Chapter 236 - 173: Lu Fan: Will You Forgive Me? Yixia’s Decision

Chapter 236: Chapter 173: Lu Fan: Will You Forgive Me? Yixia’s Decision

Just then, Jiang Yixia hurriedly interjected, "Sister Zhen, Lu Fan has actually been a big help to me lately."

"Sister Xia, don’t let him fool you. There’s no such thing as a good man. Trust me, all the good men in this world are dead and gone." Ah Zhen, clearly scarred by her ex-husband, sounded like one of those radical online influencers.

Jiang Yixia found her words increasingly harsh and couldn’t help but retort, "Sister Zhen, how can you say that? Lu Fan may have done something to wrong me, but that doesn’t mean he was never good to me in the past."

Listening to Jiang Yixia defend him, Lu Fan felt a small sense of relief.

’He didn’t even have to say a word. He had his own champion arguing his case for him.’

Sure enough, Ah Zhen began her brainwashing spiel. "Sister Xia, what’s the use of him being good to you in the past? He still cheated on you, didn’t he? Once a man does one wrong thing, everything he’s ever done becomes wrong. We women can be independent, self-reliant. We don’t need men at all!"

Jiang Yixia started to get angry as well. "Sister Zhen, how can you say that? Our fathers are men, aren’t they? They contributed to our families, too. You can’t just lump every man together like that."

"My dad? What good was that drunk?" Ah Zhen seemed to be blaming every misfortune she’d ever had on men. "If my mom hadn’t held our home together, I would have starved to death. I’m in my forties now, and I tell my daughter every single day: you have to rely on yourself. Don’t ever trust men. Men are trash!"

Realizing her values were completely at odds with Ah Zhen’s, Jiang Yixia decided to end the conversation. "Sister Zhen, I need to get to work. Were you here to buy flowers?"

Ah Zhen didn’t seem to catch the hint and kept badmouthing Lu Fan. "Trust me, he didn’t open that Oden shop next door out of the kindness of his heart. Don’t let him fool you. Not a single man is any good. Everything he does is wrong."

Faced with Ah Zhen’s extremism, Jiang Yixia finally snapped.

She slammed the flowers she was holding onto the table and glared at Ah Zhen, her face flushed with anger. "Sister Zhen, we haven’t seen each other in more than a decade. I didn’t meet up with you just to get a lecture. We’re supposed to be catching up, that’s all. As for Lu Fan trying to win me back, no one gets to decide on that matter but me."

"You think everything he does is wrong, but from my perspective, he’s also done many things that have touched my heart."

"I love Oden, so he opened an Oden shop just for me. He serves me a bowl every single day."

"When my little brother was in trouble, he went out of his way to help him."

"My two children are in college in Jinling. I’m all the way here in Yangcheng, so I can’t look after them at all. He’s the one who travels back and forth to take care of them."

"And that’s just now. Even eighteen years ago, back when we were at the electronics factory, whenever he made money, he would take me shopping for clothes, take me to the movies, take me to amusement parks."

"There were so many things I experienced for the very first time. He gave me so many of my ’firsts’."

"So how can you say that everything he’s ever done is wrong?!"

Jiang Yixia grew more and more agitated as she spoke, finally showing her the door. "Sister Zhen, I don’t think there’s anything more to talk about. I need to get back to work now. I won’t see you out."

Ah Zhen began to grumble, "I’m trying to help you, and you’re taking a man’s side? Unbelievable. You should be ashamed."

At this, Lu Fan finally spoke up. "Sister Zhen, if you ask me, you’ve just been hurt too badly by a man. Now that no one’s chasing you, your mindset has become completely twisted. Honestly, it’s no surprise your ex-husband cheated. With a personality like yours, what man would stick around?"

Hearing Lu Fan’s taunt, Ah Zhen flew into a rage.

She lunged forward to shove him, screaming, "Who are you talking about?! Who are you calling twisted?!"

But in the next second, Chen He appeared in front of Lu Fan, glaring daggers at Ah Zhen.

Ah Zhen could see that Chen He was genuinely intimidating, and her aggressive bluster vanished in an instant.

As she backed away, she muttered, "You shameless couple deserve to be stuck with each other forever."

"Oh? In that case, thank you for your blessing," Lu Fan said with a smile. "I’d love nothing more than to be with Yixia forever."

Jiang Yixia’s fists tightened in anger at Ah Zhen’s parting shot.

She wasn’t angry about the part where she and Lu Fan were stuck together forever; she was furious that the woman had called them a ’shameless couple.’

Just then, Sister Li made her entrance.

She had happened to overhear the entire exchange.

Sister Li pointed at Ah Zhen and let loose a torrent of abuse. "You fucking bitch! Your own husband ran off on you, and now you’re here putting a curse on everyone else? You’ve got some nerve. Goddamn shameless."

Ah Zhen was stunned by the sudden verbal assault. She opened her mouth to retort, but Sister Li didn’t give her the chance. "An ugly hag like you has the gall to criticize others? No tits, no ass, a face full of wrinkles, and skin like shoe leather. Forget comparing yourself to Yixia—you’re not even in my league."

Lu Fan couldn’t help but laugh at Sister Li’s tirade.

’She’s not wrong, though.’

To be fair, Sister Li did have a certain mature charm.

At the very least, she was a far sight better than that shrew, Ah Zhen.

"Can’t even keep a husband, and now you’re trying to teach others how to live? If I were that pathetic, I’d go find a hole to crawl into and die! Hey, don’t run away! You got something to say, say it to my face!" And with that, Sister Li literally berated Ah Zhen until she fled.

Having vented her fury, Sister Li turned to Jiang Yixia. "If I hadn’t shown up to drop off my laundry, that woman would have walked all over you two."

"That’s our Sister Li for you. A mouth like a machine gun," Lu Fan joked. "And such a nimble tongue."

"You know it. My husband can’t get enough of this tongue," Sister Li retorted, then huffed. "If she hadn’t run off, I could’ve verbally annihilated her!"

Then she grumbled, "You two are too polite. Next time there’s a fight, just leave it to me."

"This sort of thing rarely happens. But we’ll keep that in mind, Sister Li," Jiang Yixia replied.

Sister Li left not long after.

After she was gone, Jiang Yixia looked at Lu Fan and said reassuringly, "Don’t pay any mind to what Ah Zhen said."

"I don’t. Besides, a lot of what she said was true, even if her tone was a bit harsh. I really did hurt you. Now I’m here to repay my debt," Lu Fan said with a smile.

Lu Fan knew full well that the more he said things like this, the more conflicted Jiang Yixia would feel.

Sure enough, Jiang Yixia felt a pang of guilt. She replied, "Really, the only thing you did to wrong me was cheating. And while that was a fatal mistake, I can kind of understand it. You hit it big all of a sudden, and you were so young... who could say for sure that they’d be able to resist all that temptation?"

"Haha, I didn’t expect you to defend me just now. I think that’s the first time you’ve ever stuck up for me in front of someone else," Lu Fan said, feigning surprise.

Jiang Yixia immediately furrowed her brow and shot back, "Who says? I defended you when my brother was badmouthing you!"

"Oh, right. I must not have been there, so I wouldn’t know," Lu Fan said with a grin.

Jiang Yixia huffed. "Talk about no good deed going unpunished."

"I know my Yixia is the best. The best woman in the entire world," Lu Fan said, stepping in front of her. He was just about to reach out for a hug.

But Jiang Yixia immediately took a step back, wary. "What do you think you’re doing? I’m wise to your ’take advantage of the situation’ tricks."

"I just wanted to tie your shoelace," Lu Fan said as he knelt and began to tie it for her.

Jiang Yixia wasn’t even sure if her shoelace was untied. All she saw was this man kneeling before her, fiddling with her shoe.

Just then, Lu Fan suddenly looked up and said, "So, you will forgive me, won’t you? It’s just a matter of time."

This time, Jiang Yixia didn’t refuse. She just stayed silent.