There was a moment of dead silence in the living room.
Su Yuan followed his line of sight and saw Ning Li pushing the door open and entering. Her expression was extremely calm.
Ye Cheng’s words made her extremely embarrassed. After a long while, she finally said, “Ning Li, you’re back.”
Ning Li gave a faint “Hmm” and raised her feet to walk upstairs. It was as if she did not care about what had just happened.
However, the more she acted like this, the more upset Su Yuan became.
This was because everyone in the family knew that Ye Cheng was right.
His words had been blunt to the point of piercing the ear, directly piercing through the layer of disguise on the surface and tearing apart the seemingly complete painting, leaving no room for anyone.
Ever since Ning Li had entered Yunzhou Second High School, she had gotten first place in all the examinations and had even gotten full marks in the National Physics Competition.
Such results were indeed excellent.
She was even much better than Ye Ci had ever been in the past.
In order to train Ye Ci, the Ye family had invested a lot of money and energy.
Dancing, painting, equestrian…
They had hoped that she would become one of the best among the daughters of the Yunzhou aristocratic families.
She had been repeatedly praised by others so often, that both Su Yuan and Ye Ming had felt so proud.
However, Su Yuan could not accept Ning Li’s excellence in peace.
For ten years, for a whole decade, she had forced herself to forget that she still had this daughter. She had not returned to Lincheng even once and had vowed to cut off her whole past.
That failed marriage had only left her with embarrassment and humiliation.
Those were the days that she did not want to recall in her life.
She only wanted to live a relaxed and decent life as Mrs. Ye.
However, Ning Li had finally made a reappearance.
In the ten years of her absence, Ning Li had grown up to become what she was today.
Ning Li was very outstanding. With such results, she was the envy of countless people.
However, what did that have to do with her? What did it have to do with the Ye Family?
Ning Li was her daughter, but everyone knew that custody had fallen to her and she had needed to take her over only because she was underage.
As for the Ye family…
Ning Li was not a daughter of the Ye family.
She had nothing to do with the Ye family at all.
Looking at the slender and straight back, Su Yuan pursed her lips and frowned at Ye Cheng.
“She is her, and you are you! Do you still have the mood to think about this? Your class teacher said that your grades have dropped again recently!”
…
Ning Li walked to the second floor and left Su Yuan’s reprimand and Ye Cheng’s rebellion behind.
She did not even turn her head. She was too lazy to bother.
When she passed Ye Ci’s room, she heard someone talking inside.
Ye Ming had recently helped Ye Ci to hire a tutor to help her study and prepare for studying abroad.
Ye Ci had no hope of going to a good university in the country.
Fortunately, the Ye family still had family resources and connections. With more effort and means, they could help her apply for a university with a good ranking abroad.
Ye Ci had been very quiet recently.
On one hand, her physical and mental state were not very good, and she was recuperating in all aspects.
On the other hand, she was busy with preparations to study abroad.
After the initial breakdown and craziness, she had also realized that this was the last option for her at the moment.
Ning Li went to school early and left late. Ye Ci was also busy. Although they lived in the same house, the number of times they encountered each other was not much, and communication was almost down to zero.
Everything seemed to have returned to calmness.
Ning Li glanced at the door. Without stopping, she went back to her room.
…
April 17th, Monday.
Noon, the Lu family.
Lu Huaiyu was having lunch with Old Master Lu.
Old Master Lu kept muttering, “You only came back for one day this time. Your birthday is not even over yet, and you’re going back to Yunzhou?”
Lu Huaiyu responded with a “Hmm”.
Old Master Lu knew that he did not like people, so he did not mention having a big birthday party.
However, he could not help but feel reluctant to let him leave just like that.
“Sigh.”
Old Master Lu let out a long sigh.
“Your parents and your brother are each busier than the last. It’s not easy for you to come back this time, yet you’re leaving again now.”
Before Lu Huaiyu could speak, a message popped up on his phone.
It was from Ning Li.
[ Second Brother, do you have the first edition of Gai Nie’s ‘Sunspot’? ]
Lu Huaiyu and his thin lips twitched.
[ It’s in Yunding Fenghua study, the third floor of the westernmost bookshelf. You can go and get it yourself. ]
After sending the message, he put down his phone and picked up a piece of brisket. Then, he said unhurriedly, “Ah Li wants to celebrate my birthday.”
“You said you– What!?”
Old Master Lu was instantly energized.
“Really?”
Lu Huaiyu said, “Hmm.”.
Otherwise, he would not be going back today.
Old Master Lu turned his head to look at Fang Qingyun.
“Qingyun? Qingyun! What time did you say the flight was for Huaiyu? It’s at three o’clock, right? Quick, can you see if there’s an earlier flight? Can we change the booking?”
Lu Huaiyu, “…”
Fang Qingyun was in a difficult position:
“Old Master, it’s too late to get an earlier one now.”
Old Master Lu put down his chopsticks and urged.
“Don’t eat, don’t eat! Hurry up and leave! Where’s your luggage? Oh right, you didn’t bring it, right? That’s good, hurry up and leave!”
Lu Huaiyu, “…”
He swallowed the beef brisket and saw Old Master Lu standing at the door, the door wide open.
“Eh? Why aren’t you leaving yet? Hurry up and go back for your birthday!”
Lu Huaiyu closed his eyes and pressed between his brows, resigned to his fate:
“Got it.”
…
After the afternoon classes ended, Ning Li applied for the evening self-study leave.
She went to the supermarket to buy some things before taking a taxi to Yunding Fenghua.
The villa was pitch black since Lu Huaiyu had not returned yet.
She entered the password, pushed the door, and entered.
