Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 416 - 416 411 The Problem with Rumors

Chapter 416: Chapter 411 The Problem with Rumors Chapter 416: Chapter 411 The Problem with Rumors Mu Jiawen’s sudden change of topic caught Li Yun off guard.

But she immediately laughed and shook her head, “I know you’re rich, but there’s no need to be so extravagant. I work right at my doorstep, what do I need a car for? To eat it?”

Mu Jiawen disagreed, “You’re just over forty this year. With a car, there are so many places you can go to, not just for work. For example, you like the piano, you could go to Yunzhou to find a teacher and take lessons. Drive there every weekend, and then practice on your own when you return. As for the piano, you can buy a second-hand one. I’ve heard from my classmates that some families buy pianos and then the kids give up on learning, so the pianos just get wasted sitting at home, and they have to sell them as second-hand, which isn’t expensive. I’ll give you the car, and you can buy the piano yourself; how does that sound?”

“Aunt, sometimes in life you just have to go crazy for yourself. Besides, this isn’t even crazy, you’re developing your leisure interests. Who knows, maybe after you learn, you can even make a career out of it, establishing the first piano learning institution in Jianghai Town. Think about it, doesn’t that sound wonderful?”

Li Yun’s eyes grew red with emotion. This child… It had been so many years since she said she liked the piano, she had almost forgotten herself, but she still remembered!

Mu Jiawen pulled out a piece of paper from the table and wiped away the tears at the corner of Li Yun’s eyes, whispering softly, “You can’t always focus on your husband and Xiaolin. You should pay the most attention to yourself. While you are still young, make a push to accomplish what you’ve wanted to do for a long time, so you won’t have any regrets when you’re old, right?”

“Don’t worry about money. I’ve told you before, my mom has been selling my paintings at her gallery, twenty thousand for each one. I can donate five hundred thousand to the school for books, so why wouldn’t I be able to give you a small car? If you are polite with me, then you’re treating me like an outsider.”

“As for the car maintenance and your piano learning fees, use uncle’s salary; save your own.”

Xie Lin’s tuition and living expenses for university had been prepared by his grandmother long ago; his aunt didn’t need to worry about it at all.

So her frugality was completely unnecessary now. Sometimes, a woman just needs to spend when it’s time to spend.

Li Yun was very tempted by what Mu Jiawen said. Yes, she was just over forty. Was her life meant to just remain static? Aside from being a primary school language teacher, she had no special skills, nothing else she could do?

What would she do after Xiaolin went to university and left home next year, apart from her normally not-so-busy job?

Just take care of Xie Yanhai?

Thinking of the time she had questioned that girl, although Xie Yanhai seemed to be explaining, wasn’t he actually implying she was making a fuss over nothing?

At this thought, Li Yun felt quite disheartened. With her prime years at hand, why waste them on a man?

Instead of keeping an eye on him, wouldn’t it be better to do something else?

The gloom that had been lingering in her heart for days suddenly cleared away, and with it, the sallow and dark aura on her face disappeared, returning her to her past brisk and hearty appearance.

As the two of them were discussing the next steps for driving lessons and piano learning, a “knock knock” came with a series of knocks on the door.

The front door was ajar, not closed, and the visitor, after knocking, politely called out from the entrance, “Excuse me, is there anyone at home?”

Li Yun got up to walk to the door, with Mu Jiawen following by her side.

“Who are you looking for?”

Li Yun eyed the middle-aged man in front of her, dressed neatly, a stranger she had never seen before.

“Excuse me, is this Xie Chenyang’s house?”

Xie Chenyang?

Li Yun hadn’t immediately realized this was her father-in-law’s name, until Mu Jiawen took over and said, “You’re looking for my grandfather?”

The visitor’s eyes lit up upon hearing her words, “Are you uncle’s granddaughter?”

Uncle?

Li Yun and Mu Jiawen exchanged glances, both of them looking perplexed.

Suddenly, Mu Jiawen remembered the things about the Xie Family that Song Qingping had told her in the past, how they had suffered calamity and the Xie Family tree had fallen and the monkeys scattered. Even the brothers had split up and gone their separate ways to distant places, and in the following decades, Yunzhou had completely lost track of the Xie Family.

A major family had thus vanished into thin air, and those who were aware of it couldn’t help but sigh when mentioning the old days.

So, was this middle-aged man her maternal grandfather’s brother’s… son?

Mu Jiawen scrutinized the man’s facial features and demeanor carefully and found that he indeed bore some resemblance to her uncle.

Her aunt had also realized by now, and it seemed she had heard about it from her uncle before, so when the man introduced himself as Xie Yanfen, she pulled Mu Jiawen along to invite him into the house.

…

Meanwhile, Jiang Yan followed Xie Lin to the library of Jianghai Middle School.

In truth, calling it a library was a bit of a stretch—it was just a large classroom. Back when Jiang Yan and Mu Jiawen were still in Jianghai, this room served as the office for the senior three teachers, being about one third larger than their regular classrooms, making it quite suitable to be a library.

That was because it was the largest classroom in Jianghai Middle School.

At this moment, the room was bright and clean, the ceiling and walls reflecting the whitewash that had obviously been reapplied before the books had been moved in. Rows of bookshelves made of natural wood were arranged orderly, and near the north-facing windows stood five long tables with chairs. Xie Yanhai was engrossed in a book he was holding while sitting on one of the chairs.

Suddenly, a shadow fell in front of him. Xie Yanhai looked up impatiently, and when he recognized who it was, he paused, “Jiang Yan?”

Upon saying that, his face lit up with joy, “Is Jiajia back?”

Xie Yanhai snapped the novel shut with a clap and stood up, ready to leave.

But Jiang Yan instead took a seat and said, “She’s counseling your wife right now, why are you in such a hurry to go back?”

At the word “counseling,” Xie Yanhai’s expression became somewhat unnatural, and it took him a while to mumble a justification, “She just loves to make a big deal out of nothing, there’s actually no issue at all, making things so awkward for me when I encounter people at school now.”

Jiang Yan initially didn’t want to meddle, but since Xie Yanhai and his wife mattered so much to Jiajia, he felt compelled to speak up.

He said, “Uncle, if there’s neither wind nor shadow, where would your wife find any to chase after?”

Xie Yanhai’s face stiffened, and upon realizing what was said, he retorted irritably, “You also don’t believe me?”

Jiang Yan responded helplessly, “You usually seem like a sensible person, so how can you be so confused now? Is this a matter of trust? This is about the problem of rumors, what’s the effect of rumors? They turn nothing into something, they turn the impossible into the possible… Let me put it this way, after the rumors started, and your wife argued with you, didn’t you instead of distancing yourself from that girl, comforted her and continued to interact and work with her as usual?”

“Why should I distance myself from her? There’s nothing between us in the first place, if I distanced myself, wouldn’t it be admitting to the rumors?”

Jiang Yan spread his hands, “What did I just say? See, isn’t it precisely because of the rumors that you’ve gotten closer to her? The only thing that’s probably been affected is the relationship between you and your wife. So, have you ever considered your wife’s feelings from beginning to end? She didn’t make a fuss for the sake of your dignity, but have you ever considered her dignity? You explained to that girl, continued to interact with her, did you ever consider the hurt your wife might feel because of that?”

“Let me put it this way to you, if someone spread rumors about me being with another girl, then from then on, I definitely wouldn’t say a word to that girl, I’d keep clear of her when I saw her…”