Chapter 45

“Did you bring the admission notice?” Liu Lizhen asked as gently as she could. “Take it out and let me see it. Let me be happy for a bit too.”

Then, coaxing her further, she added, “Your father and I have prepared the living expenses for your university studies. I know students get subsidies, but if you want to live a little better, you still have to be willing to spend.”

In truth, Liu Lizhen had no intention of giving anything. She was only sweet-talking, trying to soothe her.

“Oh…” Ye Wanqing nodded and reached for the bag beside her.

Liu Lizhen’s heart leapt with joy, her eyes fixed intently on her. Unfortunately, just as Ye Wanqing’s fingers were about to touch the shoulder bag, she suddenly stopped. Liu Lizhen’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.

“Mom, I heard that you went to my school almost every day for a while, always asking whether my admission notice had arrived. Is that true?”

“…” Liu Lizhen’s expression shifted. “I… I just wanted to see your notice sooner so I could feel at ease.”

“But…” Ye Wanqing pressed her lips together, looking troubled. “Yesterday, Uncle took two people to stop me. They not only wanted to rob me of my money, they also wanted to snatch the admission notice I was carrying… Uncle said you told him to rob me. Is that true?”

Although it was framed as a question, Ye Wanqing’s almond eyes were moist, filled with a touch of hurt and clear disbelief. She clearly did not want to believe it.

Liu Lizhen’s heart pounded wildly. She slammed the table hard. “I’m your mother! How could I do something like that? You know what kind of person your uncle is. He’s a good-for-nothing who makes things up with a red mouth and white teeth, trying to drive a wedge between mother and daughter!”

“Then what was going on?”

“It was…” Liu Lizhen pushed everything onto Liu Guanghui. “Sigh, when it comes down to it, your uncle wronged you. That Ye Guoqiang from the water conservancy bureau has some background, and he just happens to know your uncle. When he heard you scored so well, he wanted his daughter to take your university place. He gave your uncle some money and told him to get your admission notice.”

Ye Wanqing flared up at once. “How could Uncle do that? I’m his own niece! That’s breaking the law!”

“Exactly!”

“No. I’m going to the public security bureau.” Ye Wanqing made as if to stand. “Luckily I was careful. Once I knew someone was after my notice, I left it at home. Otherwise I would have been afraid of being robbed even carrying it with me!”

Originally, seeing Ye Wanqing about to leave, Liu Lizhen had wanted to snatch it by force. Now that she knew there was nothing to snatch, she could only switch to soothing her.

After a long back-and-forth, Liu Lizhen talked until her mouth was dry. Only then did Ye Wanqing sit back down, still fuming.

Liu Lizhen said, “Your uncle was forced into a corner… Wanqing, right now the only person who can save your uncle is you. No matter what, he’s still your uncle. You can’t just watch him die, can you? Give me the notice so Ye Guoqiang won’t cause trouble. Your uncle will be grateful to you for the rest of his life.”

“Then what about me?”

“You’re so capable. Taking the exam again next year would be the same, wouldn’t it?”

Ye Wanqing refused to yield. “What if I don’t get in next year? What is Uncle to me? He’s not my parents. He never raised me for a single day. I’d be happy to see him get what he deserves! I’m going to the public security bureau right now!”

Liu Lizhen did not dare let her go to the bureau. Hearing Ye Wanqing’s words, she felt the girl still cared about family ties. She steeled herself and said, “Wanqing, just treat it as saving me. Your uncle dragged me into this mess too!”

Ye Wanqing: “And how did that happen?”

Once the conversation started, the rest became easier.

Only Liu Lizhen still did not tell the full truth.

In her version, Ye Guoqiang had first come to their home. She and Ye Xiangdang had firmly refused at the start. But Liu Guanghui learned of it. Because he owed gambling debts outside, he knelt and begged her. She couldn’t bear to see her only brother beaten to death, so she reluctantly made the deal with Ye Guoqiang.

After exchanging the admission notice for five thousand yuan, every last bit of that money was taken by Liu Guanghui, leaving only a mess for her, the older sister, to clean up.

Ye Wanqing: “How could you be so muddle-headed!”

“It was all your uncle’s fault!”

“There’s no evidence anyway. Just deny that you took the five thousand.”

“But Ye Guoqiang has such a big background. He won’t let us off! Besides…” Liu Lizhen gritted her teeth. “When I took that five thousand, I also signed a receipt. It clearly stated that the admission notice was exchanged for five thousand yuan, and if it wasn’t delivered I would have to pay ten thousand in compensation… That receipt is still in Ye Guoqiang’s hands!”

“You signed your own name?”

“…Yes.”

Ye Wanqing suddenly spoke. “It wasn’t really Uncle forcing you, was it? You had your own thoughts too, right? If not, why would Ye Guoqiang make you sign a receipt? I’m not a fool! I can make concessions on some things, but I need to know the truth… If you don’t tell the truth, I’ll go to the public security bureau right now and have you confront Uncle face to face!”

“Wanqing!” Liu Lizhen’s face twisted. Both hands clenched the seams of her trousers tightly. “Wanqing… yes, I admit that at the time I was a bit blinded by money and greedy for those five thousand, but after all you’re my daughter. I was also doing it for your own good.”

Then she repeated the line about how Ye Wanqing would certainly get in if she took the exam again next year, but five thousand yuan was hard to earn in a single year… Her heart grew more and more panicked. Seeing Ye Wanqing still not responding, she talked more and more.

“Oh…” Ye Wanqing finally nodded, though she still kept her head lowered, looking thoughtful.

Liu Lizhen paid no attention to her expression and only kept urging her. “Wanqing, I know you’re a good child. This time Mom and Uncle lost our heads. You won’t just stand by and watch us die, will you?”

“I will.” Ye Wanqing suddenly raised her head. There was a mocking smile in her eyes, along with deep helplessness.

Liu Lizhen froze.

What did that mean?

She soon found out.

The wooden partition of the small teahouse was pushed open. Ge Yuan walked in with several people.

His cold, sharp black eyes scraped across Liu Lizhen like knives, making her tremble all over. The people following closely behind Ge Yuan made her face go completely bloodless.

One was the station master of the bus station. Another wore a public security uniform. She even saw familiar faces of neighbors from Hongxing Village.

It was over…

Truly over!

“Ye Wanqing, you tricked me!” Even someone as slow as Liu Lizhen now understood she had been set up. Thinking of everything she had just said, her face twisted as she shouted and lunged at Ye Wanqing.

But the moment she moved, the tall Ge Yuan stepped in front of Ye Wanqing, seized the arm she stretched out, and shoved hard. Liu Lizhen crashed into the chair, rolled onto the floor with a thud, and turned pale from the pain.

Ye Wanqing politely greeted each person one by one. Station Master Chen and the neighbors from Hongxing Village had all watched her grow up. Their eyes full of sympathy, they comforted her with several words.

She walked over to Officer Zhou. “Officer Zhou, please take people to search Ye Guoqiang’s house. You might find the receipt as evidence. With both physical evidence and witnesses, Ye Guoqiang won’t be able to deny it even if he wants to.”

“Yes!” Officer Zhou nodded righteously. “Better early than late. I’ll go right now!”

As public servants of the people, this was what they ought to do!

Officer Zhou waved a hand. Two men immediately came over and restrained Liu Lizhen.

As she was led out of the teahouse, Liu Lizhen saw more and more familiar faces from the bus station and neighbors from Hongxing Village. Knowing that so many people had witnessed her disgrace today, she realized she would have no face left afterward. Her psychological defenses collapsed at once and she began wailing loudly.

While crying she also cursed Ye Wanqing.

She had no idea that things far more terrifying than losing face were still waiting for her.

—

Arresting Ye Guoqiang on the spot could not wait. Officer Zhou immediately led a team to Ye Guoqiang’s home.

Ye Guoqiang was not there. Ye Xiaomei and her mother, who were at home, were quickly restrained. Before long, Officer Zhou’s men found the “receipts” in a cabinet in the master bedroom.

When they opened them, there turned out to be two receipts—an unexpected bonus.

It turned out that when Ye Guoqiang learned Ye Wanqing had scored so well—not only the county top scholar but also the provincial top scholar—and that Third Middle School had even beaten gongs and drums and set off firecrackers at the Ye family’s little courtyard, making the whole county know about it, he grew wary.

If his own daughter took Ye Wanqing’s place, he was afraid it would be far too conspicuous.

So he set his sights on another girl surnamed Ye.

That girl was called Ye Xiaowen. Her scores were not particularly good—just barely enough to get into university—which only barely satisfied Ye Guoqiang.

But because Ye Xiaowen’s family was rather poor and her relatives had little worldly experience, they sold the university place for five hundred yuan. It did not cost Ye Guoqiang much, so he reluctantly accepted it.

Officer Zhou handcuffed Ye Xiaomei and her mother and took them to the public security bureau, making sure all the Ye family’s neighbors knew.

When Ye Guoqiang returned and heard the news, he nearly choked on his breath and was scared half to death.

He immediately rushed to the public security bureau.

Just like Ye Guoqiang, the moment Ye Xiangdang heard that Liu Lizhen had been arrested for privately buying and selling a university place, he was so angry his whole body trembled and his face turned terrifyingly dark.

He had just picked up the old comrades who were coming to attend Ye Wanqing’s promotion banquet from the bus and had not even had time to take them home to sit for a while when he heard this news. It was utterly humiliating!

Taking a deep breath, Ye Xiangdang looked at the four or five comrades beside him and forced a smile. “Sorry, something’s come up at home. Come, I’ll take you to the house first to sit for a bit. Once I’ve handled the matter I’ll come back and drink a couple of cups with you properly.”

These comrades knew Ye Xiangdang’s face-conscious nature and certainly did not want them to go watch any spectacle. Still, they also felt uncomfortable staying in someone else’s house while the host was away.

Right away, an older comrade smiled and said, “On the way I saw a teahouse outside the bus station. Why don’t we brothers go over there for a cup of tea? Xiangdang, you go handle things first.”

“…Alright! But the tea money—none of you are allowed to fight me for it.”

Ye Xiangdang had no time for more courtesies. He hurriedly settled the comrades at Auspicious Teahouse and rode his bicycle full speed toward the public security bureau. A man in his forties or fifties, he threw all his usual mildness and steadiness to the wind.

What he did not know was that Auspicious Teahouse was the very first place that had witnessed Liu Lizhen’s complete loss of face. The teahouse boss was no storyteller, yet when he recounted what had just happened he was vivid and lively. He was already preparing to use it as conversation material for a while.

Ye Xiangdang did not want his comrades to know the family’s disgraceful affairs, yet these comrades happened to hear every detail and their impression of him dropped sharply.

—

When Ye Xiangdang arrived at the public security bureau with a black face, he saw from a distance that quite a few people were gathered at the entrance, pointing and commenting about what was happening inside.

Moving closer, he could faintly hear Liu Lizhen’s wailing. The sound made his scalp tingle.

“Make way, please make way!”

After receiving more than a few dirty looks, Ye Xiangdang struggled to squeeze through the crowd. At a glance he saw Liu Lizhen sitting on the ground like a shrew, crying and making a scene at the top of her lungs.

Then he saw Station Master Chen of the bus station standing beside her, along with several familiar neighbors from Hongxing Village. Ye Xiangdang’s head immediately buzzed. He felt the blood in his body surging wave after wave toward his brain, making him dizzy and light-headed.

Just then Liu Lizhen spotted him and, as if seeing a savior, grabbed his trouser leg and wailed, “Xiangdang, hurry and save me! I’m wronged! I don’t want to go to prison! I don’t want to go to prison!”

If you don’t want to go to prison, then don’t do those rotten things!

Ye Xiangdang’s face flushed red as he pried Liu Lizhen’s hands away. He wished he could crawl into a crack in the ground and ignore everything, but he could not. His cautious nature forced him to first calm Liu Lizhen down so she would stop making a scene. He himself said nothing and simply watched how things developed.

The small public security bureau was extremely lively.

In a little county town there were rarely major events. Today counted as real news, and the crowd outside the bureau was packed three layers deep and could not be driven away.

Not only had Ye Guoqiang and Ye Xiangdang arrived today, Ye Xiaowen’s family had also been summoned. Ge Yuan was quick-witted and had brought Liu Guanghui and the other two over at the first opportunity so all four sides could confront one another.

At first Ye Xiaowen’s family, afraid of taking responsibility, stubbornly refused to admit they had sold the admission notice. But when Ye Wanqing signaled the officers to lay out the two receipts found in Ye Guoqiang’s house, Ye Xiaowen’s mother suddenly flew into a rage.

Why could that other family get five thousand while theirs only got five hundred?

That was a full tenfold difference!

The more Ye Xiaowen’s mother thought about it, the angrier she became. She slapped her thigh and cursed at the top of her lungs, “No conscience at all! They gave the other family five thousand and only gave us five hundred! Comrade officer, it was this family—the one surnamed Ye and her daughter—who came and forced us to sell my daughter’s notice. I want to report them!”

“Bullshit!” Ye Xiaomei stamped her foot. “What do you mean we forced your family? You were clearly willing yourselves!”

“Ye Xiaomei, shut up!” Ye Guoqiang hurriedly scolded her, but it was already too late.

With that as the breakthrough, the whole sequence of events quickly became crystal clear and was laid out plainly before everyone.

Ye Guoqiang’s family had indeed intended to take someone’s university place by substitution. But one hand cannot clap alone. If Ye Xiaowen’s family and Ye Wanqing’s family had refused, things would never have reached this point.

In short, Ye Guoqiang was not innocent, but Ye Xiaowen’s family and Liu Lizhen were not innocent in the slightest either.

Especially Liu Lizhen—after failing to get the notice, she had even sent Liu Guanghui with thugs to rob Ye Wanqing… A mother like that truly opened people’s eyes.

They would have to pay the price for what they had done. Prison was certain!

After hearing the full truth, Ye Xiangdang’s face turned red then white. He stared in disbelief at Liu Lizhen, who was still wailing loudly and begging him to think of a way, as if he were meeting her for the first time.

He truly had never imagined that after repeatedly telling her to make peace with Ye Wanqing and even telling her to arrange the promotion banquet, she would “arrange” it into this!

While Ye Xiangdang’s mind was still spinning, Station Master Chen walked over to him. “Old Ye, your family has had a lot of trouble lately. You look pretty bad too. Why don’t you take some time off work and rest properly at home?”

“Wh-what?” Ye Xiangdang looked up.

Station Master Chen sighed. “Just retire. I remember you’re already in your forties or fifties—no longer young. Resting at home to take care of your health would be good. Besides, your daughter has already taken over your job, so you don’t need to worry about her anymore.”

What “no longer young”? Today he was not even forty-five, still in his prime!

Talk of retiring to rest was just a polite way of saying he was being dismissed—fired!

Ye Xiangdang’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

He looked at Liu Lizhen, who was acting like a madwoman, then at Ye Wanqing, whose expression was blank and whose eyes were cold, then at the surrounding gazes that were either contemptuous or simply watching the show. Suddenly his steps faltered. He staggered back a step or two, spat out a mouthful of blood, and toppled straight backward.

Ye Mingzhu, who had hurriedly squeezed her way to the entrance of the public security bureau, arrived just in time to see this scene. She immediately shouted “Dad!” her face changing with panic.

Once she understood the situation, Ye Mingzhu called out to Liu Lizhen through tears, “Mom, how could you do something like this?”

“What did I do?” Even her most beloved younger daughter was speaking to her this way. Liu Lizhen collapsed and spoke without thinking. “Now you’re looking down on me as your mother? When I brought the money home, you didn’t use any less of it! When you used the money you never asked where it came from, but now you’re blaming me. Do you have any conscience?”

Ye Mingzhu bit her lip hard, tears streaming down her face.

But at the time she truly had not known that the money had come from the family “selling” her older sister’s admission notice. If she had known, she definitely would have stopped it!

Both mother and daughter felt wronged, yet both forgot that Ye Xiangdang was still lying on the ground.

“Enough.” Ye Wanqing stepped forward. “Someone has fainted and we still don’t know the situation. First take him to the hospital for a look.”

Ge Yuan disagreed. He frowned and asked, “Why should you have to worry about this?”

Ye Wanqing shook her head. “I’m not getting involved. I’m only reminding them so that if something happens they can’t pin it on me.”

Only then did Ge Yuan nod.

A person fainting was no small matter, especially fainting at the public security bureau.

Seeing that Liu Lizhen and Ye Mingzhu were unreliable, the bureau quickly sent people to take Ye Xiangdang to the hospital. As for the medical fees, that was no longer their concern. Making the trip was already more than enough goodwill.

Ye Wanqing then raised her eyes toward Liu Lizhen and spoke calmly. “Things have reached this point. We can no longer continue as a so-called family… I was adopted by you to begin with. All these years I’ve seen that you never had much feeling for me. From now on I’ll go back to the Wei family.”

“What do you mean?” Liu Lizhen’s eyes looked ready to split. “I raised you for more than ten years and now you just say you don’t acknowledge me?”

Ye Mingzhu also wept, begging Ye Wanqing not to speak in anger.

“It’s not that I refuse to acknowledge you. It’s that every single thing you’ve done is not something a mother should do.” Ye Wanqing shook her head. “Ask the people around you—did you truly treat me as a daughter? In food, clothing, and daily life you didn’t shortchange me, but over the years I did no small amount of housework at home. After I started working I even handed over my entire monthly wages…”

“That little bit of money wasn’t enough. Do you think raising you for more than ten years was only worth that much?”

Finally bringing the conversation to this point, Ye Wanqing asked, “Then how much do you think is appropriate?”

“Fi… five thousand. At least five thousand!” Liu Lizhen’s mind turned. She figured that if she paid back these five thousand, she might not have to go to prison.

“Alright.” Ye Wanqing agreed. “Five thousand to buy out these eighteen years of raising. Two hundred a month, paid off in two years. As they say, wealth should not…”

“No! What two years? Give it all to me today!” Liu Lizhen objected in a sharp voice.

Her eyes narrowed. She felt she had asked for too little and demanded even more shamelessly, “Five thousand is too little. Do you think raising a child is that easy? The Ye family had such good conditions—how can it be the same as those mud-legged people in the countryside? Ten thousand. You must give me ten thousand! As long as you give me ten thousand, from then on you’ll have nothing to do with the Ye family. Go back to your Wei family!”

The moment these shameless words left her mouth, the crowd erupted in an uproar.

Ten thousand at this time was enough to raise several children well even in the provincial capital, let alone in the county town! Only someone as thick-skinned as Liu Lizhen would dare say such a thing!

Before Ye Wanqing could speak, Ge Yuan seized her wrist and answered directly, “Ten thousand it is. I’ll pay it! But once you take this money, Ye Wanqing will have nothing more to do with your Ye family. If any of you dare come looking for her again, you’re welcome to try how hard my fists really are!”

Ge Yuan gave a look. Monkey immediately turned and went back for the money.

People in those days still did not fully trust banks, so keeping money at home was not surprising. Before long Monkey returned with a thick stack of bills and stuffed it straight into Ye Mingzhu’s arms.

Ye Xiangdang was in the hospital. Liu Lizhen was about to be detained. Right now the only person who could take the money was Ye Mingzhu.

“Sister…” Ye Mingzhu clutched the money in bewilderment, looking as if she had lost her soul. She gazed pitifully at Ye Wanqing, but Ye Wanqing did not spare her even a glance.

She no longer begged Ye Wanqing not to be angry. Perhaps she also knew that once things had reached this point there was no going back, and saying anything more would be useless.

In the end Ge Yuan had Monkey take her home. Ye Mingzhu bit her lip and could only walk away looking back every three steps.

—

The farce was basically over.

Ye Xiaowen’s admission notice was returned to her. The thin little girl cried hard. No one knew whether it was from the relief of being able to study or from fear of the sudden change in her family.

Ye Xiaowen’s parents and Liu Lizhen were held at the public security bureau awaiting punishment. They would certainly not get off lightly.

As for Ye Guoqiang, who had used his power to bully people and had been exposed with such an ugly impact, he would certainly never hold office again and would also spend several years in prison.

Finally using ten thousand yuan to settle everything with the Ye family, Ye Wanqing also felt a weight lift from her chest.

Although today’s events had been arranged by her to turn their scheme against them, the way things developed had also exceeded her expectations…

Forget it. Let it be.

Before leaving, Ye Wanqing asked Station Master Chen of the bus station and several of the witnesses she had invited to look after Ye Mingzhu a little more.

Earlier she had said she would give the Ye family money in monthly installments because she did not want to flaunt wealth and bring disaster on them. Privately, if they wanted to take it all at once they could. It was her last consideration for them, yet Liu Lizhen had not appreciated it at all.

Now that the money was in Ye Mingzhu’s hands, and she was a young girl staying at home alone while Ye Xiangdang and Liu Lizhen were both away, Ye Wanqing also worried something might happen to her.

Wealth moves people’s hearts. Who knew what might occur?

She was not some kind of saint, but she would not fail to give even a single reminder. After all, even though Ye Mingzhu was a bit willful and had a bit of a temper, she had never done anything that truly wronged her.

—

After cutting ties with the Ye family, the Wei family felt mixed emotions. Wei Huainong and Liu Lixiu treated Ye Wanqing carefully, not knowing how she viewed the Wei family or whether she wanted to return to them.

For Ge Yuan it was pure joy.

With those damned troubles resolved, it was time to start arranging the wedding! The matchmaker’s words were already there, and now the parents’ consent was there too. Everything was complete!

He was getting married!

Right away!