Yan Bo didn't expect his older brother to get wind of it so quickly. "Brother, I went back to Beijing to see Mom and Dad, but they have several important banquets to attend. I'm not interested in staying at home, and I have a lot of things to do at the company, so I booked a plane ticket and flew back."
"But you can't keep the phone off all the time! Don't you know that will make Mom and Dad worry?" Yan Yuan wasn't so easily fooled.
"I'm on a plane, of course I have to turn my phone off," Yan Bo said, still pretending to be clueless.
"And now?" Yan Yuan paused for a moment, then said, "Mom called you a few minutes ago, but the line was busy the whole time."
"Brother, I was just chatting with Xiao Huai."
Anyway, Yanbo knew perfectly well what was going on, but he would never admit that he had blacklisted his parents and the home landline.
"Okay, anyway, you're not a child anymore, so you probably won't do things like arguing with your parents."
Yan Yuan used a strategy of retreat to advance, knowing when to stop, and after asking a few more questions about company affairs, he hung up the phone.
Yanbo considered whether he should also block the phone numbers of his older brother and second sister.
This idea was ultimately rejected.
After all, he didn't really want to break ties with his parents.
He was just throwing a little tantrum to see if he could force his parents to give in.
He didn't expect them to accept Tong Xiaohuai right away, but at least give her a little chance to show her what she could do!
A few minutes later, the phone rang again, and upon looking at the caller ID, it was Yan Yuan again.
"Xiao Bo, tell me honestly, what kind of tricks are you trying to pull?" Yan Yuan on the other end of the phone sounded very annoyed.
Yan Bo lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. "Brother, what are you talking about?"
"Are you still pretending? Mom called you countless times, and it was always busy. Tell me, did you block Mom's number?"
The Yan family members are all intelligent people, and Yan Bo naturally couldn't keep up the act any longer at this point.
"Brother, you guessed right, I blocked Mom and Dad!" Yan Bo calmly confessed.
But they stubbornly refused to admit their mistake!
"You bastard! You didn't go against your parents because of Tong Xiaohuai, did you?"
"Yes, I've clashed with my parents because of Xiao Huai! No one knows better than me whether Xiao Huai is good or bad. I'm the one who's going to spend my life with Xiao Huai, not them. Why do they have to use all sorts of means to stop me from being with her?"
Yan Bo felt very wronged, and at the same time, he felt sorry for Tong Xiaohuai.
Nowadays, many young people wouldn't lower themselves to that extent for their lover.
But she did it, yet instead of receiving the respect and recognition she deserved, she faced all sorts of obstruction and unfounded accusations.
She never did anything wrong; the only mistake was her parents' prejudice.
“Xiao Bo, your parents are doing this for your own good. We were born into this family, and there are many things we have to do. Don’t you know that all along? Over the years, whether it’s your parents or us, we’ve all been living cautiously and carefully. If we make a slight mistake, it won’t just ruin our Yan family line, but also those who have followed our Yan family all these years. They will suffer as a result. Don’t you understand that?”
Yan Bo was already tired of hearing these things. Lately, his father, mother, and second sister had been saying similar things to him the most.
"So, I should sacrifice my own interests for so many people, and let go of the person I finally meet, right? Or should I just marry Tao Jia? That way, not only will the Yan family and those who follow them not suffer, but everyone will also become more successful and wealthy, right?"
Yan Yuan remained silent for a while, then sighed.
“Xiao Bo, since we were born into this family, there are some realities that we have to accept.”
Yan Bo's blood boiled, and he roared, "Then I'm not a member of the Yan family anymore! Does that mean I don't have to accept these predetermined realities?"
"Yan Bo, are you crazy? How can you say such things?" Yan Yuan's tone suddenly became much stern.
"Brother, you should be glad that your assistant comes from an ordinary background, unlike Xiao Huai. Otherwise, you would be facing the same choice as me!"
This time, Yan Bo is really going all out.
Since soft methods are not working, we have no choice but to use hard methods.
"Yanbo, you and Xiaohuai are still young. There's no need to make things so clear so early. Whether you and her can go the distance is anyone's guess. Why bother arguing and fighting with your family?"
Yanbo understood what his older brother meant. From beginning to end, his older brother did not approve of his relationship with Tong Xiaohuai. His older brother always felt that his current relationship with Tong Xiaohuai might just be a passing fancy, and that once the honeymoon phase was over, everything would gradually fade away.
"Brother, matters of the heart have nothing to do with age. Just because you're twenty-six doesn't mean your feelings for your assistant are necessarily deeper or more genuine than my feelings for Xiao Huai."
Yan Yuan seemed stumped by his question, and Yan Bo continued.
“Brother, you’ve been saying that I’m a member of the Yan family, so I have to bear the responsibilities that come with it. But besides being a member of the Yan family, first and foremost, I’m a man. As a man, if I can’t even protect my own woman, if I can’t even give her the home and security she needs, how can I call myself a man?”
“You always say that Xiaohuai and I are still young, but do you know how many times Xiaohuai has secretly argued with her father for my sake? If it were you, could you honestly say something as irresponsible as ‘I’m still young, let’s talk about family matters later’?”
“I admit you called me a bastard, but I’ve come to realize that I only have two paths before me now. One is to break up with Xiao Huai without dragging her along, since my parents will never accept her anyway. The other is to stay with Xiao Huai no matter what, and in order not to drag my parents down or anyone connected to the Yan family, I have no choice but to get out of the Yan family.”
Yan Bo poured out all the words that had been building up in his heart for so long. After he finished speaking, he didn't hang up the phone immediately, but instead listened quietly to his older brother's rapid breathing on the other end.
Clearly, his older brother was genuinely frightened by him.
"Brother, these words are not just said in anger. They are my true feelings that I have kept in my heart for a long time. I have blocked Mom and Dad's phone numbers. If they contact you again, just tell them directly. It's okay to pass on these words to them."
"Xiao Bo, this is blatant blackmail, do you know that?"
"I know! But I'm really not threatening you. If there were any other way, I would never choose a method that hurts my parents. But I have no other choice, so take it as me threatening you, whatever, I don't care!"
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