Chapter 31: Might As Well Die

"Ye Xuan! What exactly did you do last night?! How could you cripple Long Tian’s hand!"

Yang Bingyu exploded the moment she saw the news after waking up this morning. She didn’t even have time to change her clothes before she ran straight to Ye Xuan’s door and banged on it frantically.

Still half-asleep from his heavy drinking, Ye Xuan gave Yang Bingyu a somewhat impatient look and said calmly, "I’m regretting it now. I should have just killed him then and there."

Hearing the first half of his sentence, Yang Bingyu thought he was finally seeing reason, but the second half almost made her explode with anger.

"Ye Xuan! Are you out of your mind? Murder is illegal! If you kill Long Tian, you’re done for!"

Looking at Yang Bingyu, who was bristling with rage, Ye Xuan sighed helplessly. He reached out, ruffled her hair, and said confidently, "Relax. A mere Long Family wouldn’t dare do anything to me. It’s still early, so go back and get some more sleep. I’m going back to bed."

With that, Ye Xuan yawned, still looking like he hadn’t fully woken up, then turned and closed the door.

Yang Bingyu stared blankly at the closed door, taking a long time to recover her senses. "You! You’re really pissing me off! Do whatever you want! I don’t care about you anymore!"

She flailed her arms at Ye Xuan’s door, her small face flushed red with anger, and stomped off in a huff.

Inside the room, White Snake stood frowning in front of Ye Xuan. "Dragon Chief, you should have let me handle this."

He had gone to investigate the mole yesterday, so he hadn’t been by Ye Xuan’s side. The moment he returned, he heard that Ye Xuan had crippled Long Tian’s hand. He didn’t object to Ye Xuan’s actions at all, but he disapproved of Ye Xuan doing it himself. After all, Ye Xuan’s current identity was still a secret to the outside world, and provoking the Long Family wasn’t a good thing for him.

"It doesn’t matter. The Long Family is nothing but a bunch of clowns," Ye Xuan said as he sat on the sofa, tiredly rubbing the bridge of his nose. After a brief pause, he asked about the mole in the Yang Family. "How’s the investigation going? Any clues?"

White Snake shook his head, his expression somewhat grave. "The mole in the Yang Family seems to know we’re looking for them. Other than their previous actions, they haven’t made a move these past few days, which makes the investigation a bit difficult. However, we can basically rule out Yang Tian. Out of the entire Yang Family, he is the least likely suspect."

Indeed, Yang Tian and Yang Bingyu were "full siblings." Having grown up together, Yang Tian relied heavily on Yang Bingyu, so it was virtually impossible for him to be the mole.

"Send someone to keep an eye on the Long Family and see what their next move will be," Ye Xuan ordered.

The mole situation couldn’t be rushed; they had to take it slowly. Although the Long Family posed no real threat, they still needed to be watched, especially since Su Xiaobai was backing them.

White Snake gave a soft murmur of acknowledgment and was about to turn and leave, but he seemed to think of something. He hesitated and stopped.

"Is there something else?" Ye Xuan asked in confusion when he saw that the man hadn’t left.

"Dragon Chief, do you need me to help Lin Aoxue?" White Snake asked. Although Ye Xuan hadn’t said anything, White Snake had already guessed the reason behind his heavy drinking at the bar yesterday. It was obvious that Ye Xuan still cared about Lin Aoxue.

Hearing White Snake’s words, Ye Xuan’s expression visibly froze before a hint of sorrow flashed in his eyes. "Leave her alone. The two of us have nothing to do with each other from now on."

White Snake looked at the silent Ye Xuan. His eyes flickered, and with a blur of motion, he vanished.

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, the three-day deadline Su Xiaobai had given Lin Aoxue had passed.

Early in the morning, Lin Guodong came knocking on Lin Aoxue’s door, reminding her to put on beautiful makeup and dress nicely.

Lin Aoxue looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes full of sorrow. Suddenly, she felt as if she couldn’t see a single shred of hope. She didn’t know what the meaning of her existence was. Was she just meant to be a pawn for the Lin Family?

"Aoxue, today is a joyous day. Why the long face?" Lin Jiaxing leaned against the doorframe, looking at Lin Aoxue with a sneer. "As long as you get your marriage certificate with Brother Su today, our Lin Family will become in-laws with the Su Family. You’re in for a life of luxury."

"Get lost!" Looking at his disgusting face made Lin Aoxue furious. She grabbed a bottle of essence serum and hurled it at Lin Jiaxing.

"Heh, you have the energy to yell at me now. I hope you can scream just as loud with Brother Su tonight." Lin Jiaxing wasn’t afraid of Lin Aoxue at all. He simply leaned to the side and dodged the bottle of serum.

Lin Aoxue trembled with rage, her knuckles turning white as she clenched her fists.

"Get out!" She grabbed everything on the table and threw it at him like a madwoman. SMASH! CRASH! A loud series of crashes echoed out as Lin Jiaxing dodged left and right to avoid the barrage, eventually leaving while cursing under his breath.

After venting her anger, Lin Aoxue felt an overwhelming sense of bitterness. A thought suddenly popped into her head, growing stronger by the second: "I might as well just die. No! I can’t die! Lin Aoxue, you must live on!" Realizing she had actually entertained the idea of suicide, Lin Aoxue shook her head vigorously, sternly warning herself in her mind.

She told herself that marrying Su Xiaobai wasn’t that difficult. If she could marry Ye Xuan back then, she could naturally marry Su Xiaobai now.

Time ticked away minute by minute, and the agreed time soon arrived. However, Lin Aoxue didn’t want to move a muscle. She hadn’t even changed her clothes.

When Lin Guodong came upstairs and saw her like this, he flew into a rage and unleashed a torrent of scolding. "Lin Aoxue, do you really want to doom the Lin Family?! Look at what our family has become because of you, yet you’re still sitting here acting all high and mighty! What’s wrong with marrying Su Xiaobai? Other people are lining up for the position of Young Madam, but you’re just being completely ungrateful!"

"Whoever wants to be the Su Family’s Young Madam can go right ahead. I’ll gladly give up the position for them," Lin Aoxue said with a bitter smile, her lower lip already bitten until it bled.

Seeing that the hard approach wasn’t working, Lin Guodong had no choice but to try a softer tactic. He sighed gently, sat down next to Lin Aoxue, and pulled her into a hug.

"Xue’er, Dad knows you feel wronged. But I have no other choice. You know what kind of person Su Xiaobai is even better than I do. If you don’t marry him, our entire Lin Family will suffer the consequences. Your grandmother is already so old; do you really want to put her in the emergency room again?

"You have to marry someone eventually anyway. In all of Jianghai City, who could be more suitable than Su Xiaobai? As long as you marry into the Su Family, our Lin Family will never have to fear being bullied by others again. So don’t overthink it. Just go get the marriage certificate with Su Xiaobai."