Restarting life by going to the countryside to support medical work

Chapter 597 Searching?
Do you know my lover?

Li Yancheng interrupted Tong Xiurong before she could finish speaking.

He already guessed what the woman wanted to say, so it was better not to finish his sentence.

"Uh... I know her. Your wife, Luo Min, and I were classmates in elementary and junior high school. After graduating from junior high school, I went to a vocational school, and she went to high school. Around that time, the Luo family moved away from the compound, and that's when we lost contact."

"Comrade Tong Xiurong, if your relationship with my wife was good before, you should have gone to her when you had difficulties, not me. You've come to the wrong temple and burned the wrong incense."

After saying this, Li Yancheng stood up straight, without looking at Tong Xiurong's reaction, and turned to walk out of the house.

"Alright, you don't need to see me off."

"Uh... Director Li..."

Watching Li Yancheng's decisive departure, the woman was dumbfounded. It took her a while to come to her senses before she hurriedly got up and chased after him.

Help her?

It's not impossible; in fact, Li Yancheng quite admires her business acumen.

In this day and age, it is truly remarkable that someone could come up with a business model that utilizes clubs to expand one's network.

But no matter the era or the country, business has never been just business, except for individual businesses.

Especially for a woman to succeed, she has to pay a much higher price than a man.

If it were simply a matter of putting in a lot of effort, that wouldn't be a big problem, because no one can succeed easily. The key issue is that on the road to success, you not only have to put in hard work, but you also have to endure gossip and rumors.

A successful and beautiful woman is always surrounded by all sorts of gossip and rumors.

Leaving aside others, even Li Yancheng himself is said to be a gigolo behind his back. If he didn't know his own family situation, and if he hadn't been born twice, his mental fortitude would be stronger than the average person. If it were a man who was psychologically fragile and had a particularly strong sense of self-esteem, his family would probably have been in chaos long ago.

He had experienced this kind of confusion in his previous life.

At that time, he was just an ordinary finance staff member in a state-owned enterprise, while his wife was already a well-known fashion designer in the industry, earning many times more than him and at the forefront of fashion.

Because of his work environment and the fact that he grew up in a research institution located in a mountain valley, he didn't pay much attention to his appearance and always gave people a rustic feeling when he went out.

The rumors stemming from the income gap, coupled with their vastly different values, ultimately led to the end of their marriage.

After the divorce, he also reflected deeply on himself. Every unhappy marriage is not just one person's problem, and the reason for his situation was his ridiculous pride.

In this life, he is not without self-respect; he still has pride. For example, he doesn't let the Luo family interfere in many things; he wants to do his best himself. The key is that his wife does this exceptionally well.

First of all, she never interfered with his work, and she never thought that Li Yancheng was obligated to be good to her. No matter what he did, she always provided a lot of emotional value.

Whether outside or at home, he was her everything, and her gaze always followed him.

This is one of the reasons why Li Yancheng can completely ignore the rumors and gossip from the outside world.

That's why he was particularly able to understand Tong Xiurong's predicament.

I can understand it, but it's impossible for him to actually help me. It's not entirely impossible, though. You and my wife used to be classmates, right? Okay, if you can persuade my wife, I really wouldn't mind helping you out.

Li Yancheng walked out of the room without stopping. He glanced at Guan Weidong, who had stood up after hearing the noise, and continued walking outside.

Sometimes, things just happen by chance. Just as Xiao Guan reached the front gate and unlatched it, a young man outside was raising his hand to knock on the door.

Seeing the door suddenly open, the young man outside didn't even see who opened it before he chuckled and said, "Oh, Sister Rong, how did you know... uh..."

He was only halfway through his sentence when he realized that the person who opened the door was neither Sister Rong, whom he had called out, nor Old Xu, who cooked there, but a strange young man.

Behind the stranger was another person. When he saw who it was, his heart skipped a beat. His previously arrogant expression immediately turned into one of meekness, and he took a step back, pulling the young girl beside him back.

"Uh... Uncle Li..."

"Um"

Li Yancheng glanced at the somewhat familiar young man, simply responded, then stepped over the threshold and down the steps, heading towards the alley entrance.

At this moment, Tong Xiurong, who had put on a coat over her cheongsam, chased after them.

When she saw the young man standing at the door, she was slightly taken aback. Without even greeting him, she walked past him and chased after him.

The young man, who was standing there with his head down, saw out of the corner of his eye that Li Yancheng had walked away, and then he breathed a sigh of relief and raised his head again.

"Brother Lin, who is that person? Why did you seem a little scared when you saw him? And he's so young, why did you call him uncle?"

At this moment, the girl standing next to the young man spoke up.

"How can I not be scared?" The young man gave a wry smile. "He's my husband's boss. Tell me, how can I not be scared?"

"What?"

Shh... Keep your voice down.

The girl's scream startled the young man, who quickly covered her mouth with his hand.

"Mmm...mmm..." The girl whose mouth was covered nodded, indicating that she understood, and only then did the man release her hand.

"Brother Lin, how old is he? How could he possibly be your father's boss?"

The young man's father was the political commissar of the Yangchao Public Security Bureau, so it was indeed true that Li Yancheng was his father's superior.

"Let's not talk about whether that person is young or not, but he's the deputy director of the municipal bureau. Don't you think he's my old man's boss?"

"Uh……"

Just then, Tong Xiurong returned.

"Dalin, why aren't you going inside and standing at the door?"

"Sister Rong, you're amazing! Even Uncle Li came to visit you."

"Hey, you're so disrespectful! Who do you call 'sister'? You've made me feel like I'm a generation lower for no reason." Tong Xiurong didn't respond to his comment.

"Hey, Sister Rong, you're so young. I just felt that calling you 'Auntie' would make you sound old."

"Hehe, you're so sweet-talking. Alright, stop standing at the door and come inside to talk." Tong Xiurong glanced at the girl she had never seen before, nodded slightly, and walked towards the door.

While she was talking to the young man somewhat absentmindedly, she was carefully pondering the words Li Yancheng had left behind before he departed.

Looking for Luo Min?
When she first returned to Beijing, she did consider visiting her old classmate, but to be honest, she always felt inferior in front of Luo Min.

Needless to say, her family background was nothing more than that of the Huang family's adopted daughter. Even her appearance, which she was always proud of, was no better than Luo Min's.

This refers to the fact that she hadn't seen this old classmate for three years since returning to Beijing. Once she saw him, she would no longer have the idea that they were evenly matched.

After all, her skin and appearance were what a thirty-year-old woman should look like. But after Li Yancheng's eleven years of diligent care, Luo Min seemed to have frozen in time. She possessed both the mature charm of a thirty-year-old woman and the innocent cuteness of a twenty-year-old girl. Of course, she would only show both charm and cuteness to her man.

Luo Min always has a cold face towards outsiders, especially men, whether it's Jin Zhihai or her brother.

Tong Xiurong was unaware of all this; what she needed to consider now was whether or not to go to see this old classmate.

The main issue was that she was still a little guilty. After all, just a moment ago she was thinking about this old classmate's man, and the next moment she had to ask him for help...

That wasn't the only thing that made her hesitate; her pride was the main culprit.

When women get together, they compare looks and family background before marriage, and husbands and children after marriage. She can't compete with any of them, and now she's a widow. How can she possibly face her old classmate?

But is saving face really that important?
It's important, but it's also not important; it depends on what you're comparing it to—whether face or future prospects are more important.

call……

After figuring this out, Tong Xiurong slowly exhaled.

"Dalin"

"Sister Rong"

Do you know where Luo Min, the wife of that Director Li, works?

Holy crap! The young man called Dalin's eyes widened in surprise.

What the heck? What are you trying to do? Are you going to confront the wife?
This isn't a showdown, it's suicide!

"Sister Rong, why...why are you looking for...why are you looking for Aunt Luo?"

Dalin can't even speak fluently anymore.

Everyone can have fun and joke around, but if you go and confront the wife, that's breaking the rules.

"Puch..."

Seeing Dalin's horrified expression, Tong Xiurong burst out laughing.

"Look at you, you coward. Luo Min and I are old classmates. I haven't seen her since I came back. I just wanted to catch up with her."

And also, you little brat, shut up your dirty thoughts. I have nothing to do with Director Li. He came here on behalf of the Chen family elder, but the eldest Chen had something to attend to and left first.”

"Ah, is that so? Hehe..." Dalin raised his hand to touch his hair somewhat embarrassedly, his smile a little awkward.

"Aunt Luo is not at work right now."

"Not at work? She's staying home to take care of the kids?" Tong Xiurong was a little confused. She vaguely remembered hearing someone say that Luo Min was wearing a uniform, so why wasn't she at work?

"No, no, Aunt Luo went to school." Da Lin quickly waved his hand.

"Going to school? Oh, she also took the college entrance exam and got into university?"

"Sister Rong, you guessed wrong again. Aunt Luo didn't take the college entrance examination. She works in the Social Affairs Bureau and is the deputy section chief of the confidential section under the Municipal Bureau Office. To leave the Social Affairs Bureau, you need at least a three-year declassification period. Although the courtyard knew about the resumption of the college entrance examination earlier than the outside world in 1977, it wasn't much earlier. Even if Aunt Luo wanted to take the college entrance examination back then, she couldn't."

She's currently attending a three-year long-term training program at the Political Academy, recommended by her municipal bureau. I heard Uncle Luo mention it before; it seems this is her second year.

"Oh, I see." Tong Xiurong nodded in sudden understanding.

"Huh? I remember that Director Li used to work at the Social Affairs Bureau headquarters, right?"

"That's right, he's the deputy secretary-general of the General Office of the Social Affairs Bureau."

"Does that mean Luo Min will be transferred to the Public Security Bureau after graduation?"

"We don't know about that. Anyway, Aunt Luo will definitely be promoted to section chief after graduation. As for whether she will be transferred out of the Social Affairs Bureau, who dares to ask?"

"Hehe, you're right. Dalin, the Political Science Academy is in Dianhai, right?"

"Yes, no, Sister Rong, are you really planning to go see Aunt Luo?"

"What's wrong with me going to see my old classmate?" Tong Xiurong rolled her eyes at Dalin, annoyed.

"No, nothing, of course you can see your old classmates." Da Lin's lips twitched slightly.

He clearly remembered the ardent look in the eyes of this alluring woman when she looked at Li Yancheng. Besides, he'd been here many times, but he'd never seen her in a cheongsam before; her figure...tsk tsk...

He's had his fair share of women in the past two years, and he's met quite a few, but if you ask him who can compare to the one in front of him, besides Aunt Luo, he really can't think of anyone.

Uh... no, there's also Luo Eryi's older sister, Luo Ting, whom he should call his eldest aunt.

Why do the Luo sisters seem to get younger and younger as they get older?

Tong Xiurong didn't care what he was thinking. She waved her hand and said, "Alright, Dalin, take your... 'little girlfriend' and play here. I have to go out for a bit. If you want to eat lunch, go ahead and tell Lao Xu."

After saying that, she turned and walked into the west wing of the backyard.

The girl who came with Dalin was curiously looking around the courtyard.

Her family also lived in a hutong, but her courtyard was a large, crowded tenement, with illegal additions and alterations so many that it no longer resembled a traditional courtyard house.

The narrow passageway in the courtyard made it impossible for two people facing each other to pass each other smoothly; both had to turn sideways at the same time.

The house she lived in was in disrepair for many years, so when it rained heavily outside, it drizzled inside. The house she lived in was built by her father himself, and there was a tree in the house, with her bed right next to the tree.

In her memory, when she was a child, before there were any unauthorized houses built in the yard, she and her friends could play in the yard. But now, she can hear her neighbor farting even when she is lying in her own bed at night.

Thus, her family's housing conditions were considered quite good in their area, because her family was small, consisting only of her parents, her brother and sister-in-law, their child, and herself.

Her parents and her brother's child lived in one room, and her brother and sister-in-law lived in another room. To solve the accommodation problem, her father built two more rooms, one as a kitchen and the other as her bedroom. Although the room was a bit small, at least she had her own space.

Across from her house, in a similar 30-square-meter apartment, lived ten people, four generations under one roof. It must have been lively with so many people, haha. But the couple didn't dare do anything at night, because why?
They didn't have their own separate house. There was no other way; there were too many people, and it was impossible to fit them all. A large kang (heated brick bed) had a symbolic wall made of wooden planks in the middle. The eldest couple lived on one side, and the second couple lived on the other.

Forget about doing anything, even if you're just whispering something, the person next to you can hear everything clearly.

Now that she sees this huge courtyard, it seems to belong to Sister Rong all by herself, and she is incredibly envious.

"Brother Lin," she took two steps forward and tugged at Da Lin's sleeve, asking softly, "Does this courtyard belong to that Sister Rong?"

"Yes, what's wrong? Come on, let's go inside and talk. Don't stand outside. I'm telling you, Sister Rong has a lot of good tea here."

Dalin grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her towards the main house.

"What does Sister Rong do? Even the deputy director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau is a guest of hers."

"Why ask so many questions? After Sister Rong leaves, I'll take you to that house to watch the videotapes."

"Videotape? You mean that thing you told me about last time...that thing...like a movie?"

Upon hearing Dalin mention the videotape, a blush suddenly appeared on the woman's face, and she asked somewhat shyly.

This silly girl is still immersed in her anticipation of seeing something new, unaware that she's about to be completely taken advantage of by the man in front of her.

"Yes, that's the one I told you about. Sister Rong will be leaving soon, so no one will bother us anymore. I guarantee you'll get your fill of watching today."

The man chuckled and gently stroked the girl's nose.

"Ugh, I hate it..."

"Hahaha……"

……

Talking two ends.

In the morning, after parting ways with his eldest son, Mr. Chen drove to his office with a serious expression.

If he weren't in relatively good health, this old man would probably have died of anger on the spot after hearing his eldest son tell him about the things his third son had done.

Despite his anger, the old man was too old to bear seeing his son being sent off by his black-haired son, so he could only try to find a way to resolve the situation.

At that moment, he forgot his identity, forgot the oath he took when he joined the organization, forgot the responsibility on his shoulders, and was just a father.

After making a round of phone calls, the old man was completely disappointed. He sat alone in his chair, looking even older.

Through these phone calls, he finally understood the whole story of what his son had done. After a moment of stunned silence, the old man's expression returned to rationality.

The matter of the youngest son must not be known to his wife at home for the time being, otherwise it would be the death of her.

He began to think about how to prevent his younger son's actions from affecting the family, especially his older son.

As he pondered, he recalled the last phone call he had just made, and the meaningful words his old friend had uttered before hanging up.

"Old Chen, don't they say that when a person dies, the debts are settled?"

Does death wipe the debt?

Old Chen understood what those words meant, of course, but...

That's his son.

The old man of the Chen family sat there, caught in a dilemma.

(End of this chapter)