[Ding! Host has completed the selected option. Xu Qingrou favorability +2. Current total favorability: 71 (Admiration).]
[Ding! Xu Qingrou favorability +2. Current total favorability: 73 (Admiration).]
[Ding! Due to the important female supporting character’s favorability toward the host reaching a new height, it has been detected that the host has influenced the original plotline. Reward: 50 Villain Points. Suppression of protagonist Chu Fan’s Luck Value by 20 points. (Current total suppression: 130 points).]
Three system notifications sounded.
Cao Cheng didn’t bother paying attention to them. After all, he had almost been fooled by that woman just now…
He casually edited another message and sent it to Wang Long.
“Tell them, raise the price!”
Meanwhile…
Today at school, Ye Yao had endured countless cold stares and insults.
She felt lost, but even more than that, she felt wronged.
As for those boys who used to fawn over her, she didn’t care much, since she never liked them anyway. But the more they used to flatter her, the more hostility they now showed toward her.
What she couldn’t understand the most were those girls. She didn’t even know them, yet they were even more excessive than the boys who once pursued her.
Their looks alone were enough, but some even openly discussed her in front of her.
In just one day, Ye Yao had heard and seen far too much.
She could no longer endure those strange gazes directed at her. Those gazes felt like sharp blades, suffocating her.
And the voices, whether whispered behind her back or spoken openly, seemed to echo endlessly in her ears, refusing to fade.
Now, whenever someone looked at her, she felt uncomfortable all over. Whenever she heard people talking behind her, she felt certain they were talking about her.
She tried to argue, to explain herself, but all she got in return were disdainful looks. No one believed her. Instead, they would throw the same question back at her, “Then explain this yourself, what’s with that photo of you at Honglangman?!”
“I was really just working there as a waitress!” Ye Yao would defend herself every time.
But the rebuttal always came immediately, “A waitress at Honglangman? Who are you trying to fool?!”
She was left speechless, forced to endure it in silence.
Because she knew she couldn’t explain it clearly. As they said, the girls working there usually had private dealings with customers.
In truth, it wasn’t entirely her fault. She was simply too beautiful, with a pair of long, eye-catching legs.
The girls envied her, resented her, and hated her. Before, they could only suppress those feelings, but now they had an outlet. Naturally, everyone wanted to step on her.
Even if she quit Honglangman now, it was already too late. Her bad reputation had spread completely.
Of course, quitting might help her recover a little bit of her reputation.
But if she quit, her mother Liu Ruyan would immediately stop receiving treatment due to lack of money, and her younger sister Ye Xin might not even be able to afford her school fees.
Compared to her insignificant reputation, the sensible Ye Yao ultimately chose to continue working there…
Even though she compromised with reality, the grievance in her heart remained. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Why couldn’t she live like everyone else, attending classes peacefully at school?!
As she thought about it, her mind drifted to her father, the mercenary king Ye Tian, who had disappeared for ten years…
Yes!
It was all his fault for abandoning his wife and daughter back then!
If he hadn’t left without a word, how could her mother Liu Ruyan have fallen ill from longing, becoming seriously sick at such a young age?!
Even if he had his own reasons, that couldn’t justify leaving!
At the very least, he should have told them!
Gradually, Ye Yao, who once felt nothing toward Ye Tian, began to develop a deep hatred for him.
But hatred was one thing.
There was nothing she could do about it. After all, there had been no news of her father for over ten years.
Now, she could only face everything on her own. But she truly didn’t know what to do.
So when the bell rang for the last class in the afternoon, Ye Yao fled the school as if escaping.
She left the only place that once gave her a sense of peace.
The moment she stepped out of the school gate, she hurriedly got into a taxi.
Even though it was still early and Honglangman wouldn’t open for some time, she didn’t dare stay.
In the past, after class, she would join her dormmates or classmates in activities to pass the time.
But now she didn’t dare.
She didn’t dare face those people she once spent time with, afraid they would look at her the same way or talk about her.
She didn’t want to go to Honglangman either, because deep down, she now hated that place.
“Where to, miss?” the taxi driver asked.
“Where to…?” Ye Yao murmured. She didn’t even know where she wanted to go. She just wanted to leave the school.
After thinking it over, she decided to go to the hospital to see her mother, Liu Ruyan.
She wanted to ask her, even now, what she truly felt about Ye Tian.
Did she still love him like before, or had it turned into hatred like hers?
But when she arrived at the hospital and saw her mother lying on the bed, she couldn’t bring herself to ask.
She swallowed the questions that had reached her lips. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Because in her memory, Liu Ruyan had always been a radiant beauty.
But now, her face was sallow, her body so thin it was almost just bones.
All the grievances Ye Yao had built up instantly dissipated upon seeing her like this.
The accusations she had prepared for Ye Tian faded into a single word, “Mom…”
“Oh…” Liu Ruyan quickly turned her head upon hearing her voice and saw Ye Yao standing at the door.
At first, she was happy to hear her daughter’s voice.
But when she saw Ye Yao’s exhausted and haggard face, her heart tightened.
“What’s wrong, Yaoyao? Did something happen?”
“Nothing happened. I just came to see you,” Ye Yao said, forcing down the bitterness in her heart and trying her best to act as if everything was fine.
But Liu Ruyan had already noticed something was wrong.
She knew her daughter well. Strong and independent since childhood, she would never show such vulnerability unless something had truly happened.
At that thought, Liu Ruyan was filled with guilt and regret. Tears quickly welled up in her eyes.
If she hadn’t fallen ill and been hospitalized, Ye Yao, who should have been living a carefree college life, wouldn’t have to attend classes during the day and work at night, even spending weekends taking care of her younger sister.
“Maybe… maybe I should just go home. It’s not like it’s anything seri—”
“What are you saying, Mom?!” Ye Yao interrupted her immediately, then hurriedly explained, “I really didn’t run into any trouble. I just came to see you!”
“You just focus on your treatment here. Don’t worry about my sister or the money.”
Liu Ruyan looked at her determined expression, the words on her lips unable to come out.
She knew that Ye Tian’s sudden disappearance had already left a shadow in Ye Yao’s heart. If anything else happened, she feared her daughter wouldn’t be able to bear it.
All she could do now was cooperate with the treatment and try to recover as soon as possible.
But the guilt in her heart couldn’t be suppressed. She hugged Ye Yao and began to cry.
Ye Yao, however, didn’t dare cry.
She was afraid Liu Ruyan would notice something and stop treatment, so she could only pretend to be strong, comforting her mother instead.
And so, the one who had come seeking comfort ended up comforting someone else.
When the time was about right, Ye Yao left the hospital.
For the sake of earning money to treat her mother Liu Ruyan… she had no choice but to take a taxi to the place she hated the most, Honglangman.
At the same time, the hatred in her heart toward the man who abandoned his wife and daughter… her father, Ye Tian… grew even stronger.