Chapter 004: The Ye Family Really Spoils You!
Ye Fuli's home was located in the city's notorious slum district.
Here, you could see rats nearly as big as cats, flying cockroaches, and all manner of vagrants, drunks, and junkies.
Having grown up here, Ye Fuli would have been bullied long ago if she hadn't learned some self-defense skills.
"Miss Ye Zhen, what do you think of this place?"
Under the dim, yellow light, Ye Fuli turned her head and glanced at Ye Zhen, who was following behind her.
The little girl-like Ye Zhen seemed utterly stunned by the appalling surroundings, remaining silent the entire way.
"For you upper-class types, this place must be worse than the garbage pits behind your mansions."
Yet this wretched place was where Ye Fuli had grown up.
As the legitimate heiress, she had endured such misery for over a decade before reaching adulthood. How could her psyche not become twisted?
In that instant, Ye Zhen seemed to truly grasp the meaning behind Ye Fuli's hate-filled glare.
Ye Zhen sighed. "I don't know what my family's garbage pit looks like."
Ye Fuli twisted her lips. "Is that the point?"
"I know that's not the point! What I mean is, all these years, you were forced to bear all this for me. You've been through so much. I'm sorry."
This unexpectedly sincere statement caught Ye Fuli off guard.
Reborn, her heart was filled with nothing but hatred!
The first person she wanted to take revenge on was this little runt who had stolen her position.
In her mind, Ye Zhen should have yelled at her, even sneered and mocked her, then turned and run away… That way, she could have seized the opportunity to grab Ye Zhen by the hair and teach her a harsh lesson.
But why wasn't Ye Zhen playing along with her script?
"Do you truly feel sorry?" Ye Fuli clenched her fists. "If you truly feel sorry, shouldn't you immediately leave the Ye family and return everything that belongs to me?"
Ye Zhen gave a bitter laugh, thinking: Even if you hadn't said it, all this would belong to you sooner or later.
I'm just a useless supporting character—how could I possibly compete with your Feng Aotian protagonist aura?
All I want is to scrape together some cash before I leave, just enough to stay alive.
But no one would believe that if I said it out loud.
Meeting Ye Fuli's icy stare, Ye Zhen raised her hand in a solemn oath:
"I'll pay you back. Just give me a little more time."
…
Stepping into Ye Fuli's sixty-square-meter apartment, Ye Zhen was immediately choked by the overwhelming stench of alcohol, coughing violently.
The table was littered with beer bottles toppled in every direction, along with messy takeout boxes, cigarette butts, and more.
Despite being only sixty square meters, the place felt eerily empty, lacking even a single decent appliance.
Ye Fuli walked over expressionlessly, swiftly tidying everything up and bundling it outside to be thrown away.
"You're lucky those two jerks aren't home today."
As she spoke, Ye Fuli had already pulled out two stools, handing one to Ye Zhen.
"Take a good look at this place. You might be living here before long."
Live here?
She'd rather die!
Ye Zhen remembered the comic's storyline about these two scumbags.
One was surnamed Chu, the other surnamed Ye.
The one with the surname Ye was the mother. After bringing the child home, the father ran off upon discovering it was a girl. He vanished for seven whole years before returning.
That's why Ye Fuli took her mother's surname.
If Ye Zhen returned to this family, she would undoubtedly be forced to take her father's surname—Chu!
Both were addicted to drinking, gambling, and womanizing. They routinely stayed out for weeks at a time. Ye Fuli survived only through the kindness of neighbors and her own resourcefulness.
Could Ye Zhen manage what Ye Fuli had endured? She doubted it deeply.
"Enough daydreaming. Go cook."
Ye Fuli's voice snapped Ye Zhen back to reality.
"There's some meat I bought over there, plus vegetables. Just whip up something simple."
"Oh, okay."
At that moment, Ye Zhen no longer felt resentful about being ordered around.
A strange pang of sadness welled up inside her.
She resolved that tonight's meal, she would cook it well, so Ye Fuli could feel some warmth of humanity!
……
……
Half an hour later.
Ye Zhen and Ye Fuli stood together, staring blankly at the charred iron pot in the kitchen.
The fish in the pan lay dead, eyes wide open.
Its body was charred to a crisp, yet its tail remained raw.
This cooking skill was truly something else.
Ye Fuli gasped in disbelief. "Are you serious? Didn't you say you knew how to cook?"
Ye Zhen gave an awkward laugh. "I watch those cooking shows all the time. I've memorized tons of recipes. I don't know why it turned out like this when I actually tried it."
She'd been bedridden for ten years!
Who knew stir-frying would be this hard?
"Move aside."
Ye Fuli rolled up her sleeves and grabbed the wok.
Dump the fish, wash the pan!
If she wanted to eat her fill tonight, she'd have to do it herself—this little runt was useless.
Her ponytail felt loose, so she ordered Ye Zhen, "Help me tie my hair back—tightly."
"Ah, okay!"
However, Ye Zhen's height was limited. She grasped the other's ponytail but couldn't apply much force.
Ye Fuli sighed inwardly at the sight of her tiptoeing in earnest.
She bent down slightly to let Ye Zhen reach.
One minute later.
"Are you done yet?"
"Ah, almost, almost."
Ye Zhen said it was almost done, but in reality, she just couldn't get the hair tie to stay in place.
Oh no!
Was tying hair really that difficult?
This was nothing like what they showed on TV!
"You can't even tie your own hair? Huh, looks like the Ye family really spoiled you rotten." Ye Fuli shoved her away, her face brimming with irritation.
She scrubbed her hands thoroughly with dish soap, then swiftly tied up her hair in no time.
"Move aside."
Ye Zhen, pushed aside, felt utterly ashamed. "I'm sorry. I really don't have much common sense when it comes to daily life."
Ye Fuli silently scrubbed the pot, unwilling to speak.
She remembered learning to tie her own hair back in kindergarten—otherwise, her impatient mother would simply cut it off herself.
But Ye Zhen was already an adult and still couldn't tie her own hair.
They were both girls—what kind of life was this?
Ye Fuli sighed inwardly.
She turned her head absentmindedly and saw a small, thin figure crouched in the corner peeling garlic.
In that instant, much of the resentment in her heart inexplicably melted away.
"You don't need to peel garlic cloves like that."
Ye Fuli took the garlic clove from her hand, placed it on the cutting board, and gave it a sharp smack.
"This is how it's done. Want to try?"
Watching Ye Fuli hand her the kitchen knife, Ye Zhen took a deep breath and accepted it.
Thud—
She slammed it down on the cutting board.
The knife snapped clean in two, while the garlic clove flew off somewhere, leaving only a few pieces of skin behind.
Ye Fuli: "…"
Ye Zhen: "I'm truly sorry…"
She felt so guilty she could die.
Ye Fuli quickly pushed her away, afraid she'd break something else.
"Sit still and don't touch a thing!"