Chapter 050: You Still Don't Understand What I Want!
"This is a villa I bought last year. It's smaller than our current home, but it's perfectly adequate."
Ye Dad drove into a riverside villa complex.
After parking steadily, he retrieved the access card and the front door key.
"Here. Get out."
Ye Zhen stepped out first, then reached for her backpack and clothes.
Just as she gathered them into her arms, Ye Dad took them from her and casually remarked, "Don't let these things spoil your mood. You'll be heading to the exam hall in a few days, right?"
"Yeah, just over a week left."
Ye Zhen walked beside her father with her head bowed, clearly in low spirits.
No matter how beautiful the new house was, to her, it was just something she would soon lose—nothing worth lingering over.
Even though the system was trying hard to cheer her up, she genuinely couldn't muster any joy.
Noticing her gloom, Ye Dad sighed softly. "Don't blame your mother. She did go a bit mad, but that was after she gave birth to you—she suffered some trauma…"
"Is that so?"
Ye Dad nodded.
He began recounting something Ye Zhen had never known:
I should have taken her to the best hospital, where she could have prepared for childbirth in the finest surroundings. But at that time, we were busy handling a tricky business deal. Even she had to attend meetings frequently, dealing with those difficult shareholders.
"Finally, when things were settled, we hit a landslide on the way back. The road was washed out. Your mom was terrified and had to deliver at a small hospital. Then the power went out, and the delivery room descended into chaos."
"That day, your mother thought she was going to die in that poor, remote place. She cried and screamed, begging them to save the baby and not worry about her life—her cries echoed throughout the entire floor. Of course, in the end, both mother and child were safe and sound, and everyone was overjoyed."
Ye Dad said this, looking at Ye Zhen.
Through the young woman before him, he seemed to see that fragile, crying infant once more.
Ye Zhen lowered her head and murmured softly, "Dad, that doesn't justify her treating her daughter like personal property…"
Ye Dad nodded. "True."
"Then… will she change in the future?"
Ye Dad paused, falling silent.
Change?
He felt it would be difficult.
His wife had once cherished this daughter above all else, but people change. Over the years, as they built their vast business empire together, her love for their daughter had been gradually overshadowed by wealth and power.
Now, her deepest devotion lay with the Ye family empire.
To solidify her position, she would sacrifice everything—her own rest, her health, even the daughter she once cherished most and the husband she once loved most.
Who knows if she'll ever see the light.
Ye Dad reached out and ruffled his daughter's hair. "I won't ask you to stop resenting your mother, but I hope you try your best not to become someone like her."
"Mm."
Truthfully, when she posed that question, Ye Zhen wasn't thinking of herself, but of Ye Fuli.
After she left, Ye Fuli would take her place.
Facing such a mother and such a family, could Ye Fuli—an independent and self-reliant person—adapt?
If she couldn't adapt, given her extreme ways of dealing with things…
Would she do something irreversible?
Like harming her family, or harming herself?
The mere thought of these possibilities made Ye Zhen's heart sink.
But then she reminded herself: Ye Fuli was far smarter than she was, and as the universally adored Feng Aotian, she should be perfectly capable of navigating these relationships…
Ah, perhaps she shouldn't worry needlessly.
…
Late at night.
Ye Zhen sat alone on the empty living room sofa, hugging her knees as she stared blankly at the Sailor Moon episode playing on the TV.
Her father was extremely busy. After dropping her off, he left a copy of his credit card and hurried away.
"You'll have to fend for yourself these next few days, Zhenzhen." Even as he left, Ye Dad's face was full of apology. "Daddy's really swamped these days! Once you finish your exams, Daddy will take you on a trip abroad, traveling around the world. It's a promise, okay?"
Ye Zhen sighed.
She glanced at the supplementary card and reached out to pick it up. "If I max it out right now, would that make Dad so mad he'd rush home immediately?" This text was compiled by the Fei/Niao sk Camp public account.
[Host, this little one thinks if you do that, he might start doubting whether you're his biological daughter.]
Ye Zhen tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Ah ha, yeah."
She was only thinking about it—never actually planning to do it.
Beep beep beep—
The messaging app persisted in its relentless beeping.
Ye Zhen picked up her phone and glanced at it.
It was another message from Ye Fuli.
Ye Fuli: First, I want you to acknowledge one thing: you have no right to decide your own fate in my presence!
Ye Fuli: If you run away without permission, you'd better pray I never find you. Otherwise, the harshest punishment awaits you.
Ye Fuli: Second, stay put and wait for me. Open the door for me in half an hour.
Ye Fuli: Finally, remember this one thing…
"Hm?"
What phrase?
The message paused for a long while before Ye Zhen saw the words she'd sent.
And it was a voice message.
Curious, she tapped on Ye Fuli's voice message. She heard the whoosh of wind and her slightly muffled voice.
Ye Fuli: "The only one who can bully you is me. If anyone else dares to mess with you, I'll take them all down!"
…
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Ye Zhen focused on one thing: trying desperately to keep her expression calm.
Unfortunately, no matter how she controlled her expression, it was hard to hide the redness around her eyes from recent tears, and equally difficult to keep a smile fixed on her lips.
What a sorrowful, fragile little girl's face.
Like an abandoned puppy, waiting for its owner to turn back and glance its way!
"Aaargh! If Ye Fuli saw me looking like this, she'd probably scornfully say I look like a dog, right?"
"Damn it, why won't cold compresses or hot compresses reduce the puffiness around my eyes!"
"Wait—chili peppers! I could pretend I'm eating spicy food. I'll dash to the kitchen…"
Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang.
Ye Zhen scrambled to grab two bell peppers, slipped on mismatched slippers, and rushed to answer the door.
Ye Fuli's hair was tousled by the wind.
Beneath her plain sweatshirt, bandages and Band-Aids were faintly visible.
A strong medicinal scent clung to her body.
Ye Fuli lowered her head slightly, first studying her face, then glancing at the bell peppers, and finally at the mismatched slippers.
"Um, Ye Fuli, good evening—no, good morning… no, good dawn."
Ye Zhen took a bite of the bell pepper, flashing a deliberately silly grin.
"The wind tonight is quite noisy, isn't it?"
Ye Fuli took the bell pepper, took a bite expressionlessly, then spat it out into the flowerbed by the door with a "Pfft!"
Ye Zhen: "…"
Ye Fuli entered the house and casually closed the door behind her.
This was the house she had lived in for a time in her previous life; she knew it well.
She walked over to the sofa and sat down on the spot Ye Zhen had just warmed up. "Stop wandering off," she said casually. "You're so clumsy. If you get lost, I'll have to go looking for you."
Ye Zhen scratched her hair. "Huh? Am I running? I'm not running…"
This clumsy cover earned a dismissive snort from Ye Fuli.
"Aren't you just scared I'll come back any minute and kick you out? Well, let me tell you this: as long as you stay this obedient and sensible forever, this spot is yours. I can even cover for you during the paternity test. Surprised?"
Ye Zhen was dumbfounded.
What?!
The real heiress was giving up this staggering fortune?
No, she intends to enjoy both this staggering fortune and the lifelong pleasure of manipulating her!
Damn Feng Aotian…
Ye Fuli interpreted her brief daze as overwhelming joy causing her brain to freeze.
Heh, she really had her wrapped around her finger after all.
Confidently, Ye Fuli patted her thigh and beckoned Ye Zhen over with a finger.
"Looks like you really are surprised—speechless, even. Well then, let's see how you plan to please me."
But what awaited her wasn't Ye Zhen's compliance. Instead, Ye Zhen shook her head and delivered a firm refusal:
"Sorry, I don't want to."