Chapter 421: Tonight I

"Roar—screech!"

Yang Yumin slammed on the brakes of his motorcycle on the narrow street, but due to his mediocre riding skills, the speeding bike skidded past his front gate by several meters before crashing down.

But he didn't care about that now—he dropped the motorcycle and sprinted toward home, his heart pounding with one desperate thought: She hasn't gone mad, has she? She hasn't gone mad, has she?

Just fifteen minutes earlier, Yang Yumin had been writing documents at work when he suddenly received a call from home—his mother had been crying and shouting: "Xiao Yue's been driven crazy by anger—come home right away!"

Yang Yumin, who had been immersed in paperwork, felt as if his soul had been ripped from his body—he didn't even bother to request leave, just bolted out the door. He didn't know how many red lights he'd run, or how fast he'd ridden—he only felt like the sky above him was about to collapse.

The longer Yang Yumin lived with Li Yue, the more he felt she was a girl blessed by eight lifetimes of fortune—someone so rare he'd been lucky to marry her. If anything happened to her, he'd kill someone.

But just as Yang Yumin dropped the motorcycle and reached the gate, he saw Li Yue, his mother, and his sister rushing out of the courtyard in panic—nearly colliding with each other.

"Where did you fall? Where did you hit?"

When Li Yue saw the crashed motorcycle, she immediately grabbed Yang Yumin and frantically checked him over from head to toe.

The motorcycle had already earned its "notorious" reputation—she couldn't help being terrified.

After scanning him twice and confirming he wasn't injured, Li Yue's anger exploded.

"Fine, Yang Yumin—you've really gotten good at this, huh? Learned both speeding and crashing in one day? What did I tell you before? Did you forget everything?"

The distance from Yang Yumin's workplace to home was fifteen to sixteen kilometers. Normally, because of Li Yue's strict warnings, he never exceeded fifty kilometers per hour—it took him over twenty minutes to get home.

But today, he arrived home just fifteen minutes after hanging up the phone—subtract the time it took him to push the motorcycle out of the office, and you tell me how fast he flew!

A motorcycle going a hundred kilometers per hour? That's playing with death!

So when they heard the screech and crash, the whole family had rushed out in panic—now if she didn't scold him hard, she wouldn't be Li Yue.

After being scolded by Li Yue, Yang Yumin's anxious heart finally settled.

Right now, Li Yue was perfectly normal.

"Wait—I'll pick up the motorcycle first, then we'll go inside and talk."

Yang Yumin turned back to lift the motorcycle. His sister Yang Yujiao ran over to help push it into the courtyard, muttering in distress the whole way.

"Brother, you've scratched off so much paint!"

This motorcycle wasn't just a vehicle—it held a status in the household like an ox or horse in ancient times. Yang Yujiao had been assigned to care for it daily, washing and polishing it to keep it gleaming and new.

Today, several deep scratches had appeared—little girl was heartbroken.

But Yang Huaiflower didn't care about scratches or paint loss—she grabbed her son and whispered urgently: "I told you days ago that Xiao Yue's been acting strange. Just now she was furious, then suddenly laughed. Look—has she lost her mind?"

Yang Yumin stole a glance at his wife, then said firmly: "No. When she's truly angry, a vein bulges on her left temple."

Yang Huaiflower pinched her son hard, exclaiming: "Don't be so careless! She can't get angry now—anger will ruin her health for life!"

Yang Yumin felt helpless. The elderly didn't understand science—they only clung to superstitious beliefs. As a son, he couldn't argue—he had to obey.

So he leaned close to Li Yue and whispered: "Don't be mad, okay? Whatever it is, let's talk it through slowly. I already said—if it comes to it, I'll quit my job."

"I was angry today—I was mad at Mother-in-law."

Li Yue's face hardened like a bad daughter-in-law as she pointed at Yang Huaiflower: "Mom today tried to sneak back home and not come back! Luckily I got home early."

She even said that once she returned, the folks in the east room would have no reason to stay in Beijing—but look at those people in the east room—are they really like that?"

"You went to college and came to Beijing—was it so your own family, who raised you for over ten years, would return to the countryside to suffer, just to make room for those old bastards in the west room to enjoy comfort?"

Li Yue went on muttering complaints about her mother-in-law, just like those women who, after quarreling with their mothers-in-law, vent to their husbands over pillows.

Yang Huaiflower was deeply embarrassed and quickly retorted: "No, no—I just wanted to go home and visit! Besides, I took money with me—I've got cash, so where would I suffer?"

As she spoke, Yang Huaiflower shot sharp glances at her daughter Yang Yujiao, warning her not to say another word, then reached into the inner pocket of her cotton coat and pulled out a cloth handkerchief wrapped tightly.

Inside the handkerchief was cash—about two or three hundred yuan.

Two or three hundred yuan in 1984 was no small sum—but compared to Yang Huaiflower's lifetime savings, it was barely a drop.

She'd left Li Yue several thousand yuan in a savings book.

Honestly, only Chinese parents would do something like this—no one else would be this foolish.

But when Yang Yumin saw the two or three hundred yuan in his mother's hand, he didn't react with the same frantic anger as Li Yue—he said coldly: "Mom, is that all the money you brought? Is there more?"

"Yes!"

Yang Huaiflower hurriedly patted her pockets and pulled out another thirty or forty yuan in change, with a train ticket tucked inside.

Before she could even finish, Yang Yumin snatched the entire bundle from her hand and yanked it away.

"You're leaving? What am I supposed to do if you leave? Are you trying to drive me to suicide? Do you think I won't quit my job and follow you back to the countryside to farm the moment you step out the door?"

Seeing his son's red eyes shouting accusations at him, Yang Huaiflower couldn't hold back—she raised her hand to wipe away tears.

"What else can I do? Xiao Yue's been angry these past few days—I've seen the red veins in her eyes growing thicker, and she eats less than before. This conflict can't go on forever—we have to find a way!"

"You must think about your reputation. I've asked several government workers—they said this kind of thing can have serious consequences. You've come this far—it's hard. I can't drag you down."

"Who are you listening to? What reputation? You've spent your whole life thinking of others and never yourself!"

Yang Yumin forced back his bitterness, his face stern as he handed the money and ticket to Li Yue, then turned to his sister: "You won't go to school these next few days. Stay home and watch over Mom—don't let her have any money."

Without money, she couldn't possibly return to the countryside.

"Don't worry, Brother—I'll watch her. I won't let her buy a ticket."

Yang Yujiao immediately agreed. She didn't want her mother to leave either! Living with Mom was nothing like living with Brother and his wife—it was living under someone else's roof!

After arranging this, Yang Yumin turned coldly toward the east room: "Are they home? I need to talk to them. No one stop me."

Li Yue sneered and shook her head: "They're not home. Probably went to look for Mom for dinner—we missed each other. They go back and forth by bus every day—don't they get tired of it?"

But Yang Yujiao, overhearing, added from the side: "They don't mind the trouble at all—riding the bus is fun!"

Whether riding the bus was fun depended on the situation.

When you're bored out of your mind, spending a few yuan to ride the city bus all day, watching people get on and off—it really cures loneliness.

Yang Huaiflower, watching her suddenly cold son, asked hesitantly: "Yumin, how are you going to talk to them?"

Yang Yumin slowly shook his head without speaking—but inside, he'd already decided to arrange for the Jia family to be "repatriated." As for reputation or consequences—he didn't care anymore.

I'll drive my own parents out if I want to—so what? I'm heartless and ungrateful—so what? If I don't get rid of them now, my own mother, who raised me for twenty years, will leave!

At that moment, footsteps sounded at the gate. The Jia couple, with their two sons and daughters-in-law, walked in with their sleeves tucked in.

They'd all arrived with sour expressions, but seeing the motorcycle in the shed, they softened slightly, muttering a few complaints under their breath.

"You didn't even say you were leaving—wasted our trip, wasted several jiao on bus fare. We came to help, not to eat for free."

"Enough, enough—let's get something to eat first. Then we'll go see a movie—it's just two steps from the door."

"What's left to eat? We don't even know if we'll have dinner tonight! It's freezing cold—go to the movies with an empty stomach? You'll catch a chill."

Yang Yumin heard this from the east room, clenched his teeth, adjusted his sleeve, and prepared to step forward—first politely, then forcefully. If they wouldn't leave, he'd have them arrested as vagrants for a few days—let them feel the power of the state machine.

But someone moved faster than him.

Li Yue shot out the door in a flash, smiling brightly: "We'll have dinner tonight—I'm about to cook! What do you want to eat?"

The Jia family stared at Li Yue's smiling face, utterly stunned.

Has the sun risen in the west? This tigress is cooking for us? Is she planning to poison us all with rat poison?

Finally, Jia Er said: "Instant noodles are fine."

"Instant noodles? I've got some on the bike—but just eating instant noodles won't do!"

Li Yue waved her hand generously: "I'll cook two more dishes—salted fish stewed with tofu, and Heilongjiang-style mixed stew. Yujiao, here's five yuan—go buy some tofu and two roast chickens."

Yang Yujiao took the five yuan numbly, then walked out dazedly to buy groceries.

She knew her sister-in-law hated the Jia family—what was going on today?

Yang Yumin stared, bewildered, as Li Yue vanished like a gust of wind into the kitchen.

"Mom, do you really think someone can go mad from anger?"

"Of course! Back in our village, Zhang the widow went crazy from anger!"

(End of Chapter)