The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 348: Chapter 348: A Telegram

Tanaka Kenichi thought of his father back home. His father had seven sons in total, counting those born to his wife and his illegitimate children.

Although he was the son of the Tanaka family’s legitimate wife, he was only the fourth oldest.

His advantage over the others was that he had the backing of the discreet but wealthy Kuno family.

If he didn’t prove himself to be exceptional, he might not secure the position of heir to the Tanaka family.

His parents had sent him here to study under his uncle, all as a part of his training.

Leaving his uncle’s side meant losing his support. His maternal grandfather, for his part, was already semi-retired and had gradually handed these affairs over to his uncle.

”Uncle, I’ll learn,” Tanaka Kenichi replied. He wasn’t a fool; he would never give up his greatest advantage.

When Kuno Hiroo heard his nephew was willing to learn, a smile touched his eyes. ”There’s no better place to learn a language than a university. Don’t be in a rush. Go study at a university for a while first.”

”I understand, Uncle,” Tanaka Kenichi replied. ’To have become the heir of the Kuno Family, Uncle is no ordinary man.’

’My uncle wouldn’t hurt me. Since that’s the case, I’ll just do as he says.’

Han Xiaorui and Ye Feng’s assessment of Kuno Hiroo was accurate, but it was still superficial.

This Kuno Hiroo was far more formidable than Han Xiaorui and Ye Feng suspected. His ability to analyze the international landscape surpassed that of most people.

However, Ye Feng and Han Xiaorui had no time to dwell on this. Just as they saw Kuno Hiroo off, Yang Zhigang came rushing over to find them.

Han Xiaorui saw the terrible look on Yang Zhigang’s face. He was sweating, and she grew concerned. ”Uncle Yang, what’s wrong? Don’t panic. Whatever it is, we’ll figure out a way to deal with it.”

Yang Zhigang’s lips trembled, and he couldn’t get a word out. He just handed her a telegram—an international one—with a look of utter despair on his face.

Han Xiaorui froze. She took the telegram, read it carefully, and was left speechless. ”That shameless bastard, Yang Jianming!”

Ye Feng had no idea what was going on. ’Did Yang Jianming die?’ he wondered.

But when Ye Feng read the telegram, he cursed inwardly. ’Yang Jianming is worse than an animal! He’d be better off dead!’

It was as if Yang Zhigang was atoning for sins from a past life, to be cursed with a son like Yang Jianming.

The telegram said that Yang Jianming had followed an American woman to the United States and had a child with her, but they had since broken up.

Now, Yang Jianming was having someone bring their child—a girl—back to China for Yang Zhigang to raise.

”Uncle Yang, what’s done is done. You can’t just abandon an innocent child, so please, calm down and try not to worry too much.” What else could Han Xiaorui say? She could only try to console him, or he might just die of anger.

Yang Zhigang scrubbed his face with his hands. ”I never used to believe in reincarnation, but I do now. I must have done something truly despicable in a past life to be punished with a son like Yang Jianming in this one.”

The way he said it, it was as if his words could will it into existence. Even if it wasn’t true before, it was now. Even if reincarnation didn’t exist, it did now.

Since this was about Yang Jianming, Ye Feng didn’t feel it was his place to comment. ”Uncle Yang, come inside. I’ll have Wu Jiao whip up a few dishes, and I’ll have a drink with you. Drown your sorrows. Let out all that bitterness, don’t keep it bottled up inside.”

Ye Feng pulled Yang Zhigang inside. The children were sleeping in the house, so they set up a small table in the courtyard and switched on the light.

Wu Jiao moved quickly, preparing fried peanuts, a cold jellyfish and seaweed salad, and green peppers stir-fried with eggs. They also had saltwater fish at home, so she pan-fried some Redfish steaks, made braised grouper, and a vegetable and tofu soup.

Han Xiaorui called Yang Jianguo, who was working overtime at the fishery, and asked him to come over.

When Yang Jianguo arrived, he saw his uncle sobbing uncontrollably and downing his liquor in one gulp. ”What’s wrong with my uncle?”

Han Xiaorui handed the telegram to Yang Jianguo. ”See for yourself. Uncle Yang is usually so carefree. Who else but Yang Jianming could get him this worked up?”

Yang Jianguo took it, and when he saw what it said, his face turned ashen with rage and his hands began to tremble. ”I...”

Yang Jianguo was about to curse, but he realized that any curse he uttered would be aimed at his own family, so he forced himself to stay quiet.

Yang Jianguo sat down, threw back a glass of liquor, and wiped away his tears as he drank. ”Uncle, let it out. Don’t keep it bottled up.”

Yang Zhigang hugged his nephew and wailed, ”I already feel so terrible for troubling Cuicui with raising Shunshun. But... now Yang Jianming is sending another child over. If I don’t take her, what will happen to her? I’m the one who has to raise her!”

”If I don’t, that’s abandonment. Yang Jianming is in a foreign country, beyond the reach of the law, but I can’t just do nothing! That animal... he knows I can’t just abandon her, so he’s out there making a mess! All he does is sire children without ever raising them!”

Yang Jianguo knew how hard it was for his wife to raise a child. She was willing to raise Yang Shunshun, but now another child from overseas... ’Even if Cuicui agrees, my heart aches to see her work so hard!’

”Uncle, don’t panic. There has to be a way. We’ll hire a nanny to help with the child. Cuicui can help supervise. We can’t just throw the kid in an orphanage. We have a conscience; we could never do something like that.”

Yang Zhigang choked back a sob. ”I’ll talk to Cuicui later. I’ll hire three nannies for her: one for cooking and cleaning, and two just to look after the children. Cuicui shouldn’t have to suffer for the mess Yang Jianming made.”

Seeing that Yang Zhigang had come to terms with it and already found a solution, Han Xiaorui said, ”Uncle Yang, we have to look forward. Life isn’t perfect, but we can always find a way to make things work.”

Yang Zhigang was getting drunk, and he started slurring his words. ”If I don’t think like this, I won’t be able to go on. I used to always think, ’He’s my son.’ But the things he’s done... he’s worse than an animal. It’d be better if he just dropped dead.”

”I used to say that just to curse him out, but now, I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I really hope he dies out there and never, ever comes back.”

SOB... SOB... SOB...

A man’s man, one who would rather bleed and sweat than shed a single tear, had been brought to tears of rage by his own son’s actions.

When Wu Cuicui heard that her husband and his uncle were drinking over at Han Xiaorui’s place, she grew curious. She brought her daughter, Yang Minmin, and Yang Shunshun over with her.

When she got there, she saw the uncle-nephew pair, Yang Zhigang and Yang Jianguo, crying on each other’s shoulders while Ye Feng and Han Xiaorui tried to comfort them.

Wu Cuicui was taken aback. ”Xiao Rui, what’s happened to my uncle and Jianguo?”

Han Xiaorui then told Wu Cuicui about the telegram.

Wu Cuicui was dumbstruck. She looked down at Yang Shunshun in her arms, then back at the telegram, and her own eyes started to well up. ”That Yang Jianming... He’s a good-for-nothing who only knows how to make babies, not raise them.”

”Sister Cuicui, you see how Uncle Yang is. When the child gets here, he’s going to raise her no matter what. Ugh, having a father like that is just terrible for the kids,” Han Xiaorui sighed.

Wu Cuicui wiped the corner of her eye and sighed. ”Bring her here. I’ll raise her. We’re already raising one, we can raise two. We can’t just abandon a child.”

Han Xiaorui looked at Wu Cuicui with admiration. ’Raising a child is never that simple.’ ”Sister Cuicui, this is a heavy burden for you. Those children are unlucky to have a father like Yang Jianming. But they’re also incredibly fortunate to have you, Uncle Yang, and Brother Jianguo.”