0187 Going Home
Tantai Qing kept her word and booked a flight back to her home the very next day.
Jiang Jifan insisted on going home alone, which he couldn't agree to. Helpless, he could only coax her, "Jifan, it's not safe for you to go home alone. I promise you, I'll leave after I take you home."
She thought to herself that he must be lying to her, and although she didn't believe it, she understood that this was the maximum extent of his letting go.
Thinking of her frail and tearful mother, Jiang Jifan suddenly hesitated again.
Since the accident, Yao Man has been unaware that she lost her sight in the car accident.
She made an excuse that she was studying at a branch office in another city and was very busy with work. Yao Man was afraid that she would disturb her work, so she called and video-called her much less often.
Jiang Jifan has kept it a secret from her all this time, narrowly escaping danger.
Yao Man would be heartbroken if she knew about her blindness in the car accident, so how is she going to explain her eye problem when she goes home this time...?
The perceptive Tantai Qing noticed her worry and comforted her, "Don't worry, I'll tell your mother that you injured your eye and it will heal soon."
Jiang Jifan chuckled very softly upon hearing this.
Her sarcastic laughter was extremely irritating, and Tantai Qing, heartbroken, understood her thoughts.
"Jifan, believe me, your eyes will get better."
Since the doctor diagnosed Jiang Jifan as blind, he has been asking people to find a suitable cornea.
However, Tantai Qing also had his own selfish motives. He wanted her to continue relying on him like this, but he didn't want to see her like she was now, unable to see the light of day and depressed.
Jiang Jifan remained indifferent to his words of comfort.
The following day, after a long and arduous journey of nearly ten hours, the two finally arrived at Jiang Jifan's home at five o'clock in the afternoon.
Perhaps it was a feeling of trepidation as he approached his home, but Jiang Jifan inexplicably became nervous as he drew near his door.
Seeing this, Tantai Qing gently held her hand and comforted her, "Don't be nervous, I'm here for you."
"Knock knock!"
"It must be Auntie coming back!" Jiang Mingting heard the knocking, immediately dropped his homework, and ran to open the door.
Yao Man, who was preparing dinner ingredients in the kitchen, quickly put down the dishes, washed her hands, and came out to greet them.
"Auntie." Tantai Qing greeted her with a smile as she led Jiang Jifan into the house.
"Come in quickly." Seeing the pile of gift boxes behind him, Yao Man frowned and said politely, "Why did you bring so many things back?"
He just laughed and said it was only right.
"Auntie, what happened to your eyes?"
Meanwhile, Yao Man was busy letting them in and didn't notice Jiang Jifan's strange behavior until Jiang Mingting pointed it out. Only then did she realize that something was wrong with her daughter. Her daughter's eyes were lifeless and she needed Tantai Qing's support to move around.
She was startled. "Ji Fan, your eyes..."
Jiang Jifan smiled before speaking: "Mom, I'm fine. I just have a minor eye injury. It will be fine soon."
A minor injury? Yao Man looked at Tantai Qing with a questioning gaze, half believing and half doubting.
Tantai Qing remained calm and nodded in agreement, "Yes, Auntie, you don't need to worry..."
They kept her in the dark by following the lies they had prepared in advance.
Although Yao Man had questions in her mind, she did not pursue the matter further on the spot.
Tantai Qing helped her to sit down on the sofa, and then went to unpack her luggage and the gifts she had brought.
"Mom, where's my sister-in-law?" Jiang Jifan hadn't heard Yu Diandian's voice since he came in, and he was puzzled.
Yao Man said that Yu Diandian recently found a job at a wedding shop in town, leaving early and returning late every day.
Since Jiang Jiping's accident, Jiang Jifan has been somewhat afraid to face them, especially Yu Diandian.
Jiang Jifan could imagine how devastated and helpless she must have felt when she first learned about Jiang Jiping's situation, given that she was a soft-hearted woman who always regarded her husband as her pillar of support.
She probably felt like the sky had fallen...
But the culprit that caused her to break down like this was herself.
"Is she alright?" Jiang Jifan hesitated for a moment before asking softly.
As if a painful memory had been stirred up, Yao Man sighed softly, "There were good and bad aspects. In the days immediately following Ji Ping's accident, she cried all day long, and Ming Ting cried along with her. Later, perhaps after accepting the fact, they both gradually calmed down..."
When the news of Jiang Jiping's arrest came back, Yao Man and the others found it unbelievable. The whole family was anxious and called Jiang Jifan as if grasping at a straw. At that time, she only said that it was a done deal and there was no way to save it, and told them to settle down and live their own lives.
Yao Man understood that as long as Jiang Jifan was there, the three of them wouldn't go hungry. Apart from some inconveniences, there were no other major problems.
But after all, he was her own son whom she had raised with great care and hardship. Hearing that life in prison was difficult, she thought long and hard and begged Jiang Jifan to help him if he could, and to take good care of Jiang Jiping inside.
Jiang Jifan naturally agreed, out of a sense of responsibility and guilt. She would give them a fixed living allowance every month, as well as all the expenses Jiang Mingting needed for school.
“You also need money to live in the big city. You can’t just take care of us and neglect yourself.” Yao Man felt sorry for her having to send so much money home every month, so she also looked for odd jobs to do to supplement the family income. Now Yu Diandian has her own job, and everything is gradually developing in a good direction.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Jifan felt deeply guilty and remorseful. Her mother was unaware that her son's troubles were caused by her, as his younger sister, instigating the situation.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” she whispered, leaning on her shoulder.
Yao Man, confused, hugged her and patted her shoulder, "Silly child, there's nothing to apologize for. Mom just feels sorry for you..."
Jiang Jifan's eyes welled up with tears, and he closed them to nuzzle against her.
At 7 p.m., Yu Diandian, who had been busy all day, finally returned home.
I knew they were going home a couple of days ago, and she even bought some fruit to bring back on their way back.
After entering the house, Yu Diandian first exchanged a few pleasantries with them, and then washed the fruit she was carrying and placed it on the coffee table for them to eat.
"Dian Dian, have you had dinner yet?" Yao Man asked her.
Yu Diandian replied, "I ate at the wedding banquet."
Her daily job is to decorate wedding venues for couples who are getting married. Sometimes she has to leave in the early morning and doesn't return until late at night.
Perhaps work helps people grow; the timidity in her eyes and brows disappeared considerably, and she became more generous in her behavior and speech.
They chatted in the living room for a while, and then Yao Man told them to go take a shower at nine o'clock in the evening.
Although Tantai Qing had regained his former gentleness and consideration, the perceptive Yao Man could still see the problem between them at a glance.
After observing for a long time, the undisguised indifference in her daughter and the cautious manner of Tantai Qing made her even more certain that the two of them were now only superficially harmonious.
Taking advantage of Tantai Qing's absence, she walked over to Jiang Jifan and quietly asked her, "Jifan, tell Mom honestly, did you and Taiqing have a fight?"
Jiang Jifan was slightly taken aback.
Are they making it that obvious?
She thought she had hidden it well enough, but she didn't expect that the other person would still see through it.
"No, Mom, I'm just tired today and don't really feel like talking," Jiang Jifan said with a smile, shaking his head.
Yao Man didn't believe her. She stared at her for a long time, then finally sighed softly, hugged her, and whispered, "Ji Fan, you must tell Mom anything. You're all I have left..."
Jiang Jifan's eyes warmed, and he softly replied, "Okay."
"Your eyes will get better, right?" Yao Man gently stroked the corner of her eye, confirming again.
"Yes, it will," she said confidently.
Jiang Jifan couldn't bear to tell her the truth.
Standing behind the door, Tantai Qing overheard their whispered conversation, which left him with mixed feelings.
Knowing that they were going home, Yao Man had cleaned Jiang Jifan's room well in advance.
Even though their relationship had broken down, she and Tantai Qing still slept in the same bed in City B. Although she had suggested sleeping in separate rooms many times before, the man always readily agreed, only to sneak into her bed in the middle of the night.
Jiang Jifan was extremely annoyed but helpless. She had cursed and hit him, but he still clung to her like a stubborn leech, impossible to shake off. So she was forced to sleep with him.
Therefore, she did not delve into Yao Man's arrangements.
Let them sleep then, they don't do that kind of thing anyway.
After a long and tiring journey involving both plane and car travel, Jiang Jifan was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as he touched the bed.
I slept without any dreams.
The next day, Tantai Qing, who had promised to take her home and leave, was still there.
He was lying after all.
Jiang Jifan wanted to send him away, but when she thought of Yao Man's worried expression yesterday, she held back.
Fine, let him stay one more day.
These past two days, being the weekend, Jiang Mingting didn't have to go to school. After breakfast, he sat in the living room with them watching TV.
Jiang Mingting was talking about some interesting things that happened in the class, and Jiang Jifan didn't interrupt her. She listened to her and nodded with a smile.
She said there was a classmate who was very arrogant and loved to show off all the time.
There were only a few wealthy families in the town, so Jiang Jifan asked who they were.
She said he was the mayor's grandson.
"Auntie, did you take the main road back when you came back?"
Jiang Jifan said that the "main road" she mentioned was the only relatively wide road leading from their area to the county town.
"The stinky king's grandfather said that a big boss specially donated money to build that road for us."
"Big boss?" Jiang Jifan was puzzled. The road from their place to the county town was dozens of kilometers long, and repairing the road would cost at least tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions.
Even among those famous businessmen who repay their ancestors after achieving success, none of them are as generous as this "big boss".
"Did they say where this big boss is from?"
"I don't know, that cocky guy said his grandpa said the big boss was from out of town..."
This made Jiang Jifan even more puzzled. Why would a businessman from out of town donate money to them to build roads? Moreover, Nanzhen's geographical location was quite ordinary, and its development prospects were even more uncertain. If this was an investment, it just didn't make sense.
Although she had doubts, she saw that Jiang Mingting was just a teenager and thought that perhaps the child was exaggerating, so she didn't ask any further questions.
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