When Ye Linbei said, "Let's report her," Meng Xueyun was stunned for a long time.
She looked at her two sons, her face pale, and asked incredulously:
"What...what did you say?"
"Report...report your cousin? Xiao Bei, are you crazy?"
Then, as if finally realizing something, she shouted in a hoarse voice, "That won't do! Absolutely not! That's... that's sending Xiaohan to prison with our own hands! She's a girl, if she really goes to jail, her life will be ruined!"
Just minutes before, she had wanted to tear Meng Zihan, that ingrate, to pieces, but when it came time to make a decision, the bond of twenty years of raising her was like an inescapable net, tightly binding her.
What appeared before her eyes was not the lying, selfish woman from before, but the little girl with pigtails, wearing a floral dress, who followed her around calling her "Auntie" in a childish voice.
It was that little one who had a fever and wouldn't sleep all night, only closing his eyes when she held him.
It was that little girl who proudly held up her award certificate above her head the first time she received it, and had it displayed prominently on the wall.
That was, after all, the child that Meng Xueyun had cherished in her heart for over a decade.
Send her to prison with your own hands?
She couldn't do it; just thinking about it made her heart ache like it was being cut by a knife.
"Mom!" Ye Linnan knew that Meng Xueyun would make a mistake at a crucial moment. "What kind of time is this? How can you still be confused! She's the one who wronged us first!"
Ye Linbei met his mother's evasive gaze and said bluntly, "If you don't send her to prison, you're just waiting for her to send our whole family in. Mom, you choose."
"When she was living a life of luxury in Hong Kong with that ill-gotten money, treating us like beggars, did she think it was good? She knew the company was in trouble and she was in dire straits, yet she still came back to try and make our home her safe haven, dragging us down with her. Did she think it was bad?"
"She never felt she was treating us badly, so why should we feel she was treating us badly?"
Every word Ye Linbei said was like a slap in the face to Meng Xueyun, shattering her remaining maternal instincts and compassion.
Yes, how could she forget that Meng Zihan never considered them as real family?
In Meng Zihan's mind, they were nothing more than tools to be used, shelters to temporarily take when in trouble, and burdens to be discarded at any time.
Meng Xueyun opened her mouth, but found that she couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.
She should report Meng Zihan instead of implicating her own family.
But she just couldn't bring herself to do it!
Meng Xueyun's gaze swept haphazardly around the room, finally landing on the brand-new suitcase in the corner.
It was a beautiful deep red suitcase, which looked so out of place in their old and gloomy home.
She grasped at a straw, her eyes lit up, and she pointed hastily at the suitcase.
"Xiaohan...her things are still here! She'll definitely come back!"
Meng Xueyun looked at her two sons and pleaded pitifully.
"Xiao Nan, Xiao Bei, how about... how about we wait a little longer? Let's wait until today! When she comes back, I... I'll try to persuade her again. If we can convince her to turn herself in, wouldn't that be great? But... if no matter how much I try to persuade her, she still won't listen, then... then we'll report her, okay?"
She knew in her heart that this was nothing but self-deception.
But she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
Let her have a little more to look forward to, as a final period to their twenty-year relationship.
Ye Linnan and Ye Linbei exchanged a glance, both seeing deep disappointment and helplessness in each other's eyes.
They know their mother too well.
She's soft-hearted and lacks common sense, especially when it comes to Meng Zihan; she always harbors unrealistic fantasies.
However, compared to her previous unconditional and bottomless favoritism, the fact that she can now say things like "If she doesn't listen to our advice, we'll report her" is a huge improvement.
Pushing too hard might backfire.
Ye Linnan sighed and nodded: "Okay, Mom, we'll listen to you. We'll wait until tonight. If she doesn't come back, or if she comes back and is still stubborn, then no one should stop her anymore."
"Ah! Ahh!"
Ye Zhenghua, who hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise, sat in his chair, his face flushed with anxiety.
This is the aftereffect of his stroke. He can still manage to speak with some difficulty normally, but whenever he gets emotional, his tongue seems to get tied up and he can't utter a single word, only letting out meaningless roars.
He glared at Meng Xueyun, waving his hands wildly in the air, trying to express his dissatisfaction and anger.
This family will be ruined by this stupid woman sooner or later!
What are you waiting for!
We should go now!
Meng Xueyun was annoyed by his calls, and her already chaotic mind became even more of a mess.
She turned her head and snapped at Ye Zhenghua in an annoyed tone.
"What are you yelling about! Stop arguing! Things are already like this, what's the point of arguing anymore! Just lie there quietly!"
Ye Zhenghua was thoroughly stung by her retort, feeling a lump in his throat, unable to spit it out.
His face turned bright red, and he babbled incoherently in his anxiety, unable to utter a single complete sentence. In the end, he could only shut his mouth in anger.
He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes helplessly, and felt extremely worried.
What would he do if his family members were implicated and imprisoned because of that brat?
Who will take care of him?
The thought of his empty house, where he could only sit and wait to die, brought a tear to his eye.
Meng Xueyun had no time to care about his feelings; she just stared blankly at the suitcase.
As long as Meng Zihan's suitcase is here, she definitely can't go far and will definitely come back soon.
With this thought in mind, she waited anxiously at home.
Time passed by, second by second.
The quartz clock on the wall ticked away, its sound particularly clear in the quiet room, like a death knell, making her feel anxious and uneasy.
She would stand up and pace back and forth in the living room for a while, then sit back down on the sofa.
His eyes were fixed on the doorway, and his ears were strained to hear any sound in the hallway.
Unexpectedly, the wait lasted until dinner time.
The sound of neighbors cooking dinner after getting off work could be heard coming from the hallway.
The door was opened and closed, pots and pans clattered, and children made a lot of noise.
But there was still no movement at the Ye family's door.
Meng Xueyun's heart sank little by little.
She began to regret it. Perhaps her sons were right; she shouldn't have been soft-hearted and shouldn't have had any illusions.
That ingrate has probably already run off with the money and disappeared.
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