一夜情

“We’ve been here long enough. I’ll go open the door for your daddy to come in.”

Zhao Chuchu pinched Huan’er’s cheek, which wasn’t wounded, and got up to open the door.

The man was pacing back and forth outside the room. His face was full of worries. When he heard the door open, he quickly rushed up to Zhao Chuchu. “Miss, can I go see my son now?”

The lady nodded and stepped aside for the man to enter the room.

Yuan Hui heard that Zhao Chuchu had come out and walked out of the room next to them.

“Is it done?”

“Yes.”

“Let me see.”

Yuan Hui went in and saw that half of the child’s face was bandaged up, and his hair was shaved off.

“It’s troublesome since he had long hair. Shaving them off is easier for the wound to recover. I know how important hairs are, but his life is more important than that.”

“Those hair aren’t important as long as he can recover! Thank you, young miss. Thank you for saving my son! I’m willing to do anything you ask!” The father quickly knelt and bowed. “My name is Deng Dalin. You have my eternal gratitude!”

“You both sure are father and son.” Zhao Chuchu laughed awkwardly. “I don’t need anything from you. I just have a couple of questions and need your honest answers. As for the treatment, just think of it as me helping out.”

“Ask away! I will try my best to answer everything!”

“Alright. Are you from Guangqing Province? What were you doing at the Xia clan’s mansion? Did something happen between you and them?”

Deng Dalin’s expression changed as soon as he heard the questions.

After a moment of silence, anger could be heard in his voice. “We are from the Deng clan in the western suburb. My daughter, Xi’er, started working for the Xia clan as a servant two years ago. She would occasionally send us messages and even make shoes and socks for us. However, about three months ago, we stopped getting messages from her. After asking around, I heard that the head butler took a liking to her and promoted her to a rank two servant who directly serves the madam. The person who told me said we could expect an easy life after that. But that’s not what I wanted. I never liked the idea of her working for the Xia clan, but she applied for the job without letting me know. She’s my daughter. I know she would tell us the good news immediately if she was promoted and not go missing instead. We came into the city half a month ago to look for her. The Xia clan took our silver, promising we could see her, but they kept asking for more silvers. Huan’er is still a child, and he thought they wouldn’t let us meet with Xi’er, so he yelled back at them. They… They then burned his face with a pair of tongs for coals. I…”

Deng Dalin could not finish his sentence after that.

The father, who was as strong as a bull, had tears in his eyes.

“So, you’re saying Xi’er went to work for the Xia clan on her own accord.”

“Yes. She’s a good child. When she learned that I was sick, she wanted to make money so that I could cure my illness. When I eventually learned about it, she was already hired. If not for me, she wouldn’t have gone missing!”

“Have you ever thought of the possibility that she didn’t want anything to do with you after she made some money?” Yuan Hui asked.

“No! Not my daughter. I know her well enough to know that she’s not this type of person!” Deng Dalin insisted.

Judging from the situation, Zhao Chuchu believed that Xi’er was probably dead.

From Huan’er’s healthy side of his face, Zhao Chuchu could see that he would grow into a handsome man. Although Deng Dalin might look old and worn out, it wasn’t hard to see that he used to have a good look too. It would make sense that Xi’er was pretty as well.

With how many selfish and arrogant people were in the Xia clan, there was no way they would let go of a lady who was pretty and still young.

“Miss, I know Xi’er could be dead, but I still want her body back. At least, I want to lay her to rest on my own…” Deng Dalin sobbed. “But, they wouldn’t even give me that. Not only they chased us out, but they even burned my son’s face! They are devils!”

Yuan Hui sighed.

“With how things have turned out, try not to overthink it. If you want to find where Xi’er is, then make sure you are healthy first, or else there’s nothing you can do.” Zhao Chuchu comforted. “No matter what happens, you still have to live on.”

“I know… Thank you.”

“That’s right. Other than you, were there any other families who had lost their daughters who worked for the Xia clan?”

“Yes, more than one, actually. But, some of them got compensated and stopped making a scene.”

“So, you are saying that this has frequently been happening?”

“I don’t know much about the detail, but I did hear that a widow lost her daughter like this and had gone mad since then.”

“I see. Alright. Why don’t you stay here in the inn for now? Just have the inn send a message to the Yuan clan if you need anything. Just tell them that the message is for Yuan Hui.” As evidence was still needed, Yuan Hui decided to stop Deng Dalin.

“It’s okay, young miss. We can just stay somewhere else. We can’t rely on you after what you’ve done for us.” Deng Dalin refused.

“Are you trying to ruin your son’s face by staying at some dirty place again? You know it took me a lot of work to clean that wound, right?”

Deng Dalin immediately gasped.

“Just stay here until everything gets better. Don’t worry about the money. We aren’t doing this out of goodwill,” Yuan Hui said. “We still have something to attend to, so please stop wasting our time.”

“M-my apologies. I wasn’t trying to do that…”

“I’ll need to change the medicine for your son tomorrow. So staying here is the best option for you. I don’t have to waste time looking for you. I’m the type of doctor who ensures my patient fully heals. Please don’t ruin my reputation.”

Deng Dalinw was embarrassed.

He never thought that he would bring Zhao Chuchu that much trouble.

Just as he wanted to say something, Zhao Chuchu and Yuan Hui turned to leave without giving him a chance to do so.

After they walked out of the in, Zhao Chuchu chuckled. “Looks like the Xia clan has been up to a lot of no good. Thank God I have nothing to do with them, or else such a perfect lady like myself will be tainted by it.”

“Do they think they’re still living in a lawless world? How dare they do that to a little boy? If their servants are like that, then their master will be no good either.” Yuan Hui was furious. “I have never seen such a cruel family! Chuchu, what are you planning to do?”

“Let’s go visit your grandma first. We can think about this after I’ve healed her. But I’ll need you to help look into what Deng Dalin said.”

“That’s easy! I was planning to do that anyway! But we should prepare for the worst. It doesn’t seem like Xi’er is still alive.”

“Yes. She’s probably dead. That’s the only reason the Xia clan can commit such evil acts without worries.” Zhao Chuchu scoffed. “I wonder how many dirty things they’ve done?”