RYEY -Chapter 461 Zhu Qingde’s Sigh

“Uncle De, I’ve run into a problem and want to ask for your advice.”

“Go ahead. She’s no longer my wife; no matter what crime, it won’t affect me. By the way, Yuan Mengzhi probably won’t foolishly wait in one place—she might have gone to her brother.”

Cheng Qiao gratefully glanced at Zhu Qingde. Uncle De was really nice, like Chen Weidang, someone with a sense of justice. Before she could speak, Hantong grew anxious:

“Her brother? Where is he?”

“Her brother is Yuan Guangming. He’s a real man, single-handedly taking the blame for an entire family, sent to Minqin to manage the desert.”

Cheng Qiao was dumbfounded. Yuan Guangming—she knew him well. Back then, he even helped take care of little Cheng Li. A person who, even when hungry and cold, still had a smile on his face.

“Uncle De, is this world really so small? If the Yuan Guangming you mean is the one I know, then we’ve already met before.”

“You also know Yuan Guangming? I only knew he was in Minqin. I’ve never been there, but if I get a chance, I want to thank him for protecting me back then.”

“He’s my father’s next-door neighbor, very close to my father. Even Cheng Li calls him Grandpa Guangming.”

Zhu Qingde: “…”

Indeed, the world is small—so small that someone you thought you’d never see again appears again in your life after going in a circle.

“Maybe I should first go to the police station and report, explaining everything.”

“No. Let Lu Xiaoyan stay a few more days. This woman is scheming. Anyone who covets Qiao’s man—neither of them should escape.”

Zhu Qingde snorted coldly, but in his heart he felt regret. Yuan Mengzhi, your recklessness finally harmed you. Hopefully, this stint in prison will make you think clearly next time.

“Then I’ll go to the police station first to explain everything. Cheng Qiao, I’ll need your father to guide me.”

“Alright, I’ll go see too, to check how the desert management is going there.”

Cheng Qiao remembered secretly placing the space water in the grass plots years ago. After so many years, she wondered if the Haloxylon bushes had grown.

Cheng Qiao asked Shen Sanleng for leave and returned to her dorm. Li Huan surely didn’t know he had been implicated again. Men being too handsome—what a trouble.

When Cheng Qiao arrived at the dormitory, it was completely quiet. She guessed that Li Huan was still meditating; lately, his meditation sessions had been getting longer and longer.

Cheng Qiao quietly opened the door and tiptoed to the bedroom doorway. Sure enough, Li Huan was facing the window, eyes tightly shut, hands resting on his crossed knees, with wisps of white smoke already rising from his head.

Impressive. Cheng Qiao, like a little thief, tiptoed back out without making a sound. She didn’t notice that Li Huan had slightly opened one eye, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Maybe I should go find my mother; they must be terribly worried by now.”

Cheng Qiao closed the door and then strode toward the guesthouse. She hoped Mother Li hadn’t seen the newspaper—she wasn’t very literate and didn’t usually like reading it.

Mother Li wandered around the guesthouse. She usually never read newspapers, but fresh copies were delivered every day for the guests staying there. By chance, she noticed a ridiculously handsome man in one of the articles and thought he resembled her Huan. When she picked up the paper, it was indeed Li Huan.

Sister Zhang knew that Mother Li was his mother. Though she didn’t believe the claims in the paper, she thought that Cheng Qiao, being so beautiful and having borne so many children for Li Huan, was surely someone no man could abandon.

Yet the woman in the paper was actually holding Li Huan’s hand. Sister Zhang and her own husband had been married for so many years, and while out in public, they behaved like colleagues. They wouldn’t dare hold hands, let alone get close.

So she was a bit confused. When she saw Mother Li coming out, she hurriedly placed the newspaper with Li Huan’s photo in the most prominent spot.

Mother Li had no idea about Sister Zhang’s intentions and was indeed fooled. At first, seeing the newspaper, she felt very happy. Her son and daughter-in-law were truly remarkable.

But when she took the paper from Sister Zhang, her expression changed. Like Cheng Qiao, she immediately saw that her son’s face was filled with anger. Who could be so blind as to claim he was having an affair with that woman?

“Who wrote this? This is slander! I’m going to report this to the police! My son and daughter-in-law have such a good relationship—nothing like this could ever happen.”

Seeing Mother Li fuming, Sister Zhang nodded seriously. With the reform and opening-up, many ill-intentioned people were ready to make a move. Perhaps the woman, seeing Li Huan’s good looks and wealth, had improper thoughts—but the worst was probably the photographer and reporter themselves. How could they be so malicious?

“Auntie, I think the newspaper people are at fault. Publishing something like this without investigation is…”

“Negligence,” Mother Li said without hesitation. By now, she was no longer the rural woman from Xiangyang Village, bent over in the fields every day. She was the mother of a store-owning boss.

“Don’t worry, Xiao Zhang. I only acknowledge Cheng Qiao as my daughter-in-law. This shameless woman wants to enter the Li household? I’ll break her legs myself.”

Sister Zhang nodded repeatedly. That’s right! Cheng Qiao had worked hard to raise the children while also studying and helping patients—such a good woman should never be wronged.

Cheng Li had come out with Mother Li. He didn’t speak but studied every word in the newspaper carefully and looked at the photos. Then he hurriedly pointed at the picture to show Sister Zhang:

“Auntie, look at my dad’s expression—dark like Bao Gong! That’s not the face of someone being seduced. And the woman’s hand—clearly she is the one holding onto my dad unwilling to let go.”

Sister Zhang looked more carefully and remembered Li Huan’s usual smiling face. The person in the photo was obviously angry—but why?

“Auntie, it’s a good thing your son is in the newspaper, promoting his family farm. Why would he be angry?”

“Well…”

Mother Li didn’t know what her son was thinking. If someone interviewed her, she would certainly hold her head high and chest out—it was an honor.

Cheng Qiao arrived just in time to explain to everyone:

“Mom, this woman wrote the article. She exaggerated what Li Huan said and intentionally made her relationship with him ambiguous, making it seem like they were very close.”

Mother Li was a bit confused. Being less educated, she didn’t understand the nuances hidden between the lines. No wonder Huan was angry. If it were herself, she would also be angry.