Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Did You Miss Me?

Su Tang’s words gave Su Yufen courage.

She no longer cowered behind Su Tang. Instead, she stepped forward, shielding Su Tang behind her.

“Zhao Youcai, you listen to me and you listen good. I’m done being your dog. If you won’t agree to this divorce, I’ll go public and report you.”

“I’ll tell everyone you beat me and curse me, that you strip me of all my dignity. If you still refuse to divorce me after that, then I’ll raise hell. I’ll make such a scene you’ll lose your job and all your precious face. I, Su Yufen, have nothing left to fear.”

“The barefoot aren’t afraid of the well-shod.”

After her speech, Su Yufen grabbed Su Tang, turned back to the house, and shut the door behind them.

For all the bravado in her grand declaration just moments before, Su Yufen’s heart was now pounding just as furiously.

“I… I can’t believe I actually spoke to him like that.”

Su Yufen couldn’t believe she had been so brave.

In the past, if she had dared to speak to Zhao Youcai so loudly, he would have slapped her across the face without a second thought.

But now, she had actually pointed at Zhao Youcai’s nose, called him out for beating her, and even had the audacity to use such crude, defiant language.

Seeing Su Yufen in such disbelief, a faint smile appeared on Su Tang’s usually somewhat cold face.

When Mr. and Mrs. Su were first planning to come to the island, Su Tang had thought her aunt was a good person for being willing to take in her parents.

After all, they had a politically sensitive background. In those days, getting involved with them was practically a death wish.

But she never expected that after coming to the island herself, she would find that nothing was as she had imagined.

But blood is thicker than water. After some frank conversations, Su Yufen came to realize just what a miserable life she had been living.

Zhao Youcai had treated her inhumanely.

“Auntie, as women, we need to understand what we want for ourselves. Blindly depending on a man will only lead to humiliation.”

Hearing her niece’s advice, Su Yufen felt in that moment that she had lived so many years, yet was less wise than a child.

“I understand now. I’ll never try to please a man like that again. I was wrong before. From now on, I’m going to live for myself.”

Su Tang nodded in satisfaction at Su Yufen’s words.

Outside, Zhao Youcai was still cursing up a storm, apparently hoping his verbal abuse would intimidate Su Yufen into coming back.

But it was clear that Su Yufen was no longer the person he could bully and mold to his will.

Realizing Su Yufen was dead set on divorcing him, Zhao Youcai hastily wrote a letter to their son, who was away from home, telling him to return.

But the apple didn’t fall far from the tree; if he was a piece of work, his son was an even bigger bastard.

The son didn’t return, but Lu Xiao arrived on the island instead.

Lu Xiao had been away for nearly half a month, during which he had called in every favor he had.

Fortunately, he wasn’t the type to expect repayment for his kindness.

He had helped others in the past without ever asking for anything in return, and over time, he had built up a great deal of goodwill.

He had never asked his superiors for any special treatment, so this time, as soon as people heard he had a family emergency, they all eagerly offered their assistance.

Lu Xiao had spent the better part of that month pulling strings, filing paperwork, and getting the necessary documents.

Although they couldn’t return to Shanghai for now, they could take Mr. and Mrs. Su back to the Northwest first.

Once they left the island and got to the Northwest, with the two of them there to take care of him, Mr. Su’s health would surely improve much faster.

Su Tang and Lu Xiao hadn’t seen each other in a long time. After being apart for so long, there was a hint of awkwardness when the young couple finally reunited.

“Xiao Lu, you’re back! Come in, come in and rest.”

It was Su Yufen who first broke the silence and welcomed him in. When Lu Xiao saw her there, he frowned slightly.

Noticing Lu Xiao’s reaction, Su Tang stepped forward and explained everything that had happened recently, including Su Yufen’s plan to divorce Zhao Youcai.

“So that’s what’s been going on.”

Lu Xiao’s tone was cold. He couldn’t bring himself to be friendly toward the woman who had once mistreated Mr. and Mrs. Su.

“It’s all taken care of. If things go smoothly, we can leave as early as next week. How are you doing with the packing?”

As Lu Xiao came in and shared the good news, Mr. and Mrs. Su were overjoyed to hear they could finally leave the island.

“Tangtang had us pack everything up already,” Mrs. Su chimed in. “We can leave at any time.”

Su Tang nodded, and then felt her mother nudge her arm.

Su Tang knew her mother was prompting her to talk to Lu Xiao about Su Yufen.

“Mom, Lu Xiao just got back from a long trip. Let him rest for a bit. We can talk about everything else tonight.”

With Su Tang saying that, Mr. and Mrs. Su naturally didn’t press the issue.

Lu Xiao had gone to so much trouble for their family’s sake.

It wouldn’t be right to burden him with another matter when he had just walked in the door and hadn’t even had a sip of water. The elderly couple felt it would be too much to ask.

Lu Xiao had a feeling there was something else they wanted to discuss, but since Su Tang didn’t bring it up, he didn’t press.

After he put down his luggage, Su Tang led Lu Xiao back to their room.

The moment the door closed, Lu Xiao pulled Su Tang into his arms and took a deep breath.

“Did you miss me?”

Hearing his words, Su Tang’s face flushed slightly, but she hugged him back.

“You know the answer.”

Her coy, four-word reply was music to Lu Xiao’s ears.

“It seemed like Mom and Dad wanted to talk to me about something earlier,” Lu Xiao asked as Su Tang pulled him to sit down. “Was it about your aunt?”

“Yes. Zhao Youcai doesn’t want the divorce, and he definitely won’t let my aunt go easily.”

“But this time, it’s my aunt who is determined to go through with it. She’s finally, completely realized what a miserable life she was living under his thumb.”

Leaning against Lu Xiao, Su Tang recounted in detail everything that had happened while he was away.

Su Yufen’s past actions had indeed been inexcusable.

But now she realized her mistakes and was trying hard to make amends.

Su Tang was no saint. She was ruthless toward those who had framed or bullied her.

But Su Yufen’s situation was clearly different from that of people like Hu Lili or Zheng Jinxin, whom she had dealt with in the past.

Over this period, Su Tang and Su Yufen had gone to the beach every day to forage.

In an effort to mend her relationship with Su Tang, Su Yufen had told her the story of why she married Zhao Youcai.

Back then, Zhao Youcai hadn’t been working on the island yet. The two of them had met when they were sent down to the countryside to work.

Zhao Youcai had been decent-looking when he was young, and he was a smooth talker who knew how to trick people with sweet nothings. Gradually, Su Yufen fell for his lies.

After they became intimate, Su Yufen was completely trapped by him.

But the whole affair was too shameful, so she didn’t dare tell her brother. She just said that she wanted to marry Zhao Youcai.

Back then, Mr. Su had told Su Yufen that Zhao Youcai was not a good match for her.

But she was determined and went with Zhao Youcai anyway.

Who could have known that after coming to the island, she would end up living such a miserable life.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep