Chapter 467 - 407: He Was Seen
Chapter 467: Chapter 407: He Was Seen
"I hit the curb and jolted my back. It hurts so much!" Wu Xiaowen said, sucking in a breath.
Tang Yaxuan rushed to rub her mother’s back, but it was no use through the thick winter clothes and mid-length coat. "Forget it," Wu Xiaowen said with a frown. "Let’s just hurry home."
Tang Yaxuan supported Wu Xiaowen as they walked. Wu Xiaowen’s ankle was also sore, making her limp painfully. She couldn’t help but complain, "I don’t know what your Uncle Bai is so busy with. It’s almost the New Year, and he’s still not back. He has a car. If he were here in Beijing, it would be so much easier for us to get around."
She recalled her phone call with Bai Lihua yesterday. His tone had been distant, lacking its usual tenderness. Although she guessed he probably had people in his office, she still felt deeply unsettled.
She had decisively divorced Tang Qingyun, mostly for Bai Lihua’s sake, but his reaction had been so underwhelming. After the divorce was finalized, he had only come to see her twice. He’d asked for her reasons, offered a few words of comfort, and then never came back. Whenever she called, he always said he was busy, busy, busy.
"Mom, can Uncle Bai be transferred back to Beijing?" Tang Yaxuan asked.
"He’ll definitely be transferred back, but it’ll take some time. We’ll just have to tough it out for another couple of years," Wu Xiaowen replied.
Tang Yaxuan murmured her assent. After a pause, she said softly, "Mom, on my way home from the end-of-term ceremony yesterday, I saw Dad. He drove past in a black sedan."
Wu Xiaowen looked at her. "You said you saw your father on the way home from school last time, too. I called Hao Hao, but he said his dad doesn’t come home often, so he wouldn’t know. But even if he didn’t come home, if your father really was in Beijing, he would have definitely gone to see Hao Hao or at least called him. Are you sure you weren’t mistaken?"
"Mom, I’m absolutely sure it was Dad! Last time, the car window was only half-open, so I didn’t get a clear look, but I still recognized him. It had to be him! This time, Dad came out of a building, got into a car parked on the side of the road, and drove away!"
"Really? Qingyun? Could he be back early for the New Year? Did you talk to him? How is he, did he look okay?"
Wu Xiaowen didn’t even realize so many questions had tumbled out. After the divorce, her parents had blamed her—her mother, Lin Aizhen, had an especially violent reaction, even hitting and screaming at her. Wu Xiaowen was now filled with regret. It was mostly because after the divorce, the attitudes of her colleagues and friends had changed dramatically. Work wasn’t going smoothly, either. While her top boss left her alone, petty-minded people just one rank above her were constantly making trouble for her. Even her own subordinates no longer listened to her, giving her sidelong, disdainful glances. Only now did she realize she may have acted too hastily and without enough foresight. Bai Lihua had yet to be transferred back to Beijing, and he was still a married man, in no position to protect her. Divorcing Qingyun at this time meant losing the support and protection of the Tang family. She had brought all this misery on herself. No wonder her mother had been so furious.
But regret was useless. Tang Qingyun hadn’t even shown his face during the divorce proceedings. His proxy had said he was busy with work and in a terrible mood over the divorce, so it was better if they didn’t meet.
’Deep down,’ Wu Xiaowen thought, ’I know Tang Qingyun couldn’t bear to lose me. After more than a decade of marriage, the feelings were still there, and my own heart ached with sorrow. If anyone was to blame, it was the overly harsh Tang Family. Suppressing their own son for the sake of a granddaughter! If Tang Qingyun was going to be stuck in some provincial backwater for ten years, was I, Wu Xiaowen, really expected to suffer and wait for him that whole time? It was just inhuman!’
’All I want to know now is... what has become of Qingyun after all this time? Is he as dejected and miserable as I am after the divorce? The conditions in the countryside were poor. Qingyun often worked late into the night and smoked excessively. He always looked so dapper and handsome, but that was only because I, Wu Xiaowen, had spent over a decade taking care of his appearance. Now that we’re living apart and divorced... Qingyun must be thinner, more haggard. He must look older now, right?’
’Qingyun... with a mother that fierce and unreasonable... he’s actually quite pitiful, in a way.’
Wu Xiaowen sighed softly and looked expectantly at Tang Yaxuan, waiting to hear her story. "I wanted to tell you yesterday, Mom, but you got home so late, and then I got busy today and forgot," Tang Yaxuan began. "The last time I saw Dad was a whole month ago. Seeing him again must mean he didn’t just get back to Beijing. He was wearing a brown woolen overcoat—you know, like that stylish one we saw in the new department store? The one you said would look great on Uncle Bai! He was also wearing a plaid scarf, and his black leather shoes were so shiny. He had on leather gloves, and he just looked so... he seemed even younger and more handsome than before! Oh, right, there was a woman with him, but she wasn’t as pretty as you, Mom. They didn’t see me. They just opened the car door, got in, and left. I yelled and ran after them for a long way, but they didn’t stop!"
As she spoke, Tang Yaxuan pouted, feeling wronged. ’Her bond with her father was real. He used to call her his little princess, his little angel. He’d said he loved her like the apple of his eye, that she was his most precious treasure. She couldn’t believe he would really abandon her.’
Wu Xiaowen was stunned. ’Tang Qingyun wasn’t at all how I imagined? He was fashionably dressed and looked younger?’ A wave of disappointment and discomfort washed over her. In her heart, she cursed him for the heartless bastard he was.
’Why wasn’t he sad about the divorce? How could he be so well-dressed and carefree, escorting some other woman around? Were all their years of marriage a complete lie? All that talk about loving me forever, until the seas ran dry and the rocks crumbled... about how he couldn’t live without me... It was all just a pack of lies!’
The next morning, the Tang Mansion courtyard was being cleared of snow. Tang Qingshan and Tang Qingyun wouldn’t let Xiao Man help, but having grown up in the South, she had a special fondness for the white snow and loved playing in the drifts. Hao Hao joined her, and they started a playful snowball fight. The group had just finished shoveling the front yard and were moving to the back when Wu Xiaowen and Tang Yaxuan appeared at the main gate.
The iron gate was ajar, but a guard standing just inside blocked their path. Wu Xiaowen prompted Tang Yaxuan to shout into the yard, "Hao Hao! Mom’s here to see you! Come out!"
Xiao Man said, "Your mom’s here. Go on. And let me remind you, don’t get any ideas about me. Not a chance in hell!"
Tang Haocheng was speechless. Tang Qingshan laughed out loud. Tang Qingyun’s expression darkened. He, too, had heard from Grandma Tang about how Wu Xiaowen, Wu Yu Xuan, and Lin Aizhen had been relentlessly hounding Xiao Man and Hao Hao, refusing to give up until they got some kind of medicine. He turned to Tang Haocheng and said:
"You stay here. I’ll go take a look."
He had barely finished speaking when Wu Xiaowen’s voice, clear and melodious, drifted over. "Hao Hao, your mother is down on her luck now and can’t enter such a prestigious household. Please come out. I just want to say a few words. And Tang Qingyun, I know you’re in there. We were married for over a decade. After divorcing me, are you really just going to pretend I’m a stranger? You won’t even see me face-to-face?"
Tang Qingyun scowled. Tang Haocheng pursed his lips. "She was always coming here for you. After Xuanxuan spotted you on the street last month, she called and asked me about it. I just told her I wasn’t home and didn’t know anything. Now... you must have been seen again!"