Brucille jumped over subsequently. He grabbed Bob’s legs and dragged him back to his original position.
After suffering from the violent strike, Bob threw up all the food that he had eaten that night. His mouth was filled with vomit.
Brucille bent down and asked again, “30, 000 yuan cash plus 1, 000 yuan interest, okay?”
Bob coughed for a few times, saying, “Fine, fine, you won.”
After receiving the money from Brucille, Bob left with the rest of the men. Rainie rushed to Baldrick and yelled at him , “Dad, are you crazy? Why did you borrow money from loan sharks when you don’t even have a single penny?”
“Rainie, you know me. I don’t have many hobbies. I was just playing some card games with my friends.”
Rainie couldn’t understand him. “What card games did you play that made you lose more than 30, 000 yuan in just a night?”
Instead of answering her, Baldrick asked, “Is this young man your boyfriend? He gave me 5, 000 yuan last night. Tell him to give me another 5, 000 yuan. I want to try my luck again.”
Rainie’s anger spiked. She yelled at Brucille, “Are you out of your mind? My dad is a gambler, and you gave him money? Do you want him to die?”
Brucille was speechless as well. He didn’t expect that Baldrick would use 5, 000 yuan to gamble and end up losing 30, 000 yuan.
“Well, I didn’t expect this to happen. No matter what, he is still your father,” Brucille said.
Rainie was fuming. “Forget it. He’s not my father. In fact, I haven’t had a father for more than ten years. Get out of my way!”
With her skinny body, she pushed Brucille away with all her might. The next moment, she fainted and collapsed.
Instead of showing concern for Rainie, Baldrick rushed to Brucille’s side and said, “Young man, give me some money. I want to try my luck.”
Brucille’s eyes were full of disappointment. He felt bad for Rainie that she had a hopeless father like Baldrick. With that, he gave Baldrick the remaining 2, 000 yuan cash he had in his pocket.
Then, he immediately sent Rainie to the hospital. Her body examination results were similar to what he had expected. Rainie was malnourished for a long period of time, and it had taken a toll on her body. She had no major illnesses, but a lot of minor ones.
Rainie lay on the hospital bed with a frown fixed on her face. It was only the next morning that she opened her eyes and found herself lying on a hospital bed.
Seeing she was awake, Brucille said, “Okay, don’t move. The doctor said that if you move too much, you’ll become disabled. With a father like that, who’s going to take care of you if you become disabled?”
Rainie asked worriedly, “Did the doctor really say that? What’s wrong with me?”
“The doctor said that you need plenty of rest. You’ve been so busy going to classes during the day and working at night. The most serious problem is you’re severely malnourished.”
Rainie’s living expenses had all been taken away bit by bit by Baldrick. Thus, she did not even have money to buy food.
Rainie explained, “Well, as you can see, I am a poor girl. I couldn’t afford to take care of Madam Keh. She had suffered a lot. I found her under a bridge when I ran away from home one day. After that, I’ve stayed with her for close to a year.”
Rainie told Brucille that the year she spent with Loraine was the happiest time of her life. During Loraine’s conscious moments, she could even remember she had a son called Brucille.
Whenever she thought of her son, a smile would appear on her face.
Listening to these stories, Brucille felt bitter in his heart. If he had found his mother earlier, all these things wouldn’t have happened.
Looking at Rainie, who was lying on the bed, he said, “Thank you, Rainie. From now on, you are my only sister. Whenever you face troubles, come to me. I’ll help you solve them.”
Rainie could feel that Brucille was saying it from the bottom of his heart. Perhaps, it was true that he failed to find Loraine all these years. Gradually, her hatred toward him lessened.
At the same time, her two roommates in the dormitory came to visit her.
“Hey, Lauren, Freya…”
Upon seeing Rainie, Lauren Mi said in a choked voice, “Didn’t I ask you not to work till late at night? But you wouldn’t listen to me. Now look, your body couldn’t take it anymore.”
Freya Wooi was Rainie’s other roommate. The three of them were close friends.
When the two of them saw Brucille, they asked, “Who is this?”
Rainie was worried that they would misunderstand that he was her boyfriend. She quickly explained, “He is my…”
“Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Rainie’s brother. My name is Brucille Yip.” Brucille introduced himself.
As Rainie’s best friends, Freya and Lauren knew about her family situation like the back of their hands. Lauren replied with a smirk, “Oh, really? Just be honest with us, Brucille. We know that Rainie doesn’t have a brother. You’ve got to come up with a better lie.”
In the end, Rainie could only introduce Brucille as her cousin.
Lauren then said, “It seems that you won’t be able to attend Lily’s birthday party tonight. But it’s fine, at least Kenny won’t be able to harass you. Just rest in the hospital, okay?”
Rainie struggled to sit up. “No, I have to go. If not, Lily will be mad at me. I’ve already promised her that I’ll go. I have to buy her a gift.”
Brucille failed to persuade her otherwise. Having no choice, he helped Rainie out of the bed. As for Lauren and Freya, they did not treat Brucille as an outsider since he was Rainie’s ‘cousin’. Therefore, the four of them went shopping together to buy birthday gifts for Lily.
Choosing a gift for a friend was an extremely difficult task for Rainie, whose family was not well-off. The gift must look fancy and expensive, but at the same time, the price has to be reasonable. After all, Rainie was broke.
Lauren came across an exquisite pair of earrings in a jewelry store. “Hello, may I know how much this pair of earrings cost?”
“This pair of earrings is from Swarovski’s latest collection. It costs 1600 yuan,” the salesperson answered.
Upon learning the price, Lauren was flabbergasted. At this time, Brucille said with a smile, “It’s okay, Lauren. Just choose the gift that you like, I’ll pay for it.”
“What?” Lauren was astonished.
“It’s not a big deal. Just promise me that you’ll take good care of my sister.”
Lauren happily accepted Brucille’s offer. “Okay then, it’s a deal! The three of us are like sisters. If anyone in school dares bully Rainie, I’ll be the first one to fight them.”
“Lily will absolutely love this gift. It matches up to her elegance as the prettiest girl in our class,” Lauren added.
In the end, Rainie chose a furry stuffed toy. However, Brucille commented, “Rainie, this toy is for kids. I don’t think it’s a suitable gift. Although it looks big, it will affect your relationship with your friend.”
He then pointed to another counter and said, “In fact, I think this Longines watch would be a nice gift. It would look classy on a girl’s wrist. Why don’t you buy this one instead?”
Rainie whispered in his ear, “Are you crazy? This watch costs thousands! I’m not going to buy it!”
“Hi there, we would like to buy this watch,” Brucille suddenly said to the salesperson.
“You… “