Chapter 40: Forty, Agree Chapter 40: Forty, Agree Yang Lisheng and two others arrived at a park by the roadside and sat down on a bench.
“Old man, don’t be angry anymore,” Li Meixiang said with a sigh, shaking her head as she saw Yang Lisheng’s face remain gloomy. She was angry too, but what could she do? No matter how bad Xinxin was, she was still their daughter. They couldn’t truly cut off their relationship, could they?
Yang Lisheng looked at Li Meixiang and Song Yan Ning and, seeing their concerned looks, he forced a smile, “I’m not angry. I’m thinking about where we will stay tonight.” He certainly wouldn’t stay in the new house Xinxin had mentioned.
“Grandpa, Grandma, why don’t we stay in a hotel?” Song Yan Ning suggested. She hadn’t slept at all the night before and was feeling somewhat tired now.
Li Meixiang nodded in agreement. Her head felt heavy and foggy, and she wanted to rest properly.
“Alright, let’s go look for a hotel now,” said Yang Lisheng as he picked up their luggage and stood up. His wife and Xiao Ning must not have slept well on the train last night.
He had only taken a few steps when his cell phone started ringing from his pocket. He frowned but didn’t plan on answering. Normally, no one called him, so it must be Xinxin. He didn’t want to deal with her right now.
The phone kept ringing.
“Old man, just give me the phone. I’ll answer it,” Li Meixiang couldn’t help but speak up. They couldn’t just keep ignoring the call.
Yang Lisheng sighed, put down the luggage, took out his phone, and saw an unfamiliar number. He guessed it was a wrong number and answered, “Hello!”
“May I speak to Uncle Yang? This is Liu Shanyue. Do you remember me?” a gentle voice came from the other end of the phone.
Yang Lisheng thought for a moment before he remembered Liu Shanyue, “Oh, Xiao Yue, long time no see. What can I do for you?” Xinxin often played at their home before she was married.
“Uncle Yang, I heard that you have returned to Beijing. I’d like to ask for your help with my mother-in-law’s illness. Are you available now?”
“Mhm,” Yang Lisheng responded. Xiao Yue was Xinxin’s best friend, and he was definitely going to help.
“That’s wonderful! Uncle Yang, where are you now? I’ll come to pick you up by car,” Liu Shanyue said happily.
Yang Lisheng surveyed his surroundings, “Let’s meet at the park at the Sanli Street junction.”
“Alright, I’ll see you in a while,” Liu Shanyue hung up the phone happily and turned to Mr. Qin sitting beside her, “Dad, Uncle Yang has agreed. I’ll go pick them up now.” When Uncle Yang mentioned ‘them,’ it must include Aunt Yang and the child. She wondered how much that child had changed over the years.
“Grandpa, Grandma, I’ll wait for you in the park. I think I’ll have a short nap here,” Song Yan Ning pretended to be very tired.
“How can that be? There are always people coming and going in the park. What if something happens?” Li Meixiang was the first to disagree. Xiao Ning was their treasure. If anything happened to her, how could the old couple go on?
“There won’t be any issues. Grandpa, Grandma, don’t worry. I’ll stay here quietly and won’t step away,” Song Yan Ning promised, patting her chest. With her current look, not even human traffickers would want her. She had another reason for staying—she wanted to check out the situation in the courtyard house.
“Old man, how about Xiao Ning and I go find a hotel first? I’m tired too,” Li Meixiang looked at Yang Lisheng. She could see Xiao Ning was very tired, but she definitely wouldn’t feel at ease leaving her here alone.
Yang Lisheng thought for a moment, took out his phone, and placed it in Li Meixiang’s hand, “I’ll call you later.”
“Mhm,” Li Meixiang nodded.
From a distance, Liu Shanyue could already see Yang Lisheng and the two standing by the roadside. She parked the car beside the three of them, stepped out, and said, “Uncle Yang! Aunt Yang! Is this Xiao Ning? Wow, she’s grown so much?”
“Xiao Ning, this is Aunt Qin,” Li Meixiang introduced with a smile to Song Yan Ning.
“Aunt Qin!” Song Yan Ning looked at Liu Shanyue and gave a slight smile. Her first impression of Liu Shanyue was not bad.
“Good girl!” Liu Shanyue responded with a smile. Although the child wasn’t pretty, her eyes were captivating, brilliant like the stars in the sky, clear like spring water, shining with a hint of wisdom, hardly resembling a child of seven years. In the future, this child might be extraordinary. If she really could become her daughter-in-law one day, Liu Shanyue would be pleased.
She never judged people by their appearance. No matter how beautiful a person was, if their heart wasn’t good, it was futile. Like Xinxin, although they’d known each other for more than a decade, Liu Shanyue didn’t agree with some of the things Xinxin did. Especially how she sent away Song Yan Ning. Even if Song Yan Ning was ugly, she still shared her blood and was born after a hard ten months of pregnancy. She really couldn’t understand how Xinxin could be so heartless.
“Uncle Yang, do you not have a place to stay? Why don’t you stay at my house?” Seeing the luggage in Yang Lisheng’s hand reminded Liu Shanyue of the incident when Yang Xiner sold the courtyard house. She sighed helplessly; sometimes she really felt Xinxin valued superficial things too much but overlooked the most important kinship around her.
She also felt a bit sorry for Xinxin. Xinxin had once told her that sometimes she truly hated her parents because they were rarely at home when she was a child, either on call at the hospital or accompanying patients, leaving little time for her. Although they always indulged her, fulfilling whatever she wanted, her heart was still lonely.
Yang Lisheng smiled and shook his head, “No need, we have a place to stay. Xinxin has already arranged it for us.” If they stayed at the Qin family’s, people would surely speak ill of Xinxin. Although he wasn’t satisfied with Xinxin’s actions, he couldn’t let her be embarrassed.
“Uncle Yang, why don’t you come to my place for a while? I’ll call Xinxin to pick you up later,” Liu Shanyue reached out, intending to take the luggage from Yang Lisheng’s hand.
“I can carry it myself,” Yang Lisheng wouldn’t let Liu Shanyue carry the luggage for him.
Liu Shanyue laughed, not insisting further, and opened the trunk for Yang Lisheng to place the luggage inside.
After putting the luggage in the trunk, Yang Lisheng looked at Li Meixiang and Song Yan Ning and nodded to them. He had already made his statement, so it wouldn’t be right for them to go find a hotel now.