Tang Li just received a call from Lai Wenyan as she arrived at Lishan Film and Television City.
In the hotel room, Yu Sui was squatting and packing, while Tang Li took her cellphone to the bathroom and closed the door behind her before pressing the answer button.
The voice of Lai Wenyan carried a hint of anger as he abruptly accused her: "Great job at home! Your grandmother was scared into fainting, and she’s still in the emergency room being resuscitated!"
He thought Tang Li was sending messages and fruit baskets as an act of genuine remorse. Little did he realize she did all that just to gain entry into the Lai Family!
"No need for you to return to this home ever again!" Lai Wenyan’s scolding came through the receiver: "Since you don’t consider me as your father, cease your superficial caring and creating these harmful schemes!"
After letting him finish, Tang Li finally spoke: "I don’t know what happened at home, but from what dad said, it’s clear I’m already judged as the culprit."
"Trouble starts every time you come back, who else could it be?!"
"Grandma has disliked me not just recently. If I truly wanted to do something to Grandma, I could have done anytime over these years, not needing to wait until today." Tang Li softly continued, "I did talk back to Grandma this morning when I returned to the Lai Family, but surely a few words from me shouldn’t land Grandma in the hospital."
Lai Wenyan did not hang up, yet he did not respond either.
—Clearly, the anger was not quelled.
Tang Li suddenly asked: "Dad, don’t you find it strange?"
Before Lai Wenyan could respond, Tang Li continued, "Every time I return to the Lai Family, if I’m not arguing with you, I’m upsetting Grandma, and over time, the differences between us father and daughter only grew... and there’s also the matter about my mother’s necklace."
The last part of her statement touched on a taboo that Lai Wenyan couldn’t bear.
As if oblivious, Tang Li kept talking: "That evening, after I received my mother’s necklace and learned about my mother, I admit I was furious. Reflecting on it later, I felt like I had fallen into a trap engineered to turn us father and daughter against each other."
On the other end of the phone, Lai Wenyan held his cellphone, standing in the hospital corridor with an uncertain expression on his face as Tang Li’s voice came through again: "If you really disown me, then in this world, I am alone. In the future, whatever I face, I’ll have to endure by myself.
These past few days, I’ve reflected. I should not have trusted just one side of the story, harming the affection between us. Before, I was too susceptible to provocation, always thinking you treated me as a tool. Since entering the entertainment industry, I’ve been through quite a bit and see more clearly now; there’s no deep-seated hatred between father and daughter. I shouldn’t have hurt your heart with baseless words."
"Who told you about your mother?" This text is hosted at novel·fire·net
Lai Wenyan suddenly asked.
After a long pause, Tang Li responded from the other end: "Let the past be the past. Don’t worry, I didn’t believe those words. If I want to know something, I will ask you directly. I don’t want this family to suffer because of me anymore."
Even though Tang Li didn’t explicitly say it, Lai Wenyan heard it—indeed, it was Ouyang Qian and her daughter who had told her those past stories, and as for today’s incident, he had another guess.
Lai Wenyan returned to find Ouyang Qian and Lai Shengxia waiting outside the emergency room, especially Lai Shengxia, who looked extremely worried.
Sensing her father’s eyes on her, Lai Shengxia had an uneasy premonition.
Before she could speak, Lai Wenyan asked first: "The things in your grandmother’s room, was it really Tang Li who put them there?"