Chapter 49

Chapter 49

◎ Unforeseen Yet Inevitable. ◎

After dinner, Meng Qi went, as usual, to feed Meng Lingzhi with the turtle food. In just a few days, he had already developed this habit and was enjoying it. How quickly he'd adapted even surprised himself.

Apart from things related to school, he rarely took the initiative to try new things. When his grandparents occasionally wanted him to do something on his own, his first impulse was always to find an excuse to say no. If he couldn't refuse, he would still do it, but reluctantly. His grandparents often teased him for being a lazybones. He himself would also wonder if he was truly lazy; otherwise, why would he be so resistant to new things, with no sense of adventure? It simply didn't seem like a young guy these days.

Since coming here, he realized that perhaps it wasn't laziness, but simply because exploring new things required making sure you had cash on hand, and his family was particularly short of money.

Meng Qi picked up the turtle food he bought for Meng Lingzhi and glanced at it: 250g, 158 yuan... Now, he truly wasn't short of money anymore, he was even buying such expensive pet food.

But Meng Lingzhi, who usually greeted him like a long-lost friend, was now completely ignoring him. She lay completely still on the basking rock, as if... dead.

Meng Qi's breath caught in his throat. He quickly stepped forward, peering over the rim of the glass tank to look inside. Perhaps hearing his movement or catching his scent, Meng Lingzhi slowly poked her head out a little. Her beady eyes glanced in his direction before going still again.

But at least he could confirm she was still alive.

As long as she's alive, Meng Qi thought, as long as she's alive. Being alive means there's still hope.

They say turtles live for a thousand years. Such a large softshell turtle shouldn't die so easily... right? Meng Qi reached into the glass tank, picked up Meng Lingzhi, and brought her close to his eyes to examine her, wanting to determine the cause of her unusual behavior today.

What he saw shocked him.

Meng Lingzhi, which had been fine when fed at noon, now had her left eye swollen to the size of a grain of yellow rice. Her left front leg was covered in a large, festering sore that had spread inside the shell, a gruesome sight.

How could this happen? He had been so careful and cautious in feeding her. Why was she still injured?

Is she really that delicate?

Wasn't she supposed to be a little monster that could live for millennia?

Meng Qi panicked. For a moment, he didn't know what to do, standing there in a daze, clueless. At the same time, his grandfather's words, "If it's sick, you have to give it medicine," echoed in his ears like a curse, making him more and more anxious.

Of course, Meng Qi knew Meng Lingzhi was sick and needed medicine quickly to recover.

But what medicine should he give her? Meng Qi was truly at his wit's end.

At that moment, the live-in housekeeper, having finished cleaning the kitchen, was about to return to her room to rest. Passing by Meng Qi, she let out an "Eh?" and pointed at Meng Lingzhi's festered front leg, telling Meng Qi, "It's an inflammation, from too much 'heat.' You need to quickly apply some toothpaste to it."

"What? Apply toothpaste?" Meng Qi was stunned.

"Yes, toothpaste can reduce inflammation and remove heat. Back home, we always use toothpaste to reduce inflammation on wounds. It never fails."

The housekeeper's words not only provided Meng Qi with an idea for treatment but also successfully stirred up his memories of "home." Because his grandparents were also accustomed to using toothpaste on wounds. Whenever they got a scrape or bump, a dab of toothpaste would do the trick. They even attempted to use toothpaste on his acne when he was a teenager...

But the wound on Meng Lingzhi was too large and had already festered. It probably wasn't something that could be solved by just smearing some toothpaste. Meng Qi felt that the toothpaste magic might fail on Meng Lingzhi. He didn't dare to just try it.

Just like back then when he desperately covered his face, not letting his grandparents apply toothpaste.

Such a fragile little thing wasn't as resilient as him. What if she died because of his "carelessness"? He would not only have an animal's death on his conscience but also feel he'd betrayed his grandparents' earnest teachings.

He didn't want to do that. He didn't want to fail at raising his first pet, and he especially didn't want to disappoint his grandparents.

The best way was to take Meng Lingzhi to a pet hospital for a professional veterinarian to examine.

Thinking this, Meng Qi no longer hesitated. He immediately took out his phone to search for information on pet hospitals. Due to nervousness, his hands were even trembling slightly.

The housekeeper, however, thought he was making a mountain out of a molehill. Pointing at Meng Lingzhi, her tone carried disdain, "You're still sending it to the hospital? Don't bother. While it's still alive, I'll make soup out of it for you. You can't eat it if it dies first."

Perhaps the housekeeper had always thought Meng Qi was putting in so much effort to raise this softshell turtle for the purpose of eating it someday.

But that wasn't the case...

Meng Qi was already irritated. Hearing the housekeeper say this gave him a rush of fury, adding to his annoyance. He couldn't help but retort, his voice louder than usual, "Auntie, please don't talk about eating it anymore. Since I'm raising it, I've never thought about eating it. It's my pet now, not food."

"There are pet turtles specifically sold in the market. If you want to raise one, Auntie can buy one for you when I go out for groceries. These things need to be raised from a young age to bond with you," the housekeeper looked at Meng Lingzhi and shook her head. "This one is already so big and so ugly. Why are you raising it?"

"Auntie!" Meng Qi raised his voice again.

This startled the housekeeper. She first let out an "Ah," then asked Meng Qi tremblingly, "Is... is that not okay?"

What do you mean 'okay'? You really have no sense of boundaries!

Meng Qi was exasperated. He took two deep breaths, suppressing the irritation in his heart, then tried to speak to the housekeeper in as calm a tone as possible, "Tomorrow is the last day of this month. Your last day will be tomorrow. Starting next month, you don't need to come anymore. I'll settle up with you later."

"Young Master, I... no... I... I won't talk so much anymore, okay? Can you reconsider?" Seeing that Meng Qi was serious, the housekeeper became extremely anxious, even wanting to come up and shake Meng Qi's hand.

But in the end, she restrained herself, only standing there with reddened eyes, staring at Meng Qi.

Meng Qi didn't want to go this far either. His grandparents always taught him to be kind to others, to be forgiving, to consider things from others' perspectives, to respect the elderly and cherish the young...

But he really couldn't take it anymore!

Apart from being around the same age as his grandparents, this auntie was practically the opposite of them in every other way. He was growing increasingly disliking and unable to tolerate her.

The thought of firing her wasn't a spur-of-the-moment idea. He had considered letting her go ever since the contraceptive pill incident.

If she could have been more low-key in her daily life, it might have been okay. But the problem was she was a flamboyant "warm-hearted" person, a ticking time bomb that could explode and hurt him at any moment. He felt he couldn't, and didn't need to, endure it any longer.

Might as well do it now.

"Auntie, recently I need to catch up on my studies, so I'll be staying at school most of the time. Besides, there's nothing really worth guarding in this house... Thank you for your help, but you can take a rest now. You don't need to come after tomorrow," Meng Qi resolutely refused.

The housekeeper hurriedly argued, "But I don't need to rest..."

"If you don't want to rest, then go find another job. I don't need your services here anymore. And I will pay you an extra three months' salary. After that, whether you decide to rest or continue working is up to you."

The housekeeper let out a deep sigh.

Seeing that she really couldn't persuade Meng Qi, she stopped trying. Although she really liked this job and didn't know exactly what she had done wrong, since the employer said he no longer needed her, she couldn't stubbornly stay.

She lifted her sleeve to wipe the corner of her eye, sniffled, and finally said to Meng Qi, "Alright then, Young Master. I won't disturb you anymore. You should rest early too. This tur... this Meng Lingzhi, she's fine. Listen to me, just apply some toothpaste to it. It's late at night; don't run to the hospital for her sake. It's really not worth going out for."

"... Thank you, Auntie." Meng Qi was exasperated by the housekeeper's 'helpfulness,' forcing a smile for her. At the same time, he became even more convinced that firing her was the right decision.

After the housekeeper left, Meng Qi continued searching online for pet hospital information. He actually found one, only two kilometers away from where he lived, and it was open until 11 PM. He could even make it there by running, let alone having a zippy electric scooter. One could say everything was ready, lacking nothing.

Meng Qi found a transparent Lego box to put Meng Lingzhi in. Although a bit small, it would do in a pinch.

That Lego toy was probably a collectible belonging to the "Meng Qi" in the book, placed on a shelf in the game room, still unopened. But after searching for a long time, Meng Qi only found this one box suitable for carrying Meng Lingzhi. He had to first take out the Lego inside and borrow the box.

Just as he was frantically holding Meng Lingzhi and heading to open the door, someone outside rang the doorbell at the same time.

To Meng Qi, feeling isolated and helpless at this moment, the plain ringtone was music to his ears—clear, pleasant, and stirring his heart.

Finally, someone could accompany him to the pet hospital. How wonderful. In this unfamiliar night of an unfamiliar world, he would no longer panic. Therefore, he decided that no matter who was standing outside the door, he would sincerely thank them. Thinking this, he reached out and pulled open the door.

Ren Suiyi's hand hadn't yet withdrawn from the doorbell, still raised mid-air. The moment he saw Meng Qi, surprise flashed in his eyes, even carrying a hint of foolishness, making him seem less distant than usual.

Meng Qi blinked and spoke up first, "Hi, good evening."

Ren Suiyi was brought back to his senses by Meng Qi's "hi," then raised his chin slightly and asked, "Heading out now?"

Meng Qi answered truthfully, "I want to go to the pet hospital to get my pet looked at."

"Your pet?" Ren Suiyi asked in confusion.

Meng Qi held out the box containing Meng Lingzhi and replied, "Yes, my pet. Its foot is rotting."

Ren Suiyi's gaze paused for a moment on the LEGO box, then shifted to the turtle inside. He frowned with a confused look on his face. "Since when did you have this hobby?"

Meng Qi pulled the box back and continued holding it in his arms, muttering, "Someone gave it to me as food, but I couldn't bear to eat it."

A smile touched Ren Suiyi's eyes as he nodded and said, "Oh, that's... nice. It's, uh, very cute."

"Huh?"

"I said your pet, it's very cute."

"Oh, thank you."