Lu Jinting realized that Ye Guanguan wanted to explain. But he still felt a piercing pain in his heart where Lu Mingye was always a problem that he couldn’t get over.
Ye Guanguan returned home happily, only to end up in a bad mood. When everyone was at a stalemate, a young woman, who had rosy cheeks, staggered in.
Huang Lirong looked away. Things were grim at this moment and why was her daughter coming back?
With great interest, Ye Guanguan looked up and saw Ye Qiuran wobbling in. Obviously, Ye Qiuran drank a lot before she came back. “Since I left home, these guys have been indulging themselves,” thought Ye Guanguan.
In a trance, Ye Qiuran finally stood still, by holding the doorframe. Suddenly, she realized that a lot of people were standing in the living room and staring at her. She touched her face and took a few deep breaths before she urged herself to behave properly.
“Oh, Guanguan, you’re back. Dad, Mom, Uncle, why are here so many people?”
As Ye Qiuran asked, she naturally wanted to go upstairs. Ye Guanguan gazed at her, without a single winking.
Ye Qiuran sounded as if Ye Guanguan were a guest.
Noticing the gloomy expression on Ye Guanguan’s face, Huang Lirong seized Ye Qiuran’s arm immediately and slapped her hard across her muddled face.
Huang Lirong was pretending to warn her own daughter. Ye Guanguan took a step backwards and whispered to Lu Jinting.
“Showtime.”
Ye Guanguan and Lu Jinting then moved over, as if making room for Huang Lirong and her daughter. Huang Lirong, though she didn’t want it, hardened her heart, and gave her daughter a good scolding.
“How dared you still drink! You stole your cousin’s boyfriend! You are disgracing us! Ye Qiuran, is this what we’ve taught you to do?”
Huang Lirong scolded and meanwhile, she hit her daughter hard in case Ye Guanguan didn’t feel satisfied.
Ye Qiuran was wearing a sheath dress. As her mother beat her, she gradually got bruises on her bare arms and legs. She gnawed her lips, dodged, and begged for mercy.
“Mom, no… Mingye loves me. I didn’t mean that…”
What Ye Qiuran argued made Huang Lirong angrier!
“Shut up! You shall never bring up Lu Mingye’s name again! You used to be a good girl. What happened to you and why did you believe Lu Mingye? How disobedient you are! I’ll beat you!”
The living room echoed with Ye Qiuran’s cry for mercy and Huang Lirong’s shout.
Lu Jinting grabbed Ye Guanguan behind him, in case she was accidentally injured. Only Ye Jian and Ye Guo took pity on Ye Qiuran.
“All right. Enough.”
Ye Guo frowned, feeling too sympathetic to look at Ye Qiuran. He said, “We’re families. Why do you beat her like that? The problem happened. Qiuran was hurt, too. Even if you kill her today, it won’t help with the problem.”
When Ye Guo showed mercy, Huang Lirong stopped immediately. Her heart ached, without doubt. But if she didn’t beat her daughter like that, her family would be kicked out and they would have nowhere to live.
“Brother, Qiuran knew she was wrong. I know Guanguan said that in a moment of anger. You’re right. We’re families. I don’t think you will kick us out for…”
Huang Lirong was too embarrassed to finish. She stared at Ye Guanguan with eager eyes, as if angling for sympathy.
Before returning home, Ye Guanguan had thought about it and she knew she wouldn’t manage to kick these guys out once for all. She used harsh words only because she wanted to show her ruthlessness to her uncle and his family.
She wanted them to know that she saw the light. She would no longer be used or ordered out by them and they should be in awe of her.
Ye Guo looked at Ye Guanguan. When he saw his daughter standing by Lu Jinting’s side and saying nothing, he nodded.
“Well, it always takes two to tango. Anyway, Guanguan has got married. Don’t bring up the scandal again.”
Hearing Ye Guo’s promise, Huang Lirong finally let out a sigh of relief. Ye Qiuran was still crouching beside the sofa, unconscious. Huang Lirong slapped her on her delicate arm again!
“Apologize to your cousin right away! You’ve done something awful, but you still don’t admit it. Go and say sorry!”
Half drunk, half numb, Ye Guanguan crawled to Ye Guanguan. Still, she pretended to be a gentle girl and she knelt before Ye Guanguan, as if begging for pity.
“I’m sorry. Lu Mingye cheated me. Guanguan, please forgive me.”
Ye Qiuran burst into tears immediately and looked quite piteous. Ye Guanguan would have believed her if she were in the previous life. Unfortunately, she died once. She was a reborn revenger, coming back from hell.
At the bottom of Ye Guanguan’s heart, she was completely indifferent to Ye Qiuran’s cry or shout for mercy. She remained unmoved on the surface, too.
The situation was deadlocked. For quite some time, Ye Guanguan didn’t say anything, letting Ye Qiuran beg for mercy in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Lu Jinting noticed the disgust and impatience in Ye Guanguan’s eyes and then pulled her behind him.
“Guanguan isn’t a saint. She can’t forgive such a mistake you’ve made. Just behave yourself.”
Ju Jinting stood out, representing that all Ye Guanguan’s misfortunes were gone and she would live a new life. What he said was not only a declaration to Ye Qiuran, but also a promise to Ye Guanguan.
After Ye Guanguan broke away from Lu Mingye, she would certainly enjoy a more wonderful life.
Ye Guanguan was moved and then she replied, “Get up. Today is a happy day and I don’t want to talk about such awful things.”
Paying no attention to Ye Jian and his family, Ye Guanguan and Lu Jinting left the living room directly.
Ye Qiancheng sighed and pulled his father who was in a quandary about what to do.
“Dad. Leave Qiuran alone so that she can sober up. Guanguan has brought you many antiques and paintings. Why don’t you go upstairs and have a look?”
Ye Guo couldn’t help sighing as he saw the blank eyes of his younger brother. Ye Jian was his family, too. How could he kick them out like Ye Guanguan just said?
But when his own daughter was suffering injustice, his heart ached as if transfixed with a dagger.
When they left the living room, Huang Lirong pushed Ye Jian and said, “Go and get our daughter up! What the hell! Look what we’re suffering!”
When she yelled unthinkingly and even raised her voice, Ye Jian frowned impatiently.
“All right. Get back to our own room before we talk.”
Ye Jian picked up Ye Qiuran who was dead drunk. The overpowering smell of alcohol on her made his heart ache.
He and his wife hated the unfair fate. Over the past twenty years, Ye Jian and Huang Lirong knew how humiliated it felt to depend on Ye Guo for a living. When Ye Guanguan teased them just now, Ye Jian felt too ashamed to take back.
But what else could he do? Move out as Ye Guanguan wanted? After all the trouble, he finally got a management job in Ye Guo’s company. He wasn’t strong enough to seek his fortune independently with his wife and daughter.
Ye Jian went upstairs to his single house with his daughter and wife. Alone in the house, Huang Lirong burst into a storm of abuse.
“How dared she! She’s your niece, but she railed at you! What an ill-bred girl! No wonder her mother died early.”
“Huang Lirong, stop it! Haven’t you humiliated me enough?”