Free Web NovelChapter 84: Chapter 84: Shock
Just as his colleague was about to answer, grumbling internally, Yu Le burst in.
"Is something wrong at home?" Hearing that Tang Yuanxiao had a phone call, Yu Le had also assumed there was an emergency and rushed over.
"No, everything’s fine," Tang Yuanxiao answered quickly.
"As long as you’re okay. You scared me to death." Yu Le leaned against the wall, panting, and let out a huge sigh of relief.
Such brotherhood moved even Tang Yuanxiao’s deadpan face. He walked up and gave Yu Le a punch on the shoulder.
He didn’t say thank you.
Saying it would just create distance between them.
Nothing needed to be said. When the time came, he would take a knife for him without hesitation.
Tang Yuanxiao and Yu Le walked out together.
"Hold on, I need to fix my shoes." Yu Le had run over in such a hurry that his shoes were just slipped on. "Good thing I didn’t put them on backward."
In an emergency, it was common not to have time to put on your shoes properly, or even to put on shoes at all.
The two of them returned to the office.
"Get me a glass of water. I’m parched from all that running," Yu Le ordered Tang Yuanxiao.
Tang Yuanxiao shook his head but poured him a glass. "Here."
Yu Le took the glass with a pretentious air and drank. "As I was running over, I was thinking it’s a good thing I haven’t taken my leave yet."
If Tang Yuanxiao had any trouble, it went without saying that Yu Le would apply for leave to go and help him solve it.
"I was startled too, but thankfully it was nothing." Tang Yuanxiao understood Yu Le’s unspoken meaning.
"So who called you?" Now that everything was fine, Yu Le started to gossip.
"Su Li." Tang Yuanxiao had no intention of hiding it from Yu Le.
"Ooh-la-la..." Yu Le immediately let out a strange cry, waggling his eyebrows and winking at Tang Yuanxiao.
"Calling you just ’cause? She must miss you. I guess a day apart really does feel like an eternity, huh?"
"No, don’t be ridiculous." Tang Yuanxiao couldn’t bear to look at Yu Le’s weird expression and simply turned away.
"Hey, why are you hiding? Ooh-la-la..." Yu Le chuckled slyly. "I haven’t even asked you about the wedding night... Old Tang, congratulations!"
He let out a giggle, a sound as sleazy as a laugh could possibly be.
Tang Yuanxiao: "..." freēwēbηovel.c૦m
He decided to take back the feeling of being touched from a few minutes ago!
"Still not talking? Don’t think I don’t know how pleased you are just because you’re quiet, hehe..." Yu Le nudged Tang Yuanxiao with his elbow.
Without turning his head, Tang Yuanxiao reached back and shoved Yu Le’s face away. "Go do what you’re supposed to be doing!"
’He was suffering, truly suffering inside!’
’Who could possibly know the bitterness in his heart!’
’Wedding night? He hadn’t even gotten a smile from Su Li! The only contact they’d had from start to finish was a brief touch of hands when they parted ways!’
"Knew you’d react like this, getting all shy. A grown man, tsk tsk."
Yu Le had an ’I’m a man, I get it’ expression on his face. His gaze swept down Tang Yuanxiao’s body. "Old Tang, looks like you’re pretty capable, huh!"
"Get the hell out of here!" Tang Yuanxiao shoved him.
"I’m going, I’m going," Yu Le said, backing away. "Old Tang, when I get married, you’ll have to teach me a thing or two."
He wanted his wife to be so devoted she couldn’t stand to be apart from him. Just like Tang Yuanxiao, who had a call chasing after him the moment he got back!
Yu Le’s thoughts were blissful as he looked at Tang Yuanxiao with a face full of expectation, waiting for him to agree.
Tang Yuanxiao shut the door directly, answering Yu Le’s question with his actions.
"Why are you so stingy!" Yu Le’s unhappy accusation came through the door, mixed with a few mentions of "little old man."
Tang Yuanxiao looked at the door and shook his head. ’Teach you? Teach you what? How to make your wife ask for a divorce, too?’
In all his years at the work unit, he had seen many couples. He’d seen good relationships, bad ones, ones where they were screaming bloody murder at each other all day, and even cases where a man was cheated on, but he had never seen anyone get divorced.
But his wife, Su Li, wanted to divorce him. A first!
With things like this, how could he teach anyone? How would he dare?
After sitting down, Tang Yuanxiao recalled Su Li’s questions on the phone, and his face filled with deep bitterness.
’The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt!’
"I still have to get her to come here..." Tang Yuanxiao sighed deeply.
During his lunch break, Tang Yuanxiao wrote a letter to Su Li at home. Besides telling her he was safe, the rest of the letter was dedicated to persuading her to come to the city.
Tang Yuanxiao pleaded earnestly, filling a total of four pages.
Once it was written, Tang Yuanxiao mailed it back as quickly as possible.
******
In Fengcheng County, the rain poured for five straight days and nights, only stopping on the sixth day.
Waking up to see the rain had stopped, Su Li finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Grandma Li was also very happy. "This rain has finally stopped!"
Although the sky was still overcast, Grandma Li, who hadn’t been out to visit neighbors for several days, still went out happily.
When she returned, she told Su Li the latest news she’d heard. "The rain was too heavy. I hear a lot of thatched houses have collapsed, and quite a few bridges have been washed away."
Hearing this, Su Li’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately thought of Little Tang Mo and couldn’t help but look up at the roof.
Seeing her movement, Grandma Li laughed. "Oh, the ones that collapsed were all thatched huts, or those old houses that are decades, even a century old. Our house won’t collapse. This is a tile-roofed house."
Su Li let out a breath of relief and thought, ’That’s right. I’m just worrying over nothing.’
The Tang Family’s house was one of the best tile-roofed houses in Xinghua Village; there was no way it would collapse.
Su Li relaxed and smiled at Grandma Li. "Grandma Li, I was just admiring how sturdy our house is."
"Oh, you and your clever words. I can never win against you." Her words made Grandma Li laugh.
Su Li laughed too. "I wonder when the sky will clear up."
"It should be clear by tomorrow at the latest. Su Li, don’t be in a hurry to go back. The sky has just cleared up, so the roads will be bad. It might be dangerous, too. Wait a few more days and go back when it’s safe."
The rain had been too heavy. Many roads had collapsed, and there were likely quite a few landslides on the mountains. It wasn’t safe.
"Okay." Grandma Li’s advice came from a good place, so of course Su Li listened.
By the afternoon, the sky had finally cleared.
Over the next two days, Su Li went to Fengcheng First Middle School. She visited her homeroom teacher and met with her subject teachers, successfully obtaining a lot of review materials and practice tests.
After seeing her teachers, Su Li went to a bookstore. But this time, she wasn’t buying books for herself, but for Little Tang Mo.
Yes, that’s right—primers for Little Tang Mo.
When she had seen the primers earlier, she had immediately thought of Little Tang Mo.
Little Tang Mo would be six after the New Year. Tang Yuanxiao had previously said he wanted Little Tang Mo to come live with him at the military base, attend the preschool program for the first half of the year, and then he’d be able to keep up when he started elementary school.
It was a decent plan, but unfortunately, because she wasn’t going to live at the base and Mrs. Tang wasn’t going either, Little Tang Mo’s schooling was delayed.
Regardless of the quality of the preschool on the base, the fact was that it existed, while Xinghua Village didn’t have one.
Even if Little Tang Mo was a genius, it wasn’t good for him to have no prior schooling. Su Li didn’t want Little Tang Mo to lose at the starting line, so she thought of buying some primers to give him a head start.
Otherwise, what would happen if Little Tang Mo fell behind? Education was a serious matter!
Another two days passed. After hearing no news of blocked roads and seeing the muddy conditions improve, Li Hongqin arrived in the county seat with the eighty sets of completed school uniforms, just as they had agreed.
After counting and inspecting them to make sure there were no problems, Su Li went to Principal Zhang’s office, delivered the first batch, and received the agreed-upon deposit.
The next day, Su Li returned to Xinghua Village.
The journey was smooth. Arriving at the village entrance, Su Li felt a minute of relief when she didn’t see Little Tang Mo waiting for her. But as soon as she entered the village, she was startled.
Many houses had collapsed. While it wasn’t a total scene of devastation, the situation was truly dire.
Su Li’s heart sank. She quickened her pace toward the Tang Family’s house, only to be met by the sound of Little Tang Mo’s heart-wrenching sobs.
