Chapter 25.2 - Like (2/2)

After Song Mo became enraged, what happened next was beyond Tang Huan and Jiang Yuzhu’s control. As Tang Huan hurriedly dressed, Song Mo had already grabbed Jiang Yuzhu by the arm and hauled her out of the Song house. Jiang Yuzhu cried loudly, refusing to leave, and everyone nearby who heard her cries came outside to see what was going on.

Of course, scandals like this, which were damaging to others but benefiting themselves, must be publicized. Song Mo couldn’t be bothered to argue with Jiang Yuzhu, but Tang Huan would not tolerate Jiang Yuzhu slinging mud at Song Mo. Wasn’t it just crying? Did Jiang Yuzhu think that she was the only one who knew how to cry? Tang Huan trailed the two in a white mourning robe, cried even louder than Jiang Yuzhu, and sobbingly told the villagers the truth behind Father Song’s death.

Jinzhi was a lovely young lady who had been commended by everyone in Baishui Village. Now that she was crying so aggrievedly and heart-wrenchingly, compared to a foreign girl who they had only known for three months, the people in the village immediately believed Tang Huan’s words. They all pointed their fingers at Jiang Yuzhu and reviled her out loud. Their reprimands reverberated far and wide, awakening even more people. When Song Mo and the others arrived at the Dong house, a big crowd of good-natured villagers had gathered around the entrance of the Dong house, berating the shameless couple.

Dong Minghua was not the calm and collected type. After such a commotion, his expression soon gave himself away. In the end, he knelt in front of Song Mo and kowtowed again and again. After hearing Dong Minghua admit it, how could Song Mo easily forgive the man who caused his brother’s death? He booted Dong Minghua to the ground and punched him continuously in the chest like a hammer.

The onlooking villagers only thought that Dong Minghua was getting what he deserved. Forget about stepping forward to stop the fight, there was even someone who grabbed Father Dong’s arm to prevent him from protecting his son, and he even said it very nicely, “Your son killed someone else’s father and brother. Just let Jinzhi’s uncle beat him a couple of times to vent his rage. Otherwise, he might take your son to court!” Later, Dong Minghua would have been beaten to death by Song Mo if Mother Dong hadn’t thrown herself on top of her son in a desperate attempt to protect him.

Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Jiang Yuzhu’s brother was afraid that this matter would be a hindrance to the Jiang family’s road to fortune, so while everyone’s attention was still on Dong Minghua, he hurriedly carried Jiang Yuzhu, who had fainted from crying, into the house, and then quietly slipped away from the back entrance without anyone noticing. The two villages were dozens of miles apart, and news could not get through in a short period of time. When he returned home later, he would tell his father to marry Jiang Yuzhu off as soon as possible, so that the Zhang family’s bounteous betrothal gifts would fall into their hands. After that, even if Lord Zhang heard about this news and wanted a divorce, he could never get his dowry back. Besides, the old man Zhang was not in good health, and he might even be enraged to death!

Nothing could be done by a dead man.

Dong Minghua insisted that Father Song fell to his own death, and the autopsy examiner hadn’t found any evidence of homicide. As a result, apart from moral condemnation, apart from breaking off the engagement, apart from severing ties with the Dong family, no matter how angry Song Mo was, he couldn’t do anything else.

After he had finally calmed down, he remembered his niece.

Last night, she was still happy because she had reconciled with Dong Minghua, but now the person she liked had turned out to be her father’s murderer. His niece…must have been very sad, right?

After locking their front gate, Song Mo hurried to the west room.

Under the dim candlelight, Tang Huan was wrapped in a blanket and sobbing quietly.

Song Mo took off his shoes and sat cross-legged beside his niece. After hesitating for a while, he still didn’t know how to comfort her. He could only pat her on the shoulder out of habit. “Don’t cry anymore, Jinzhi. It’s not worth being angry with that beast. Stop crying, okay…”

Tang Huan wiped her eyes and sat up before leaning into the man’s arms and continuing to cry, “Uncle, I’m not mad at Dong Minghua, I’m just sad about my father…”

How could Song Mo possibly believe that?

He knew that his niece was grieving her father’s death, but it was definitely Dong Minghua who had caused more pain in her heart.

His heart softened as he saw her continue to lean on him. Like how he had always done when she was a child, he sat her on his lap and coaxed her while gently patting her, “It’s okay, just cry if you want. After you finish crying, you’ll stop thinking about him. Now that his reputation has been ruined, he would not have a bright future. You-”

“Uncle, stop talking about him. What does his future have anything to do with me? I don’t care about him anymore ever since the day I told you I wanted to break off the engagement with him!” Tang Huan covered his mouth with her hand and glared at him.

Her palm was delicate and warm, and the tears made her eyes even more striking. Song Mo was at a loss. Barely suppressing the sudden throbbing of his heart, he asked, “Don’t care? Then last night, last night…”

“About telling you how happy I was last night?”

Tang Huan looked at him, redness spreading across her fair cheeks. “Uncle, I-I said that on purpose, just to, just to know what y-y-you…”

“Me? What about me?” His niece’s expression, gaze, and tone, all made Song Mo’s heart race.

Tang Huan lowered her eyes and grasped the man’s sleeve in her small hand, her voice nervous, “Your niece wants to know if Uncle would be unhappy or not. If Uncle is happy, it means you don’t care who Jinzhi marries and only regard Jinzhi as your niece. If Uncle is unhappy, that means Un-uncle also…has me in your heart…” Her sentence was almost inaudible at the end.

But Song Mo heard it.

What did his niece mean? Could it be that she also…had him in her heart?

As if she was afraid that he wouldn’t understand, Tang Huan raised her head and gazed deeply into his eyes. Her hands had wrapped around his neck at some point, gradually pulling him towards her. Her gaze was so lingering that Song Mo couldn’t help but lean towards her with the pull of her hands, until she tilted her head and shyly said something in his ear, “Uncle, your niece likes you since a long time ago, and you like me too, right?”

As soon as her words fell, there were soft lips pressed against his cheek.

The author has something to say: Can such a confession be considered as sugar? Is it sweet enough? Hehe~

Regarding the news on the recent crackdown (on explicit internet content), many friends had asked me what to do. Jiaren (author’s pen name) can only say that I am also feeling very helpless. The story I’m writing is very innocent and pure, okay!!

I did, however, change the titles of a few of the previous chapters. In the future, the chapter titles will be as innocent and pure as always, hehe, so as not to cause misunderstandings!

T/N: Oh, I just realized the different chapter titles. For now I have amended the chapter titles into the original ones, but they’re nothing too wild imo.

I’m struggling to English in many parts… Anyone wanna volunteer to edit my chapters? ORZ

If you liked my translations, buy me a coffee, pretty please?

https://ko-fi.com/superbulatt