352: Chapter 350: The Poor Must Have Self-Awareness!
352: Chapter 350: The Poor Must Have Self-Awareness!
October 31st, Ye Chuxue turned eighteen.
Early this morning, Ye Yuancheng drove Tang Lan, Chuxue, and Li Chen to the Tang Family in Hang City.
Usually, he is the general manager of a listed company, a commanding presence.
But now, he is just as nervous and uneasy as he was twenty years ago.
Twenty years ago, he had been here before.
That ti, it was to ask for a hand in marriage!
Back then, he was just a poor boy from a destitute family, with nothing to his na.
One could only imagine his anxiousness at the ti.
Before entering, he asked Tang Lan what she would choose if her parents disagreed.
Tang Lan told him decisively that if her family refused, he need not say anything pleading; just turn around and leave without looking back, and she would follow him.
Ye Yuancheng still rembers the first ti he saw the high walls and red gates of the Tang Family, and their luxurious estate spanning hundreds of acres.
He felt an imnse shock and an overwhelming sense of inferiority.
It was then that he realized the true magnificence and nobility of the family from which his girlfriend, who had studied, eaten, and shopped with him, had co.
He had anticipated that the quest would not go smoothly.
And just as he had expected, he faced rejection; he didn’t even get to see Tang Lan’s parents before being unceremoniously driven out.
Tang Lan offered him no consolation, just said “Wait for here,” and stepped through that seemingly insurmountable threshold.
He waited at the door, for three days and three nights.
In that mont, he felt the deepest despair in the world.
Just when he was about to give up, Tang Lan ca out.
Her eyes were red, her face pale, and she had grown visibly thinner.
Whatever happened during those three days and nights, Tang Lan has never told him.
She only said upon erging: “From now on, I am no longer the Miss of the Tang Family.
Let’s go ho!”
After twenty years of hard work, the impoverished boy turned into the head of a listed company, with a net worth close to a billion.
But Ye Yuancheng knew all too well that while his achievents might seem impressive and admirable to others, in the eyes of a colossal entity like the Tang Family, they were rely modest; not worth ntioning.
He, a son-in-law from a poor family, could never et his mother-in-law’s standards.
Tang Lan seed to see through Ye Yuancheng’s thoughts and gave him a comforting smile.
After twenty years of supporting each other, the couple understood each other perfectly.
Seeing his wife’s encouraging smile, Ye Yuancheng’s nervous heart gradually cald.
Tang Lan also felt a complex mix of emotions upon seeing her childhood ho again.
At tis, she had asked herself if she regretted her decision back then.
But when she looked at her loving husband and sensible daughter, a knowing smile would always appear on her face.
Life after leaving the Tang Family may have been a bit harder, but it was free, and she could control her own destiny.
A sparrow may not be as beautiful as a canary, but its world is the vast earth and sky.
The canary in a cage can only see a limited splendor of three feet around it.
“Chuxue, we’ve arrived!” Ye Yuancheng stopped the car and shouted to Li Chen and Ye Chuxue.
Chuxue “Oh”ed in response and hopped out of the car.
Tang Lan gave her daughter a look and scolded in a low voice.
“Chuxue, be more ladylike, don’t be so impetuous!”
Chuxue gave Tang Lan a ladylike smile then, when she wasn’t looking, turned to Li Chen and made a face at him.
Li Chen also smiled at Chuxue.
He then looked around; luxury cars were everywhere, and guests of high standing had gathered.
The entrance was carpeted with the sa red carpet used at the Cannes Film Festival; on each side, six young won dressed in distinctive cheongsams acted as welco hostesses.
When Tang Wan’er saw Tang Lan and Chuxue arriving, she hurried over to greet them.
“Aunt, Chuxue, you’re here!”
After saying that, she looked at Ye Yuancheng and smilingly asked: “Are you my aunt’s husband?”
Ye Yuancheng responded with an awkward smile, clearly embarrassed.
“Just now I wondered who had arrived, turns out it’s my little sister!” At that mont, a sowhat sharp female voice ca over.
Seeing the newcor, Tang Lan’s brows furrowed slightly.
“Fourth sister!”
Tang Lan’s fourth sister, nad Tang Yufeng.
Last year, when her son turned eighteen, the old lady simply sent a gift without any ceremony, saying that married daughters are just like water splashed out and that a son is family to outsiders, so there was no need to be extravagant.
Yet now, she didn’t hold a grand ceremony for her grandson, but did so for her granddaughter.
Moreover, she has always looked down on her sister for her actions back then.
She believed that Tang Lan had shad the family and besmirched her, the elder sister’s, reputation by insisting on marrying a poor boy against the family’s wishes.
Therefore, how could the naturally jealous fourth sister feel at peace?
“Don’t call Fourth Sister; I can’t bear such a title.
In the eyes of the Old Lady, you are her real daughter, and I’m but an outsider!”
When Tang Yufeng spoke, she emphasized the word “outsider” heavily, and her sidelong glances repeatedly darted towards Ye Yuancheng and Li Chen.
The underlying ssage was clear without being spoken.
Tang Yufeng’s daughter, Zhou Lian, pointed at Li Chen and began to mock: “Auntie, who is this?
Our Tang Family doesn’t have such poor relatives, do we?”
Ye Chuxue glared at her furiously and snapped, “Zhou Lian, you’ve gone too far!”
Zhou Lian snickered, “Hehe, Chuxue, why are you so riled up?
He couldn’t possibly be your little lover, could he?”
Ye Chuxue retorted indignantly: “Hmph, that’s my business, and I don’t have to tell you!”
“Like mother, like daughter, little sister, I truly feel sorrowful for you!” Tang Yufeng feigned a gesture of wringing her hands in distress, sarcastically taunting with cold words.
“You better start feeling sorry for yourself first!” Li Chen, who had been silent all along, refused to show weakness and responded.
“You’re just a yokel living off others; what do you have to be proud of?
It’s not terrible to be poor, but what’s terrible is a lack of self-awareness.
Clearly a toad, yet you always aspire to dine on swan at.
I’m embarrassed for you if you’re not embarrassed yourself!”
As Zhou Lian spoke, her face full of superiority, her gaze towards Li Chen was like that of a haughty swan looking down on a wretched toad in the dirt.
“Fifth Sister, Chuxue, you’re here!” Just then, Tang Lianhe arrived.
Seeing Tang Lianhe, Tang Yufeng and her daughter imdiately halted their aggressive behavior and greeted him enthusiastically.
“Third Brother!”
“Third Uncle!”
Tang Lianhe, who wasn’t originally valued much in the family, had unexpectedly run into an incredible stroke of good fortune during a major reshuffle of power in Jiangnan not so long ago.
He caught the eye of Immortal Master Li, took over the Long Family’s pharmaceutical company, and beca a powerful figure in the Jiangnan business world.
Hence, the attitude of Tang Yufeng and her daughter towards him made a complete 180-degree turn.
Unfortunately, Tang Lianhe was not at all fond of their attentiveness.
He just nodded slightly, as a form of greeting.
Then, he warmly welcod the others, “Fifth Sister, Chuxue, you’ve arrived!
Why didn’t you let know!”
“This must be my brother-in-law, right?
I’m Tang Lianhe, Tang Lan’s third brother!”
While saying this, Tang Lianhe enthusiastically reached out his hand to Ye Yuancheng.
Tang Lianhe’s warmth was sowhat surprising to Ye Yuancheng.
Now that Immortal Master Li had taken a liking to him, he was currently seen as the most prominent figure amongst the second generation of the Tang Family.
After exchanging pleasantries, Tang Lianhe’s eyes shifted to Li Chen.
In the mont their gazes t, Tang Lianhe’s eyes involuntarily revealed a hint of respect.
Li Chen nodded slightly: “Third Uncle!”
“Third Uncle?
Is that what you, an outsider, dare to call him?”
Zhou Lian, seeing Tang Lianhe deliberately ignoring their mother-daughter duo yet being so warmly hospitable to Tang Lan’s family, felt her rage bubbling up.
She didn’t dare to be presumptuous with her high-ranking third uncle, so she turned her hostility towards Li Chen, a man who depended on others.
“Zhou Lian, keep your mouth shut.
Is it your place to speak here?”
Before she could finish, Tang Lianhe glared at her in anger.
After scolding Zhou Lian, he turned his sharp gaze towards Tang Yufeng.
“Fourth Sister, control your daughter.
She’s rude and impertinent.
If she offends soone she shouldn’t, no one will be able to protect her!”
Hearing Tang Lianhe’s unwarranted reprimand, Tang Yufeng and her daughter were sowhat dumbfounded.
Feeling humiliated, they sulkily walked away.
After taking five or six steps, Tang Yufeng turned back and glared fiercely at Li Chen and the others.
“So what if Immortal Master Li has taken notice of you?
What’s there to be proud of?”
Zhou Lian’s eyes glimred at the ntion of “Immortal Master Li.” That day, when Immortal Master Li slew the Dragon Family Ancestor over West Lake, ascended to the heavens with each step blossoming with lotuses, and captivated West Lake with his peerless deanor, it left her yearning endlessly.
Now, her third uncle Tang Lianhe had simply caught the eye of Immortal Master Li and beca the leading voice of the Tang Family.
If she could beco his woman, wouldn’t that an she could command the winds and summon the rain?
Thinking of these possibilities, Zhou Lian’s heart raced with wild desires, and she didn’t forget to turn back and glare furiously at Ye Chuxue and Li Chen.
Hmph, if one day I beco Immortal Master Li’s woman, let’s see if you still dare to be so arrogant in front of ?
…
Here’s a large chapter of 3000 characters for you.
The editor just reached out to for the third ti, talking about putting the book on the shelves.
I’m seeking your opinions, dear readers, on whether to put the book on the shelves for a fee?
If we put it on the shelves for a fee, I, as the author, will have an inco, which will give more motivation to write, and there will be more updates, approximately an additional 1-2 chapters per day.
Everything is written and published on the spot with no pre-written drafts.
I suffer from a disability, and since I’ve just had surgery recently, my body is still quite weak, but I’ll try to write as much as possible.
If we don’t put it on the shelves for a fee, I will have a stable inco of zero every month (not exactly zero, as I can get two to three hundred yuan a month from rewards), so there’s much less motivation and pressure to write, and the updates will be a bit rough, about the sa rate as the current update speed, averaging about 2-3 chapters.
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