....
"Sigh, all these years youâve said you had a bad life, ostracized by that family, we knew theyâd surely treat you poorly, but never imagined this. That family did such beastly things to you. You keep everything to yourself, why didnât you tell us?" Grandma Lin sat on the bed, her mind filled with images of her eldest son being abused by that family. She could easily imagine her eldest sonâs helplessness back then.
"Mom, itâs all in the past now. I didnât tell you because I didnât want you to feel sad. Now itâs all over, donât worry, this time we wonât be soft-hearted, weâll definitely deal with them thoroughly." Lin Guozhi wasnât merciful. He hated those two elders the most, and once they were punished, he planned to let the others go. He didnât expect that, all these years, Li Yongfang hadnât improved at all.
If they hadnât caused trouble, quietly lived their own lives, and stayed out of my sight, things could have been different.
But they even had the thought of murder, Iâm fine, but I canât ignore my family. What if someday, when Iâm not around, they target Nannan and Ah Hui? That would be unbearable.
This matter must be dealt with.
"If you ask me, they should all be locked up. Better not let them out." Grandma Lin said.
"Yes, yes, donât worry about it, you donât need to worry, my brother and I wonât let them have an easy time." Lin Guowen reassured the elderly.
Lin Wan and her mom waited outside for quite a while before they saw Grandpa coming out with Dad and Second Uncle.
They probably discussed how to deal with the Li Family. They didnât know what was decided, as Brother Anliang and her brother didnât let them know the details.
When they came out, everyone was solemn, mainly because they felt sad hearing about what Dad went through as a child.
"Dad," Lin Wan called, eyes red as she held Lin Guozhiâs hand when they left.
Lin Guozhi looked at his familyâs solemn faces, sighed helplessly, and said with a nonchalant smile, "The past is past. Back then, when I was young, it didnât feel so hard. Later, the best decision I made was to change places and names, and go to Kao Shan Village, completely severing ties with that family. The happiest years were when I was with your mom. I donât regret... otherwise I might never have met your mom in this lifetime." Lin Guozhi said, turning to hold his wifeâs hand beside him, "Right, Nannan?"
Liang Hongmeiâs originally heavy mood was completely lightened by his words. She had said so many times not to call her that in front of the kids and daughter-in-law, but he never listened.
Lin Yinghui felt that their parents had a tough life for the first half, and finally when they could live a good life together, they should let go and not have reservations.
They didnât mind, seeing their parents happy made them happy too.
Originally a pleasant little New Yearâs Eve was marred by the Li Familyâs antics. But given their familyâs penchant for disruption, if it wasnât today, it would be another day.
Itâs better to resolve it early for peace of mind.
Although Lin Wan didnât know how Grandpa and Uncle planned, she could assure it wasnât done through regular channels.
When they returned home, they found a military bag in the living room, and a pair of menâs shoes at the door. Before anyone could react, Lin Wan quickly ran upstairs.
Liang Hongmei understood, holding Little Star, and said, "Look at your mom, having your dad back, you donât get her attention, Little Star, do you?"
"Dada... Dad..."
"Hey, Little Star knows Dad! Come, let Auntie carry you up to take a look." Mu Qing cleverly took the child, made a circle in the living room, but didnât actually go upstairs.
In a few minutes, Lin Wan returned downstairs.
"Did Han Yi come back?" Lin Yinghui asked.
"Yes, he came back, probably too tired, fell asleep in the room." He didnât know when he last slept, even when she called him several times upon entering the room, he didnât wake up, sleeping deeply.
"He mustâve been busy traveling, not sleeping well, let him rest properly. Tomorrow morning we have to travel quickly."
"Or maybe leave in the afternoon, let the child have a good rest." Lin Guozhi knew what Han Yi had been through but didnât want the family to worry.
"That works too."
Liang Hongmei worried her son-in-law was traveling without eating, so she cooked a small pot of porridge on the stove.
If he woke up in the middle of the night, Xiao Wan could get him something to fill his stomach.
Lin Wan agreed, and was about to take Little Star upstairs to sleep. But Saozi nudged Little Star aside with a smile and said, "Xiao Wan, you go back to sleep, Little Star probably wonât sleep for a while, if he goes inside, he might wake Xiao Yi and affect his sleep. Let the child sleep with us tonight."
"Saozi, how can it be alright, will you take care of the child?" Lin Wan laughed.
"I used to take care of Little Star often too, go sleep. The kid, my Saozi and I will manage." Back when Xiao Wan was in school at night, he also took care of the child often.
Seeing her brother and sister-in-law insisting, Lin Wan let Little Star stay with them.
Lin Wan returned to the room, quietly, looking at the unkempt face. She didnât know how much he suffered.
Feeling sorry seeing Han Yi like this, she actually didnât realize Han Yi was just tired from traveling.
He didnât come back with the main force but caught a ride with someone elseâs car. He disliked that othersâ cars were too slow, so he helped the truck driver drive along the way. Except for occasionally closing his eyes from exhaustion, he barely slept in recent days.
This task ended, they first returned to the Capital Cityâs military era camp to report. Among those injured during the mission, seven or eight had to retire due to serious injuries. Of course, among the retired soldiers, there were Li Bangguo and Sha Jianqiang, who are currently detained by the military era, awaiting further review.
Originally, with less severe casualties, due to the intelligence issue. Mei Langchi is still being questioned at camp by the team. Thereâs little doubt that this officerâs military role is ended.
....
Lin Guozhi and Liang Hongmei returned to the room, Liang Hongmei lay on the bed holding Lin Guozhi, neither spoke.
In the silence, the best comfort.
"Guozhi, if back then I hadnât stuck to you, chased you, would you have ever looked at me?"
Lin Guozhi laughed, "Maybe not, back then I hadnât thought about marriage, my future was still uncertain."
"Then why did you agree later?"
"Later... there was a little girl who always lingered in front of me, then?"
"Then what happened?"
Lin Guozhi smirked, gently pecking Liang Hongmeiâs lips, "Then the more I looked, the more pleasing she became, the more I liked her."
"Old flirt, improper."
"Who ran shamelessly around a big man back then?"
"Who made you so handsome, making girls in our village secretly admire you? You were so popular back then. The man of my dreams should be like this. I finally caught one, of course, I wouldnât miss out."
"Foolish... what if I were like Wu Guodong back then?"
Liang Hongmei glanced at him and said, "I wasnât as foolish as Lan Hua, giving herself before marriage."
Lin Guozhi laughed, said nothing, and hugged his wife, "My Nannan is clever."
"Guozhi, if only I lived next door to you back then, Iâd make sure you didnât get hurt so much."
"You werenât even older than me, how could you protect me? It wasnât bad originally. Look at me, I learned to cook from a young age, even studied different dishes. When you were pregnant with Ah Hui, wasnât it me who cooked for you?"
Liang Hongmei didnât reply, entwined her legs with Lin Guozhiâs body, holding him tighter.
"Feeling bold now, the kids are all home today." Seeing his wifeâs initiative, Lin Guozhi raised his brows and smiled.
"In our room, they canât see. When I missed you before, I secretly looked at your photos, not letting them know. Even now, they donât know we have a photo together."
"Silly goose, if you showed them that photo sooner, our reunion wouldnât be so late."
"Who would think of that? I didnât let them see because I feared theyâd hate you. Actually, as they grew up, they rarely mentioned you."
"Sigh... letâs not talk about the past. But this time back, I must teach that beast Li Fugui a lesson..." Lin Guozhi feared saying what he really thought might scare Nannan, so he quickly rephrased.
"Yes, he deserves it. Without him, the kids and I wouldnât have suffered so much. My parents might still be alive."
"Good, Iâll teach him a hard lesson. Tell me, who else should I deal with? This trip back, Iâll sort them all out."