Chapter 415 - 236: Jiang Guoqiang Senses Something Strange! He Discovered Lu Fan’s Secret?

Chapter 415: Chapter 236: Jiang Guoqiang Senses Something Strange! He Discovered Lu Fan’s Secret?

Jiang Guoqiang cut her off, replying sternly, "What do you mean, ’what’s done is done’? You think it’s easy for Xiaolu to earn money? You’re a grown man, able-bodied, and you don’t feel bad spending someone else’s money?"

"Dad, I didn’t want to buy it. President Lu insisted..." Jiang Ming lowered his head and said quietly.

Jiang Guoqiang refused to listen to his explanation. "He insisted, so you just took it?" he said angrily. "You don’t know how to say no? Are we the kind of family that takes advantage of people?"

Pan Lanfang grew anxious and tugged on Jiang Guoqiang’s sleeve. "Why are you getting so angry at him? Xiaolu meant well. When I was in the hospital last time, wasn’t he the one running around helping out? What’s wrong with him buying Jiang Ming a car?"

Jiang Guoqiang snorted and fell silent, but his expression remained grim.

He clasped his hands behind his back, turned, and walked into the courtyard. After a few steps, he stopped, looked back at the car, and shook his head.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, the neighbors could only disperse awkwardly.

As Aunt Li was leaving, she glanced back at the car and whispered to Uncle Zhang, "The Jiang family must have some incredible luck to land such a great son-in-law."

Uncle Zhang nodded, his tone full of envy. "You can say that again. Nowadays, where would you find someone that good?"

Hearing their words, Pan Lanfang felt even more conflicted.

She stood at the doorway, staring at the black Mercedes, its paint so bright it was dazzling.

She recalled how Lu Fan never wore expensive clothes whenever he visited the village. He was always easygoing, without a hint of arrogance.

She remembered him crouching in the fields to help Jiang Guoqiang catch fish, covered in mud and grinning like a child.

She remembered him running around the hospital, pouring her water, peeling apples for her, and speaking politely to the nurses.

’How could such a good person be *that* man?’

Jiang Ming walked over and asked quietly, "Mom, didn’t you want to go to Yangcheng to see Sis? I’ll drive you."

"Let’s go. Let’s go now." Pan Lanfang snapped out of her daze and nodded.

She went back inside to grab a cloth bag, then glanced back toward the space under the bed.

The box was still there, sitting quietly.

She gritted her teeth and got in the car.

Jiang Guoqiang stood at the door. As the car started, he shouted, "Call me when you get there!"

Pan Lanfang called out in acknowledgment and immediately rolled up the window.

The car slowly drove out of the village. Pan Lanfang sat in the passenger seat, silent the entire time.

She watched the fields and houses recede swiftly outside the window, her mind turning over and over the thought of that photograph.

After thinking for a long time, she finally spoke, a little nervously, "Xiaoming, Mom needs to ask you something."

"What is it, Mom?" Jiang Ming asked while driving.

Pan Lanfang hesitated. "Your sister... and that Xiaolu, they’ve known each other for a long time, haven’t they?"

Jiang Ming’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. He didn’t say anything.

Pan Lanfang looked at his profile and suddenly asked, "You’ve known for a while, haven’t you?"

"For a little while now." Jiang Ming was silent for a few seconds before nodding.

When Pan Lanfang heard this, her voice began to tremble. "That Xiaolu... he’s Silu and Sifan’s biological father?"

Jiang Ming nodded again.

Pan Lanfang leaned back against the seat, speechless for a long time.

She stared out the window. After a long moment, she asked, "When did you find out?"

Jiang Ming slowed the car down and began to explain. "It’s been a while. Sis didn’t tell me; I figured it out myself. President Lu has been good to me, good to Silu and Sifan, good to Sis, and good to you and Dad. I used to hate him, but not anymore."

Pan Lanfang said nothing.

Jiang Ming continued, "Mom, President Lu is sincere about his feelings for Sis. And she... she has feelings for him too. She’s just been afraid you two wouldn’t be able to accept it, so she never dared to tell you."

Tears streamed down Pan Lanfang’s face. She wiped them away, her expression one of resignation. "With your dad’s temper, if he found out, he’d absolutely hit the roof."

"That’s why Sis has been hiding it," Jiang Ming replied with a nod.

Pan Lanfang stared out the window, silent.

The fields stretched on, one after another, a vibrant green.

She suddenly remembered many years ago, when Jiang Yixia returned to the village holding the newborn Silu and Sifan, looking painfully thin.

She had asked her who that man was, but she wouldn’t say.

Later, when she asked a few more times, Jiang Yixia just cried.

After that, she never asked again.

’She thought her daughter had moved on. It turns out she never did.’

She had only hidden those things away—in the box under the bed, in a place no one knew about.

The car arrived in Yangcheng and stopped in front of the flower shop.

Jiang Yixia was inside the shop arranging flowers. Hearing the door, she looked up and froze.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" She quickly put down the flowers and came forward to greet her.

Pan Lanfang stood at the entrance, looking at her.

Her daughter was wearing an apron, her hair tied in a ponytail, with flower petals still clinging to her hands.

’Even though she’s still busy all by herself, things are so much better than they used to be.’

"I came to see you," Pan Lanfang said, stepping into the shop and looking around.

Jiang Yixia poured her a glass of water and asked, "Where’s Dad? Didn’t he come with you?"

"Your dad’s at home, holding down the fort." Pan Lanfang took the water but didn’t drink it, placing it on the counter instead.

She took the photograph from her pocket, placed it on the counter, and said softly, "I found this while I was cleaning my room."

Jiang Yixia looked down, and her face instantly turned pale.

That photograph. She had hidden it for nineteen years.

Hidden in the box under the bed, hidden inside a book, hidden where no one would ever know.

Now, it was lying on the counter, clear as day.

She looked up at Pan Lanfang.

Pan Lanfang looked back at her.

Mother and daughter stared at each other for a few seconds before Jiang Yixia spoke first, stammering, "Mom, I..."

Pan Lanfang waved her hand, cutting her off. "Don’t say anything. I already know everything."

Jiang Yixia’s eyes reddened. She looked down, not knowing what to say.

Pan Lanfang took her hand and sat her down in a chair.

She looked at her daughter, her own eyes growing red. "How long have you been hiding this from me?"

"A few months now," Jiang Yixia explained.

"How long were you planning to hide it?" Pan Lanfang sighed.

Jiang Yixia didn’t answer.

Pan Lanfang asked again, "Then tell me the truth. Is he good to you?"

"He is." Jiang Yixia nodded.

"And to Silu and Sifan?"

"He’s good to them, too," Jiang Yixia explained softly. "Silu has already accepted him. Sifan... is still coming around."

Pan Lanfang was taken aback, not expecting that Silu had already accepted him.

She squeezed Jiang Yixia’s hand and asked, "And what about you? Your feelings for him..."

Jiang Yixia looked down and was silent for a moment. Then she raised her head, looked into Pan Lanfang’s eyes, and said earnestly, "Mom, I don’t know how to tell you this. I hated him for many years, so much that I thought I would never forgive him in this lifetime. But over this past year, he’s done so much... He’s been good to Silu, good to Sifan, and good to me."

She paused, then continued, "He’s changed a lot."

Pan Lanfang watched her for a long, long time.

She thought of the photograph, of how sweetly her daughter was smiling in it.

She thought of all the years her daughter had raised two children by herself, never once complaining about the hardship.

She thought of how every time she came home, she was all smiles, never mentioning that man.

’She thought she had forgotten. But she never did.’

"As for your dad..." Pan Lanfang began, her voice strained.

Jiang Yixia shook her head. "Don’t tell him yet. Let me tell him when I’ve figured out how."

Pan Lanfang nodded. "Alright. I won’t say anything for now."

She stood up and patted Jiang Yixia’s hand. "Just take care of yourself."

Jiang Yixia walked her to the door. Pan Lanfang got in the car, rolled down the window, and said, "Go on back inside. I’m leaving now."

Jiang Yixia stood at the entrance, watching the car drive away into the distance.

The wind gusted, messing up her hair.

She didn’t move, standing there for a long time.

In the car, Pan Lanfang leaned against the window, not saying a word.

Jiang Ming glanced at her in the rearview mirror and asked softly, "Mom, are you okay?"

"I’m fine," Pan Lanfang shook her head, her voice a bit hoarse.

After a moment, she suddenly said, "Your sister has never made us worry since she was a child. We never had to worry about her studies, her work, or even her having children. She can carry every burden herself."

After saying this, she sighed again. "But the more she’s like that, the more my heart aches for her."

Jiang Ming didn’t speak, just drove a little more steadily.

Pan Lanfang looked out the window again. "If your dad finds out, he’ll definitely cause a scene. He may not say anything, but he’s held that grudge in his heart for nineteen years."

Jiang Ming asked worriedly, "Then what are you going to do?"

Pan Lanfang was silent for a long time before suggesting, "We’ll wait and see for now. Your sister is right. We should wait until she’s ready to tell him."

She leaned back in her seat, closed her eyes, and sighed softly. "All these years... it’s been so hard on her."

Pan Lanfang leaned against the car window, gazing at the gray, hazy sky in the distance.

In all their years as husband and wife, she and Jiang Guoqiang had always been completely honest with each other.

The thought of having to keep such a huge secret made Pan Lanfang feel deeply uneasy.

She was afraid she might accidentally talk in her sleep and reveal everything.

’For my daughter’s sake, I have to take this secret to my grave if I have to. I can’t let it slip out!’