Chapter 280: Clearing Up Past Grievances

Wang Lan looked at the emaciated woman and let out a soft sigh.

Her body bore the marks left by the torment of illness.

But this child is quite cute.

Wang Lan's father said, "This is your nephew; he looks exactly like you did as a child!"

Hearing this, Wang Lan awkwardly forced a smile, unsure how to react, having never experienced elder's concern and not knowing how to care for juniors.

Wang Lan's sister suddenly rose, holding the child as she knelt before him.

Tears streamed down.

"I will make it up to you for the rest of my life; come home with me, please, I'm begging you!"

Seeing Wang Lan unmoved, she added, "I don't want the house; all the family money will be yours. Mom and Dad's old-age care won't be your worry—I'll handle everything. Brother, think it over, okay?"

"I..."

Wang Lan wanted to speak but held back.

His heart wavered, moved by the woman before him.

He really wanted to go home and see what the home he'd missed for over a decade was like.

At the crucial moment, Wang Lan's mother struggled to tumble off her wheelchair.

She had lost both legs, yet she stubbornly prostrated herself on the ground, crying to Wang Lan, "Son, give me a chance to make up for you!"

"Son, come home with Dad; your grandparents heard you were found and stayed up all night happy, and the whole village has prepared firecrackers, waiting to welcome you back!"

Wang Lan's father also knelt, gripping Wang Lan's hand tightly as he spoke.

This is Wang Lan's own matter; the brothers can't decide for him, fearing he might blame them later.

Several other couples of parents secretly shed tears, and sobs filled the private room.

Wang Lan went through repeated anguish.

He suddenly turned his head to look at the brothers.

His gaze had already surrendered, yet it was full of guilt.

It felt as if deciding to go home was a betrayal of the brothers and of Li Jiaci's nurturing kindness.

At that moment, Zhang Chuqiang laughed and said, "Little Wang Lan, look at what we few do—this decision is yours to make; no matter what you choose, we brothers will support you!"

"Exactly, don't burden yourself mentally; even if you go home, we're still brothers!"

Li Yihu patted his shoulder.

Wang Lan's eyes glistened with tears as he looked at his father and nodded.

The private room instantly erupted in an uproar.

He was the first child to agree to go home.

This gave hope to others.

Wang Lan's father couldn't rise from his long kneeling, choking up as he said, "Thank you for willing to come home with me, thank you, my son!"

Usually blunt and carefree, Li Yihu couldn't help but redden his eyes at this sight.

As he was wiping his tears, a white-haired, stooped old man shuffled over.

"My grandson, you have suffered these years..."

Behind the old man followed a middle-aged woman in tattered clothes.

The woman seemed disabled, her gait strange; she uttered not a word from start to finish, merely silently watching Li Yihu shed tears.

The old man was about to kneel when Li Yihu hurriedly stopped him, saying, "What are you doing? Trying to shorten my life?"

"It's this worthless old man who's wronged you; let me kneel and apologize!"

"I tell you, that trick might work on my little brother, but it won't work on me, got it?"

Li Yihu sprang up and retreated to the side.

He feared that if the old man knelt on him, it would shave decades off his lifespan.

The old man pulled the woman forward and said, "This is your mother; she was born with disabled legs and is also deaf-mute. Not long after giving birth to you, she was abducted to Ye Cun. Our whole family went out searching, leaving you with the neighbors, but then we suddenly heard the terrible news that you had been snatched by traffickers!"

"Who would kidnap a child and not sell him, but instead dump him at an orphanage?"

Zhao Chen asked bluntly.

The old man wiped his tears and explained, "It was my foolish son, who thought a child without a mother couldn't be raised, so he stole the child from the neighbors and left him at the orphanage's door. These years he got his comeuppance—a tumor grew in his brain, and he died of cancer the year before last."

Li Yihu heard this and asked indifferently, "Then you never thought to look for me?"

"Of course we looked; we ran through four or five cities, searching for your mother and your whereabouts on the side!"

"Later, following leads from citizens, we found your mother in Ye Cun, but by then she had already borne three children for others, her body covered in sores, and just treating her illness had taken years!"

"Your grandmother wore herself out to death, leaving only me, this worthless old man, with no recourse..."

"I even care so much for an outsider daughter-in-law; how could I not want my grandson?"

The old man cried so hard he nearly fainted several times.

Looking at their attire, they were indeed poor.

Li Yihu gazed at the woman before him and had to admit they shared some resemblance.

Especially the brows and eyes.

If it weren't for that bastard father sending him to the orphanage, perhaps he would have depended on his grandfather, together seeking his mother's whereabouts.

Li Yihu felt torn inside; his fate ought not to be this way.

Moreover, those who committed faults have already received retribution, having paid their debts in the netherworld.

But the more Li Yihu thought this way, the more his mind flashed with scenes of Li Jiaci dragging him up as he grew.

The anguish made him almost unable to breathe.

Li Jiaci, despite having no blood relation, regarded him as his own brother, preferring to starve himself rather than let him go hungry.

If he just went back home like that, how could he live up to Li Jiaci's nurturing kindness?

Thinking of this, Li Yihu shook his head and said, "I can't go back with you!"

"Grandson, do you think our family is too poor? My house is about to be demolished; when the time comes, I will give you all the demolition compensation without holding back for you to spend. I don't want the allocated house either—you can sell it for money or keep it for yourself; all of this is what we owe you!"

The old man kept saying, and then wanted to kneel down to him.

Li Yihu this time held his arm, and after several hesitations he said, "The kindness of upbringing outweighs heaven; even if you have countless difficulties, the one who gave me life is my elder brother—I cannot abandon him!"

"He is your elder brother, that is my grandson; giving him a set of rooms would be considered repaying his kindness!"

"Heh, you think one set of rooms can repay my elder brother's kindness? You're daydreaming!"

This was said by Liu Jiang.

He coldly eyed that old man and continued, "Not to mention a set of rooms—even if you gave him your life, it would still not be enough to repay his kindness!"

"That's right, my elder brother risked his life for us several times, nearly being hacked to death by random blades; without him we wouldn't even know how many times we would have died!"

Li Yihu nodded.

The old man let out a helpless sigh.

"But your elder brother, in order to reunite us, has also exhausted all his efforts!"

Li Yihu froze for a moment; those words were actually not wrong.

What should he ultimately choose?