Chapter 91
“Yep.”
Ye Zhi’s mood became cheerful. “Then I’ll steam some more rice.” He turned and walked inside, with Huo Youqiao following behind. “Do you need any help?”
“No need, it’s all very simple, you don’t have to help. And you’ve been tired for many days, you should rest more.” Ye Zhi did feel sorry for him. As the mayor, he had countless matters to deal with every day, meetings that could last from morning till night, and occasional on-site inspections.
Every decision he made affected the livelihoods of the people.
However, Huo Youqiao didn’t leave but instead stood beside him, pondered for a while, then asked, “Are you okay?”
His movements paused for a moment, and Ye Zhi quickly replied, “I’m fine.” There was nothing wrong with him. He had forgotten all the words his mother scolded him with, and the only reason he would react unnaturally was because Huo Youqiao was standing too close.
But Huo Youqiao thought he was hiding something again, frowned, and his tone became somewhat serious. “I’ve already reprimanded A Cheng, and Father will also discipline him severely. He shouldn’t make such mistakes again in the future.”
Ye Zhi was taken aback and took a while to react. He whispered, “You… You think I would be upset, so you came back early?”
Huo Youqiao said, “It’s our fault for not educating A Cheng well, letting him develop such a debauched personality.”
His attitude made Ye Zhi’s feelings complicated, but he couldn’t confess his true feelings because he had lied last time about loving his husband. And if he revealed his true feelings now, Huo Youqiao would probably avoid him completely, right?
In that case, even the tiny wish of staying by his side couldn’t be fulfilled.
Huo Youqiao was a very responsible older brother. He even wanted to call Huo Youcheng back to apologize to Ye Zhi. He spoke harshly, “Since you’re married, you should take responsibility. Can you justify your carousing?”
Huo Youcheng was still angry and rarely argued with his older brother. “I want to take responsibility now, but he doesn’t want it.”
He was indeed angry. He had deliberately caused such a big scandal, hoping to let Ye Zhi know how serious his mistake was, but he didn’t expect that Ye Zhi, as usual, didn’t even ask a single question. He didn’t know whether Ye Zhi didn’t care at all or was too cowardly to ask.
He certainly hoped it was the latter, but he also had some doubts in his heart that it might be the former.
This made him feel frustrated.
So he decided to cold-shoulder Ye Zhi for a while longer.
Ye Zhi felt relieved that his husband didn’t return, and every day was incredibly peaceful. With the internet turned off, news of Huo Youcheng disappeared from his sight. Without working in the company, he didn’t have to listen to discussions about those scandalous news. He was very content.
However, the peaceful life was soon disrupted because he received another call from Zhou Shaohui.
Ye Zhi didn’t have much affection for his father. Just like Ye Wan, who managed everything and had a strong temper, her husband was the opposite extreme—didn’t care about anything except enjoying himself. Except for his good looks, he had no other merits. He had no work ethic, loved indulgence, and even though he wasn’t very rich, he liked to spend money in high-end places. When he couldn’t pay the bill and was afraid of being scolded by his wife, he would ask his eldest son for help.
But this time, it was not about asking Ye Zhi to pay the bill; it was much more serious. He asked for money to cover his gambling debts.
He used to gamble before, but his gambling addiction was not severe. Most of the time, he just played casually. He preferred playing golf and drinking. But this time, for some reason, he was tempted into high-stakes gambling. He won for a while, tasted the sweetness, and then couldn’t stop until he lost all his previous winnings and even owed a substantial high-interest loan.
“Three million.” This was the amount Zhou Shaohui asked Ye Zhi to give him.
This was not a price Ye Zhi could afford.
All the money he had saved from work was spent on his father’s extravagant expenses. Now, there was only the one-year salary compensation from his previous company left in Ye Zhi’s bank account, which was less than a tenth of what Zhou Shaohui wanted. After being stunned for a moment, Ye Zhi immediately said, “I don’t have that much money.”
“Why don’t you have it? Just ask the Huo family. You’ve been serving them as a daughter-in-law for so many years, doing everything for them. It’s not unreasonable to ask them for three million, right?” Zhou Shaohui’s tone was a bit desperate and anxious. “If you don’t give it to me, the interest will increase every day. If I can’t pay it back within a month, they said they would take one of my arms as compensation. Ye Zhi, I raised you for so many years, don’t you know how to repay kindness?”
