“Yi Ya, please accept my condolences.”
In the tense atmosphere, no one expected Tang Hong En to open with these words.
The Ji family was stunned.
Yi Ya felt a moment of confusion. Tang Hong En had always been a gentle person, and it was this gentleness that had moved her back then.
Even after marriage, when she tried to argue with Tang Hong En, she couldn’t get a fight going. Any dispute that reached him would be handled with gentleness. This was certainly a good quality – during their passionate courtship, it manifested as complete devotion to Yi Ya. But beneath Tang Hong En’s gentle exterior lay a stubborn heart, and once he made up his mind about something, he never regretted it… Yi Ya’s face turned cold:
“Thanks to Mayor Tang’s blessing, the old man might live a few more years.”
Tang Hong En shook his head, seeing how unreasonable she was being.
He wasn’t jealous about Yi Ya potentially having someone new, as he no longer held those kinds of feelings for her. Shared ideals weren’t just empty words – Yi Ya’s choice to divorce was right, but it also exposed their differing ambitions. Tang Hong En’s concerns were for his son. His years of not seeking them out weren’t because he couldn’t forget Yi Ya, but because he felt indebted to both Yi Ya and Ji Jiang Yuan. His choice back then could be justified on principle, but it had caused Yi Ya to suffer with him and made the Ji family live in fear – if Tang Hong En owed the Ji family anything, it was only this.
“Big Brother, I want to talk about Jiang Yuan. I have no intention of taking Jiang Yuan away. By coincidence, I once met Jiang Yuan, and I’m very grateful to the Ji family for nurturing him. Without your tireless efforts, Jiang Yuan wouldn’t have become the excellent person he is today. But when Yi Ya took him to America, I couldn’t contact Jiang Yuan for twelve years. I’ve failed Jiang Yuan, and I hope I can do something for him… that’s all.”
Tang Hong En’s attitude was very sincere.
He stood there not in his official capacity, but as the Ji family’s former son-in-law and Ji Jiang Yuan’s birth father.
If someone were to say Tang Hong En had cast aside this son all these years only to suddenly appear wanting contact, Tang Hong En himself would feel ashamed. But during these years, he had tried to contact Ji Jiang Yuan, whether inquiring about Ji Jiang Yuan and Yi Ya’s situation or sending money, all without any response.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to fulfill his responsibilities; Yi Ya hadn’t given him the chance.
Though Tang Hong En spoke with courtesy and propriety, Yi Ya’s elder brother wouldn’t accept it:
“Staying away from the Ji family is the best thing you can do for Jiang Yuan. Jiang Yuan is a Ji family child, and we won’t mistreat him. He’ll be better off without your presence! You’ve heard it yourself – his mother will soon take him back to America. While he’s still in the country, just let Jiang Yuan study in peace!”
George also stepped forward, “Hey, you shouldn’t bully a lady. Your marriage relationship is broken, and there’s no point in dwelling on the past. When you had Yi Ya, you didn’t cherish her. Now that you’ve lost her, be a gentleman and wish her happiness!”
George believed he could give Yi Ya happiness.
He respected Yi Ya, loved her, and had good material conditions.
Yi Ya had lived in America for so many years – how could she accept backward China?
George couldn’t speak Chinese; he said all this in English.
Tang Hong En replied in English, “Why don’t you wait until you become Yi Ya’s husband before commenting? This is between Yi Ya and me. Though our marriage is over, we have a son together. No matter how we argue, our starting point is what’s best for Jiang Yuan. We don’t need an outsider’s evaluation!”
George fell silent.
He hadn’t expected Tang Hong En to not only understand English but also speak it quite well.
Yi Ya sneered: “You claim to want what’s best for Jiang Yuan, yet you deliberately arranged for a girl to get close to him. Tang Hong En, what kind of scheme are you plotting? Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
“I don’t understand what you’re…”
“Xia Xiao Lan, Xia Xiao Lan was sent by you, and you still want to deny it?”
Xia Xiao Lan’s background was easy to investigate.
A rural girl who tested into Hua Qing University, yet somehow showed no trace of her rural origins – where did that confidence come from?
Yi Ya found out that Ji Jiang Yuan and Xia Xiao Lan had grown close, and that Xia Xiao Lan had once appeared on the Hua Qing campus with Tang Hong En. Jiang Yuan’s roommates would tell her everything once they knew she was his mother.
Xia Xiao Lan’s enrollment information was also accessible.
Grandfather Ji had many former students and old friends; if Yi Ya wanted to check a student’s records, someone would help her.
What else needed to be said? Once she knew Xia Xiao Lan knew Tang Hong En, everything made sense.
Xia Xiao Lan deliberately befriended Jiang Yuan – Jiang Yuan wasn’t even twenty, so how could he think people could be so devious? After getting close to Jiang Yuan, she would introduce Tang Hong En, and with Xia Xiao Lan mediating, Jiang Yuan’s attitude toward Tang Hong En wouldn’t be too negative.
Yi Ya didn’t believe in coincidences. In her view, all coincidences were carefully designed human interventions!
That’s why Xia Xiao Lan wasn’t nervous and spoke with such confidence – wasn’t it just because she had Tang Hong En backing her?
Tang Hong En felt he might have made a mistake coming to the Ji family.
Some people were impossible to communicate with. No matter how humble he made himself, Yi Ya would always twist things and lead the conversation in different directions.
“Enough! Yi Ya, I’ve been patient with you! If we can’t resolve our issues, why drag others into it? She’s just a female student – are you going to call for violence against her?”
Yi Ya’s face was pale, yet somehow her sarcastic expression wasn’t unattractive:
“Tang Hong En, you certainly care a lot about this female student. I saw in her records that her parents are divorced, and she’s beautiful – I suppose her mother must be attractive too. Have you set your sights on the daughter or the mother-“
“Yi Ya!”
The eldest uncle couldn’t help but intervene. These words were too harsh; how could someone from the Ji family speak like this?
Moreover, it sounded like jealousy – could Yi Ya still have feelings for Tang Hong En? Fortunately, George’s Chinese was poor. Yi Ya could be emotional, but this behavior diminished one’s breeding and character.
Tang Hong En felt his stomach beginning to ache again.
They accused him of caring about Xia Xiao Lan – but was there anything wrong with that? Even Xia Xiao Lan and her mother showed concern for his health, while he humbled himself before the Ji family, and they seemed to wish he would die sooner from anger. Tang Hong En didn’t even have the energy to be angry; he was truly disillusioned.
When a person’s heart grows cold, they act with fewer constraints and fewer considerations.
“Yi Ya, no one will yield to you forever, and no one will be indebted to you forever. Regarding our matters, if you direct your anger at innocent people, don’t blame me for being unpleasant… Isn’t this how the Ji family has always thought of me? You’re not wrong. My not showing anger doesn’t mean I don’t have any. The Ji family deliberately cut off my contact with Jiang Yuan for over a decade, but now it’s no longer up to you. Do you want to take Jiang Yuan abroad? Go ahead and try – see if you can even board the plane yourself.”