"Son, your father is right. A woman like Yan Xixi is someone you can’t afford to get mixed up with. Just look at her. She clearly had other men before you. If she truly loved you, would she have left you? Look, now that her sickly mother is no longer a burden, she can support herself without being a kept woman. But instead, she deserted you and threw herself into pursuing wealth and luxury..."
Huang Xiaojue slowly lifted his gaze from the check, staring intently at his mother. "Mom," he asked, "if Xixi is willing to marry me now, would you stop opposing it?"
"This..." Huang’s mother stammered. "My child, why are you so naive?"
"Her mother is dead and won’t burden our family anymore. She can easily find a job to support herself. Mom, doesn’t she meet your requirements now?"
Huang’s mother lost her composure and said indignantly, "Son, what do you mean by that?"
"Mom, if you hadn’t forced me to go on that blind date, if you hadn’t hung up on me, Xixi and I wouldn’t have ended up . Her mother might not have died..."
Huang’s father shouted harshly, "Xiaojue, stop talking such nonsense! A woman who’s happy to be a kept woman—do you think our modest family can afford her? Your mother might be willing to give her a chance, but she herself might not want to come back!"
Huang Xiaojue stopped arguing with his parents. He clenched the check in his hand—it was 200,000 yuan.
200,000 yuan to buy out the old affections of a first love.
When he looked up again, the world felt profoundly alien, as if an unseen celestial river now lay between him and Yan Xixi, leaving them worlds apart.
「Xu Xiaoya was the first "outsider" Yan Xixi had met in over three months.」
As soon as she entered the grand mansion, Xu Xiaoya couldn’t stop exclaiming in awe. She walked around, marveling at everything, and by the time she reached Yan Xixi’s room, her legs almost gave out.
The spacious bedroom featured a rose-filled terrace with a picturesque view. The walk-in closet was a separate, large, open-plan room, filled with colorful seasonal clothes, shoes, hats, and silk scarves—it was all dazzling. Jewelry boxes lay casually on a table, most of them still unopened.
"Xixi, does all this belong to you?"
"Xixi, Wan Donglin is really good to you..."
"Wow, so many bags—all Gucci, Hermes, LV... And what’s this brand? I’ve never even seen it before! Honestly, the ones I *do* recognize are already making me sweat! Goodness... Oh my, Xixi, you could actually open a boutique!"
"And these sunglasses and silk scarves! I love them so much..."
Growing excited, Xu Xiaoya took out her phone to take pictures, chattering, "Xixi, let me snap a few photos to show off on Weibo..."
A hand stopped her phone. Yan Xixi said coolly, "Don’t take pictures. Not a single one."
Xu Xiaoya was taken aback.
"Xiaoya, you can pick anything you like here," Yan Xixi said quietly but firmly, "but Xiaoya, please don’t take photos, ever. And don’t post them on Weibo. I’m begging you."
Xu Xiaoya burst out, "Why?! Haven’t you seen Zhou Xiaoxuan’s Weibo posts? She flaunts her designer bags and watches every day, attracting crowds of envious onlookers. Last time she got married, she made us all feel so shabby! This time, you post too! Post more and better things than hers. I guarantee it’ll make her furious with envy!"