Chapter 433 - 243: Jiang Guoqiang Berates Lu Fan! Torn Afterwards: To Forgive?

Chapter 433: Chapter 243: Jiang Guoqiang Berates Lu Fan! Torn Afterwards: To Forgive?

"I’m asking you!" Jiang Guoqiang slammed his hand on the cutting board, sending more cucumbers rolling. His voice was so loud the whole house seemed to shake: "When did you find out?"

Tears streamed down Pan Lanfang’s face. She lowered her head, her voice barely more than a whisper, "For... for a while now."

Jiang Guoqiang panted heavily, his chest heaving.

He looked at Pan Lanfang as if she were a stranger.

’Married for decades, and she’d hidden something this big from him.’

He recalled how she’d been acting strangely these past few days. She had been hesitant when she spoke, frazzled in her actions, tossing and turning at night, unable to sleep.

When he asked her what was wrong, she always said it was nothing.

’He had thought she was sick. But the whole time, she was hiding this huge secret.’

"You kept this from me." His voice suddenly grew calm, terrifyingly so. "You kept this from me, let him into our home, let him call me Uncle, let him bring Yixia flowers. You kept this from me and watched as I praised him to his face, saying he was good, that he was a good son-in-law. You watched as I told him, ’Xiaolu, come visit often.’ You watched me say all these things—didn’t it tear you up inside?"

Crying, Pan Lanfang shook her head. "Old man, I didn’t do it on purpose... I was just afraid you wouldn’t be able to handle it..."

Jiang Guoqiang laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "Afraid I couldn’t handle it? So you thought I could handle it better if you hid it from me?"

His voice suddenly boomed again, as if all his pent-up fury had erupted at once. "That bastard! After he made our daughter suffer so much, how could you help him hide it from me! How could you let him set foot in our home! How could you..."

He couldn’t go on. Bracing his hands on the stove, he panted heavily.

Pan Lanfang went over, trying to support him, but he threw her hand off and took a step back. "Don’t touch me!"

Pan Lanfang stood there, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face.

Jiang Guoqiang took a deep breath, trying to calm his voice. "Call him. Tell him not to come. I don’t want to see him again."

"Old man, please listen to me..." Pan Lanfang pleaded through her tears.

"I said, call him!" Jiang Guoqiang roared. He turned, left the kitchen, and went into the bedroom, slamming the door shut with a BANG.

Pan Lanfang stood in the kitchen, listening to the muffled slam. Her tears fell even faster.

She wiped her face, picked up her phone, found Lu Fan’s number, and dialed. The phone rang twice before someone picked up.

"Auntie?" Lu Fan’s voice came from the other end of the line, a smile in his tone.

Pan Lanfang’s voice trembled. "Xiaolu, you... you shouldn’t come today. Your uncle... he knows."

The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds.

When Lu Fan spoke again, the smile was gone from his voice. It was very calm. "Auntie, did Uncle... see it?"

Pan Lanfang said through her tears, "He saw the photo. He knows everything. He’s furious right now. He’s locked himself in the bedroom and won’t let me in. He said he never wants to see you again..."

Lu Fan said patiently, "Auntie, I understand. Please don’t cry. Take care of yourself. I’m on my way over now."

Clutching her phone, Pan Lanfang stood in the kitchen, staring at the photo on the cutting board. Her tears fell one by one, splattering onto the picture and blurring the name "Lu Fan."

In the bedroom, Jiang Guoqiang sat on the edge of the bed, his back to the door.

His shoulders trembled slightly, whether from anger or something else, it was hard to say.

He stared at a childhood photo of Jiang Yixia on the wall for a long time.

In the photo, the little girl had her hair in two pigtails, smiling wide enough to show two missing front teeth.

It was taken when she was six. He had taken her to the photo studio in town, and she had insisted on holding her cloth doll for the picture.

’Now she was all grown up. She had her own children and had suffered so much.’

’And he had actually welcomed the man who’d made her suffer so much with a smile, calling him ’Xiaolu,’ praising him as a ’good kid’.’

Jiang Guoqiang closed his eyes.

He thought back to all the things Lu Fan had done since coming to the village.

When they were fixing the irrigation ditch, he had stood in the muddy water, his pant legs rolled up to his knees, covered in mud, grinning like a child.

When they were catching fish, he’d worn waders and stumbled through the pond. He barely caught any fish and fell several times himself, but he never got angry, just laughed and said, "Uncle, your fish are too clever!"

When they were selling the fish, the dealer tried to lowball them, but with a single phone call, he had a friend come who offered a price even higher than the market rate.

When Pan Lanfang was hospitalized, he had run around the hospital for him, fetching him water, peeling apples, and calling for the doctor.

’Every single thing he did, he did with genuine sincerity.’

’He was good to their family. Good to him, good to Yixia, good to the children.’

But the better he treated them, the worse Jiang Guoqiang felt.

’Because all that kindness was just part of the debt he owed them.’

’He’d owed it for nineteen years, and now he was here to pay it back.’

’But some debts can never be repaid.’

’Yixia’s suffering, the children’s days without a father, the villagers’ gossip, the relatives’ ridicule... what could he possibly do to repay all that?’

After Lu Fan hung up, he leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes for a moment.

Chen He glanced at him in the rearview mirror but didn’t say anything, just drove a little more steadily.

The car exited the highway and turned onto a country road.

On both sides, the fields stretched on, barren and gray.

This was what the countryside looked like in winter.

"Boss, are we still going?" Chen He asked.

Lu Fan opened his eyes. "We are."

The car drove to the village entrance.

Lu Fan got out of the car and walked along the path he had taken countless times toward Jiang Guoqiang’s house.

The houses on either side of the path were the same, and the old folks sunning themselves by their doors were the same.

Someone recognized him and greeted him with a smile, "Xiaolu’s here?"

He nodded with a smile but didn’t say anything.

When he reached the gate to the courtyard, he stopped.

The courtyard was silent. The door to the main hall was open, but no one was there.

The kitchen door was also open, and also empty.

He stood at the entrance and called out, "Auntie."