80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches

Chapter 422 - 420: Giving Him a Way Out

Li Xiangyang thought for a moment and looked at her. "If you open another pastry shop here, are you planning to have Qiaohui come over?"

Lin Lan nodded. "Yes! Qiaohui is ready to handle things on her own. I want to open the shop here and let her manage it."

"Good."

The two of them returned to Yucai. Old Li and the others hadn’t arrived home yet, so the couple went straight to Yang Dingbang’s house. They found Yang Dingbang and Grandma Yang sitting on the sofa, watching TV.

Grandma Yang had already told Yang Dingbang what Dandan said to her. She warned him that if this kept up, Yang Xiaoman would start to feel resentful, and that in the long run, it would be bad for the two of them and for the baby.

The two of them, grandmother and grandson, had a frank talk. Yang Dingbang realized he’d been getting stuck in his own head and that he needed to do some self-reflection.

After Li Xiangyang greeted them, he and Yang Dingbang went to the study to talk. Lin Lan stayed with Grandma Yang in the living room, watching TV and making small talk.

By the time Old Li and the others returned, Li Xiangyang and Yang Dingbang still hadn’t come out of the study. Lin Lan said her goodbyes and went home, delivering the mushrooms intended for Yao Xiuyun.

Yao Xiuyun happily accepted the bamboo basket. "Thanks so much! Next year, I’ll definitely take some time off and go mushroom picking with you in Shilian."

Lin Lan gave her a playfully reproachful look. "You’d better not forget. If you try to back out, I’ll tie you up and drag you there myself."

"I won’t forget," Yao Xiuyun said, pulling her down to sit. "Did you hear what happened to Xie Tian?"

Lin Lan nodded. "Yes. Grandma Yang told me."

Yao Xiuyun sighed. "After meeting Xie Tian’s mother, I finally understand where Xie Tian got her unreasonable, self-important personality."

Lin Lan looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

Yao Xiuyun scoffed. "The moment Xie Tian’s mother arrived in East Market, she got right in Ding Bang’s face, calling him heartless and cruel. She claimed he knew Xie Tian regretted leaving and had come back to find him, but he was unforgiving and married someone else. She said he’s the one who drove Xie Tian to her death."

"She even claimed that Little Man and Ding Bang had been secretly together all along, and that’s why a heartbroken Xie Tian divorced him and went back to Yun Province. Others might not know the real reason for their divorce, but we certainly do!"

"But Ding Bang didn’t say a single word, just let her slander him and Little Man. When the woman showed up at their door making a scene that day, we all figured she was just lashing out because she was a mother who’d just lost her child. We understood she was in a terrible state, so Little Man didn’t argue with her."

"But who would have guessed that on the day of Xie Tian’s cremation, she would show up at the police station looking for Little Man, demanding she and Ding Bang go apologize before Xie Tian’s memorial. Ding Bang chased her to the station and threw the letter Xie Tian had left him in her face. Only then did she finally back down."

"The whole affair got so out of hand that Little Man’s parents found out. They came to the station that same day, took her home, and still won’t let her come back. And Ding Bang! He knows perfectly well that Little Man is pregnant, yet he let that woman cause a scene at the police station again and again. It’s like he was holding her over an open flame! What if something had happened to her? Ugh! I just don’t understand what on earth was going through his head."

Lin Lan shared what Grandma Yang had told her with Yao Xiuyun. "Ding Bang kept all of this from Grandma Yang. I think he was only being so patient with Xie Tian’s mother because she’d lost her daughter in her old age."

’Some people are just like that,’ she thought. ’Naturally selfish and domineering, with no self-awareness. They believe they’re never wrong—it’s always someone else’s fault.’

Yao Xiuyun sighed. "I think Ding Bang is just a fool sometimes. It’s a good thing Grandma Yang is so reasonable and understanding, otherwise Little Man would have a very hard time with the Yang family."

Lin Lan recalled how much Grandma Yang had helped her after she arrived. "You’re right, Grandma Yang is a truly wonderful person."

"Exactly!" Yao Xiuyun patted her chest and smiled. "I feel so much better talking to you about this. It’s been killing me keeping it all bottled up."

Lin Lan looked at her with a wide smile. "See? You only realize how important I am when I’m gone!"

Yao Xiuyun laughed and nodded. "You’re right! I’ll take you out for something delicious tomorrow."

The two women chatted for a little while longer before Li Xiangyang came to find her. The couple then started walking home together.

Li Xiangyang told Lin Lan that Xie Tian had committed suicide because she’d been diagnosed with cancer. The day she went to see Yang Dingbang, she had wanted to tell him everything—that she was leaving her house in Yun Province to Dandan after she died, and that she wanted to confess to Dandan that she hadn’t been a good mother...

Ding Bang felt that if he hadn’t sent her away, if he’d just offered a few words of comfort, she might not have resorted to suicide. He was blaming himself for that. He also deeply regretted letting Little Man be humiliated by Xie Tian’s mother.

Lin Lan scoffed. "Oh, so he *does* realize Little Man was humiliated by her mother! Why didn’t he stop to think that Little Man is pregnant? Which is more important, Little Man and his baby, or the feelings of Xie Tian’s mother?"

Li Xiangyang nodded. "I told him the same thing. Ding Bang is a great guy in every other respect, but he’s just too indecisive when it comes to relationships. If he weren’t, he wouldn’t have stayed single for so many years after his divorce. To put it selfishly, Xie Tian’s death was a blessing in disguise for him. Otherwise, he and Yang Xiaoman would never have known a moment’s peace."

Lin Lan thought about it for a moment. "You have a point," she said. "Xie Tian’s death really did give Ding Bang a new lease on life."

"Grandma gave him a good scolding this afternoon. He’s already gone over to his mother-in-law’s to beg for forgiveness." Li Xiangyang latched the courtyard gate, then turned, wrapped his arm around Lin Lan, and kissed her on the temple. "I get to sleep holding my wife tonight, but that poor guy Ding Bang is probably going to be punished by kneeling."

"Keep your voice down! Dad’s light is still on," Lin Lan said, her face flushing as she pinched his side.

"Ouch!" Li Xiangyang rubbed the tender spot on his waist and whispered in her ear, "Honey, you can’t pinch there. If you break it, you’ll be the one who loses out!"

Speechless, Lin Lan rolled her eyes at him and walked toward the front door.

"Sigh. No one ever wants to hear the truth," Li Xiangyang said with a laugh as he hurried after her.

****

The sky had already grown dark. After descending from the summit, Wu Shufang and her group had only made it halfway down the mountain. They found a cave to take shelter in for the night.

Everyone heated the dry rations they’d brought over the fire and ate them with some hot water. Then, Wu Shufang and Xu Hongju put the three children to bed and lay down themselves.

Zhou Shitou and Zhou Dashu sat talking in front of the fire.

"It’s so difficult to get out of these mountains. If the commune over there could finish the road to East Market, the path from that direction wouldn’t be nearly as steep."

Zhou Dashu scoffed. "Finish the road? That’ll be the day. When pigs fly." He turned to look at Zhou Shitou. "Grandpa told me Shi Song went to East Market to find work. How’s he doing over there?"

Zhou Shitou thought for a moment before replying, "My cousin found them a courtyard to live in through her production brigade. He and his wife help my other cousins with their work, and the two of them make a few yuan a day."

’He suspected that Eldest Granduncle had let Zhou Dashu tag along for a specific reason, so he didn’t tell him the whole truth. He was also afraid that if word got back to Li Xiaofeng’s family, her parents would come looking for them.’

Zhou Dashu’s eyes lit up when he heard that. "A few yuan a day? How can the pay be that high? Even just a few yuan a day really adds up! How much is it, exactly?"

After all, "a few yuan" could mean two or three, or it could mean eight or nine...