Chapter 27: Snatching and Grabbing Earns Candy — “Why are you snatching from a child…”
Lu Xunye had a head full of question marks. He turned around to see Shen Yunqian gripping the quilt in fright, hiding himself under it, and looking at him for help.
“…” Weren’t you quite awesome just now?
Lu Xunye sighed, hurriedly helped the person up, and sat him on the empty hospital bed nearby. “Ma’am, what happened? Did you mistake him for someone else? There is no benefactor of yours here.”
“Impossible. I wouldn’t make a mistake. It is this benefactor.”
The woman’s grateful gaze bypassed him and landed on the bewildered youth on the bed. She comforted the little girl by stroking her braids before explaining with a choke in her voice.
“My damn man said a while ago that our family couldn’t afford to raise two children and wanted to send Xiao Yun to be raised by his distant relatives. I scolded him for it.”
“I didn’t expect that while I was out working today, he handed Xiao Yun over to a strange man. Thankfully, a neighbor saw it and called me.”
“The neighbor said a very good-looking young man saved Xiao Yun. Later, when the police came, I found out there were no distant relatives at all. It was clearly that drunkard who owed debts and wanted to use my daughter to pay them off.”
Lu Xunye looked back at the bandage wrapped around Shen Yunqian’s head. So that’s how he got it.
The girl timidly tugged at the hem of the woman’s clothes. Lu Xunye tentatively handed over an orange from the table, only to be reminded in a whisper by Shen Yunqian behind him: “That belongs to someone else.”
Lu Xunye: “…”
Shen Yunqian seemed to realize they meant no harm and gradually relaxed. He fished a lollipop out of his jacket pocket on the side and handed it to the little girl.
After receiving a signal from the woman, the little girl walked over slowly to accept it, her voice soft and sweet: “Thank you, big brother.”
This heartwarming scene was broken by a male voice.
Lu Xunye leaned half-against the IV stand, looking at the woman. “Why don’t you divorce him?”
Shen Yunqian tugged at him from behind. Lu Xunye didn’t turn his head, casually stuffing the undelivered orange into Shen Yunqian’s hand.
Shen Yunqian: “?”
The ward fell into a deathly silence. After a long while, a bitter smile tugged at the corner of the woman’s lips. “Divorce isn’t that easy.”
The woman’s hair was messy, her eyes red and swollen from crying. A few strands of white hair were mixed in the black hair at her temples.
She rubbed her hands nervously. Her swollen hands were full of chapped skin and fine wrinkles.
Yet even so, one could see she used to be a beauty.
Lu Xunye frowned. Just as he was about to say something more, Shen Yunqian hurriedly changed the subject. “Xiao Yun… how old is she this year? Is she in school?”
The woman was momentarily at a loss for words.
The little girl held the candy and smiled brightly at Shen Yunqian.
“I’m eight years old. My little brother is in kindergarten. Dad says it’s a waste of money for girls to go to school. I’ll grow up soon and earn money to help Mom.”
Hearing this, Shen Yunqian stiffly rubbed the top of the girl’s head. “Knowing to take care of Mom already, so amazing.”
Seeing her daughter’s innocent smile, the woman could no longer hold it back and covered her face, crying bitterly.
The ward door was pushed open.
“I wonder if he’s awake yet,” a boy muttered. He entered and was stunned by the scene before him.
He quickly put down the thermos bottle, walked quickly to the woman, and asked anxiously, “Sister Mu, why are you here? Why are you crying? What happened?”
Lu Xunye felt the boy’s voice sounded familiar, so he took a few more looks.
The boy noticed the gaze, looked up, and saw Lu Xunye standing by Shen Yunqian’s bed. He realized instantly: “You must be Mr. Lu Xunye, this gentleman’s family?”
Lu Xunye recognized him. “You were the one who called me.”
“Yes. Those people launched a sneak attack. I couldn’t stop them, which resulted in this gentleman getting hit in the head. Those people were afraid of causing a death, plus I had called the police in advance, so they were scared off.”
Lu Xunye looked thoughtful, then spoke: “Are you her neighbor? Can you take her out to wash her face and calm down first?”
The boy seemed slow to react to his sudden change of subject. He was visibly stunned for a few seconds before realizing: “Oh, oh, oh, okay.”
Once the two left, the ward returned to tranquility.
The malnourished little girl, who looked only five or six, obediently held the candy, standing nervously by the bed.
Only when the little girl was almost staring holes into him did Lu Xunye speak slowly: “Why did you say that on purpose just now?”
While Shen Yunqian hesitated about whether to speak, the girl looked up and met Lu Xunye’s gaze stubbornly.
“That man comes back drunk every night after losing money. Mom gets beaten trying to protect me. I hate him.”
“Mom says I don’t need to be strong, but I wish Mom didn’t have to be strong either. The money Mom earns from washing dishes should be spent on herself, not on the domestic abuser.”
At an age where her speech wasn’t even entirely clear, she used words she must have heard from someone else, looking quite like a soldier charging into battle for her mother.
Looking into her eyes, Lu Xunye recalled some unpleasant memories. Hiding the emotions in his eyes, he said in an unreadable tone, “Then you have to grow up well.”
“En, I will grow up.” The little girl nodded heavily as if making a promise.
The little girl’s innocent eyes held a trace of unease as she looked at Shen Yunqian.
“Big brother, can I pay you back for your medical expenses later? Mom said big brother got hurt to help us and we need to take responsibility, but I don’t want Mom to work too hard.”
“Medical expenses?” Lu Xunye reopened the bill in his hand.
Just the MRI and brain CT scan alone cost over one thousand seven hundred. Added to the surgery and medication fees, it totaled four thousand.
How could a family that couldn’t afford school for their daughter and whose father wanted to sell her to pay debts possibly come up with that money?
Seeing Lu Xunye frown, the little girl panicked. “I can pay it back, I’m not lying!”
Lu Xunye folded the bill and stuffed it into his pocket, looking at her with amusement. “Do you know how much money it is?”
The little girl shook her head in disappointment.
Shen Yunqian interjected from the side, “We don’t need the mon—”
Before he could finish, Lu Xunye cut him off: “One hundred yuan.”
Shen Yunqian was momentarily speechless.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Xunye saw Shen Yunqian sneakingly picking at the IV tape on his hand. Without moving his body, he calmly leaned his head closer and asked knowingly, “What are you doing?”
Caught red-handed, Shen Yunqian’s hand trembled, and he looked at him with a complex expression.
Even the System couldn’t watch anymore: 【Um… Host, you are sitting on his IV tube.】
Lu Xunye: “…”
He subtly moved his back away from the IV stand, turned the knob to lower the flow rate, and held Shen Yunqian’s hand with the IV to check if the needle had dislodged.
Afterward, Lu Xunye used his thumb to press down the white tape that had been picked up, lifting his eyelids. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Shen Yunqian blinked innocently. “You were talking the whole time; I couldn’t find a chance.”
Lu Xunye: “…”
Shen Yunqian pulled his hand back, acting arrogant. “Although you are my boyfriend and look somewhat attractive, you were fierce to me just now. I’m going to ignore you for two days.”
Lu Xunye was astounded, choked by his blunt words. Who gets angry like this? And is this huge contrast really not because his brain is broken?
Belatedly, Lu Xunye looked down at the little girl who had been neglected and had lowered her head. He bent down and snatched the lollipop from her hand, saying shamelessly, “This counts as one yuan.”
A lollipop changed hands three times within a few minutes, finally ending up in Lu Xunye’s mouth after he tore off the wrapper.
Shen Yunqian looked at Lu Xunye snatching candy from a child and, for some reason, suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. “Why are you snatching things from a child? You clearly don’t need it.”
Lu Xunye pulled out a stool and sat down, meeting his gaze, and said in a deep voice, “So are you going to teach her to evade responsibility?”
Shen Yunqian denied it: “I’m not.”
Lu Xunye, however, said, “She is a child. A large part of why she can receive your forgiveness today is because you have amnesia. In the future, if anyone else gets hurt for a stranger and has to bear the consequences, being taken for granted will inevitably lead to some dissatisfaction.”
And another very important point was…
If the one injured here today was another child cherished by their parents as the apple of their eye…
Parents, in their chaotic concern, likely wouldn’t care whether their own child had voluntarily acted bravely.
There were plenty of examples where things ended up very ugly.
Lu Xunye: “Her mother taught her well.”
The little girl didn’t understand what they were saying. Her hand suddenly empty, she picked at her fingers unnaturally, but her eyes were full of gratitude.
“Big brother, can you give me your contact information? I’ll pay you back the rest of the money when I earn it.”
Shen Yunqian watched Lu Xunye’s elbow lean over. His eyelid twitched, and he quickly moved his hand away from the edge of the bed.
Sure enough, the other party’s elbow rested right on the bed, propping up his head as he looked at the little girl who wasn’t even as tall as the bed rail.
“Do you remember your mom’s contact information?”
Lu Xunye opened his phone and noted down the string of numbers the little girl recited.
He spoke in a tone as if treating her like a peer, “Now you can’t run away. If you don’t do what you promised me, I’m going to tell on you to your mom.”
Shen Yunqian couldn’t get a word in. He touched the bandage on his head as if to confirm—Isn’t this my medical expense?
The System, watching all this:
【…】
Its host is truly scheming when he has a brain, and truly forgetful when he doesn’t.
Lu Xunye looked at a plastic diamond-encrusted rabbit brooch pinned to her orange cotton jacket.
It looked like a style from 10 years ago.
Probably something you could buy for ten or twenty yuan.
The red diamond representing the eye was more than twice as big as the other transparent plastic diamonds around it, appearing unusually dazzling in contrast.
The rabbit’s neck had a green bow pattern, better highlighting the rabbit’s proud posture—very unique.
He raised a finger and pointed at the brooch. “Give me this brooch, and we’re even.”
Hearing this, the little girl subconsciously covered the brooch. Her eyes reddened instantly, and she looked so aggrieved she almost cried.
Children of this age couldn’t hide their emotions. Her large, watery eyes stared at him pitifully.
If it were anyone else seeing a human cub like this, their heart would probably melt.
But Lu Xunye had no other quirks in his life; he just liked watching kids cry.
So, not only did he not comfort her, but he also added fuel to the fire: “Didn’t you say you didn’t want your mom to work hard?”
This was a birthday gift from her mom when Xiao Yun was one year old. After her brother was born, the family had no spare money to spend on her.
She had actually heard her dad on the phone earlier, talking about selling her.
She didn’t want to burden her mom, so she pretended not to know anything. Today, she deliberately wore this brooch as if her mom would still be by her side in the future.
But later, she regretted it. She didn’t want to be sold.
The little girl hesitated, remaining silent.
She turned to look at Shen Yunqian’s pale face.
She pursed her lips, as if making an important decision. Her small hands carefully unpinned the brooch from her clothes and solemnly placed it into Lu Xunye’s large palm.
At this moment, the door opened with a creak.
The woman rushed in from outside and hugged the little girl, trembling all over. “Mom won’t abandon you. Mom will divorce. Mom will take you away.”
After receiving a round of thanks.
Before the woman left, Lu Xunye stuffed something into her hand. “Don’t give it to her yet.”
The woman was puzzled but nodded in agreement.
Once out of the hospital, she took advantage of her daughter not looking to open her hand.
In her hand lay that dazzling rabbit brooch. Its red eye shone like a real ruby under the streetlamp. The woman covered her face and wept silently.
Inside the ward, the two tacitly didn’t mention what had just happened. Naturally, they didn’t notice a pair of bruised, muddy eyes staring viciously inside through the crack of the ajar door.
A few days later, Lu Xunye completed the discharge procedures, and the two returned to the residential complex.
Lu Xunye was pondering what to do about the book signing in a few days. He unlocked the door and opened it, only to find Shen Yunqian following him in.
Lu Xunye: “Your home is opposite.”
Shen Yunqian backed out of the door, stood in the corridor, looked at the residents’ doors on both sides, and glared at Lu Xunye resentfully. “You really are going to divorce me.”
Lu Xunye slapped his forehead in distress: I give up.
Recommended Reads
![Enemies on a Narrow Road [Esports]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/enemies-on-a-narrow-road-214x300.jpg)
![Those Years When the Son of Destiny Was Severely Scammed [Quick Transmigration]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/QUICK-TRANSMIGRATION1-214x300.jpg)
