Another cold, snowy night passed. By morning, the heavy snowflakes still hadn't ceased, the sky gloomy and overcast. It looked like the snow would continue all day.
The hospital room was warm with the air conditioning on. Mu Yuting gazed out the window at the thick blanket of snow, feeling quite emotional.
In the future, with global warming, her hometown rarely saw snow. Even when it did snow, it was usually light and would stop within an hour or two. Such a heavy, continuous snowfall was truly rare.
After breakfast, as she was typing on her phone's notepad, a call came in.
Du Dawei, frozen to the bone, had finally given in. He had carefully revised the two agreements as Mu Yuting instructed and read them aloud to her again.
"Is it acceptable now?" Du Dawei's face was pale, his lips trembling, his high-end down jacket crumpled beyond recognition. Enduring consecutive snowy, freezing nights was truly tough. Especially for a young man like him with liver issues, who often stayed up late gaming—his health was particularly weak.
Two days ago, he had refused to use the detention center's blanket, complaining about the smell. Now, he felt one blanket wasn't enough, shivering every night, unwilling to even take off his clothes, wrapped tightly in the blanket.
He couldn't take it anymore; he had to get out today!!!
"Just revise the inappropriate wording I pointed out and clarify the repayment date, then it'll be fine."
It seemed scumbags needed a good freeze to clear their heads and behave.
Du Dawei's fingers were red from the cold, his face sallow yet full of hope. "I'll change it, right now. When can we reach a settlement and get me released?"
Mu Yuting glanced at the time. "After you finish, have your cousin bring the agreements to me. If everything's in order, we can do it this afternoon."
"Okay!" Du Dawei rubbed his hands together, tears welling in his eyes.
At noon, Mu Yuting enjoyed the loving lunch her mother had brought—a balanced meal with meat, vegetables, and soup—feeling thoroughly satisfied.
The uninvited guest, Du Dazhi, arrived carrying a flower basket, a fruit basket, and the two agreements. He was portly but looked unwell, not a trace of a smile on his face, a deep frown etched between his eyebrows.
"Mu Yuting, I'm here with the agreements. If everything's fine, sign them, and we can go to the police station to handle the paperwork."
"I'm eating. Wait until I finish." Mu Yuting glanced at him calmly and continued her meal.
"You... alright, take your time." Du Dazhi held back his temper, not wanting to ruin things at the last moment. Watching Mu Yuting eat quietly, he found it hard to believe that such a seemingly docile girl could be so resolute—calling off the wedding so close to the date and handling the agreements with such expertise. It was contradictory, and infuriating.
Mu Yuting ate meticulously, taking a full half-hour for her meal. She left no leftovers, not even a drop of soup, wiped her mouth with a tissue, all done unhurriedly.
Du Dazhi's stomach was empty, growling loudly. He had rushed from work to the detention center, picked up the agreements, and come straight to the hospital without having lunch.
"Dazhi, you could go have lunch and come back." Mu's mother kindly suggested, playing the peacemaker.
"No need! Let's get this done first." Du Dazhi didn't even look at her, coldly rejecting the offer as he handed the agreements to Mu Yuting. He couldn't be bothered to address her as "Auntie"—he never did, looking down his nose at "commoners."
Mu's mother was a bit angered but held it in. She valued face and always showed respect to others in public, but unfortunately, such people didn't always receive respect in return.
Mu Yuting deliberately wanted her mother to see the true nature of the Du family, so she ignored these minor issues. She took the agreement and read it carefully.
Mu's mother also leaned in to look. Upon seeing the contents of the agreement, her eyes widened in disbelief. But knowing there were outsiders present, she held back her questions.
The two agreements stipulated a compensation of twenty thousand for the assault and a refund of one hundred thousand for the cancellation of the engagement, totaling one hundred twenty thousand. This time, the agreement was finally free of any tricks—excellent.
"Mm, this is acceptable," Mu Yuting nodded.
Upon hearing this, Du Dazhi felt as if he had received a judge's verdict and eagerly said, "Then let's hurry to the police station to complete the procedures. You withdraw the report and get Dawei released."
Mu Yuting agreed. The engagement was canceled, compensation was secured, and the scumbag was detained—three birds with one stone. Now, it was time to release him.
"My car is downstairs. It'll be faster if we take my car," Du Dazhi glanced at Mu's mother, remembering his cousin's instructions, and added, "Let's all go together."
Mu's mother didn't even receive the respectful address of "Auntie" and turned away angrily, not wanting to go.
Mu Yuting also didn't want her mother to go, fearing she might soften. She proactively said, "Mom, you're busy with work. Head back first. It's a small matter; I can handle it."
Mu's mother was initially a little worried, but seeing her daughter's relaxed demeanor and considering they had already reached a settlement, she felt it should be safe and relaxed a bit.
"Tingting, come back early and be careful."
"Okay."
Du Dazhi's car was worth over three hundred thousand and was ninety percent new. He proactively opened the passenger door, but Mu Yuting walked straight past and sat in the back seat, clearly treating him as a driver. He was furious.
The car sped all the way to the police station.
Mu Yuting withdrew the report and, following the procedures, completed a series of formalities before Du Dawei was finally released.
"Tingting, why didn't Mom come?" Du Dawei looked around, hoping his soft-hearted mother-in-law would appear to save him... and reduce some of the debt. Unfortunately, she wasn't there, and his golden knees had no use.
Mu Yuting's gaze was cold: "Call me by my full name from now on. You can see your mother when you get home. Remember, repay the money by the agreed time, or I will sue you." Before the two could react, she had already strode out of the police station, hailed a taxi on the street, and left gracefully.
"Brother," Du Dawei tightly grabbed his cousin Du Dazhi's arm, "save me to the end, send the Buddha to the west. Lend me another eighty thousand. If I can't repay this money, Mu Yuting will sue me."
Du Dazhi shook off his arm heavily, panting angrily, "What about the fifty thousand her family gave you for wedding preparations and the thirty thousand for the 'Three Golds' jewelry? And those clothes worth over twenty thousand—return them quickly, you should be able to get some money back. The hundred thousand shouldn't be that far off, right? I can lend you the twenty thousand for the assault compensation."
"It's gone. I only have forty thousand on hand. I'm still short eighty thousand." Du Dawei's eyes darted around evasively.
"Where did all the money her family gave you go?" Du Dazhi grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.
"I..."
"Speak quickly!"
"I bought a watch for thirty thousand, a gaming computer for ten thousand, and I have forty thousand left. Those clothes... I've already worn them and cut the tags. I can't return them."
"Get lost!" Du Dazhi suddenly released his cousin's collar and shoved him hard, but failed to push him away because Du Dawei was gripping his clothes tightly.
This leech was probably impossible to shake off for a lifetime.
Meanwhile, Mu Yuting, who had already shaken off her own leech, had returned to the hospital. She was waiting to complete her final scheduled CT scan in the afternoon. If all went well, she could be discharged.
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