Free Web NovelChapter 22: Chapter 22: Misunderstanding?
It wasn’t that Su Li was careless; she just wanted to get a divorce as quickly as possible.
Ever since her rebirth, Su Li had constantly fought the urge to write Tang Yuanxiao a letter demanding a divorce. But she had always held back, wanting to talk to him face-to-face.
In this era, divorce was an incredibly rare event. If she couldn’t provide a valid reason, and Tang Yuanxiao was dissatisfied or unwilling, getting the divorce would be a huge hassle.
Considering all the factors, Su Li had refrained from acting rashly. Mrs. Tang, oblivious to her true intentions, still held onto the hope that they would grow to love each other.
As Mrs. Tang started nagging about Tang Yuanxiao again, Su Li retreated to her room early. After lighting the kerosene lamp, she muttered to herself, clenching her fists, ’No, after the New Year, once I’ve settled my schooling, I’ll have to make time to see Tang Yuanxiao. We’ll talk it through and get the divorce finalized...’
Lost in thought, Su Li started to go through her belongings, searching for how much private savings she had. As she looked, she suddenly noticed something was wrong.
The new sweater she had knitted for herself was gone.
’I put it right here before. I remember it clearly.’ Su Li searched and searched, but still couldn’t find the sweater.
Soon, Su Li had searched the entire room and still hadn’t found her sweater.
’Did a thief get in?’
Frowning, Su Li opened her door and asked Mrs. Tang and Little Tang Mo, who were still in the side room, "Mother-in-law, my new sweater is missing. Did anyone visit? Or perhaps..." Her eyes silently asked the rest: ’you took it?’
Anyone who wasn’t blind could see how much Mrs. Tang loved woolen sweaters. ’But no matter what, Mrs. Tang wouldn’t just secretly take it, would she?’
Just as Su Li was thinking this, she saw Mrs. Tang smile, a bit mischievously. "I knew you’d come ask me."
Su Li raised an eyebrow. ’What does she mean?’
A bad feeling crept into her heart.
Sure enough, the next second she heard Mrs. Tang say, "Don’t worry, I helped you mail that sweater to Tangyuan. I also had someone write in the letter that you knitted it for him."
Mrs. Tang said this with a broad, benevolent smile.
Su Li’s face froze completely. "What did you say?"
She asked through gritted teeth.
’That was *my* sweater, a sweater I poured my heart into knitting for myself. How could she send it to Tang Yuanxiao! Is she crazy?!’
A dangerous darkness filled Su Li’s eyes, but unfortunately, the kerosene lamp was too dim for Mrs. Tang to see anything.
She thought Su Li was just being shy. "Su Li, even though Tangyuan doesn’t come back and isn’t home often, you’ve been married for a year. You’re an old married couple, no need to be so shy."
She covered her mouth to hide a chuckle. "You said before that you didn’t know how to knit men’s clothes, but you secretly finished one behind our backs. And you were too embarrassed to even show me... It’s a good thing I saw it while I was looking for something, otherwise you would have had to make a special trip to mail it yourself."
Listening to Mrs. Tang’s presumptuous words, Su Li was so angry she almost coughed up blood. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
She fought desperately to suppress her rage, closed her eyes for a moment, and replied coldly, "I wasn’t embarrassed. I knitted that sweater for myself. It’s *my* sweater!"
’It was her sweater! Embarrassed my ass! Mrs. Tang actually mailed her sweater to Tang Yuanxiao!’
’She’s crazy! Utterly insane!’
Su Li was really losing her mind!
Mrs. Tang was completely unaware of Su Li’s fury and was still teasing her with a smile. "Su Li, why are you so thin-skinned? You knitted it, so what? It’s no big deal. I shook it out and had a look. It’s so long and wide, it would go past your butt if you wore it. It was clearly made for Tangyuan."
She tried to smooth things over. "Alright, Su Li, don’t be shy. There are only the three of us at home. Nothing would make me happier than seeing you and Tangyuan live a good life together. When Tangyuan receives it, who knows how happy he’ll be."
Su Li stared at Mrs. Tang, at her smiling face, and forced down the rage in her chest to confirm the most crucial detail. "When did you mail it?"
’If I can still get it back, I have to get it back!’
"I mailed it the day before yesterday! If he’s lucky, Tangyuan will receive it before the New Year," Mrs. Tang replied gleefully.
’Mailed the day before yesterday... The sweater can’t be retrieved...’
Su Li felt as disgusted as if she had swallowed a fly. She could no longer suppress the rage in her heart and was about to charge forward and smack that smile right off Mrs. Tang’s face, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Little Tang Mo in Mrs. Tang’s arms.
Su Li stood frozen, her face dark and silent. Mrs. Tang, no matter how slow she was, finally noticed something was wrong. "What is it? Su Li, that sweater..."
Having no desire to hear another word from Mrs. Tang, Su Li cut her off. "Mother-in-law, from now on, do not enter my room and touch my things without permission. You must ask me before you take any of my belongings. I hope tonight is the last time something like this—taking without asking—ever happens."
Mrs. Tang’s face stiffened. "Su Li, what do you mean? How did I just take your things? You..."
Su Li turned and walked away. Mrs. Tang awkwardly shut her mouth and glanced at Little Tang Mo, a look of unease on her face.
"What’s wrong with her? Could it really not be for Tangyuan? But it’s so wide and long; it would be too big for her to wear..." Mrs. Tang muttered to herself, shaking her head. She tapped Little Tang Mo’s nose.
"Don’t worry, Momo. Your mommy isn’t angry. She’s just shy."
Mrs. Tang interpreted Su Li’s strange behavior and denials as simple shyness. ’Young girls have thin skins, after all. It seems I can’t tease her about this anymore.’
"Your mommy knitted sweaters for you and your daddy, but didn’t make one for herself. I’ll ask someone to buy some yarn for her in a couple of days so she can knit one for herself."
Mrs. Tang sighed as she spoke to Little Tang Mo, then went off to bed with him, completely oblivious to the inferno of rage burning in Su Li’s heart back in the side-wing room.
Su Li was truly seeing red. If Little Tang Mo hadn’t been in Mrs. Tang’s arms just now, she probably would have exploded.
Because she didn’t want to hit someone—especially her mother-in-law—in front of Little Tang Mo, Su Li had forced herself to hold back. But there was no outlet for the fury in her heart.
Su Li stood before her bed, panting heavily. Spotting a small, leftover piece of yarn at the foot of the bed, she angrily walked over, picked it up, and started yanking at it.
It was a small scrap of yarn left over from her knitting, a particularly vibrant shade of green.
"Sending a grown man a *green* sweater... Isn’t she afraid it’s a bad omen? That he’ll end up wearing a green hat..."
Su Li muttered this under her breath, but she froze at the mention of a "green hat."
In her past life, Tang Yuanxiao had indeed been cuckolded—made to wear a real, actual green hat. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Of course, she wasn’t the one who had put that green hat on him. The affair she was accused of had been a complete frame-up. Qin Shanshan’s affair, however, had been all too real.
