The Li family didn't know how to face Xiaomai upon her arrival.
Should they hit her? Scold her?
Neither seemed appropriate.
"Plop!"
Xiaomai knelt before the body of Mother Li, crying, "Grandma! Grandma!"
Li Liguo yanked his second daughter away and pushed her out of the ward. "Leave! You leave! Your grandma doesn't want to see you!"
"Dad!"
Xiaomai struggled, "Let me see Grandma off."
"No need!"
Li Liguo dragged her out, "Get lost immediately."
"Liguo."
Ouyang Meihua stopped her husband. "Xiaomai didn't mean for this to happen. Mother was kind-hearted her whole life; she definitely wouldn't blame Xiaomai."
Li Liguo forcefully flung his second daughter away. "Why? For what reason did Yulin and Yufei do this?"
Xiaomai, who had fallen to the ground, covered her face and wept, "Yulin did it for everything the Li family has. Yufei did it for Song Yinyu."
"It's my fault. I actually noticed issues with their personalities and even told my elder sister, yet I continued to work at the village committee, just so they would look up to me."
"So, my efforts were a joke in their eyes. Because I'm not Auntie, not Lili; because Chengbin isn't Lu Shi, not Haohao and the others."
Thinking of her son and daughter's contempt for her, Xiaomai's heart ached as if she couldn't breathe.
"Get out!"
So, it was all for the Li family's assets!
Li Liguo trembled with rage. He pointed to the end of the corridor, "Leave here. We don't want to see you."
"Dad!"
Xiaomai knelt before Li Liguo. "I have nowhere to go. I can't go back to the Zhou family, nor can I go back to the Li family..."
"Then go die!"
Li Liguo roared, "You raised two beasts, and you still have the nerve to live?"
"I dare not!"
Xiaomai lowered her head. "Wuwuwu, on the way here just now, I tried. I closed my eyes and ran into traffic. I heard horns blaring, and I actually backed away. I'm just a coward!"
Ouyang Meihua pulled her husband, then looked down at Xiaomai.
"If you die now, that would truly be cowardly. The family is chaotic enough; don't add to it. Get up, it's embarrassing if people see you."
Xiaomai remained seated.
Ouyang Meihua tugged her husband again.
Li Liguo walked into the ward. He didn't want to speak to his second daughter.
Ouyang Meihua pulled Xiaomai up. "Don't make trouble, or I won't plead for you. Get up."
Xiaomai moved her legs and stood up. "I... I'll go and clean Grandma."
"No need."
Tian Jing stood by the sickbed. "Your grandma liked me the most. I've already cleaned her and changed her clothes. The funeral home's hearse will be here soon."
"Little Aunt."
Xiaomai looked at Tian Jing. "I'm sorry, I..."
"Don't say useless things."
Tian Jing waved her hand. "You're not just sorry to me. None of us want to hear those three words."
"Yulin and Yufei, I won't let either of them go, so don't blame me in the future."
Xiaomai was stunned. "I..."
Ouyang Meihua reached out and pulled her to her side. "If you still consider yourself a member of the Li family, if you still want to see your grandmother off one last time, then stop spewing nonsense."
Xiaomai fell silent. She had lost all her family.
...
Mai Xingyang and Jiang Junhu brought Li Wanting.
Li Weihao and Li Weibo were on a mission. Li Wanting couldn't find anyone to bring her out, so the captain called Mai Xingyang and Jiang Junhu, who had already left the special forces team, back to escort her down the mountain.
Seeing Mother Li, who had already been dressed in her burial clothes, the two young men stood tacitly behind Li Sixuan, whose face was covered in bandages. "My condolences."
Li Sixuan wiped away her tears and turned to face the two. Mai Xingyang's eyes were filled with concern, while Jiang Junhu's eyes blazed with anger.
In her dreams, she had been so foolish, treating Mai Xingyang, who genuinely cared for her, as a stranger.
She sniffled and said to Mai Xingyang, "Brother Xingyang, when I'm better, you must push me to practice martial arts."
"Alright."
Mai Xingyang nodded. "No matter how you try to wriggle out of it, Brother Xingyang won't compromise this time."
"Mhm."
Li Sixuan nodded, then looked up at Jiang Junhu. "Thank you for coming to see me."
Jiang Junhu's gaze fell on the bandages on Li Sixuan's face. "It's good that you've become ugly; that way, someone won't be jealous."
Li Sixuan paused and turned away.
Mai Xingyang glared at Jiang Junhu. "I think we should be doing what needs to be done now."
Jiang Junhu nodded. "It's time to bring this to a close, to comfort Grandmother Li's spirit in heaven."
"Wait."
Li Sixuan called out to Mai Xingyang. "I have something to tell you."
Mai Xingyang lowered his head, and Li Sixuan whispered a few words in his ear.
Mai Xingyang's ears turned red, the blush spreading all the way to his face.
As they walked out of the hospital entrance, Jiang Junhu nudged the absentminded Mai Xingyang. "What did Xuanxuan say to you? You've lost your mind."
Mai Xingyang touched his ear, which had been graced by Xuanxuan's breath. "She said you have no chance."
"Impossible."
Jiang Junhu didn't believe it. "Given Xuanxuan's temper, she would have told me that directly, and she's already told me that many times."
Mai Xingyang's face turned red. "Really, I can feel it. Xuanxuan is like she was when we were kids, towards me."
Jiang Junhu sighed helplessly. "How could I not see it? You must be hallucinating. What exactly did she say?"
Mai Xingyang's eyes turned cold. "She told me an address, saying it might be useful for our current plan."
"I don't care if she encountered these things because of this address. That Song fellow deserves to die."
"Then let's hurry!"
Jiang Junhu became anxious. "Captain Tian gave me this mission; I must complete it diligently."
"It was assigned to me,"
Mai Xingyang corrected him. "You are not a team member, just an expendable partner."
"Heh heh."
Jiang Junhu sneered. "Then find a new partner."
"No."
Mai Xingyang shook his head. "Captain Tian designated you. Hurry up, let's take care of that Song fellow quickly, and then he won't have the capital to flirt around anymore."
...
As soon as Li Weili stepped off the plane, she saw a text message on her phone. She hailed a taxi and headed straight to the crematorium.
In the taxi, she received a call from Li Weiyu. "Sister Lili, Mom said Grandma is gone. I need to come home."
"Mhm."
Li Weili agreed. "Tell Xiaojie to handle some trivial matters and tell them to halt construction at Houzi Hutong for a week."
Li Weiyu was surprised. "The office building halted construction? How much will that cost per day?"
Li Weili said indifferently, "Xiaoyu, the family's troubles started because of Song Yinyu. Your brother-in-law has already fallen out with Song Shaoqing."
"I understand."
Li Weiyu nodded. "I'll arrange it now. For the Northern Province company, I'll give them a week off."
"Alright."
Li Weili approved. "Better safe than sorry. It's good to avoid these few days. Notify An'an and Shilei to come home."
In the parking lot at the entrance of the crematorium, Li Weili met Yu Ziyu, who was driving back. "Second sister-in-law."
Yu Ziyu's eyes were red. "We only heard this morning that Grandma was hospitalized, how could she be gone this afternoon?"
Li Weili shook her head. "Let's go inside and talk."
...
In the mourning hall, besides the Li family, there were many villagers from Kushan, and even members of the Zhou family.
Li Weili's gaze swept coldly over the Zhou family, then she walked towards the ice coffin.
Staring at her grandmother's face in the ice coffin, Li Weili's pain could no longer be contained. She threw herself onto the ice coffin, crying out:
"Grandma, Grandma, open your eyes. I'm back. Didn't you say I loved my work too much?"
"I'm planning to retire. I'm planning to come back and stay by your side and Xuanxuan's side. Open your eyes, Grandma!"