in2ebook Chapter 419 - 417: Persuade Him
Chapter 419 - 417: Persuade Him
Lin Lan, Li Xiangyang, and the others set off to return to East Market on the same day.
It had rained for two straight days. The day before yesterday, the floodwaters were about to breach the great levee. Everyone was preparing to go to the brigade east of the levee to bring their relatives up to the mountains.
The brigade’s loudspeaker announced that the downstream sluice gates were being opened to release the floodwaters. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the villages east of the levee were spared.
After the sky cleared, Lin Lan, Li Xiangyang, and the others shouldered their luggage, carried the children, and waded through the knee-deep water on the riverbank to board the ferry.
"Sigh!" Wu Shufen let out a breath. "We’re finally on board."
Li Xiangyang put Little Douzi down and helped the others set their bags down against the ferry’s engine room.
Lin Lan took out a cloth and wiped down a damp bench by the ship’s rail. Looking at Old Li and Wu Shufen, she said, "Dad, Mom, sit down, dry your feet, and put your shoes on."
Wu Shufen nodded. "Okay! Little Jun and the others, you should dry off and put your shoes on too."
Once they had their shoes on, the flow of people boarding trickled to a stop, and the ferry slowly began to move toward the opposite bank.
Little Douzi snuggled into Lin Lan’s arms, looking at the riverbank that had once been covered in wildflowers. "Mommy, the grass and flowers are all gone. Will the water go away? Will the flowers grow back?"
Lin Lan gave him a kiss. "Yes, they will. Once the water recedes, the grass and flowers will grow back."
Little Douzi looked up at her. "Mommy, will we go back to stay in Shilian again?"
Li Xiangyang ruffled his hair. "Does Douzi want to go back and stay in Shilian?"
Little Douzi nodded. "Yes. Shilian is fun."
Lin Lan smiled. "If you want to, we’ll come back when you’re on vacation."
"Okay."
When the ferry reached the other side, they led the children across the gangplank, got off, and walked toward the bus station.
They arrived back in East Market a little after four in the afternoon. Wu Shufen and Lin Changyou returned to Lexing, while Lin Lan’s family went back to Yucai Road.
After being away for a few days, they cleaned up and got washed. Then, Old Li and Little Douzi went to take a nap.
Li Xiangyang put his arm around Lin Lan. "Honey, I’m going to head over to Limin Road to check on things. You should get some sleep too. Don’t worry about dinner; we’ll eat out."
Lin Lan nodded. "Okay. We’ll come over at six."
Li Xiangyang looked at her, unable to resist. He cupped the back of her head, leaned in, and pressed a kiss to her soft lips, drawing her in deeply. Seeing her face instantly flush crimson, he said, "I missed you."
Blushing, Lin Lan gave him a light push and said coquettishly, "The curtains are still open."
His eyes full of mirth, Li Xiangyang looked at her. "So it’ll be okay if I just close the curtains?"
Lin Lan rolled her eyes at him. "Get out of here! Go check on the shop, and take the day’s earnings to the bank."
"Mhm!" Li Xiangyang gave her another quick kiss before letting go, grabbing his satchel, and leaving.
Lin Lan put their dirty clothes into a basin, went downstairs to collect the laundry from Old Li and Little Douzi, then headed to the backyard. At the laundry station, she turned on the tap, filled the washbasin halfway, and started on the clothes.
She had just finished scrubbing the yellow mud off the pant legs and shoes and was about to rinse them when she suddenly heard an old lady calling out. She quickly dropped the brush, ran to the front gate, and saw the old lady standing at the entrance to the yard.
Lin Lan went to greet her with a smile. "Great-aunt, you’re here!" She took a closer look at the old lady and felt that something was off about her demeanor. ’Did something happen at home?’ she wondered.
The old lady looked at her and smiled. "I saw your gate was open and figured you were back, so I came to check on you."
Lin Lan said, "We just got back. I was doing some laundry. Come sit in the backyard for a bit."
"Alright." The old lady followed her toward the backyard. "Xiuyun said the Min River flooded. Was the water very high?"
Lin Lan nodded. "It was. Luckily, they released the water downstream, or the levee would have been completely washed away."
The old lady pressed her palms together. "Heavens be praised, Heavens be praised..."
Lin Lan pulled over a chair for her. "Great-aunt, I brought back a lot of mushrooms. You should take some home to make soup."
The old lady sat down. "Well, I won’t be shy if there’s good food involved. Were there many mushrooms in the mountains?"
Lin Lan smiled. "We only went looking once. It took us half the day to find one dead tree covered in shiitake mushrooms, and we also picked some wood ear."
"It’s good you got to go." The old lady sighed, her eyes welling up. "The day after you left, Xie Tian cut her wrists. I heard there was blood everywhere. It soaked through her bedding and the mattress pad."
"What?!" Lin Lan stared at her in shock for a long moment before she could process it. "Why? I heard she’d found a partner." She remembered Dandan had gotten into a fight with her new partner’s son.
’How could someone be so selfish? Did she even consider how this would affect Dandan?’
The old lady sighed and shook her head. "I don’t know the details. Before it happened, she went to the police station to find Ding Bang and said some strange things to him. Ding Bang didn’t have the patience to listen, so he used the excuse of having to go out on a call and sent her away."
She let out a long sigh. "The next day, as soon as he got to the office, he got a call from Xie Tian’s workplace. That’s when he found out she’d cut her wrists and died. She left two letters—one for Ding Bang, and one for her parents."
"Xie Tian’s parents got the call and rushed over the same day. After reading the letter, they didn’t blame Ding Bang. They had her cremated the next day, and yesterday they took her ashes back to Yun Province."
"I don’t know what was in the letter Xie Tian left for Ding Bang. He’s been blaming himself these past few days, saying he shouldn’t have sent her away and that he should have heard her out. It breaks my heart to see him like this. Little Man is pregnant, and him being this way isn’t good for her or for Dandan."
’She felt Xie Tian was too selfish. She had a perfectly good life in Yun Province, but she just had to run to East Market and cause trouble for everyone.’
’She never thought about anyone else. She didn’t stop to think how devastating her death would be for Dandan. And then there’s Ding Bang. He’d finally managed to build a new life for himself, and with Little Man pregnant, too. Even in death, she wouldn’t let him go.’
Lin Lan didn’t know how to console the old lady. After she finished speaking, Lin Lan patted her hand. "Later, I’ll have Xiangyang take him out for a drink and talk to him."
The old lady nodded. "That’s why I came looking for you. You don’t know, but after you left, Dongzi also went to the provincial capital for training. Ding Bang is all alone, keeping everything bottled up inside. Having Xiangyang talk to him might help him let it all out."
"Mhm," Lin Lan said, looking at her. "And Dandan?"
"He’s at home." The old lady looked at Lin Lan. "I’m most worried about Dandan. Ever since what happened with Xie Tian, he’s like a different person. He doesn’t talk, and he won’t eat properly. Xiuyun’s son, Little Hai, came looking for him, but he just ignored him. He stays up in the attic all day and doesn’t go out to play with the other kids anymore."
Hearing this, Lin Lan’s heart ached. "When Little Douzi wakes up, I’ll have him go get Dandan to come down and eat with us."
"Good!" The old lady looked at Lin Lan gratefully. "I’ve been waiting for you all to come back. I was hoping Little Douzi would come back and get him, call him down from upstairs."
Lin Lan looked at the old lady. "Great-aunt, you need to try not to worry so much. Ding Bang and the others will be alright after a few days. Look at you. I haven’t seen you in just a few days, and you already look so worn out."
The old lady gave a bitter smile. "I can’t help it. It’s just my lot in life to worry."