The Tender Beauty is Sweetly Doted in the 20th Century Novel!-Chapter 168 - 167: Waiting for You to Be Called Daddy

Chapter 168: Chapter 167: Waiting for You to Be Called Daddy

"Where has Fengmian been these days? Why hasn’t he come back for meals? If you have time, go find him. He can’t keep staying away; the family has so many troubles, and he’s the pillar of the house now. He can’t keep playing around."

Mrs. Xie had been frazzled these past few days, busy looking after Mr. Xie, and hadn’t had time to pay attention to other matters. Today, as she felt everything was settling down a bit, she remembered to ask Ye Xiaotong.

Xie Fengmian often didn’t come home. Sometimes he returned late at night, and she didn’t interfere because she had encouraged Xie Fengmian to look elsewhere if he didn’t like Ye Xiaotong.

However, it’s not good for Xie Fengmian not to come home for such a long time.

While she ate the meal prepared by Ye Xiaotong, Mrs. Xie planned to give him a good talking-to when he returned.

But she didn’t expect that, just as she finished speaking, Ye Xiaotong suddenly burst into tears, covering her face.

"Oh dear, child, why are you crying? I just asked you to call him home; when he returns, I’ll definitely have a serious talk with him."

Mrs. Xie thought Ye Xiaotong was upset because she was thinking about Xie Fengmian’s indifference towards her, but unexpectedly, Ye Xiaotong, through tears, revealed some explosive news.

"Mom, I didn’t just go out today, actually, the police came to find me..."

As soon as she mentioned the word "police," Mrs. Xie’s face changed immediately.

"The police? What happened? Did Fengmian get into some trouble? Stop crying first, quickly tell me, what happened?"

Ye Xiaotong was faking her tears. Due to her advanced pregnancy, she had to avoid emotional upheaval, so she forced out some tears, mainly showing her sadness and sorrow through her tone.

"Fengmian, he kidnapped someone and was sentenced... sentenced, sentenced to five years..."

"What?!"

Mrs. Xie’s pupils shook enormously, feeling for a moment like the sky was collapsing.

Afraid she might suddenly faint and need to be taken to the hospital, costing money, Ye Xiaotong immediately started wailing.

"Boohoo... Mom, what am I going to do? I’m about to give birth... boohoo..."

She didn’t mention divorce or other issues, mainly fearing that Mrs. Xie might be overstimulated in a short time, causing her to have a stroke like Mr. Xie, especially since Mrs. Xie had been dining on fried mushrooms with Mr. Xie, her health must be failing.

Sure enough, hearing Ye Xiaotong say this, Mrs. Xie stabilized her emotions immediately, and she quickly looked at Ye Xiaotong and her protruding belly.

"Yes! Yes! There’s the child, Xiaotong, you mustn’t do any work recently, let me do it, our family has only this one sprout left, you mustn’t be too sad, take good care of your pregnancy!"

It was perhaps the impending arrival of her grandchild that gave Mrs. Xie great strength; her face, which had fallen earlier, now regained its vitality.

Though still pained and hurt, she managed to endure.

Afterward, Mrs. Xie indeed didn’t let Ye Xiaotong do any work, not even cooking.

Ye Xiaotong was gladly relieved, holding money in her hands, not needing to work, and no one around to occasionally hit or scold her—she couldn’t be happier.

After a few days, Ye Xiaotong suddenly felt that staying temporarily with the Xie Family was alright, and she could give birth at the local hospital with better medical conditions rather than relying on a midwife in the countryside.

Thinking of this, Ye Xiaotong’s mood improved significantly, and she decided to visit Xie Fengmian to justify spending the money she had.

Her thought coincided with Mrs. Xie’s urgent wish: Mrs. Xie had always feared that upon learning her son was in prison, her daughter-in-law would run away; she wanted to see Xie Fengmian too, worrying he might be suffering in jail.

Thus, Mrs. Xie and Ye Xiaotong went to the police station together.

Xie Fengmian wasn’t doing well in prison; the wounds from Jiang Family brothers previously beating him hadn’t healed, and he was bullied multiple times by his cellmates once jailed, appearing lifeless when meeting Ye Xiaotong and Mrs. Xie.

Mrs. Xie, seeing her beloved son so tormented, hugged him and cried heavily, even accusing the police officers of negligence for allowing him to be bullied this way.

Ye Xiaotong sat opposite him, holding her belly, seeing the reversal in their positions, she couldn’t help but feel pleased inside, though she showed extreme sorrow in front of Xie Fengmian.

"Fengmian, I’ll make sure to have the baby safely and take care of your parents, don’t worry, behave well in prison, strive for an early release, the child is waiting to call you ’Dad’."

Tearfully grasping Xie Fengmian’s hand with her swollen belly emphasized, even a stranger would feel heartache seeing this scene.

When the child was mentioned, Xie Fengmian gained some spirit but wasn’t particularly excited, only sighed weakly.

"Thank you; childbirth costs money. I sold chickens and ducks at the factory earlier, raising a few hundred bucks, it’s wrapped in cloth inside the drawer next to the bed, use it."

He hadn’t expected a simple kidnapping of Jiang Yuan without harming her physically would lead to a five-year sentence; he couldn’t even bring down Liu Jitong successfully. The only win was seeing Liu Jitong kneel before him.

Yet just for Liu Jitong kneeling, he had to spend five years in prison—it wasn’t worth it.

Xie Fengmian regretted deeply, hating himself for not having seized Jiang Yuan to thoroughly disgust Liu Jitong, tormenting him inside forever, regretting his lack of attention to people stealthily accessing the surroundings, letting the Jiang brothers sneak in.

Ye Xiaotong and Mrs. Xie said many things to him, but he hardly listened, his mind consumed by regret and dissatisfaction.

The visitation time wasn’t long; Mrs. Xie and Ye Xiaotong barely spoke a few minutes before being ushered out.

As Mrs. Xie left, she was pulled along by a police officer, crying so fiercely it seemed as if her son had died.

Ye Xiaotong felt frustrated inside but on the surface, she mimicked small tears and followed suit quietly, wiping her eyes.

Her goal achieved—she now had a justified reason to use Fengmian’s money, ensuring nobody would accuse her unfairly moving forward.

Taking advantage of some free time, Ye Xiaotong returned to her maternal home.

Yang Xiumei almost died of fright upon learning Xie Fengmian was incarcerated, promptly asking about the child and future plans. Although Ye Xiaotong considered many aspects, she still discussed with Yang Xiumei meticulously about delaying divorce to ensure safety.

Ye Manman remained entirely oblivious to these events, never recalling to return to any family home; the Ye Family had long become Ye Xiaotong’s sole maternal home. Without New Year’s, Ye Manman might not consider visiting even once a year.

This period was very close to the university entrance exams and coincidentally a seasonal transition, making Cheng Yuan’s shop extremely busy, inundating her daily, allowing only weekly visits to tutor Ye Manman.

Ye Manman was busy too, having picked new books; Publisher Xu Lai was very pleased with her translations, given their favorable sales reactions, placing high expectations on Ye Manman.

This time, Xu Lai proactively offered to raise manuscript fees, aiming to produce more works before Ye Manman left the town for college.

Being able to solidify her skills and earn more money, Ye Manman had no reason to refuse.

No one would turn away from money.