Back in her room, Ye Li finally relaxed. She slumped weakly onto the bed, feeling sore and drained all over. After resting for a while, a thought crossed her mind and she entered the space.
She brought in the cup she usually used for tea, filled it with spiritual spring water, and drank it down. In an instant, all her exhaustion vanished, and she felt refreshed and energized. She had a feeling that she was now frighteningly strong—strong enough that she could probably punch a cow to death with one blow. The thought amused her, and she couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.
Glancing around the empty space, Ye Li muttered to herself that she should find a way to bring in some tables and chairs later. Otherwise, there wouldn’t even be anywhere to sit when she came in.
Putting down the cup, she walked over to the large chest. The wooden box was actually made of small-leaf rosewood, its surface coated with preservative oil. The intricate carvings on the box were exquisitely detailed—just the box alone was clearly worth a fortune.
Ye Li took a deep breath and slowly opened the lid.
In an instant, countless gold bars and pieces of jewelry came into view, their brilliance dazzling her eyes. Even though she had been mentally prepared, she was still stunned into silence.
Only now did she truly understand the meaning of the note her mother had hidden behind the photo frame.
Doubt rose in Ye Li’s heart. What kind of background had her mother had, to possess so much gold and jewelry? Unable to figure it out, she decided to set the question aside. One day, the truth would surely come to light. It seemed that in her previous life, there were still many things she had never known.
Thinking of how, in her past life, she had returned after ten years of abuse and hardship in the countryside, only to find Ye Jianguo and Liu Hongmei living like wealthy people, Ye Li suddenly understood. They must have found the treasure her mother had left behind.
This time around, she had gotten to the chest of gold and jewels first. She wanted to see how they would live so comfortably in the future now.
She closed the chest and left the space with a thought.
Outside, the sky had already begun to pale with the first light of dawn. Although she had been busy for half the night without sleeping at all, Ye Li felt no fatigue whatsoever—only boundless energy.
Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she simply got up, went to the storeroom, scooped some flour, and took two eggs, planning to make herself some egg pancakes.
In the past, her meals were always coarse grain rice or cornmeal buns with oil-less salted vegetables. Eggs, meat, and white flour—such precious foods—were reserved for Ye Zhilei. She wasn’t ignorant; she knew that when she wasn’t home, Liu Hongmei would secretly make white-flour dishes and meat for Ye Jianguo and Ye Zhirou as extra meals.
Her monthly salary of thirty-five yuan was handed over in full, yet she never had a decent meal. There were five people in the household, and each month they had three and a half jin of meat coupons, but she hadn’t even seen a speck of minced meat.
In this life, she would live only for herself. No one would enslave her again.
Ye Li sprinkled the flour from the porcelain bowl into warm water, deftly cracked in two eggs with a flick of her wrist, added a handful of chopped scallions, and stirred the mixture with wooden chopsticks until it became a smooth batter. She heated the iron pan, scooped in a ladle of batter, and spread it thin with a wooden spatula.
Golden egg skin spread out, dotted with scallions, the edges turning an enticing golden-brown. The flame licked the bottom of the pan, and the fragrance wafted out through the bamboo curtain.
In the bedroom, Liu Hongmei caught a whiff of the aroma and sprang out of bed, cursing under her breath, “That damn little bitch—she ate egg noodles in the middle of the night, and now that it’s barely dawn she’s making egg pancakes again. Even if the family had mountains of gold and silver, they’d be ruined by her wastefulness!”
She threw on her clothes and stormed angrily toward the kitchen.
When she arrived, she saw Ye Li sitting at the table eating egg pancakes, and her fury flared instantly. “Li Li, you’re not young anymore—you should know better. There’s only a little white flour at home, and that’s reserved for Lei to build up his health. As an older sister, how can you have the nerve to compete with your younger brother for food?”
Unhurried, Ye Li swallowed her bite and looked up at her. “This white flour and these eggs were bought with my hard-earned money. I’ll eat them if I want. It’s not your place to point fingers. My mother had only me as her daughter—don’t try to shove some roadside weed into my household register and call him my bargain brother. If you want to nourish your precious son, pay for it yourself. Stop coveting my things.”
Liu Hongmei choked on her words, flushing with embarrassment and anger. “You turn your salary over to the family, but don’t you eat, wear clothes, and use things? Doesn’t all that cost money? How can you be allowed to waste things like this?”
She didn’t know that Ye Li had long since learned that Ye Zhilei was Ye Jianguo’s biological son. Given the current situation, she didn’t dare admit that Ye Zhilei was Ye Li’s half-brother.
Ye Li let out a cold laugh. “I hand over thirty-five yuan a month to this family. Less than five yuan is spent on me, right? That new coat Ye Zhirou is wearing probably cost my entire month’s salary, didn’t it? Neither you nor she has a job—where did the money come from?”
Liu Hongmei stared at her in disbelief, unable to believe that the once meek and submissive Ye Li could say such things.
Just as she was about to curse again, Ye Li stood up and packed the remaining egg pancakes into a bag. “I’ll save these for lunch. You eat rich food every day anyway, Aunt Liu—you probably wouldn’t care for this, right?”
With that, she walked past Liu Hongmei and left the kitchen.
Liu Hongmei stood frozen in place, trembling with rage. She stormed back into the bedroom, about to explode—then forcibly swallowed her anger.
“Old Ye, Li Li has gone way too far these past couple of days! You’re her real father—if she does something wrong, you can hit her or scold her, and no one would dare say a word.”
Ye Jianguo rolled over in bed and said impatiently, “Did you forget what I told you last night? She gives money to the family every month—let her eat something if she wants.”
Liu Hongmei thought of the white flour that Ye Li had eaten and felt as if her heart were bleeding. In her view, everything in the Ye household belonged to her and her son. She saw Ye Li as a thorn in her side. Letting her have a simple coarse-grain bun was already a great favor.
Seeing Ye Jianguo’s impatience, she dared not say anything more. After all these years of keeping her head down and currying favor with him, she couldn’t let something like this make him turn against her. Once she discovered the location of the treasures, she swore she would send that damned girl off to some remote mountain village.
Ye Li worked in the statistics department at the West City Textile Factory, a fairly easy job. In her previous life, Ye Zhirou had always been coveting her position and had tried multiple times to force her to give it up. After she was secretly sent to the countryside, Ye Zhirou had still managed to take over the job in her absence.
After a day of work at the factory, as Ye Li was leaving, she saw Jiang Bowen lingering at the factory gate.
From a distance, Cheng An’an, who worked in the same office, saw him and teased with a smile: “Ye Li, your fiancé has come to pick you up. I won’t be a third wheel—see you later!”
Ye Li nodded, said goodbye, and walked toward him with an expressionless face.
Seeing her, Jiang Bowen immediately stepped forward, putting on a serious, almost self-important expression, as if someone owed him hundreds of thousands: “Come with me. I have something to tell you!”
He had always looked down on Ye Li, barking orders and treating her poorly. In the past, Ye Li had tolerated his contempt, thinking of him as her fiancé and future lifelong partner.
Ye Li stopped in her tracks, stood in front of him, and cast him a cold glance: “Say what you need to say. I don’t have time to waste chatting with you.”