After the Fake Heiress Died, She Was Filled with Regret - Chapter 43

Chapter 43: I’m Not Going to Haicheng Anymore, I’ll Stay Here…

They reached the destination around four or five in the morning.

The villagers woke up early, and some were already working outside their homes. They were curious to see a car drive in and surprised to see Tang Yin carrying Tang Bixia on her back.

Once they arrived at the house, the two settled the elderly woman first, and then Tang Yin began to clean up the dilapidated little home.

Ming Jing watched the busy Tang Yin and offered to help, but Tang Yin refused.

“You’ve already helped me so much. Go rest. Otherwise, I’ll owe you too much.”

Ming Jing nodded. “Okay, but you must tell me if you need anything. I’ll sleep in the car for a while.”

“Thank you,” Tang Yin barely moved her lips, then continued with her work.

She finally finished cleaning the small, less-than-thirty-square-meter shack. It was almost noon, and Tang Yin’s lips were pale as she sat on a small stool to rest.

“Tang Yin, I fried a couple of small dishes for you and your friend to eat.” There was a knock on the door. It was a woman with a shy smile, dressed in simple, plain clothes, holding a basket from which the aroma of food wafted.

Secrets couldn’t be kept in the village. Just one morning had passed, and everyone knew the news that the Tang grandmother and granddaughter had returned.

Tang Yin was stunned and murmured, “Xiao Juan.”

That was her childhood playmate. She had dropped out of high school to work, and at the time, Tang Yin was so angry about her not continuing her education that she broke off their friendship.

After her college entrance exam, she heard from her grandmother that Xiao Juan got married less than half a year after leaving to work and was now a mother of two.

They hadn’t seen each other for a long time.

Xiao Juan smiled at her, glanced at the dark bedroom, knowing Tang Yin’s grandmother was lying inside. “You definitely haven’t eaten and haven’t had time to cook. Eat these two dishes for now. I also cooked some porridge. Wait until it cools down, then take it to feed Grandma Tang.”

Tang Yin tried to smile at her but couldn’t help shedding tears. “Thank you, Xiao Juan.”

“Don’t mention it. We’re neighbors, after all. I’ll head back now. Come over to my house for dinner tonight!” Xiao Juan smiled shyly and left.

Tang Yin woke up Ming Jing to eat together.

The two sat at a small table. Ming Jing was already hungry and ate heartily, but Tang Yin had no appetite at all.

“You need to take care of your grandmother, so you must eat and sleep well. Don’t collapse yourself, got it?” Ming Jing said, serving her some food.

Tang Yin nodded. “Thank you… Ming Jing, you should go back after eating. I’ll take care of Grandma here by myself.”

Ming Jing wasn’t pleased. “What’s wrong with you? That’s no way to treat a guest. You should at least let me stay for two days.”

“It’s not… you’ve seen the situation of my home. I feel bad about you sleeping and eating poorly here.” Tang Yin said, looking up at the dilapidated house.

“If I leave now, I’ll be the one who feels bad,” Ming Jing lowered her head to eat. “Two years ago, someone caused trouble at the bar. If you hadn’t helped me, I might have been seriously hurt. It’s only right that I stay with you now. Your mental state is so poor, you definitely need me. As for sleeping, don’t worry. I can sleep in the car if I have to.”

“Thank you, Ming Jing,” Tang Yin said sincerely.

“How many times have you said thank you to me today?” Ming Jing sighed. “But speaking of which, are you really not going to tell Xia Shinan and Qian Yu?”

Tang Yin’s grip on her chopsticks tightened, and her eyes grew colder.

“Then let me ask a different question. What was wrong with what that young couple said last night? You grabbed them and scared them.” Ming Jing was also scared. But in less than two minutes, Tang Yin acted as if nothing happened and went to the hospital to pick up her grandmother.

Tang Yin put down her chopsticks. “They said a Maybach was parked downstairs last night.”

“So?”

Tang Yin twisted her mouth and sneered, “I personally saw the car Xia Shinan’s mother rides in. It’s a Maybach.”

Ming Jing was stunned, her mouth agape for a long time before she said, “Could it be a coincidence? There are so many rich people in City A, there’s not only one Maybach…”

“Yes, but that would be too much of a coincidence,” Tang Yin’s face was cold. “It just so happens that Xia Shinan and I went to see Grandma that day, it just so happens a Maybach was parked downstairs, it just so happens to have driven to my house, it just so happens someone was arguing with Grandma at night, and it just so happens… Grandma fell, and the door was open.”

All these coincidences indicated that it was definitely not a coincidence.

Perhaps Xie Wan discovered something between her and Xia Shinan, or perhaps she learned about Tang Yin’s background, so she specifically went to find Grandma. They argued, and perhaps she even pushed Grandma.

All of this was possible, but Tang Yin didn’t want to think about it. In short, she knew in her heart that it was all her fault that Grandma had suffered.

Tang Bixia slept constantly, and when she woke up, she was often confused.

However, she woke up in the afternoon, looking much more alert, and said she wanted to go outside. Tang Yin carried her to a bamboo chair in the yard to listen to the cicadas and watch the sunset.

After so many years away, the creek in front of the door had long dried up, and the pear trees by the road were gone, replaced by a bare open space.

Tang Bixia looked at these changes, her eyes filled with helplessness, lamenting the passage of time.

“Grandma, who came to see you at home last night?” Tang Yin couldn’t help but ask.

She hoped the person Grandma named wasn’t Xie Wan and had nothing to do with the Xia family.

But Grandma just shook her head and said nothing, so Tang Yin had to give up.

For dinner, Xiao Juan invited them over. Tang Yin was naturally reluctant, but Xiao Juan insisted.

“When we were kids, I loved coming to your house for dinner. I was so envious of you back then because you had meat or eggs with every meal.”

“Grandma Tang didn’t mind me and even fried a poached egg for me!”

“Tang Ying, I’ll remember that poached egg for a lifetime. So now, I also want to help your family. I don’t have money, but I can cook. Even if you two don’t eat, Grandma needs to, right? I made fresh meat congee for her!”

Tang Yin was deeply touched and followed Xiao Juan to her house.

There was a little girl in the house, with dark skin, whose eyes widened when she saw Tang Yin and Ming Jing.

“Say hello to Auntie!”

“Hello, Auntie…”

Tang Yin smiled, gently stroking the child’s hair. “How old are you?”

“Four…” The little girl answered timidly, looking at Tang Yin, and then ran to her mother.

Xiao Juan hugged the child, sitting her down on a small stool, went to the kitchen to set the dishes on the table, and greeted them: “Please make do with this.”

“Thank you, your cooking is very good.” Tang Yin said, then asked, “Are you and your daughter the only ones at home?”

Xiao Juan held the bowl and fed her child, saying, “My man went to work in the city, so I stayed behind to watch the child. My mother recently went to the county to set up a stall. I’ll be going there in a couple of days too.”

Xiao Juan looked at her: “Tang Ying, I didn’t understand before, but now I do…”

“In the future, my daughter must study seriously and go to college like you. I don’t demand a good university, but at least… don’t end up like me, seeing my forty-year-old life at twenty.”

Tang Yin smiled softly. “She definitely can.”

When they were young, many girls in the village went out to work early to support their families. When Tang Yin was in the second year of junior high, someone tried to introduce her to a job in the county, but they were all chased away by Tang Bixia.

“My granddaughter is going to school. When she gets into college, she’ll naturally find a good job.”

“School? What’s the point of a girl going to school? They all get married eventually!”

“Go away, go away, what do you know!”

Tang Yin leaned against the door, listening to her grandmother argue with the people, and at night, she hugged her grandmother and vowed, “I will study hard and get into the best university to make you proud, Grandma! I’ll make them all envy you!”

“Good, our Yingying is ambitious.”

“I won’t get married in the future. I’ll work hard to earn money!”

Tang Bixia laughed heartily. “Do you even know what getting married means?”

Tang Yin said earnestly, “I know! Grandma, I’ll marry a wife for you in the future…”

Tang Bixia was shocked: “This girl is talking nonsense!”

Past memories flashed through her mind, now all faded images.

After dinner, Tang Yin went to feed the elderly woman congee again, and Ming Jing was outside, enjoying the cool breeze alone.

Her phone had just been fully charged at Xiao Juan’s house. As soon as she turned it on, she received many messages, which she replied to one by one.

There were also messages from Qian Yu.

[What is going on with you guys? Did you disappear? Call me back!]

[Xia Shinan is being forced by her family to get married! Where is Tang Yin?!]

When Ming Jing saw the last sentence, she was so startled that she dropped her phone on the ground. She quickly picked it up and called Qian Yu back.

As soon as Qian Yu answered, she scoffed, “I thought you and Tang Yin were going to cut ties with us because of the Lin Yu incident.”

Ming Jing: “No, no. We really had something come up. But why is Xia Shinan being forced to get married?”

“Literal meaning,” Qian Yu was furious. “Where’s Tang Yin? Let her talk!”

“Tang Yin is currently… busy,” Ming Jing couldn’t say it directly.

Qian Yu was shocked. “What’s so inconvenient at a time like this? Tang Yin is Xia Shinan’s girlfriend, she must find a way! I think she’s scared of the Lin family and the Xia family and has gone into hiding, right!”

Ming Jing felt a headache coming on. Hearing Qian Yu talk about Tang Yin that way, she pressed her temples, fighting the urge to argue.

“Her grandmother had an accident. We just took her back to the countryside. She… might not have much time left. How can Tang Yin go?!”

Qian Yu: “What? How is that so… sudden?”

Ming Jing sighed. “I also want to ask God why everything is happening at once! Tang Yin doesn’t want Xia Shinan to know, so don’t mention it either.”

“Mmm… alright.” Qian Yu also sighed. “What a star-crossed couple.”

At eleven o’clock late at night, the Xia house was very quiet.

Xia Shentu hadn’t returned. Xie Wan rested after checking on her daughter. Xia Shinan sat on the bed, holding a literature book that she had requested for a long time and Xie Wan had given her to pass the time.

She had just begged Xie Wan to give her back her phone or let her return to her own room so she could have something to do, but Xie Wan refused.

“If you’re bored, I can give you a few books. If you want to play the piano, I’ll have someone move it up tomorrow. But you can’t leave the room, and you can’t have your phone.”

“I spoiled you too much before, that’s why you’re so disobedient!”

Watching Xie Wan leave, Xia Shinan felt a sense of relief.

Only when Xie Wan believed she had her daughter firmly in her grasp would she relax her guard slightly.

Xia Shinan’s swollen eyes from crying over the past two days actually made Xie Wan feel everything was stable.

She turned a page, her ears quietly listening to the sounds outside, until a subtle sound came from the widely open window.

“Shinan… Xia Shinan…”

Xia Shinan pursed her lips, quickly closed the book, got out of bed, and rushed to the window without putting on her shoes. Sure enough, she saw Qian Yu outside the house, waving at her.

“Wait for me…” she mouthed to Qian Yu, then quickly changed into light clothing, took a key from under her mattress, and unlocked the room door, which had been locked.

Xia Shinan walked downstairs step by step, very cautiously, then gently opened the door.

Her heart pounded anxiously. Behind her was the Xia house that imprisoned her, but ahead was the long-awaited freedom. Xia Shinan tried to calm herself, opening the door a little at a time, and then rushed out.

“This is great, this is great!” Qian Yu was so excited to see her friend that she couldn’t sleep, but the next second, she covered her mouth again. “I called a car. It’s up ahead. I didn’t dare to stop it right in front of your house. Hurry, hurry!”

They got in the car, and the driver sped away from the villa area. The two exchanged smiles and let out a long sigh of relief.

“Why aren’t you wearing shoes?” Qian Yu asked, surprised to see her friend barefoot.

Xia Shinan wiggled her feet and chuckled, “I was afraid my shoes would make noise, so I didn’t wear them.”

Qian Yu gave her a thumbs-up. “You’re amazing. You could star in a spy movie. All those coded messages you told me, one after another. If I weren’t clever, I wouldn’t have figured it out.”

“And that Assistant Li actually helped you escape! It looks like your mother has done a lot of evil that even her own assistant couldn’t stand it anymore.”

Xia Shinan smiled faintly. “She… is not a villain.”

She just doesn’t love her children enough.

Thinking about the freedom ahead, Xia Shinan looked excitedly out the window: “Where are we going now? Where is Tang Yin? Is she waiting for me at home? I thought she would come to pick me up.”

Qian Yu froze, her eyes darting away subconsciously. “She has something to deal with. She’s not here.”

Xia Shinan’s smile froze. “What is it? What happened? Did the Lin family cause her trouble again?”

Qian Yu immediately shook her head: “No, no! It’s a family matter. She went back to her hometown with her grandmother. She’ll be back in a couple of days. She said… you should go to Haicheng to avoid everything for a while, and she’ll find you when she returns. Don’t contact her for the next few days.”

Xia Shinan looked confused. “Why did she go back to her hometown? Where is her hometown? I’ll go find her!”

“Why would you go there!” Qian Yu immediately cut her off. “The most important thing for you now is to get away from here, to run far away. If your mother finds out you’re looking for Tang Yin, it won’t be good for Tang Yin either.”

Xia Shinan’s original smile completely vanished, and she felt a sense of panic. “Is she… breaking up with me because of the Lin Yu thing? Does she want to end things? If so, I don’t blame her.”

“No, no, she won’t,” Qian Yu reassured her friend. “You go stay in Haicheng for two days, and Tang Yin will come to see you!”

Watching her friend’s explanation, Xia Shinan just lowered her eyes. “Little Yu Mao, you’re not good at lying.”

Qian Yu’s expression froze. “I…”

Xia Shinan looked at her feet and whispered, “I’m not going to Haicheng anymore. I’m going to wait for Tang Yin here.”

Even if it was a breakup, she needed Tang Yin to tell her face-to-face.

After hanging up the phone, Ming Jing stayed in the car until midnight, constantly thinking that she should still tell Tang Yin about Xia Shinan’s forced marriage.

Just as she reached the courtyard gate, she heard Tang Yin’s heartbreaking sobs. She stopped in her tracks and immediately ran towards the sound.

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