06 Finally escaped

In the evening, after Luo Jingli escaped from the mansion, he didn't bother about his dirty clothes and messed up hair. He walked aimlessly on the streets and stopped in front of the gate of his university.

Luo Jingli looked up and stared at the university's white and majestic buildings, with a trace of nostalgia and sadness on his face. But very soon, that barely noticeable trace of saddness turned into worry.

Earlier today, he received a call from the hospital. His mother's eye doctor called him informing him that they had found a suitable cornea donor for his mother yesterday and the chance of the operation being successful was very high, so he had to decide whether to perform the operation as soon as possible. However,the surgery and its subsequent treatment costs $28,000. But right now, the money he saved up in the past as well as after working as the housekeeper at Li Zheng's house for the past few months was only a little over $35,000. After paying up for all the treatment cost and buying the recuperation medicines, he will only have a few thousand dollars left. If he continued to go to school, he would need to take out extra money to pay for his tuition which is around 1000 dollars a month. If he did this, he and his mother would not have enough money to buy food and pay for their living expenses. But at the same time, if he did not go to school, he will not be able to find a good job and the few thousand dollars he had is definitely not able to last them even a few years.

(If ya'll are wondering why is it tuition fees Luo Jingli needs to pay for, it is because he got a scholarship but it covers the school fees only)

"Oh my... What should I do... I will definitely have to treat Ma's eyes..." Luo Jingli slumped down onto the ground beside the school gates dejectedly.

After a few minutes of contemplation, Luo Jingli took a deep breath, stood up and quickly arranged his clothes and hair as neatly as possible. He then went to the school's office, asked for a drop-out application form and filled it up quickly. Afterwards, he walked to the principal's office with heavy footsteps.

A knock echoed through the empty and quiet hallway.

"Please come in."

"Principal... I am Luo Jingli." Luo Jingli bowed respectfully and introduced himself slightly after entering, and then handed over the drop-out application form with both hands.

The principal looked at Luo Jingli incredulously after seeing the three words "Application for Withdrawal".

Afterall, Luo Jingli's grades were one of the best among the freshman students this year and he has won many awards and competition in high school as well as in the recent competitions. He has often won honors for the schools he studied in. He was among the best students the university has ever had. Why would such an excellent student want to drop out of school?

"Jingli, why are you dropping out? Did something happen?" The principal placed the withdrawal form aside and raised his head to ask Luo Jingli.

"Principal, I'm...I'm sorry, I...I'm having some financial troubles in my family now...so I can't continue coming to school..." Luo Jingli explained.

The principal knew about Luo Jingli's family situation and their financial status and smiled, "Well, since this is your decision, then I can't say anything. But since you have already completed this year's course, I can reserve your place for six months, which is one semester. If your situation improves, you can return anytime."

Luo Jingli left the school after thanking the principal and went back home. His house was in an alley, which was always full of debris and rubbish, and there would be a few mice and cockroaches seen on the ground. When walking through the alley, there will be rude curses coming from the houses and you can occasionally see people squatting on the ground, smoking and drinking.

Luo Jingli stopped in front of a wooden door with peeled off paint. After taking a few deep breaths, he unlocked the door and entered the house. Behind the door was a narrow space without much furniture. A curtain divides the living room and the kitchen. The kitchen has cooled meals on the foldable table. In the living room there are two beds and a set of simple wooden tables and chairs. The only part of the house that was separated with a legitimate door was the toilet. There is a radio playing on the table in the living room and on the chair sits an old lady.

"Ma? Ma, I'm back..." Luo Jingli called softly.

The person on the chair turned out to be Luo's mother.

"Jingli? Is that you? You are back!" Mother Luo turned to the source of the sound and smiled happily.

"Ma, how are you doing?" Luo Jingli walked to the chair with tears in his eyes, squatting down and stroking Mother Luo's hand.

"I'm okay. Our neighbor Aunt Wang comes everyday to take care of me. She will always come along once every hour to check up on me. She will also talk to me while eating. I heard from her that you have been very busy with your studies and your job recently. Don't stress yourself too much, your health is more important than anything else... Oh yeah, have you eaten dinner yet? There is some food that Mrs Wang made just now, they are on the table. Go over to tell her you returned so she does not need to come later. Also, heat the food up before eating them." A series of concerns from his mother made Luo Jingli tear up more and started to cry silently.

"Ma...it is all my fault, I didn't take good care of ma..." Luo Jingli said to himself.

"Okay, thank you ma!" Luo Jingli held back his tears and said cheerfully, before heading out to inform Aunt Wnag of his return.

In the next few months, Luo Jingli lived frugally and used the money he saved up for his mother's eye surgery. After several consecutive treatments, his mother finally got better.

In the past few days, other than taking his mother to the hospital and buying daily necessities, Luo Jingli rarely went out for fear of being found by Li Zheng, and brought back to the place that started his nightmare.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Authors' notes:

L: I really love Luo Jingli! He's the most sincere and cutest 20 year old boy~

J: pffft

L: What

P: I honestly feel like killing Li Zheng right now!

L: You can go to jail for murder hehe XD

L Oh yeah, we changed the surgery cost because we searched it up and a cornea surgery in the country we are living in is around 28 thousand dollars, so we changed it to make more sense. Hope it does not confuse you guys!

NOTES: We made some changes but they are pretty minor and will not affect the flow of the story. So sorry if there was any confusion!

THE AUTHOR WANTS TO SAY: Hey guys! Hope you are enjoying this book so far! Please do let us know how to feel about this book up till now so we can improve for our future chapters (like make some minor edits etc). Don't worry about Li Zheng being a scumbag now coz we promise we will make him turn over a new leaf! Thanks for reading :) Love you guys mua~~

NOTICE: Hello! This book will be paywalled from chapter 9 (aka 07). Please do still continue to support as we have spent a lot of effort wirting this book :). We appreciate all of your support so far