80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches-Chapter 151 - 148: Confession (Part 2)

Li Xiangyang walked up to the stove, looked her in the eye, and said earnestly, "Lin Lan, I’m serious! You can rest assured, I’ve never hit a woman, and I don’t gamble. I’m not a womanizer, either. When I choose someone, I want to spend the rest of my life with them."

His gaze was too intense. Lin Lan couldn’t meet his eyes and lowered her head. "Xiangyang, you know my situation perfectly well. I don’t think we’re a good match..."

"Lin Lan!" Li Xiangyang took a step forward, grabbing her shoulders and cutting her off. "You’re younger than me, and you haven’t been through as much. I understand what you’re trying to say. You don’t have to worry about my dad. I’m confident I can convince him."

"Don’t worry. I want to marry a wife to give her a good life, not to let her suffer. And Little Douzi—I’ll treat him as my own son and won’t let anyone look down on him. Lin Lan, give us both a chance. Little Douzi is still young; he can’t grow up without a father!"

Lin Lan and Liu Jianguo had met through a matchmaker. After about half a year of courtship, they had naturally gotten married.

Having lived two lives, this was the first time Lin Lan had ever received such a heartfelt confession from a man. Listening to his sincere words, her heart wouldn’t stop pounding.

Flustered, she shook her head repeatedly. "Xiangyang, life isn’t as simple as you think. It’s not like in the movies or plays where love is all you need to survive."

"Once you’re actually living together, you’ll understand that things don’t always go according to plan. The endless disappointments can crush a person until they can’t breathe."

Li Xiangyang understood her worries and tried to persuade her sincerely, "Lin Lan, believe me. I’m older than you and I’ve been through a lot more. No matter what happens, I’ll handle it."

Lin Lan looked at him and thought, ’Buddy, with my past and present lives combined, I’m two full zodiac cycles older than you. You think you’ve experienced more than me?’

"Lin Lan, think about it! Xiangyang’s words even moved me," Yang Liying said, poking her head in from the back door to look at the two of them.

Lin Lan shot her an embarrassed glare, then turned her head to Li Xiangyang and said, "Let me think about it. We should both think it over carefully. Marriage isn’t like buying a house; you can’t rush it!"

Yang Liying burst out laughing. "Buying a house! Lin Lan, you’re hilarious!"

Seeing that Lin Lan hadn’t refused him, Li Xiangyang let out a sigh of relief. He shot Yang Liying a grateful look and nodded, his eyes sparkling. "Okay, okay! No rush, no rush! You take your time thinking. I’ve been thinking about it for months, so my mind is already made up."

Seeing him so excited he was becoming incoherent, Yang Liying let out a PFFT of laughter.

"Thank you, Liying!" Li Xiangyang said, his face red, before turning and striding out.

Many hands make light work. The coal from the pushcart had already been unloaded by Yang Zhigang and the others and stored in the woodshed.

Wang Zhixue, Zhao Dehai, and a few others pulled the pushcart, following Li Xiangyang and his group back to the freight yard to get more coal.

In the kitchen, Yang Liying looked at Lin Lan, whose usual world-weary expression was gone, replaced by a deep blush. She felt it was like seeing her for the first time again. Smiling, she touched Lin Lan’s face. "So pretty. Even my heart is fluttering!"

Lin Lan swatted her hand away playfully. "Third Sister, you’re terrible!"

Yang Liying gave a roguish grin. "Alright, alright! I’m terrible, I’m terrible!"

The two of them finished kneading the dough. While they waited for the men to deliver the coal, Lin Lan and Lin Yuezhen started preparing things for the next day’s morning market.

The group worked until midnight, finally delivering the coal to both Lin Lan’s and Yang Liqun’s homes.

Everyone had a bowl of sour soup with dough pieces before heading home.

On the way home, Yang Liying told Yang Liqun about Li Xiangyang’s feelings for Lin Lan, then asked, "Sis, what do you think?"

Yang Liqun thought for a moment before saying, "Lin Lan is still young; she’ll have to find someone new sooner or later. But if she’s looking for a live-in son-in-law, her options are widowers or old bachelors. To put it bluntly, she’d be better off staying single than marrying someone like that."

She paused. "Xiangyang is a good man, but he’s *too* good. I’m worried his family won’t approve. If it doesn’t work out in the end, it will ruin Lin Lan’s reputation and even cause Little Douzi to be ridiculed."

"Yeah! I was worried about that too, but after hearing what Xiangyang said today, I was really moved." As she spoke, Yang Liying recalled what Lin Lan had said. "Sis, I think Lin Lan knows what she’s doing. We don’t need to worry."

Yang Liqun considered this. "True. With her capabilities now, we really don’t need to worry about her."

After Lin Lan saw Li Xiangyang, Yang Liying, and the others off, the two sisters washed up. Lin Yuezhen then asked with a smile if Li Xiangyang had confessed his feelings to her.

Lin Lan looked at her, irritated. "Sis, why are you so keen on Li Xiangyang? Isn’t it fine for us to just live on our own?" She just wanted to be a turtle hiding in its shell and not think about these problems.

Seeing how vexed she was, Lin Yuezhen felt she shouldn’t press her too hard and ushered her into her room to sleep.

Lying in bed, Lin Lan thought about Li Xiangyang’s words. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t moved. She also wanted to pursue a happy life and have a man who cherished her.

But she had been reborn and had already gone through a failed marriage. She really didn’t have the courage to get cheated on again. After mulling it over without reaching a conclusion, she decided to just bury her head in the sand like an ostrich and pretend to sleep.

When Li Xiangyang got home, Old Li came out of his room and looked at him. "Didn’t you go to the pig farm? Why are you back so late? Did something happen at the farm?"

Li Xiangyang walked up, beaming with joy. "Nothing’s wrong at the farm. A coal delivery came in today, so I went to help unload it."

Seeing his son’s happy expression, Old Li grew annoyed. He shot him a glare, turned to go back inside, and lay down. Staring at the ceiling, he sighed, "Ah, Xiangyang’s mother, when a son grows up, he’s no longer his father’s to control!"

Hearing this from outside the door, Li Xiangyang knocked and entered the room.

When Old Li saw him come in, he immediately rolled over to face the wall, ignoring him.

Li Xiangyang sat on the edge of the bed and said to Old Li, "Dad, don’t worry. Lin Lan is a really good woman. We’ll be good to you and honor you in the future."

Old Li rolled back over to look at him. "You went to see Lin Lan?"

Li Xiangyang nodded. "Yeah! I went to her place. She said she needs to think about it!"

"Get out!" Old Li swatted at him. "You useless thing! I can’t be bothered with you."

Li Xiangyang looked at him with a cheeky grin. "Alright, I’m going, I’m going!"

Old Li watched him leave and close the door, grumbling in dissatisfaction, "A young bachelor chasing a widow, and she’s even playing hard to get. She’s making me lose face."

****

When Yang Lirong got home, she told Yu Hui what Yang Liqun had said.

When Yu Hui heard she could earn five or six yuan a day, he did the math and looked at her excitedly. "Fifty in ten days means a hundred and fifty in thirty days! She’s earning more in a month than the commune secretary!"

Yang Lirong also looked at him, her face beaming. "Eldest Sister is the best!"

Yu Hui thought about it and became a little suspicious. "She can earn that much in a month, and she’s really going to give the stall to you? Your sister isn’t just stringing you along, is she?"

After hearing this, Yang Lirong also started to have doubts. After all, it was just talk; there was no proof. She frowned and said, "I’ll go to Eldest Sister’s house first thing tomorrow morning."

"That’s the only way," Yu Hui said with a nod.

After the couple lay down, they tossed and turned all night. As soon as the sun came up, Yang Lirong went to Yang Liqun’s house and knocked on the door.