Seeing his daughter in such a state, Father Bai was filled with anxiety and immediately stepped forward to shoo the mother and daughter out. "Get the hell out of here! Our family will never forgive a murderer anyway. Get out!" Father Bai was in a similar condition; as soon as he finished roaring, he started to cough. His coughing was even more terrifying than Bai Jiu’s.
Li Hongxing and Mrs. Li didn’t dare fight back, allowing themselves to be pushed out of the hospital room. There were other patients in the room who hadn’t dared to speak the entire time. After hearing the word "murderer," they didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly. As soon as the two women were out, Father Bai slammed the door shut.
Zhengyang stepped forward to help his grandfather sit down, rubbing his back to soothe his breathing. Xiuxiu did the same for her mother. It took a good while before the father and daughter finally stopped coughing.
Looking at his pale daughter, Father Bai said firmly, "Don’t worry. Even if I have to risk my old life, I won’t let you suffer this injustice in vain."
Bai Jiu felt her heart soften, as if it were soaking in warm water. "Dad."
Leaving aside the tender moment in the hospital, Li Hongxing and Mrs. Li immediately sought out Mr. Li upon returning home.
"Dad, what should we do about this?" Li Hongxing sobbed, her face covered in tears.
Mr. Li was also having a massive headache over the situation. "Why don’t you just get a divorce?" He truly looked down on that son-in-law. If it hadn’t been for his daughter, he would never have accepted the marriage. And now, Gao Zhiguo had actually attempted murder! How dare he!
"Dad!" Hearing him suggest divorce, Li Hongxing shrieked. "What will happen to An’an if I divorce? An’an can’t be without a father." Gao Zhiguo treated her very well, and she couldn’t bear to leave him.
As her father, how could Mr. Li not know his own daughter’s temperament?
"Hmph, what else can we do? Would you be happy letting An’an bear the reputation of being a murderer’s son?" Mr. Li held absolutely no hope for this daughter of his. He only prayed she wouldn’t be too stupid. Normally, if he and his wife hadn’t kept Gao Zhiguo in check, Li Hongxing would have been eaten alive by him long ago.
"Old man, is there really no other option besides divorce?" Mrs. Li also didn’t want their daughter to get a divorce. After all, a divorced woman would have a bad reputation. Coupled with the fact that their daughter was... well, ugly, it would be extremely difficult for her to find another husband while dragging a child along.
"Or we could have his mother take the blame for all the charges so he can get out. However, the victim’s side will be hard to appease." Mr. Li had spent his entire life catching criminals, yet he never expected that in the end... Sigh, he had let down his country’s cultivation.
"We can give her money," Mrs. Li offered. She had grown up in a well-off family and married a good husband. Having never lacked money, she believed there was nothing it couldn’t solve.
"Shut up." Mr. Li’s headache worsened the moment he heard his wife’s words. Their family savings only amounted to so much. If they really used it all for compensation, how would they survive in the future?
"Let the Gao family take the lead on compensating them. We’re only her maiden family." Mr. Li was unwilling to use his own money to help Gao Zhiguo pull strings, mainly because he knew exactly what kind of person his son-in-law was.
"Their family doesn’t have any money," Li Hongxing sobbed.
"If they don’t have money, they can go borrow it. Our family has no money anyway. If you want to give them money, use your own wages. Your mother and I don’t have a single cent to spare." Mr. Li glared at his wife and daughter as he spoke.
Mrs. Li knew her husband’s temper well and didn’t dare to say more. At worst, she could privately slip a little money to her daughter. "How did it go at the hospital today? What did Bai Jiu say? Is she willing?"
"That bitch kicked us out." After saying that, Li Hongxing started crying again.
If a beautiful person cried incessantly, one could at least appreciate a sense of fragile beauty. But with her looks, even her own father found it repulsive. If it weren’t for them having the same blood type, he would have suspected she was switched at birth.
"Enough. Since she’s unwilling, drop it. Don’t go near her anymore. I’ll try to think of a way on this end, but you need to go talk to the Gao family about their side of things." Having said his piece, Mr. Li got up and left the house.
Li Hongxing cried in her mother’s arms for a while before grabbing her bag and leaving as well.
Over at the Gao family, Lin Guihua slammed the table and shouted as soon as she heard Li Hongxing’s proposal. "Impossible! You want Mother to take the blame? How is the rest of our family supposed to live after that?"
She had originally planned to leave this house. Her husband had even agreed to it, and the only thing left was to get her hands on the family’s money. However, she never expected that before she could make a move, Li Hongxing would show up at their door. Not only did she want that damned old woman to take the fall, but she also wanted the family to pay compensation to Bai Jiu. Dream on!
Father Gao remained silent. He doted on his second son, but that didn’t mean he was blind to the fact that Zhi Guo was unreliable. If his own wife took the blame, this entire family would never be able to hold their heads high again. Even Yulan and Er Gen would be dragged down and suffer. But if the old woman didn’t take the fall, life at home would be just as difficult.
"Dad, Zhi Guo’s leg is still injured! If we don’t get him out quickly, he’ll be crippled for life." Li Hongxing was indeed furious with Lin Guihua, but she knew very well who truly called the shots in this household.
Upon hearing about his second son’s leg, Old Man Gao’s heart immediately ached for him.
But at this moment, Gao Zhishan spoke up. "Dad, think this through carefully." Originally, he had planned to take his father and Yulan away with him. If his father truly disregarded him now, then...
"Zhishan, I’m begging you. Please save Zhi Guo! He’s your biological brother," Li Hongxing cried. She knew that no matter how sweetly she tried to butter up Lin Guihua, it was useless. As long as Zhishan didn’t nod in agreement, this matter would never succeed. Now that he had spoken up, she was terrified. The elderly usually intended to live out their days with their eldest son, so she didn’t dare take the gamble.
Gao Zhishan felt terrible inside. Back then, what Zhi Guo and their mother had done was completely kept from him. Now that something had happened, how was he supposed to save him?
"Dad, leaving aside whether Mother takes the fall or not, does our family even have any money left?" Gao Zhishan stared at his elderly father as he asked.
Old Man Gao instinctively opened his mouth, wanting to say they had no money. However...
"Dad, I have no objections if you want to save Zhi Guo, but let’s split the family assets before we do anything else." Gao Zhishan might have been honest, but he was no fool. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have agreed to leave with his wife. Seeing his father like this now actually made his heart ache. His father only cared about Zhi Guo and didn’t spare a single thought for him. Zhi Guo had a son, but didn’t he have one too?
"Zhishan!" Hearing his eldest son’s words, Old Man Gao’s face darkened as he roared. "You, you, you..."
"There’s no need for ’you, you, you,’ Dad," Lin Guihua interjected. "It’s one thing that you and Mother normally favor Zhi Guo and Yulan. We’re all one family, so Zhishan and I never made a fuss about it. But now it’s a matter of life and death, and you actually dare to take it all on yourselves! Have you given absolutely no thought to your eldest son?
"If he has a murderer for a mother, how will you let him hold his head high in the future? How will you let Er Gen show his face in public? He can’t just rely on a tiny plot of farmland for his whole life like his parents, can he?"
It had to be said that although Lin Guihua was detestable, she was indeed a good mother and a good wife. For an ordinary person, the very first thought after such an incident would likely be to cut all ties with the family. Right now, she was only discussing leaving this place, yet she still complied with her husband’s request to take his father and Yulan with them.