Chapter 72

During this period, Li Guodong tried several times to chat with Li Chengxi, but Li Chengxi was not interested. Sometimes he stopped talking after just a sentence or two, and sometimes he simply pretended not to hear him.

Neither Li Guodong nor Zhang Sufen were satisfied with the meal.

After dinner, Li Chengxi went to wash the dishes while Lin Tao carried Yueyue into the room to feed her.

Li Guodong and Zhang Sufen were in the living room. Zhang Sufen muttered quietly, "Lin Tao is such a jerk. Why did she let Chengxi wash the dishes? Chengxi has been outside all day and is exhausted. I didn't let you do these things in the first place."

Li Guodong glanced at Li Chengxi in the kitchen, but he was not thinking about this matter.

Zhang Sufen added: "Just now when I went to the guest room to change clothes, I found that they didn't even make the bed. It seems that they don't welcome us. It's pitiful for the two of us elders. We took such a long train ride and a boat ride to get here, but this is the result. Guodong, it's not that I like to criticize them, I'm just heartbroken. How come Chengxi still blames me after so many years? I didn't intend to destroy your family at the beginning. Everyone thought that Xiang Chunjie was gone, so I married you... We even got a marriage certificate and were a legal couple, but in the end it was all my fault..."

Zhang Sufen would bring this up from time to time. At first, Li Guodong felt that she was being wronged, but after hearing it so many times, he became annoyed and simply ignored her.

It happened that Lin Tao had already finished feeding the baby, so she asked Li Chengxi to boil some more water as she would be giving Yueyue a bath later.

It just so happened that there was not much water in the water tank at home. After taking a bath today, it would probably not be enough for tomorrow. Usually, Li Chengxi would fetch water after get off work. Li Chengxi picked up a shoulder pole and a bucket and went out to fetch water.

Lin Tao came out of the room holding Yueyue, talking and teasing her.

Li Guodong said to her, "Lin Tao, I want to talk to you."

Lin Tao glanced at him. Li Guodong started serving in the guerrillas when he was in his teens and had been a soldier for forty or fifty years. He had a military dignity and looked very serious.

This kind of seriousness is more terrifying than Li Chengxi's seriousness, because Li Chengxi is only serious on the outside, and when facing Lin Tao, he always becomes gentle involuntarily.

However, Lin Tao was not afraid of Li Guodong. Not only was she not afraid of him, but because of the matter between Li Chengxi and Lu Xiangchun, Lin Tao even looked down on Li Guodong in her heart.

"Just tell me whatever you want to say. I'm listening." Lin Tao took a deep breath and said.

What Li Guodong wanted to talk about was not Lin Tao's problem. In this short time today, his impression of Lin Tao was not very good, but it was not very bad either.

I feel that this daughter-in-law is very sharp-tongued and her words are very harsh. Just as Zhang Sufen said, she is a bit disrespectful and has no respect for elders.

This can be seen in many aspects, for example, she knew that they would go to the island today, but she did not get off work early to go home to prepare, the bed was not made in the guest room, and although the dishes cooked today tasted good, the dishes were very ordinary.

However, there are some aspects about Lin Tao that make him feel that this daughter-in-law is not bad. She can teach, can say that women should have their own jobs and cannot rely on men for everything, she is also a good cook and is good at taking care of children. These are all very good.

With this temper, I'm afraid he's the same as that brat Li Chengxi.

Li Guodong thought he had seen through Lin Tao's true nature. After all, he had been a leader for several decades and the top leader for more than ten years, and he prided himself on his ability to judge people.

"Lin Tao, as Cheng Xi's wife, you don't just have to go to work and take care of the children. You have to persuade him more. He's a father now, and it's time to change his temper. It was fine that you didn't come home to see us two elders when you arrived in Shanghai before, but this time your mother-in-law and I came all the way to see you and the children, and he still had a stern face. He didn't even pay attention to me when I talked to him, as if he was the father and I was the son. What son treats his father like this?" Li Guodong said earnestly.

Lin Tao ignored his talk of "father" and "son" and asked him coldly, "Then do you know why Cheng Xi behaved like this?"

These words made Li Guodong silent.

Of course he knew, how could he not know? When he was outside the delivery room, he asked Li Chengxi to go first and he would come later. Li Chengxi gritted his teeth and said that he was not his father. After so many years, he still remembered it.

Li Guodong sighed: "In that situation, I had no other choice..."

When the child was born, after he made sure that Zhang Sufen and the child were fine, he immediately went to see Lu Xiangchun, but it was too late. The white cloth had already covered Lu Xiangchun's face.

In fact, Li Chengxi did not tell Lin Tao many details of that year, but Lin Tao could still understand Lu Xiangchun's despair and sadness at that time.

Lin Tao's eyes turned red, and she asked Li Guodong, "What would you do if Cheng Xi did that? That's his mother, his biological mother is dying, and she wants to see you. He went to ask you to see his mother, but what about you? You didn't go. You didn't come until your mother-in-law died... There was a doctor for the birth, and you had already signed the consent form, which meant you chose to trust the doctor. You couldn't really help much outside. Could you help with the birth? No."

"You said you were in a dilemma, but actually you have already made a choice, or rather, you gave up on your mother-in-law from the beginning. Why didn't you give up? When your mother-in-law was still alive, you married another woman. Your mother-in-law suffered so much for you. Do you feel that you have done her a disservice?"

Li Guodong was filled with grief: "I am sorry for her. I have always felt sorry for her! I even dreamed of myself kneeling in front of Xiang Chun and saying that I am sorry for her."

Lin Tao shook her head: "But what did you do? You had a little son, but you didn't care about Cheng Xi. He went to boarding school since he was a child. You said that Cheng Xi had a bad temper and didn't let you get close to him, but did you really think about caring for him and understanding him? You didn't. You just said that to make yourself feel better."

Li Guodong retorted, "I have always wanted to care about Chengxi. He is still upset about his mother's death and refuses to accept me as his father. When I brought him home, he was very resistant. He didn't want to stay in this family and would rather go to boarding school. After so many years, he still hates me, so he got married and had a child without telling me that I was the father. He doesn't see me as a father in his eyes. You say I don't care about him. If I really didn't care about him, how could he become the leader at such a young age?"

These words really made Lin Tao laugh.

But as she laughed, tears welled up in her eyes, looking at the self-righteous Li Guodong in front of her. She thought it was really ridiculous, how could there be such an arrogant person in the world?

"Do you think Cheng Xi was able to become the head of the regiment because of you? Commander Li, isn't it ridiculous for you to say this? How can you put Cheng Xi's efforts into perspective? Do you think he has been an embroidered pillow in the army for so many years? Do you think he has reached his current position because of you as a father? Do you think you are the only one who has been injured in battle? The bullet in Cheng Xi's shoulder was caused by the battle in 1963. He won the second-class merit, so he was promoted from company commander to deputy battalion commander. The scar on his back was caused by a stray bullet in 1967. He won the first-class merit! He was the first person to be promoted two levels in a row, from deputy battalion commander to regiment commander! At that time, he lay in the hospital for more than half a month and finally came back from the gates of hell. Commander Li, how can you erase his efforts so easily? In the end, in your eyes, Cheng Xi's military medals have become yours?"

Lin Tao was so angry that she was shaking. She said word by word, "Cheng Xi won everything by himself. You have no right to say that about him."

Lin Tao spoke word by word, leaving Li Guodong speechless.

Zhang Sufen quickly said, "How do you talk to your elders? Why did Cheng Xi marry someone like you? Do you still have respect for the elders?"

Li Guodong shouted angrily: "Shut up and let her speak!"

Lin Tao continued, "I don't have much to say. I just hope that you, Chief Li, can face yourself more and stop being so self-righteous. Don't have the nerve to criticize others but not yourself. To be honest, I really had to consider Cheng Xi's face and hold my nose to receive you two old people. Otherwise, for the sake of my deceased mother-in-law, I couldn't let you into this room."

In Lin Tao's eyes, her mother-in-law is only Li Chengxi's biological mother.

Li Guodong had been the top leader in the army for so many years. Whether at home or in the army, he was always the one who taught others, and no one else taught him.

Now when he came to the island to visit his granddaughter, he was severely scolded by his daughter-in-law who came from the countryside.

Guan Jian's old face turned red from being scolded, and he felt so embarrassed that he couldn't utter a word in rebuttal.

Li Guodong stood there, his face flushed and a little dizzy. That was because his blood pressure was high. He was old and had high blood pressure, so he couldn't stand the heat.

After a long while, Li Guodong finally came to his senses. He glanced at Yueyue on the small bed again and said in a muffled voice: "Yes, what you said just now is quite right. I accept your criticism. In the past... I may have been a little too... arrogant..."

Lin Tao didn't say anything, but it was quite strange for someone like Li Guodong to voluntarily admit that he was "arrogant".

But she pursed her lips and said nothing.

"Ah." Li Guodong sighed, "I like Yueyue very much. If you...if you go back to Shanghai to visit Chengxi's grandmother, come to our house when you have time."

After saying this, he didn't say anything more and left with Zhang Sufen.

Lin Tao looked at Li Guodong's back as he left. He was over sixty years old, but as a soldier, he was in good physical condition. She always thought that Li Guodong looked very strong, and he looked not much different from his father, who was in his forties or fifties.

But looking at Li Guodong's back at this moment, I suddenly felt that he was bent over and hunched over, as if he had aged ten years.

But no matter what Li Guodong says, wrong is wrong.

She was not so confused that she would not do anything to forgive Li Chengxi.

When Li Chengxi came back, Li Guodong and Zhang Sufen had already left.

Li Chengxi poured the water he had brought into the water tank. Seeing that Li Guodong and Zhang Sufen were nowhere to be found, he asked Lin Tao, "Did they leave? Or did they go out for a walk?"

Lin Tao was playing with a doll with Yueyue. She looked up and said, "I scolded him and sent him away."

Li Chengxi raised his eyebrows, walked over to her and asked, "You still have the ability to do this? Scold Zhang Sufen?"

Lin Tao shook her head and said, "I scolded both of them."

Li Chengxi was even more peculiar. Li Guodong was as stubborn as a donkey. Whether in the army or at home, he was always the one scolding others, and no one else ever scolded him.

Even though Zhang Sufen married him, she has actually been scolded a lot over the years.

Can his little girl scold that stubborn old donkey?