Free Web NovelChapter 128: Chapter 128: Imperial City
Is it possible they might arrive tomorrow or the day after?
The answer, of course, was no.
While Tang Yuanxiao was thinking this, Su Li was still at home, checking Little Tang Mo’s packed luggage. They hadn’t even set out yet.
After getting the acceptance letter and returning home, Su Li eagerly tore it open. She read it over carefully three times, confirming that it was indeed her acceptance letter. At last, her heart could rest easy.
An uncontrollable smile spread across Su Li’s lips.
Mrs. Tang, on the other hand, couldn’t bring herself to smile at all.
Su Li getting into university was a shock to her, not a pleasant surprise.
The Tang Family could accommodate a daughter-in-law who was a substitute teacher. They could even grudgingly accept one who was good at making money.
But a university student... Mrs. Tang no longer had any confidence.
Mrs. Tang couldn’t even put into words how complicated she felt. If it were her own daughter, she would be bursting with pride. But it was her daughter-in-law. And if she were a filial, obedient daughter-in-law, she would still be proud. But Su Li... was neither of those things.
Mrs. Tang didn’t even realize it herself, but deep in her eyes as she looked at Su Li, there was a hint of... fear.
She desperately wanted to say, ’Su Li, don’t go to university,’ but the words wouldn’t come out. She spent the afternoon in a daze, packing Little Tang Mo’s luggage.
After Mrs. Tang finished packing, Su Li double-checked everything.
As Su Li was checking, Mrs. Tang, who hadn’t left, stood to the side. "Su Li, you should hurry up and write a letter to Tangyuan to tell him you got into university."
"I already wrote one," Su Li replied casually.
She hadn’t. But Mrs. Tang was illiterate, so if Su Li said she had written it, Mrs. Tang would take her word for it.
"Oh, okay." Mrs. Tang said no more. ’It’s better to let Tangyuan handle the matter of Su Li going to university,’ she thought. ’I don’t know what to do, and I... can’t control her anyway.’
"Grandma, are you really not coming with us?" Little Tang Mo asked from the side.
Mrs. Tang shook her head. "Grandma isn’t going."
Su Li didn’t say anything. ’Mrs. Tang will probably have to go eventually,’ she thought. ’After I divorce Tang Yuanxiao and go to school, someone has to take care of Little Tang Mo. What else can she do?’
But that was all for later. For now, while she was in the process of getting a divorce, it was best to keep as much distance from Mrs. Tang as possible.
Mrs. Tang wandered out in a daze, and Su Li continued packing.
While sorting through things, she came across a photograph.
It was of Tang Yuanxiao and Little Tang Mo’s birth mother. It was a small photo that looked like it had been torn from a marriage certificate.
Su Li took a closer look and almost burst out laughing. Maybe he was too nervous, but Tang Yuanxiao looked a bit cross-eyed in the photo.
After a couple of chuckles, Su Li took a few more glances, since this was the first time she had seen Little Tang Mo’s birth mother.
Upon closer inspection, Little Tang Mo looked just like his mother, not at all like Tang Yuanxiao.
Su Li nodded and put the photo away properly. ’It’s a good thing he looks like his birth mother. That’s why Little Tang Mo is so cute, adorable, and handsome. If he looked like Tang Yuanxiao, there’s no way he’d be this cute.’
"TSK TSK, what a disaster that would be." Su Li imagined Little Tang Mo looking like Tang Yuanxiao and couldn’t stop shaking her head.
"If he looked like Tang Yuanxiao... I’d be too exhausted to even love Little Mo." freeweɓnovel.cøm
The next morning, after a tearful farewell where Mrs. Tang and Little Tang Mo clasped hands, reluctant to part, Su Li and Little Tang Mo finally left Xinghua Village.
That afternoon, Su Li and Little Tang Mo arrived in the county seat.
Two mornings later, Su Li set out from Fengcheng County once again with Little Tang Mo.
This time, their destination was the Imperial City.
Su Li and Little Tang Mo traveled by train, first to the provincial capital, then transferring to another train for the Imperial City.
In an era of green-skinned trains, where you needed connections to get a sleeper ticket, the journey to the Imperial City was long and arduous.
Fortunately, neither Little Tang Mo nor Su Li got motion sickness, and they ate everything with a hearty appetite along the way.
"This is from Aunt Yin, and this is from Aunt Li..." Little Tang Mo mumbled as he ate.
After Su Li received her acceptance letter, Yin Cuihua and Li Hongqin naturally found out. Grandma Li and others from the factory sent gifts to Su Li that very day.
There were washbasins, towels, pillowcases—all sorts of things. It wasn’t popular to give red envelopes back then, so people just gave small items to express their good wishes.
Li Hongqin and Yin Cuihua had originally planned to throw a huge celebration, as grand as a wedding banquet, but Su Li had to fight tooth and nail to stop them.
"If you do all that, it’ll be just like someone’s wedding," Su Li said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry when she heard their plans.
But Li Hongqin was matter-of-fact. "That’s exactly how it should be! It should be even grander than a wedding. You’re the city’s top scholar, a university student!"
"Exactly! Anyone can get married, but not everyone can get into university!" Yin Cuihua added emphatically.
Bemused, Su Li also had to admit they had a point. It was true that getting into university at this time was an incredibly difficult feat, unlike in later generations where university graduates were everywhere.
Su Li managed to talk them down with great difficulty. In the end, she simply treated everyone to a meal to thank them, avoiding a full-blown banquet.
Because of this, as Li Hongqin was seeing them off at the train station, she was still sighing with regret. "If Little Cao becomes the city’s top scholar in the future, I’ll definitely host a three-day banquet!"
Recalling this, Su Li smiled, patted Little Tang Mo’s head, and teased, "Whose cooking do you like more, Aunt Yin’s or Aunt Li’s?"
"I like them both!" Little Tang Mo answered without hesitation.
"Haha..." Su Li laughed heartily.
Amidst Little Tang Mo’s childish chatter, the train slowly moved forward.
When they finally arrived in the Imperial City and she set foot on its soil once more, Su Li was filled with a mix of emotions and heroic ambition.
’Imperial City, I’m back!’
"Mama, there are so many people..." Little Tang Mo clutched Su Li’s hand tightly, his eyes darting everywhere, unable to take it all in.
"Mama, are we going to find Papa now?"
Su Li glanced at all their luggage and shook her head. "We’ll go the day after tomorrow. Mama has something important to do first."
Even though she had tried to minimize their luggage as much as possible, they still ended up with a huge pile of bags, big and small.
Su Li had no intention of dragging all this luggage with her to find Tang Yuanxiao. She needed to put her own things in her own place.
Once she was settled, she would go find Tang Yuanxiao to handle the paperwork, unburdened.
Her so-called "important thing" was not just finding a place to stay, but also finding a real estate agent.
Why find a real estate agent? To buy a house, of course.
She couldn’t help it. After all, who could ignore how ridiculously high real estate prices would become in the future? Right now, prices were so low that buying was a guaranteed profit.
If you asked modern people what the first thing they’d do if they were reborn, nine out of ten would say buy a house. Whether you had money or not, you’d buy first and figure it out later. If you didn’t have money, you’d borrow it and just wait for the property value to skyrocket.
Su Li... was no different.
She had some money on hand. Her plan was to get in touch with an agent now so she could snatch up a suitable property as soon as possible. Whether for living in or as an investment, it was the best move.
Su Li had planned all of this long ago.
After resting for a night, Su Li acted on her plan the next day. She met with an agent and spent the entire day running around, ultimately renting a temporary place near her future university.
By the time she had finished running around and gotten them settled, night had fallen.
The next day, Su Li got ready and took Little Tang Mo to Tang Yuanxiao’s work unit.
The unit was far from the urban center of the Imperial City. It was located in Changwei Town, within Dingkang County, which was under the Imperial City’s jurisdiction. The trip was over two hours by car from the city proper and required two transfers.
One bus to Dingkang County, and another from the county to the town.
It took the entire morning. Su Li and Little Tang Mo finally arrived at their destination around noon.
