Chapter 24

“What?!”

“What do you mean?!”

Ye Xiaoyu’s parents were completely stunned by the sudden news, and even Ye Daya widened her eyes in shock.

Ye Xiaoyu repeated, “Dad, Mom, I’m divorced. It’s been almost three months.”

Ye Mother’s eyes instantly turned red, and her tears fell immediately.

Ye Father no longer kept his usual stern face; his wrinkles scrunched together as he scolded angrily, “You unfilial girl! How could you get divorced? No matter what that Yang boy did wrong, you should have told us. I would’ve taken your brothers to teach him a lesson! How could you just get divorced?!”

“Why not? Would teaching him a lesson change anything? Some people will never change.”

Back when she was pregnant, Ye Xiaoyu had tried hinting at her struggles to her family. They had confronted the Yang family once, but in the end, she was still the one who suffered.

Over the years, her parents must have known their youngest daughter was struggling. But scumbags are scumbags—unless they were cut out entirely, there was no real solution.

“Nowadays, urban women celebrate independence after divorce,” Ye Xiaoyu said proudly. “Look at me—I left that scumbag, eat well, sleep well, feel great, and live happily. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“You’re still boasting?! Being abandoned by a man—how do you expect people to see you?!”

“Dad, you’ve got it all wrong. I was the one who dumped him. He had mistresses everywhere—Xiao San, Xiao Si, Xiao Wu—God knows how many. Some of them were even pregnant. That man is disgusting; even a washing machine couldn’t clean him! How could I still want him? As for what people think—who cares? My real friends are happy for me, and strangers? Why should I care about them? It’s a new era. If a marriage doesn’t work out, just get a divorce. Who knows? One day, divorce might even become a fashionable trend!”

Ye Xiaoyu deliberately used a flippant tone.

In reality, the more you show that you care, the more people will scrutinize you. But if you act indifferent, they start thinking it’s no big deal. Those who want to attack you will eventually give up if they see it doesn’t affect you.

Everyone else: “…”

Forget Ye Father, Ye Mother, and Ye Daya—the ones who already knew, Ye Ermei and Zhao Qing, were also shocked by Ye Xiaoyu’s bold attitude.

Ye Father continued, “And what about Lele? Even if you don’t think about yourself, you should think about him!”

“That man never cared about his child! Not all parents love their kids like you do. Precisely for Lele’s sake, I had to divorce! Now he’s mine—I changed his name to Ye Lexuan. From now on, he belongs to me alone.”

Ye Xiaoyu spread her hands and continued her persuasive speech. “Dad, Mom, you’re only worried that I can’t support Lele. But you don’t have to! That man cheated during the marriage—he was the one at fault, so I had the upper hand when dividing assets. And besides, your daughter isn’t incapable of making money! Let me put it this way: all these years, Yang Ligang didn’t contribute a single cent. I was the one supporting both him and Lele. Impressive, right? He freeloaded off me for so many years—leaving him sooner was better!”

Father and Mother Ye were a bit overwhelmed by what they considered rebellious statements. Ye Ermei and Zhao Qing came back to their senses and helped smooth things over, talking about how great Ye Xiaoyu’s current residence was and even mentioning that she lived next to some celebrity seen on TV.

With that, the matter was temporarily brushed aside.

Throughout the whole conversation, Ye Daya remained silent, occasionally lost in thought, making it impossible for others not to notice.

Ye Ermei asked,
“Daya, you also…”

Ye Daya was startled. She snapped out of her thoughts and, before Ye Ermei could finish, smiled and said, “Second Aunt, you guys continue chatting. I’m fine, really.”

What was there to continue talking about? Hadn’t the conversation already ended?

Everyone knew Ye Daya had something on her mind, but no matter how they asked, she insisted she was fine. Given the generational gap, they couldn’t pry too much into her personal affairs.

Although Ye Daya seemed in much better condition than the original host, Ye Xiaoyu couldn’t help but recall the gas incident. She gave her a pager number—the same one Ye Ermei and the others had. She had also given it to Father and Mother Ye, so it didn’t seem out of place.

When leaving, the elderly couple returned the red envelopes Ye Xiaoyu had given them upon arrival. They firmly refused to accept them. Mother Ye’s envelope even seemed a bit thicker than before.

“…”

Father and Mother Ye were more doubtful than believing about Ye Xiaoyu’s claims, but it was too late to say anything now. She had already been divorced for three months—enough time for that scumbag to possibly bring another woman home and even have a child.

What could they do about it now?

Father Ye puffed on his water pipe, inhaling and exhaling clouds of smoke. “If you can’t manage out there, just come back. What we have plenty of is land. You’ll always have food to eat here.”

“Dad, smoke less… Wait, land?” Ye Xiaoyu was stunned by her father’s confidence. Their village was located right at the boundary of a developing area. Judging by the location, the chances of future demolition and redevelopment were far higher than the chances of it being preserved. Even if it wasn’t demolished, it could be turned into a tourist village. Having plenty of land in Yanjing? That was a surefire path to becoming a real estate tycoon! Her tens of thousands of yuan were nothing compared to that—she could throw them into the river and not even hear a splash. She couldn’t help but respond, “Dad, you said it yourself: we have plenty of land and never run out of food.”

Ye Xiaoyu wasn’t actually thinking about dividing the land. Whatever belonged to Father and Mother Ye was theirs to handle as they pleased. But their wealthier status would only be beneficial to her in the long run.

“I keep my word. When have I ever lied?” Father Ye shot her a look.

He had been doing the calculations in his mind. It was true that they had plenty of land—besides the personal plots they had from the old land distribution system, Ye Dashan had been involved in land contracting. Initially, since it was hard to manage, they had considered leasing or selling some of it.

But now, given what had happened with their daughter, it was better to hold onto it. It could serve as extra security for their daughter and grandson. This generation had endured food shortages, so land was what they valued most. After all, no one could survive without food.

Mother Ye pulled Ye Xiaoyu aside and secretly advised her, “You’re still a woman. A widow’s doorstep is never short of gossip. Now that you’re divorced, if anything happens, don’t keep it to yourself—talk to me about it… And also, you’re still young. If you find someone suitable, consider remarrying. He doesn’t have to be rich, just someone who will accept Lele and treat you well.”

“Got it. If I find someone suitable, I’ll stick to him like glue,” Ye Xiaoyu casually promised, fully aware that she wouldn’t be settling for just anyone. She then added, “Dad, Mom, if you have time next year, you should visit me and see how well I’m living.”

Mother Ye thought it was a good idea but rarely made decisions on her own, so she looked at Father Ye. He exhaled a puff of smoke and said, “Fine. Your mom can stay for a few days and help watch the child.”

As for himself, he wouldn’t go. It wasn’t like they didn’t have sons—two of them, in fact. There was no reason for him to stay at his married daughter’s house, even if she was divorced. That still wasn’t the way things were done.

Ye Xiaoyu and the others took the car back the same way they came. When they reached a fork in the road, Ye Ermei’s family of three got off first.

Before getting off, Tianniu was reluctant to part with her little aunt and Lele, and Lele felt the same about his second aunt, uncle, and cousin. The two little ones teared up, making a pact to spend New Year’s together again next year.

The adults were much more restrained, having long learned to suppress their emotions.

Ye Ermei chuckled at the kids, teasing them as if they hadn’t seen each other for an entire year. They all lived in the same city—wouldn’t they have plenty of chances to meet?

Ye Xiaoyu patted Tianniu’s shoulder and said, “When school starts, Lele and I will visit you there. And don’t forget that New Year’s Eve wish.”

She had already made plans with Ye Ermei to help them assess their business prospects. They had finally decided to start their own business next year, but they were still hesitant about whether to invest in a physical storefront.

Hearing the words “school starts,” Tianniu’s face changed instantly—she hadn’t written a single word of her holiday homework! Besides that, there were countless ink-printed test papers, especially in Chinese, math, and English. Not to mention twenty journal entries for Chinese—there was no way she could finish them all in two or three days!

And wasn’t school starting in twelve days?

She was scared to death!

In an instant, all her sadness about the farewell disappeared.

Little Lele, not quite understanding why his cousin was suddenly acting so strange, simply nodded happily after hearing that he could visit her school.

Back at Huayuan Community, Ye Xiaoyu had to rely on herself for dinner.

She had initially planned to buy some roast duck or cold dishes, but few stores were open during the New Year, especially on the second day of the holiday. At this late hour, even street vendors had packed up and gone home.

Fortunately, there were plenty of leftovers from the previous day. It was cold in winter, and as long as food was wrapped and placed on the storage rack on the unheated balcony, it wouldn’t spoil in just one day. Plus, she had preserved meats, pork cracklings, spicy pickled cabbage, salted duck eggs, and other long-lasting foods—there was no way she would go hungry.

Dinner turned out to be quite a feast. In addition to reheating the leftovers, she also stir-fried some greens and made scrambled eggs with tomatoes. The table was half full.

One adult and one child ate happily.

Starting from the third day of the new year, Ye Xiaoyu resumed her “idle and carefree” routine. After all, she no longer had anyone to visit for New Year’s greetings.

The first thing to do, of course, was to return to a healthy lifestyle. Together with Lele, Ye Xiaoyu adjusted their biological clock, going to bed early and waking up early. In an era without widespread internet access, this was quite simple.

She also resumed her morning exercise.

In the park in the morning, it wasn’t just the elderly exercising—there were also children out playing.

For several days, after finishing her workout, Ye Xiaoyu would be pulled into playing with the children all morning. Because of this, her social circle expanded, and her popularity grew.

One of her neighbors mentioned that her Mandarin was very standard, with little to no Beijing accent, and that she had a good appearance. They suggested she sign up as a children’s program host, as they were currently recruiting.

Though her education level was a bit low, her ability to connect with children was not something just anyone could do. Besides, a lack of education could always be remedied.

Ye Xiaoyu politely declined with a smile. A job at the children’s channel? Would that be the same as playing with kids? She would probably go crazy! Better to leave it to someone with a true passion for it.