CHAPTER 573: CHAPTER 555: DIFFERENT (THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK, EVERYONE. EXTRA UPDATE)

"Your uncle came? Didn’t he just come a few days ago?" Talking about her eldest daughter’s family, Old Mrs. Liang was also filled with anger. Her daughter was already an adult, yet still behaved irresponsibly. Had it not been for her grandson mentioning it, she would have been kept in the dark by her daughter, almost deceived.

Liang Zhi found it hard to explain for a moment.

At this moment, an aunt approached excitedly, grabbing Little Grandmother’s hand. "Saozi, oh my, you’d better hurry. There’s someone in Hongmei’s newly built courtyard who looks exactly like your Lin Guozhi."

As soon as people heard Lin Guozhi and that someone looked exactly like him, the first thought was that Liang Hongmei’s husband had returned. The man who disappeared for over a decade was back.

"My... Has my Guozhi returned?" Old Mrs. Liang was so excited that she couldn’t hold her cane properly, her body obviously swaying.

"Oh, Saozi, be careful!" Fortunately, someone was nearby to support her; otherwise, it wouldn’t be a joke for someone her age to fall face-down.

"Grandma, that’s who I’m telling you about—my little uncle." Liang Zhi finally got to the point.

"Let’s go, go, go, let’s take a look. My Guozhi, I have to ask him why he hasn’t returned all these years." Old Mrs. Liang steadied herself, gripping her cane, her face determined, and moved step by step towards Liang Hongmei’s courtyard.

... Lin Guozhi was already inside his long-lost courtyard, having imagined many possible reunion scenarios along the way, but never expecting this result.

The brand-new door, the high courtyard wall with fresh soil. The new lock on the door kept it tightly sealed. Obviously, no one was home.

The surrounding children and an adult he didn’t recognize at all, absolutely no impression.

He asked where the family had gone. They simply said no one was home.

Just as he was about to go to his aunt’s house to have a look, he met someone he recognized—Liang Jian Country and Cha Zhenfang, the couple. The long-lost call of "Brother, Sister" made Liang Jian Country freeze.

Pointing at Lin Guozhi in military attire, he couldn’t believe his eyes. "You... Are you really Guozhi?"

Lin Guozhi, eyes red, nodded. "Yes, I’m back."

"Who’s back? Who let you return? Where have you been all these years?" Before Liang Jian Country could speak, Old Mrs. Liang rushed over. Seeing him, her old face was suddenly awash with misty tears. Saying these words, she brandished her cane and struck Lin Guozhi’s back viciously several times.

The secretary Shao Li and Zhou Hanliang, Chen Bing, were about to step forward to stop this, but Lin Guozhi gestured with his hand to hold them back.

Recalling the lives Hongmei and her children had led over the years still didn’t ease Old Mrs. Liang’s anger, so she slapped him on the face and scolded, "This heartless creature, ungrateful, abandoning his wife and children—what are you back for?" After grumbling a few curses, she collapsed into Lin Guozhi’s arms, crying loudly. Lin Guozhi held the now much older, frail old aunt silently, suppressing the tears in his eyes. "It’s all my fault, Aunt’s scolding is justified."

"Tell me, where have you been all these years, with not a word?" Old Mrs. Liang forced herself to stop crying, grabbed his hand, and asked.

"It’s a long story. I suffered a head injury back then and lost my memory, so..." Old Mrs. Liang wiped her tears and said, "Child, you’ve caused them mother and daughter much suffering all these years."

Old Mrs. Liang’s words made Lin Guozhi’s already heavy heart sink further. "Aunt, are Ah Mei and the kids okay?"

"Fine, things have been better these years. Otherwise, how would they have afforded to build a new house?" Saying this, she quickly asked her son to unlock the courtyard door, pulling Lin Guozhi inside. The new house was empty, lacking any sense of life. The only thing noticeable was the banana tree he once planted.

"Hongmei... and the kids?" Seeing this scene, Lin Guozhi first thought was that Liang Hongmei remarried and the children followed.

"Not home."

"Hongmei has suffered a lot for the sake of the kids over these years."

"Yes, the two kids are impressive, the pride of our village—they got into university."

"It’s been a tough life for Hongmei all these years. Guozhi returning is good."

"Your son got into university in S City, and your daughter got married. Her husband is quite grand, and Hongmei came back for New Year a couple of years ago, bringing lots of blessings."

By this time, the small courtyard was already crowded with villagers, talking and telling Lin Guozhi about the mother and children’s recent conditions.

His son entered university, and his daughter married so young. His Nannan had led a difficult life with her two children all these years.

"In those years without your news, the family always advised her to remarry, but Hongmei stubbornly refused. She said no news is good news, always believing you were alive. But year after year passed without seeing you return. During this time, many persuaded her to remarry, matchmakers practically breaking down your house’s threshold. But she was single-mindedly waiting for you to come back, waiting for over a decade." Old Mrs. Liang wiped her tears and spoke to Lin Guozhi. "Look at this house; it was built the year before last with Country lining it up, just in case one day you returned, or up there... watching over them. She feared you’d worry seeing a rundown home, so it got built. But it’s been a year, and they haven’t spent a single night living here."

"Where’s Ah Mei and the children?" Lin Guozhi was desperate to see them the next moment.

"Talking about it, we must mention the two kids. The second year after resuming the college entrance exams, both kids were impressive, getting into university together. But the family had no money. Hongmei wanted Ah Hui to go first; Xiao Wan was still young, could wait a year or two. Xiao Wan, being stubborn, disagreed, accusing Hongmei of favoritism. The little girl took the family’s money and ran away. Luckily, she wasn’t far—in a neighboring town, she started doing business. When Hongmei and Ah Hui found her, she had been working alone for several days. Thus, Hongmei’s family braved rumors to start doing business for the two children. Later on... Hongmei and Xiao Wan followed Ah Hui to his school, opened a small restaurant there to earn money while funding their studies; Hongmei even attended school herself a couple of years ago."

"Uncle, my aunt joined a tutorial class and got an accounting certificate. My aunt isn’t illiterate anymore," Liang Zhi chimed in.

Lin Guozhi, looking at Liang Zhi, who had been a skinny little monkey when young, suddenly thought of his sensible and lovely Ah Hui. That child had never disappointed them, never causing trouble or making noise, and was very impressive.

But it was his mischievous daughter who surprised him!

He hadn’t realized that the three of them were in S City—what had he missed?

The news of Lin Guozhi’s return instantly shocked the entire village, and most people talked about Lin Guozhi and Liang Hongmei’s stories upon meeting. Of course, Qiu Hualan’s past was also discussed.

Most people praised how Liang Hongmei had weathered tough times and finally found happiness, even her husband returning.

On the contrary, Qiu Hualan, who had married badly to a drunkard, suffered abuse daily, never having many good days in her life.

After the rare bustle in the quiet courtyard, everyone dispersed, and Old Mrs. Liang brought Lin Guozhi to her own house.

Now they, too, had a new house. Her grandson was about to marry.

"In fact, our family owes much to Hongmei and hers, having helped us a lot these two years. Your brother and Sister-in-law opened a rice noodle shop in the county; Ah Song also got into university, now in the second year, while Ah Zhi contracted a hill in the village to raise chickens and ducks. This spring, county technicians came to assist us, and life is getting better."

"What about my father-in-law and mother-in-law?" Lin Guozhi asked out his doubts.

The room fell silent upon his question, and Liang Jian Country sighed. "Back then, many suffered. My uncle..."

"Humph, if not for Li Fugui causing trouble, my grand uncle wouldn’t have gone so early."

"Sigh. After you left, Li Fugui often harassed Hongmei, even..." Hearing this, Liang Jian Country no longer hid the incidents, recapping for Lin Guozhi what happened over the years.

"A woman with an old mother and two children, working from dawn until night every day, barely earning enough points for the family’s needs. Your mother-in-law starved herself to reserve food for the kids, surviving only on soup day after day, eventually succumbing to illness, passing away quickly. For Hongmei, it meant months of depression, blaming herself for her parents’ fate, an emotional barrier she struggled with. Later, had it not been for Xiao Wan’s illness, causing them family a half-month of worry, she might have developed a guilty sickness."