He Yu asked, "Big Bro, are you alright?"
"I’m fine, just furious," Ye Fan replied.
They chatted for a long ti before standing up and going their separate ways. However, He Yu now had Ye Fan’s contact information and planned to visit him often. After all, Ye Fan was not just his big brother; he was his benefactor.
***
BANG!
"AH!"
Inside a high-end club in Shangjing, a group of n were ruthlessly beating one person. It was none other than Young Master Guo and his gang assaulting Ye Langfeng.
Ye Langfeng was in a miserable state, beaten so badly he was spitting up blood, but the young masters did not stop their brutal assault. After about three minutes, perhaps tired, they finally stopped. They all stood there, watching Ye Langfeng with cold eyes. He struggled to his feet, only for Young Master Guo to imdiately smash a liquor bottle over his head, sending him crashing to the ground again.
At that mont, Ye Langfeng asked, "Why are you beating ?"
"Why? You have the nerve to ask? You made us lose face in public. Beating you is letting you off easy," Young Master Guo rebuked.
"Tell him what happened!"
After one of the young masters explained the day’s humiliation, Ye Langfeng was stunned. Seeing the slap marks on Young Master Guo’s face, he instantly understood everything. He never imagined the other party’s backer was He Yu. He was terrified; he hadn’t expected Ye Fan to have such a powerful background. His main concern now was how to escape Young Master Guo’s clutches. After all, Young Master Guo was ruthless—a beating from him could cost a man half his life.
"I honestly didn’t know he had such powerful connections! I really didn’t an to deceive you!" Ye Langfeng said innocently.
"You still dare to talk!" Young Master Guo said coldly. As the Shangjing Young Commander, he had been utterly humiliated when He Yu slapped him in public. He couldn’t retaliate, however, because He Yu was too powerful.
Then, Young Master Guo said, "What about our compensation? You figure it out!"
"I’ve already given you all the businesses I control! I have nothing left!" Ye Langfeng pleaded in terror.
"Nothing left? So you think this is over?"
Just as Young Master Guo’s anger flared and his n moved to beat Ye Langfeng again, a voice called out as a woman entered from outside. It was Ah Zhen.
She stepped forward to diate. "Young masters, please don’t be angry. It’s true he doesn’t have any businesses left. However, I still have a small asset—twenty percent of the shares in this club! Tonight is for having fun. Don’t let him spoil everyone’s mood!" The price for her intervention was her twenty-percent stake.
Young Master Guo, who had been about to explode in anger, suddenly smirked. "Fine. It’s not much, but it’ll have to do. Ye Langfeng, you’re quite sothing, aren’t you? Even a woman from a pleasure house is willing to help you out like this!"
With that, Young Master Guo led his group of rich heirs away.
"AH!"
As Ye Langfeng watched them leave arrogantly, he was overco with desolate despair. He slamd his fist into a pillar, drawing blood.
"Ah Zhen, I’m so sorry!" he wailed, collapsing to the ground, overwheld by his own powerlessness.
Ah Zhen knelt and held the despairing Ye Langfeng in her arms. "I like you," she said softly. "I’d do anything for you!"
Ye Langfeng said despairingly, "I dream day and night of crushing them under my heel, making them kneel one by one to apologize to you, letting you humiliate them however you please! But I can’t do it!" At this mont, Ye Langfeng’s rawest emotions poured out.
Ah Zhen, however, said with a piercing sadness, "Perhaps we should just look past all of this."
"I’m carrying your child! I know that with your family’s status, you could never accept a woman like ! But I’ll raise our child myself. It’s enough for if you just rember . I gave away that twenty percent stake because I don’t want to be tainted by this world anymore. I want to open a small shop and live a quiet life!"
There was a tragic beauty about Ah Zhen as she spoke.
"Okay," Ye Langfeng said. "Once I’ve handled my affairs, I won’t associate with them anymore either."
"Mm!" Ah Zhen nodded in relief.
***
Ye Fan and Su Qingxue returned to the hotel, but as they reached the entrance, Ye Fan froze. Soone was waiting for them: Mrs. Jiang.
Facing Mrs. Jiang, Ye Fan refused to acknowledge his identity. He would rather be an orphan than claim his status as a mber of a wealthy family. He deliberately slowed his pace, falling in behind Su Qingxue.
Mrs. Jiang was waiting there anxiously. Su Qingxue had told her about Ye Fan’s birthmark, and now Mrs. Jiang firmly believed that he was her son.
"Hello, Mrs. Jiang," Su Qingxue said.
"Hello, Miss Su," Mrs. Jiang replied with a smile.
They exchanged a look. It seed they had already planned this.
Mrs. Jiang turned to Ye Fan. "Mr. Ye... no, my son!"
In that instant, Ye Fan felt so suffocated he could hardly breathe.
"You have the wrong person," he said. "I’m not your son."
"No, you are! I know you resent us, but we never stopped looking for you all these years! I held on because I truly believed you were still alive!" Mrs. Jiang said frantically.
Ye Fan replied coldly, "Perhaps he died long ago. His heart is dead, which is more terrifying than physical death."
"You can’t speak to her like that!" Su Qingxue interjected, thinking Ye Fan had gone too far.
But Mrs. Jiang said, "No, this is our debt to him, so it’s perfectly understandable for him to say such things. I have no complaints or regrets. I only beg you to forgive my mistake!"
"I will never forgive you," Ye Fan stated.
"My son, I know there are things you may not understand, and I know you’ve suffered so much alone. It’s a miracle that you even survived.
"At this point, any reasons we as parents might have are just excuses. It is entirely our fault that you grew up not knowing where your ho was.
"All I ask is that you accept and the Ye Family. That is enough. Even if you don’t think of us as your parents, just knowing you are alive and being able to watch you be happy—that is my greatest wish!" Mrs. Jiang sobbed.
Just then, she started to kneel, but Ye Fan quickly caught and held her up.
"Why must you do this?" he asked. "My re-ergence will shatter your family and my life. Wouldn’t it be better to leave things unsaid? Why did you have to bring this out into the open?"
Ye Fan’s heart ached. He was right. This should never have been brought to light. Even knowing the truth, wouldn’t it have been better to just let it lie?
Mrs. Jiang said, "No, that wouldn’t be fair to you. You are the eldest son of the Ye Family. Everything the family has should be yours to inherit."
User Comments
0 comments from readers