Bai Naihan, upon hearing this, looked at his mother. “Mom, do you really think it’s a coincidence that Xia Yuhua got close to Gu Mingliang in just a few days?”
His eyes were bright, as if he could see through people’s hearts.
Moreover, Xia Yuhua had been passionate about someone else, and such relationships couldn’t develop in just a few days.
Liu Yuzhi was momentarily stunned and remained silent. After a while, she sighed, “Are you suggesting that Xia Yuhua has been involved with Comrade Gu for a while?”
Bai Naihan chose not to elaborate. He didn’t like tarnishing the innocence of a girl behind her back and simply said, “I didn’t have any special feelings for Xia Yuhua. It was just that you thought highly of her, so I tried to get along. Now you know my situation.”
He looked at his legs with a melancholy expression. “Instead of holding her back, it’s better for her to find someone else. Comrade Gu seems like a good person; I’ve heard he’s quite decent.”
“But how could she get involved with Comrade Gu without informing our family first? Isn’t that disrespectful to you?” Liu Yuzhi couldn’t accept the lack of courtesy.
The Bai family wasn’t morally corrupt, and Liu Yuzhi wouldn’t force a normal girl to marry Bai Naihan, who might not be able to stand up.
As long as Xia Yuhua came over and explained the situation properly, Liu Yuzhi, though feeling uneasy, wouldn’t object to the annulment of the engagement.
Liu Yuzhi bit her lip, feeling angry and regretful. People outside were speaking ill of her son, saying he was disabled and couldn’t find a wife before, and now he couldn’t even get married. Xia Yuhua had better options and abandoned Bai Naihan, making her son a pitiful soul that nobody wanted.
Liu Yuzhi was both furious and resentful, realizing she had been blind to think that Xia Yuhua genuinely liked her son.
‘Now it seems that she might have been attracted to my son because he was already a military officer at that time, able to bring family members with him, receiving a decent monthly allowance. Coupled with Bai Naihan’s genuinely impressive appearance, that’s probably why she set her sights on my son.’
Liu Yuzhi regretted her blindness; if she hadn’t insisted on having her son try to get along with Xia Yuhua back then, he wouldn’t have become the subject of jokes now.
Any conscientious girl wouldn’t simply ignore her fiancé’s leg injury without checking on him, let alone get involved with another man.
“I’m just furious now. Over these years, our family has given many gifts to the Xia family, totaling almost a hundred yuan. I’m just relieved that we didn’t give her the betrothal gifts during the New Year; otherwise, we might never get the money back now.”
Back then, the Xia family demanded a three-hundred-yuan betrothal gift. Comparing it to Yun Qinghuan’s gift, Liu Yuzhi reluctantly agreed but didn’t have that much money. She negotiated with the Xia family, promising to pay the betrothal money when the two children were about to get married. Now she was glad she hadn’t paid it yet.
The Xia family wasn’t pleased at the time, but Liu Yuzhi couldn’t produce the money, so they reluctantly agreed to wait for Liu Yuzhi to gather the money within a year or so.
Bai Naihan, watching his mother vent her frustration, smiled and comforted her, “Mom, don’t be angry. You should be glad that I saw her true colors before marrying her. If we were already married, and I faced trouble on the battlefield, she might abandon me even more heartlessly. You would have felt even more distressed then.”
Comforted by her son’s words, Liu Yuzhi’s mood improved a bit. “I can only try to find humor in this situation. Naihan, don’t worry too much now. Take good care of your legs. The doctor said that as long as you take good care of them, there’s a good chance they’ll get better.”
Although they might not fully recover, being able to walk would be a positive outcome.
Just as they were talking, An’an suddenly ran in, happily shouting, “Grandma, Uncle!”
The two adults stopped talking. Liu Yuzhi touched her grandson’s head, watching his carefree expression, and her mood improved even more. “What’s the matter, An’an?”
An’an pulled out a piece of paper and waved it at them. “Grandma, An’an wrote these characters!”
“Mom said An’an’s writing is excellent!”
The little one, being young, enjoyed showing off.
Bai Naihan who was next to them finished washing the dishes and wiped his hands clean. He took the paper from Bai Jin’an’s hands, looked at it, and was somewhat surprised. “An’an, you wrote really well!”
Indeed, it was neatly done.
The little one squinted happily.
Liu Yuzhi, recognizing some characters, also looked over and praised the little one, “Indeed, you wrote very well. Is this An’an’s name?”
Yun Qinghuan was making the bed, and after finishing, she prepared to read the newspaper at the table. She wanted to collect all the submission information from the newspaper, diversifying her options. Just like not putting all her eggs in one basket, if one submission didn’t work out, she could try another.
Before she could read the newspaper for long, Bai Jin’an, the little one, bounced in, holding the characters he had written. Seeing his joyful expression, Yun Qinghuan joked, “Were you praised by your grandma and uncle?”
He walked with a somewhat floating gait.
The little one covered his mouth, giggling.
Seeing him laugh, Yun Qinghuan couldn’t help but smile too.
She then let him sit on the bed, holding the newspaper, and read stories to him. The little one listened with great interest.
After about half an hour, he gradually fell asleep.
Once he was asleep, Yun Qinghuan carefully got off the bed, intending to read some high school books before going to sleep.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
Opening the door, she saw Liu Yuzhi standing there, holding the neatly folded clothes that Yun Qinghuan and the little one had changed out of.
Liu Yuzhi peeked inside, “Is An’an asleep?”
“Yes, mom. Thank you for helping me with the laundry.”
When Yun Qinghuan woke up in the morning and saw the clothes hanging in the yard, she guessed that her mother-in-law must have washed them.
She had intended to remember to collect the clothes in the afternoon, but got so engrossed in writing that she forgot.
Just before washing up, she had thought of getting the clothes from her mother-in-law’s courtyard later, but as soon as she started reading the newspaper, she forgot again.
Liu Yuzhi smiled, “No need to thank me. Naihan washed these clothes. While I was cooking in the morning, he said he’d wash them.”
Yun Qinghuan: “!!!”
Her eyes widened in shock.
Looking at her personal clothes inside the laundry, she felt speechless and embarrassed, her face suddenly flushing.
So, he washed these clothes?
After a moment, suppressing her emotions, Yun Qinghuan thanked Liu Yuzhi, “Anyway, thank you, Mom. Please thank Naihan for me as well.”
Coincidentally, at that moment, she heard the sound of Bai Naihan’s wheelchair moving. He was holding a basin and pouring water. Upon hearing her words, he silently looked over but didn’t say anything.
Yun Qinghuan happened to meet his gaze; his eyes were deep and mysterious. She quickly averted her eyes, pretending not to have seen.
Liu Yuzhi, unaware of the subtle interactions between the two, cheerfully said, “We’re all family. No need to thank anyone.”
She didn’t feel any awkwardness; after all, people in the countryside were not so particular. The clothes of the whole family were often washed together by one person.
∞
Translator Note
Next release
– Dec. 26
[Advance Chapters]
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∞
- Isaiah 40:28
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.”
