The 1970s: Married First, Fell in Love Later-Chapter 232 - 231: He Lang, Are You Crying?

Xue Yue watched He Lang, who hadn’t moved for a long time, and a sense of unease crept into her heart.

"He Lang, you—what’s wrong?"

He Lang looked up and gave her a small smile.

"It’s nothing. I was just thinking that I’ve been neglecting you and the children while I’ve been so busy with work. I’ll try my best to make more time for you all from now on."

Xue Yue said, "Okay," her eyes filled with tenderness.

He Lang reached out, gently touched the gauze on Xue Yue’s head, and then caressed her cheek.

"How can you be so good to me? You agree to whatever I say and support whatever I do."

Xue Yue said, "Because you’re my man. I trust you, and I trust myself. You want to make us happy, and I want to make you happy, too."

The emotions He Lang had suppressed all day suddenly overwhelmed him at her words, and his eyes reddened.

Seeing this, Xue Yue was suddenly taken aback.

She slowly reached out to touch his eyes, but He Lang caught her hand in his.

She asked in surprise, "He Lang, are you crying? What’s really going on?"

He Lang took off his shoes, got onto the bed, and wrapped his arms around Xue Yue, blanket and all, burying his head in the crook of her neck.

Xue Yue tried to turn her head to look at him.

"Don’t move. Just let me hold you."

He Lang’s voice was low and hoarse.

Held like that by He Lang, Xue Yue was initially worried about him, but eventually, she just drifted off to sleep.

When she woke again, it was the middle of the night. Only a small lamp was lit in the hospital room. He Lang wasn’t on the bed. Xue Yue scanned the room and saw him standing by the window.

Xue Yue called out to him, "He Lang."

He Lang turned to look at her, seeing she was awake.

"Do you want some water?"

Xue Yue nodded, only then realizing her head wasn’t dizzy anymore.

He Lang poured her a glass of warm water and helped her sit up.

Xue Yue said, "I don’t think my head feels dizzy anymore."

He Lang nodded. "That’s good."

「The next morning」, Xue Xingzhou arrived early, and Xue Xingjun came with him.

They had even brought breakfast.

"How are you? Does your head still hurt?"

"I’m fine now. It’s not dizzy anymore either. I should be able to leave the hospital. Xing Jun, why aren’t you at the construction site?"

Xue Xingjun stared at Xue Yue’s head. "Big Brother told me you were hurt, so I came to see. Which blind bastard dared to bully you? Big Brother and I will go beat him up for you."

Xue Yue said with a smile, "Thanks for the kind thought, but your brother-in-law already beat him up."

Xue Xingjun snorted. "He got off easy. Brother-in-law should have called me. I could have helped."

Xue Yue nodded. "Next time. I’ll call you next time."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"How dare you say ’next time’?"

He Lang and Xue Xingzhou spoke at the same time. The two exchanged a glance, then quickly looked away from each other.

Xue Yue stuck out her tongue. "There won’t be a next time. I was just kidding."

He Lang said, "I’ll go get the doctor and see if you can be discharged and go home."

After He Lang left, Xue Xingzhou finally said to Xue Yue, "I’m realizing you’re a bit reckless. Haven’t I told you before? If you run into danger, run if you can’t win. If you can’t outrun them, buy yourself time. What were you thinking, trying to be a hero all by yourself? There were too many people around yesterday, and you were in that state, so I didn’t say anything. You need to be more careful."

Xue Yue blinked, feeling a little guilty. "Mm, I know."

Seeing his usually formidable sister being as obedient as a little lamb was somewhat amusing to Xue Xingjun, but the sight of the gauze on her head was also an eyesore.

"Big Brother, stop lecturing Sis. She’s already been through enough."

Xue Xingzhou looked at him. "And you, you’d better be smart. If you get hurt or stir up any trouble here, don’t expect us to clean up your mess."

Xue Xingjun immediately shut his mouth. ’How did this get turned on me? I’m being very well-behaved, okay?’

The doctor came, checked her over, and said she could be discharged. She just had to come back in three days to have her dressing changed.

The group returned home.

Mr. He wasn’t there; he had gone to supervise the construction site again.

Xue Xingzhou went out and returned with a fish and an old hen. He handed them to Mrs. He, saying they were for Xue Yue to "nourish her brain."

’He’s totally implying I’m an idiot,’ Xue Yue thought.

Then he left with Xue Xingjun.

Xue Yue tried to get them to stay for a meal, but Xue Xingzhou refused.

After leaving Xue Yue’s home, Xue Xingzhou and Xue Xingjun walked out the main gate. Xue Xingzhou glanced left and right, then walked over to the front of the house where Niu Hongjun lived. He paused for a few seconds, surveying the surroundings.

Xue Xingjun asked, confused, "Big Brother, what are you looking at?"

Xue Xingzhou didn’t answer and just walked away.

As Xue Xingjun followed, he turned back for another look and scratched his head.

Niu Hongjun was at the hospital at that moment.

He’d had surgery overnight.

The injury on his head wasn’t the most serious—at worst a superficial wound that looked a bit gruesome, plus a concussion.

But one of his arms was fractured, and his other hand was broken.

The doctors had set them, but they said a nerve was damaged. Even after it healed, there would likely be lasting effects.

Besides crying, there was nothing else Li Lanying could do.

They didn’t have enough money at home, so she could only send a telegram to her family, asking them to send some money as soon as possible.

Thinking about the reason for Niu Hongjun’s injuries made her furious all over again, so she also called his family.

"Niu Hongjun bullied someone’s wife, and her husband chased him home. Yes, he’s injured. It’s pretty serious. I don’t have any money, and he needs surgery now. If you don’t send me money, there’s nothing I can do. The hospital won’t operate without payment."

Li Lanying hung up right after she finished speaking. She had, of course, heard Niu Hongjun’s mother on the other end, cursing and saying she couldn’t even control her own husband, so what good was she?

’I don’t want to listen to this,’ Li Lanying thought. ’They’ve never been nice to me anyway. Their son is the one who did this and brought this disaster on himself. Why blame me?’

But despite her words, Niu Hongjun’s parents still rushed over that very night.

When they arrived at the hospital, Niu Hongjun was still in the operating room.

After getting a general idea of the situation, Niu Hongjun’s mother was stunned.

"What kind of person is this, to be so vicious? Who beats someone like that? They were trying to kill him!"

Niu Hongjun’s father was a bit calmer. The first thing he did was pay the surgery fee.

He said to Li Lanying, "Where are the two kids?"

Li Lanying replied, "I couldn’t look after them, so I locked them in the house."

Niu Hongjun’s father nodded.

"How many of them were there? What do they do?"

"Just one. He’s our neighbor. He runs his own business. His wife goes to the same university as Hongjun—they’re both college students. Hongjun was bullying her. From what I heard, Hongjun even hit her, so her husband came for revenge."

Hearing this, Niu Hongjun’s mother said sarcastically, "With that kind of character, and he’s a college student? That woman probably isn’t any good either, is she? They say flies don’t bite a seamless egg. I don’t believe Hongjun would have bullied her if she wasn’t asking for it."

Li Lanying glanced at her but said nothing. ’Even if she were looking for someone,’ she thought, ’she would never have picked your son. After all, her husband is a thousand times better than Niu Hongjun.’