Chapter 1353

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

The group arrived together at Zhang Yueran and Wang Erhai's house.

There were only three bedrooms and a living room here, so sleeping arrangements became an issue.

Wang Erhai and Zhang Yueran discussed it and finally decided: Zhang Yueran and Gu Wenqing would share a room, Li Xiulan would have a room, and the three brothers would squeeze into one room.

Gu Wenqing had no objection, and neither did Wang Dashan or Wang Xiaohua.

Li Xiulan, however, felt this wouldn't do — how could she occupy a whole room by herself?

So she proposed her own arrangement: Wang Erhai and Zhang Yueran would take the master bedroom, since they were the hosts and everyone else was a guest.

Then Wang Xiaohua and Wang Dashan would share a room, Gu Wenqing would have a room, and she would just sleep on the living room sofa.

Once Li Xiulan's arrangement was put forward, everyone naturally opposed it.

She was the family elder — how could they let her sleep in the living room? That was absolutely out of the question.

Wang Dashan said:

"Mom, Third Brother and I will sleep in the living room, you take the room! Anyway, no matter what, it's impossible to let you sleep in the living room — otherwise, wouldn't your three sons have been raised for nothing!"

Li Xiulan replied:

"No need, the sofa is fine for me. I like sleeping on the sofa — it feels soft, while the bed is a bit too hard!"

The few of them deadlocked in argument.

At this point Gu Wenqing took the initiative to propose:

"How about letting Auntie and I share a room? There's still some time tonight, and I want to communicate more with Auntie and gather more material."

Gu Wenqing made this request.

She genuinely wanted more contact with Li Xiulan.

After all, the information she got from Wang Xiaohua was too one-sided, too singular, not three-dimensional enough.

Hearing Gu Wenqing say this, a smile appeared on Li Xiulan's face:

"Wenqing, if you don't mind the old-person smell on me, that works — just afraid you'll look down on this old woman!"

Gu Wenqing smiled:

"Auntie, how could that be? Everyone grows old. I see you have a kind face — one look and you're clearly easy to get along with."

Wang Dashan grinned honestly:

"Teacher Gu, you're a guest from afar — just worried my mom might disturb your rest. Better you have a room, my mom a room, and Third Brother and I sleep in the living room. That division works best. Third Brother and I are grown men — sleeping one night in the living room is nothing. Back when I joined the army, I even slept outdoors for several days!"

Li Xiulan hurriedly said:

"Dashan, I know you feel heartache for me as your mother, but I also feel heartache for you boys. Let's just settle it like this — I'll share with Wenqing tonight, no fuss, no pretense. Early to bed, since we still have to go fetch the bride tomorrow morning!"

And so the matter was settled.

Before long the bedding was laid out, and Gu Wenqing and Li Xiulan lay on the same bed.

Gu Wenqing asked Li Xiulan:

"Auntie, do you usually go to sleep early?"

Li Xiulan replied:

"I generally sleep at ten o'clock."

Gu Wenqing said:

"It's only nine o'clock now, so that's still quite early. May I ask you some questions?"

Li Xiulan smiled:

"Ask away, ask away. I'll answer what I know. I heard from Xiaohua that you're creating some work — you little girl, you're really something!"

Gu Wenqing was a bit embarrassed by the praise:

"Auntie, I plan to create a literary work based on the circumstances of you and your husband, as well as your three sons, so I need to gather as much information as possible from you all."

Li Xiulan seemed to half-understand:

"Oh oh, a literary work — that's high-end stuff. Are us rural people even qualified to be used for creation?"

Gu Wenqing hurriedly said:

"Auntie, don't think like that. Every person's life can actually be a literary work! I heard from Xiaohua that you used to be the Village Beauty of Shangou Village — you must have been very pretty when you were young!"

Li Xiulan smiled, the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes deep as if carved by a knife:

"That was how many years ago? I don't even remember what I looked like when I was young!"

Gu Wenqing asked:

"Do you have any photos from when you were young?"

Li Xiulan thought for a moment:

"We took some when we got married, but never again after that, so there aren't any photos."

"I see... then can you tell me about your past?"

"From when should I start — from my childhood?"

"Just start from when you were pregnant with Xiaohua. Weren't you caught up in some troubles back then, some rumors and gossip..." Gu Wenqing guided patiently.

Li Xiulan's expression trembled slightly, her memory instantly returning to that summer when she carried Wang Xiaohua in her belly and went to the fields to pick mulberry leaves.

Yang Dafu's face — both greasy and ugly — remained vivid in her mind to this day.

"Back then, bitter days were one thing, but being slandered was another, and being slandered was one thing, but her own husband not trusting her..."

Li Xiulan first sighed with emotion, then told Gu Wenqing about what happened back then.

That upheaval which changed her life, she had kept bottled up inside for decades.

Before, she had never told anyone, and also felt too embarrassed to tell anyone.

After all, it was a shameful matter that couldn't see the light of day!

But tonight, she poured it all out to Gu Wenqing, and when she spoke of the grievances, she couldn't help but shed tears.

Gu Wenqing listened quietly at her side, not interfering too much, letting Li Xiulan have her say.

Li Xiulan's language was plain and unadorned, without excessive embellishment, but when she finished hearing Li Xiulan's recollection of that past upheaval, she too couldn't help but be moved.

In outsiders' eyes, that might just be idle tea-time gossip; whether Li Xiulan had unclean relations with He Dazhu and Yang Dafu didn't matter — everyone just treated it as entertainment to chat about.

But for Li Xiulan, this matter was a major turning point of fate.

Originally she and Wang Zhanggen were deeply in love, but after such a misunderstanding arose, a rift formed between them, and they could never return to their former relationship, even gradually evolving into a situation where they loathed the sight of each other.

It could be said that a single small rumor ruined Li Xiulan's entire lifetime.

"Auntie, back then you were so wronged, so hard-pressed — did you ever think of running away?"

Gu Wenqing asked Li Xiulan this one sentence at this moment.

"Run away?" Li Xiulan's expression trembled slightly, then she said: "How could I not have thought of it? Especially after I discovered my husband had another woman outside, almost every night I would wonder, should I run, just pat my buttocks and leave? But the moment I opened my eyes and saw my three sons, I knew I could never run away — I couldn't bear to part with them, they are a piece of flesh that fell from my body."

Gu Wenqing asked again at this time:

"I heard Xiao Hua say you also partnered with a man called Niu Chunsheng to open a shop, but later your husband caused the partnership to break up — is this true?"

Li Xiulan nodded:

"It's true. If Niu Chunsheng and I hadn't split up, this family would have escaped poverty and become wealthy at least ten years earlier — what a pity that in this lifetime, there are no ifs."

Gu Wenqing asked again:

"Can you tell me, when you and Niu Chunsheng partnered to open a shop back then, what kind of state was it? That is, did he have any other thoughts toward you, and what kind of thoughts did you have toward him?"

Gu Wenqing actually just wanted to ask whether Li Xiulan had ever fallen in love with Niu Chunsheng, and whether Niu Chunsheng had ever fallen in love with Li Xiulan.

This question is rather sensitive, so she asked it in a relatively tactful way.