Chapter 127 - 118: Worry from Mrs. Yan

Chapter 127: Chapter 118: Worry from Mrs. Yan

Sure enough, comments started rolling in the moment the video was posted.

YangLeGeYang: Damn, are cooking videos all about showing off relationships now? So jealous!

ZhuZhuIsNotCoke: This handsome guy’s hands are gorgeous. He should be a hand model or something.

After about ten minutes, it had already been viewed over a thousand times. At this rate, in a few more hours, Brother Xiao Ran’s video would very likely rack up a ton of likes again.

The girl rubbed her hands together. Just imagining it made her incredibly excited.

...

After lunch, Mrs. Yan helped Mr. Yan settle in for their afternoon nap, just like any other day.

But for some reason, she was caught in a nightmare. She could clearly see Yan Li lingering in front of her, but no words would come out when she tried to speak.

She had been sitting up for a while to calm her nerves. The more she thought about it on the sofa, the more something felt wrong. She finally picked up her phone and called her eldest daughter. Yan Li had become a constant source of worry for her.

’My perfectly good daughter is now a divorcée. Since there’s no hope with Xiao Ran anymore, I have to get her to find someone else, and fast.’

’Otherwise, with her being so busy and having no one by her side, I just can’t rest easy.’

Yan Li was lying on the sofa in her office, staring blankly at the ceiling. She hadn’t touched a single bite of the lunch Wang Meng had bought for her.

As she was spacing out, her phone rang. She sat up groggily, picked up her phone, and saw it was a call from her mom.

She sighed and reluctantly answered the call.

’When it rains, it pours!’

"Mom." Because of her bad mood, Yan Li’s voice was listless and drained of energy.

Mrs. Yan said hurriedly, "Oh, Lili, Mom had a nightmare during my nap. I saw you standing in the doorway, but you wouldn’t say a word to me. The more I thought about it, the more unsettled I felt, so I had to call and check on you. Has work been going okay the last couple of days? Nothing’s troubling you, is there?"

She was truly worried about Yan Li.

Hearing this, Yan Li sighed. She pushed the lunch container on the coffee table aside, leaned back against the sofa, and propped her long, lovely legs up. "Don’t worry, I’m doing fine. I’ll make some time to come home and see you and Dad in the next few days."

’Come to think of it, I haven’t been home to see Mom and Dad in a long time. I really should go back for a visit.’

Her voice sounded weak and weary, as if she were completely exhausted.

Mrs. Yan’s heart ached with concern. "What’s wrong? Are you sick?"

’If they hadn’t divorced, Xiao Ran would still be there to take care of her. Now that she’s all alone, I can’t imagine how she’s managing. As her mother, this leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.’

"It’s nothing, I’m doing great." Yan Li had been on the verge of telling her mom about Yan Xici, but she held back. ’They’re getting older,’ she thought. ’What if they can’t handle the shock? I’d just be making things worse.’

The more Mrs. Yan thought about it, the more she felt it was a shame. "Sigh, Lili, I don’t mean to lecture you, but he was such a good son-in-law, and you just let him go."

’Xiao Ran... what a wonderful man he is.’

’He used to call me just to chat whenever he was free. But now... he hasn’t called in so long.’

’Suddenly, her heart felt empty, as if she’d truly become a lonely old woman.’

It would have been fine if her mother hadn’t mentioned Xiao Ran, but at his name, Yan Li was flooded with a sense of injustice.

Her tone grew impatient. "Can you please not talk to me about him?"

’I really don’t know what kind of love potion he’s fed my family.’

’My mom, my sister...’

’My own family is practically his now!’

’Is this man the devil?!’

Her already heavy heart finally couldn’t take it anymore. Her composure shattered, and she yelled into the phone, "What’s so damn good about him? Why does everyone like him so much?"

Mrs. Yan was taken aback. ’Why is she getting so upset all of a sudden? I’m only trying to help her.’

"What are you talking about? We like Xiao Ran because he’s good to us! Over the years, he’s visited me far more often than you, my own daughter. To say something like that is just heartless."

In her mind, Xiao Ran was a good person, period. Even though they were divorced, she couldn’t just turn around and start badmouthing him.

She was fifty years old; she couldn’t bring herself to say such things.

’To spread rumors and badmouth him just because my daughter divorced him... how would that be any different from those gossips in the village who sit around all day, telling blatant lies and trashing other people’s daughters-in-law?’

Yan Li’s voice was sharp with impatience. "Fine, fine, he’s the good one and I’m the bad one! It’s obvious you’d rather have him for a son-in-law than me for a daughter. But guess what? He’s with your other daughter now. I bet it won’t be long before he’s at the door proposing. You’ll get to keep being his mother, and he’ll still take care of you and be good to you. Are you satisfied now?"

Mrs. Yan, who had been lying on the sofa, shot straight up in anger when she heard that.

"You child! Do you even have a heart? I had your sister stay there to help you two get back together! Instead of being grateful, you say something like this?"

’Xiao Ran isn’t that kind of person. He’s so well-mannered, how could he possibly do something so inappropriate?’

’If anything, it’s Yan Li whose temper has gotten worse and worse since the divorce. To think she could even say something like that!’

Hearing this, Yan Li, on the other end of the line, frowned in disbelief.

’What?’

’They’re the ones who are together, and I’m heartless for pointing it out?’

"Mom, please, just use your head for a second! That’s my own sister. Would I really go so far as to make something like that up about her? What benefit do you think I get from saying this?"

Mrs. Yan thought Yan Li’s question was quite reasonable; she couldn’t figure it out either. She sniffled and asked in all seriousness, "Then you tell me. What benefit do you get?"

Yan Li: "..."

’I’m telling the truth, and my own mother doesn’t even believe me. It just goes to show how biased she is.’

Yan Li sneered. "Well, don’t blame me for not warning you. When your other daughter comes home with your grandchild in her arms, you’d better be prepared."

"Oh, that’s enough. You want me to be prepared? Why didn’t you warn me to be prepared when you got divorced? As for Xici bringing a baby home... if she really did, that would be our family’s precious grandchild!"

Mrs. Yan chose to completely ignore such nonsense. ’How could that be possible?’

She rolled her eyes dismissively. "Instead of wasting your energy gossiping about others, you should think about your own situation. I’m not trying to nag, but you’re divorced now. You’ll be looking at a second marriage, and that’s completely different from a first!"

’Someone too well-off won’t work. Rich men are shrewd; they won’t be serious about a divorcée.’

’Someone too poor won’t work either. What if he’s just after her for her money? That would be even more trouble.’

’A man with children is also out of the question. Being a stepmother is the hardest job there is. If she’s not good to the kids, she’ll be called biased, but with Yan Li’s personality, being overly nice is practically impossible for her.’

So Mrs. Yan was truly at her wit’s end.

’It’s so much harder for a woman to remarry than a man. Oh, what is my Lili going to do with her life?!’

Yan Li was so crushed by the situation with Yan Xici and Xiao Ran that she had lost all interest in romance, and even her will to work was fading. "Ugh, Mom, stop going on about all this random stuff. I have absolutely no interest in that right now!"

"If you don’t have any interest now, when will you? By the time you’re ready, all the good men will be taken!!!"

Mrs. Yan was genuinely frantic this time. She rarely ever used such a tone with Yan Li.

Yan Li knew in her heart that her mom was truly angry now.