CHAPTER 501: 482: REMINDER (SECOND UPDATE)

Ye Ling saw Shen Bin tugging at her, turned her head to glance at him but said nothing, then looked back at Liu Zhiyuan. "I think outsiders like us can’t make decisions on this matter. You all should discuss it among yourselves. It’s getting late; you should also try to persuade Ye Qian. We’ll head back first."

With that, she stood up while supporting her belly.

Liu Zhiyuan’s gaze fell on her belly, "If our child was still here, it would probably be this big by now."

With one sentence, Ye Qian, who had been hysterically shouting till now, suddenly quieted down. Seeing the fleeting pain in Liu Zhiyuan’s expression, a wave of guilt suddenly surged within her.

Bai Xue seized the opportunity to pull her daughter aside, gently advising her, suggesting that she too had made mistakes. But Ye Qian wasn’t affected by her mother’s words; rather, she was startled by Liu Zhiyuan’s earlier expression.

She suddenly recalled that things had been quite good between them before. He used to smile at her so gently. She always thought he didn’t care about the child, as he didn’t seem particularly happy when she got pregnant. Now, seeing his pained expression, she realized that he did care about it, after all.

With Ye Qian quieted, it became easier for Liu Zhiyuan, who escorted Ye Ling and Shen Bin out. At the door, he awkwardly said, "Actually, I didn’t mean anything by what I said earlier. It’s just that your belly is quite big, and I didn’t imply anything else."

Since Ye Ling hadn’t responded after Liu Zhiyuan’s comment, and Shen Bin had stayed silent as well, Liu Zhiyuan felt as if his intentions had been seen through, leaving him rather embarrassed.

"It’s nothing, what you said was quite normal, after all, it’s the truth." Ye Ling replied with a smile.

She always knew Liu Zhiyuan was smart; now that Ye Qian had offended him, it seemed Liu Zhiyuan definitely wouldn’t let Ye Qian have an easy time.

"By the way, brother-in-law, did you know Ye Qian has a high opinion of you?" Just as they were about to leave, Liu Zhiyuan suddenly added.

This was the first time Liu Zhiyuan addressed Shen Bin as brother-in-law.

Ye Ling somehow felt there was a hint of sarcasm in it.

Shen Bin was taken aback, turned back to scrutinize Liu Zhiyuan for a while before coldly replying, "I don’t know."

Then he said nothing more and followed Ye Ling away.

Liu Zhiyuan watched as the Ye Ling couple walked away before returning inside the house.

Seeing the mother-daughter pair, one advising and the other sitting blankly, Liu Zhiyuan walked over and sat down, "Mom, do you know about Ye Qian’s feelings for Shen Bin?"

Bai Xue looked over in shock, "What did you say?"

Even she was surprised by such a thing.

Liu Zhiyuan just smiled, "Ye Qian likes Shen Bin, she likes her own brother-in-law."

"Liu Zhiyuan, that’s enough." Ye Qian felt as if she was being stripped bare for everyone to see, her face burning hot.

Liu Zhiyuan chuckled calmly, "I’m just stating the facts, what are you afraid of?"

"Ye Qian, what is going on here?" Bai Xue wanted to scold her daughter, but quickly thought she couldn’t let the Liu family get a hold over her daughter. She immediately countered Liu Zhiyuan, "Look at your kid, that’s her brother-in-law. How could she possibly like her brother-in-law? You must have misunderstood. This kind of thing shouldn’t be said again, understood?"

Liu Zhiyuan only smiled without responding.

Ye Qian’s chest heaved, "I know what you’re thinking. You’re just hoping if you’re unhappy, I can’t be happy, right? Fine, then let’s not get divorced, and you’ll see if I can live well or not."

With those words, Ye Qian turned to walk to the bedroom, but seemingly remembered something, she turned again and walked out, "Mom, I’m going home with you."

Bai Xue followed her in a daze.

At the door, Ye Qian turned back with a smile and said to Liu Zhiyuan, "Clean up the dirty bedroom, and throw away the bed, then I’ll come back."

With nothing more to say, she left with her mother.

It wasn’t until a long time later that the smile slowly faded from Liu Zhiyuan’s face.

He gently rubbed his forehead, lost in thought for a long time. He never imagined things would turn out like this, and what Jiang Yan did was also something he hadn’t expected.

Meanwhile, chaos erupted on Jiang Yan’s side. After returning, as if nothing had happened, Father Jiang returned from the army after receiving information. He removed his belt and lashed it at his daughter. Ding Jie tried to stop him but was also beaten quite badly. Even so, she couldn’t stop her husband until he was tired. Only then did he sit on the sofa, gasping for breath and glaring angrily at his wife and daughter.

Ding Jie, although angry with her daughter, still cared as she was her own child, "Jiang Yan, quickly apologize to your father. Be a good child, apologize."

"Since it’s already done, that’s that. What’s the use of apologizing?" Jiang Yan, with purplish bruises on her body, remained calm.

Seeing her expression only fanned Father Jiang’s anger even further, "I’m telling you, Jiang Yan, from tomorrow onwards, you leave this house. I don’t want a shameless daughter like you. From now on, we’re severing the father-daughter relationship."

"Sure." Jiang Yan was indifferent.

After all she had gone through, she had gotten her answer, a disappointing one. There was nothing left for her to care about.

"Why can’t you just apologize to your father?" Ding Jie, frustrated beyond words, struck her daughter a couple of times, but ultimately held her daughter and cried in heartbreak.

Father Jiang, feeling troubled, got up and went back to his bedroom.

On the Li family’s side, when Ye Ling and Shen Bin returned home, Shen Bin tentatively asked, "Was Liu Zhiyuan saying that Ye Qian likes me?"

"Probably." Ye Ling looked up at him.

She had already figured it out, yet kept playing dumb.

Shen Bin still appeared confused, "How... is that possible?"

With his cold demeanor, not knowing how to say sweet words, if he weren’t sincere, he wouldn’t have attracted such a good wife. Otherwise, someone else might have taken her away by now, leaving him with nothing.

Ye Ling smirked, "Right."

Uh...

Shen Bin glanced at his wife and fell silent.

He realized regardless of what he said now, it would only earn him those ambiguous remarks from his wife, making it seem like he had done something shameful. Anyway, he felt uncomfortable, and besides, there had been a minor argument between them in the afternoon. Although it was just a few words, given his wife’s sensitive nature, she probably still held a grudge.

Ignoring Ye Qian’s side, life didn’t just go on peacefully. Early the next morning, Bai Xue came over. Originally, due to the previous incident with Bai Lianhua, Ye Zhenfen had instructed the guards not to let anyone in. But they couldn’t stop Bai Xue from standing at the compound gate crying. Amidst everyone’s chatter, Ye Ling, with her fighting spirit and big belly, walked straight towards the estate’s gate.

Since this mother was determined to force a meeting like this and didn’t care about causing a scene at the estate’s gate, she wasn’t afraid of losing face either. Whatever the matter was, it would be resolved right there at the gate.