death. After trying for a long while to pry his hand away without success, she bit down hard on it, causing Huo Shancheng to cry out in pain.

Next door, Old Wang’s eldest son, Wang Binghuan, was sitting in the courtyard reading. The child’s piercing cries, though brief and somewhat muffled, still reached his ears. Then came a muffled but loud scream from inside, immediately grabbing his attention. Frowning, Wang Binghuan got up and went to knock on the Huo family’s door.

“Ruan Tang! Ruan Tang! Are you home?” Wang Binghuan called from the doorstep, his face filled with doubt. Why was there a man’s voice? Could it be that Ruan Tang, unable to resist since Huo Yanxiu was absent, was cheating? The thought made Wang Binghuan’s eyes gleam, and he knocked even harder.

Inside, Huo Shancheng heard the knocking—loud and urgent—and knew the visitor meant trouble. Panicking, his face darkened as he slapped Huo Qingqing sharply across the face, muttering under his breath, “You worthless brat, how dare you bite me!”

He didn’t even know which shady woman Huo Yanxiu had fathered this bastard with, but to have him shamelessly entered into the Huo family genealogy was disgraceful! Huo Qingqing was just a child; hit so suddenly, she was dazed for a moment before burning pain spread across her cheek—a pain she had never felt before.

At that moment, she broke down completely, collapsing to the ground and sobbing helplessly, her wails loud enough to shatter eardrums.

“Wahhh—”

Huo Qingqing’s cries left Huo Shancheng frantic. Glancing toward the door at the persistent knocking, his heart hardened. Without a second thought for Qingqing, he stepped onto a water jar and climbed out of the Huo family courtyard the way he had come.

After Wang Binghuan’s knocking, the child’s sobs grew more intense, wiping away any ill intentions lingering in Wang’s heart. This—this—

Were they doing *that*? Something felt terribly wrong.

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Wang Binghuan quickly realized Ruan Tang must not be home. Otherwise, with Qingqing crying like that, Ruan Tang would surely be fussing over her and soothing her. Moreover, after knocking for so long with no response from inside, and Qingqing’s reaction only growing louder—something was amiss.

There was definitely a trick afoot.

He looked around and saw he could climb over the wall into their backyard. Hastily tucking his book under his arm, he struggled to scale the wall and slipped into the Huo courtyard. His heart pounded wildly upon landing.

This was the first time he had abandoned his scholarly dignity to trespass into Ruan Tang’s home.

But soon, his fleeting thoughts were shattered by Qingqing’s fractured sobs, which sounded unbearably desperate. Wang Binghuan felt a chill in his heart.

Suddenly, one word flashed through his mind—

*Thief!*

He was startled and immediately pulled out his thick book, eyes sharp as he entered the inner room.

Inside, he saw Qingqing collapsed on the floor, crying so hard she seemed about to faint. His eyes twitched. He hurried over to lift her up, and when he turned her face toward him—

Half of it was a deep red, stark against the other side. Wang Binghuan could hardly bear to look.

His anger flared. It had to be a thief who had broken into Ruan Tang’s house, caught by Qingqing, panicked, and struck her until she cried!

Despicable!

If Ruan Tang remarried into his family, others might accuse her of abusing children! That was unacceptable!

He was only in his twenties and not good at soothing children, but he awkwardly tried anyway, “Qingqing, it’s okay, uncle’s here. Don’t cry—”

Before he could finish, the sound of a door opening and a bicycle outside made his eyes brighten—it was Ruan Tang returning!

Ruan Tang heard Qingqing’s cries as soon as she arrived. Her heart tightened. She threw the bicycle aside and rushed inside. The moment she saw the man with a leering gaze, her face darkened. Without a word, she slapped and kicked him away, snatched Qingqing into her arms, and warned sharply, “Don’t come near.”

Wang Binghuan, caught off guard by the sudden attack, saw stars and felt dizzy. He stumbled back, hitting a nearby stool hard, clutching his head in pain and rolling twice on the ground.

Qingqing’s sobbing weakened slightly. Ruan Tang’s heart jolted. Turning to look, she froze—clear marks of abuse marred the child’s face. Trembling with fury, she glared at Wang Binghuan and grabbed his shirt with unnatural strength.

“You sick pervert! Do you want to go to jail? How dare you abuse a child!”

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Ruan Tang couldn’t imagine that in just the short time she had been gone, someone had sneaked into her home and hurt Qingqing. From now on, whenever Qingqing was out of her sight—away from her protection—what horrors would the child endure?

She dared not think of the consequences, only feeling deep fear mixed with guilt and regret.

She should never have left Qingqing alone.

Her heart ached with pain and frustration, filled with rage and loathing for the man who had harmed her child.

At that moment, she wished she could pull a gun from her pocket and shoot him dead.

But she had no way to carry that out.

Wang Binghuan trembled. “Ruan... Ruan Tang, please listen to me. It’s not like that—”

He had arrived too late to see the thief’s face and was now mistaken for a child molester.

Wang Binghuan was speechless, desperate to explain. Moving his lips, he looked at Ruan Tang with pleading eyes, “I was just reading in the next courtyard, heard your child crying, and climbed over the wall to check. It really wasn’t me!”

Ruan Tang was skeptical, but right now, her priority was not dealing with Wang Binghuan but rushing Qingqing to the hospital.

With a glare, she threw Wang Binghuan to the ground, then turned and hurriedly mounted her bicycle, clutching Qingqing tightly as they sped toward the town hospital.

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