Chapter 34: Partings and Farewells
Selling orchids wasn’t an overnight process. Life in the Yang family continued, but funds for the new house grew tighter. Yang Jianguo not only contributed nothing, he volunteered to buy steel bars but left without paying.
When the supplier came demanding payment, the members of the Yang family were stunned. Yang Jianguo had long since vanished with the money. Grandma Yang wept anxiously while the others seethed helplessly. With debt collectors harassing them daily, construction halted indefinitely.
Despite this, Grandma Yang still defended Yang Jianguo. When Aunt Yang Meizhen argued, Grandma Yang snapped that as a married daughter, she was spilled water.
[嫁出去的女儿泼出去的水 (jià chūqù de nǚ'ér pō chūqù de shuǐ): A married daughter is like spilled water, implying she’s no longer part of her birth family.
But this wasn’t about interference. The construction plan had been collective. After heated words, Grandma Yang ordered Aunt Meizhen and her husband out, declaring they would inherit nothing and needn’t support her in old age.
The harsh words severed ties. Feeling humiliated, Aunt Meizhen’s husband wasn't a live-in son-in-law after all, so the husband and wife scraped together loans to buy a unit apartment, and they moved out, cutting contact with the Yang family. The family business would now operate separately.
With the new house half-built and debts mounting, construction stalled. Grandma and Grandpa hoped to borrow from their son-in-law, but his own four-story house had drained his funds.
The demolished old home left everyone crammed in rentals. Construction couldn’t be abandoned. Li Guizhen proposed borrowing from relatives, on condition the finished house belonged solely to them, excluding Yang Jianguo. Since he’d never support the elders, the burden would fall to Yang Jianjun anyway.
Grandma Yang resisted, Yang Jianguo was her favorite son. How could she let a daughter-in-law banish him? Yang Jianjun stayed silent, resentful yet helpless.
After the elders' initial reluctance, they eventually relented due to failed loan attempts. The house was finally completed, bearing a resemblance to its predecessor, but with significantly less debt. However, the Yang family's fortunes continued to decline as more state enterprises collapsed, and the proliferation of copycat food stalls eroded their income.
After Aunt Meizhen left, Yang Jiabo received the orchid proceeds: a staggering 780,000 yuan. Even after splitting with Wei Jing, he kept 380,000.
Wei Jing refused most, accepting only 180,000. However Yang Jiabo insisted he deserved more, he argued the orchids wouldn’t have fetched such prices without his connections.
With orchid values skyrocketing, Yang Jiabo saw a lucrative path. Even non-mutant varieties could profit. Little fleeceflower was truly a treasure, though he’d never dreamed of it since bringing it home.
Years earlier, rumors spread of a human-shaped fleeceflower root dug up, just like in his previous life. Then a wildfire ravaged the mountains, charring the very spot where he’d found Little fleeceflower. Had it not been discovered then, it might have perished in the flames.
By ninth grade, Yang Jiabo's academic performance had begun to decline. Once a top student in his class, thanks to Wei Jing's dedicated tutoring, the cumulative effects of his family's crises had taken their toll. His grades had slipped to merely above-average, a far cry from his former excellence.
First, his grandma (maternal) was killed by a stray hammer during a street brawl, her skull crushed, teeth shattered. Yang Jiabo was devastated. He had warned her for years to avoid fights. Though she’d survived a year longer than in his previous life, fate remained unchanged.
Another tragedy struck during the harvest season when his blind grandpa, who relied on grandma's care before, suffered a fall at home. By the time he was discovered, his body had stiffened, a devastating discovery. The successive funerals, including his grandpa, cast a dark pall over Yang Jiabo's life. His only comfort came from evening phone calls with Wei Jing, a beacon of solace in his grief.
Yang Jianguo's reckless actions led to further turmoil when he secured loans using Grandma Yang's signature as collateral, taking advantage of her illiteracy. When debt collectors were unable to track him down, they came to the Yang family's house, terrorizing the occupants. With only Grandma Yang and Yang Jianjun present, the thugs brutally beat Yang Jianjun and ransacked the house, leaving a trail of destruction and fear.
Though Yang Jianjun’s injuries were minor, Grandma Yang was traumatized. The situation further deteriorated as the loan sharks pursued legal action, and despite the family's efforts to hire a lawyer, they ultimately lost the case, plunging them into even greater financial and emotional distress.
Grandma Yang, unable to repay the loan, was at the mercy of the debt collectors. Yang Jiabo, determined to protect his family, quietly prepared to assume the 30,000-yuan debt. However, before he could intervene, Yang Jianguo was apprehended and brutally beaten, his battered and bloodied body dragged back home in a humiliating and terrifying spectacle.
With most of the family members away, Grandma Yang took Yang Jianguo to Aunt Yang Qiaohui's house, seeking refuge and assistance. Overcome with emotion, Grandma Yang tearfully pleaded with her daughter to take responsibility for repaying the debt, using a mix of guilt and desperation to persuade Aunt Yang Qiaohui to intervene.
Yang Jianguo stayed two weeks before vanishing again, this time after fraudulently mortgaging three homes. He left 1,000 yuan for Yang Qing, then disappeared.
The betrayal proved too much for Grandpa Zhang, who was hospitalized due to the emotional toll. After a week-long stay, he was discharged, but his relief was short-lived. The very next night, his life slipping away due to the inexperience of a rookie doctor, who failed to respond promptly to his deteriorating condition, sealing his tragic fate.
These losses taught Yang Jiabo that while rebirth could alter events, death was immutable. He feared being powerless to save Yang Jianjun.
Grandpa Zhang’s death triggered Grandma Yang’s stroke, leaving her bedridden. As primary heirs, Yang Jianjun and Li Guizhen became her caretakers. Li Guizhen handled meals and rent collection from Yang Qiaohui’s building, earmarked as Grandma’s pension.
Despite Li Guizhen's diligent efforts in managing Grandma Yang's care, she tended to pass on many responsibilities to Yang Jianjun when he was at home. Her own temper, however, was a different story, frequently flaring up in bursts of anger. Meanwhile, Grandma Yang's behavior became increasingly contradictory, remaining docile and gentle with Li Guizhen, but growing demanding and impatient with the Yang men, particularly Yang Jianjun. If they failed to respond promptly to her needs, she would dissolve into tears, adding to the emotional turmoil.
Nighttime summons exhausted everyone. Yang Jianjun lost weight rapidly, even Yang Jiabo struggled. Eventually, he proposed hiring a caretaker, funded by his orchid money.
Initially refusing, Yang Jianjun relented upon seeing his son’s declining health and grades. Yang Jiabo claimed to have sold a mutant orchid for 50,000 yuan, presenting a prepared bank draft to clear debts and hire help.
The first nurse quit within weeks, unable to handle Grandma’s incessant demands. Even raised wages only bought ten extra days.
As for Yang Qing, Li Guizhen’s resentment toward Yang Jianguo spilled onto him. Aunt Yang Qiaohui took him in briefly, but her husband objected. In the end he was sent to boarding school, shuttling between relatives during breaks, like an unwanted burden.
Caring for Grandma Yang was an exhausting ordeal, with Yang Jianjun struggling to find reliable caretaker and Li Guizhen growing increasingly volatile. Yet, despite the challenges, Grandma Yang received proper care, with her basic needs met.
Father and son endured, hoping the ordeal would pass. But then a rumor spread at Yang Jiabo’s school: He’s mentally ill—a lunatic.
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