Zhao stood up and said, "Come on, get on the scooter. Let's go to the doctor," saying this as he extended his hand toward Li.
Li looked at him in surprise, then took his hand and stood up. He helped her stand and then walked over the scooter.
She hopped on the scooter with one foot and sat down. He started the scooter.
"You can hold onto me, otherwise you'll fall again," he said to Li.
Slowly, Li moved her hand forward and lightly held onto him.
Zhao smiled.
They reached the doctor. The doctor began applying ointment to Li's wound with cotton.
"Ouch… ah," she tightly grabbed Zhao's hand as he stood beside her. He looked at her hand in surprise.
Zhao was riding the scooter. "Are you always this quiet?" Zhao asked.
"No, it's not like that," she said, and then fell silent.
After a while, they reached Li's home. She reached the elevator with the support of Zhao's hand.
They rang the doorbell. Li's mother opened the gate.
She opened the gate and went into her room.
"Was that your mother?" Zhao asked.
"Yes. Come inside," she said.
"No, I'll leave. Take care of yourself," he said and left.
Li went inside the house. Right in front of her, a glass vase lay broken. Everything was scattered around.
"Mom and Dad fought again," she said, trying to act casual.
She started sweeping up the broken glass. Suddenly, a piece of glass pricked her foot. She managed to sit on the sofa in front of her, crying uncontrollably.
She tried to remove the glass with her foot and screamed in pain, but no one came to her side.Hopping on one foot, she made her way to her room; her eyes were swollen from crying. She lay down on the bed, and as soon as she closed her eyes, she fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke up, she came out of her room and saw her mother working in the kitchen. After finishing her work, her mother started heading to her room.
"Wait, Mom," Li said.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Can we talk for a bit?"
Her mother went and sat on the sofa. Li hopped over on one foot and sat down as well.
She said to her mother, "Aren't you going to ask how I got hurt on my foot? Fine, forget it. You tell me—what happened to you?"
There was complete silence on the other side.
"Did you and Dad fight again?"
"No, I didn't fight," her mother shouted.
"Then tell me—where is Dad?"
"I don't know," her mother shouted.
"That's all I wanted to ask," she said, then went to her room and slammed the door shut.
As li was crying, she heard a knock at the door. She cleaned tears herself up and, with difficulty, went to the door. Standing in front of her was her best friend, Momo. She hugged her tightly .
"What happened? Why are you limping?" Momo asked, supporting her by the waist and helping her inside.
"What happened?" she asked again.
"Mom and Dad fought again," she replied.
"Oh, forget it. When I came home, the house was completely empty. I started cleaning, and somehow a piece of glass got stuck in my foot," she said nervously.
"Did you take the glass out?" Momo asked anxiously.
"Yes, I took it out," she replied.