CH 66

Jiang Yijun finally turned and left in anger, preparing to rush back overnight to find Fan Qiuyue: “I’m too lazy to argue with you! I still have something to do now! Dad, I’m leaving now, you can go home with your assistant tomorrow.”

After watching him leave, Jiang Fugui didn’t follow out. Instead, he shook his head, sat on the sofa again, raised his hand, and patted his shoulder.

“Grandpa, I’ll beat your shoulders!” Ye Kehuan immediately walked around behind him when she saw it, and beat him on his shoulders with great enthusiasm.

“Ohhhhh, good, very comfortable. Jiang Fugui grinned openly.

“Grandpa, here is some tea.” Jiang Laien also opened a drawer, pulled out a packet of tea, boiled the water and soaked it, poured a small cup, and handed it to Jiang Fugui.

“Delicious, delicious.” Jiang Fugui gave a thumbs up.

Ye Kehuan changed her technique: “Grandpa, I really didn’t expect that you would agree with us.”

Jiang Fugui smiled and shook his head: “Do you know what I am most afraid of when I’ve lived to this age?”

Ye Kehuan tilted her head: “What?”

“Of course its death.” Jiang Fugui said.

“Grandpa, you are such a good person, you’ll live on and on and on and on until a thousand years!” That topic was a bit heavy, and Ye Kehuan couldn’t even think about it.

Jiang Laien, who had been clearing up the coffee table, also paused.

“Haha,” Jiang Fugui laughed loudly, “A thousand-year-old tortoise, I am neither a bastard nor a tortoise.” 1

Ye Kehuan gave a light cough, “I just think that kind of thing must be very far away.”

Jiang Fugui laughed: “I just want to say that what I fear most now is death. No person, rich or poor, famous or unknown, will ever escape death. For all things, it’s all about life and death, there’s no need to dig out the details. Happiness is the most important thing. Otherwise, your whole life will be in vain. Since you are going to die anyway, why not choose what you like while you are living, why should you embarrass yourself, right?”

Jiang Laien nodded gently. She had liked chatting with her grandfather since she was a child. Every time she chatted with the old man, she felt like her heart was soothed. Jiang Fugui had such a magical power.

“If you like money, then make money. If you like to travel around the mountains and play, then go out. If you don’t want to get married, then don’t get married. If you like a girl, then chase her. It’s a simple truth, but unfortunately, some people just don’t understand it. It should be like this, but many ignore it and don’t choose to be themselves. As long as they don’t commit crimes, it should be their own business, and outsiders are not qualified to interfere.” After Jiang Fugui finished speaking, he laughed happily.

Ye Kehuan nodded: “As expected of Grandpa, what you said makes sense.”

Jiang Fugui smiled: “It’s not difficult. This is probably the perception I have from living for so long. So, I also hope that the people I love, like my granddaughter, can have what they really want. Happiness. Let every smile be a smile from the heart. If that is the case, I will be satisfied.”

Ye Kehuan nodded: “Well, Grandpa, don’t worry, I will treat Laien well in the future, and make her smile brighter day by day.”

Jiang Laien sat next to him, laughed, and then felt her nose was slightly sore because she was touched. Holding Jiang Fugui’s arm, Jiang Laien leaned her head on his shoulder: “Sure enough, Grandpa is the best.”

“Hey, of course!” Jiang Fugui was not modest.

Then, the room burst into laughter.

In the middle of the night, the two of them returned to their villa after sending Grandpa Jiang back to the hotel together.

“Your mom really wants to divorce your dad?” Ye Kehuan picked up the barbecue machine on the table and walked to the kitchen.

“Well, she has actually thought about it for several years, but she hadn’t made up her mind.” After Jiang Laien threw the food residue on the table into the trash can, she followed Ye Kehuan with the plates.

“Yes, it must be very tiring to spend time with someone like your dad.” After Ye Kehuan disassembled the barbecue machine, she picked up the soap and prepared to clean it.

“It’s more than tiring, she always wanted to cry but had no tears. So in the early years, my mother had been working hard to develop her career and strive for complete independence. That way, a divorce wouldn’t ruin her quality of life. Later, she became independent. Maybe it’s because she’s getting older, and she thought it was okay if they didn’t bother each other. But in recent years, my dad has become more and more weird, and she really can’t stand it. This time it’s probably because she heard what your mother said, so she really made up her mind,” Jiang Laien also rolled up her sleeves, “the two of them should settle it soon.”

Ye Kehuan nodded: “He really hurt you and your mother.”

Jiang Laien smiled and shook her head: “It’s okay, anyway, I met you.”

Ye Kehuan couldn’t help but laugh when she heard that: “That’s great, so now, we can say that we have successfully come out at your house?”

“We should…” Jiang Laien squeezed the plate and nodded, “I think we can. If my mother disagreed, she would directly ask my dad to put me on and then chat with me.”

Jiang Laien was quite aware of her mother’s temperament.

“That’s great.” Ye Kehuan couldn’t help sighing again, and then let out another sigh of relief.

At that time, while rushing to the airport, Jiang Yijun received a message from his secretary. The phone number of Ye Kehuan’s father, Ye Bingquan, was displayed on it.

Jiang Fugui was right, what he said was nothing, but if Ye Kehuan’s parents knew it, it wouldn’t be so. Even if Jiang Fugui agreed to that matter, if the Ye family disagreed, then Jiang Fugui’s words were also considered shit.

Thinking of that, Jiang Yijun dialed the number. After a while, the phone rung, and Ye Bingquan’s voice came out from it: “Hello?”

Jiang Yijun heard the sound and coughed twice: “Is this Bingquan?”

“Ah, yes, you are?” Ye Bingquan’s voice sounded quite mild.

“I’m Yijun,” Jiang Yijun added, “Jiang Laien’s father.”

“Oh, it’s you, long time no see, what’s the matter?” Ye Bingquan asked.

“I discovered something today. I think, as Ye Kehuan’s father, you need to know the truth.”

Jiang Yijun sighed, and after a moment, he said, “Your daughter is gay, and she is in love with my daughter now.”

Ye Kehuan and Jiang Laien had just started to clean their things when Ye Kehuan’s cell phone rang. Drying her hands, Ye Kehuan picked up the phone, and saw Ye Bingquan’s name displayed.

“What’s the matter?” Jiang Laien asked.

“My dad called me suddenly. He normally wouldn’t call me at this time.” Ye Kehuan looked at Jiang Laien.

Jiang Laien frowned, thought for a moment, and muttered: “Could it be my dad who told him about the two of us? That is what my dad would do.”

Ye Kehuan squeezed the phone and nodded: “Anyway, I’ll answer first.”

After that, Ye Kehuan pressed the answer and held the phone to her ear: “Dad?”

“Kehuan.” Ye Bingquan’s kind voice came from the other end of the phone immediately.

“Well, what’s the matter, Dad?” Ye Kehuan reached out and put her hand on the faucet, feeling it up and down.

“The day after tomorrow, your cousin is going to get married. I heard that you are quite free lately, right? Since you are free, come and participate.” Ye Bingquan said.

“Ah, is that so?” Ye Kehuan let out a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, so, you will come to Beicheng tomorrow to pack up, and we will go too.” Besides that, Ye Bingquan didn’t say anything else.

“Okay, then, is there anything else?” Ye Kehuan stared at the barbecue oil pan in the sink.

One characteristic of Ye Bingquan was that he settled accounts slowly, and talked about things slowly. Moreover, many times he may not directly object to something by losing his temper, but the way he stopped people was very different.

One thing Ye Kehuan remembered most was that she wanted to get a gift from Santa Claus at Christmas--a box of spicy sticks--and even made a wish. Ye Bingquan was not happy to give her that kind of junk food, but he did not directly say that she would not get it. On Christmas Day, when Ye Kehuan found that there were no spicy snacks on the head of her bed, he smiled and said to her, “Santa must have broken his legs this year, wait for next year.” Ye Kehuan later discovered that Santa Claus would have his legs broken every year.

“When you come back we’ll talk about it. I’m going to sleep.” Ye Bingquan hung up without saying a word.

With that, Ye Kehuan was a little panicked instead. Didn’t her father’s words mean that there were other things for them to talk about?

Seeing that her call was over, Jiang Laien asked, “What did he say?”

Ye Kehuan let out a sigh: “My cousin is going to get married the day after tomorrow. My dad told me to go back and join them. But I think there should be other things when I get back. I think he might already know what happened between us.”

“Hey, hold on, don’t worry, Uncle and Auntie are very understanding.” Jiang Laien said.

To be honest, Jiang Laien thought that Ye Ling should agree. After all, Ye Bingquan had a very strict wife. Moreover, being able to be liked by someone like Ye Ling showed that Ye Bingquan should not be a conservative and pedantic person. After all, it was difficult for two people who were too different to get together, and even if they could get together, it was easy for something to happen in the meantime. She just hoped her hunch was not wrong.

“Well, I’m not in a hurry. Even if they object, I will scold them well. Moreover, they can’t stop the things I have decided. Besides, I have grown up now, and he can’t use my financial resources to threaten me,” Ye Kehuan smiled, glanced at the dishes in the sink, and said hurriedly, “You go and rest. I can just wash these. It’s greasy and dirty.”

Jiang Laien glared at her: “I don’t want to, I will be here with you. It is because it is dirty, so I have to share the burden with you.”

“Haha…” Ye Kehuan picked up the rag and began to clean the oil pan of the barbecue machine, “You are so kind.”

Jiang Laien smiled sweetly: “I must be.”

“Then you have to go back and stay for a few days?” After cleaning up the kitchen, walking out of the kitchen, turning off the lights, and going up the stairs, Jiang Laien turned sideways and looked at her again.

Ye Kehuan thought for a moment: “I’ll go back tomorrow afternoon, attend the wedding the day after tomorrow, and come back the day after that. It won’t be too long, because my parents are also very busy. Even if I want to accompany them, they don’t have time to accompany me.”

“Oh…” Jiang Laien nodded, turned, and continued upstairs.

“Why, you don’t want me to go?” Ye Kehuan followed her up and asked with a smile.

“Of course, you’re so beautiful, I don’t want.” Jiang Laien gave her a sideways glare, opened her door and walked in, and when she reached the window, she drew the curtains.

“But, you have it written all over your face, ‘No, don’t go’.” Ye Kehuan closed the door, then walked over, stood behind her, stretched out her arms, and hugged her into her arms.

Jiang Laien turned her head and snapped at her: ‘Only if you can make up for it.”

Ye Kehuan put her chin on her small shoulder: “Okay.”

Jiang Laien smiled and patted the hand around her waist: “Well, since you are leaving tomorrow, can you pack up now? Have you chosen your clothes for the wedding?”

“Not yet.” Ye Kehuan shook her head.

Jiang Laien turned around and reached out and poked her forehead: “Then I’ll pick it for you, do you want to wear a dress or not?”

“I don’t want to wear a dress.” Ye Kehuan shook her head.

“Okay, then I’ll help you choose a suit suitable for formal occasions.” Jiang Laien said, pushing the door open, and walked to Ye Kehuan’s room.

Ye Kehuan followed behind her and laughed. Suddenly she felt that she really seemed to have her own small family. Thinking of that, Ye Kehuan sighed again.

In any case, she would definitely tell her parents clearly about her and Jiang Laien’s affair.

The next day.

Because her cousin’s wedding was held in Beicheng, the home that Ye Kehuan went back to this time was not the castle-like home from before, but their house in Beicheng.

The Ye’s real estate could be said to be scattered everywhere. Then, because of their work, it was actually difficult for their family to stay in a certain place for a long time. Those houses were usually vacant most of the time, and basically there were only people responsible for cleaning and watching them.

The small villa on the north side was in the simple Nordic style that Ye Kehuan preferred. The decoration was mostly off-white. It looked simple, not ostentatious, and very clean.

When she arrived, Ye Ling and Ye Bingquan had just arrived. Ye Ling still wore delicate makeup as always, looking too young. Ye Bingquan was a bit older compared to her, but it was okay, probably because he exercised under the leadership of Ye Ling, his body still looked quite vigorous.

After seeing Ye Kehuan, Ye Bingquan tidied up the cuffs of his shirt without raising his eyes and said, “So the bull is back?”

That’s right, the bull was Ye Bingquan’s nickname for Ye Kehuan, from young to adult. Because Ye Kehuan was really a difficult child, and she didn’t listen to carrot or stick.

After Ye Kehuan heard that, she became unhappy, and took off her coat and put it on the coat rack next to him: “Dad, that name is not good.”

“You also know it’s not good? Who told you to be disobedient?” Ye Bingquan took a cup of black tea from the servant and blew on it, looking up at her.

Ye Kehuan put her hands in her pockets and turned her head to the side: “I’m not always disobedient…”

“Oh, you still don’t admit it? Shameless,” Ye Bingquan smiled after he finished speaking, “I don’t know who you took after to be such a fool. Why did you not inherit the good genes between your mother and I?”

Ye Kehuan was unhappy, and took a step forward: “Who said that, you see, you are so tall, and I am so tall. My mother is so beautiful, and I am so beautiful. Isn’t that all excellent?”

“Yes, excellent.” At that moment, Ye Ling came down from the upper floor with a tablet, walked to Ye Bingquan, and sat down.

“How many days are you going to stay here?” Ye Kehuan asked.

“Until the day after tomorrow, and then travel.” Ye Ling’s eyebrows were the same, with a big smile.

“Traveling again…” Ye Kehuan felt that her mother had never stopped the business of traveling.

“Yeah, envious? Why do you want to be a broken star when you can’t be a top-tier, don’t have a lot of money, and you still have to suffer?” Ye Bingquan raised his eyebrows and looked at her. “Can you easily become a Jiang Laien?”

Ye Kehuan sat on the sofa and collapsed: “I’m happy.”

“All right, you like it.” Ye Bingquan put down the black tea in his hand and picked up a magazine.

After a while, Ye Bingquan shook his magazine twice: “There has been some improvement in your career recently, right?”

“Well, it’s okay.” Ye Kehuan nodded.

“So, emotionally?” Ye Bingquan opened a page of the magazine.

When Ye Kehuan heard that, her heart tightened instantly. Had they finally reached the point? Did he already know? Or was he just asking casually?

But, whether he knew or not, Ye Kehuan didn’t want to keep it a secret. Thinking again and again, Ye Kehuan sat up straight: “I…”

“Huh?’ Ye Bingquan raised his eyes. Ye Ling also looked at Ye Kehuan.

Ye Kehuan reached for a cup of tea, took a sip, and then put it down: “I like someone.”

“Oh?” Ye Bingquan closed the magazine, “Who?”

Ye Ling took another sip of tea and moved slowly.

“She…” Ye Kehuan held her hands in front of her. It was the first time that she was so nervous in front of her parents.

But, at that moment, Ye Bingquan’s cell phone rang. Ye Bingquan had to put down the magazine and picked it up. After chatting for a few words, Ye Bingquan hung up and looked at Ye Ling: “Chen Ming said that they have already set off.”

“Okay, let’s go too.” Ye Ling put down the teacup and stood up.

Ye Bingquan nodded and looked at Ye Kehuan: “Your mom and I have something to go do. We may not be back tonight. You can do what you want tonight. See you at the wedding tomorrow.”

Ye Kehuan clenched her hands, still a little bit unstable: “Oh, okay, then, you go.”

Ye Bingquan nodded, and then walked towards the door holding Ye Ling’s arm.

Ye Kehuan raised her hand and stroked all her hair back, only to feel that she was being tortured. She almost said Jiang Laien’s name a little bit. She didn’t know what would happen when Jiang Laien’s name was really spoken.

After Ye Bingquan and Ye Ling got in the car together, Ye Bingquan was silent for a moment, and then said: “It turned out to be true.”

“Of course it was true. You didn’t believe it when I told you I suspected that they had a thing.” Ye Ling turned on her phone.

“Really…” Ye Bingquan put his hands on his knees, “It shouldn’t be…”

“Men who like men and women who like women are just drops in the ocean. What shouldn’t be?” Ye Ling was also a person who had seen many people in the world, so that kind of thing was not unfamiliar.

“It still feels incredible.” Ye Bingquan shook his head.

“Why, you can’t accept it?” Ye Ling’s tone seemed to be talking about something very common, similar to what she looked like when discussing which store was better.

Ye Bingquan stared ahead, tilted his head slightly, and said, “How can Ye Kehuan fall in love? How can she fall in love with someone else? She always thought that love was the grave of life. Falling in love is the most nutritious thing in the world, far more than junk food. Doesn’t she only like junk food?”

Ye Ling: “...”

On the other hand, Ye Kehuan, who was at home alone, was emotionally unstable, so that she couldn’t stay still. She switched the TV channel back and forth, then went to the gym to check various equipment, and then sat in the KTV and began to sing. But no matter what she did, her heart was always suspended in the air, but felt like it weighed a thousand tons.

As long as Ye Bingquan didn’t answer, it was like a thorn, piercing deeply in her heart.

The next day.

Ye Kehuan didn’t sleep well at night. After dressing and recalling the makeup artists’ tricks, she ran to Ye Ling’s room and stole some of her cosmetics. After putting on some light makeup, she also set off for her cousin’s wedding.

The wedding setting was an open-air lawn wedding, which was beautifully decorated with many guests and was extremely lively.

From a distance, Ye Kehuan saw Ye Ling and Ye Bingquan talked with a graceful and luxurious middle-aged woman at a long table, arm in arm, and the atmosphere looked polite and unfamiliar.

“Dad, Mom.” Ye Kehuan looked around, walked up quickly, and stood beside Ye Bingquan and Ye Ling.

Then Ye Kehuan looked at the lady again: “Hello.”

“Oh, Kehuan? You’ve grown so big in the blink of an eye!” After seeing Ye Kehuan, the lady smiled brighter than before.

Ye Kehuan didn’t remember her a bit, thinking she was a relative she’d almost never met, and just kept smiling.

Who knew the lady’s next sentence was: “Have you married yet?”

Here it came again, sure enough, on such occasions, people around always liked to ask such questions, as if a person’s life had no meaning other than getting married and having children.

“She hasn’t yet.” Seeing Ye Kehuan’s expression turn slightly subtle, Ye Ling smiled and replied.

“Oh, you have to hurry up, she is almost 30, right? If you don’t hurry up, there will be no good opportunities in the future. Career is important, but family is also very important. My daughter, I taught her, in terms of career, it is enough to make do with it, just find a reliable man, so that you will have a very stable future,” the lady said, and laughed again, “Well, I can introduce you.”

Ye Kehuan was really impatient when she heard that, so she looked down at her watch.

Ye Bingquan glanced at Ye Kehuan, then looked at the lady, and smiled: “I don’t like hearing what you said. What stable and unstable, you mean, our Ye family is not enough to give her the best stable life? Our Ye family can’t compare to a man? A man must be stable?”

After hearing Ye Bingquan’s words, Ye Kehuan instantly raised her head and wanted to give her dad thirty-six likes.2

The lady was suddenly embarrassed and waved her hand to change her words: “No, no, I didn’t mean that, I just think that at this age, I would have to find someone to live with. If I stayed alone, I would be lonely in the future.”

Ye Kehuan let out a sigh, and said in her heart: There is more to be done.

But at that time, Ye Ling smiled: “How do you know that she is not in love?”

The lady was stunned again: “Can you fall in love?”

Ye Bingquan nodded: “Well, she already has someone she likes, so I won’t bother you to introduce someone.”

Ye Kehuan turned her head to look at Ye Bingquan, and the hand holding her watch increased its strength. Did Ye Bingquan know that the person she liked was Jiang Laien? He didn’t know yet, right?”

The lady was dumbfounded, and she laughed again after a long while, and looked at Ye Kehuan: “That’s it? Oh, that’s great, then, what kind of job does he have?”

Ye Kehuan really felt a little suffocated. She only had one thing she could not understand before, and that was why Santa’s legs broke every year, but now, she had a new incomprehensible thing: why did relatives always so love to gossip?

Ye Bingquan curled his lips when he heard that, “Profession? Of course it’s love Kehuan.”

The lady was further dumbfounded.

Ye Bingquan smiled and pointed in a certain direction: “Sorry, we have to go over there first.”

“Oh, yes, go.” The lady nodded repeatedly.

Ye Kehuan also breathed a sigh of relief, and walked to the side of Ye Bingquan.

The three people walked for a while, and they were relatively silent all the way.

In the end, Ye Kehuan couldn’t help it anymore: “Dad.”

“Huh?” Ye Bingquan turned his head and looked at her.

“Well, didn’t you ask who I liked yesterday?” Ye Kehuan thought for a long time, and finally decided to confess everything and come out.

“Well, I asked you about it,” Ye Bingquan nodded, and then, his eyes were attracted by a strange-shaped balloon, and he turned to look at Ye Ling, “Look, it looks like the kind of balloon we used when we got married?”

Ye Ling nodded: “Indeed, it looks a lot like it.”

Seeing the two of them inexplicably talk about other things, Ye Kehuan stayed silent for a while before continuing to follow up: “Dad, aren’t you curious about who I like?’

“I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve had rice, what could I be curious about?” Ye Bingquan stood under a tree, looked up at the decorations above, and looked at Ye Ling. “Our company’s holiday scenery can refer to this.”

Ye Ling nodded and wandered around the tree: “I think it’ll be a success.”

Ye Kehuan tilted her head and stood in front of Ye Bingquan: “You know?!”

Ye Bingquan nodded: “Yes, Jiang Laien, right?”

Ye Kehuan almost bit her tongue: ‘Then you…”

Ye Bingquan sighed and raised his eyebrows: “I loved to hear it. You have lived for more than 20 years, and finally fell in love. I thought you were really going to be single until you were old.”

“So, Dad, what do you mean?” Ye Kehuan was overjoyed.

“Treat her well. She is a good girl.” Ye Bingquan smiled.

Ye Kehuan covered her lips incredulously, and then asked: “By the way, how did you know?”

“Her father, Ye Yijun, called and told me.” Ye Bingquan spread his hands.

“Then what did you tell him?” Ye Kehuan asked.

“I just said, I’m too old to spend time on children’s affairs. If you are too old and worry about it, you will die quickly.” After Ye Bingquan finished speaking, he took Ye Ling’s hand and moved to the side to keep walking.

The author has something to say: Two more~

TL/N

1 - Reference to the saying “a scourge lasts a thousand years”, lamenting that the good die young while the evil stay alive.

2 - This has probably come up before and I’ve never explained it. Squares are very important in Chinese lore, and not the shape. I’m not sure why. I did some quick searches but none of them were very useful. 3 is a very important number for many reasons, among which are its similarity in sound to the word life. Every multiple of three has something associated with it. Six-six-thirty-six, or six squared, as well as nine-nine-eighty-one show up frequently in Wuxia and similar novels.