Chapter 343: Tang Xue’s Decision
The Li Family’s New Home!
Tang Xue had just picked up her teacup, preparing to take a sip.
Hearing Li Yi’s words, she immediately said, “What’s so mysterious that you had to wait until Second Sister left to tell me? Aren’t you afraid she’ll hold it against you?”
“It’s nothing. Second Sister is a smart woman; she wouldn’t hold it against me!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“So what is it?”
Li Yi hesitated slightly, then said, “We’ve heard from your parents!”
Tang Xue frowned and asked, “Weren’t they sentenced? What’s going on now?”
“It’s not Tang Jizhong and Li Hongmei!”
Hearing this, Tang Xue froze for a moment, and the teacup in her hand suddenly slipped from her grasp, falling onto the kang and splashing water all over her.
This gave Li Yi quite a start, and he immediately said, “Did you get burned? Get up quickly…”
But Tang Xue seemed oblivious to the spill. She grabbed Li Yi’s arm and blurted out, “You mean… you mean my biological…”
By then, Li Yi had confirmed that the liquid in Tang Xue’s teacup was only lukewarm water, so he replied immediately, “Yes, your biological parents!”
“Really… How did you find them? Are they in Beijing?” Tang Xue asked, her face full of excitement.
“Yes!”
Li Yi continued, “A few days ago, didn’t my friend in Beijing call and say his family’s elders had invited me to dinner? After I went to Beijing…”
Li Yi then recounted his visit to the Jiang family and how he’d discovered Ye Lingyun’s photo.
After listening to Li Yi, Tang Xue’s agitated expression gradually calmed down.
Then, furrowing her brow, she said, “Isn’t it a bit hasty to conclude they’re my biological parents based solely on those photos?”
“No, the photos are just a starting point. Do you know what Aunt Jiang San’s real name is?”
Before Tang Xue could speak, Li Yi interjected, “Ye Lingyun!”
“Ye Lingyun? Not Ye Lingwan?” Tang Xue asked.
“Right. We’ve deduced before that Ye Lingwan is likely just an alias. In fact, your biological mother’s name is Ye Lingyun!”
Li Yi continued, “And according to Aunt Jiang San, twenty years ago, while she was pregnant, she was suddenly implicated by her family and sent down to the Yong County Cotton Mill in Qin Province, where she gave birth to a child. Unfortunately, the baby died shortly after birth…”
Hearing this, Tang Xue could no longer hold back and burst into tears.
Now she finally believed it: this Ye Lingyun was the biological mother she had been searching for all this time!
Fearing that Tang Xue’s emotional turmoil might trigger premature labor, Li Yi hurriedly pulled her into his arms, gently patting her back to help her calm down.
At the same time, he kept whispering words of comfort to her.
Fortunately, with Li Yi by her side, Tang Xue stopped crying after just a short while.
After resting in Li Yi’s arms for a while, she tilted her head back and asked, “So you didn’t tell them about me?”
“No. For one thing, your mother isn’t in the best of health…”
Before he could finish, Tang Xue asked nervously, “Is she… is she okay? Is it serious?”
“It’s somewhat serious, so I didn’t dare mention it, for fear of upsetting her!” Li Yi said.
“Hmm, you have to be careful then!”
Li Yi continued, “Also, I didn’t know how you felt about it, which is why I rushed back from Beijing—I wanted to hear your thoughts first before making a decision!”
Tang Xue could sense the respect in her husband’s words. She immediately snuggled closer to Li Yi and said, her voice tinged with emotion, “Thank you!”
“It feels a bit formal for an old married couple to say that!”
“We’ve been married less than six months—how can we be an old married couple already?” Tang Xue said, her eyes reddening.
“Let’s not talk about that. Tell me what you’re thinking,” Li Yi said.
“I want to reunite with them!” Tang Xue said firmly.
“Alright, but I suggest you reconnect with your father first. As for your mother, take it slow—her health is really quite poor,” Li Yi said.
“I’ll take your advice. Could you tell me about them? I want to know what kind of people they are!” Tang Xue said.
“Sure!”
Then, the two of them leaned against the pile of bedding as Li Yi began to tell her about the Jiang family and the couple, Jiang Shiying and his wife!
It took nearly an hour before Li Yi had finished giving a brief overview of the Jiang family’s situation.
When she heard Li Yi say that her mother, Ye Lingyun, had suffered a severe emotional shock over the matter of the child, and that her health had been up and down for the past twenty years—and that not long ago, she had even nearly…
And his father, though still in the prime of his life, already had a head full of white hair.
Tang Xue could no longer hold back her tears, and they began to fall.
“Don’t cry. It’s not your fault. If anyone is to blame, it’s Tang Jizhong and Tang Meiqin for being so malicious!” Li Yi comforted her.
“Hmm, I thought I’d had a miserable enough twenty years, but I never imagined they’d been suffering just as much—maybe even more than I have!”
“Don’t worry. Things will get better!”
“Then… how is Ye… my mother’s health? Is there still a way to help her?”
Tang Xue asked again, genuinely worried about Ye Lingyun’s health.
“The medicine I recommended to her is a highly effective treatment for depression, and the Jiang family has also hired a traditional Chinese medicine doctor to help her recover. I don’t think there’s much to worry about!” Li Yi said.
“That’s good. By the way, how do you plan to arrange for us to meet?” Tang Xue asked.
“I plan to go to the county seat tomorrow, then give Jiang Longcheng—your cousin—a call and have your father come over to our place!” Li Yi said.
“Will… will he come?”
“He will. He and his wife have always been haunted by what happened to that child. If they find out you’re still alive, they’ll definitely come to meet and acknowledge you!”
But just thinking about Jiang Shiying’s shrewd and ruthless nature, he knew that having a father-in-law like that would make life quite difficult.
At this point, Li Yi couldn’t help but sigh.
“Why are you sighing?” Tang Xue asked, puzzled.
“They’ll definitely acknowledge you as their daughter, but whether they’ll accept me—a street urchin—as their son-in-law is another story!” Li Yi said.
“You’re no street urchin!”
Then Tang Xue took Li Yi’s hand and said, “If they don’t accept you, I won’t accept them either. After all, you’re the only man I’ll ever accept in my life!”
“Haha, I was just teasing you. Whether it’s your grandfather or your father, they both have a high opinion of me!” Li Yi said.
“That’s good!”
Li Yi looked around at the brand-new house before them and said, “Looks like we won’t be living in this new place for very long!”
“Why?”
“If you’re officially recognized as a member of the family, given your father’s temperament and the Jiang family’s status, they’ll definitely bring you back to Beijing to give birth!”
As he spoke, Li Yi couldn’t help but think that his plans to buy a house in the capital would have to be moved up.
He had originally thought he wouldn’t need to consider this until at least after Tang Xue got into college, but plans never keep up with changes—he hadn’t expected Tang Xue’s parents to actually be from the capital.
Since he didn’t want to live with his in-laws in the future, buying a house had to be put on the agenda!
Tang Xue frowned and said, “I don’t really want to go back to Beijing to give birth!”
“Why?”
“You know my mother isn’t in good health. If I go to Beijing, there’ll be no one to look after her. It’s better here—with my mother-in-law and my second sister to help out, it’ll save me a lot of trouble!” Tang Xue said.
“Let’s talk about that when the time comes!”
“Okay!”
……