Xie Rui, still not satisfied after cursing, gave Tong Yue a vicious shove, and Tong Yue staggered, nearly losing her balance.
She flung her arms out wide, blocking her at the doorway.
Want to come in? No way!
Xie Rui was seething, glaring at her. “Tong Yue, you ate and lived off our family for all those years for free? And this is how you treat me? You won’t even let me through the door?”
If she hadn’t brought it up, it would have been fine—but the moment the past was mentioned, Tong Yue broke down.
She screamed at the top of her lungs, “How dare you bring up the past! I cut ties with all of you long ago. Legally speaking, we have no relationship whatsoever. If you dare take one more step inside, I’ll call the police and report you for breaking and entering!”
Xie Rui trembled with rage, pointing a finger at Tong Yue, sneering with mock sweetness, “You ungrateful little wretch. If it weren’t for us, you’d have died in that orphanage long ago!”
“Get out!” Tong Yue shoved her out the door.
“Let me tell you, when I first came from the orphanage to your family, I thought I finally had a family, that I’d get to feel the warmth of a home. But your family was worse than the orphanage!”
“At least in the orphanage, I had enough to eat, warm clothes to wear, and no one giving me dirty looks! How was any of that not better than living with you!”
The thing she regretted most in this life was going to her adoptive parents’ home—those six years were like hell!
When she first arrived, their family was fairly well off.
But later, Xie Rui became obsessed with mahjong and lost a lot of money, and the family’s circumstances went downhill.
She suffered for it too!
Xie Rui called her a Jinx, blaming her arrival for the family’s downfall.
From then on, she—barely fourteen years old—became the family’s servant and maid. She cooked every meal, washed every piece of laundry.
She even had to wash Luo Fanglin’s underwear stained with menstrual blood! If she didn’t, she was beaten!
During summer breaks, she was sent to work at a restaurant to earn money.
Even so, Xie Rui remained extremely harsh toward her. In winter, she wasn’t allowed to use the household’s hot water for bathing and was forced to use cold water.
It gave her pneumonia, and she nearly died. It was only when Grandmother came over and took her to the hospital that she recovered after half a month of hospitalization.
Tong Yue buried all this pain deep in her heart.
Whenever the night grew quiet and she looked back on it, she would still weep.
She would never forgive her adoptive parents, never forgive her younger sister’s family—never!
Tong Yue closed the door and locked it tight.
Panting, she leaned against the back of the door, unable to collect herself for a long while.
Xie Rui stood at the door with her hands on her hips and kicked it hard twice.
“Tong Yue!” she shouted. “The day after tomorrow, come back home for a visit. Your Grandmother misses you. She talks about you every single day. Don’t you love your Grandmother? Then why haven’t you gone to see her in so long?”
Tong Yue froze slightly. Grandmother.
Lately, she’d been so busy with the arrangements for her father’s death that she’d completely forgotten about Grandmother.
Grandmother was her adoptive father’s mother.
She had always lived alone in the old house, but two years ago, when her legs grew weak, she moved in with her adoptive parents.
Grandmother was very good to Tong Yue. Though they shared no blood relation, Grandmother doted on her.
Once, when Xie Rui’s beatings became unbearable, Tong Yue ran to Grandmother’s place and hid there for a month.
That month was the happiest time of all those years.
Outside the door, the corners of Xie Rui’s mouth curled up, a flash of malice in her eyes. “Tong Yue, I know how much you love your Grandmother. The evening after tomorrow, remember to come over for dinner.”
With that, the sound of footsteps gradually faded away.
Tong Yue rubbed her face.
Thinking it over, she really had to go see Grandmother.
Who knew if Xie Rui had been mistreating her.
Grandmother had trouble getting around, so she should buy some medicine and nutritional supplements to help her recover.
She hoped Grandmother would live to a hundred. She wanted more time to spend with her.
……
At 8 a.m. the next day, Tong Yue was woken from her sleep by a call from He Jingchen.
She’d been exhausted yesterday and still hadn’t gotten out of bed.
Hearing that he was already downstairs, she hurried out of bed, washed up quickly, got dressed, opened the door, and sat in the living room waiting.
A few minutes later, a set of steady footsteps gradually approached and stopped at the doorway.
Tong Yue’s heart pounded wildly.
She walked to the door, and the moment she looked up, she found herself staring straight into He Jingchen’s deep, dark eyes.
He had come.
Today he wasn’t wearing a suit. He had on a gray athletic outfit and a pair of spotless white sneakers, giving off a youthful air.
Like a high schooler.
Tong Yue blushed for no reason.
“You’re here.”
With that, she opened the door fully.
He Jingchen gave her a brief once-over. Tong Yue had deliberately worn a new dress today—a pale yellow sundress that showed off her graceful figure.
His gaze lingered on her waist for a few seconds.
Then, carrying his suitcase, he swept in like a gust of wind.
Tong Yue hurriedly handed him a pair of newly bought cotton slippers.
He Jingchen changed into the slippers and came in with his suitcase.
The moment he stepped inside, he froze.
The apartment could be seen at a glance: one living room, two bedrooms, plus a kitchen and bathroom—less than sixty square meters.
It was so small. It felt even smaller than his family’s storage room.
Tong Yue looked at his paused silhouette and quickly came over: “The place is a bit small, but it’s enough for two people.”
He Jingchen scanned the apartment and asked, “Which room is mine? I’ll put my luggage down first.”
“Over there.” Tong Yue pointed to the room next to the bathroom.
He Jingchen dragged his suitcase inside. The bedroom wasn’t big.
About ten square meters, with a 1.5-meter bed covered in gray sheets. He touched them with his hand—they were new.
Tong Yue stood at the doorway, not coming in. “I bought new sheets specially. I don’t know if you’ll sleep comfortably on them.”
She carefully watched his every move, looking very nervous.
He Jingchen sat down on the bed to test it—it was quite soft.
He lifted the sheets. So this woman had put padding underneath.
Pretty thoughtful of her.
He Jingchen stood up and opened the wardrobe.
There were quite a few hangers inside. He immediately opened his suitcase and hung up his clothes one by one.
There were two small drawers in the wardrobe. He took out his socks and underwear from the suitcase, preparing to put them in.
At that moment, he suddenly noticed something colorful in the corner of the drawer.
Curious, he picked it up to look.
It was a condom!
He Jingchen had excellent eyesight.
Looking closely, he discovered there were actually two pinholes in the packaging!
He clenched the condom tightly in his palm and glanced at Tong Yue at the doorway.
His expression was puzzled.
What was she doing?
Was she hinting at something?
Hmph, trying to seduce him on the very first day!
Sure, Tong Yue had a great figure and was beautiful.
But he wasn’t going to fall for it that easily!
Tong Yue, thinking he was embarrassed, quickly turned her face away.
“Take your time unpacking. Just call me if you need anything. I bought some groceries, so we’ll have lunch at home.”
Soon, the sounds of chopping came clattering from the kitchen.
He Jingchen put the condoms back and placed the socks in the top drawer.
After hanging up his clothes, he took out towels and other daily necessities.
All of these had been prepared by his assistant, and most of them were budget items.
Just then, his grandfather called.
He Jingchen: “Grandpa, are you spying on me again?”
He Zhiguo: “How does it feel? Are you excited?”
He Jingchen raised an eyebrow: “I don’t feel excited, just thrilled. Marrying a woman I’ve known for less than a day—really thrilling.”
He Zhiguo detected his dissatisfaction.
He snorted coldly: “Just wait until you eat your words. Before long, you’ll fall in love with her, head over heels.”
He Jingchen was unconvinced—his grandfather just loved to exaggerate.
He Zhiguo: “Alright, hand the phone to Yueyue. I want to say a few words to her.”
He Jingchen carried the phone to the kitchen.
Tong Yue was wearing a beige apron with her hair tied back, focused on chopping vegetables, her movements looking quite skilled.
She showed no trace of being a pampered rich girl at all.
“Yue…” He Jingchen felt that calling her by her pet name was too intimate, so he used her full name.
“Tong Yue, it’s my grandfather.”
“You brat, who calls his wife like that?”
Tong Yue turned around. She had also heard the grandfather’s scolding from the other end of the phone, and her face flushed red.