Free Web NovelChapter 1993: Chapter 659: Born to be Fit, Retribution? (Part 4)
If it hadn’t been for the video chat with Tang Song before going to sleep last night, she would definitely have had another nightmare.
Qiuqiu got out of bed, walked to the bedroom window, and pulled open the curtains.
Outside the window was a thick grayish-white fog.
She couldn’t see the buildings in the distance or the street on the ground, only a few halos of streetlights.
She let out a light breath and picked up her fully charged phone.
She checked the time; it was almost six thirty. He... should have finished his workout by now.
Qiuqiu took a photo of the view outside the window and sent it to Tang Song.
Her fingertips hovered over the input box for a long time before she cautiously typed a line: "Good morning, the fog is really heavy today, I’m wondering what would be good for breakfast."
This was a little habit between them; they usually started their conversations with breakfast.
However, this time, Tang Song didn’t reply quickly like he usually did.
Maybe he was busy with something, or maybe he was too tired last night and hadn’t gotten up yet.
She just stared at the phone screen like that, refreshing the WhatsApp chat list over and over, waiting for that familiar avatar to light up.
After quite a while.
"Bzzz bzzz bzzz—" The phone finally vibrated.
[Tang Song: "(^_^)／Good morning, Qiuqiu. Diagonally opposite the east gate of North City Garden, there’s a Fumin Breakfast Shop with pretty good soup dumplings. You can give it a try. It’s worth mentioning that their chili oil is really fragrant, should suit your taste."]
Qiuqiu’s heart gave a sudden thump, and her cheeks quickly turned rosy.
How did he know there was a place with good soup dumplings around here? And he even specifically mentioned the chili oil.
Was it because of me? Did he... pay special attention?
A huge, almost overwhelming joy flooded her, leaving her flattered and delighted.
Qiuqiu replied quickly.
The smile on her face grew bigger and bigger, and her mood turned incomparably bright along with it.
After the chat, she changed into a set of yoga clothes and finished her daily workout in the spacious living room.
Then she couldn’t wait to put on a thick down jacket, walk through the early-morning fog-shrouded complex, and head to that "Fumin Breakfast Shop."
She bought the soup dumplings that Tang Song had mentioned.
Dipping them in plenty of chili oil and black vinegar, she ate them in small bites.
They were really delicious.
She wondered what Tang Song was doing right now.
Was he also eating soup dumplings?
By the time she finished breakfast, the sky was already brightening with dawn.
The fog had also thinned a bit.
She had just gotten back upstairs.
"Ring ring ring—" The phone suddenly rang.
[Aunt Wang Aijuan]
Qiuqiu hurriedly answered the call. "Hello? Aunt Wang."
Wang Aijuan was one of the few old neighbors her mother still had a decent relationship with, and she was also Gao Junfeng’s mother.
Right after, she heard Aunt Wang’s slightly anxious voice over the receiver: "Qiuqiu! There’s something... I have to tell you..."
"What is it? Go ahead, Aunt Wang."
"Your mom actually didn’t want me to tell you, but I thought about it and felt you still ought to know." Aunt Wang’s voice held some hesitation. "Your mom... she’s in the hospital now."
"What happened to her?"
The hand with which Qiuqiu was holding the phone trembled sharply, but her voice still maintained an odd kind of calm, even bordering on cold.
Aunt Wang went on: "Yesterday... yesterday when they went to defend their rights, they got into a fight with the people from the developer’s side. Your mom got pushed over, hit the back of her head on the ground, and bled a lot. But don’t worry, the doctor said they’ve checked her over, nothing serious, just a mild concussion."
Qiuqiu’s brows knitted tightly together, and she asked in confusion, "Defend their rights? What rights?"
"Isn’t it because of that apartment in Harmony Residence!"
"What apartment?"
"Ay, your mom really didn’t tell you about this, huh?" Aunt Wang sighed and told her the whole story.
More than two years ago, when Qiuqiu had just started her junior year, her mother, Li Meihua, used the savings she’d scraped together over most of her life to pay cash for a small new apartment in the new district of Rong City.
The apartment was supposed to be handed over this March, but the developer kept delaying it for all kinds of reasons.
Until not long ago, news suddenly came out.
The developer’s capital chain had broken; they went bankrupt, and the project was completely abandoned halfway.
Li Meihua and the other homeowners had been trying to find ways to defend their rights.
Just yesterday, they went together to the developer’s company to protest with banners, and that was when the accident happened.
Aunt Wang paused, her tone turning a little awkward. "...Qiuqiu, look, I rushed over here at the last minute, and I don’t have much money on me. Could you... try to come back as soon as you can?"
Listening to the voice on the other end, Qiuqiu stayed silent for a long time.
Then she said softly, "Aunt Wang, I’ll transfer some money to you in a bit. I’ll go back tomorrow."
"Ah, that’s not what I meant, no need to..."
"It’s fine, Aunt Wang. Let’s leave it at that, I’m going to check the tickets."
She hung up.
Qiuqiu pressed her lips together, expressionless, opened WhatsApp, and transferred twenty thousand yuan to Wang Aijuan.
Although she’d only just graduated not long ago, between the income she’d saved up from freelance work and the high salary from Songmei Clothing, she did have some savings on hand.
She set down her phone.
Qiuqiu let out a breath, her gaze fixed and absent.
The old, shabby little place they lived in in Rong City had always been a rental.
All these years, her mother had pinched every penny and never been willing to buy a place.
In the end, after housing prices had soared all the way up, she bought right at the peak—and still managed to step into a trap.
What Qiuqiu couldn’t figure out was why that woman, who’d been stingy for a lifetime, would suddenly be willing to take out so much money to pay cash for an apartment in the new district.
And as far as she knew, her father’s death compensation had always been kept in a fixed deposit in her mother’s bank account.
Which meant that money had probably gone down the drain along with it.
Thinking of this, she found it a bit ironic.
Back then, when her grandmother was sick in the hospital and needed medical expenses, her mother hadn’t been willing to take out that money to at least try to save her.
And now look at this: she’d somehow thrown it all into a half-finished building, and it was gone just like that.
Was this some kind of retribution?
Without her noticing, tears had already slipped down her cheeks, cool against her skin.
