Chapter 109: Do You Have Another Love?

“What… what did you say?”

Li Mo almost thought he’d misheard.

Xiao Huai’an kindly reminded him, “Didn’t you say before that whoever could heal my leg, you’d call them “Ancestor”? Why not go ahead and do it today?”

“Get lost!”

Li Mo shoved Xiao Huai’an aside.

“Sister-in-law healed you, so it’s her decision. Sister-in-law, do you think I should call you Ancestor?”

He looked pitifully at Ye Xin Ran, hoping she’d speak up for him.

Unexpectedly, Ye Xin Ran replied, “I listen to my husband.”

“Fine! Both of you are my Ancestors. Happy now?”

Li Mo wasn’t truly bothered, in fact, he seemed quite pleased as he shouted “Ancestor” without hesitation.

“So, what brings my two Ancestors to my humble shop today? Any advice for me?”

“We came to check how our medicine is selling.”

Ye Xin Ran explained.

“I see how it is. So, I’m just your tool for making money, right?”

“Agreed-upon profit sharing. What’s this nonsense about being a tool? Don’t forget the benefits you’re enjoying,” Xiao Huai’an reminded him.

Li Mo laughed and replied, “It’s selling very well these past few days! Sister-in-law, you haven’t seen it, but Tao Hua’s face is looking better and better. She’s become the living advertisement for our shop. People see how much she’s improved and want to buy some to try it themselves.”

“That’s great. At this rate, the fifty jars of Snow Glow Cream won’t last long. I’ll need to make another batch soon,” Ye Xin Ran said.

Li Mo quickly chimed in, “Sister-in-law, do you need help with production? If you don’t have reliable workers, I can lend you two of my shop assistants.”

“No need. With the current volume, I can manage on my own,” Ye Xin Ran declined.

However, Li Mo’s suggestion sparked a thought. It was becoming increasingly clear that she needed a dedicated workshop for processing.

If production increased without a proper facility, it might raise unnecessary suspicion.

“Alright, Sister-in-law. There are 30 jars of cream left in the shop. When there are only 10 left, I’ll remind you to restock.”

“Alright!”

Ye Xin Ran agreed readily.

Seeing there was nothing more to do, Ye Xin Ran and Xiao Huai’an decided to head back.

Just as they stepped out of the shop, they saw Ye Xin Yao storming toward them in a rage.

“Ye Xin Ran, you’re finally here! I’ve been waiting for you for days,” Ye Xin Yao spat, her words laced with anger.

Ye Xin Ran replied calmly, “We have nothing to do with each other anymore, so there’s no need for you to go out of your way to greet me.”

Ye Xin Yao sneered, “Stop pretending. Tell me, was it you? Did you tell Brother Zi Yu to break off our engagement?”

Hearing this, Ye Xin Ran was genuinely surprised.

The county magistrate’s family had actually annulled their engagement with the Ye family?

“Didn’t your dear Brother Zi Yu love you the most? How could he call off the engagement? Oh, I see, he doesn’t like you after all.”

Ye Xin Ran deliberately echoed Ye Xin Yao’s past boasting, making her so furious her blood seemed to boil.

“Ye Xin Ran, you shameless woman! You’re already married, yet you’re still seducing someone else’s fiancé. You’re nothing but a disgrace!”

As she spoke, Ye Xin Yao lunged forward, trying to grab Ye Xin Ran by the hair. But before she could touch her, a sharp pain shot through her shoulder.

“Ah!”

She turned to see that Xiao Huai’an had grabbed her shoulder, rendering her unable to move forward.

Ye Xin Yao struggled to break free, but Xiao Huai’an’s grip was firm. Her face contorted with fury and madness as she shouted, “Xiao Huai’an, you don’t even know, do you? Your wife’s heart actually belongs to someone else!

“My dear sister has loved Brother Zi Yu since she was a child. Do you really think she stopped just because she married you?

“She was so desperate for his love that she once wished to trade 20 years of her life for a beautiful face!

“Now that she’s become beautiful, she’ll soon leave you and go find her true love. In the end, you’re nothing to her! Hahaha!”

“Slap!”

A crisp slap cut Ye Xin Yao’s laughter short.

Xiao Huai’an released her, and she collapsed to the ground.

As a crowd began to gather to watch the commotion, Ye Xin Ran spoke up, her tone steady and unyielding:

“Ye Xin Yao, your broken engagement is your own business. Don’t drag me into it.

“Yes, I did have a marriage agreement with Qiao Zi Yu once.

“But wasn’t it you and your mother who schemed and plotted to take it from me?

“To ensure you could marry him, your mother even drugged me and forced me to marry a hunter from the village.

“Have you forgotten all of this?”

Hearing Ye Xin Ran’s words, the crowd began murmuring among themselves.

“The younger sister actually stole the fiancé of the older sister,” someone in the crowd murmured.

“I’ve heard about this. The magistrate’s family and the Ye family had an engagement, and it was originally arranged for their eldest daughter. Later, I don’t know what happened, but the engagement was broken off.”

Xiao Huai’an stood expressionlessly on the side, with only his eyelids twitching slightly.

Ye Xin Ran continued, “Well, I guess I’m just lucky. Zhou Shi tried to force me into a terrible situation, but in the end, I married a man who is a hundred times better than Qiao Zi Yu.

“Ye Xin Yao, do you really think anyone would care about your Zi Yu brother?

“Qiao Zi Yu is not worthy of even holding my husband’s shoes. You broke off the engagement and went after him? Stay away from us and stop making a scene!”

“Ye Xin Ran, you’re talking nonsense! How could you not like Brother Zi Yu? He’s so wonderful! Everything you’re saying now is a lie! Give me back Brother Zi Yu!”

Ye Xin Yao cried and shouted, her behavior looking as though she were about to lose her mind.

Ye Xin Ran ignored her, grabbing Xiao Huai’an’s hand and leading him away from the crowd.

Xiao Huai’an let her lead him, and they both climbed into the carriage.

As the cries continued behind them, Ye Xin Ran sighed. “This family is like flies, no matter how hard you try, you can’t get rid of them.”

“Did you really like that Young Master Qiao?”

Xiao Huai’an asked casually as he guided the horse.

Given that she was willing to trade twenty years of her life to win his favor, she must have liked him a lot.

“Maybe,” Ye Xin Ran pondered her response.

Denying it completely would seem fake, so it was better to go along with this thought.

“I always knew I was betrothed to him, so whenever I thought about the future, I always associated everything with him.

“Over time, I slowly placed him in my heart, hoping he would treat me well.”

She glanced at Xiao Huai’an’s expression, then continued, “But after I married, I realized that it wasn’t him I liked. It was the image I had created of the kind of husband who could protect me and treat me well.

“And this image just so happens to match you perfectly. So of course, the one I truly like is you!”

The sudden confession made Xiao Huai’an’s heart skip a beat.

His grip on the reins tightened involuntarily, causing the horse to whinny.

Xiao Huai’an quickly relaxed his hold on the reins.

After steadying himself, he said, “I didn’t expect to be so perfectly suited to my wife’s requirements. I’m truly honored.”

Ye Xin Ran, who had been sitting in the carriage and talking through the curtain, heard his words. She deliberately leaned half of her body out, placing her face near his ear, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like me?

“Did you have any other engagements before? Any other lovers? Tell me the truth!”