Chapter 65 : Can’t Hide The Smile

Liang Qingqing crouched in front of Liang Junqiang, staring at him without blinking, pouting and playfully scolding, “Get up already.”

Hearing this, Liang Junqiang and Fan Yanxing were both at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Although Liang Qingqing’s words were always casual, she had a knack for making people feel better.

“Junqiang, get up,” Fan Yanxing said, grabbing Liang Junqiang’s arm and pulling him up. But since Liang Junqiang had been kneeling for so long, his legs were numb and unstable, causing his large body to sway a bit. At that moment, a little kid named Songzi ran over, holding up Liang Junqiang’s waist with both hands and asking in confusion, “Did Uncle make a mistake?”

Although their family didn’t have a rule about kneeling as punishment, other families did. For instance, his best friend Huto often got punished by kneeling by his parents. So Songzi instinctively thought that Uncle must have done something wrong to be kneeling.

“Songzi, what are you talking about? Your uncle didn’t do anything wrong,” Wang Xiaomei said as she came over to take Songzi away. She was relieved when she saw Liang Junqiang finally standing firm. Even though he was her brother-in-law, it wasn’t appropriate for her to help him up due to gender propriety. Fortunately, Fan Yanxing was nearby.

“Be good, Songzi,” Liang Junqiang said, unsure how to explain the situation to a child. He could only manage a forced smile and pat Songzi on the head.

“We’ll just leave it at that. I’m not taking it to heart, so don’t dwell on it too much,” Liang Qingqing shrugged and then glanced at Liang Junqiang. It was clear she was speaking directly to him.

Losing a spouse, especially for such unspoken reasons, must have been a significant psychological blow for Liang Junqiang. But there was nothing to be done, he could only come to terms with it in his own time.

Liang Qingqing said no more and took Songzi’s hand. “Let’s go. Auntie will take you to continue drawing. You didn’t finish drawing the little turtle just now.”

Hearing this, Songzi’s eyes lit up, and he excitedly bounced along with Liang Qingqing towards the room. “Auntie, I drew a lot while you didn’t let me come out. Look!”

“Alright, but if it’s not good, you won’t get any candy.”

The earlier chaos had been overwhelming, and Liang Qingqing was worried that the child might be scared, so she had kept Songzi in the room to keep drawing. If the drawings were good, she’d give him some candy.

Seeing Liang Qingqing and her son continuing to do what they were doing as if nothing had happened and Wang Xiaomei realized that she really didn’t seem to be taking the matter to heart. She let out a deep sigh of relief and then glanced at the remaining two people in the house before tentatively saying, “I haven’t finished washing clothes yet, so I’ll go do that.”

“Sister-in-law, go ahead,” Liang Junqiang said. He always respected his older brother and sister-in-law, and even though he couldn’t smile, he managed a slight curve at the corners of his mouth.

Wang Xiaomei nodded and turned to walk towards the backyard.

For a moment, the previously noisy courtyard was left with only Liang Junqiang and Fan Yanxing. Liang Junqiang wiped his face, his brow furrowed and his expression weary. He spoke in a low voice, “Yanxing, I owe you an apology. I didn’t expect Shumin and the others to…”

Before he could finish, Fan Yanxing interrupted him, “Junqiang, we don’t need to discuss this. We’ve already said this has nothing to do with you. Don’t take the blame on yourself. It’ll not only drive you to the brink but also exhaust everyone else.”

Liang Junqiang pressed his lips together, lowering his gaze. He had to admit that Fan Yanxing was right.

“When do you plan to tell Dad and Mom about you and Qingqing? I’m worried there might be similar issues in the future,” Liang Junqiang adjusted his emotions and asked a long-standing question.

Hearing this, Fan Yanxing gave a wry smile, a trace of helplessness flickering across his face. “I’d prefer to make it public sooner rather than later.”

This implied that Liang Qingqing didn’t want to go public yet. Liang Junqiang scratched his head in surprise, just as Fan Yanxing voluntarily provided an answer, “But it won’t be long now. Once the new youth station is renovated and I move out, we can make it public. It’s just not suitable at the moment.”

As he spoke, a faint, serene smile appeared on Fan Yanxing’s face, as if he had patiently waited for the clouds to part and reveal the moon. This relaxed demeanor struck Liang Junqiang deeply, making him feel as if he was opening a can of worms himself.

Sensing Liang Junqiang’s “lonely” situation, Fan Yanxing cleared his throat, patted his good friend on the shoulder, and added, “Life is rarely smooth sailing. If love doesn’t go well, let’s work harder and improve ourselves.”

Despite these words, the smile on Fan Yanxing’s lips couldn’t be concealed.

Liang Junqiang was silent for two seconds before forcing a smile. “I think I need some time alone.”

“Alright, I won’t disturb you. I’ll go check on Songzi’s drawing,” Fan Yanxing quickly retracted his hand. Liang Junqiang watched his briskly retreating figure, grinding his teeth in frustration.

Hmph, claiming to see Songzi draw is just an excuse, he’s really going to see Qingqing!

He then couldn’t help but feel down again, dragging his feet towards his own room. As soon as he opened the door, his sense of melancholy deepened. The room was empty, amplifying his loneliness and discomfort.

The wardrobe that used to be filled with women’s clothing was now half empty, and the mirror hanging behind the door was also gone…

Everything had returned to the way it was before the marriage. Liang Junqiang stood in the room for a long time until night fell and sounds came from outside once again.

“The Huang family is really shameless. Not only did they return only half of the bride price, but they also took back all the dowry,” Ma Xiuzhi said angrily as she sat down heavily on a wooden chair in the courtyard, kicking the ground in frustration.

Liang Xueyong, trying to comfort her, said, “We can consider those bride prices as compensation for the few months she was with us. At least the contract was signed from now on, she and Junqiang will have nothing to do with each other.”

“Does she even deserve it?” Ma Xiuzhi snorted, feeling that Liang Xueyong’s term “compensation” sounded rather harsh, as if Huang Shumin was just a piece of merchandise. However, something occurred to her, making her chest heave with even greater anger. Not only did she not correct herself, but she also started using even more offensive language.

“I’ve really opened my eyes. How can Huang Shumin be so adept at playing a role? Why doesn’t she go on stage to perform? If I hadn’t gone to their village this time, I wouldn’t have known she’s such a two-faced, scheming person!”

“What happened?” Wang Xiaomei came out of the room, spitting towards the Huang family’s direction as she spoke.

“What else could it be? Huang Shumin pretended to be kind and generous on the surface, but every time she went back to her family, she’d badmouth us and Qingqing, saying we’re old and biased towards our daughter. How foolish can you be? Your father and I have worked hard for most of our lives to build our family’s wealth. We’ll spoil whoever we want, and who is she to scheme behind our backs?”

Wang Xiaomei understood this well, so she never felt envious of Liang Qingqing. What other people’s parents chose to give away was none of her business jealousy was useless, and overreaching would only disrupt family harmony. Besides, although her in-laws gave their daughter more, they had never shortchanged their share.

As someone’s daughter herself, Wang Xiaomei saw how Liang’s parents pampered their daughter and felt envious, not resentful. She even secretly vowed that if she ever had a daughter, she would cherish and love her like a little princess.

Only Huang Shumin could twist things, treating this matter like a thorn in her side and bearing a grudge. Not only did she keep it in her heart, but she also spread it around. The truth couldn’t be hidden forever. Now that Ma Xiuzhi knew, any chance of Huang Shumin returning to the Liang family was completely cut off.

Ma Xiuzhi scolded for a long time. When Liang Qingqing and the others heard the commotion, they immediately came out and quickly brought a cup of water. “Mom, drink this. You’ll end up wearing your throat out if you keep scolding like this.”

Hearing this slightly teasing remark, Ma Xiuzhi shot Liang Qingqing a glance. Considering that it was her beloved daughter who had been wronged today, she was reluctant to say anything harsh and took the water, drinking it down in one go.

“You’ve grown bold, even daring to make fun of your old mother.”

Liang Qingqing knew Ma Xiuzhi wasn’t really angry with her. With a smile in her eyes, she said, “I’m not making fun of you, I’m just…”

Looking at her beautiful face with a smile like a flower and being coaxed in a gentle voice for a while, Ma Xiuzhi’s depressed heart suddenly felt a lot better. Her daughter was really caring.

After handing the empty cup to Liang Qingqing and putting it away, Ma Xiuzhi instructed Liang Shuqiang to deliver the document to Liang Junqiang. It was not popular to get a marriage certificate in the countryside these days. Just saying hello and registering in the village and then having a wedding banquet was considered a marriage. So it was easy to get a divorce now. You just had to go to the village to get a certificate.

“Hurry up and sign the agreement and send it to the village for stamping to avoid any more problems. Don’t ever associate with such a black-hearted woman again. I’ll find a good girl for Junqiang later. We can’t let her drag Junqiang down. “

Ma Xiuzhi was talking about her plan when something occurred to her. She stood up and pointed at Liang Junqiang’s door and cursed, “If you, a stinky boy, still dare to secretly think about that bitch Huang Shumin in your heart, then you are really as stupid as a pig. “

Liang Shuqiang, who had just walked to Liang Junqiang’s door, shrank his neck and reminded him, “It is better to kill relatives for the sake of justice.”

“Yes, it’s better to kill relatives for the sake of justice!” Ma Xiuzhi put her hands on her hips. When she mentioned Huang Shumin, she was so angry that she walked back and forth for several circles. Seeing Liang Shuqiang coming out with the signed document, she simply followed Liang Shuqiang. Only when she got the stamped document did she finally smile.

“Everyone worked hard today, let’s have a good meal.”

At this time, there were still many villagers stretching their necks to see the commotion, and she certainly wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction. Hmph, why should she? Even though her family was the victim, there was no need to put on a pitiful display. It wouldn’t elicit sympathy, it would only make people laugh at them.

Life goes on as usual; the world won’t stop spinning just because one person is gone.

Liang Junqiang didn’t come out for dinner that night, but Ma Xiuzhi didn’t pay him any mind. She thought to herself that he could have the whole evening to process things. If he still dared to look despondent the next day, she wouldn’t hold back from scolding him.

Fortunately, perhaps due to a mother’s intuition, Liang Junqiang got up early the next morning and filled the water tank to the brim. He stacked a large pile of firewood in the backyard and made sure the chickens in the coop were well-fed.

He had tackled all the visible and invisible household chores, both inside and outside the house.

This situation wasn’t normal, but Ma Xiuzhi was pleased. Seeing him so full of energy was definitely better than being completely devastated!