Free Web NovelChapter 118: Chapter 118: Dilemma
Zhao Wenming was ruthless, but Su Li was even more so.
The day after Mrs. Meng left, people from the Education Bureau arrived.
Zhao Wenming’s job was suspended, and he was left waiting for the Education Bureau’s final decision. If things went poorly, he could lose his so-called "iron rice bowl."
This turn of events came so suddenly that Zhao Wenming was unable to accept it.
He hadn’t underestimated Su Li; he was already wary of her. But he never imagined her move would be so swift and precise.
Zhao Wenming was no fool. He knew that if he wanted to save his iron rice bowl, he had to start with Mrs. Meng.
He was familiar with the methods people like her used.
After their two-year relationship, Yingyang was utterly devoted to him. Although he hadn’t managed to sleep with her, they had privately pledged to spend their lives together.
Zhao Wenming was certain that Meng Yingyang couldn’t live without him. He could have used this to make Mrs. Meng regret her actions and fear him, but Mrs. Meng had made the first move.
The job suspension, the waiting for a final decision—to put it bluntly, it was a threat, a negotiation.
If he was obedient, gave up on Meng Yingyang, and made Yingyang give up on him, his teaching job would surely be safe.
If not... he would lose everything.
Zhao Wenming could take the gamble. Mrs. Meng was acting so outrageously because she was angry. She might say she’d rather beat her daughter to death than let her marry down, but if Yingyang really threatened to kill herself, they would have to compromise in the end.
If Zhao Wenming took the gamble, he had a fifty-fifty chance of winning.
But he didn’t quite dare to take the risk.
If, by some chance, he lost the bet, he would lose everything!
In just one short day, Zhao Wenming’s hair nearly turned white, but he still couldn’t make a decision.
Zhao Wenming’s suspicions were essentially correct. As he suffered in agony, Fang Yulan, who didn’t even know the full story, suffered right alongside him.
She was sick with hatred and regret.
"Wenming, it’s all Mom’s fault. I couldn’t help but run my mouth before, and I ruined things for you. Don’t you worry, Mom will find a way to fix this!"
Zhao Wenming said helplessly, "What can you possibly do?"
"There’s a way, Wenming. I’ll go to the county seat tomorrow. You just wait for my good news."
Fang Yulan wasn’t entirely witless. The very next day, she went straight to the county seat.
She was going to beg Mrs. Meng to agree to the marriage and save her son’s job!
Zhao Wenming was the apple of Fang Yulan’s eye; her son was her everything. For Zhao Wenming, she would do anything.
She had doted on Zhao Wenming since he was a child and couldn’t bear to see him suffer the slightest grievance. To her, seeing him get drenched in urine was worse than being killed herself.
If the one who did it hadn’t been Mrs. Meng, Fang Yulan would have gone and beaten the person to death.
’A man’s knees are precious. Wenming can’t kneel, so I will!’
Fang Yulan went and knelt directly at the Meng family’s gate.
As the family of a well-known coal boss in the county, they inevitably attracted public attention. Fang Yulan was acting so shamelessly that Mrs. Meng had no choice but to let her in.
Once inside, Fang Yulan cast aside all dignity, dropped to her knees again, and burst into a fit of wailing.
"Oh, Madam, my Wenming is truly a good boy. You’ve misunderstood him..."
Once Fang Yulan was inside, she refused to leave. After finishing her ’confession’, she began begging Mrs. Meng to marry her daughter into the Zhao family, promising how well they would treat her.
Then she started fawning over Mrs. Meng and her daughter, treating the Meng Family with more reverence than she would her own mother-in-law, stopping just short of licking their boots. frёewebηovel.cѳm
Fang Yulan had truly cast everything aside, abandoning all human dignity and principles.
Unfortunately, a coal boss’s daughter was not so easily won. Mrs. Meng looked down on their family.
No matter how much Fang Yulan begged, Mrs. Meng refused to yield.
Three days later, Fang Yulan had no choice but to rush back to Xinghua Village.
Upon her return, as luck would have it, she ran into Su Li. The look in her eyes was so hateful it was as if she wanted to eat Su Li alive.
Su Li was unmoved by her glare; her own eyes held a complex emotion that Fang Yulan couldn’t comprehend.
"Why bother..."
Su Li murmured with a sigh as she brushed past her.
Why did she sigh? Because it wasn’t worth it.
In her past life, when she met Zhao Wenming again and was preparing to take him down with her, she had learned a lot about his situation.
Without her interference, Zhao Wenming had a shotgun wedding with Meng Yingyang in his last life. But even though he married the girl, he couldn’t change his mother-in-law’s aversion to people from the countryside.
It was less that Zhao Wenming married Meng Yingyang and more that he married into the Meng Family.
Because his mother-in-law despised Xinghua Village, they didn’t even hold a wedding ceremony there; it was held in the city.
After that, Zhao Wenming was transferred to the county seat and became a city dweller.
Fang Yulan hadn’t even had enough time to be proud before she found she could no longer see her son. She wasn’t allowed into Zhao Wenming’s home, and Zhao Wenming, terrified of his mother-in-law, only dared to speak with her in secret.
For her son’s sake, Fang Yulan endured it all. She swallowed her pride, gave up everything, and begged just to see him.
Later, when she had a grandson, she couldn’t even see him, let alone touch or hold him. She cried and made scenes, but the final result was that she couldn’t even see Zhao Wenming anymore.
After that, Zhao Wenming ignored her and didn’t dare get involved. Ever since he got married, he never returned to his old home, and aside from sending a little money, he completely neglected his parents.
When Zhao Wenming had his second child, a daughter, Fang Yulan couldn’t bear it any longer and forced her way into their home, only to be thrown out.
After that, she could only catch secret glimpses of her own grandson and granddaughter on their way to school, all while having to be careful not to get caught by the public security bureau.
Fang Yulan later died of illness. She was sick for a month, but her son never came to her side, not even once.
Needless to say, her grandchildren weren’t there either. Before she died, Fang Yulan was finally filled with regret, passing away amidst curses and sobs.
She could not rest in peace.
Knowing Fang Yulan’s fate in her previous life, how could Su Li not feel a sense of wistfulness seeing her actions now?
Su Li was sighing over Fang Yulan, but she didn’t know that others were sighing over her as well.
Those people were none other than the villagers of Xinghua Village.
Before, when Su Li had stopped them from making money, they had dared to talk behind her back. Now, however, they were much more fearful.
It was no longer a secret in Xinghua Village that Su Li was the mastermind behind Zhao Wenming’s downfall.
Su Li was so ruthless that those who had been harboring schemes and planning to pressure her no longer dared to act.
They had no choice but to try and curry even more favor with Su Li, hoping that one day she would have a change of heart.
Su Li, however, paid their thoughts no mind, unaware that in Xinghua Village, she had become someone that even ghosts would fear.
Having dealt with Zhao Wenming, and with her company’s affairs proceeding as planned, she pulled her focus back to preparing for the college entrance exam.
Time flew by. June arrived quietly, leaving less than a month until the college entrance exam. Time was incredibly tight. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Because she was also teaching, Su Li’s schedule was packed.
Fortunately, Mrs. Tang’s hands and feet had healed considerably. Although her foot wasn’t completely better, her hands were almost fully recovered, and she could handle tasks like cooking.
Knowing that Su Li was earning so much money and still working as a teacher, and hearing how busy she was, Mrs. Tang took over the household chores.
And so, Su Li was able to focus wholeheartedly on preparing for her exams.
At the end of June, the day before Su Li was to pick up her exam admission ticket, she actually took a day off.
Because it was Little Tang Mo’s birthday.
Little Tang Mo was turning six.
