Chapter 327 - 325: Re-entering the Dreamscape (Part 3)

Chapter 327: Chapter 325: Re-entering the Dreamscape (Part 3)

’Heh, she really "cared" for me for a whole two months back then. The only question is who was caring for whom?’ Even though she knew no one could hear her, Gu Nuan Nuan couldn’t help but stand up and kick at the air with a sneer.

Below, a sarcastic smile touched Luo Hongyi’s lips as he looked at Tang Juanmei. "That’s right. After Nuannuan gave birth to Haoyang, you did indeed stay for a full two months. You and my mother-in-law stayed here to ’care for’ Nuannuan. I still remember you telling me that you did it because you pitied Nuannuan and truly saw her as your own daughter, so you wanted to ensure she had a full two-month postpartum recovery. I was very touched when I heard that. I thought that, after all, you were my mother. Even if you could be unreliable at times, you would still come through when it mattered most."

He bit out the words "care for."

"Sigh, that was so many years ago. Why bring it up now?" Tang Juanmei’s heart skipped a beat, and her intuition told her she couldn’t let Luo Hongyi continue. Suppressing her guilt, she waved her hand dismissively, as if refusing to take credit. "It’s all in the past. As long as you know that I loved Nuannuan like my own daughter, that’s enough. There’s no need to parade it around for the whole world to hear."

She licked her lips, trying to change the subject. "They say the dead can’t be brought back to life, isn’t that right? You’ve mourned her for long enough. You were husband and wife, so it’s understandable that your love for her runs deep. But a person has to look forward, to move on. You still have a long life ahead of you. I’m your mother. Others might want you to keep mourning, but my heart aches for you. How could I bear to watch you live the rest of your life all alone?"

As she spoke, Tang Juanmei began to wipe away tears, pushing Xia Yaruo forward again. "Look at her! Yaluo is beautiful, good-natured, and capable. And she’s a pure, unmarried woman—how is she in any way not good enough for you? If she didn’t have a genuine fondness for men in the service, do you really think a widower with a child like you would even catch her eye?"

Yanked forward by Tang Juanmei, Xia Yaruo stumbled, and the smile she had been maintaining wavered. But she recovered in an instant, tilting her face up so her large, sparkling eyes could work in concert with Tang Juanmei’s words, casting a look of pure admiration at Luo Hongyi.

’How shameless. Is she trying to be a whore and build a monument to her own virtue? And she dares say she treated me like her own daughter? She should try treating her actual daughter that way and see what happens. It’d be a miracle if she wasn’t hated to the bone for it. How could I have been so stupid? To think I poured my heart and soul out to a person like that.’

’It’s utterly revolting.’

In mid-air, Gu Nuan Nuan turned away, her back to everyone below. She couldn’t bear to look at Tang Juanmei’s shameless face a moment longer. But she was reluctant to admit, even to herself, that she also couldn’t stand the sight of Xia Yaruo’s exceptionally young and alluring face.

She was betting Luo Hongyi would be tempted.

’Faced with such a beautiful woman... a man who has been abstinent for a long time, a man with strong needs, might be able to resist when temptation isn’t right in front of him. But now, here she is, looking at him with such utter adoration...’

Gu Nuan Nuan took a deep breath. She really didn’t want to see a certain someone’s resolve waver. She realized her Cultivation wasn’t yet deep enough to achieve true indifference. ’As for Tang Juanmei... even if she does nothing in this lifetime, I will never like her again.’

’How infuriating. To think I once treated a person like that as my own mother. Even when she never gave me a pleasant look, I was still sincerely filial to her for Luo Hongyi’s sake. I was so naive back then, thinking that with enough sincerity, I could melt even a block of ice.’

’Heh. Me and her... Just what kind of deep-seated grudge is this?’

"Hongyi, just give it a try with Yaluo. Once you get to know her, you’ll see," Tang Juanmei sighed with practiced ease, putting on a show. "Look, she’s every bit as pretty as Nuannuan, and most importantly, she’s not spoiled. She’s a hard worker who can endure anything. Sigh. When a person dies, it’s like a lamp going out. I really shouldn’t say this, but... while Nuannuan was alright, her mother did only have the one child. It’s understandable she was a bit spoiled and short-tempered. Those aren’t huge flaws. She was certainly much better than the daughters-in-law in our village who go so far as to curse and beat their in-laws, right? But Yaluo is different. She’s been working since she was a girl. She’s handy both around the house and in the fields. She’d be perfect to take care of you, and your father and I could finally rest easy..."

"Mom, there’s a saying: respect the dead. How can you stand there and slander Nuannuan, even now?"

Without a single glance at Xia Yaruo, Luo Hongyi fixed his cold, emotionless eyes on Tang Juanmei. Disregarding the presence of an outsider, he called her out without mercy. "People who never spent time with Nuannuan might not know what she was like, but how can you go against your conscience and say such things? When was she ever spoiled? When did she ever have a big temper? My mother-in-law may have only raised her, but she never once coddled her."

His voice dropped low. "I already know what really happened back then. It may be ten years late, but our old neighbors from where Nuannuan and I lived in Beijing are still around. Some things can’t stay hidden when you start asking. Two months. I remember you told me privately that you would treat Nuannuan like your own daughter, that you’d ensure she had a two-month recovery, and that you would take care of her with all your heart for those two months. You said that way, when you were old, you would have the right to have her attend to you, to take care of your bedpan. I remember that correctly, don’t I?"

"..." Tang Juanmei was dumbfounded.

Luo Hongyi ignored her, a bitter smile on his face. "I actually believed you back then. So every time I saw you rubbing your lower back, sighing and muttering things like, ’Having a daughter is better, daughters are so much more considerate, they side with their own mothers and don’t let them get worn out,’ I’d start to wonder. I wondered if, when I wasn’t home, Nuannuan and my mother-in-law were ganging up on you. If they were leaving all the chores for you and making you miserable. I thought that must be why you were complaining."

"I... I..." Tang Juanmei’s lips trembled. Having been exposed so thoroughly by Luo Hongyi, she could no longer keep up her pretense. But in front of this, her most successful son, she didn’t dare resort to her usual tactic of plopping onto the ground, slapping her thighs, and wailing as she would with her other children.

She had tried it once before. After her grandson Haoyang died, Gu Nuan Nuan refused to ever return to the old family home. Consequently, for the first two years after that, Luo Hongyi didn’t even come home for the New Year. Seeing her third son grow distant, she and her husband had rushed to Beijing. She had cried and thrown a massive tantrum, but not only had her third son ignored her completely at the time, he had given her the cold shoulder for six months straight. He even took his anger out on her other children, worsening his relationship with his siblings back home. Eventually, everyone else in the family started blaming her for it.