Chapter 86

Chapter 86

“Are you threatening me?” Yun Meilan froze mid-step, then turned around in disbelief and stared straight at Yun Li.

“And what about you? Aren’t you threatening me too?” Yun Li suddenly found it almost laughable. After all her crying, her complexion looked even worse than Yun Meilan’s.

Dizzy and unsteady, she leaned against the doorframe to keep herself upright. Yun Li tried hard to even out her breathing, then questioned the mother who had given birth to and raised her in the calmest voice she could manage. “When you threatened me with your own life, did you ever think about how I felt? When you and Liang Jing colluded and deliberately ran away from home to force me to make up with him, did you ever think about how worried I would be?”

“I went door to door looking for you. I searched every single place you might have gone. I haven’t eaten anything until now because I was afraid something had really happened to you.”

“But what about you?” Yun Li could no longer hold back her emotions. As her voice sharpened, tears spilled from her eyes. “You and Liang Jing threatened me, forced me, and worked together against me!”

Yun Meilan instinctively retorted, “What are you talking about? When have I ever worked against you? I only did that because I had no other choice if I wanted you and Liang Jing to get back together-”

“But I’ve told you so many times that I don’t like Liang Jing!” Yun Li wiped at her tears, fighting to keep from losing control.

“What’s wrong with Liang Jing?” Perhaps it was the first time she had seen her daughter resist her so fiercely. Yun Meilan’s gaze darkened, and her hard stance softened somewhat as she tried to persuade her. “Liang Jing is ambitious and filial. He came from the civil service, and he’s an honest man. Why can’t you understand your mother? Everything I do is for your own good.”

In the end, she still felt sorry for her daughter. Yun Meilan walked over and wiped the tears from Yun Li’s cheeks, then pulled her into the room to sit down. Her voice gentled. “You can’t go wrong listening to your mother. Would your mother ever harm you? Back then, I ended up abandoned by everyone because I didn’t listen to your grandparents. Yun Li, I just don’t want you to repeat my mistakes.”

Yun Li had heard words like this more times than she could count.

Just because Yun Meilan had been caught in the rain and wounded by it, she rejected everything related to that man.

That man was Yun Li’s father.

His name was Ming Yuan.

Before Yun Li turned ten, her surname was Ming. Her name was Ming Li.

After she turned ten, she took Yun Meilan’s surname and became Yun Li.

Ming Yuan had cheated and become some woman’s kept man, and from then on, Yun Meilan hated every rich young master and young lady.

Ming Yuan had been a musician. Yun Li had perfectly inherited his exceptional talent, but Yun Meilan would not allow her to resemble Ming Yuan in the slightest.

So back then, when Yun Li wanted to apply for a music major, Yun Meilan had forced her to switch to education instead.

Under the banner of not wanting her to repeat the same mistakes, she manipulated her and controlled her.

She had never once considered whether Yun Li was willing, or whether Yun Li liked it.

Back then, Yun Meilan had refused to listen to her family and marry the blind date they had arranged for her within the system. Now, she was forcing Yun Li to marry Liang Jing.

Within the system. A civil servant. Parents who were teachers.

Liang Jing’s qualifications were exactly the same as the blind date Yun Li’s grandparents had arranged for Yun Meilan all those years ago.

Every word out of Yun Meilan’s mouth was about doing this for Yun Li’s own good, but in reality, she was only using that excuse to make up for the choice she had made wrong in her youth.

“But I’m a person. I have my own thoughts.” Yun Li pulled her hand out of Yun Meilan’s grasp. At that moment, she no longer wanted to play the obedient, well-behaved daughter. Her voice held not a trace of emotion as she said coldly, “I have eyes. I have my own judgment. And I won’t repeat your mistakes.”

“If you like this hotel so much, then stay here.” Yun Li was filled with the helplessness of not being understood. After getting to her feet, she walked out without looking back.

“Yun Li!” Yun Meilan’s sharp shout came from behind her.

She had grown used to threats. “If you take one step out that door, I’ll die right in front of you!”

Yun Li’s hand paused on the doorknob. After a long while, she replied mechanically, “Fine. You go first, and I’ll follow right after. Then we mother and daughter can reunite with Dad in the underworld.”

The door slammed shut. Yun Li did not want to hear a single sound from Yun Meilan inside the room. In a panic, she ran to the elevator and pressed the button.
With a soft ding, the elevator doors opened, and a familiar figure slammed straight into her line of sight.

The person inside the elevator was anxious.

The person outside was a mess.

The person inside didn’t step out, and the person outside didn’t step in.

Only when the elevator doors were about to close did the man inside reach out, blocking them with one hand while grabbing Yun Li and pulling her hard into his chest.

The faint scent of wood on him brought a brief moment of calm to her tangled emotions.

“Jiang Baichuan.” Her head was forced down into his arms, and Yun Li only called his name once.

It wasn’t that she had stopped struggling. It was just that this embrace made her feel safe.

“Mm.” Jiang Baichuan’s voice was low. He had clearly rushed all the way here, travel-worn, his breathing faintly unsteady.

When the elevator descended to the first floor, Yun Li left his embrace. She glanced at the patch of his shirt dampened by her tears, then, after regaining her composure, put some distance between them again.

She didn’t ask why he was here.

But he explained on his own. “I went to the flower shop and couldn’t find you, so I asked Wanzi where you were.”

Xia Wanzhi had been too worried about Yun Li, so she had told Jiang Baichuan everything.

All in all, the reason Yun Li had gone to war with Liang Jing had been Jiang Baichuan.

Yun Li didn’t respond. After walking out of the hotel, she lifted her eyes into the wind and gazed into the distance.

She had been trapped in this little patch of sky for far too long.

From the year her parents divorced-seventeen full years.

All these years, she had lived muddled and shrinking, stumbling through life in a daze.

Today, she had already mustered every ounce of courage she had to face Yun Meilan. To face the unknown.

“Home or the flower shop?” Jiang Baichuan turned his head to look at her.

Yun Li shook her head. “Let’s get a room.”

Jiang Baichuan fell briefly silent, turning to look at her.

“The suite at that hotel last time was pretty good.” Yun Li’s brain had given up on thinking. Because she recognized his car, this time she took the initiative to open the passenger door and get in.

Jiang Baichuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed faintly. Too much information flooded into his mind at once, and he couldn’t tell whether Yun Li meant what he thought she meant.

That night-she hadn’t forgotten.

She remembered.

“If you like it, I’ll keep it for you. Whenever you want to sleep, you can go there.” Jiang Baichuan strode over and got into the car, a clear smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “The hotel belongs to Jiang Corporation. I’ll let them know. From now on, you just need to give them your name and number.”

He was going to put that suite under her name.

Yun Li pinched her fingertips, holding back the sting in her eyes.

This day was already insane enough.

So what if it got a little more insane?

The road did lead toward the hotel under Jiang Corporation, but their destination wasn’t the hotel.

The place Jiang Baichuan brought her to was a small restaurant.

A cozy little place with liquor, meat, and the lively warmth of everyday life.

As Yun Li blinked her reddened eyes at him, she silently cursed Xia Wanzhi in her heart.

Best friends really did exist to provide intelligence to the enemy.

She had been sold out by Xia Wanzhi.

Catching Yun Li’s look, Jiang Baichuan smiled faintly and admitted it openly. “I went to Xia Wanzhi for advice.”

This was her favorite little restaurant.

Just like Yese KTV from last week, it was one of the places she often went.

Yun Li was a person who clung to the past. Once she grew used to something, it was very difficult for her to change.

Just like how, for so many years, she had already grown used to being controlled by Yun Meilan.

But when had it started? Under what circumstances had that rebellious thought begun to take root in her?

She had never believed in love to begin with, and she hadn’t liked anyone all these years.

No matter how much she disliked Liang Jing, she could still compromise for Yun Meilan and stay with him.

A so-called other half was nothing more than someone to partner with for the rest of her life.

Her life had long since become a stagnant pool. No matter how she lived, it was all the same.

She had been too lazy to resist anymore.

But lately, there had always been a voice in her heart, guiding her to change. Guiding her to search for herself.

Yun Li lifted her lashes and met Jiang Baichuan’s gaze.

She was in his eyes.