Ji Silin

Ye Li clutched her chest, having evidently been dealt a huge blow.

Xue Sheng wanted to speak more on the matter, but Ye Li stopped him by shaking her head lightly.

Old Master Xue also frowned. "What is this nonsense?"

Old Lady Xue also grasped at the chance to mock her. "Take a look. This is what a wretched savage is—no sense of shame. How old is she only? And she is already paying for a toyboy outside! Someone who opens a provision shop—he must be one of the hooligans on the streets, right?"

Xue Yao did not expect such a turn of events either. All her anger from just now instantly dissipated. "Cousin, don't tell me you were that bewildered by the reneging on your marriage arrangement with Fan Han? You've been back for only a few days and you've already found a random boyfriend? No matter how unhappy you are, you shouldn't cheapen yourself like this—"

"Shut up!"

Just as she wanted to continue, Ye Li suddenly roared, stunning her.

Ye Li had always been a mild-mannered person. Hence, she had little to no presence in the house usually. It was Xue Yao's first time seeing her flare up.

As this concerned Xue Xi's reputation, her attitude was very stern. "It is normal for your sister to have a boyfriend. How can a young girl like you spout such abominable words? Do you believe that the Fan family will not dare to renege on their marriage arrangement if I insist on it and make this into a huge issue, simply because they care about their reputation?! That way, this marriage arrangement will still be your elder sister's! It will have nothing to do with you at all!"

Xue Yao widened her eyes in shock, then inched toward the old lady. "Grandma, look at her!"

The old lady instinctively wanted to speak up, but at this point, Ye Li turned her sharp gaze onto her. "Also, Mom, you claim that Xixi is a savage, but what are you implying about Xue Sheng? Do not speak those words you just did ever again. If word gets out, they might even think that there is a problem with our Xue family's home education. It's fine if you don't like Xixi, but aren't you afraid of sabotaging Xue Yao's reputation?"

The old lady was made speechless by this.

Ye Li then took a deep breath.

Ye Li's always giving in and taking the back seat had only caused Old Lady Xue to go from bad to worse.

She had to be much more assertive now, even if just for Xixi.

She then turned to look at the old patriarch. "Dad, from the moment you brought our Xue family to prosperity, the people outside have always pointed at us, saying that we are uncultured. Hence, we should be more mindful of our choice of words and actions. The volume of our voices does not correlate to the extent by which our actions are justified. We should refrain from making a joke out of ourselves only for others to scold us for being a nouveau riche behind our backs."

The old patriarch placed the Xue family's dignity and reputation as the top priority. These words woke him up, as though someone had drizzled ice water on him.

The second son's wife was the only person in this household who'd originated from high society. Alas, the couple lived outside most of the time and, hence, Old Lady Xue became the manager of the house.

Recalling her recent performance…

The old patriarch immediately made a decision. "Ye Li, your mom has aged, so let her retire now. Xue Sheng is also about to take over on my side, so you should also start taking up the role of the Xue family's matriarch."

This was him passing the authority of managing the house to Ye Li.

Old Lady Xue was infuriated. "Old man—"

"That shall be it!" the old patriarch concluded.

For the rest of the meal, both Xue Yao and Old Lady Xue had no appetite and did not ingest much. Xue Xi did not seem to be affected, though. She went upstairs to continue plowing through questions after she was done with her meal.

When Xue Sheng and Ye Li returned to their room, the former's look of worrying intensified. "Why didn't you let me ask and make the situation clear? Xixi is so naive, we can't let her be lied to!"

The latter sighed. "Both of us have not been by her side for the past 18 years, after all. Although the child is not in the right to get into a relationship early, it is also not right for us to be this agitated. Moreover, she is just dating and not going to be engaged. Many underground relationships in high school do not last either, so let's just monitor it for now."

The man repressed the anxiety in his heart and gave serious thought to this first before saying, "I don't have very high expectations for the child. What we earn is sufficient to let her live the rest of her life peacefully. I hope only that Xixi can smile happily. Since she likes that person so much that she will feel sad over not meeting him, let's not forcefully interfere with her."

"Mhm."

Ye Li then moved to walk out of the room.

Xue Sheng: "What are you going to do?"

She raised her chin slightly. "As this is my first day as the matriarch, Xixi will have bird's nest to eat tonight!"

Xue Sheng: …I'm being sidelined now that you have a daughter!

…

…

The next day, Xue Xi went to visit her maternal grandparents with her parents.

After a three-hour-long car ride, they finally reached a county.

There was a city hospital next to the area her maternal grandparents were staying in. When she followed them into the neighborhood and into the living quarters, her mother explained to her, "Both of them have applied for retirement after your grandfather got sick, so they have come back to their hometown to recuperate in peace."

Xue Xi nodded.

Her grandparents stayed in a three-room flat with simple mahogany furniture. At the side, there was a huge bookcase, and before it lay a table sprawled with unfinished calligraphy words. One could see that this was a scholarly family with one glance.

When they entered, her maternal grandmother, Song Wenman, hushed them, then pointed at the master bedroom. "The psychiatrist is treating your grandpa. Let's wait a while."

Xue Xi nodded, then followed her mother to sit down in the living room.

After a while, a rustle could be heard near the door and a young man dressed in a white shirt and pants walked out.

The moment he stepped out, Xue Xi felt as though all the light in the room was being directed at him.

The man was refined and handsome. He had soft features and wore a pair of gold-framed spectacles, giving off a reliable and composed aura. It was the total opposite of the dangerous feeling Xiang Huai gave off.

Song Wenman introduced, "This is Dr. Ji. He is only 26 this year but is already a very famous psychiatrist. Your grandpa's situation has not worsened in the past year all thanks to Dr. Ji's weekly psychological counseling."

Ye Li clearly knew the man as she smiled and said, "Thank you, Dr. Ji."

The doctor pushed his glasses up. His long and slender fingers, accompanied by his gold-framed spectacles, made him look exceptionally pleasing to the eyes. He eyed Xue Xi, then quickly put on a warm smile. "You're welcome. I'll be taking my leave now."

Watching as he picked up his medical box and moved to leave, Xue Xi suddenly said, "Mom, Granny, I'll send Dr. Ji off."

She strode out behind him after saying this.

The door closed behind her. While the two of them waited for the elevator, Dr. Ji smiled and said in a warm and deep voice, "The last time I visited the orphanage, the director said that your birth parents have come to fetch you. I didn't expect us to meet again in such a coincidental way."

Xue Xi stared at him with her black eyes. "What a coincidence, Brother Silin."

Ji Silin—for the past two years, he had regularly visited the orphanage to help the unsociable children.

Xue Xi did not know how to socialize and had little to no feelings. The orphanage director had even requested Ji Silin to give her a psychiatric assessment, and the result was that everything was normal about her. After that, the two would always chat for a while every time he visited the orphanage.

He could be considered as Xue Xi's only friend outside.

Seeing how obedient and sensible she was, Ji Silin rubbed her head. "Why do you look like you have a lot on your mind?"

He looked at her patiently after saying this.

After two seconds, the girl answered, "Brother Silin, does hypnosis really exist in this world?"

She found that "be in love or die" curse to be too mystical.

After thinking about it for a long time, she started to suspect that she had been hypnotized. Specifically, that she was under hypnotic suggestion.

Ji Silin was a reliable psychiatrist to her. For some reason, she felt that he'd provide her a clue.