That day, Ye Li was in a good mood. At the end of the workday, she and her colleague Cheng An’an chatted and laughed as they walked out of the textile factory gates. Looking up, she saw Shi Yalan standing impatiently in the distance, watching. Ye Li raised an eyebrow—so the young one couldn’t do it, and now the elder was taking action?
Cheng An’an gave her a playful nudge and teased, “Ye Li, your future mother-in-law has come to see you. The Jiang family really values you. Once you marry in, you definitely won’t suffer.”
A trace of sarcasm curled on Ye Li’s lips, but she didn’t reply. If Cheng An’an knew why Shi Yalan had actually come, she’d probably curse her out. Seeing Shi Yalan smiling and waving at her, Cheng An’an wisely said goodbye and left.
Ye Li walked up to Shi Yalan and stood beside her, smiling faintly as she asked, “Aunt Shi, did you come to see me, or… is there something you need?”
Shi Yalan took her hand warmly, smiling broadly: “Look at you, child, speaking like that. Is it so wrong for me to come and see you?” Her face was affectionate, but her heart was indifferent. Now that Old Jiang was the director of the steel factory, this girl was no longer in their league.
Ye Li furrowed her brow, casually brushing her bangs aside to avoid Shi Yalan’s touch: “Aunt Shi, I don’t think you came just to see me so simply, right?”
Ever since her mother passed away and Jiang Weiguo was promoted to factory director, Shi Yalan’s attitude toward her had dropped sharply. Ye Li could tell that the Jiang family now had a high threshold, and naturally looked down on her, a motherless orphan.
Seeing her perceptive, Shi Yalan no longer hid it and said directly, “Li Li, Aunt Shi really has something difficult to say… it’s that your Bowen isn’t behaving properly.”
“This morning, your Aunt Liu came to our home and said her daughter Zhizhi and your Bowen were seeing each other.”
“If your Bowen doesn’t marry Zhizhi, she’ll report him to the police for misconduct.”
Ye Li was not surprised by this and remained silent, standing upright.
Shi Yalan had originally thought that by mentioning Liu Hongmei’s threat to go to the police, Ye Li would panic. Then she could smoothly suggest a few soft words to get her to agree to break off the engagement. But Ye Li didn’t respond, making it hard for Shi Yalan to continue. She was puzzled—wasn’t this Ye Li the girl who used to fawn over Bowen? Whenever she heard anything bad about him, she would panic even more than Shi Yalan herself.
“Li Li, Aunt Shi knows we haven’t handled this properly, but I really have no choice,” Shi Yalan said. “You’re pretty and have a decent job—you won’t have trouble finding a good family in the future.”
“We truly have no choice; your Bowen isn’t fortunate. Why not just break the engagement with him?”
That damned girl Ye Zhizhi was also looked down on by Shi Yalan—her son’s misbehavior had caused her to be angry, and Liu Hongmei’s manipulation made it worse. But if Shi Yalan didn’t compromise, her son would end up in trouble with the law.
Finally, Ye Li raised her eyes and looked steadily at Shi Yalan, her gaze so sharp it made Shi Yalan uneasy, her smile nearly fading. Her heart thumped nervously. This girl used to be like a block of wood, yet now her gaze was so chilling. Even as an elder, Shi Yalan felt intimidated.
“Aunt Shi, do you think I would easily break off the engagement?” Ye Li asked suddenly, her voice cold.
Shi Yalan forced a smile: “Li Li, don’t make things hard for Aunt Shi. Let’s part on good terms—you’ll always be family.”
Ye Li scoffed coldly. “Family? Aunt Shi, I know exactly how your Jiang family has treated me since my mother passed away. Now you want to kick me aside—it won’t be that easy.”
Shi Yalan’s face changed. “Child, how ungrateful! If you don’t break the engagement, do you want to see Bowen get arrested?”
Ye Li sneered. “Aunt Shi, I think you didn’t make yourself clear. Jiang Bowen is my fiancé, yet he’s entangled with his own niece.”
“This argument doesn’t make sense for you anyway. Besides, neither of them said anything.”
“Who can prove they’re seeing each other? Maybe you two are conspiring to force me to break the engagement.”
Shi Yalan was stumped, unable to reply, inwardly hating that Ye Li wasn’t so easily fooled. She awkwardly forced a smile: “Li Li, Aunt Shi really isn’t coaxing you. If it weren’t for Liu Hongmei threatening, I wouldn’t have lowered myself to ask you.”
“Aunt Shi, I could break off the engagement,” Ye Li said, pretending to think it over, then shifted her tone: “But your Jiang family has to provide my family with compensation, or this matter won’t end.”
Shi Yalan hesitated, weighing the pros and cons, then gritted her teeth and said, “Fine, our Jiang family owes you. We can provide a dowry for you.”
At this point, anything that could be resolved with money wasn’t an issue. If her Bowen were reported by Liu Hongmei to the police and became a rape suspect, everything would be over.
Ye Li crossed her arms, leisurely looking at Shi Yalan: “Aunt Shi, skip the dowry! We’ve been engaged to Bowen for three years; in this day and age, it’s already hard on a girl.”
“If we break off the engagement in the future, outsiders won’t speak badly of Bowen, but they’ll definitely gossip about me.”
“I don’t want much—just your Jiang family to give me a thousand yuan as compensation for the loss of my youth and my reputation, and I’ll immediately break off the engagement.”
Shi Yalan’s eyes widened, her whole body trembling with anger. “What? A thousand? That’s outrageous! Why don’t you just go rob someone?” Since her husband became the factory director, no one had ever dared to extort her family like this.
“The other day, Jiang Bowen personally came to me to break off the engagement, and even threatened me, saying I wouldn’t be able to stay in Yun City.”
“Last night, three thugs came to humiliate me. But at that time, a soldier passed by and saved me.”
“Those three thugs even said in front of that soldier that Jiang Bowen paid them to ruin my reputation.”
Ye Li shrugged nonchalantly. “Aunt Shi, you can try and see if I go to the police to report it. Then, let’s see whether Jiang Bowen ends up in custody, and whether the Jiang family’s reputation…”
Shi Yalan ground her teeth and cut her off angrily. “Fine, I’ll go back and discuss it with your Uncle Jiang.” Saying that, she stormed off.
Watching her retreating figure, Ye Li’s lips curved into a triumphant smile. She even raised her voice: “Aunt Shi, the sooner this is handled, the better—otherwise, Ye Zhizhi’s pregnancy won’t stay hidden for long.”
Shi Yalan stumbled slightly as she walked, her teeth gnawing in frustration. In her heart, she cursed Liu Hongmei and Ye Zhizhi soundly. At this point, she had no choice but to comply. Others were holding her son’s leverage—what else could she do? She certainly couldn’t just watch her Bowen get taken to the police.
Thinking of this, Shi Yalan scolded her son mercilessly in her mind. Had all the young girls in the world died? Why did someone have to provoke the Ye family’s “jinx”?
Ye Li stood in place, watching Shi Yalan walk away, her heart swelling with joy. She had never wanted to marry that useless Jiang Bowen anyway—apart from having a father who was a factory director, he was good-for-nothing. In another ten years, the Jiang family wouldn’t be so desirable anymore.