At A University, the chirping of cicadas never ceases in summer, and lush green trees shade the aging classroom buildings.
On the podium, the professor delivers his lecture with passion and emotion, his voice flowing like a lullaby into Ye Mingxuan’s ears.
He rested his chin on his hand, gazing out the window at the sunlight and leaves, his mind drifting away. His beautiful eyes were calm yet distant.
Ye Mingxuan’s gaze landed on it, but before he could read it carefully, a WeChat message popped up below.
Ye Yufan: [Buy six tubs of Häagen-Dazs, all flavors except vanilla.]
[The sender has transferred 200 yuan to you.]
[Return the remaining money to me. Don’t keep it for yourself. If you do, you’re finished.]
Ye Mingxuan typed slowly: [35 yuan per bucket, six buckets is 210 yuan.]
The other side remained silent for a full minute, then Ye Yufan bluntly sent a message: [You want me to pay ten yuan? Can’t you cover it yourself?]
[You eat at my house and live at my house, and now you want me to cover ten yuan for you to buy some ice cream?]
Ye Mingxuan’s thumb lingered on the screen for a moment, his eyelashes trembling: [When do you need it?]
When class ended, the students rushed out in a crowd. Ye Mingxuan quickly went to the supermarket, but when he paid, he realized he only had eleven dollars in his pocket.
He gritted his teeth, handed over ten dollars, and hurried to the art academy with the remaining two dollars in his pocket.
During recess, many art students walked out of the building carrying their easels, and the street was filled with the scent of watercolor paints.
Ye Mingxuan stared at them for several minutes, afraid the ice cream would melt, and hurriedly carried the plastic bag to find Ye Yufan.
Ye Yufan and a few friends were sitting in the corridor chatting and laughing. Seeing Ye Mingxuan coming against the wind, even his hair had a messy beauty to it, she felt annoyed: “You’re so slow, the ice cream is going to melt!”
“It’s too hot,” Ye Mingxuan panted, handing it to him, “It’s normal for it to melt a little.”
Ye Yufan impatiently snatched the plastic bag open and smiled sweetly at his friends: “Come on, this is Haagen-Dazs I’m treating everyone to, don’t be polite!”
The ice cream was quickly snatched up and devoured.
Seeing them open the box and eat contentedly, Ye Mingxuan licked his dry lips and looked away: “Master, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now.”
“Stop,” Ye Yufan called out to him, “We need someone to take away the trash after we finish eating, so you wait here.”
Ye Mingxuan: “Young Master…”
“Yufan, who is this younger brother? Why does he call you Young Master?” Ye Yufan’s friend asked.
“Him?” Ye Yufan looked at Ye Mingxuan, her voice sharp and piercing, “Him? He’s my family’s servant!”
“He’s your family’s servant?” “A few people chattered among themselves.
“He’s so young… Is he even an adult?”
“Does he look like he can do any work with that delicate skin?”
“He’s actually a servant…”
Ye Mingxuan shrunk his neck, trying to ignore their talk about him, and stood silently to the side waiting.
The weather was hot, and he was extremely thirsty, feeling as though every cell in his body was being boiled dry. But he had no water, and seeing them all eating ice cream, he felt a deep pang of envy.
“By the way, did you guys know that Tan Sizhe has been appointed as the new CEO of Yuanze?”
“Yeah, but who is Tan Sizhe? We’ve never seen him before.”
“According to rumors, Tan Sizhe is extremely handsome, the kind of golden bachelor that wealthy young ladies dream of marrying. Yu Fan, did you know that?”
Ye Yu Fan rolled her eyes. “It’s just a rumor. You actually believe that? Maybe he’s an ugly monster.”
“Besides, I don’t believe he’s handsome. No matter how handsome he is, he can’t compare to my…”
“Who? Yufan, do you have someone you like? Tell us, tell us!”
“Oh, I’m not telling you.” Ye Yufan blushed and noticed Ye Mingxuan listening to their conversation, looking displeased. “What are you looking at? Come over and collect the trash!”
“Oh.” Ye Mingxuan nodded.
He waited until they had all finished eating, then picked up the plastic bags and cleaned up the trash they had left behind.
The group who had thrown away the trash had already left to go play.
Ye Mingxuan picked up the wrappers and put them in the trash bag, then sighed.
After school, he rode his bike home.
In the bustling city center, there was a place that was different from the rest of the lively area. It was quiet and elegant, and people called it the wealthy district.
In the wealthy district, single-family villas were nestled among the trees.
Ye Mingxuan rode his old bicycle through the gate of the Ye family compound and parked in the backyard.
This residence was created by connecting two storage rooms. They ate meals in Liu Yan’s room, and the smaller connected room was Ye Mingxuan’s bedroom.
Ye Mingxuan’s room was even simpler, with only a bunk bed.
“Today, the mistress gave us a lot of vegetables,” Liu Yan smiled as she pulled Mingxuan to the table. “They’re all leftovers from Yufan’s birthday yesterday, and there’s also a plate of cake.”
Ye Mingxuan took the plate. It was more like a few dollops of cream scraped off than a cake, and he guessed the other party must have put a lot of effort into scraping them off.
“Hmm.” Ye Mingxuan put the cake back and helped his mother carry the dishes to the small wooden table. The mother and son sat down side by side.
Liu Yan eagerly picked up a piece of glossy braised pork for him.
Ye Mingxuan obediently took a bite, chewed for a moment, and slowly furrowed his brows: “It tastes a bit sour.”
“Did it go bad?” Liu Yan picked up the plate and sniffed it, feeling sorry:
“Oh, what a pity for such good braised pork. When the lady gave it to me, she said it was made by a chef from a five-star hotel.”
“This plate seems to have gone bad too.” Ye Mingxuan sniffed the other plate of shredded roasted chicken.
Seeing Liu Yan’s heartbroken expression, Ye Mingxuan said, “It’s okay, Mom. The vegetables aren’t spoiled; we can still eat them.”
He picked up the red can at the corner of the table and smiled at Liu Yan: “There’s also the super delicious Lao Ganma chili sauce.”
“Well, we’ll just have to make do. I’ll go fry you two eggs.” Liu Yan said.
“Okay.” Ye Mingxuan picked up the two plates of spoiled meat and walked into the backyard, dumping everything into the trash can.
The melodious sound of a violin drifted down from the second-floor window. Ye Mingxuan looked up and saw the elegant light emanating from Ye Yufan’s bedroom window.
After listening quietly for a moment, Ye Mingxuan withdrew his gaze and turned to go inside.
Hearing movement in the living room, he quickly walked out and respectfully said, “Sir and Madam.”
Ye Xiangkai and Zhao Dongxuan entered silently, each with different concerns on their faces.
Seeing Ye Mingxuan, Ye Xiangkai asked him if Ye Yufan had returned.
Ye Mingxuan replied that she was upstairs, so Ye Xiangkai went upstairs.
This young man had become even more handsome since going to university. Standing beside her son with no makeup on, he completely outshone him, and no matter how she looked at him, he was annoying.
She had originally wanted to cause some trouble, but now she had something important to do.
So Zhao Dongxuan tidied her hair, glared at Ye Mingxuan, and went upstairs.
…
“What?? Marry into the Tan family? You want me to marry Tan Sizhe?!” Ye Yufan threw the cushion on the sofa onto the floor. “How can that be?!”
“Yufan, marrying into the Tan family will be extremely beneficial to our Ye family’s business. You need to understand that.” ” Ye Xiangkai sat in his chair, frowning at his spoiled son.
“I don’t want to! I don’t want to! I don’t want to!” Ye Yufan ran to her mother’s side. “Mom! You have to stand up for me! I don’t want to marry Tan Sizhe!”
Zhao Dongxuan looked at her husband anxiously. ” “Think of a way! If our Yufan marries Tan Sizhe, will she have a good life?”
“Marrying into the Tan family is a great honor for our Ye family. President Tan chose our family among so many wealthy and noble families. How can I refuse?”
Ye Yufan covered her face and cried out, “I don’t want to! I just don’t want to! If you want someone to marry, let someone else do it!”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Ye Xiangkai slammed his hand on the table, “If you won’t marry, who will?”
“Let whoever wants to marry do it! I’m not marrying!”
“Yufan! Don’t act like a child!”
Ye Xiangkai glared at her angrily: “What are you saying?! Do you know how important this matter is?”
“Is there any other way at this point?” Zhao Dongxuan said, “Can you bear to see Yufan suffer?”
Ye Xiangkai: “But, but if we’re discovered, our family will be ruined!”
“Then we’ll just have to make sure they don’t find out,” Ye Yufan said, crossing her arms.
Ye Xiangkai: “You make it sound so easy. How can we make sure they don’t find out?”
“Our son is right. We have to make sure the Tan family doesn’t find out,” Zhao Dongxuan said, her eyes darting around.
“We need to find someone trustworthy who can keep our secret and will willingly marry Tan Sizhe!”
Just as they were at a loss, there were two knocks on the door.
Ye Xiangkai signaled with his eyes for them not to speak out of turn and raised his voice: “Come in!”
The door opened, and Ye Mingxuan walked in with his head down, placing the fruits on the table without looking up:
“Sir and Madam, I’ll go out to mop the floor first.”
He turned toward the door, but Zhao Dongxuan suddenly realized something. She exchanged a knowing glance with Ye Yufan and immediately called out to him, “Wait a moment!”
…
Half an hour later, Ye Mingxuan and his mother, Ye Yufan and Ye’s parents gathered in the living room on the first floor.
Ye Mingxuan and Liu Yan sat opposite them, clueless from start to finish, not knowing what Ye Xiangkai and the others were up to.
Liu Yan fidgeted, “We’d better not sit down, standing is fine…”
“No, no, no, sit down, sit down.” Zhao Dongxuan waved her hand.
Liu Yan and Ye Mingxuan exchanged glances. Ye Mingxuan gripped his mother’s arm, feeling uneasy.
Zhao Dongxuan had never allowed them to sit here before. Why was she acting so unusually today?
Liu Yan patted her son’s hand reassuringly and looked at Ye Xiangkai and Zhao Dongxuan: “Sir and Madam, is there some good news you want to tell us?”
“Well…” Under his wife’s hint, Ye Xiangkai hesitated for a moment before smiling, “Aunt Liu, you’ve been working for our family for over a decade, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” Liu Yan said.
“I remember Mingxuan moved into our home in seventh grade.” Ye Xiangkai raised his hand and gestured in the air, “Back then he was so small, I never thought he’d grow up so much.”
Liu Yan nodded: “Mingxuan’s father passed away early. If it weren’t for Mr. Ye allowing Mingxuan to move in, the two of us really wouldn’t know how to make ends meet.”
Ye Mingxuan listened, his eyes welling up with tears.
“What’s there to think about? Yufan is your own son. If you don’t consider his feelings, I’m still his mother!” Zhao Dongxuan glared at her husband.
“Exactly!” Ye Yufan exclaimed, “Dad, you have to think about me!”
Zhao Dongxuan ruffled her son’s hair and looked at Liu Yan: Aunt Liu, I’ll be straightforward. You know how much our family has done for you, right?”
Liu Yan’s forehead broke out in a sweat: “Yes, madam.”
“So, if our family asks you to do something, shouldn’t you do everything in your power to repay us?”
“That’s right, we will definitely repay Mr. and Mrs. Ye.”
“Good,” Zhao Dongxuan nodded in satisfaction. “Now, I need to arrange a marriage for Mingxuan.”
“What?” Liu Yan jumped to her feet. “This, this won’t do!”
“Mingxuan is still young. It’s too soon for him to marry…”
“He’s already eighteen. What’s so young about that?” Zhao Dongxuan shot her a sideways glance. “Do you think your son could ever match the Tan family? Ye Mingxuan is marrying for my son!”
Liu Yan looked at Ye Yufan: “Then why…”
“It’s because Yufan has a bad temper, and I’m afraid the Tan family can’t handle him,” Zhao Dongxuan softened her tone, walked over, and helped Liu Yan sit down. “But Mingxuan is different. He’s a well-behaved and sensible child. The Tan family will definitely like him.”
“And if Mingxuan marries into the Tan family, he’ll definitely live a life of luxury. Don’t you want Mingxuan to have a good life?” Zhao Dongxuan asked.
Liu Yan began to waver: “I…”
“Uncle and Auntie,” Ye Mingxuan suddenly stood up, looking at them, trembling nervously, “I… I want to spend more time with my mother, so can I not get married…”
Everyone turned to look at him. Ye Yufan spoke first in displeasure: “You just said you wanted to repay our family, so what’s this now?”
Ye Mingxuan flinched and lowered his head: “I… I can stay at the villa and work. I can do anything…”
“We don’t need you to work,” Zhao Dongxuan walked up to him, “We just need you to marry Tan Sizhe.”
Ye Mingxuan looked up at her in surprise.
“But if you refuse…” Zhao Dongxuan sat back down slowly, “then all of you can leave.”
She smiled slightly: “You don’t want your mother to end up on the streets, do you?”
Ye Mingxuan panicked: “No, don’t!”
Zhao Dongxuan: “I’ll count to ten. If you still don’t agree, pack your things and leave.”
“Ten.”
“No…”
“Nine, eight, seven,”
“Six, five…”
“I’ll marry him!”
Liu Dongxuan looked at Ye Mingxuan with determination. “Alright, alright, this is a happy ending for everyone!”
Ye Xiangkai: “Youngest son?”
“Yes, just say he’s the long-lost youngest son who was recently found in the countryside,” Liu Dongxuan said. “Anyway, as long as we have a fake identity to let him marry into the family, that’s all that matters.”
Ye Xiangkai hesitated: “Is that okay?”
“Why not? This way, we can arrange the marriage without sacrificing our son.“ Liu Dongxuan smiled, ”It’s settled then.”
Ye Xiangkai pondered. Although he felt sorry for Ye Mingxuan, Ye Mingxuan was still no match for Ye Yufan, after all, Ye Yufan was his biological son.
So Ye Xiangkai nodded in agreement.
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