Ye Chaoran still didn't dare to accept the red envelope. When Song Ya and Ye Pei came back later, Ye Chaoran immediately told them about the matter.

Ye Pei said the same thing as Tan Zheng: "Take it."

Before Ye Chaoran could speak, Song Ya also said, "It's okay to accept it. We have to give Xiao Jiang a red envelope anyway."

Since his parents had said so, Ye Chaoran could no longer delay accepting the red envelope and had no choice but to accept the "huge" sum of money.

Jiang Xunmo received the notification tone and told the good news to his whole family immediately.

But the family didn't feel happy for long, as Jiang Xunmo's WeChat notification rang again. This time it was a red envelope from Ye Chaoran, with the caption: This is the New Year's money my parents gave you!

Ye Pei and Song Ya only paid for the two of them, which is also a lucky number.

99999.

Jiang Xunmo held the phone in his hand, not knowing how to deal with the situation.

Jiang Jun was the first to laugh: "Ye Pei's temper is still the same as before!"

Xia Wen nodded with a smile: "Yes, it hasn't changed in all these years. Xiao Mo, please accept the money."

"Really?" Jiang Xunmo asked.

Xia Wen nodded: "If you don't accept it, according to Ye Pei's personality, he will find a way to make you accept it later."

Jiang Xunmo had no choice but to accept the red envelope.

Ye Chaoran replied with an emoticon immediately.

Jiang Xunmo felt a little helpless and also sent an emoticon.

The two days during the New Year passed very quickly.

In the blink of an eye, it was the third day of the Chinese New Year. Tan Zheng and Ye Zong couldn't wait to see Ye Chaoran last night, so the two old people simply took the evening flight and arrived at Ye Chaoran's house early on the third day of the Chinese New Year.

Song Ya knew they were coming and prepared a table full of dishes.

Ye Chaoran was very happy to see his grandparents after waking up.

The New Year had already passed, and the family finally sat together to have a meal.

During this time, Song Ya had been observing Ye Pei's expression and found that he was in a good mood today.

Song Ya simply suggested that the family go out for a walk together in the afternoon.

Ye Pei took a sip of his drink and said nothing, nor did he object.

Ye Zong didn't say anything, but just picked up a piece of fish for Ye Chaoran.

Ye Chaoran reacted the fastest and agreed directly. While looking at Ye Pei, he said to Ye Zong: "Our family has never gone out to play before. I am looking forward to it."

Having said that, Ye Pei naturally had no reason to object.

Although Ye Zong still didn't want to take care of Ye Pei, he didn't say anything when he thought that this was the wish of his beloved grandson.

The afternoon schedule was set, and everyone was very happy except the father and son.

Tan Zheng and Ye Zong spent four days in Nanshi this time.

Ye Pei and Song Ya also accompanied them out for the first two days. In the next two days, Ye Pei went to take care of company matters, and Song Ya also had things to deal with, so she no longer accompanied Tan Zheng and Ye Zong.

Ye Chaoran was fine, but Tan Zheng and Ye Zong were afraid that Ye Chaoran would be tired, so they didn't let Ye Chaoran go out to play in the next two days. They just went to Ye's house during the day and chatted with Ye Chaoran.

They left again later when Ye Zong and Song Ya returned home.

Four days passed in the blink of an eye. There was only one day of vacation left. Ye Chaoran’s last winter vacation in high school was about to end.

Ye Zong's company still had a lot of matters to deal with, so he and Tan Zheng returned to City A the day before the holiday.

On the last day of the holiday, Song Ya and Ye Pei both went out to work.

Song Ya knew that Jiang Xunmo would be back today, so she prepared lunch for the two of them before going out, and asked Ye Chaoran to heat it up in the microwave at noon and eat it with Jiang Xunmo.

It has been nearly ten days, or almost half a month, since I last saw Jiang Xunmo. Ye Chaoran got up early again this morning and started trying on clothes.

This time, Tan Zheng and Ye Zong came and brought a lot of clothes for Ye Chaoran.

Originally, Ye Chaoran didn’t care much about clothing. For him, as long as the clothes fit well and were not ugly, it was fine.

But now I don’t know what’s wrong. Every time I think about the person I’m going to meet later is Jiang Xunmo, Ye Chaoran will start to put a lot of thought into matching clothes.

After finally picking out a set of clothes that he was most satisfied with, Ye Chaoran heard a knock on the door before he changed his clothes.

"So fast?" Ye Chaoran quickly changed his clothes, walked quickly to the living room, took two deep breaths, and then opened the door.

The smile on Ye Chaoran's lips slowly froze.

The man at the door didn't expect that it would be Ye Chaoran who opened the door. After a brief moment of surprise, he quickly smiled happily: "Chaoran, long time no see!"

The smile on Ye Chaoran's face faded. After coming to his senses, he reached out to close the door without even thinking.

Fang Sheng was one step faster than him and blocked the door with his hand. He originally wanted to go in, but after meeting Ye Chaoran's vigilant gaze, a trace of obvious sadness flashed in his eyes.

After taking a quick step back, Fang Sheng said carefully, "I, I won't go in. I'll just stay here and talk to you, okay?"

Ye Chaoran looked at him coldly, neither saying anything good nor bad. Just one hand on the door handle, looking at him warily.

Being stared at by Ye Chaoran so defensively, Fang Sheng felt even more sad. He quickly said, "I will only talk to you for a few words. It won't take too long. You don't have to be afraid. I won't hurt you..."

Fang Sheng didn't know whether Ye Chaoran would believe him, but he still wanted to finish what he said.

Before going abroad, Fang Sheng never expected that after only half a year, everything would have changed when he returned, even his family was in tatters.

Two months ago, Fang Sheng received a call from the domestic police. He left the country in a hurry and cut off all contact with his relatives and friends in China, so it took the police a long time to contact him.

After hearing the police tell him about everything that had happened in the Fang family some time ago, Fang Sheng even thought for a moment that this phone call was just a lie by Mr. Fang to trick him into going home.

But even if you want to trick him into going back, you can't use the reason that Grandpa and Fang Yan have passed away, right? What's more, the police said that his grandmother is now suffering from cancer and only has a few months left to live, and even his parents have been imprisoned for kidnapping.

When Fang Sheng left, everything was fine at home.

How come it was that not long after he left, some of his family members died or became sick?

But if it wasn't true, why would the police contact me?

Fang Sheng's last bit of doubt disappeared after the police issued the death certificates of Fang Yan and Old Man Fang.

Fang Sheng instantly fell into pain.

How is this possible?

How could his grandfather die?

Wasn’t Fang Yan in good health before?

Before he went abroad, he even consulted Fang Yan's attending physician, who said that as long as Fang Yan maintained a good mood, his illness would not relapse.

Why did so many things happen at home as soon as he left?

Fang Sheng was devastated and kept asking the police what had happened.

Fang Sheng is the only relative of the Fang family, so of course he has the right to know.

The police told Fang Sheng everything that had happened in the country.

After hearing this absurd truth, Fang Sheng's eyes went dark and he almost fell down.

impossible!

How is this possible?

That's ridiculous.

This is ridiculous!

The police actually said that Fang Yan had mental problems and accidentally killed his grandfather? !

That is the grandfather who loves Yanyan the most, the grandfather who has held Fang Yanyan in his hands since she was a child!

How could Fang Yan be so cruel?

What made Fang Sheng feel even more devastated was Old Madam Fang’s illness.

Upon learning that her grandson and his wife had passed away, Mrs. Fang also had suicidal thoughts and refused to cooperate with the treatment. She even tried to understand herself in the hospital several times.

Fortunately, the police discovered it early and rescued the person every time.

But Mrs. Fang had long lost the desire to live, and they rescued her now for the purpose of subsequent investigation of the case.

But the fear is that Old Mrs. Fang may not live to see the day when the case is thoroughly investigated.

The police took great effort to contact Fang Sheng, hoping that he could return to China as soon as possible to comfort old lady Fang and then cooperate with their police investigation.

How could Fang Sheng have the energy to refuse?

The next day he bought a ticket back home and rushed to the hospital as soon as possible.

Old Mrs. Fang on the hospital bed looked haggard and exhausted. She was sleeping with her eyes closed, mumbling Old Man Fang's name.

Fang Sheng couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He held Mrs. Fang's hand, choking for a long while, but in the end he didn't utter a word.

Fang Sheng stayed by Mrs. Fang's bedside all night, and Mrs. Fang woke up at five in the morning.

When she saw Fang Sheng, Old Lady Fang became extremely excited and almost fainted before Fang Sheng even said a word to her.

Fang Sheng didn't dare to say anything else and could only quickly press the call bell.

Mrs. Fang's condition is unstable, but the police investigation is ongoing.

Fang Sheng was taken to the police station and was not released until twenty-four hours later.

As soon as he came out, Fang Sheng went to the hospital again.

Although Mrs. Fang is seriously ill, she is currently carrying out a case. Fang Sheng wants to stay with her all the time, but the police will not allow it.

Fang Sheng was also afraid that his appearance again would irritate Old Mrs. Fang, so he could only stand outside the ward and watch from a distance.

Fang Sheng cooperated with the investigation, and the case progressed faster.

The trial will begin on the first of next month.

It was also at this time that Fang Sheng had time to sort out his thoughts during this period.

Fang Sheng has been living in a daze for the past two months.

Later he thought about it carefully and realized that he was unwilling to accept this fact.

Grandpa Fang Yan passed away, his parents and grandmother were imprisoned one after another, and now Fang Sheng is the only one left in the family.

No, that's not right, there's another person.

It was at this time that Fang Sheng thought of Ye Chaoran.

He knew that he shouldn't disturb Ye Chaoran at this time. In this whole case, Ye Chaoran suffered the greatest harm.

But Fang Sheng couldn't help it, especially after he spent a lonely New Year alone.

But if you want to see Ye Chaoran, you definitely can't go empty-handed.

The Fang family's company fell apart long ago after Mr. Fang was imprisoned. The shareholders ran away with the money, and now what is left is just a shell company.

After Fang Sheng took over, he originally planned to restart the company's operations. However, Fang Group has been in deficit for so many years, and the company has long been rotten inside and out. It is extremely difficult to restart its operations.

Even though he was reluctant, Fang Sheng had no choice but to sell this shell company at the lowest price.

The price he set was very low, but the people who came to negotiate kept lowering the price again and again.

After several rounds of bargaining, we finally reached a price that satisfied both parties.

As soon as he got the money, Fang Sheng rushed to the Ye family.

He originally wanted to meet Ye Chaoran, but he also understood that after so many things had happened, the Ye family would definitely not want him to meet Ye Chaoran.

That's why Fang Sheng was so happy when he saw Ye Chaoran coming to open the door today.

"Chao Ran, it's me...it's our family that's sorry for you," Fang Sheng's Adam's apple moved for a long time before he managed to say these words, "Although it may be too late, I still want to say sorry to you on their behalf."

Ye Chaoran's eyes were cold, and his voice was even calm: "You came to me just for this matter?"

Fang Sheng smiled bitterly: "Well, I know you must be blaming me and hating me now, but I still have our family. Now I really have nothing..."

"My parents are in prison, my grandmother is in the advanced stage of stomach cancer, and my grandfather and Yanyan are even more..." Fang Sheng's eyes gradually turned red, and he couldn't continue. "I came here today not to win your sympathy, nor do I expect you to forgive me. I just want to express my apology."

Fang Sheng took a deep breath and temporarily controlled his turbulent emotions. He took out a bank card from his bag and stuffed it into Ye Chaoran's arms without saying a word.

"This is some compensation I want to give you..."

"I don't need it." Ye Chaoran took a big step back and his bank card fell on the floor outside the door.

Fang Sheng's body stiffened.

"If it's just for this matter, then I know it now, you can leave," Ye Zhaoran said coldly. He was about to close the door, but then he thought of something and asked Fang Sheng, "By the way, there is one thing I'm curious about. You came to see me on the day you went abroad and said a lot of inexplicable things to me. I didn't understand what you meant at the time, but after what happened later, I knew your intention..."

Ye Chaoran turned around and stared at Fang Sheng for the first time, not wanting to miss any expression on his face: "When did you know about their plan?"

Fang Sheng secretly tightened his hand at the side, then quickly let go.

He pursed his lips and said, "At the end of May, I felt that there was something wrong with Yan and Fang Yan's condition, so I went back to ask a private detective to investigate, and that's when I discovered the family secret."

Ye Chaoran looked at Fang Sheng quietly for a few seconds before retracting his gaze and said calmly, "I see. If you are okay, leave early. Things have passed, and I don't want to recall these old things, so please don't come to me again. As long as I have contact with your family, my life will become a mess."

His words were spoken softly, but each one pierced the heart.

Fang Sheng felt like his chest was riddled with holes. He said in a hoarse voice, "Chao Ran, I..."

"Please leave and take your bank card with you." Ye Chaoran closed the door without hesitation.

The rest of Fang Sheng's words got stuck in his throat. He reached out his hand to knock on the door again, struggled for a while, and then took his hand back.

"Chaoran, I...brother just hopes that you can be well." Fang Sheng's voice was very low and soft. This was the first time he called himself brother in front of Ye Chaoran, but he didn't know if Ye Chaoran could hear it behind the door.

But it doesn't matter anymore. Fang Sheng understands that Ye Chaoran doesn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. He mutters to himself, "Grandma's illness won't last much longer. After that, our family will really break up..."

Fang Sheng picked up the bank card on the ground and blew off the dust. Instead of taking the elevator, he chose to take the stairs and walked down step by step.

He suddenly became very confused and at a loss. Where should he go after the trial was over?

Mrs. Fang’s illness won’t last long. I guess after the trial, she will…

Fang Qishan and Cai Lianhua, one only has money in his eyes, and the other only has Fang Yan in his eyes. And his grandfather, who had previously shown that he cared about him the most, also wanted to give his heart to Fang Yan.

Old Mrs. Fang still doesn't want to see him, probably because she is blaming him.

She must have felt that it was her own fault that she was not magnanimous and had harmed Fang Yan and Old Master Fang.

It was only then that Fang Sheng suddenly realized that he had always been the superfluous person in their family.

Fang Sheng felt stuffy in his chest. He wanted to laugh, but he couldn't.

It took Fang Sheng nearly half an hour to walk from the 20th floor to the first floor.

Standing downstairs, Fang Sheng's eyes were red, and he looked up in the direction of Ye Chaoran's house for the last time.

Ye Chaoran, I wish you all the best in the future and a bright future. I hope you don’t meet bad people like their family again.

…

The weather in Nanshi was bad today and the plane was delayed for more than half an hour.

As soon as he got off the plane, Jiang Xunmo sent a message to Ye Chaoran.

What was unusual was that Ye Chaoran, who always replied to his messages immediately in the past, had not replied yet today.

Jiang Xunmo waited patiently for ten minutes. When he was hesitating whether to send another message to Ye Chaoran, Ye Chaoran's message finally came back.

[Brother Jiang, Fang Sheng came to see me just now.] 】

Jiang Xunmo's pupils shrank slightly, and he made a phone call directly: "Are you okay? Is he..."

"No," Ye Zhaoran knew that Jiang Xunmo was worried about him, and quickly comforted him, "He came here to apologize to me."

In fact, Ye Chaoran has always had complicated feelings towards Fang Sheng.

In his previous life, Fang Sheng did not do anything excessive to Ye Chaoran, but he had never truly accepted Ye Chaoran.

When Ye Chaoran was wronged, he always stood by Fang Yan unconditionally.

If he had not discovered Mr. Fang’s true purpose in this life, would he still admit that he was his younger brother?

Ye Chaoran just felt mocked.

"Are you really okay?" Jiang Xunmo asked worriedly.

Ye Chaoran had already thought it through. He smiled and said, "It's really okay. How long will it take you to get there? My mom made some delicious food for us this morning. Can I go and heat it up first?"

Jiang Xunmo heard his normal tone and knew that Ye Chaoran had not lied to him. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "It will take at most 20 minutes if there is no traffic jam. I brought you a gift."

After hearing these words, the last trace of unhappiness in Ye Chaoran's heart finally dissipated.

"What gift have you prepared for me?" Ye Zhaoran asked, "You really don't have to prepare anything for me. You've already bought me enough gifts!"

The snowman that Jiang Xunmo gave to Ye Chaoran is still in Ye Chaoran’s refrigerator!

Ye Chaoran was reluctant to throw it away. Song Ya saw what Ye Chaoran was thinking and did not move the snowman.

However, Ye Pei felt that it was in the way and suggested buying a small refrigerator specifically for storing the snowman that Ye Chaoran liked.

Ye Chaoran was also somewhat tempted, but he had not found a suitable refrigerator before the New Year. Ye Pei said that he would go to the home appliance store to have a look in the future.

"I like giving you gifts." Jiang Xunmo said softly

Ye Chaoran felt that there was something wrong with his cell phone today. He was so far away from Jiang Xunmo, but it was as if Jiang Xunmo was whispering in his ear, making his ears red and itchy.

"I won't talk to you anymore. I'm going to heat up the food."

Jiang Xunmo listened to the busy tone on the phone, and the curve of his mouth gradually widened.

Shy again.

He glanced at his reflection in the car window and saw that his earlobe was also stained red.

…

After the second semester of senior year started, the learning atmosphere of the entire senior year became more intense.

Even Fu Xin, who had never been interested in studying, became nervous. When he encountered a question he didn't know how to answer, he would turn to Jiang Xunmo for help.

In fact, Fu Xin had been here to ask Ye Chaoran questions before, but when he turned around again and wanted to ask Ye Chaoran a question, he saw Jiang Xunmo's face become ugly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Fu Xin suddenly understood something, and quickly took back the exercise book that was half extended, and then placed it on Jiang Xunmo's desk.

"Jiang, Brother Jiang, can you explain the problem to me?" Fu Xin looked at Jiang Xunmo fearfully.

Jiang Xunmo glanced at him indifferently, snorted softly, then picked up the pen and wrote a few formulas for Fu Xin.

Only then did Fu Xin breathe a sigh of relief.

Isn’t this person too jealous? !

He was just asking a question!

Of course, Fu Xin only dared to mutter these complaints in his heart and didn't dare to say a word in front of Jiang Xunmo.

As for Ye Chaoran, he didn't notice any problem at all.

A week after school started, No. 1 Middle School held another monthly exam.

The rankings of Ye Chaoran and Jiang Xunmo have never changed. Jiang Xunmo always happens to have one or two points less than Ye Chaoran, and is ranked second right next to Ye Chaoran.

Looking at the transcript in his hand, Ye Chaoran curled his lips and said, "Are you planning to control your scores in the college entrance examination in the same way?"

Jiang Xunmo's expression remained unchanged: "I didn't control the score."

Ye Chaoran didn't believe his nonsense, but he was too lazy to say anything.

Ye Chaoran doesn't have high demands. He just wants to be admitted to the same university as Jiang Xunmo. With their current grades, they can get into University A together, so Ye Chaoran doesn't need to worry at all.

The study continued. In early February, the first-instance judgment of the Fang family case came out.

Fang Qishan and Cai Lianhua were both sentenced for multiple crimes, one was sentenced to twenty years and the other was sentenced to fifteen years.

Taking into consideration Mrs. Fang's health problems, she was only sentenced to five years in prison. But with her current physical condition, she simply can't survive until that time.

After the verdict came out, Fang Qishan was dissatisfied and proposed to continue to appeal.

Cai Lianhua also appealed. She did not think the case was unfair, but she felt the punishment was too light.

Fang Yan has passed away. She didn't want to live anymore.

As soon as the trial ended, Mrs. Fang was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment.

According to the attending physician, she can only last another month at most.

But the actual situation was far worse than the doctor had expected. Old Mrs. Fang only lasted half a month and never opened her eyes again.

Until she closed her eyes and passed away, she never saw Fang Sheng again.

Ye Pei and Song Ya knew all this news, but neither of them thought of telling Ye Chaoran about these troubles.

After the end of February, March, the early spring, arrives as expected.

The weather is getting warmer, without the winter chill, and the students' mental state is getting better and better.

Song Ya was afraid that Ye Chaoran would not get enough nutrition in the last few months, so she took a long vacation and prepared meals for Ye Chaoran and Jiang Xunmo at home every day and sent them to school.

Time flies and March is gone in a flash.

As April arrives, the crabapples on the roadside begin to bloom.

Spring is here and Ye Chaoran’s birthday is approaching.

The author has something to say:

There are probably two more chapters before the main text ends~

The extras I'm preparing now: 1. Past life extra 2. University extra 3. Family reunion extra 4. Wedding/after marriage (it depends on the situation qwq)