Reborn as the Villain's Wife, I Shine in 80s-Chapter 507 - 491 Follow-up

In the future, slowly, this matter will be forgotten by people.

And the name Li Yibai will truly vanish from the realm of literature. Meanwhile, Yadan is quietly rising.

This could not have happened without the help of Jiang Jinghuai and Ye Binyi.

Just the fact that Li Yibai is his father’s illegitimate child is enough for Jiang Jinghuai to show him no mercy, let alone the fact that this issue also involves his wife. As for Ye Binyi, she did it largely because of Guan Kunling. When she found out that Li Yibai had plagiarized Kunling’s novel, she was furious, as if her own daughter had been bullied.

Ye Binyi, having some connections in the cultural world, found it not too difficult to erase someone’s traces. Of course, this kind of thing could only be done when that person was already down and out, and now was undoubtedly the perfect timing. She wasn’t about to let the opportunity slip by.

Speaking of which, back when Li Yibai delivered a speech at Beijing University, many cultural figures were in attendance. After he got into trouble, many of them were on edge, while the more conscientious ones even started having nightmares.

Because some of them, back in those days, had also abandoned their wives and children. So, they were constantly paranoid, fearing that they might end up as unlucky as Li Yibai—being confronted in public, which would not only ruin their reputation but perhaps destroy their future as well.

Some who were already married in the city scrambled to stabilize the situation on that end; others who hadn’t married yet brought their wives and children into the city to live with them. The incident didn’t just affect the cultural world; other sectors were similarly impacted. Those educated youths returning from the countryside made the same decisions—to clean up their messes. Clearly, damage control was necessary!

So, although Desire was wiped out of public memory, the current events triggered a wave of rural people moving into cities, one that came several years earlier than it otherwise would have. There were pros and cons, but the pros outweigh the cons.

With Li Yibai as a cautionary tale, most of their actions received praise. Praise typically arises from comparisons, doesn’t it?

This praise extended to the municipal office where Jiang Jinghuai’s father worked. Some officials weren’t exactly clean, and lately, they had been running around frantically. At first, Jiang Jinghuai’s father didn’t quite understand why they suddenly grew a conscience—until he read the newspaper.

The paper reported on a recent plagiarism scandal involving a popular wuxia novelist. That wasn’t unusual. What was unusual was the photo in the report. Right in the center was Li Yibai, with his chiseled features, an imposing presence, and the handsome demeanor of a young man. Upon closer inspection, his facial features bore a striking resemblance to someone—a person Jiang Jinghuai’s father had almost forgotten about.

A person who, thinking back now, stirred no emotional waves in his heart.

Li Lingling.

Then he looked at the interview at the bottom of the article, where a neighbor angrily denounced Li Lingling, listing all the ways she had thrown an entire village into chaos. This was the woman he had once been entirely smitten with.

Youthful recklessness, immaturity, misplaced affections—it was all a lesson learned.

If Li Yibai’s appearance was coincidental, then Li Lingling was definitely not a coincidence. The connection of the two led to only one conclusion.

Jiang Jinghuai’s father’s hands trembled as he held the newspaper. He was absent-minded even in the car, and when he got home, he still looked exhausted. By the time the investigation results he’d ordered came out a few days later, the truth didn’t frighten him as much as he had initially thought it would. What must be faced must be faced. As much as he wished he had never learned about it, now that he knew, he couldn’t pretend he didn’t. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Ye Binyi pushed the door open and happened to see him holding the newspaper.

He had been holding onto this newspaper for days without throwing it away.

Laughing knowingly, Ye Binyi walked past him coldly to grab some clothes. After grabbing a piece of clothing, she couldn’t help but mock him with a cold sneer: "Thinking about that vixen again? Look at the person on the paper, how much he resembles her. Now that he’s down and out, why don’t you bring him home? That way, Jinghuai and I can make space for him?"

Jiang Jinghuai’s father looked deeply ashamed. "Isn’t one Wenxiu already enough to keep the house in turmoil? Why would we need to add someone else? Right now, shouldn’t your focus be on bringing the daughter-in-law back?"

"You know the reason!" Ye Binyi scoffed, taking the clothes to the bathroom downstairs.

**

Li Yibai was no longer enrolled at Beijing University. He had already packed up his belongings and received notice from the East Sea Film Academy that they were expelling him. He could no longer stay in Beijing; he couldn’t bear to see Guan Kunling.

After buying a train ticket, with time to spare, Li Yibai drank by the roadside. Drunk and inebriated, his vision blurred, and he suddenly saw someone. Just seeing this person irritated him, though he couldn’t figure out why the person had appeared. "Oh, it’s you. Do you still remember my mother?"

"Not really," Jiang Jinghuai’s father said honestly, his refined face indifferent. He wanted to clear his conscience, so he had come here simply to bid farewell to the past.

The shadows hanging over his family all these years—it was time to let them dissipate.

"Damn it!" Li Yibai clenched his fists tightly, his voice hoarse from the alcohol. "Back then, you cruelly abandoned my mom. She was penniless and pregnant with me. Because of her beauty, she was constantly harassed by men. Later, after she gave birth to me, life became too difficult, so she fell apart. She’d go out drinking and gambling all the time. And later, she caught that disease and passed away. All of this was your doing! If it weren’t for you, that heartless scumbag, she wouldn’t have fallen so far!"

"So, this is how your mother described it to you," Jiang Jinghuai’s father said mockingly, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "She hasn’t changed one bit."

Li Yibai looked up sharply. "What do you mean by that? Money makes you feel superior, huh? Clearly, it’s your fault, but now you’re trying to lay the blame on my mom. Your sickly wife, that fake saint, always playing the victim—she disgusts me! She’s not even fit to compare to a strand of my mom’s hair!"

Jiang Jinghuai’s father didn’t get angry. He laughed instead. "Do you want to hear my side of the story?" Without waiting for a response, he began speaking.

Young men always think sentimentality is poetic. As he spoke of the past, Jiang Jinghuai’s father felt a deep ache in his heart. But it wasn’t for Li Lingling—it was a kind of self-loathing. In the end, life is never free of regrets. It’s like a thorn lodged in your heart that can’t be pulled out, constantly reminding you that life is far from perfect.

Listening to this, Li Yibai’s expression remained unchanged throughout. Yet, by the end, he sneered with disbelief. "What a load of crap. My mom could never be that kind of person!"

Jiang Jinghuai’s father shook his head slowly. "Don’t turn out like your mother. Try to be a decent person."

"Bullshit!" Li Yibai didn’t believe him at all. Rich people are always good at covering up their mistakes, pretending to be righteous and noble. He lacked power, but if he ever had it, he’d make sure to get revenge.

Grabbing his bag, Li Yibai walked away in the opposite direction from Jiang Jinghuai’s father. After a few steps, he stopped.

Who were those two people?

Zhang Ying’s voice rang out: "Li Yibai, don’t forget you’re still part of our family!"

Crazy hag! Li Yibai broke into a run but was soon caught by Zhang Ying. Because he was drunk, he couldn’t put up much of a fight. "Run where? No more running! You’re going back home to farm!"

And that, more or less, sealed Li Yibai’s fate for the rest of his life. One way or another, you always have to pay the price.