Chapter 15: Threat

“Let’s start over,” Ye Xijing said. “Alright, Lan Xiaomei, we don’t need to change shoes tonight. We’re going back to my place…”

As the evening deepened, a cold wind blew, filling their mouths with a chill.

Ye Xijing tightly grasped her wrist and said, “I’m really, really happy you came today.”

“I’m also really happy that you got into such a great school,” Qian Dailan replied.

“And thank Brother Xiyan for helping me prepare the dress and shoes but could you loosen your grip a bit? You’re holding me like I’m a pig. Even slaughtering a pig isn’t this rough.”

“My brother really likes you,” Ye Xijing automatically ignored the latter part of her words, slightly loosening his grip but keeping his eyes fixed on her.

“Last year, he even mentioned that if you wanted to continue studying, he’d be willing to cover all your tuition fees-”

“But I’m not dating your brother,” Qian Dailan interrupted him.

“You don’t need to bring this up. My boyfriend is you, not him.”

Ye Xijing suddenly asked, “What about Yin Shenyan?”

“What does Yin Shenyan have to do with this?” Qian Dailan asked, puzzled.

“Why are you bringing him up all of a sudden?”

“You didn’t want to change out of the shoes he gave you,” Ye Xijing pressed.

“Are you breaking up with me because he’s pursuing you again? Last night, after work, you didn’t go home. Did you go on a date with him? I waited for you for so long…”

“When you came back, you smelled like barbecue. Did you go out to eat with him? You’ve been in Beijing for so many days but refused to see me or reach out. Is it because he’s been with you? Did you even come to Beijing for me?”

“No,” Qian Dailan said. “Don’t play the victim here. Why didn’t I want to see you? Because I’m still mad at you for not keeping your distance from your female friends!”

“And what about you?” Ye Xijing grew more agitated. “Have you been keeping your distance from Yin Shenyan?”

“At least I didn’t abandon you when you needed me, just to be with him,” Qian Dailan retorted.

“You’re abandoning me now,” Ye Xijing softened his voice.

“Dailan, Lan Xiaomei, Lanlan, Qianqian, let’s talk this through properly. Don’t give up on me, okay?”

He took Qian Dailan’s hand, hoping she would touch his hair like she used to.

Ye Xijing treasured his hair and hairstyle dearly, rarely letting anyone touch it.

Since adulthood, only Qian Dailan had ever run her fingers through his hair.

But Qian Dailan clenched her fist tightly.

She refused to touch him, shaking her head. “It’s too late.”

Ye Xijing felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“You had dinner with him yesterday, and today you suddenly want to break up,” Ye Xijing gripped her arms, his voice trembling with anger.

“Did he say something to you? Did he do something? That scheming, shameless scoundrel, that despicable man who only knows how to seduce other people’s girlfriends.”

“No, you’re hurting me!” Qian Dailan stomped on his foot.

“Our breakup is between us. Why are you dragging someone else into this?” She could tell Ye Xijing was losing control.

He looked terrifying now, his eyes and nose red, much like the time he had climbed over the wall to see her in winter.

The difference was, back then, Ye Xijing was full of confidence and vigor, but now he was teetering on the edge of losing it completely.

“Lan, little sister,” Ye Xijing’s voice softened again, trembling uncontrollably,

“Where did I go wrong? Tell me, it’s my first time too…”

“First time is no excuse,” Qian Dailan interrupted him, “Who isn’t doing something for the first time? That’s irrelevant.”

“It must be Yin Shenyan again, it has to be him,” Ye Xijing blurted out, the intense fear of losing her spreading chaotically through his nerves.

He leaned down to untie Qian Dailan’s shoelaces, “Take them off now-he’s so outdated, completely unworthy of you.”

“You’re the outdated one, can you stop being so condescending?” Qian Dailan was also angry, bending over to push his head away, incredulous, “Ye Xijing, have you lost your mind?”

He now looked as if he wanted to kiss her legs.

Ye Xijing had already untied her shoelaces and picked her up horizontally, “Let’s go home, right now.”

Qian Dailan couldn’t scream, her dress today was too fitted, and she had just eaten, her waist tightly bound.

She gritted her teeth and slapped Ye Xijing twice, “Put me down quickly, you might not care about face, but I do.”

“Xijing.”

In the chaos, it was ultimately Ye Xiyan who stopped Ye Xijing’s madness.

He looked displeased, scolding Ye Xijing in a low voice, then had Yang Quan, who was bending down to pick up Qian Dailan’s sneakers, take her to the car

With people coming and going, making a scene would be unseemly.

Ye Xiyan, who valued face, quickly and calmly handled the farce, swiftly separating the two.

Only after taking Ye Xijing to the deserted smoking room did he expressionlessly slap him three times.

Slap.

Slap.

Ye Xijing’s face was slapped to the side, his pale face marked with bright red fingerprints.

“Addicted to bullying a little girl?” Ye Xiyan asked, “Can you stop being foolish?”

“Am I the foolish one? Brother?” Ye Xijing was despondent, “She…”

He swallowed the words “She wants to break up with me,” it was too painful to say, just thinking about it was painful.

It felt like a nightmare, as if saying it out loud would make it come true.

“Brother, you have no idea what my life at home is like,” Ye Xijing said, “I can’t help it now, really can’t.”

In the deserted smoking room, only his brother was there.

Ye Xijing seemed to return to his carefree childhood, becoming the little boy who always had his brother to cover for him, no matter how big the trouble.

He said, “You knew when you were at home, my mom, everything has to go her way, if it doesn’t, she goes hysterical… especially after divorcing my dad, she’s even more paranoid, you know?”

“When I’m at school, if I talk to any female classmates, my mom would find the homeroom teacher, demanding to change seats, or transfer me to another class.”

“From middle school to high school, it’s always been like this, even in college, at the start of the semester, my mom would call the counselor, call my dorm leader, interrogating whether I’m dating…”

Ye Xijing closed his eyes.

“Everything is for my own good, everything is for my own good, mom is like this, dad is like this, all these years, I’ve been going to school according to their wishes, skipping grades, starting college early, applying for graduate school, becoming the child they can be proud of,” Ye Xijing said,

“I can’t have my own preferences, can’t have my own favorite major, can’t…”

He said, “I was afraid to let my family know about Qian Dailan before, and I didn’t dare to treat her too well, because I was afraid that the more I loved her, the more my family would target her.”

“What kind of logic is that? Have you been watching too many idol dramas?” Ye Xiyan frowned. “This is a mess.”

Ye Xijing called out, “Brother.”

He pleaded, “I want to invite Qian Dailan home tonight. There are so many things I haven’t had the chance to say.”

“Is it that you haven’t had the chance to say many things, or that you have a lot of resentment you can’t vent?” Ye Xiyan said coldly.

“If it’s the latter, I suggest you buy a ticket to Iceland right now and jump into the sea to cool off.”

Ye Xijing fell silent.

“I really envy you, brother. I truly envy you,” he said after a long pause.

“Dad never interferes in your affairs. You used to say that Dad didn’t love you, but I wish he didn’t love me either.”

Ye Xijing remembered that before Ye Xiyan went to Hangzhou to live with his biological mother, he had once questioned Ye Pingxi at home “You’ve never treated me as your son. In your eyes, you only have Xijing as your son. You have high hopes for Xijing, but you’ve never cared about my studies-not even once.”

At that time, Ye Xiyan, who was still in middle school, had said this.

Back then, Ye Xijing was just an elementary school student, and he sympathized with his half-brother.

He would secretly share his birthday cake with him and give his small toys and books to his brother.

But now, Ye Xijing also wished that Ye Pingxi had never placed such high hopes on him.

He didn’t even understand why Ye Xiyan needed his father’s love back in middle school.

Ye Xijing truly wished he could switch places with Ye Xiyan.

He wished that Ye Pingxi, his biological father, had never loved him.

Ye Xiyan said, “I’ll talk to Dad. In the future, before you do anything, use your brain a little. There’s no sulfuric acid in your skull-shaking it won’t kill you.”

His hand already on the doorknob, Ye Xiyan turned back and touched his brother’s reddened cheek, which he had slapped earlier.

“Don’t let your emotions control you,” he said. “Calm down. The angrier you are, the more your words will hurt the one you love.”

“Qian Dailan is very sensitive. No matter how things end, don’t go too far. Calm down and talk things through. Even if you part ways in the future, don’t leave any regrets.”

Ye Xijing asked his brother dejectedly, “Do you think Qian Dailan really loves me?”

“What do you think?” Ye Xiyan countered.

“Why did she come here today?”

In his heart, Ye Xijing knew it was to break up with him.

But his pride wouldn’t let him say it out loud.

“Not just before you act, but also before you speak-think twice,” Ye Xiyan said.

“Words spoken in anger hurt the most.”

Ye Xijing remained downcast and asked.

“Brother, do you think twice before scolding me?”

“Yes,” Ye Xiyan replied. “Now I realize I should think twice and then some, because waking you up is as difficult as waking up ten fools at once.”

Ye Xijing: “…… Maybe you should stop thinking altogether.”

Ye Xiyan didn’t respond.

He patted the handprint on Ye Xijing’s cheek, then turned and opened the door to leave.

Just a few steps out, he heard the muffled sobs of a woman.

They were coming from the nearby mother-and-child room, accompanied by the sound of things being thrown around-probably a vase being smashed, the sound of broken porcelain clearly audible.

As her cries began, the scar on Ye Xiyan’s forearm started to ache faintly, as if by reflex.

The door to the mother-and-child room was flung open in panic.

Liang Wanyin, who had reached her limit of endurance, ran out screaming, only to suddenly see Ye Xiyan standing outside the door.

Frozen in fear, she slowly walked over and called out, “Brother.”

Through the slightly ajar door, Ye Xiyan saw Wu Ke trying to comfort Lin Yi.

Wu Ke was patiently calling her “Auntie Lin” and whispering something to her.

Ye Xiyan didn’t linger or ask any questions.

He simply nodded slightly and walked away calmly.

Outside the restaurant, in the car, Qian Dailan had put her sneakers back on.

The original band-aid had come off during the struggle.

Fortunately, Yang Quan remembered that Ye Xiyan had asked him to buy a new emergency medical kit that morning, which included band-aids.

However, that medical kit was in Ye Xiyan’s other car.

He immediately called the driver to confirm and then ran to get the band-aids.

As soon as Yang Quan left, Ye Pingxi knocked on the car window, smiling as he invited Qian Dailan to his home.

Qian Dailan had heard many stories about this man, and as soon as she saw him, her guard went up.

Even though Qian Dailan politely said she was already preparing to break up with Ye Xijing, Ye Pingxi just smiled and said, “You’re both still young, just kids. Arguments and fights are common.”

“Tonight, all the young people will be hanging out together. You should have a good talk after all, Xijing is about to go abroad. You wouldn’t want to leave regrets because of a momentary quarrel, would you?”

Qian Dailan still wanted to refuse.

“I heard that JW is hiring, and the minimum requirement is a college degree,” Ye Pingxi smiled. “Is that true?”

Qian Dailan maintained her smile and agreed, cursing Ye Pingxi’s ancestors a thousand times in her heart.

Just as Yang Quan and Ye Xiyan returned with the band-aids, they saw Qian Dailan limping out of the car, like a little mermaid who hadn’t yet adapted to her legs.

Hearing the commotion, Qian Dailan looked up and called out, “Brother,” twice.

She knew very well that Ye Pingxi was threatening her with her job, and she had no choice but to go.

But going there would definitely not end well.

When you’re under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head.

But how could she willingly submit?

It would be better to find a reliable ally.

Like Ye Xiyan.

Qian Dailan knew that his kindness to her during this time wasn’t just because she was his “sister-in-law.”

He was also compensating for that night’s accident.

She could slightly take advantage of his sympathy.

Just this once.

Qian Dailan knew deeply.

After breaking up with Ye Xijing, their future lives would be like two parallel lines, never intersecting again.

“Yang Quan said you prepared a gift for me,” Ye Xiyan looked at her and smiled. “Is this the gift? A little mermaid dancing on the edge of a knife?”

“No,” Qian Dailan explained. “I thought you have everything and lack nothing. Even if you did lack something, I couldn’t afford it. I don’t have much money, so I can’t buy beautiful things. But I’m good at handicrafts, so I made you a little toy.”

“You made it yourself?” Ye Xiyan was greatly surprised. “What is it?”

“Last time you mentioned jasmine, so I thought you might like it. I crocheted a branch of jasmine,” Qian Dailan said.

“But I was in such a hurry today that I accidentally left it at home.”

“It’s okay,” Ye Xiyan looked at his watch. “It’s still early. I’ll take you home later—”

“I’m sorry,” Qian Dailan’s face showed a troubled expression.

She hesitated before speaking, “Brother, I can’t go home tonight.”

Ye Xiyan carefully observed her face.

Her naturally wavy hair cascaded down her back, like the gentle ripples of West Lake caressed by a breeze.

The lipstick on her lips had faded considerably during the meal, half-worn and half-faded, revealing her natural lip color.

Without the concealer’s coverage, the soft, pale pink lipstick’s remnants revealed her true, deep crimson lip color, like the heart of a rose.

Her true color.

Like a little fawn surrounded by hunters in a dense forest, like a wild rabbit accidentally seeking shelter from the rain in a rabbit trap, like a little mushroom, oblivious to the impending sun’s intensity, still foolishly opening its tiny white umbrella.

“Just now, Uncle Ye mentioned wanting to invite me to his home,” Qian Dailan hesitated, “I didn’t want to go, so he brought up our store’s educational requirements for staff.”

She quickly glanced at Ye Xiyan.

Noticing that he was still looking at her gently, without any expression.

So, Qian Dailan quietly added fuel to the fire.

“I’m going to say something that my brother may not like to hear”

She said “I seem to be threatened by your father….”