“How can it not matter?” Murong Ya snorted coldly. “Back then, if our mom hadn’t been our grandfather’s only daughter, would our dad have even set his sights on her?”
Murong Ya and Murong Yuchen called Old Master Murong “grandfather” rather than “maternal grandfather.”
After Murong Yuchen and her brother’s parents got married, they moved into the Murong family home. At first, their father seemed like a decent man, but later it was discovered that he had illegitimate children and was secretly keeping in touch with his first love.
How utterly ridiculous!
He had the woman he loved, yet he still chose to marry into the family.
If Grandpa Murong and his wife hadn’t caught him in the act, he probably would have kept up the charade.
Even in a situation like that, Madam Murong still loved her husband—all she wanted was for him to break up with that woman. But her husband refused; he even feared that the Murong family would harm his lover, so the two of them decided to elope.
“Money and love have never been unrelated.” ” Murong Ya scoffed. “Take Father’s beloved, for instance—if Father hadn’t had money, would she have been willing to be his mistress for all those years?”
Murong Ya didn’t have a split personality, but she was somewhat obsessive by nature; she was rational, yet also cold and ruthless. It wasn’t that no one pursued Murong Ya; she simply didn’t want to repeat her mother’s mistakes.
Their mother was in poor mental health; she was still recuperating abroad.
Murong Ya found it nothing but ironic. What was there to miss about a man like their father? Their mother should have forgotten him and found another man to live a carefree, happy life with.
“So many people care only about money and power; there are very few genuine people in this world,” Murong Ya said. “Qiao Yitong is no exception. The Qiao family is wealthy, but that money isn’t Qiao Yitong’s. Qiao Yitong does have one good quality, though: her whole family knows how to read the room and climb the social ladder—and they’ve chosen the right one to latch onto.”
Indeed, Murong Ya not only didn’t despise the actions of Qiao’s father and his kind—she actually thought they were quite clever. If you’re going to climb the social ladder, you have to look the part; you can’t bite the hand that feeds you. You still have to do a good job where it counts.
But Murong Ya and her siblings’ biological father hadn’t done that. That man had taken advantage of the Murong family, yet still had the nerve to keep a mistress on the side.
“If you truly love Qiao Yitong, we’ll go to her family to ask for her hand,” Murong Ya said. “As long as she hasn’t wronged you, she can have money if she wants it, or jewelry—whatever she wants. If she’s got any sense and is smart, she’ll know what to do.”
“I don’t need her to fawn over me,” Murong Yuchen said. What he wanted was a real, living person. “I don’t need a nanny, and I don’t need a servant.”
Murong Yuchen was feeling a bit irritable. At times like this, he wished his other personality would emerge, but that personality wasn’t always willing to come out.
As far as Murong Yuchen was concerned, his feelings for Qiao Yitong weren’t for a rag doll or a puppet.
“You…” Murong Ya was a little angry, but she didn’t know what to say.
In Murong Yuchen, Murong Ya saw a reflection of their own mother. Did these people really have to place such importance on love? Was love really that wonderful?
Love—it’s all just a scam for fools.
“Sis, don’t go looking for her,” Murong Yuchen said. “This is between her and me.”
“Idiot!” Murong Ya muttered through gritted teeth.
Murong Yuchen wasn’t afraid of his sister calling him an idiot; he wasn’t that stupid. He knew exactly what he wanted.
That evening, Murong Yuchen stared at his phone. He wanted to call Qiao Yitong, but after picking it up, he put it down again. Better not to call after all.
Second Personality: Call her! Why not?
Primary Personality: We just saw each other today.
Secondary Personality: So what? You can still call her. Don’t you want to hear her voice?
Primary Personality: …
Secondary Personality, coaxing: Go ahead, call her. She has her own phone—just call her directly.
Primary Personality: Maybe her battery’s dead.
Second Personality: I think you just want to get zapped.
Then, Murong Yuchen felt as though he couldn’t control his own hand—he dialed the number.
But the moment the call connected and he heard Qiao Yitong’s voice, he hung up again.
“Hello? Hello?” Qiao Yitong was completely confused. Who had called her?
Qiao Yitong hung up the phone. Tilting her head, she couldn’t help but wonder: Could it have been Murong Yuchen who called her?
Never mind. No matter who called, if it were something really important, that person would definitely call back.
Qiao Yitong had no intention of calling Murong Yuchen back. Come on—she was a woman; she couldn’t let herself seem so desperate. If Murong Yuchen really liked her, he’d have to make more of an effort instead of waiting for Qiao Yitong to make the first move.
The one who falls in love first loses. Qiao Yitong didn’t love Murong Yuchen that much yet. Just because she didn’t mind spending time with him didn’t mean she’d go out of her way to pursue him.
Qiao Yitong didn’t dwell on the phone call. She had to get up early tomorrow to accompany her older sister-in-law to the temple to draw fortune slips and get amulets.
On this new day, Zhu Shanshan woke up early. She went to tell Qiao Xudong, who was still lying in bed, that she was going to the temple to get a protective amulet for him.
The Qiao family had bought Zhu Shanshan so many new clothes and a new handbag, along with some spending money. The matriarch of the Qiao family simply asked Zhu Shanshan to have a chat with Qiao Xudong, so naturally, Zhu Shanshan had to comply.
After breakfast, Zhu Shanshan went to the temple with Qiao Yitong.
The two took a car to the foot of the mountain, then climbed the steps from there to the temple.
“Sister-in-law, since you’ve already asked for an amulet for Big Brother, I won’t ask for one. He’s all alone—he doesn’t need to wear so many amulets,” Qiao Yitong said.
“Okay,” Zhu Shanshan agreed without objection.
Qiao Yitong walked to the entrance of the main hall first and spotted Murong Yuchen not far away. She gently rubbed her eyes and then lightly patted her cheeks—she didn’t dare press too hard, as that would hurt.
“What are you doing here? Did you come to draw a fortune slip too?” Qiao Yitong took a few steps toward him.
“Have you drawn a fortune slip yet?” Murong Yuchen asked. He didn’t know how he’d ended up here either. By the time he came to his senses, he was already there. Murong Yuchen figured it must have been his secondary personality acting up—he certainly hadn’t intended to corner Qiao Yitong like this.
“I’m here with my sister-in-law; I’m not drawing one myself,” Qiao Yitong said.
The reason Qiao Yitong wasn’t drawing a protective charm was that she figured if both she and Zhu Shanshan went home with one, which one would Lady Qiao place next to Qiao Xudong?
Grandfather Qiao would surely want the amulet that Zhu Shanshan had asked for, so Qiao Yitong didn’t want to make a fuss—she had to know her place.
“When are you two heading back?” Murong Yuchen asked.
“We’ll be heading back in a little while,” Qiao Yitong replied.
“So soon…” Murong Yuchen said.
“Of course—I came here on a mission,” Qiao Yitong said. “I have to go back with my eldest sister-in-law; I can’t let her go back alone. If my grandfather finds out, he’ll be upset.”
“Are you really that afraid of your grandfather?” Murong Yuchen asked.
“You might not be afraid of your grandfather, but I am!” Qiao Yitong rolled her eyes. “My grandfather controls my finances.”
“Don’t your parents give you an allowance?” Murong Yuchen asked again.
“They do. What they give is what they give, and what Grandpa gives is what Grandpa gives,” Qiao Yitong said.
“Want some extra spending money?” Murong Yuchen had an idea.
“Where would that extra spending money come from? Are you going to give it to me?” Qiao Yitong asked.
“Sure!” Murong Yuchen nodded; he could definitely give it to her.
“Do you think I’m some mistress you’re keeping on the side?” Qiao Yitong said.
“No, I don’t have a mistress,” Murong Yuchen said.
Qiao Yitong knew full well that Murong Yuchen wasn’t keeping one; she just didn’t know if the world derived from the novel would change. Many people said that after the novel’s ending, everything became unpredictable—maybe the male lead would change his heart.
Qiao Yitong thought that the male lead she’d created wouldn’t change his heart so easily—if he did, he wouldn’t be the male lead anymore. No matter what, in women’s fiction, the man chosen by the female lead is the male lead; a man abandoned by the female lead is not the male lead.
“If you’re with me, you can have anything you want—except keeping a lover, ” said Murong Yuchen. He wouldn’t keep one, and neither could Qiao Yitong.
“I’m not going to keep a lover,” Qiao Yitong said. “What’s the point of that? I’ll just set my sights on other people’s money myself—why would I let others set their sights on mine?”
Qiao Yitong made it clear she wasn’t about to waste her money. Even if her partner treated her badly, she could still enjoy life on her own—why did she need a man at all?
“You still haven’t told me how you ended up here,” Qiao Yitong asked.
“I just dropped by,” Murong Yuchen said.
“Oh?” Qiao Yitong raised an eyebrow.
“I figured you’d come,” Murong Yuchen replied honestly.
“You really are a master of foresight,” Qiao Yitong said.
“I heard what your grandfather told you yesterday as I was leaving,” Murong Yuchen said.
At that time, Murong Yuchen had already started to walk out, but Old Master Qiao had specifically mentioned to Qiao Yitong about going to the temple to draw a fortune slip. Murong Yuchen suspected that Old Master Qiao had likely said this with him in mind. Although Old Master Qiao hadn’t directly told Murong Yuchen to be with Qiao Yitong, Murong Yuchen understood his intentions.
Over the past few years, Murong Yuchen had befriended Qiao Xudong and had conducted himself so well—naturally, this was meant to be seen by the Qiao family, so that they would all come to regard him as a truly fine person.
Outsiders were unaware of Murong Yuchen’s split personality; Old Master Murong and his associates kept it hidden from the public. Matters like this were generally kept under wraps. This wasn’t Murong Yuchen’s fault; it was simply that if others found out, they wouldn’t treat him as a normal person, and Old Master Murong and the others feared his condition might worsen.
Fortunately, Murong Yuchen was capable of working and handling matters well, so Old Master Murong and the others felt slightly more at ease.
“You have such sharp ears,” Qiao Yitong said.
“Old Master Qiao’s voice wasn’t exactly quiet,” Murong Yuchen replied. “He wants us to be together.”
“……” Qiao Yitong looked at Murong Yuchen. See, that was just like him—even though he was telling the truth, it always felt like he was arguing with her. She’d had good reasons to dislike Murong Yuchen before. “Maybe Grandpa was just reminding me not to forget? Don’t take credit for something you didn’t do!”
Murong Yuchen watched Qiao Yitong’s playfully fierce expression and chuckled softly; to him, she just looked sweet and charming.
“What are you laughing at?” Qiao Yitong asked. “Are you laughing at my incompetence, or do you think I’m ridiculous?”
“No,” Murong Yuchen said. “You’re sweet.”
“……” Qiao Yitong looked at Murong Yuchen. Wasn’t he supposed to say she was feisty? Why was he calling her sweet?
“Little sis.” Just then, Zhu Shanshan—who had just drawn a fortune slip and obtained an amulet—spotted Qiao Yitong and called out, “Shouldn’t we… head back now?”
Zhu Shanshan spotted Murong Yuchen and Qiao Yitong again. Even though Qiao Yitong had her back to Zhu Shanshan, Zhu Shanshan could still tell it was her. Why did she have to run into them again? What exactly was the relationship between these two? Were they a couple?