CHAPTER 375: CHAPTER 375

So, what was the point of that divorce, anyway?

When Qin Jinchuan heard his mother mentioned, a dark gleam flashed in his eyes. "Does she need to like her?"

This arrogant and rebellious tone left Ji Nan stunned.

Indeed, it seemed she didn’t!

Over the years, in the eyes of outsiders, Qin Jinchuan’s mother had always been a good parent who doted on her supposedly foolish son. Little did they know that all her so-called kindness and love were merely compensations to make herself feel better. If it hadn’t been for her scheme back then, the Eldest Young Master wouldn’t have fallen so gravely ill! And he wouldn’t have seized the chance to retreat and bide his time.

Listening to the chill in Qin Jinchuan’s voice, Ji Nan’s grip on the steering wheel tightened involuntarily.

"She is the Madam, after all," Ji Nan said. "If she finds out you harbor such feelings for Miss Ye, she’ll definitely make things difficult for her."

The failed wedding and the subsequent heavy blow the Ye Family suffered were self-evident. It seemed that even now, the Ye Family hadn’t fully recovered. The only reason the Madam hadn’t moved against Ye Yuning was due to a lingering sense of an elder’s magnanimity. But if she were to discover Qin Jinchuan’s feelings for Ye Yuning, that magnanimity would surely shatter.

Qin Jinchuan pinched his aching brow. "You investigate it first." As for what happens after that, we’ll deal with it when it comes.

Ji Nan was speechless. Hearing Qin Jinchuan’s words, he knew that stubborn fixation of his was acting up again. Once Qin Jinchuan set his mind on something, no one could easily change it.

...

Ye Yuning had no idea that her tears at noon would trigger a ’white lotus’ effect.

She returned to Shanyu Pavilion with Xiao Linye. She had originally planned to head straight to the study to work, but seeing Xiao Linye put on an apron, she suppressed her intentions and joined him in the kitchen instead.

"Aren’t you going to take a shower first?" Xiao Linye asked her.

"I’m not that fussy," Ye Yuning replied. "It’s all the same if I wash up after dinner."

"You can’t shower immediately after eating!" he reminded her.

"I know, I was just saying," Ye Yuning said, smiling at him as she placed the vegetables she wanted to eat into the sink.

Watching her wash the vegetables with growing familiarity, he chuckled. "Ever thought about being a housewife?"

Ye Yuning fell silent.

A housewife? she thought. Does he plan to fire the housekeeper who took leave today?

The term ’housewife’ immediately brought Tang Xi’s past marriage to mind. Tang Xi was a famous actress and wasn’t even a full-time homemaker, yet Jiang Bo’s mother had criticized her endlessly. She would come home exhausted after a full day of filming, only to be ordered to do this and that! Her life had been utter chaos.

Now, with Xiao Linye asking her about being a housewife, Ye Yuning looked at him, conflicted. "Are you thinking of asking your parents to come live here?"

His father is elderly; his mother must be up in years too, right? If they really moved in, given their age, they’d definitely need someone to take care of them full-time. So, when he asked if I wanted to be a housewife, was this his intention?

"They do want to live with me," Xiao Linye admitted. He hadn’t directly answered Ye Yuning’s question, but he was telling the truth. Ever since he returned to the country, the Old Master had been constantly urging him to move back to the Xiao family’s ancestral home, clearly wanting to live with him.

Hearing this, a cold sweat broke out on Ye Yuning’s back.

Live a life like Tang Xi’s? I’m sorry... I really can’t do that!

"I don’t want to!" she blurted out, almost without thinking.

She couldn’t understand what Tang Xi had been thinking back then, to have tolerated Jiang Bo’s parents for so long. Perhaps it was Tang Xi’s experience serving as a warning that made Ye Yuning refuse to compromise from the outset.

Xiao Linye was taken aback by her firm, three-word refusal.

Ye Yuning quickly added, "Although my salary isn’t high, I still enjoy working. I’d get bored staying at home all day."

Especially living with his parents, she thought. After what Tang Xi went through, she had an almost visceral aversion to that kind of life. So, regardless of whether Xiao Linye’s parents were good-natured or not, she was unwilling to live with them. And speaking of temperament...! Remembering the way his father treated me during his last visit, he clearly wasn’t an easy person to get along with.

Xiao Linye hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from her. "You don’t like living with elderly people?"

"I’m sorry if this sounds impolite, but I really don’t," Ye Yuning said, looking at Xiao Linye with pleading eyes.

On such matters, she simply couldn’t lie. No matter how wonderful he was, from Ye Yuning’s perspective, she still didn’t want to compromise on things she was unwilling to compromise on for his sake. Jiang Bo had initially treated Tang Xi very well, but everything changed after his parents arrived.

Meeting her woeful gaze, Xiao Linye reached out and gently ruffled her hair. "If you don’t want to, then you don’t want to. Why get so agitated?"

"If I say no, will you be unhappy?" Ye Yuning asked. She posed the question cautiously, but it was more of a test.

Tang Xi initially hadn’t wanted Jiang Bo’s parents to live with them either. Later, she compromised because Jiang Bo was unhappy. The harsh lesson from that experience was that if a man got upset over such things, his feelings for you would likely change because of those same issues later on.

Fortunately, under Ye Yuning’s probing gaze, Xiao Linye shook his head. "Why would I be? Young people and elderly people have different lifestyles. Living together inevitably leads to conflict!"