Chapter 164: Tang Xue’s Letter from Home

When he returned to the village that afternoon, Li Yi, as usual, headed straight for the new house.

After all, Tang Xue was already pregnant, so he couldn’t let her get too tired; whenever he had time, he’d help out with the chores.

But as soon as he arrived, Li Yi sensed that something was off at the new house.

In the courtyard, his second older sister, Li Lan, looked furious, while Tang Xue’s eyes were red, as if she’d been crying.

At first glance, Li Yi thought the two of them had gotten into a fight—or, to be precise, he assumed his second older sister was picking on Tang Xue.

It wasn’t that Li Yi had forgotten his sister now that he was married—it was just that he knew his second sister’s temper; she was notoriously domineering.

Not to mention Tang Xue, his younger sister-in-law—even his second sister’s in-laws, her father- and mother-in-law, couldn’t get a word in edgewise. If she got annoyed, she’d snap right back at them.

Even Li Yi himself knew that when Second Sister got angry, she’d rather throw a punch than argue—she was a real firecracker!

But just as Li Yi was about to ask what had happened, he didn’t expect Tang Xue to suddenly run toward him the moment she saw him.

Worried she might trip, Li Yi hurried forward a few steps to meet her.

As soon as Tang Xue threw herself into Li Yi’s arms, she suddenly burst into loud, heart-wrenching sobs.

Li Yi was taken aback; his wife’s reaction was a bit extreme, and it was clear she’d been deeply wronged.

Gently patting her back, he hurriedly asked, “Don’t cry. What’s wrong? Did Second Sister bully you? I’ll speak up for you.”

Li Lan, standing nearby, shot Li Yi a glare. This brother of hers was truly useless—maybe it was time to find a replacement?

Tang Xue cried for a moment before saying, “No, how could Second Sister bully me? It’s just…”

“What’s really going on? Just tell me!”

“I got a letter from home!”

“Is that all? So what if there’s a letter? Why are you crying?”

Tang Xue immediately replied, “My dad told me to come home right away, and he also said…”

“Did they say anything else I wouldn’t want to hear?” Li Yi asked in a low voice.

Seeing that Tang Xue was still hesitating, her second older sister, Li Lan, snapped angrily, “Xiao Xue’s father said that the steel mill has started hiring, and he wants Xiao Xue to hurry back and marry that old widower surnamed Liu. Otherwise, he’ll marry some other girl, and Xiao Xue’s so-called job will go down the drain!”

“They also said that if Xiao Xue doesn’t go back, they’ll send her older brother to bring her home!”

Hearing this, Li Yi finally understood why Tang Xue was crying—she’d been hurt yet again by those awful relatives.

“Who wrote the letter—your dad or your sister?” Li Yi asked in a low voice.

“Usually my dad dictates it and my brother writes it down!” Tang Xue said with a look of grievance on her face.

“Hmph, they’re such wonderful parents and an excellent older brother—they must not fear being struck by lightning!” Li Lan said through gritted teeth.

She had a fiery temper to begin with, and after reading the letter Tang Xue’s parents had written to her, her anger flared up instantly.

Although Li Yi was also furious inside, he didn’t join his second sister in berating them.

He patted Tang Xue on the back and said gently, “Don’t cry just yet. It’s not worth getting angry over people like them!”

“But I just feel so wronged!” Tang Xue said.

“It’s not your fault. If you get angry, you’re just punishing yourself for someone else’s mistakes!”

Li Yi added, “Besides, you’re pregnant right now. If you get upset, it’ll make our little baby uncomfortable too!”

Hearing this, Tang Xue stopped crying immediately.

She instinctively touched her belly, then looked at Li Yi and asked, “Can… can he really sense it?”

“Mm-hmm!”

Of course, Li Yi knew the little one in her belly was probably only about the size of a soybean right now, and didn’t even have a heartbeat yet, so there was no way it could sense anything.

But he couldn’t say that, lest his wife get even more upset.

Once Tang Xue had calmed down a bit, Li Yi spoke again. “Honey, what do you think?”

“I… I’m not going back, but I’m afraid they’ll really come here and cause a scene!”

Thinking of the determined expressions on her family’s faces—the kind that wouldn’t rest until they got their way—Tang Xue couldn’t help but shudder.

But Li Yi shook his head and said, “Running away isn’t the answer to this kind of problem!”

“Then what do you suggest we do?”

“They want you to go back, so let’s go back and see. I’d like to see what kind of parents would do something so cold-blooded!” Li Yi said coldly.

“But…”

Hearing that Li Yi wanted to accompany her home, Tang Xue hesitated.

Having been hurt time and again by her family over the years, she had grown to deeply resent that home. If possible, she truly didn’t want to have anything to do with them anymore.

Besides, Tang Xue felt her current life was wonderful—she had a husband who loved her and a sister-in-law she got along with like a sister.

She was even expecting a baby, and soon they would be a family of three.

Although she had indeed moved from the city to the countryside and married a man who hadn’t even finished junior high school, she still felt incredibly happy.

So Tang Xuezhen really didn’t want her family to disrupt her normal life.

Li Yi sensed his wife’s concerns and immediately reassured her, “I’ll go back with you. Let’s settle this once and for all. Trust me.”

“Are we really going back?”

“Yes!”

“Well… I’ll do as you say. If they dare to give us a hard time, I’ll go to the neighborhood office and ask the officials to settle this!” Tang Xue said, biting her little canine tooth.

“Mm-hmm!”

The reason Li Yi was so insistent on taking Tang Xue back wasn’t just because of this sudden letter from home, but because there were some matters he needed to investigate.

At the same time, Li Yi needed to bid farewell to his past life!

So even without this letter from the Tang family, Li Yi would have found an opportunity to make a trip to Qin Province.

Of course, under normal circumstances, he would have waited until his wife gave birth.

But since these people couldn’t wait any longer, he’d go meet them.

However, traveling these days was no simple matter. Aside from all the household affairs that needed arranging, more importantly, he had to prepare a great many things.

For instance, letters of introduction, and national grain coupons.

In an era when you needed a letter of introduction just to ride a bus or stay at an inn, you could travel long distances without money, but you absolutely couldn’t go without a letter of introduction.

Secondly, although he and Tang Xue were already married—even if they hadn’t officially registered their marriage—they still needed a certificate to travel together; otherwise, they might well be labeled as a couple of hooligans or adulterers.

Furthermore, since they were traveling across provincial borders to visit Tang Xue’s parents’ home, the locally issued grain coupons would be useless; they’d have to exchange them for national grain coupons at a designated grain station.

On top of that, before leaving, Li Yi had one more crucial task to complete: taking his father to the provincial capital for medical treatment.

There was no doubt that his father’s lungs were in trouble.

However, the medical facilities in the county were simply too inadequate, so they had no choice but to seek care at a larger hospital.

In Li Yi’s view, the city wasn’t much better than the county, so if they were going to go, they might as well go to the provincial capital.

After all, the major hospitals in the provincial capital had all acquired CT scanners. Whether his father’s lungs were indeed “cancerous” as Comrade Ru had predicted could be determined immediately with a CT scan.

Therefore, Li Yi decided to take his father to the provincial capital before leaving.