Chapter 125: Unexpected Events Follow One After Another

Chapter 125: Unexpected Events Follow One After Another

Li Meiru, Xia Li, and Tang Xiuxiu also returned shortly after her.

She hadn’t sent her living expenses to her family this month.

Her parents berated her in the letter for being thoughtless, saying the family was in dire straits and that she should contribute more since she was in the big city. They also mentioned her younger sister was sick and couldn’t afford medicine or a doctor.

Li Meiru felt little love for her parents and brothers, but if there was anyone she still cared about, it was her younger sister.

Due to her parents' son preference, she and her sister faced the same hardships.

When her sister was just born, her parents, seeing it was a girl, almost left the baby in the snow to freeze to death. Li Meiru was the one who carried her little sister back and raised her on her own meager rations until she was three.

Later, her callous parents, seeing that her sister was starting to remember things, agreed to raise her properly, but only to ensure the bare necessities.

If even Li Meiru stopped caring for her sister, she didn’t know if her sister could survive in that household.

So she had to send the money back.

The other dorm mates noticed Li Meiru sitting there, counting money after she got back.

Wang Jiao: "Why are you counting money? This should last you until the holiday, right?"

Li Meiru worked part-time every day at a small restaurant near the school entrance, earning roughly one yuan every three to four days.

Hearing the question from her dorm mates, Li Meiru explained her family situation.

Wang Jiao, being an only child, had never imagined such a thing.

"If you send the money home, who knows if your parents will actually use it for your sister?"

Li Meiru: "I’m terrified. Without money, they might sell my sister."

Hearing this, everyone looked over.

Sell her!

What kind of cruel family is this?

Li Meiru said, "There are many backward customs in my hometown."

Xia Li was stunned for a long time before she could speak: "Then maybe you should send some money home anyway."

Tang Xiuxiu: "You need to cover your own living expenses first, then give some to your family."

Ye Xiaoxiao agreed, "If you give too much, your family will assume you’re rich and will definitely demand even more from you."

He Jing: "Xiao Xiao is right."

After thinking it over, Li Meiru took out ten yuan.

Wang Jiao walked over and took half of it.

"Five yuan is enough, and it should all be in small bills. If your sister is really sick, this should be enough for medicine."

Tang Xiuxiu: "The letter didn’t specify what illness your sister has. I bet your parents are just making it up to get money from you."

Xia Li: "I’ve never met parents so shameless. They’ve got their own savings, yet they’re hitting up a student who hasn’t even graduated for medicine money."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "If you can, you should call your family. You can chat with your little sister for a bit."

If Li Meiru could, she’d take her sister in to raise her. But she’s studying and jobless, so she has to give in to her parents.

In the end, Li Meiru only sent home five bucks.

But she knew her parents wouldn’t settle for just five bucks.

The letter takes over a week to get to her hometown, so she’d have at least a week of peace.

While Li Meiru was out mailing the letter, the others talked about it in the dorm.

Xia Li: "Do you think there’s any way to fix Li Meiru’s problem?"

Tang Xiuxiu: "I doubt it, unless Li Meiru stops worrying about her sister, then she’d be better off."

He Jing: "But Li Meiru really cares about her sister."

Ye Xiaoxiao shook her head, "So for now, we just have to keep those awful parents in check."

"Ugh..."

They all sighed together.

...

Li Meiru had no idea how to deal with this.

But everyone noticed she worked even harder at her part-time job the next week.

She was rarely around in the mornings or evenings and was late to class a few times.

Ye Xiaoxiao wasn’t in class with them and heard about it while chatting in the dorm.

He Jing: "This isn’t good; Li Meiru shouldn’t flunk her classes over her part-time job—that’s throwing away the big stuff for the small."

Wang Jiao was doing her eyebrows in the dorm and didn’t even look up. "Her parents are such a pain, how..."

Wang Jiao suddenly thought of something halfway through her sentence, her tone excited.

"What if we get someone to scare her parents!"

He Jing: "Like who?"

Wang Jiao put down her eyebrow pencil, raising her half-drawn eyebrow, "Li Meiru’s boyfriend. If she had a tough boyfriend, her parents might back off out of fear."

The others were all thinking about Wang Jiao’s words.

Only Ye Xiaoxiao didn’t quite agree, "They might just see a chance to exploit both Li Meiru and her boyfriend."

Wang Jiao, however, remained enthusiastic, "What if Li Meiru’s boyfriend was a tough guy or someone her parents wouldn’t dare mess with?"

Xia Li looked stunned, "Where would we find such a boyfriend for Li Meiru?"

Wang Jiao: "It’s easy—just find a fake, get someone to pretend."

It was getting more and more absurd.

The other people in the dormitory didn’t think it would work because there was no such virtual character.

In short, they couldn’t find an actor to play this role.

Just then, Li Meiru returned.

She carried a new letter.

Wang Jiao said with a pout, "Don’t worry, it’s definitely not something important to you, because your parents wouldn’t even spare the expense of a telegram."

Letters took forever to deliver messages, and this method was usually chosen for non-urgent matters.

Li Meiru didn’t speak and quietly opened the letter.

Midway through the letter, Li Meiru suddenly stood up.

The chair she was sitting on crashed to the floor.

The whole dorm was startled.

"What’s wrong!"

Li Meiru looked stunned, clearly in shock.

Tang Xiuxiu walked over and picked up the letter. After reading it, she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Her younger sister has passed away!"

The others crowded around. The letter was obviously written by someone else, with many parts simplified, but it was clear the writer was filled with anger and dissatisfaction.

The letter first berated Li Meiru, then said that it was because Li Meiru sent too little money home that her sister died from not being able to afford medical treatment.

The child they’d raised for over a decade was gone—all that effort wasted.

These parents were truly shameless, not only shirking responsibility but also showing no grief over the death of their younger daughter, only mourning the money they’d wasted.

"I need to go home. I’ll go ask the dorm supervisor for leave."

Li Meiru bolted out of the dormitory.

Xia Li: "But exams are right around the corner. Will she be able to make it back?"

Even if there was enough time, the round-trip train tickets would be a burden for Li Meiru.

He Jing: "She definitely has to go back and see. We can’t stop her."

Wang Jiao also murmured, "How could this happen... Her sister couldn’t have died just because of money..."