Zhao Guodong is just like a child; after a fight, he acts as if nothing happened. Hearing Wu Mengyi’s words, he scratched his head and laughed, and that was the end of it.
Over at the residential building, Bai Xue heard a knock at the door. After pushing it open, she saw it was her eldest daughter and her face showed displeasure. "Where’s your sister? She went to find you, so why did you come back without her?"
"How would I know she went out to find me?" Ye Ling retorted and walked around her mother into the house.
She took off her scarf, changed into slippers, and went straight inside without lingering for a second.
Bai Xue was too angry to argue further. She poked her head out to look; seeing from afar her younger daughter walking towards the house, she quickly left a gap in the door and rushed into the kitchen.
In the East Room, Ye Ling closed the door as soon as she returned. Old Mrs. Ye sat up with a mysterious smile. "Are you upset with your mom? Show me the clothes you bought."
Ye Ling smiled and sat on the bed. "It’s just a gray one, it’s in the living room. I’ll show you after dinner."
The clothes were brought back by her mother, so Ye Ling didn’t intend to go back to the living room.
Old Mrs. Ye was sharp. "Lingzi, are you hiding something from Grandma?"
Her granddaughter looked troubled; it was the first time Old Mrs. Ye had seen her .
"Grandma, Mom says the family can’t afford to support two students. She wants me to stop after junior high and only support my sister." Although she didn’t want to call her ’sister’, Ye Ling didn’t want to appear too cold.
Old Mrs. Ye was instantly furious, and her voice rose involuntarily. "What? They have this idea? Why didn’t they dare tell me? Don’t worry, as long as you want to study, Grandma will support you even if I have to sell everything. Look, your dad can’t come home because of work, but after the New Year, Grandma will talk to him."
There’s no escaping the inevitable. fr\(e)ew(e)b.(n)o (v)(e)l.com
Anger surged within Old Mrs. Ye. No wonder her granddaughter had been depressed; they clearly made plans behind her back and discussed it with the child. Knowing she would object, they kept it from her. Just thinking about her son, whom she singlehandedly raised, plotting with her daughter-in-law, Old Mrs. Ye felt both heartache and sorrow.
Seeing her grandmother sitting there, saddened, Ye Ling hurried to comfort her. "Grandma, don’t be sad. Aren’t I still here? Even if the day comes when I really can’t study, I’ll earn money to take care of you."
"Silly child." Money isn’t so easily made.
Old Mrs. Ye didn’t say more, but she held her anger inside.
In the living room, Bai Xue heard her mother-in-law’s voice suddenly rise and understood that her elder daughter had surely told on her. But this matter couldn’t be kept hidden forever, so she hardened her heart and didn’t care anymore. Her younger daughter came back to help with setting the table, which satisfied Bai Xue’s heart. After all, her younger daughter was considerate, someone she didn’t love in vain.
During dinner, Old Mrs. Ye’s face showed no obvious displeasure, but her demeanor towards her daughter-in-law was cool, completely different from the previous day. Ye Qian didn’t know what was wrong, glanced between the two, and didn’t say much. After the meal, Ye Qian squeezed into the bathroom while Ye Ling was in there.
"Sis, did something happen between Mom and Grandma? They both don’t seem happy," Ye Qian said, closing the door to keep the conversation private.
With her arms crossed and chin held high, Ye Ling chuckled. "You don’t know?"
Ye Qian shook her head.
Seeing her innocent look, Ye Ling laughed. "It’s nothing really, just that Mom said our family can’t afford to support both of us for school and wants me to stop after junior high."
"How can that be?" Ye Qian said, looking shocked.
"Ye Qian, you’ve always been understanding, lovable, and considerate. You’ve been with Mom and Dad since we were young, and now Mom wants me to drop out to support you. See how unlucky I am? Not by Mom and Dad’s side from a young age. Since you’re so kind, why not tell Mom not to send you, so they can send me to school instead? Anyway, your grades are just average, and it’s uncertain if you’ll even make it to high school. What do you think?" Ye Ling just wanted to see how long she could keep up her act.
Ye Qian obviously hadn’t expected Ye Ling to say this and was stunned, mouth agape for quite a while.