From Broken Family to Life Winner: A Reborn Mother's Journey

After Su Li left, the two of them had become even more capable of handling things on their own.

Whether it was managing external affairs, dealing with their own relatives, or handling the people from Su Li’s Xinghua Village and Su Family Village, they could now manage everything effectively.

It was both a trial and a chance for them to grow.

Su Li was aware of some of these developments, but not all of them.

While Mrs. Tang was making such a fuss, she was, of course, completely unaware that Su Li and Tang Yuanxiao had already divorced.

After Su Li arrived in the Imperial City, Tang Yuanxiao sent a telegram and a letter to inform Mrs. Tang that they had arrived safely.

He also told Mrs. Tang about Su Li’s plans to attend university.

Mrs. Tang grumbled about it, but since it was Tang Yuanxiao’s decision, she didn’t object.

After Su Li left, the relationship naturally cooled. However, Mrs. Tang began to show off to others, bragging that her daughter-in-law had been accepted into university and that she had a college student in the family.

But what was the point of all this?

None at all.

Other families would host a celebratory banquet if their child got into a technical college, let alone a university. But Mrs. Tang? The thought had never even crossed her mind.

It was only when people started asking that she felt she was losing face and began to regret not thinking of it sooner.

She also blamed Su Li for not reminding her and for leaving so soon.

Her way of thinking and acting was as predictable as ever, but Su Li had already completely shut her out of her world.

Later, when Su Li heard from Li Hongqin and Yin Cuihua about Mrs. Tang’s actions, she had only one response.

”Don’t let her in the factory anymore. Stop her at the gate. The factory has nothing to do with her or the Tang Family.”

Li Hongqin and Yin Cuihua were taken aback for a moment, but they were considerate enough not to press the issue and simply did as she asked.

The next time Mrs. Tang visited, she received the same treatment as Miao Fenghua and Su Dan.

Mrs. Tang was so furious she could have exploded. She hurled countless threats from outside the factory gates, but it was all useless.

She simply couldn’t get in.

In the end, she had someone write a letter to Tang Yuanxiao, telling him what had happened and making sure to bad-mouth Su Li. But sending a letter and waiting for a reply took a very long time.

She was never able to get inside the factory again.

She tried several more times, always with the same outcome.

Yin Cuihua and Li Hongqin remained exceptionally firm.

But all this happened later.

For now, Su Li had just gotten off the phone with Li Hongqin and Yin Cuihua. She put away the shop’s lease agreement and was just thinking about renovations for the bookstore when there was a knock at the door.

Outside stood Little Tang Mo, looking utterly forlorn.

In her efforts to avoid Tang Yuanxiao, Su Li had ended up avoiding Little Tang Mo too.

For a full day and night, plus half of today, Little Tang Mo hadn’t seen Su Li, and he missed her terribly.

”Mama, you’re finally back.” The moment Su Li opened the door, he threw his arms around her legs.

”Are you home alone?” Su Li glanced at the room across the hall.

”Mhm.” Little Tang Mo nodded. ”Papa went out a minute ago. He said he’d be back soon and told me to be good and stay home, but I couldn’t resist coming to see if you were here.”

Little Tang Mo let go of Su Li, slammed the door across the hall shut with a BANG, and then turned back to hug her legs again. ”Mama, let’s go inside.”

”Okay.” Su Li felt both apologetic and full of longing for Little Tang Mo, and since Tang Yuanxiao wasn’t there, she readily agreed.

”I waited for you until ten o’clock last night, Mama, and then I fell asleep by accident. I came and knocked on your door as soon as I woke up today, but you still weren’t back.”

”I slept in my school dormitory last night,” Su Li explained.

”Mhm, Papa told me. He said you might come back this morning. All morning, I came to knock...” He counted on his fingers. ”Nine times! And you still weren’t back.”

”I had to run some errands,” Su Li said, stroking Little Tang Mo’s head.

”Mama is always so busy.” Little Tang Mo sighed like a little adult. ”Tomorrow is Teacher’s Day, and Papa said he has to take me back tonight. I won’t get to be with you again.”

”It’s okay. We can see each other again soon.”

Su Li talked with Little Tang Mo for a while, let him pester her into telling a story, and answered his many questions. Time flew by.

When Tang Yuanxiao returned from Wu Sheng’s place, he heard Little Tang Mo’s laughter from his own doorway.

He didn’t have to guess to know that Su Li was back.

He pressed his ear quietly to his door, listening for a moment, but decided not to knock and disturb them.

He had noticed Su Li was avoiding him. Afraid that knocking and appearing would ruin the mood between mother and son, he gave a self-aware little smile and left them alone.

After a moment’s thought, he went downstairs to buy some meat and vegetables to make dumplings.

After preparing the meat filling, Tang Yuanxiao began to fold the dumplings, thinking quietly to himself,

’If Su Li doesn’t want to come over, I’ll just cook them, put them on a plate, and bring them to her.’

He had gone to see Wu Sheng that afternoon to sign the papers, confirming that he had made up his mind about enrolling.

Tang Yuanxiao knew that leisurely days like this, when he could cook and make dumplings for Su Li, were numbered.

He had to seize this final opportunity; otherwise, he didn’t know when he’d see Su Li again.

While he was lost in thought folding dumplings, the mother and son’s peaceful time in Su Li’s apartment across the hall was shattered by a phone call.

It was the agent, calling to say he had made some inquiries and had a contact for her.

The man was a businessman, but a scholarly one—a man of letters. He dealt in books and had a stock of both old and new titles.

Su Li was overjoyed. ”Wonderful! Please arrange a time. I’m free anytime in the next two days, just let me know when.”

”Alright, I’ll confirm, but it will most likely be tomorrow,” the agent said. ”If the meeting goes well and you strike a deal, you’ll be able to get the books quickly, so you can start preparing on your end.”

”Okay, I will.”

When Su Li hung up the phone, she saw that Little Tang Mo had already put away the things they were playing with.

Before she could speak, Little Tang Mo piped up, ”Mama has to get busy now, right? I’ll go check if Papa is back.”

”Little Mo.” Su Li hugged him and spun him around twice. ’This child is just too considerate,’ she thought.

Little Tang Mo giggled. After she set him down, he turned and gave her a quick kiss. ”I’m happy I got to spend so much time with you, Mama. You can go get busy now. I’ll come see you again next week.”

The two of them went out into the hall. Su Li waited until Little Tang Mo knocked on the opposite door and heard Tang Yuanxiao’s voice from inside, then she gave her son a quick wave and slipped away.

”Where’s your mother?” Tang Yuanxiao asked hurriedly. He had straightened his clothes and wiped the flour from his hands before opening the door, only to find Little Tang Mo standing there alone.

”She left,” Little Tang Mo replied matter-of-factly.

”This...” Tang Yuanxiao glanced back at the dumplings, which he had so carefully folded to look like little gold ingots, and gritted his teeth.

”Wow, dumplings! Papa, you made dumplings!” Little Tang Mo exclaimed, having spotted them too.

”Mhm, I did. Didn’t you say that you and your mama both love them?” Tang Yuanxiao said, crouching down to look Little Tang Mo in the eye.

”Momo, I’m going to go after your mama and ask her to come back to eat dumplings with you. Can you wait here for me, okay?”

Little Tang Mo nodded instantly. ”Okay, go! Mama just left.”

”Okay,” Tang Yuanxiao replied quickly, closing the door securely before chasing after Su Li.

He finally caught sight of Su Li’s back at the complex gate.

”Su Li, wait!”

”Su Li, over here!”

Just as Tang Yuanxiao shouted, another person called out at the exact same time, their voices nearly overlapping.

Su Li heard both calls, one from behind and one from in front. Her head swiveled from the path behind her to the street across from her, and her expression instantly froze.

’How did they both show up at the same time?’