Chapter 232: 1990: A Family by the Spring Chapter 232: Cherish it well, don't let her down

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"Alright, stop crying. Crying too much isn't good for the baby."

Lin Xiyu saw that her emotions had stabilized quite a bit, and her heart settled slightly: "Don't leave today, just stay at my place. Guben isn't here, we'll sleep together."

"Mm."

Wu Meng's eyes flashed with gratitude. She wiped her tears with her hand and revealed a smile.

—

After settling Wu Meng, Lin Xiyu thought it over and still called Guben, asking him to tell her the whereabouts of Li Liang's wife.

Li Liang came faster than expected; that very evening he knocked on the door of Lin Xiyu's home.

"Li Liang, although as an outsider, some words aren't quite appropriate for me to say, and you'll feel uncomfortable hearing them, I still have to say it. Mengmeng has waited for you so many years; it really hasn't been easy."

Lin Xiyu opened the door and saw it was him; her anger immediately couldn't be suppressed, and she scolded him thoroughly.

"She works very well in Shanghai and has quite a few suitable members of the opposite sex pursuing her. She didn't lack the opportunity to choose a better life. It's just that she has always had you in her heart, sincerely loving you, which is why she waited for you so many years without complaint or regret."

"I don't know how difficult your parents' situation is, and I can't lightly judge them. But no matter how much weight they carry in your heart, you can't therefore mistreat your own wife."

"Mengmeng is your wife, and the mother of your future child. Because she loves you, she willingly gave up everything and returned from Shanghai. And because she loves you, she wants to give birth to a child belonging to the two of you."

"Whether this child is a boy or a girl, they are the crystallization of your love, the continuation of your feelings, and an inseparable bond."

"Sometimes I really envy you. You can easily have your own child, while this is a luxury that Guben and I find difficult to achieve even by praying to gods and Buddhas..."

"Cherish it well. Don't let Mengmeng down. Don't hurt her anymore. If this time you still can't make the right choice and thoroughly resolve the conflict between her and your mother-in-law, I'll send her back to Shanghai, let her stay away from that home, that place that exhausted her, made her lose her smile, and took away her past joy."

—

"I know my mom went a bit too far this time. Can you let me in to say a few words to Mengmeng?"

Li Liang was scolded from head to toe by her, and the teasing made him unable to save face. His dark face, weathered by years of wind and sun, actually turned a shade of greenish-red and purple like pig liver.

"Your mom didn't just go a bit too far; she went too far."

Lin Xiyu was still not appeased, blocking the doorway without moving.

"I know..."

Li Liang awkwardly tugged at the corners of his mouth: "Mengmeng was wronged this time."

"Mengmeng has always been wronged."

Lin Xiyu felt indignant for her friend: "I know her temperament best. Once she sets her heart on someone, she throws herself in wholeheartedly and considers everything for him."

"She's like that to outsiders too. If someone treats her with a bit of kindness, she returns it tenfold. She's never had a single scheming thought or wanted to plot against anyone."

"If it weren't for your family bullying her so badly, would she have been unable to endure it? She ran out of the house crying like that while pregnant. The child is innocent. Your mom wanted her to abort the child, not fearing karmic retribution or divine punishment!"

—

"My mom was just speaking in anger; she didn't really want to abort the child."

Li Liang felt guilty and uneasy, subconsciously defending his mother.

"If she didn't really think that, she wouldn't have said it."

Lin Xiyu sneered: "I'll advise you on one thing. Words like these, when you see Mengmeng later, it's best not to say them. Mengmeng won't believe such excuses anymore. She's been hurt enough by you all. Don't use these insincere words to fool her."

"Cough, cough."

Li Liang was embarrassed and coughed twice awkwardly.

"Xiyu, who came?"

Grandma Gu listened to the conversation outside from the living room through the window. Feeling the time was about right, she pretended not to know, lifted the curtain, and glanced toward the doorway.

"Mengmeng's partner has come to find her..."

Lin Xiyu understood, stepped aside, and made way at the door.

"Is it Xiao Liang? What are you standing at the doorway for? Come in quickly."

Grandma Gu had an impression of Li Liang. He was Guben's childhood friend and often came to play at their house when he was young.

"Hello, Grandma..."

Li Liang felt as if granted a great pardon. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and, following her meaning, stepped across the threshold.

"It's been many years since we last saw each other..."

Grandma Gu smiled very kindly and benevolently: "Xiao Liang looks sturdier than before. Walking down the street, Grandma wouldn't even dare recognize you."

"Grandma, you're still so young..."

Li Liang smiled and flattered: "It's been over ten years. You haven't changed at all."

"Grandma is over seventy years old, and my hair is all white. I can't refuse to admit I'm old."

Grandma Gu was happy to hear this, and the corners of her eyes crinkled with smiles.

"Where's Ruirui?"

Li Liang glanced into the living room: "Why don't I see him? Is he not home?"

"He went out to play and hasn't come back yet."

Grandma Gu pretended to complain: "He's also a little monkey, wilder than you all were when you were young. Once he runs out, he doesn't want to go home."

"It's boys, being a bit mischievous is good..."

Li Liang's eyes visibly lit up when he said the word "boys": "Mischievous children are smart, just like Guben was when he was young."

"Xiao Bin was too naughty, giving people headaches..."

Grandma Gu narrowed her eyes and deliberately steered the topic toward girls: "Speaking of this, actually I like girls deep in my heart. When people get old, they know the goodness of daughters. No matter how filial a son is, he's not as thoughtful as a daughter."

"What Grandma said makes sense....."

Li Liang's eyes flickered, his smile a bit stiff.

"As long as you think it makes sense......"

Grandma Gu looked at him profoundly, smiling meaningfully.

Li Liang didn't know why, but looking at Grandma Gu's smile felt a bit creepy, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

"Mengmeng is inside the room, go in......"

Grandma Gu stopped there, not saying anything more.

"Ah, ah, okay."

Li Liang let out a breath of relief, gave an embarrassed laugh, lifted the curtain, and entered the room.

——

Lin Xiyu and Grandma Gu moved a small horse stool to sit in the yard, fanning themselves with big cattail fans, seemingly cooling off, but actually keeping constant watch on the movements inside the room.

Before long, Wu Meng's soft sobbing indeed came from the living room.

Lin Xiyu subconsciously stood up from the horse stool, wanting to get closer to hear more clearly.

Grandma Gu mistakenly thought she wanted to go inside, grabbed her with one hand, and shook her head at her.

"Mengmeng's heart is too soft......"

Lin Xiyu's eyes showed worry: "I'm afraid she'll be sweet-talked by Li Liang, nothing gets resolved, and she goes back home with him again."

"That's also their business as a married couple......"

Grandma Gu knew perfectly well: "We shouldn't meddle too much; we've said what needed saying, whether she goes back or not depends on her own wishes."

"If she compromises again this time, she'll really have no good days ahead."

Lin Xiyu was deeply worried: "That mother-in-law of hers is no easy character; even if she doesn't say anything out of face for her son, she won't give her a good look, and if Mengmeng makes the slightest mistake, it'll stir up trouble again."

"That's also her own choice......"

Grandma Gu sighed gloomily: "A couple living together, stumbling through a lifetime, one person is strong, the other has to endure; to live in peace, one person always has to give more."

"Giving has to have returns to work."

Lin Xiyu deliberately spoke very loudly, so the people inside could hear: "You can't just give blindly; you have to see if that person is worth it. Blindly wronging yourself won't win others' sympathy, it'll only make your life more bitter, more tiring, more stifling."

"That's true too......"

Grandma Gu saw through her thoughts and also raised her voice, singing in harmony with her: "A woman's life, ah, isn't easy; it's better to think more for yourself. In this day and age, as long as you have money in hand, there's no man you can't live without......"

"Grandma, you're so right......"

Lin Xiyu and Grandma Gu exchanged a tacit look, continued shouting at the top of their lungs toward the living room: "A woman's most foolish behavior is giving up her own career for the family. Stay-at-home wife sounds nice, but it's not much different from a full-time nanny. A whole family to serve; if you meet a husband who treats his wife well, it's okay, but if you run into one whose heart is blinded by pig oil, who only favors his own relatives and treats his wife as an outsider, then those days, there's just no living them."

"For a couple to live good days, the most crucial thing is still the man......"

Grandma Gu had lived a lifetime, saw more clearly: "If the head of the family can't hold things up, encounters something, and just keeps yielding, the wife and children all have to suffer along."

"I feel Guben does this point pretty well......"

While taking a dig at someone, Lin Xiyu conveniently praised her own husband: "Us two together, he's never let me suffer a bit of grievance. No matter what happens, he always puts me first, believes me, supports me."

"My old man wasn't bad before either....."

Grandma Gu quickly caught the rhythm, chiming in with praise: "Don't look at him being a soldier when young, uneducated, looking like a rough big shot; to me he was truly faultless. Us two this lifetime never reddened faces; even with little frictions, it was always him yielding to me, not once letting me feel heartbroken and shed tears."

——

The two grandparents and grandchild sang in harmony; the crying in the living room gradually stopped, gradually there was no more movement.

After a while, Li Liang walked out from inside with a dark face, lifting the curtain: "Mengmeng, please take care of her for now, I have something at home, I'll come see her in a couple days."

"Okay."

One look at his appearance and Lin Xiyu knew her scheme had worked.

Wu Meng had finally thought it through, didn't compromise easily, wasn't coaxed back home by him in a few words.

"Leaving just like that?"

Grandma Gu also stood up from the horse stool, smiling: "Not staying a bit longer? Say a few more words to your wife?"

"No need."

Li Liang twitched his mouth corners, forced out a trace of a smile: "Grandma you rest early too, I'll treat you properly to thank you after Guben comes back."

"What thanks not thanks....."

Grandma Gu feigned reproach: "Being polite with Grandma; Grandma watched you grow up from little, never treated you as an outsider. Mengmeng staying here you can rest assured, I'll cherish her like my own child......"

"Thank you, Grandma."

Li Liang gave an awkward laugh, said a few more polite words, and left the old house.

——

Living room.

"Mengmeng, how did you two chat?"

"What did Li Liang say? Did he agree to the house buying group?"

Lin Xiyu and Grandma Gu watched him leave the yard gate, almost simultaneously turned around, and rushed into the living room.

"He agreed."

Wu Meng's eyelids were swollen from crying; seeing the two enter, she somewhat embarrassedly wiped the tear stains on her face with the back of her hand.

Lin Xiyu handed her a tissue, smiled with relief: "Good that he agreed; I was just afraid your heart's too soft, seeing him come in the dead of night, couldn't bear to disappoint him, nothing resolved, and you'd go back with him again."

"Speaking of it, still have to thank you guys."

Wu Meng's eyes showed gratitude: "At first I was a bit hesitant, just afraid Liangzi would really be swayed by his mom, want to marry another, give him a son. It was the words you said outside that woke me up, made me set my determination, and confront him."

"How did you put it to him?"

Grandma Gu pulled a chair and sat down, looking at her with great interest.

"I said......"

Wu Meng felt a bit embarrassed under her gaze and spoke up.

"Say what?"

Grandma Gu, under the pretext of concern, blatantly pried for gossip.

"Actually didn't say anything much......"

Wu Meng touched her nose and smiled sheepishly: "I just said one sentence: if we don't buy a house and move out to live separately, I won't go back with you."

"That's right......"

Grandma Gu nodded in agreement: "One sentence hit the nail on the head; separating is the most important thing. As long as you don't live together, your mother-in-law can do whatever she wants — out of sight, out of mind."

"Mm-hmm."

Wu Meng listened happily, nodding repeatedly.

"Li Liang wants to persuade his mom; probably won't be easy."

Lin Xiyu saw more clearly: "These next few days there'll still be a fuss; you'd better be prepared. The house — eighty percent chance — you two will still have to pay for it yourselves."

"I've thought about this too....."

Wu Meng nodded: "If it really comes to it, we'll sell the Shanghai apartment and buy a new one in Jinan."

Lin Xiyu's eyes showed surprise: "You sell the house; where will you live when you go back to Shanghai?"

"I'm not going back to Shanghai."

Wu Meng struggled for a long while and gave an unexpected answer.

"Why?"

Lin Xiyu could hardly believe it: "Didn't we just say before that if they bully you again, you'd go back to Shanghai and not stay with him?"

"I thought about it......"

Wu Meng's round little face rarely showed a few degrees of determination: "Can't just give up like this, vacate my own spot and let another woman have it. As long as Liangzi doesn't say divorce, I won't divorce. I'll even find ways to be good to him, make him unable to leave me."

"As for his family, the more they dislike daughters, the more I have to give birth to the girl, raise her fair and chubby, and let her sway before their eyes every day. As long as I don't get angry, they're the ones who'll be angry."

"I just want to let them watch with their own eyes how well we mother and daughter live, how sweet our family of three is. I want to use this method to prove my choice wasn't wrong, that all these years of waiting were worth it, that I have the ability to manage my marriage well, and the ability to protect my child......"

——

"Clap clap clap."

Lin Xiyu applauded in appreciation: "Mengmeng, you've finally woken up. This speech of yours makes one look at you with new eyes."

"Thinking like this is right."

Grandma Gu's eyes also brightened; she praised without stinginess: "With these words of yours, Grandma can rest easy. From now on you won't suffer losses in their house, and you won't have to live watching your mother-in-law's face anymore."