Chapter 193: Grievances

When Cheng Jingmo returned to his room after taking a bath, Yu Xiangnian was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, her eyelashes trembling.

Cheng Jingmo knew she wasn’t asleep, so he lay down next to her and hugged her tightly. “Xiangnian, I’m sorry.”

Yu Xiangnian didn’t respond.

Cheng Jingmo continued, “I’ll piece the papers together and rewrite them tomorrow.”

Yu Xiangnian, eyes still closed, asked, “How long do you plan to stay here?”

Cheng Jingmo sensed the underlying meaning in Yu Xiangnian’s words—she didn’t want to stay here any longer.

He said, “Give me two or three more days. Once I finish handling things, we’ll leave.”

Yu Xiangnian replied, “I’m not in the wrong. I won’t forgive her.”

She said this to prepare Cheng Jingmo mentally for what she intended to do to Zhang Hongli.

When the time came, the house would surely be in chaos again.

Cheng Jingmo responded, “Yeah, I know.”

Yu Xiangnian said, “I don’t understand why, from the first day we arrived here, she’s had hostility toward me. I can feel it.”

Cheng Jingmo buried his head in her shoulder and said in a muffled voice, “I shouldn’t have had any expectations from them.”

In another room.

Cheng Huazi’s anger hadn’t subsided.

Tonight, Cheng Jingmo had made him lose face in front of the family, and the resentment had been building up inside him.

Mu Huanzhen, looking at Cheng Huazi, who was squatting on the floor smoking, scolded, “Can’t you smoke a little less? The room is filled with smoke!”

Cheng Huazi retorted, “Shut up! If it weren’t for you indulging the third son’s wife in doing such things, would things have turned out this way?”

“You’re taking your frustrations out on me because you’re angry at Jingmo?” Mu Huanzhen’s tone was sharp. “If you had sold him years ago, there’d be no need to buy him back. It’s infuriating!”

Cheng Huazi knocked his tobacco pipe against the edge of the bed and warned, “Stop bringing up the past! Are you tired of living a good life?”

Mu Huanzhen responded, “A good life? His wife is the one living well. What isn’t good about what she wears and uses? She hasn’t even washed a bowl since coming home!”

“Jingmo was a leader in the army with a high salary, all of which she spent! Back then, we should have sent Shuanchun to the army. If we weren’t going to marry him off, why let others enjoy the good life?!”

Cheng Huazi, feeling a headache coming on, said, “I told you to stop bringing up the past!”

Mu Huanzhen opened and closed her mouth several times before finally saying, “Anyway, we raised him after bringing him back. On that basis alone, we’re right wherever we go!”

Cheng Jingmo fetched water three times early in the morning and washed the clothes he had changed out of last night.

He thought Yu Xiangnian was still asleep, so he quietly opened the door to get the manuscript papers and piece them together.

When he opened the door, he was stunned to find the bed empty.

He touched the bed—the bedding was already cold, indicating that Yu Xiangnian had gotten up early.

The first thought that crossed his mind was: Yu Xiangnian left in anger!

No way!

He reassured himself: Yu Xiangnian wouldn’t leave without telling him.

He went out of the room to ask Laowu if he had seen Yu Xiangnian.

Laowu said, “She left as soon as you went out to fetch water.”

Cheng Jingmo then asked Xiao Jie, “Did your aunt say anything to you?”

“No,” Xiao Jie said, looking worried. “My aunt hasn’t left, has she?”

“Hopefully not. I’ll go look for her.”

“I’ll go too!”

The two men, one large and one small, searched and inquired along the way.

After asking several people, they learned that Yu Xiangnian had gone toward the village entrance.

The two of them rushed to the village entrance but still didn’t see her.

A villager who had seen her said, “I saw your wife getting on a carriage.”

Here, carriages generally only go to the countryside; to go elsewhere, one would need a wagon.

Cheng Jingmo asked, “Was she alone in the carriage, or was there someone else with her?”

He asked to confirm whether Yu Xiangnian had gone to the countryside.

“There were a few women with her; I saw them chatting,” the villager replied.

So, Yu Xiangnian had indeed gone to the countryside.

From there, she could catch a bus to the county town, and from the county town, there were buses to Su City, and Su City had trains…

What if Yu Xiangnian encountered something dangerous on her own?

Realizing this, Cheng Jingmo grew anxious.

Fortunately, today wasn’t a market day in the village, so there was only one carriage going to the countryside.

The village had two carriages, and the other one was idle.

Cheng Jingmo asked around and finally found the carriage driver’s house. He hired the available carriage to head to the countryside.

Meanwhile, Yu Xiangnian was sitting in the carriage, enjoying the scenery along the way.

Spring here came much later than in Nan City. In recent days, the trees had just started to bud and the mountains on both sides of the road had turned greener.

The carriage hit a large pit and jolted violently.

Yu Xiangnian was tossed high and then landed heavily on the seat. The wooden bench made her buttocks hurt.

Last night, she had been brooding over her troubles and hadn’t slept well. She woke up at dawn.

Her first thought upon waking was that she missed her parents.

At home, she had never experienced any grievances.

Whenever her brothers raised their voices even slightly, her father would reprimand them!

At home, she had the best of everything—food, clothing, and care. Here, she didn’t even care about her needs, and now someone dared to bully her?!

When she got off the carriage, her first stop was the local post office.

It wasn’t Sunday, so her parents were at work.

Last time she was in Shanghai, she had noted down the number for the office of Yu Jianshun.

This time, she directly called the number for Yu Jianshun’s office.

When the call connected, she heard Yu Jianshun’s familiar voice.

“Dad, it’s me.”

She didn’t realize her voice carried a hint of grievance, but Yu Jianshun, who was a devoted father, immediately detected it.

“Xiangnian, have you been wronged?”

Yu Xiangnian naturally wouldn’t admit it.

She was an adult and capable of solving her own problems.

She simply missed them.

Moreover, being so far away, telling them wouldn’t help her situation and would only add to their worries.

“No, I just miss you and wanted to give you a call.”

Yu Jianshun didn’t press her further. “The family misses you too. When will you be back?”

“I’ll be here for another two or three days.”

“And Cheng Jingmo?” Yu Jianshun asked.

“He’s at home. I came to the countryside to call you.”

At this, Yu Jianshun was certain Yu Xiangnian was upset, having come out on her own.

“Be careful out there. Don’t wander around; return home as soon as you’re done with the call!”

He said this, but in his heart, he was cursing: Cheng Jingmo, I entrusted my daughter to you, and you failed to take good care of her, letting her be wronged?! You wait!

After chatting with Yu Jianshun for a while, Yu Xiangnian asked for Zhao Ruozhu’s office number before hanging up.

She called Zhao Ruozhu and talked for a while.

As soon as Yu Xiangnian hung up, Zhao Ruozhu dialed Yu Jianshun’s office number.