Chapter 7: Asking for a King’s Ransom

Seeing that Ye Siran finally opened up, Ye’s father immediately asked gently, “Ranan, whatever you want, Dad will give it to you.”

“Dad, have my sister go clean the room first. I’m going to sleep in there later.”

“Yueyue, hurry up and go,” Ye’s father said, suppressing his excitement, giving his daughter a look that said she needed to behave.

Seeing a chance to act, Ye Ruoyue didn’t hesitate and rushed into the room to start cleaning.

Ye’s mother had never gone against her husband’s decisions, but between her husband and son, she still sided with her son.

“Honey, Weiguo is hungry. Let Yueyue take him to eat first, I’ll clean the room,” she suggested.

“Weiguo can eat by himself. You two clean the room. I need to talk to Ranan,” Ye’s father said, extending his hand—white and wrinkled yet clean—toward Ye Siran. “Ranan, get up.”

“Dad, my hands are dirty. I’ll get up myself,” Ye Siran said, pushing herself up from the floor.

“Ranan, let’s go inside to talk,” Ye’s father said, stepping toward the couple’s bedroom.

“Mm,” Ye Siran replied, following behind him. Her earlier threats were only to get a bit more.

In this life, she absolutely would not marry He Hongwen.

Looking back, both her family and her in-laws had been manipulating her; she was the only one unaware of the plan to get a son.

No—her upright father-in-law didn’t know either. Unfortunately, he had passed away too early.

Uncle He had always favored her, often teaching her that one didn’t need to constantly endure in life.

Even if she had a daughter, it didn’t matter; his eldest son had already given him three grandsons.

Back when Uncle He was alive, Ye Ruoyue was still married but hadn’t divorced yet. She had even had a brief sweet period with He Hongwen.

Ye Ruoyue divorced after eight years of marriage, by which time she and He Hongwen had been married for ten years.

Her father-in-law’s death—whether from illness or from He Hongwen and Ye Ruoyue’s behavior—left her to face the world alone for twenty years.

After he passed, Ye Ruoyue moved with her son to live at her family home. Her mother-in-law treated Ye Ruoyue as her own daughter and her grandson as her own grandchild.

During the day, Ye Ruoyue and He Hongwen worked at the same hospital and went home together afterward. Outsiders assumed they were a couple.

Rumors and gossip spread like wildfire. At first, Ye Siran suffered terribly, often unable to sleep and sometimes crying.

He Hongwen only showed annoyance, scolding her for dirty thoughts, insisting he and Ye Ruoyue were purely friends.

He always frowned at her warnings, forbidding her from speaking at meals, adhering to “eat without speaking, sleep without talking.”

At the time, she felt ashamed, thinking she lacked proper upbringing.

Later, she realized: with the wrong people, speaking up itself is wrong.

They only spent time together eating and sleeping. When those moments weren’t for talking, how could she ever speak to her husband?

Even though she was the wife on the marriage certificate, her life had become a joke.

Recalling the past, Ye Siran’s heart tightened. Now that she had been reborn, she vowed to stay away from these trash people and live a different life.

She had heard that in her past life, her grandparents were buried in the Northwest. She wanted to go find them.

Ye Siran looked up at her hypocritical stepfather. She had entered this family with her mother at the age of five.

From the start, she learned to cook and do laundry. For her mother, she worked tirelessly without complaint.

She survived on simple wild vegetables and corn buns, while being constantly bullied and used by her stepsister and stepbrother.

Ye Ruoyue always claimed her smooth marriage to He Hongwen was thanks to Ye Siran. Out of gratitude, Ye Siran obeyed her completely.

She never knew whether He Hongwen and Ye Ruoyue had slept together, but she had personally seen Ye Ruoyue entangled with her cousin in the He family.

Ye Ruoyue was shameless and reckless, always seducing married men, committing countless misdeeds.

This life, Ye Siran thought, He Hongwen would taste being cuckolded. Thinking of this, she even looked forward to their marriage.

As soon as Ye’s father entered the room, he anxiously asked, “Ranan, are you really willing to give up the engagement with Hongwen?”

“Dad, you know I would never willingly give up, but since my sister has already done that with Hongwen, I don’t want you and Mom to be upset.”

“Dad always knew Ranan was a good, soft-hearted girl. Tell me what you want—if Dad has it, I’ll give it to you.”

Seeing that his stepdaughter was too soft, Ye’s father decided to give her some advantages, thinking it could benefit his own daughter.

“Dad, you know my engagement to Hongwen wasn’t something I forced. If I don’t agree, my sister’s life would be ruined.”

“…”

At that moment, Ye’s father didn’t see his stepdaughter as weak. She was boldly asking for a king’s ransom.

For the first time, he looked at her carefully. “Speak. Anything Dad has, I’ll give you.”

“If I break off the engagement, I’ll have no face staying in the courtyard. I want to go to the Northwest to find my grandparents—you handle everything for me.

Also, give me two thousand yuan, along with some ration tickets and cloth coupons. If my sister wants a university quota from the He family, add another eight hundred.

If she doesn’t want it, I’ll sell the quota to someone else—at least I can get over a thousand.”

Lowering her head, Ye Siran listed her demands. She didn’t even call her father “Dad.” She wasn’t afraid he would refuse—this selfish man had always dreamed of becoming related to the He family.

“Ranan, I can help you find your grandparents, but you’re asking too much…” Ye’s father began.

Ye Siran interrupted, “I don’t necessarily need to find my grandparents. Marrying Hongwen would actually be the best choice.”

“Ha… Ranan is such a filial child. Of course, you want to find your grandparents. Two thousand eight hundred is really too much, but Dad will borrow it,” he said.

Ye Siran knew her father always tried to be the good guy. Any trouble was left for his wife to handle. So he’d stall now and coax her mother later.

“Soon Uncle He and his wife will arrive. If I don’t have the money and tickets, they might convince me to give in…”

“Two thousand eight hundred isn’t too much. Dad will give it to you now.”

Seeing her father turn to get the money, Ye Siran realized she had asked for too little!

Having experienced thirty more years in the future, she knew two thousand now was equivalent to two hundred thousand at the end of her life.

She had underestimated how much her stepfather had and feared asking too much. Truly a miscalculation!

At the door, Ye Ruoyue’s excited voice rang out: “Dad, Uncle He and Aunt He are here!”

“Yueyue, ask Mom to serve the tea first. Dad will be there soon,” Ye’s father shouted, moving faster with his hands.

He brought out the wooden box containing money and tickets and handed it to Ye Siran. He knew it contained 2,791 yuan, 63 cents.

“Ranan, count to see if it’s enough. All this money and tickets are yours. Dad will go greet the guests. You know what to say later.”

“Don’t worry, Dad. I know what to say,” Ye Siran said, looking at the bundles in the box with a sincerity that was almost touching.