“If you don’t tell me, I will kidnap Xiao Baoshan’s mother and brother. I know his brother is going to take the exam. Do you want to ruin his career just because of your selfishness?” Li Chengru said threateningly.
Ye Xiaoxian burst out laughing. She just smiled at first, but then she giggled.
“Why are you laughing?” he was confused.
She raised her brows as she said, “You want to threaten me with them?”
“Yes!”
She pulled back her smile and looked him up and down. Then, she walked away without a word.
He stopped her again. “Do you understand what I’m saying? I will imprison them!”
Ye Xiaoxian paused for a while before she turned to him. “Then do it!”
Do it? How could she say that so calmly? Isn’t there anyone who can make her yield in this county? Is she really afraid of nothing? I’m afraid that she isn’t.
He knew it was always hard for a woman to get along well with her mother-in-law. Although Ye Xiaoxian and Li Hongmei seemed nice to each other, they might quarrel in private. Since Xiao Baoshan had left, their conflicts might have been intensified.
As for Xiao Baofeng, he was just Xiao Baoshan’s younger brother. Now that Ye Xiaoxian didn’t love Xiao Baoshan anymore, she wouldn’t care about his brother.
Li Chengru simply stood there in astonishment.
Not far away, the horns and drums were playing a loud and jubilant tune, contrasting sharply with his depression.
When he was about to vent his frustration, Ye Xiaoxian suddenly stopped in her tracks. Then, she walked up to him.
Is she finally afraid? Will she finally compromise?
Li Chengru thought these things as he stared at her, feeling perplexed.
But she merely said in a low voice, “Come with me. I have something to show you. You’ll give up after seeing it.”
“What?” he asked.
“You’ll see.” After she had said this, she at once turned around and walked away.
Fine. Let me see what trick you want to play!
He decided to go with her.
Fengsheng pulled Li Chengru’s sleeve and warned, “Young master, this might be a trap.” After days of observation, he didn’t believe that Ye Xiaoxian was a pure-minded woman.
But Li Chengru didn’t care much about that. He said disdainfully, “We’ll see whether this is a trap or not. Even if she hires killers, we can handle them easily.”
…
Soon, Li Chengru and Fengsheng arrived at Ye Xiaoxian’s house and were kept waiting outside. Ye Xiaoxian went in alone. After a while, she came out with a piece of paper.
There was neither an ambush nor a trap awaiting them. She handed the paper to Li Chengru and said, “Have a look at this.”
He gave her a confused look before he unfolded the paper, on which he saw “DIVORCE” in the title.
Reading down, Li Chengru was surprised at the exceptionally heartless words used. In the letter, Xiao Baoshan said she was “unscrupulous”, “surly”, always pushed herself forward unbecomingly, and her being imprisoned made his family “notorious”. All these factors forced him to divorce her.
Li Chengru read the letter again and again until he finally believed what he saw. No wonder Ye Xiaoxian gnashed her teeth when mentioning Xiao Baoshan’s name. Any woman would feel heartbroken if receiving such a letter from her beloved husband.
Ye Xiaoxian took the letter back and said, “Now you know, Xiao Baoshan has nothing to do with me anymore. I just take care of his family for him. I don’t care what you do to them. To be honest, I’d rather you killed both of them. This way, I could marry again and have a fresh start.” After saying this, she went back into the house and shut the door.
Li Chengru stood outside the house, staring blankly at the closed door.
Does this mean that the trail leading to Xiao Baoshan has gone cold?
…
After Ye Xiaoxian locked herself in her room, she unfolded the letter and scanned over it several times. The first time she saw the letter, she didn’t believe that Xiao Baoshan would write something like this to her. As more and more strangers came to find him, she convinced herself that their divorce was a kind of expedient he had worked out to protect her.
However, as the days went by, he still didn’t return. Her heart gradually filled with grief. She knew neither where he was nor what he had gone through in the past.
Since he had offended so many people, why did he then come back here? He must have known what trouble he would cause for his family. But he just left, leaving her an awful mess. How many times had she been threatened, including knives put to her throat?
If he came back, she would face the trouble with him, however dangerous it might be. Why had he left alone? As long as they were together, she would rather live a life of vagrancy. She felt humiliated every time she read the letter.
…
Life had become gray, dull and depressing. But sometimes there was a different color. For example, Xiao Baofeng had become a Confucian apprentice. Only five people passed this examination in the county and Xiao Baofeng was the youngest.
Hearing this news, all his teachers were wild with joy. His headmaster rewarded him with lots of books, stationery and some materials about the previous provincial-level tests for him to learn in advance. This was equal to a mountain of workbooks and homework that a modern teacher might give to the best student in the class. However, a good learner was always ready to accept them.
Ye Xiaoxian, who was happy hearing this news, decided to invite other relatives to have a big meal together. Since Xiao Baoshan had left, the Xiao family hadn’t had any chance to gather together. The relatives in the village didn’t know how to comfort Li Hongmei and Ye Xiaoxian, afraid of saying something wrong which might upset them.
But Wong Mudan and Chen Ju had discussed Xiao Baoshan a lot. Wong Mudan said, “One can’t afford to obtain a great fortune, or he will provoke the gods. Alas!”
Chen Ju said, “I envied Li Hongmei before, but now I don’t. I would rather everyone were safe in this family even if we are poor.”
They had been jealous of Li Hongmei for her better life. But now, they felt she was no better than them. However, Wong Mudan still gave Xiao Baocheng a tough knock on his head. “What good prospects Baofeng has! But look at you — you can just recite several children’s poems after years of schooling!”
