RGL – Chapter 97

“My mom came to visit me today, so she can help take care of the child.”

Liu Li glanced at the sky. “But it’s getting really late. My mom is definitely going to worry.”

Seeing that there were fewer people on the road, Sun Hai got concerned about Liu Li’s safety walking home alone, so he offered, “Let me walk you back.”

Liu Li looked at him and then smiled and nodded.

It was already so late that there were no buses running. Sun Hai had no choice but to walk her all the way home. There were only small groups of people heading home on the road, and the streetlights glowed dimly. Liu Li thought about how, back when they were dating, they would also take strolls around the restaurant area after finishing work. Back then, they were always reluctant to part, and even just walking the streets felt joyful. They’d always wander around until there were no buses left, and then Sun Hai would walk her back to the dormitory.

In the blink of an eye, they had both married and had kids. She had even gone through a divorce.

Sun Hai was distracted as they walked. He was thinking about how he would explain things to Li Meng when he went into the city tomorrow. Would she be angry? When he left today, he had packed up so many of Dou Dou’s clothes and taken them with him—it must’ve really upset her. It was his fault for not explaining things properly yesterday, and then leaving early this morning without considering her feelings.

They finally stopped walking when they reached the alley near Liu Li’s house.

Sun Hai smiled and said, “You should head in and rest. You have work tomorrow. I’ll head back now.” With that, he turned to leave.

“Sun Hai!” Liu Li suddenly grabbed his arm and threw herself into his arms, hugging his waist tightly. “Sun Hai, don’t go.”

Sun Hai was caught off guard by the sudden embrace, and broke into a cold sweat. When he snapped out of it, he quickly tried to push her away. “Liu Li, are you crazy?”

“Sun Hai, don’t go. Can you stay the night? My mom took the child back to the countryside. I’m alone tonight.” Liu Li’s voice was filled with pleading. She truly regretted it—regretted letting go of Sun Hai back then, regretted being blinded by superficial glitz and glamour, and doing things that lacked self-respect. Because of that, she had lost Sun Hai and become someone her in-laws looked down on.

“Let go!” Sun Hai suddenly pushed her away forcefully and stepped back several feet, staring at her in shock. “Liu Li, you’re insane. How can you even think like this?”

He took a few deep breaths. “Mengmeng was right. I should never have met you again. And I won’t from now on. Go home.” With that, he stormed out of the alley in anger.

He had truly liked Liu Li once, even thought she was out of his league. But after she betrayed him, that feeling had died. Still, he had always believed Liu Li was a decent person, just someone who wanted a better life—so he had never looked down on her. He never expected she would do something like this.

They really couldn’t meet again. If Mengmeng found out what had just happened, she’d be furious.

Under the streetlight, Liu Li watched Sun Hai’s hurried steps disappearing into the distance, and couldn’t help but squat down and burst into tears.

“Dou Dou, come play with me!” Su Min leaned over the bed, trying to amuse the chubby little Dou Dou.

Li Meng and Sun Qiufang watched from the side. Seeing the siblings playing happily together despite their big age difference, they couldn’t help but smile broadly.

Only when looking at her son did Li Meng feel a bit more at peace. No matter what, she still had family. Her son would never leave her.

After a while, seeing how late it had gotten, Sun Qiufang urged Su Min to go to bed.

“You think Dou Dou’s like you? He needs to sleep early every night so he can grow taller.” She giggled and bent over to kiss little Dou Dou. “Dou Dou, let’s go to sleep, okay? No more roughhousing with big sis.”

Slap slap. Dou Dou, displeased, slapped Sun Qiufang twice.

“You little rascal, how can you hit people?” Li Meng quickly grabbed his little hands and gave them two light smacks. “If you hit people again, I’ll spank your hands.”

“Waaahhh…” As soon as Dou Dou saw his little hands were smacked, he pouted and burst into tears.

Seeing him cry, everyone rushed to soothe him. It was only after Su Min brought him some candy that he finally calmed down.

Sun Qiufang said, “He’s just a little kid. Don’t be so strict. It’s not like his hits actually hurt.”

Li Meng smiled. “Only you all spoil him like this. Sun Hai spoils him too. Whenever we’re home, he never lets me discipline the child.”

Mentioning Sun Hai again reminded her of all the frustrating things between them, and she felt a bit down.

Seeing her expression change, Sun Qiufang said, “Alright, you rest well. When Sun Hai comes tomorrow, I’ll give him a good talking to.”

“Thanks, sis.” Li Meng pursed her lips and nodded, touched.

After returning to her room, Su Min finally found a chance to ask about what was going on between Li Meng and Sun Hai. When she learned that Sun Hai and Liu Li had been in contact, Su Min was shocked. “That can’t be true. Wasn’t Liu Li the one who dumped my uncle back then?”

“How do you know about that?” Sun Qiufang looked at her suspiciously. She had only ever guessed that Liu Li had broken up with her little brother, but Su Min sounded so certain—there had to be something she didn’t know.

Su Min thought the situation was pretty messy already, so she went ahead and told them everything—how she’d once seen Liu Li and a man early in the morning in the neighborhood, back when Liu Li and her uncle were still dating.

When Sun Qiufang heard that, she was livid. “You little brat, why didn’t you tell me earlier? Someone treats your uncle like that and I didn’t even get to tear her mouth off!”

Su Min quickly said, “It was about saving face for uncle, right? And later Aunt Meng came looking for him, so didn’t things turn out fine in the end?”

Thinking about it, Sun Qiufang realized Liu Li had at least given Li Meng a chance with Sun Hai, so she grudgingly swallowed her anger.

“Anyway, when your uncle comes tomorrow, I’m going to have a proper talk with him. A woman like that—not only shouldn’t he be helping her, he should be avoiding her at all costs. Thank goodness your aunt hasn’t said anything yet.”

The next morning, just as the family sat down for breakfast, Sun Hai arrived.

Seeing Sun Hai come so early, Sun Qiufang was quite surprised. Her little brother was usually slow and laid-back—she didn’t expect to see him so eager. But since it was for his wife and son, it was a good sign.

“Sis, is Mengmeng in the room?” Sun Hai leaned forward to peek inside.

Sun Qiufang stepped aside and said, “Stop peeking. Come on in.”

Sun Hai smiled and walked inside. When he saw Li Meng at the dining table, his face lit up. “Mengmeng, I’m here to take you home.”

Li Meng felt a wave of joy upon seeing Sun Hai come to pick her up, but her emotions were mixed and complicated. Now that Liu Li had reappeared, she wasn’t sure if Sun Hai knew about it yet. If she went back with him now, only for Sun Hai to find out later and start an argument again, what was she supposed to do?

After all the turmoil she had just been through, she was truly scared now.

But life was long, and if she kept carrying this burden, wouldn’t she be constantly living in fear and anxiety?

She pursed her lips and remained silent, unsure of how to respond.

Seeing her stay quiet, Sun Hai assumed she was furious. He came over and sat beside her. “Mengmeng, don’t be mad anymore. You really misunderstood me. I don’t have any feelings for Liu Li now. Let’s go home.”

“No feelings? Then why are you still doing things with her?” Just thinking about it made Li Meng angry.

To be honest, the way Sun Hai treated her when they were dating was completely different from how he had been with Liu Li.

When he was with Liu Li, he often took her out for walks and shopping. Every time Liu Li came back to the dorm, she had this sweet, blissful look on her face. But when he was dating her, all they ever did was stay in the restaurant.

Seeing the anger on her face, Sun Hai became anxious. “Don’t be mad. I was just trying to help her out. She came to my shop—you know, it wouldn’t have been right to just throw her out. I thought I’d just lend a hand. But I didn’t let her stay at the shop, did I? Doesn’t that show where I stand?”

Sun Qiufang saw the couple sitting there and figured that, since Li Meng was still a young daughter-in-law, there were probably things she didn’t feel comfortable saying in front of everyone. So she gently urged them, “Why don’t you two go inside and talk things through? I’ll take care of the baby.”

Saying that, she reached out to take little Doudou from Li Meng’s arms.

Doudou really liked his aunt. Seeing her reach for him, he happily stretched out his chubby little arms, wanting to be held.

Sun Qiufang picked him up and thought to herself how well-built and healthy this child was—already quite heavy.

Li Meng took the opportunity to de-escalate and went inside the house with Sun Hai.

Once they were inside, Sun Hai finally relaxed a bit. He pulled his wife into his arms. “Please don’t be angry anymore. I really don’t have any other intentions. We have Doudou now—how could I possibly do anything to betray our family? Don’t stay mad at me. Mom hasn’t been sleeping well lately, worrying about Doudou.”

“I told Mom I was going to visit my sister,” Li Meng said with a pout.

“She was just afraid you were lying to her. Please don’t be angry anymore. Let’s go back home. I promise you—I won’t see Liu Li again.”

Li Meng didn’t believe him. “You’ve said that before.”

“I really didn’t reach out to her after that. She’s the one who came to me this time. I promise you again—if she comes looking for me in the future, I won’t meet her.” After what happened last night, he really didn’t dare see Liu Li again.

Li Meng turned to look at him suspiciously. “How come you talk more now than you used to? Before, when I got angry, you wouldn’t say a single word.”

Sun Hai laughed. “Well, my wife ran off. If I still didn’t speak, how could I get you to come back?” After going home last night, he had reflected deeply. He had always been used to making decisions on his own, never discussing anything with Mengmeng. Even with the Liu Li matter, he had thought that as long as he was innocent, there was no need to explain. If not for that, maybe he and Mengmeng wouldn’t have had this conflict. “Mengmeng, don’t be mad anymore. From now on, I’ll tell you everything. As husband and wife, we shouldn’t bottle things up—we need to talk openly.”

Hearing this, Li Meng suddenly felt a pang of guilt. If anything, she was the one who had wronged Sun Hai. After all, she had been lying to him ever since they got married. And she was still keeping it from him.

“Mengmeng, why aren’t you saying anything?” Sun Hai started to panic. He had already said so much—what if Mengmeng still didn’t want to reconcile?

“Sun Hai, actually… I’ve been hiding something from you.” Li Meng suddenly looked up at him. Seeing the confusion on his face, she sighed and said, “I never dared to tell you because I was afraid you wouldn’t want me anymore if you found out. But it’s been eating away at me. If I keep hiding it for the rest of my life, I’ll never feel at peace. After what happened this time, I realized that if we don’t deal with this, we’ll never be able to live in peace.”

Sun Hai smiled. “What is it that sounds so serious?”

Li Meng pursed her lips nervously. “Back then, the reason things ended between you and Liu Li… was because I got involved. I found out Liu Li was wavering between you and Gao Jianfeng, and it seemed like she was leaning toward choosing you. So I took leave and went to find Gao Jianfeng. I asked him to seduce Liu Li, to break you two up. Later, when Liu Li went with him to buy gold jewelry—that was also my idea. We lived in the same dorm, so I knew what she wanted. Everything went smoothly. Then I took you to Gao Jianfeng’s house… and the rest, you know.” She lowered her head even more, bracing herself for judgment.

She thought—what man would ever like such a scheming woman?

“You’re done? That’s it?” Sun Hai suddenly asked softly.

Li Meng shook her head. “That’s all. The reason I lost my temper with you that day was because I was afraid Liu Li would tell you about it.”

“If you were worried about that, why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Sun Hai sighed. “I thought you didn’t know at all. I didn’t expect you to still be thinking about it. Liu Li told me about it a long time ago—right before our wedding.”

Li Meng looked up sharply. “You knew all along?”

Sun Hai nodded. “I’ve known for a while. I really don’t know why you were so worried. It’s not like I’m unreasonable. Liu Li betrayed me—that’s a fact. It was her choice to go with Gao Jianfeng. Honestly, it worked out for the best. If I had married her, and then she ended up being tempted by him again later, wouldn’t it have been even worse?” Before, he hadn’t believed she’d be capable of doing something like that after marriage. But after how she threw herself at him yesterday, he had to face reality.

Hearing him say he didn’t blame her, Li Meng was so moved her eyes turned red, and she cried tears of joy. “You really don’t blame me?”

“I don’t. But from now on, we need to be honest with each other. No more secrets, okay? Let’s keep life simple. If our family life gets too complicated, how are we supposed to go on?”

Li Meng quickly shook her head. “I won’t. I won’t do that again. I promise—there won’t be anything else.”

“Alright, then this is settled. Can we go home now?”

“Mm-hmm.” Li Meng nodded eagerly.

Sun Hai smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

By the time the couple stepped outside, Su Min had already gone back to the store. Only Sun Qiufang and Su Changrong were in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes.

Seeing the two had reconciled, Sun Qiufang didn’t ask anything. She simply told them to live their life well and not let any more problems arise.

Since Grandma Sun was still waiting at home, the couple didn’t linger. After thanking Sun Qiufang and the others, they headed back to town.

“Marriage really changes a person,” Sun Qiufang said emotionally as she watched them get into the car. “Before, Sun Hai never said much when something was wrong. Now he’s learned how to coax his wife.”

Su Changrong chuckled. “As long as they live a good life together, that’s all that matters. Xiao Hai said if things go well next year, he wants to move to the city too.”

Sun Qiufang replied, “That’d be good. We’d be closer, so we could help each other out. Oh, and we should find someone to help watch over the supermarket. When Mengmeng moves here next year, who’s going to take care of the one in the county? We should train someone early so we’re not scrambling later.”

“That’s true. I’ll go back to the county in a few days to look for someone.”

At noon, when Sun Qiufang went to the store to bring Su Min and the others lunch, Su Min asked about her little uncle and aunt. Hearing that they had made up, she felt relieved—but she did feel a bit reluctant about Doudou leaving.

Sun Qiufang laughed. “Don’t keep thinking about Doudou. Your job now is to study well. Things at the store aren’t too busy at the moment—make sure you leave time for your studies.”

Su Min pointed to the table beside her. “I already moved all my review materials over here. I’ll head back a bit earlier today. Besides, haven’t my grades already gone up several ranks? I’m sure I’ll rise even higher in the final exams.”