Chapter 3 Betrothal Gifts

The two quickly closed the shop and went to Ye Xuan's house to prepare to move things.

Just as Ye Xuan arrived at the door, her mother saw her and immediately threw a plate.

"It's already the 16th today; where's your money?"

Ye Xuan had just gone to the bank to withdraw a thousand yuan. Since she was moving out, she planned to give her mother only a thousand yuan, leaving the other thousand for her own living expenses.

She took out the money, but her mother felt that the thickness wasn't right. After counting, she found it was only half. She grabbed a plate from the table and threw it randomly at Ye Xuan.

Li Xiaolin stepped in to shield Ye Xuan, but the plate hit her arm, leaving it red and shattered on the ground.

"You brat; you only brought back this little money. Where's the other thousand? Do you normally not spend money on food and drinks at home? You know your brother needs money for his wedding. I asked you for the $300,000 dowry, and you still haven't paid it. Now you bring back just a thousand to brush me off? You are unfilial, daughter. Speak up, where's the other thousand?"

Ye Xuan's mother scolded her harshly, and Li Xiaolin couldn't bear to watch.

"Auntie, Ye Xuan has given you all her salary for two years. She's grown up now, so it's okay for her to keep some money for herself. There's no need to be so impatient."

Seeing Li Xiaolin speaking up for Ye Xuan made her mother even more furious.

"Your name is Li Xiaolin, right? It's because Ye Xuan is with you that she has become so unruly. I heard you opened a flower shop. Did you use Ye Xuan's money to invest in it? Ye Xuan, bring the money back now, or don't come back to this house."

Tears welled up in Ye Xuan's eyes. Since she was young, she never received love from her parents. Now that she could earn money, her family treated her and her sister as cash cows. Whenever they needed money, they would demand it. Even her sister's marriage, because of the 100,000 yuan dowry to her natal family, led to her being despised by her husband's family for not bringing any dowry, which led to her current situation.

But at least after getting married, she had her own home and didn't have to cater to her parents anymore. She could live her own life. Today, she had finally had enough.

"Mom, this thousand yuan is my filial piety to you. In the future, I'll give you half of my monthly salary, but I also need to live. So, I can't give you all of it anymore."

She had struggled with this salary issue for a long time. Now that she was married, the income from the flower shop was not very substantial, and she still had to buy stock. She also had to repay the bank loan for the capital investment in the flower shop, which made her feel breathless.

"What did you say? You dare to take away half of your salary? No way; hand over your salary card to me, or don't think about coming back home."

At this time, her father, who was cooking in the kitchen, also rushed over, his face equally unsightly. But he wasn't as harsh as her mother.

"Xuan, how could you do this? We've raised you for so many years, and now that you're earning money, you should repay us. You know the situation at home. Your brother hasn't gotten married yet, so it's only right for you, as his older sister, to help with the household expenses. How could you take away half of the family's money? Will you stop eating at home in the future?"

Ye Xuan remained silent, and Li Xiaolin couldn't bear to hear the words of this family.

Her father continued, "With the high cost of living now, asking you for two thousand yuan isn't too much. If you don't believe it, rent a house outside and see. With transportation and food expenses every month, you can't get by with just a few thousand. Xuan, you're still young. You can't be so ungrateful."

Li Xiaolin swore that if these two weren't Ye Xuan's parents, she would have rushed up and started a fight.

"Uncle, Auntie, you can't say such things. Ye Xuan was raised by you until now; that's true. But don't you still have three shops to rent out? You get tens of thousands a month from that. Why are you still clinging to Ye Xuan's little money? And if you want to change houses, you can easily take out millions. It's not that you can't afford it; it's just that you want her to leave. She hands over all her two thousand yuan a month, and she can't even keep a friend by her side. Aren't you trying to drive her to death?"

Faced with Li Xiaolin's righteous indignation, both Ye Xuan's father and mother ganged up to confront her.

"You're just speaking up for her, aren't you? You claimed to be her friend, right? Then why don't you chip in for her living expenses at home? You speak with such righteousness, but it's obvious you have your eyes on the two thousand bucks our Ye Xuan earns each month, wanting to deceive her into investing. We've lived for decades; don't think we don't know what you young folks are scheming."

Pointing her finger at Li Xiaolin, Ye's mother scolded, "Let me tell you, any thoughts of swindling money from our Ye Xuan, forget about it. Ye Xuan, bring back that one thousand bucks right away. Otherwise, you can forget about coming home to sleep tonight."

Wiping away the tears on her face, Ye Xuan, after calming her emotions a bit, said, "You don't need to rush me. I asked Xiaolin to help me move my stuff. I'm leaving to stay elsewhere tonight."

As soon as Ye Xuan finished speaking, her parents were dumbfounded. After a few minutes of bewilderment and seeing Ye Xuan drag her suitcase out, they immediately rushed over to block her path.

"Leaving to stay elsewhere? Be clear about where you're going."

For the first time, Ye Xuan felt her decision was right.

"I got married today, so I'm moving to my husband's house. Don't worry, I'll still bring a thousand bucks home every month to thank you for raising me."

Upon hearing Ye Xuan say she got married, her parents were even more adamant about not letting her leave.

"Married? You didn't even discuss such a big matter with the family. Who did you marry, and how much was the bride price? I've raised my daughter for over twenty years; I can't just let her go for nothing. Without a bride price of three hundred thousand, you won't be leaving."

Tears welled up in Ye Xuan's eyes again out of frustration.

"I got married of my own free will, without a dowry. He may not have money, but he treats me well and provides me with a place to live. I won't trouble you anymore in the future. My affairs no longer concern you."

Li Xiaolin helped grab the luggage, and as the four of them were in a heated argument, a deep and magnetic voice suddenly sounded at the door.

"Is this Ye Xuan's place?"

The commotion was interrupted by this sudden voice, and everyone turned around. Huo Jianchen stood at the door with two burly men beside him, his height almost touching the door frame.

Li Xiaolin immediately recognized Huo Jianchen as the man from the marriage certificate. He exuded a powerful aura, much stronger than in the photos.

Dressed in all black with an austere demeanor, especially with his cold aura, and accompanied by two men dressed like bodyguards, one might mistake them for coming to collect protection money for the mafia.

Just by his appearance, everyone from the Ye family was silenced, and Ye Xuan couldn't understand how Huo Jianchen found his way here. Weren't they separated? And it wasn't time to get off work yet; shouldn't he be at work?

"I'm here to return her ID card. You forgot to take it back."

After they finished signing the marriage certificate, she was preoccupied with the document and forgot to take her ID card. This was the second time Ye Xuan had seen him, and her face blushed uncontrollably once again.

"Who are you, and why do you have our Ah Xuan's ID card?"