I couldn’t eat anymore after Chapter 11.
Ye Jianguo still wanted to argue, but Liu Hongmei hurried after him, tugged at the corner of his clothes, and whispered, “Alright, stop talking. If this keeps going, it’ll only look worse.” By then, the neighbors would all say they were scheming over Lin Zhiyue’s dowry and forcing her own biological daughter. Ye Jianguo snorted coldly, shot Ye Li a fierce glare, then turned and went back inside. Ye Li watched his retreating back, her eyes full of disdain. After making a scene twice, everyone around already knew what kind of trash father she had. From now on, no matter what she did, no one would say anything anymore. Li Chunyan comforted Ye Li a few times and told her to go back inside to rest. Only then did she shake her head and head home.
Ye Li didn’t want to go back and face Ye Jianguo and Liu Hongmei’s sour expressions. Seeing that it was still bright outside, she decided to go out for a stroll. Just as she stepped out of the alley, she saw Ye Zhirou approaching, her face glowing like peach blossoms. Ye Li sneered inwardly—one look and it was obvious she’d been fooling around with Jiang Bowen again. When Ye Zhirou looked up and saw Ye Li, a smug smile appeared on her face. She quickly walked over and showed off, “Sister, where are you going? Just now Brother Jiang took me to eat at the state‑owned restaurant. The head chef there is his cousin, and he specially saved us some braised pork. It was so delicious.”
Since Ye Li stubbornly refused to break off her engagement with Brother Jiang, she just had to say this to disgust her.
Ye Li glanced at her indifferently and nodded casually. “Mm. Then you should eat more. In a while, you probably won’t be able to eat it anymore.”
A flash of guilt passed through Ye Zhirou’s eyes, her heart pounding. What did this bitch mean? Impossible— even her own mother didn’t know she was pregnant. How could this blockhead Ye Li know? “You… what nonsense are you talking about? Braised pork is so tasty—why wouldn’t I be able to eat it?” She threw out that line with a shifty gaze, then ran off in a panic.
Anyway, Brother Jiang had already said he’d found people to keep an eye on Ye Li these next couple of days. As long as she was alone, they’d ruin her reputation and see how she could still cling shamelessly to Brother Jiang.
Ye Zhirou hurried home. When Liu Hongmei saw it was her, she forced a smile onto her face. She stood up, brought out a small bowl of braised pork from the kitchen, and handed it to Ye Zhirou. “Zhizhi, this is braised pork Mom specially saved for you. Hurry and eat it.”
It had to be said—Liu Hongmei truly doted on the son and daughter she’d given birth to, right down to the bone.
“Mom, Brother Jiang and I already ate outside,” Ye Zhirou said. As soon as she smelled the aroma of the braised pork, a sudden wave of nausea surged up. Her face instantly turned pale. She quickly stepped back a few steps, covered her mouth, and dry‑heaved twice.
“Zhizhi, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?” Seeing this, Liu Hongmei hurriedly set the bowl on the table and anxiously patted her back.
After a moment, Ye Zhirou recovered, her complexion much improved. She shook her head. “Mom, I’m fine. I just felt a bit nauseous. Maybe I caught a chill.”
How could she not have caught a chill? In August, the weather might not be cold, but it was still a bit cool. She and Jiang Bowen had been fooling around in the small grove for quite a while.
A strange look flashed through Liu Hongmei’s eyes as a thought suddenly crossed her mind. She secretly glanced at Ye Jianguo. Seeing that he wasn’t paying attention to the two of them and was staring fixedly outside the door, she let out a sigh of relief.
“Come back to the room with me.” She pulled a stern face, shot Ye Zhirou a glare, and quickly led her into the bedroom.
The room Ye Zhirou was living in now used to be Ye Li’s. It was spacious and tidy, with all the furniture complete. It was obvious that Lin Zhiyue had quite a bit of money back then—these days, whose daughter had such a nice room? After she came, she’d subtly stirred things up in front of Ye Jianguo, and only then was Ye Li driven out.
Liu Hongmei closed the door, plopped down on the edge of the bed, and stared straight at Ye Zhirou until her scalp started to tingle. “Mom, why are you looking at me like that? It’s kind of creepy,” Ye Zhirou said, flustered, standing in front of her, not knowing why her mother had suddenly changed.
Liu Hongmei sighed and pulled her to sit down. After all, she was her own biological child. Even if she’d done something wrong, she couldn’t bear to be too harsh. Holding Ye Zhirou’s hand, she lowered her voice and asked, “Zhizhi, tell Mom the truth. Are you pregnant?”
Ye Zhirou froze. She didn’t speak, lowered her head, her face flushed red, and slowly nodded.
Liu Hongmei sucked in a sharp breath, reproaching her softly in frustration. “You child, how could you be so foolish? A young lady must keep herself chaste so others will respect her, don’t you know?”
Ye Zhirou flung off her hand and jumped up angrily. “Mom, from when I was little, it was you who taught me that if I wanted a good life, I had to find my own way to fight for it, and that if I wanted something, I had to get it by any means necessary.”
Liu Hongmei was left speechless for a moment. She hadn’t expected her daughter to throw those words back at her. After a long pause, she finally came back to her senses and said anxiously, “But you can’t gamble your reputation away like this. You’re pregnant now—what are you going to do? If word gets out, how are you supposed to live? You little devil, you even hid something this big from your own mother.”
Ye Zhirou bit her lip, panic creeping into her eyes. “Mom, I didn’t know what to do either. Brother Jiang said he’d take responsibility.”
Liu Hongmei snorted and poked her forehead with a finger. “Can you trust a man’s words? We need to think of a way quickly so this doesn’t get discovered. And we have to get the Jiang family to marry you in as soon as possible. That way, maybe this can still be covered up. Your belly won’t wait.”
Ye Zhirou frowned, asking uneasily, “Mom, then what should we do? Ye Li won’t agree to break off her engagement with Brother Jiang, so I can’t marry over there.”
Liu Hongmei thought for a moment, a ruthless glint flashing in her eyes. “Tomorrow, I’ll go find that bitch Shi Yalan and make things clear. We’ll force the Jiang family to hurry up and marry you in. If she doesn’t agree, we’ll accuse her son of rape.”
At the mention of reporting Jiang Bowen, Ye Zhirou felt reluctant. “Mom, we can’t accuse Brother Jiang. He treats me pretty well. I still want to marry into his family and be the factory director’s daughter‑in‑law.”
Liu Hongmei rolled her eyes and poked her forehead again. “My silly girl, all you know is to protect him. If he really treated you well, he wouldn’t have gotten you pregnant like this. If we don’t pressure the Jiang family now, what will happen to you and the child later?”
Ye Zhirou bit her lip and hesitated before saying, “How about we wait a little longer? Brother Jiang said he’d find people to ruin Ye Li’s reputation so she’d be forced to break off the engagement. Then I can marry him, and outsiders won’t say we did anything wrong.”
Liu Hongmei was so angry she nearly jumped up. “Wait? By the time your belly gets big, it’ll be too late! If the Jiang family refuses to acknowledge this, what can we do? That Ye Li girl looks like she’s possessed now—she’s not easy to deal with. Whether Jiang Bowen can even ruin her reputation is still up in the air.”
“No. Tomorrow I’m going to the Jiang family to lay everything out. Zhizhi, you’re pregnant now—you can’t afford to wait. We need to prepare two plans so nothing can go wrong.”