Zongman: Unknowingly trapped in the hatchet

Chapter 342 Mother and Daughter

Su Qing looked down at Misaki, said nothing, and just nodded.

Misaki was at a loss. She could only pray that the other party would really keep his promise.

Because the old door was already creaking.

Soon, a woman with long hair came out from behind the door. She looked very young, probably only thirty years old.

But in the dim light, the woman's sickly paleness was particularly conspicuous.

"Xiaosaki, why don't you just come in when you get home? What are you doing at the door now? Hey... who is this?"

The woman must be Misaki's mother.

She was very surprised by Su Qing's sudden visit.

"Hello, excuse me, I am..."

……

Misaki's house.

Su Qing was sitting on a mat, and sitting opposite her were Misaki and her mother.

"Ah, so you found Xiaosaki's digital watch and came here to return it to her?"

After hearing Su Qing's explanation, Sato covered his mouth in surprise.

Yes.

Her last name is not Hoshino, that's just a setting for the little girl to further gain sympathy.

After all, what she did was not glorious, and no matter how stupid she was, she would not use her real name.

“That’s understandable, there were just too many people at night, but luckily the children’s footprints were quite unique, so I was able to follow them based on those.

I apologize if this caused any misunderstanding."

Su Qing sat on the mat and put forward the excuse he had prepared.

When Misaki checked the time, the lenses were so bright that they reflected light. He was not far away at the time, so he naturally noticed it.

"Then I should thank you even more...Ala, look at how ignorant I am. I didn't even make you some hot tea in such a cold weather.

Misaki, go boil some water and bring some tea leaves."

Sato looked at Misaki who was sitting next to him. The little girl was rubbing her hands nervously, lowering her head, and occasionally stealing glances at Su Qing and her mother.

After hearing her mother's words, she seemed to be frightened and became unexpectedly flustered.

"Oh, ok mom, I'll go right away."

When she stood up, Misaki looked at Su Qing with an almost pleading look.

It was crystal clear what she wanted to say.

In fact, Misaki didn't want to go. What if Su Qing secretly told her mother about those things when she was away?

But she couldn't refuse with a suitable reason, so she had to put all her hopes on others.

Sato watched Misaki's back as she headed towards the kitchen, which was actually not that far away.

At this time, Su Qing was observing the environment inside the apartment.

This old apartment has a simple structure and a small area, so small that even the boundary between the kitchen and the living room seems blurred.

Su Qing's gaze suddenly fell on the floor.

The past plum rains caused the mold on the tatami to spread into a strange map, and the edges of the straw mats were curled with tea-brown curls, like tea leaves pickled in water.

The environment is certainly not good, but even so, the furnishings in the house are very tidy, and there is even a pleasant fragrance in the air.

That's the smell of lily of the valley.

Su Qing noticed the faded origami cranes in the corner. On one of the wings was a crooked inscription saying "Mom, get well soon", the ink smudged by time into a light blue cloud.

At the same time, Su Qing also noticed that on the table not far away was the red scarf that Misaki had taken off, and next to it were bottles and jars of medicine.

He recognized those medicines, which were usually only taken by cancer patients.

The dean has... also taken it.

"Xiaosaki... is a very good child. She has been very sensible since she was young. She usually cleans this house. Isn't it amazing? She is only twelve years old."

After he could no longer see Misaki, Sato slowly withdrew his gaze and spoke softly.

"Twelve? That's really impressive."

This age is pretty close to what Su Qing estimated.

But Misaki looks a bit childish.

"So... now can you tell me what exactly did my Misaki do outside?"

Sato suddenly asked with a serious face, changing his gentle smile.

“That watch was a birthday gift I gave her a long time ago, and she has kept it very well.

So... it must not be because of this reason. Besides, I actually heard my daughter's request to you behind the door.

Please, can you tell me what bad things Misaki did?"

As Sato spoke, he bowed deeply to Su Qing.

I can't hide it after all...

Su Qing sighed lightly. It turned out that the other party had heard it from the beginning?

No wonder when he said he was leaving at the door, she insisted on pulling him in as a guest.

"Well, before that, I wanted to ask if you knew that she sells flowers..."

"So... is there such a thing?"

Su Qing introduced Misaki's situation to Sato in very general terms.

After roughly understanding what his daughter had done, Sato lowered his eyes, then quickly raised his head and said with a smile:

"I'm sorry to trouble you. I will return all the money to you and the lady in a while.

Thank you so much for telling me this, you are a good person.”

"Good guy? Not really."

Su Qing shook his head in denial.

He didn't like this kind of talk, on every level.

"Really? If it was someone else, they would have called the police to arrest my child. At least I want to thank you."

Sato glanced deeply into the kitchen. Misaki hadn't come back for some reason.

"Although it's unreasonable to say this, can you please agree to my request - forgive Misaki, please?"

Sato seemed to have something else to say, so Su Qing did not express his opinion and just listened quietly.

“As you can see, we, mother and daughter, live in such an environment.

Her father divorced me a few years ago, and I didn't have much education and don't have any skills.

I could only earn a little income by working. Although life was tight, I could still get by.

But one day, I was suddenly diagnosed with cancer..."

As he spoke, Sato suddenly revealed a bitter smile, like shards of glass shattered by hail.

"Those drugs... you should have seen that many of them are not included in the medical insurance, and most of them cannot be reimbursed...

I shouldn’t say this to you, but Misaki is really a good kid, she did that for me…”

Sato paused, took a deep breath, and lowered his voice:

"In addition to the money we have defrauded from you, we will also give you additional compensation.

So... please, forgive my daughter, she is really still young!"

When Sato bowed deeply, the back of his neck was exposed, dazzlingly white, like the peeling paint on the wall of a hospital corridor.

Su Qing looked down at the woman who bowed twice for her daughter, and suddenly fell silent.

He had no doubt that he was being deceived.

Lies meant nothing to him.

But precisely because it is not a lie, the naked truth makes people despair.

"Get up, there's no need to be like this. I'm not here to embarrass you. I just want to talk to Misaki. Sooner or later, she will be exposed for what she's doing."

The little girl's lines were actually very stiff; after all, she was just a twelve-year-old child.

But her cleverness lies in the fact that she is a mixture of truth and falsehood.

Of course, the sentence “Mom is far, far away” is a lie.

But his true feelings of wanting to make money to treat his mother's illness were extremely sincere.

“You are a good mother.”

Su Qing looked at Sato, but his eyes reflected the shadow of an old friend.

He was a middle-aged man with a warm smile on his face, holding a handful of White Rabbit candies in his hands, and surrounded by children...

"I...was not a good mother. I gave her a childhood that was not at all happy.

I couldn't even teach her the most basic morals.

If Misaki wasn't my child, I wish she was born in a better family."

Sato's shoulders trembled slightly, she lowered her head and bit her lips tightly.

She is not trying to gain sympathy, it's just that emotions are sometimes out of control.

A mother can become strong because of her child and work odd jobs to support her child, but she can also become fragile because of her child.

That was her only remaining weakness.

Su Qing remained silent; he was just a passerby listener.

It is enough for the listener to just listen.

Superfluous comfort is just self-righteous satisfaction.

"I don't want to be someone else's child! I am living a happy life now!"

Suddenly there was a loud crash in the kitchen. Misaki ran out with tears in her eyes. She came to her mother and shouted at her in such a loud voice for the first time.

"Misaki, you haven't apologized to this gentleman yet, have you? Come on, apologize now."

Sato looked at his daughter, wiped his eyes, and then said.

"I don't want to apologize, I don't want to apologize! I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't lie, and I didn't say Ecuador at the beginning. I didn't even know there was such a thing. They just made it up in their imagination!"

Misaki clenched her fists, she couldn't understand why this happened today.

I haven’t found a suitable reason to give the money from selling flowers to my mother.

"You said you didn't lie! And you still don't admit your mistake!"

Sato slammed the table, stood up angrily, and glared at Misaki.

She seemed to be unable to believe why her daughter had become like this. She did something wrong but was unwilling to admit it, even though she was not like this before...

Or has she never really understood her daughter?

The woman's angry voice began to tremble with sadness, which seemed to affect a wild cat outside the house, causing it to make an inexplicable noise.

"You are mean to me...you are mean to me...you have never been mean to me before..."

No fear, no disappointment.

Misaki, who had never felt wronged even when being rejected by the customer who bought flowers, now burst into tears.

"You don't apologize, and you're crying. What on earth do you want to do?"

When Sato saw his daughter crying, his heart seemed to be torn, but he still forced himself to be hard-hearted.

Education is not about whispering. The deeper the love, the harsher the scolding. There are some things that cannot be done in a lifetime.

Misaki has no father, only her mother, and no one else can teach her these things.

But I have cancer. How many years do I have left to live?

Even if he survives, how much money will he have to spend on medicine?

My daughter is still young, and she just started the first grade of junior high school this year. Those are the money for medicine and her tuition.

How can I not study... Am I going to be as uneducated as her and rely on odd jobs to support myself?

She has decided that since the cancer is still controllable and has not metastasized or become malignant, she can still stay with her daughter for a few more years.

But if the situation gets worse, she will borrow money from a loan shark and ask her parents in the countryside to take care of the child.

As for her...

She's just an unfit mother.

Itchy, very itchy.

Misaki felt like there were small ants crawling on her face. She reached out to grab the ants but only felt a slight warmth.

Ah...it turns out that was water.

She wanted the water to stop and she didn't want to cry.

What's the use of crying?

Even if I cry, Dad won't come back and Mom's illness won't get better.

She used the palms, backs of her hands and arms to wipe her eyes desperately, but the tears still kept flowing.

Soon her tender little hands were soaked and she had nothing to wipe them with.

I wish I hadn't taken off my scarf just now.