RGL – Chapter 131

“We don’t know whether she has any shame, but if this matter blows up, Big Brother will also lose face. Sun Hai came back and discussed it with me—once the store gets its payments in, he plans to support Big Brother in planting fruit trees. He regrets it now, says he should’ve helped Big Brother back then. If he had, maybe Sister-in-law wouldn’t have turned out like this.”

Hearing this, Sun Qiufang also felt quite conflicted inside.

Back then, she didn’t want her elder brother and sister-in-law to be like people from their in-laws’ side, always relying on others. Plus, she couldn’t stand the entitled expression on Zhang Guihua’s face, so they didn’t offer help. Who would’ve thought Zhang Guihua would be so stubborn, insisting on staying in the city? And now they were even making a fuss about getting divorced over it.

After a while, Sun Hai returned with Su Changrong.

Sun Qiufang secretly asked Sun Hai for his thoughts again.

Sun Hai sighed and said, “I just hope Big Brother can have something to look forward to. Otherwise, living alone back in the village isn’t easy either. I was really too harsh about this back then.”

“What silly thing are you saying? It’s not like you didn’t help at all—we gave them suggestions, and they had the capital. They just weren’t willing to act on it. Who doesn’t start small when doing business? You think you can get rich in one bite?”

“That may be true, but I still feel bad about it,” Sun Hai said heavily. His big brother had a decent family, and now it was gone. Who knew what the future held?

They had planned to enjoy a happy New Year’s meal together, but because of what was happening in Sun Bing’s household, everyone lost the mood.

After the meal, Sun Qiufang brought up Sun Hai’s plan with Su Changrong.

Su Changrong said, “Xiao Hai already told me about it. If they need our help when the time comes, let’s just help them out.”

“Only my big brother could put up with something like this. If it were me, I’d have slapped her a few times till she couldn’t show her face.”

“Let it go. Even if we don’t think about Big Brother, we should at least think of Yanyan and Qiangzi. Yanyan still needs to marry one day. If word gets out that the divorce was over something like this, what would her future in-laws think of her?”

Hearing this, Sun Qiufang could only sigh again.

“From now on, we should be more loving toward Yanyan and Qiangzi.”

Over in Sunjia Village, Sun Yan was crying and throwing a tantrum at home over the divorce between Sun Bing and Zhang Guihua.

“I don’t care—I don’t agree with your divorce. If you two really get divorced, I’ll stop acknowledging you as my parents!”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Do you think you can stop your parents from divorcing?” Zhang Guihua said with wide eyes. “I’m doing this for your sake too. Your dad’s dead set on not staying in the city. Over the years, I’ve worried about everything in this family. Now that Sun Qiufang and Sun Hai are living good lives, your dad has no ambition at all. He can endure, but I can’t. Yanyan, stay with your dad for now. Once I get settled in the city, I’ll come get you. Uncle Gao only has one daughter. When she gets married, I’ll be the one in charge of that house.”

Hearing her mother say such shameless things, Sun Yan exploded in anger. She stomped her feet and threw the bowls and chopsticks on the table to the ground. “Peh! Who wants that! I’m telling you—if you insist on divorcing, I won’t recognize you as my mother anymore. If you ever come back, I’ll pretend I don’t know you.”

“Why are you so stubborn? Are you trying to anger me to death?” Zhang Guihua said, looking utterly disappointed. “It’s not like I’m doing anything that bad. At least I let your dad know. Look at Er Gouzi’s mom in the village—she left with her daughter without a word, left a bunch of kids behind, and is still living fine out there.”

She didn’t think she had done anything wrong. Over the years living with Sun Bing, she had been the one worrying about everything, inside and outside the home. And in the end, she still didn’t get any credit. Now that she was in the city, she had made up her mind to stay and live a city life. If Sun Bing didn’t agree, she’d just go find someone else. The kids were grown—she didn’t need to look after them anymore. She could live her own good life—what was wrong with that? There were plenty of women in the village who’d walked away when things didn’t work out.

Sun Bing sat silently nearby, smoking. He didn’t try to stop the argument between mother and daughter. When he finished his cigarette, he finally looked up, eyes bloodshot, and stared at Zhang Guihua.

“Guihua, all these years we’ve been married, I’ve never treated you badly. I’ve listened to everything you said. Now that you want a divorce, I won’t stop you. But just one thing—once we’re divorced, don’t ever think about stepping into the Sun family’s house again.”

Zhang Guihua pursed her lips and looked at Sun Bing. “We’ve been together so many years—I don’t want to fight either. Let’s part peacefully. I, Zhang Guihua, am not the kind to go back on things. Once the papers are signed, I’ll leave immediately and won’t come back.”

Hearing both of them settle things like that, Sun Yan panicked. “Dad, are you really agreeing to the divorce?”

“What else can I do? Your mother’s already living with someone else. What do you expect me to do?” Sun Bing shouted, eyes bloodshot with rage.

Sun Yan froze for a moment, then turned to Zhang Guihua with disbelief. “Mom… you’re already living with someone else?”

Zhang Guihua hadn’t expected Sun Bing to reveal that so bluntly. Her face turned a little embarrassed. She had only brought that up before to provoke Sun Bing into divorcing her—but now that it was out in the open, she felt too ashamed.

“Yanyan, I had no choice.”

“You shameless woman! I don’t have a mother like you!” Sun Yan yelled, then ran into her room crying.

Zhang Guihua wanted to go talk to her daughter again. Even though they were divorcing, she still couldn’t bear to part with her son and daughter. At her age, she had no plans to have more kids. Depending on Gao Dawei’s daughter? That was a joke.

“Yanyan, open the door, Yanyan!”

She knocked a few times, but there was no response from inside.

Sun Bing stood up without saying a word to her and walked out of the house, going over to stay in the room where Sun Hai used to live.

Looking around at the now quiet and cold house, Zhang Guihua couldn’t bear to stay there either. She went into her own room.

She wasn’t going to stay in this place another day anyway.

She wanted to be a city person, to live her days in the city from now on.

On the fifth day of the New Year, Sun Yan went straight to the city. Her parents were definitely going to divorce—she didn’t want to stay at home and watch it happen.

Even though she used to resent them and was angry that they didn’t care much about her and Qiangzi, they were still family. She had never wanted the family to fall apart. But now that her parents were getting divorced, the family was broken for good.

Sun Qiufang was worried that Sun Yan might not be feeling comfortable, so after hearing that Sun Yan had come to the city, she asked Su Min to bring her home and suggested she stay with them until after the Lantern Festival before moving into the dormitory.

Sun Yan had become even more withdrawn than before—she didn’t speak a word during meals either.

After dinner, Sun Qiufang went to tidy up a room for her. Seeing Sun Yan still sitting on the edge of the bed, lost in thought, she sighed and went outside to call Su Min, who was clearing the table, and instructed her, “Minzi, sleep with Yanyan tonight. Try to talk to her and cheer her up. You two are close, so she’ll listen to you.”

Su Min nodded. “Okay, Mom, don’t worry. I’ll definitely talk to her.”

When Su Min entered the room with a quilt in her arms, she found Sun Yan lying on the bed crying.

“Yanyan.” Su Min put the quilt on the table, walked over, and gently patted Sun Yan’s shoulder.

After a while, Sun Yan raised her head and wiped her tears. “Su Min, what should I do? Our family is falling apart.”

As she spoke, she began to cry even harder.

Su Min took out a handkerchief and helped her wipe her tears. “How is it falling apart? Isn’t your uncle and Qiangzi still your family? Don’t they count?”

“But my mom…” Sun Yan felt a wave of bitterness just mentioning it.

“Your mom is still around, you can still see her. Look at Zhaodi—her parents are alive, but it’s as if she doesn’t have any. No one knows where her two sisters are. And yet she’s strong. Qiangzi is serving in the army, and the family’s relying on you now. No matter how hard it gets, you have to grit your teeth and get through it. Don’t break down now. Life is long—whatever happens, we have to focus on living well. We have to be happy.”

Back when Su Min’s own father died from illness and she was left with only her mother, she felt like the sky had fallen too. Things were even harder than they were now for Sun Yan—no money, and she was the only healthy one at home. But the reality her relatives showed her made her understand: if she didn’t stay strong, the family would have no one to lean on.

Sun Yan lowered her head and stayed quiet, but she was pondering Su Min’s words.

Lying down next to her, Su Min pulled the blanket over them. “Actually, compared to a lot of people, we’re really doing quite well. We have food, clothing, and family. Who doesn’t go through tough times? We have to think positively. Even though your mother divorced your father, she’s just choosing the life she wants. If she can move on, why can’t you?”

“Minzi, I’m telling you—I will never forgive my mom. Not in this lifetime!”

Sun Yan wiped away her tears and gave a small smile. “You’re right. If she can move on, why should I keep caring about her? I’m going to live better than her. And if my dad ever wants to remarry, I’ll help him find someone—a good woman.”

Seeing that Sun Yan was finally opening up instead of bottling everything inside, Su Min didn’t argue about whether or not she should hold a grudge against Zhang Guihua.

She felt that no matter the reason, it was Zhang Guihua who had first betrayed the family. So it was only natural that everyone was upset and blamed her. If Sun Yan’s uncle had been like Zhaodi’s father—always abusive—it might have been a different story. But he always listened to Zhang Guihua. She had just gone off with someone else for the sake of her pride and so-called resolve. In a situation like this, any reason would be nothing but an excuse.

After Su Min’s comforting words, Sun Yan didn’t stay depressed like before and ended up having a happy New Year at Sun Qiufang’s home.

Sun Hai and Li Meng were also treating her kindly now. Sun Hai even suggested that Sun Yan move in with them so they could look after her more easily. Li Meng felt it was a bit inappropriate, but considering what Sun Yan’s family had been through, she didn’t object. Grandma Sun, on the other hand, was overjoyed.

After all, she had raised Sun Yan herself and shared a deep bond with her. Living together would be ideal.

However, Sun Yan insisted on taking care of herself, so Sun Hai’s suggestion didn’t pan out. Instead, Li Meng ended up buying her a few new outfits.

As the winter break drew to a close, Su Min also began planning how to deal with Wang Mingsong.

She had already organized the details of a major economic crime case from her past life and identified the key points. Back then, the most sensational case was the urban farmers’ market construction project.

The project was originally supposed to go through a formal bidding process, but it was privately contracted out by a few construction companies using shady connections.

Much of the budget was skimmed off by those at the top, and the contractors also cut corners on materials. As a result, the market collapsed just a few days after opening. Luckily, it happened at night, so there were no casualties—just goods lost.

However, because regulations were especially strict at the time and the incident had such a negative impact, it triggered a massive fallout.

The lead contractors didn’t escape punishment, and many higher-ups were implicated as well.

In her past life, Su Min didn’t know if Wang Mingsong was involved.

But in this life, she was determined to drag him into it. As long as the incident came to light, Wang Mingsong would be looking at a minimum of ten years.

Meanwhile, in a supermarket, Wang Mingsong had come to confront Su Changrong with a face full of blame.

“Brother Su, you really screwed me over. Why didn’t you show up that day?”

Fresh out of the detention center, Wang Mingsong had gone home to tidy up before coming straight to Su Changrong for answers.

He had planned for Su Changrong to go play mahjong that day, but Su Changrong didn’t go—and Wang Mingsong ended up being the one caught. He hadn’t even been able to spend the New Year at home. Now, everyone around him knew what had happened, and his reputation was completely ruined.

Just thinking about it made his teeth hurt from frustration.

Su Changrong was surprised to see him, then suddenly remembered his daughter’s earlier warning: not to let anything slip. He quickly put on a concerned face. “It’s good you’re out now. That day, my wife delayed me a bit. When I got there, I saw the police coming out, so I didn’t go in. Good thing too. Are you okay?”

“You really went?” Wang Mingsong asked suspiciously.

Although he was angry that Su Changrong hadn’t been caught while he had, he was more worried that Su might’ve figured out his real intention. That’s why he’d rushed over to confirm things.

Su Changrong nodded sincerely. “I really went. I saw the police and ran right back. My wife even scolded me over it.”

Knowing Su Changrong wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, Wang Mingsong believed him.

With a grim expression, he said, “Well, you got off fine. I lost all my face this time. When there’s time, let’s find somewhere else to go. There’s still plenty of places to play.”

Su Changrong quickly waved his hand. “Let’s not go for a while. We can look for something later. If my wife finds out I’m still messing around, she’ll chop my hands off.”

“Fine, we’ll find another time.” Wang Mingsong left, full of unwillingness.

“Where did Mingsong go again?” Mother Wang came out of her room and asked Gao Hong, who was holding the baby and watching TV. Seeing her lounging around and not worried about the trouble at home made Mother Wang frown.

Though Gao Hong didn’t like her mother-in-law, she still forced herself to answer, “He went out. Said he had something to take care of.”

“What business? Don’t tell me he went to play mahjong again. Gao Hong, I don’t mean to criticize you, but you and Mingsong are husband and wife. You have a child now. Why don’t you care about him at all? You’re so immature. Your parents really spoiled you. You’re almost forty and still so irresponsible. You don’t have a shred of family values. No wonder you got divorced before. Who could stand a wife like you?”

Gao Hong hadn’t expected to get scolded just for saying one sentence. Her expression changed, and she raised her chin, retorting, “Mom, what kind of thing is that to say? Mingsong’s a grown man. How am I supposed to control him?”

“Oh, so now you’re talking back? Is that how you were raised?” Mother Wang was so angry her fingers started trembling.

Hearing the commotion, Father Wang came out of his study. Seeing the situation, he frowned. “Enough, stop arguing. The New Year isn’t even over yet, and all you two do is fight. No wonder Mingsong doesn’t like staying home.”

Gao Hong quickly said, “Dad, I wasn’t trying to argue. Mom keeps picking on me.”

Father Wang’s frown deepened. “Gao Hong, your mother is still your elder. And she’s not wrong. Mingsong just got out of detention. As his wife, you should be keeping him in line. Your mom and I are getting old. We won’t be able to manage you two for much longer. As the daughter-in-law of this family, if you can’t even handle this, how can we feel at ease in the future?”