Chapter 25

“I certainly remember, but why would I bother with someone like her?”

Zhao Qingqing was already feeling an uncontrollable excitement, thinking about what was going to happen that night.

Liu Xiangxiang took a deep breath, unsure of what to say.

—-

When Ye Yao got home, she collapsed on the floor, too exhausted to move. Her legs were trembling so much that she couldn’t even stand up.

Zhang Qiufeng was startled and quickly rushed to help her.

But no matter how hard she tried, Ye Yao remained motionless on the ground.

In the end, even Ye Yao gave up. With her 200-pound body, how could an average person possibly lift her?

“Mom, let me catch my breath. I’ll be fine in a little while.”

Zhang Qiufeng looked at her flushed face and the difficulty she had speaking, her heart aching as her eyes welled up with tears.

Before, when Ye Yao never mentioned losing weight, Zhang Qiufeng never thought of her as fat. After all, a little extra weight on a girl was considered good fortune.

But now, she suddenly realized—had she been wrong all along?

“Yao Yao, it’s my fault. If I had controlled your weight earlier, maybe—”

“Mom, what are you talking about? I was just greedy with food. But don’t worry, I have confidence. I’ll lose weight within a year!”

She said this to reassure Zhang Qiufeng, but it was also a goal she set for herself.

Even though she wasn’t entirely sure she could achieve it.

Zhang Qiufeng turned away to secretly wipe her tears.

She only wanted her daughter to be healthy.

“Mom, can you boil a pot of hot water for me? I want to take a bath later.”

Ye Yao didn’t want to see her feeling guilty, so she quickly changed the subject to distract her.

“Alright, I’ll go right now. But you—”

Zhang Qiufeng was extremely worried. The ground was so hard and uncomfortable.

“I’m fine, just go.” Ye Yao urged.

Watching Zhang Qiufeng leave to boil water, Ye Yao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After about five or six minutes, she regained some strength and struggled to get up from the floor.

Every inch of her body ached from the extra weight.

Not long after, she soaked herself in warm water, feeling so comfortable she almost let out a sound of relief.

Say what you will, but her mother truly doted on her. She gave Ye Yao everything she could.

Since she had been overweight since childhood, she was particularly sensitive to heat and had to bathe several times a day. Otherwise, she would break out in heat rashes. To make things easier for her, Zhang Qiufeng had even hired a carpenter to build an oversized wooden bathtub just for her.

It was made when she was thirteen, and even now, it was still barely big enough for her to use.

Closing her eyes, she started planning for the night ahead.

This time, she couldn’t allow for any mistakes. She had to resolve most of her troubles in one go.

After that, she and her mother could finally live a peaceful life.

Ye Yao had calculated everything—except for one unexpected visitor in the evening: Shen Yun.

When Shen Yun arrived, Zhang Qiufeng was so shocked that she dropped the rolling pin in her hands.

Although their families had once been engaged and had been close friends over a decade ago, that was all in the past.

In all these years, she and Shen Yun had barely crossed paths in the courtyard. And whenever they did, Zhang Qiufeng deliberately avoided her.

The gap between them was like heaven and earth. Meeting only made things more awkward.

“You… Why are you here?”

Zhang Qiufeng’s voice trembled as she asked, immediately thinking that Shen Yun must have heard the rumors going around and had come to confront her.

Realizing this, she hung her head low, almost pressing it against her chest, not daring to meet Shen Yun’s gaze…