House Dad's Literary Life

Chapter 449: The King of Tough Talk

Although the study door was closed, Yang Yi’s hearing was still very sharp. If he really wanted to listen, he could still hear the conversation inside, including Mo Henian’s angry scolding and Mo Fei’s sobs.

Yang Yi actually didn’t care how much Mo Henian cursed at him. It was Mo Fei’s sobbing that made his heart ache.

So, he stood up and gently knocked on the study door.

Mo Fei opened the door. Although she had already wiped the tears from her face, afraid that Yang Yi would worry, he could still see traces of tears glistening in her eyes.

“Silly girl, how can you take all the blame upon yourself?” Yang Yi gently cupped her face in his hands and spoke softly with affection.

“I’m not.” With Yang Yi doting on her like this, Mo Fei immediately felt much better, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“Cough, cough!” A cough that sounded like someone in the late stages of tuberculosis startled the two of them awake. Yang Yi felt a murderous glare from beside him and quickly lowered the hand that had been caressing Mo Fei’s cheek.

“Um, Mo Fei, you go out first. I also have something to say to Uncle,” Yang Yi said.

“But…” Mo Fei became nervous.

“It’s okay. Trust me!” Yang Yi said gently.

Yang Yi’s determined gaze gave Mo Fei a bit of confidence. She pursed her lips and nodded gently.

Mo Fei went out, Yang Yi went in, and the study door closed again.

Mo Fei returned to the dining table, looking back toward the study every few steps with a restless mind, watching for any movement.

Xixi noticed it. She obediently leaned over and asked, “Mama, why are you crying?”

“It’s nothing.” Mo Fei rubbed her daughter’s head. She didn’t have the energy to think up a lie to coax her, so she could only smile gently.

“Did Grandpa get angry at Mama?” Xixi pouted and said, “I don’t like Grandpa anymore.”

Mo Fei hurriedly waved her hands and said, “It’s not like that, Xixi. You can’t say that. He’s your grandpa, after all. Mama only cried a little because the wind was so strong that some sand got in my eyes.”

She forced a smile and said, “See? Mama isn’t unhappy at all!”

“Mama, then, then let me blow on your eyes, okay?” Xixi shook her mother’s arm and said in a soft voice.

“Uh, okay!” Mo Fei could only keep up the act all the way and lowered her head.

Xixi pursed her little lips and leaned close to her mother’s open eyes, blowing a puff of fragrant fairy breath. She didn’t even know that properly blowing into someone’s eyes meant lifting the eyelid and blowing underneath it.

“Mama’s better now. Thank you, Xixi. Go play.”

Only then was Xixi satisfied. She hopped back into the living room and started playing with her little friends.

“Did Uncle scold you in there?” Mo Xiaojuan asked softly as she drank her soup.

“He wasn’t scolding me. He was mainly scolding Yang Yi.” Mo Fei shook her head bitterly and said, “Nothing I say is useful. His prejudice against Yang Yi is too great.”

“There’s nothing we can do about that. He’s been holding all that anger in for four or five years. Of course he has to let it out.” Mo Xiaojuan spread her hands.

“But I’m worried that even after he lets out his anger, he still won’t be able to forgive Yang Yi.” Mo Fei looked worriedly toward the study.

……

Inside the study, after Mo Fei left, Mo Henian frowned as he took a good look at Yang Yi. It was the first time he’d really seen him clearly under such bright light.

To be honest, Yang Yi wasn’t particularly handsome, but he wasn’t greasy or slick-looking either. His features were well-defined, and his hair was neatly groomed. His eyes were bright and steady, unlike some petty thieves whose eyes darted everywhere.

However, even if Yang Yi looked like Takeshi Kaneshiro¹

, Mo Henian would still find him unpleasant to look at simply because he was his son-in-law.

“There’s nothing for you and me to talk about!” Mo Henian snorted and said.

“Uncle, I’m here to admit my mistake,” Yang Yi said with his eyes lowered and a submissive expression.

“Admit your mistakes? What mistakes have you made?” Mo Henian said sarcastically.

“First, I let Mo Fei give birth to and raise the child alone, making her suffer so much. That was my first mistake. I shouldn’t have left her to deal with everything by herself.” Yang Yi said.

Mo Henian didn’t respond. He simply frowned and looked at Yang Yi.

Yang Yi continued sincerely, “Later, Mo Fei and I got together. I knew you were very angry with me, but I didn’t take the initiative to go to America to apologize to you and ask for your forgiveness. That was my second mistake.”

Mo Henian chuckled coldly and said sarcastically, “So you know you were wrong? You even know how to apologize? The rice has already been cooked, and the child has already been born, and now you’ve come to ask me for forgiveness?”

Wow, that resentment was practically reaching the heavens!

Yang Yi continued, “Then my third mistake is that Mo Fei and I are now married and have registered our marriage, but we forgot to tell you. That was entirely my negligence. I failed to do what I should have done properly!”

“Uncle!” Yang Yi raised his head and said sincerely, “I apologize to you for the mistakes I made in the past, and I hope I can earn your forgiveness. From now on, I’ll devote myself wholeheartedly to treating Mo Fei well and taking care of her for the rest of her life. I absolutely won’t disappoint you again!”

Although Yang Yi had summarized everything quite well, Mo Henian couldn’t hold back anymore. He said coldly, “Just because you know you were wrong, does that mean I have to forgive you? You think one lighthearted apology is enough to get you off the hook? Let me tell you, Yang Yi, I don’t believe a word of your nonsense!”

Yang Yi was silent for a while. He walked over, picked up the rolling pin from the table, and handed it to Mo Henian. Then, under Mo Henian’s astonished gaze, he unbuttoned his shirt, took it off, and set it aside, revealing his broad back. Then, with his back to Mo Henian, he knelt down on both knees.

Kneeling down was actually a humiliating thing. Of course, in his previous life, Yang Yi had been accustomed to enduring humiliation and carrying heavy burdens, so he didn’t find kneeling difficult. It was just that, according to the memories of this life, he should have been someone who believed that a man did not shed tears easily and that a man’s knees were worth their weight in gold.

But a man could kneel to Heaven, Earth, and his parents. As for the old man behind him, no matter how you put it, he was his wife’s father and could also be considered his own father. So, kneeling down wasn’t exactly a sign that he had no backbone, right?

Mo Henian looked at the rolling pin in his hand, then at Yang Yi’s back, at a loss for what to do.

“Uncle, go ahead and hit me! However hard you want to hit me, as long as it lets you vent your anger, I’m fine with it. I was the one who did wrong, so I deserve to be punished!” Yang Yi said without turning his head, looking straight ahead.

Yang Yi was truly prepared to take a beating, so after he knelt down, he had already circulated his internal energy to protect his body, shielding his vital areas.

Mo Henian remained silent. He simply held the rolling pin in his hand. At one moment, the veins on his right hand bulged, at another, his knuckles turned white, and then, he loosened his grip again.

Yes, when Mo Henian had first learned about Yang Yi, he had genuinely wanted to bring a shotgun over and blast this rotten kid to death. Even after getting off the plane and going to buy a kitchen knife, when he couldn’t find one and had to settle for a rolling pin, he had still thought about breaking Yang Yi’s legs!

Mo Henian had been holding in his resentment for far too long, and his temper was already bad to begin with. If Yang Yi dared to talk back, he really would have swung the rolling pin down at him without mercy.

However, Yang Yi had pulled something like this, as if he were genuinely presenting himself to be punished, putting on an attitude that said he would accept whatever beating or scolding came his way.

Now that the opportunity was in his hands, Mo Henian found himself unable to bring the rolling pin down.

He raised the rolling pin, only to lower it silently again.

Mo Henian wasn’t stupid, nor was he truly so hot-tempered that he would resort to violence at every turn. When all was said and done, he was still just a frail scholar who had taken up farming halfway through his life and only looked rough and uncouth on the outside.

He was the legendary King of Tough Talk. Not letting people off with his words and cursing them until they were thoroughly humiliated was what he was good at, but actually taking such a thick stick and beating someone with it, Mo Henian couldn’t do it…

Besides, if he really beat Yang Yi to death, what would happen to his daughter and granddaughter?