Chapter 105, Chapter Six: The Lost Manor
Having a relationship at fifteen was a key part of Li Yufei's life plan.
Aside from his height, Cheng Yuzhou is impeccable.
Because he promised to let her try on fifty different makeup looks, she agreed to wait for him until he turned fifteen.
If Cheng Yuzhou is still not as tall as her when he is fifteen, then she can't be blamed.
Li Yufei didn't have much hope. She had known Cheng Yuzhou for over seven years, and he had always been thinner and smaller than her. With only a year and a half left, how could he possibly grow ten centimeters all at once?
He grew 14 centimeters!
In the second semester of the second year of junior high school, Cheng Yuzhou's voice began to change, and his Adam's apple became more prominent.
In the first semester of his third year of junior high, he was on par with Li Yufei.
By the time they graduated from junior high school and celebrated their fifteenth birthdays, he was already half a head taller than Li Yufei.
He's grown taller, but he hasn't gotten ugly yet. Now, not only does his car make Li Yufei look good when she goes out, but Cheng Yuzhou himself also makes Li Yufei look good.
Her makeup skills improved significantly with Cheng Yuzhou's help. Every time they went out, Li Yufei would groom Cheng Yuzhou from head to toe.
He carries an umbrella all year round. Before, it wasn't high enough to reach Li Yufei's head, but now it can be tilted towards her, sharing half of it with her.
Whenever the two of them go out on the street, and there are any interviews or events, they will almost always be spotted as this eye-catching young couple with umbrellas.
Li Yufei was overjoyed, pleased that her charm was evident to all, and proudly told Cheng Yuzhou, "See? Thanks to me, you're so popular now."
"Hmm." Cheng Yuzhou smiled and tilted the umbrella a little more towards the swaying Li Yufei. "Thanks to you."
“You have to cherish this, you know?” Li Yufei poked him with a finger. “You won’t find a girlfriend as perfect as me.”
"I know." The boy lowered his eyes slightly, his eyelashes half-concealing but unable to hide the shimmering emotions. "You are the best, Feifei, thank you for agreeing to my request."
He spoke sincerely and wasn't just being perfunctory, which pleased Li Yufei: "Okay, that's good to know."
She took his arm and walked towards the mall. "We're here today!" she exclaimed sharply, taking a sudden half-step back.
Cheng Yuzhou was startled and followed her gaze to see a huge butterfly poster to his side.
Li Yufei's only weakness is insects.
She could beat up three boys, yet she could be scared to tears by a pill bug. From a young age, she was very resistant to science textbooks with illustrations of insects.
But Cheng Yuzhou hadn't expected: "Not even butterflies?"
"Butterflies are insects too! Take off their wings, and they look exactly like the ones in the water, even fatter and more disgusting!"
Cheng Yuzhou switched places with her, making her move away from the poster, "Then let's take another route."
"We're already at the door, why go around?" Li Yufei pulled open his coat and buried her head inside. "Let's go!"
Cheng Yuzhou was startled. Under the gaze of passersby, he stammered, "Feifei, let me take off my coat and give it to you."
"It's just a short walk, hurry up."
"But...someone is watching..."
"So what? Just think of it as having a basketball on your chest. Don't you like playing basketball?"
How can these be the same...?
Looking at the girl pressed against his chest, Cheng Yuzhou looked away, his cheeks burning.
Where can you find a basketball that smells this good...?
With his hands and feet numb, Cheng Yuzhou stiffly hunched over as he walked that stretch of road. As soon as he passed the poster, he immediately opened his coat and said to Li Yufei inside, "Okay, Feifei, we're over there."
"Phew..." Li Yufei emerged, and the two of them breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
"How annoying, it would be great if all insects were extinct." Li Yufei tidied her hair and spoke up before Cheng Yuzhou could, "Okay, okay, stop talking about the food chain, I was just thinking about it."
She composed herself and took two steps forward, but Cheng Yuzhou did not follow.
Turning around, Li Yufei saw him standing at the mall entrance, his face flushed. A layer of mist clouded his delicate eyes. When she looked over, he hurriedly looked away, murmured "uh-huh" twice, and followed her, "Okay."
Li Yufei blinked, "Are you shy? We didn't even touch each other because of the clothes."
"No, no... I am..."
"What is it?"
“I was just thinking… uh…” Cheng Yuzhou covered his lips with the back of his hand, not daring to look her in the eye, “I was thinking that you watched the Bug Crisis before, so why are you afraid of the butterflies in the painting?”
“I’m not scared, I feel disgusted!” Li Yufei emphasized. “Cartoons and animation are different from reality.”
"Ah...I see..."
"Hmm? Are you changing the subject?" Li Yufei leaned closer. "Are you just shy?"
She leaned closer, her rich fragrance wafting over him, and Cheng Yuzhou abruptly took a large step back. "I really didn't."
"Really?" His fox-like eyes slanted upwards at the corners, revealing a hint of eager anticipation.
Li Yufei suddenly stepped forward, grabbed his clothes, lifted her chin, and kissed his flushed face.
Cheng Yuzhou's pupils contracted sharply, and his eyes widened instantly.
"It's good that you're not shy," Li Yufei said, her hands behind her back, tiptoeing back lightly. "Next time, you'll have to kiss me."
A mischievous smile played at the corners of her eyes and brows, a smile so vivid and radiant that Cheng Yuzhou's heart skipped a beat for her.
After a moment, he pursed his lips and smiled, "Okay."
Although Li Yufei has watched countless movies and read countless articles, she lacks practical experience and is not very clear on how to have a relationship.
She picked out some materials from her precious database that were appropriate for their age and identity, and stuffed them all into Cheng Yuzhou's hands, saying, "Study hard, and ask me if you don't understand anything."
They are all literary book titles: "The Nightingale," "The Caged Bird," "Moonlight and Rose," and "The Bottom of the Deep Sea."
Cheng Yuzhou took it back to see.
He never expected that such an artistic title would contain such terrifying content.
"Feifei, I've finished reading those books."
"So many! You finished reading them all so quickly?" Li Yufei asked excitedly. "How was it? Was it good?"
Cheng Yuzhou shifted his gaze slightly. "It's fine to read them as novels, but I don't think they're suitable for us."
"Why?"
Cheng Yuzhou frowned; just recalling those contents was unbearable for him.
This is Li Yufei's hobby, and he tries to comment tactfully and calmly: "I think there are many behaviors that are very bad, extremely bad."
Li Yufei raised an eyebrow: "For example?"
Cheng Yuzhou could tell that she was already a little unhappy.
However, he found it hard to praise: "I don't think stubbing out a cigarette on the female lead's chest is something worth learning."
"There's this plot point too?" Li Yufei couldn't remember. "Okay, then you can rule out the parts that might harm your body."
Of course, she didn't want to be burned with a cigarette butt—ha, if Cheng Yuzhou dared to do that, he'd be finished.
“If all of them are eliminated, the plots will become completely disconnected, and the male protagonists' personalities will be completely different.”
“There aren’t that many violent scenes,” Li Yufei said, unconvinced. “You need to focus on the core points.”
In Cheng Yuzhou's view, the core focus of these novels is violence.
"Idiot! The important thing is the male lead's unwavering love for the female lead!"
"Maliciously suppressing the female lead's father's company and turning her from a rich young lady into a maid to serve him—can that be called love?" Cheng Yuzhou's tone was slightly somber. "I only saw rape and imprisonment."
"Ah!" Li Yufei was angry, feeling that even her best efforts had been wasted by the wild boar. "You really don't understand anything."
She explained to Cheng Yuzhou, "To give you an example, there are two types of me. The first type is indifferent to where you go or who you meet."
"The second type is where you go, who you meet, and what you say to whom. I care about all of this. I hope that you only have eyes for me and that you will always be with me."
Which version of me do you prefer?
Cheng Yuzhou smiled and said, "Both are fine."
"No, you have to choose one!"
“Then…” he said awkwardly and shyly, “the second one.”
Li Yufei snapped her fingers: "See? This is love!"
“But Feifei, you won’t like being forced,” Cheng Yuzhou said in a low voice. “Being forced to stay by a man’s side, not being able to go out freely, not being able to have other friends, and not even being able to spend too much time with your own child… Feifei, you will be in a lot of pain.”
At that time, Li Yufei failed to notice Cheng Yuzhou's unusual behavior; she was only focused on arguing with him and making him admit that she was right.
“That’s because you don’t love enough,” she retorted. “If you love deeply enough, you won’t feel bad.”
“Not enough love…” Cheng Yuzhou murmured, his eyes lowered.
That seems to make sense.
"Yes! If you love someone very, very much, you'll want to be with them every minute and every second, and you won't have anyone else in your eyes."
He gripped the book "The Caged Bird" tightly in his hand. "So, do you want me to treat you like this?"
One sentence shut Li Yufei up.
She hesitated, her eyes darting around guiltily. "We've only been dating for a few months, it's not that far off yet. You have to treat me better for me to truly love you."
Without hesitation, Cheng Yuzhou replied, "I will, Feifei. I will be good to you, very good to you."
"Easier said than done." He made Li Yufei a little embarrassed. She twirled her hair, pretending not to care: "Maybe your family will arrange a fiancée for you sometime, or you'll suddenly find that you like men."
Cheng Yuzhou hesitated for a moment, then handed the book "The Caged Bird" back to Li Yufei.
"I will prove it."
He didn't look directly at Li Yufei; his gaze was fixed on her slender, white fingertips, and his expression was as if he had applied a layer of icing sugar, revealing a gentle smile.
Whenever Cheng Yuzhou thinks of Li Yufei's name, he can't help but smile like this.
He often felt as if he had stolen the museum's prized possession, feeling both anxious and nervous, yet also secretly delighted and intoxicated by the joy of owning the treasure.
This feeling helped him get through many days at home.
During the countless days he was confined, he sat alone, getting through the time by repeatedly recalling Li Yufei's appearance.
Since meeting Li Yufei, Cheng Yuzhou has stopped thinking about why he had to keep his hair long, why he couldn't exercise, why he couldn't eat meat, why he had to carry an umbrella, and why that man was his father.
He didn't bother to think about why Cheng Yandong would go crazy every now and then, or why he would suddenly grab his hair and drag him into the darkroom and lock him up.
The room was surrounded by sealed cement walls, with no windows, no lights, no appliances, and not even a vent.
Even in such a dark place, the moment he thought of Li Yufei, the whole room would be as bright as the sun.
The brilliance of stars and moon cannot describe her; she is blazing and fiery, burning and crushing all darkness. Even with her eyes closed, her image and voice are vivid and clear, brimming with the power of life.
But clearly, just like him, her parents didn't love her that much either.
Heavy breathing and hoarse sobbing came from outside the door.
Cheng Yuzhou didn't care. He had met Li Yufei, and this dark and desolate place could block out distractions, allowing him to focus even more on missing Li Yufei.
Li Yufei, Li Yufei, Feifei...
The darkness, like a black velvet backdrop, only accentuates the brilliance of the gemstone.
As Cheng Yuzhou thought about it, he couldn't help but smile sweetly.
"Ah!!!" Suddenly, a heavy punch slammed into the door. In the dead of night, the angry roar of a middle-aged man came from outside the villa.
His foolish and selfish father—
Cheng Yuzhou thought without any pity that he was too hypocritical, claiming to be affectionate, yet he had driven his mother to her death.
He would never be as violent as him.
He wanted to treat Li Yufei well, just as she had said, and make her love him, not by using shackles and chains, but by making Li Yufei stay willingly.
Will that day ever come...? As long as he treats her well, will she love him deeply? Love him so much that she can't see anyone else but him?
Cheng Yuzhou hugged his knees, burying his burning face slightly.
He dared not think too much about the scene of Li Yufei loving him deeply, always feeling that such a fantasy was a desecration of her.
It's enough if she likes him even a little bit;
Maintaining the status quo is good enough...
With a blissful dream in his heart, Cheng Yuzhou leaned against the wall and drifted off to sleep.
I don't know how long I slept, but the door behind me suddenly opened.
Cheng Yuzhou suddenly woke up and turned to look back.
The dim light cast a slanted shadow, and the middle-aged man stood on the line where light and shadow met, staring expressionlessly at Cheng Yuzhou in the room.
His once sharp eyes were now bloodshot, and gray hairs had crept into his temples.
At that moment, Cheng Yuzhou looked at his father, who was only in his early forties, and the words "walking corpse" suddenly popped into his mind.
The haggard and exhausted man looked down at him indifferently. After a long while, his dry, pale lips moved, and he uttered a hoarse voice: "Cut it."
Cheng Yuzhou was bewildered.
He had already turned and left, leaving behind the words: "I got my hair cut. Come to the company with me tomorrow."
This sentence acts like a driving gear, and from it, many things begin to turn in a chain reaction.
The secretary anxiously tried to dissuade him: "Mr. Cheng, the young master has only just turned fifteen. How can we let a child of this age work?"
"I didn't let him do it; I just let him watch. What's the rush?"
"But young master also has his own studies to complete."
"That's his business. In this day and age, do we still have to study in school?"
"But no matter what..." "I've waited for him for nine years! Nine years, isn't that enough!"
The secretary remained silent.
He was an outsider, yet even so, the secretary occasionally felt sorry for Fang Yuzhou.
The woman was like a bird whose primary feathers had been clipped, struggling and fluttering, clumsily crawling with her claws.
She endured until Cheng Yuzhou was six years old and started school, but then she couldn't hold on any longer.
After Fang Yuzhou left, Cheng Yandong lost all interest in work. Everyone thought it was just a temporary setback and that he would recover sooner or later.
The secretary had no idea that Cheng Yandong had been waiting for Cheng Yuzhou to grow up all these years.
He was only fifteen years old, yet he felt he could be left with all the responsibilities.
He couldn't wait to keep his deceased wife's body company and didn't want to be disturbed by anyone or anything.
"You're going to the Southern Hemisphere?" Li Yufei looked at the boy in astonishment. In just two years, he had changed dramatically.
After cutting his long hair and no longer avoiding exercise and sunlight, Cheng Yuzhou grew up rapidly, as if he had settled down in an instant, becoming tall and aloof.
"Cheng Yuzhou, aren't you going too far?" But these changes were not good for Li Yufei at all. "Since you started high school, you only go to school a few days a month, and we hardly ever see each other. You're also incredibly slow to reply to messages. Do you even remember when we last went on a date? It's hilarious! Who could tell we were dating? Are you playing the silent treatment on me?"
"I'm sorry, Feifei, I'll only be gone for a week. I'll be back soon..."
"Who wants to wait for you? Everyone who wants to invite me to my birthday party has to take a number." Li Yufei crossed her arms, tilted her head and sneered, "I know, Cheng Yuzhou, you're the young master of a big corporation, different class, huh?"
"No, I didn't want it to be like this either, but..." But for Cheng Yandong, crushing Li Yufei's parents' company was as easy as squeezing an ant.
Cheng Yandong tolerated and allowed Cheng Yuzhou to be intimate with his girlfriend in his wife's house, all so that he would obey him.
"Alright, alright, I know you have a lot of difficulties. I'm not so unreasonable as to force you to put down your career and play with me." Li Yufei raised her hands in surrender.
Cheng Yuzhou's eyes lit up. He carefully took Li Yufei's hand and smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Feifei."
"You're welcome." Li Yufei pulled her hand away. "I understand your ambition, so you should understand mine too, right?"
“Of course, of course,” Cheng Yuzhou said eagerly. “I will prepare a gift for you, and when you come back this time, I will go with you wherever you want to go.”
"No need for that—we won't need it anymore."
Cheng Yuzhou was taken aback; her posture and expression filled him with inexplicable panic. "...What do you mean?"
“Over the past year or so, I’ve thought about it carefully,” Li Yufei said seriously. “This can’t go on forever. You have your ambitions, and I certainly can’t let you put your career aside just because you’re in a relationship, but I also have my own needs.”
"So, Cheng Yuzhou, we're breaking up."
"Go ahead and do your thing. I'm also planning to find a new boyfriend. It'll be better for both of us."
Even in his solitary fantasies, Cheng Yuzhou never dared to imagine Li Yufei being infatuated with him.
He just hoped that she would like him even a little bit, and be willing to play with him like children playing house.
“Yes…you’re right,” he forced an awkward smile. “It’s my fault. You need a lover who can be with you.”
Li Yufei pouted, "It's good that you know."
He suddenly spoke, his expression excited: "Feifei, shall we get married?"
"What?"
"You can date anyone you want, but let's get married. How about I be your husband?" His smile was strangely eerie, his eyes seemed to be crying, but his lips were stiffly upturned. "The legal marriage age in J country is 16. How about we change our nationality and get married?"
"You're insane!"
He's really grown up. Li Yufei used some force to pull her hand away. "Stop going crazy, Cheng Yuzhou. Go to your Southern Hemisphere conference. I won't interfere with your work, and you shouldn't interfere with mine either."
Seventeen years old! Such a wonderful age! She's not going to live a life of widowhood with a man she can never even see.
"I won't hold you back!" Cheng Yuzhou grabbed her, pleading incoherently, "Yufei, I won't bother you and your boyfriend. Your aunt and uncle limit your allowance, right? If you marry me, you can buy whatever you want..." "Enough!"
The tall girl suddenly became angry. "Cheng Yuzhou, I know your family is very rich, but does that mean my family is begging? In your heart, I only dated you because of your money? No wonder you ignore me and only try to coax me with gifts when you piss me off—that's how you've always thought of me, you bastard?"
Cheng Yuzhou was stunned. "I don't..." "I understand." His foxy eyes burned with anger. "I said, what normal person would bring up marriage in high school? You need a female companion, and a vain woman like me can be satisfied with money. You don't want to miss out on such an easy woman to get, right?"
Li Yufei really wanted to beat him up, but as soon as she said those words, the boy in front of her showed intense pain.
He was like a snail that she had forcibly pulled out of its shell, curling up in agony under the scorching sun.
Seeing this, Li Yufei wasn't surprised at all that he would cry, but he didn't shed a tear. He just stared at her with his misty, hot eyes.
Did she say something wrong?
Li Yufei was unsure. They had spent too little time together in the past two years, and she didn't know Cheng Yuzhou at all. Seeing him made her feel like a stranger.
Perhaps he really liked her, or perhaps he had many unresolved reasons, but the undeniable fact remained: he couldn't be with her.
She's had enough of having a boyfriend she's only dating online.
"Alright, stop crying. Let's leave it at that." Whatever, she was too lazy to think about all the complicated things. "I'm leaving. Remember to delete my photos from your Moments."
Li Yufei didn't look back at Cheng Yuzhou's expression; she was also in a terrible mood.
Next week is her 17th birthday, the last time before she turns 17. He rarely asks her out, and Li Yufei is dressed up beautifully, but what she hears is this.
She used to argue with him last year, but this year she's too lazy to even bother.
People with different values cannot work together; she could no longer waste her youth on the wrong person.
"You're back so soon?" Her parents were in the living room and smiled at Li Yufei. "Didn't you play with Yuzhou a little longer?"
"I'm not playing anymore." Li Yufei bent down to take off her shoes. "We broke up."
"Break up?" Mr. and Mrs. Li's expressions changed drastically.
"Yes." Li Yufei walked upstairs. "I'm going to rest."
Damn man, she spent half an hour on her full makeup, which took her an hour and a half to do. What a waste.
Mr. Li suddenly spoke up, "Li Yufei, come here."
What are you doing?
"Please sit down here."
Her parents looked extremely grave, and Li Yufei sat down, completely bewildered.
"What happened?" She came back full of anger, and now, with her parents both frowning and staring at her, she felt short of breath and guilty.
I haven't done anything wrong recently...
“Tell your mother,” Li’s mother asked, “why did you two break up?”
They were so serious just to ask about this, and Li Yufei immediately relaxed. "What else could it be? He hasn't seen me or replied to my messages for the past two years. He didn't even come to my birthday party this time. What am I supposed to talk about?"
Li's father asked, "Was it Yuzhou who suggested it?"
"Of course it's me."
"Nonsense!"
Li Yufei was startled. "What are you doing, Dad?"
Li's mother sighed and said earnestly, "Feifei, Yuzhou is already working very hard, studying and working at the same time. You have to be understanding of him."
“I understand,” Li Yufei said, feeling wronged and a little uncomfortable by her parents’ reaction. “That’s why I’m letting him focus on his work.”
"He didn't come to break up with you, but you brought it up yourself. He's not asking you to do anything, so why are you breaking up with him?" Mr. Li said unhappily. "Call Yuzhou right now and apologize to him."
"Apologize to him?" Li Yufei opened her eyes wide. "Dad, are you out of your mind? Why should I apologize to him!"
“Feifei, Yuzhou can’t take care of you because of his studies and work, not because of anything else. You’re really being inconsiderate.” Li’s mother picked up her phone for her. “If you’re too embarrassed to bring it up, just send him a message and ask him to come over so I can talk to him.”
"No, what are you doing? He's just a boyfriend, not my husband. I can break up with him if I want to." Li Yufei waved her hand. "I don't want to get back together with him."
"You still think it's just a boyfriend?" Mr. Li couldn't take it anymore. "We've worked so hard to raise you, providing you with makeup artists, stylists, and so many clothes and bags; every time you were assigned to a class, we went to the teachers and begged the principal; with your grades, do you know how much money we spent to get into the same high school as Cheng Yuzhou! You think it's just a simple boyfriend?"
Li Yufei was stunned.
Li's mother patted her husband, "Oh dear, why are you bringing this up?"
“If I don’t say anything, she’ll never get it. She’s almost an adult and still doesn’t understand anything, just fooling around all day!”
“You can’t say that to her face like that.” “I want her to know how much her parents have sacrificed behind the scenes.”
“What do you mean…” Li Yufei murmured, slowly looking at her parents, “So, all this time, you’ve been so supportive of my dating, my makeup, and my going out, just to please Cheng Yuzhou?!”
Li's mother avoided her gaze, "You can't say that..."
"Ugh," Li Yuming yawned as he came downstairs, "I can't stand it anymore."
He leaned on the corner railing, looking at his sister on the sofa with a half-smile. "Li Yufei, do you really know or not? How come your parents bought you a cell phone when you were nine, but I didn't get one until junior high? Use your smooth brain to think about it—of course, it was so you could contact Cheng Yuzhou."
Li's mother glared at him and said, "What are you stirring up trouble for? Go back to your room and do your homework!"
Li Yuming made a face and said, "I wish you a healthy baby soon."
Li Yufei suddenly got up and went upstairs.
Li's father shouted, "We haven't finished talking yet, what the hell are you doing?"
She went back to her room without looking back and slammed the door shut.
"What kind of attitude is this child!" Mr. Li stood up and was about to go find her, but Mrs. Li stopped him, "Are you going to fight her now? She's not a child anymore, she's stronger than both of us."
"She's so extravagant and dissolute!" Mr. Li was so angry that his hands trembled. "She doesn't appreciate her parents' hard work at all."
"At her age, breaking up isn't as easy as drinking water for her. You might persuade her to stay together today, but she'll break up with you again tomorrow. If she keeps breaking up and getting back together, she'll eventually wear down Yuzhou's patience, and that would be the real problem."
"Then what do you suggest we do? All these years of investment have been wasted?"
“If you ask me,” Li’s mother laughed, “children are fickle, so adults should make decisions for them.”
"Isn't it because they're both under the age to get a marriage certificate?"
"If we can't get married, we can get engaged."
Mr. Li pondered.
After a while, he picked up his phone, went to the balcony, and dialed Cheng Yandong, who was pinned to the top of his contact list.
At 17, this was Li Yufei's worst birthday party ever.
The plans made with friends changed day and night, turning from a young people's carnival into a family reunion dinner.
But her parents and elders wanted to celebrate her birthday, and she really couldn't find a reason to object.
She was unaware of the reason why her parents suddenly threw a big banquet and invited relatives and friends. Her birthday party was postponed for a few days. On the eve of the party, Li Yufei was taken by her parents to a private restaurant.
The entire restaurant had been booked, and Li Yufei glanced at the expressions on their faces.
Ha, you finally remembered to apologize to her?
She definitely wouldn't forgive them over a meal; this time she was truly angry.
She was calculating what kind of compensation she wanted for emotional distress, but she never expected that when she got out of the car and opened the door, she would see Cheng Yandong and Cheng Yuzhou in the private room of the restaurant.
"President Cheng." Mr. and Mrs. Li greeted him with smiles, acknowledging Cheng Yandong, who was seated at the head of the table, and then looked at the handsome young man beside him. "Yuzhou is back from Y country?" "You don't look too well. Are you too tired?"
"Hello, Uncle and Aunt." He responded politely, his anxious and somber gaze falling on Li Yufei at the door.
Li Yufei's face was as ugly as it could possibly be.
The words she yelled at Cheng Yuzhou during their last meeting still echoed in my ears.
She broke off all ties with him in a fierce manner, and less than a week later, she appeared here.
Li Yufei's seventeen years of glory and pride were ruthlessly crushed, leaving her scattered on the ground.
The fawning attitude of her parents, the way Cheng Yandong scrutinized the goods, and Cheng Yuzhou's anxious yet tearful joy were like a slow, agonizing torture, more humiliating and infuriating to Li Yufei than being stripped naked in public.
Her blood rushed to her head, and she trembled uncontrollably. She turned to leave, but her mother, who had anticipated this, grabbed her arm.
The waiter closed the door, and she was half-dragged and half-pressed into her seat by her parents.
"No need for pleasantries, let's get down to business." Cheng Yandong interrupted Li's father's polite conversation, glancing at Li Yufei who had her head down. "Yufei is someone I've watched grow up, I know her inside and out, and I trust her completely."
"Yes, yes, the key is that the two children are childhood sweethearts and have been inseparable since they were little. This is a rare and precious bond."
"When is the engagement? Tomorrow?"
"Yes, tomorrow at four o'clock in the afternoon. Mr. Cheng, do you want to add a few more seats?"
Li Yufei suddenly looked up and stared in astonishment at her parents beside her.
got engaged?
Isn't tomorrow her birthday party?
“Uncle and Aunt,” Cheng Yuzhou, who had been silent all along, finally spoke, “getting engaged at 17 is a bit too early. Feifei and I are still in high school. Let’s wait until we’re adults.”
Mr. Li glanced at Mrs. Li, who smiled and said, "Yuzhou, you don't know, in the past, engagements had to be held when the person was still a minor."
"The meaning of engagement is to make a marriage agreement when you are young and then officially get married when you both come of age. Otherwise, if two adults can get married but only get engaged, to put it bluntly, isn't that like looking for a better option while still in a relationship, and their intentions are not pure?"
Cheng Yandong didn't care: "A year earlier or a year later, it's all the same."
“Yes, Mr. Cheng is right.” Mr. Li also smiled. “Next year you have the college entrance examination, the coming-of-age ceremony and the start of university. There will be one thing after another. You won’t have time. Why not do it now?”
Cheng Yandong nodded: "Yes, that's fine."
"ha……"
A cold laugh interrupted the adults' harmonious conversation.
The group's gazes turned to Li Yufei.
The bright young woman sat crookedly, propping her head up with one hand and twirling her hair with the other. "I say, Mr. Cheng—how many times have you met me? How many times have you spoken to me? You just gave me your only son so hastily? Aren't you afraid I'll corrupt him?"
Her arrogant, domineering delinquent-like demeanor shocked Mr. and Mrs. Li: "Yufei!"
Cheng Yandong, however, remained calm and said, "I trust Yuzhou's judgment. As long as he's happy."
The words she said during the breakup have now been slapped in the face, and Li Yufei doesn't want to face Cheng Yuzhou at all.
But she didn't want to be treated like a commodity, sold to a man by her parents before she even reached adulthood.
She steeled herself and glared angrily at Cheng Yuzhou, "Cheng Yuzhou, if you're a man, then let's part ways amicably!"
He knew how much he had wronged her over the past two years; he was the one who should feel guilty and ashamed.
The boy, who always listened to her, remained silent and did not answer.
Li Yufei was taken aback, and gradually grew anxious in his silence.
What is he doing? Say it! Say he doesn't want to marry her. Once he says it, her parents won't be able to do anything about it.
After a long pause, the boy looked up. He hesitated, his expression a complex mix of emotions: apology, worry, ingratiation, and a veiled hope.
“Feifei,” he said, “we can cut down the banquet guest list so that our classmates and friends don’t know.”
Li Yufei stared at him.
Mr. and Mrs. Li both breathed a sigh of relief. Mrs. Li said gently, "Yes, honey, if you're worried about your classmates finding out, we can keep it low-key and announce it after you go to university."
The woman's gentle voice was faint and distant. Li Yufei only stared at Cheng Yuzhou, her childhood sweetheart who had always been obedient to her.
"Ha..." She suddenly laughed. After being arrogant and domineering for seventeen years, she now realized that she was the sheep that had been raised and strangled.
"Cheng Yuzhou, you're really something." She stared straight at him. "Am I being too gentle in front of you, or have you forgotten how I treated Song Xiaona and the others since you haven't been to school for the past two years? Hmm? Are you sure you want to try this with me?"
Cheng Yuzhou looked back at her without saying a word.
Mr. Li was extremely anxious. While observing Cheng Yandong's expression, he shouted in a low voice, "Li Yufei, sit down! What are you doing out there?"
"Going crazy? I've never gone crazy in front of this brat before!" Li Yufei jumped up, grabbed the tablecloth with both hands, and suddenly ripped it off—
Glassware, porcelain, tableware, tea, and dishes suddenly shattered with a clanging sound.
"Li Yufei!" "Yufei!" Amidst the shocked shouts of Li's parents, Li Yufei took two steps across the messy and chaotic private room, grabbed Cheng Yuzhou's hair, and slapped him across the face.
"Get married!" she roared. "You shameless bastard, I'll tear you and your family apart and change my surname to yours! I want to see if you, Cheng Yuzhou, are worthy of the good fortune of marrying me!"
The slap knocked Cheng Yuzhou's face to one side, and nearly made Li's parents faint.
Li Yufei smashed cups and bowls without holding back a bit, her palms turning red and numb.
Her chest heaved with anger, forcing back the tears welling in her eyes.
She couldn't cry. What was there to cry about? She had to show them what she was capable of.
The private room was deathly silent, not a sound could be heard.
The boy's slanted cheeks flushed red instantly, and his fingernails pierced the corner of his lips, with faint traces of blood seeping from under his skin.
His disheveled hair obscured his eyes, making it impossible to see his expression.
In the silence, the raging anger cooled slightly.
Li Yufei realized that she was bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
She dared not vent her anger on her parents who had sold her, nor dared to lay a hand on Cheng Yandong, who had made the decision to buy her—she blamed everything on Cheng Yuzhou.
He wasn't entirely innocent, but he was by no means the mastermind, and in any case, he shouldn't have been the first to bear the brunt of her anger.
But Li Yufei was at a loss; she didn't know what else she could do.
A pang of guilt slowly rose within her, and she forced herself to be tough, adopting a shrewish demeanor, determined to sabotage this deal that would ruin her life.
No human being—even if not a normal one—would agree to have a daughter-in-law like that.
"President Cheng, this..." Mr. and Mrs. Li were at their wits' end, not knowing whether to scold Li Yufei first or apologize to Cheng Yandong first.
The two spoke incoherently: "We're so sorry, it was our fault for not communicating properly. I'll have someone clean up right away. I'll have her mother take her back, and we'll go somewhere else. I'll apologize properly to you and Yuzhou."
"I'm fine." Behind the messy dinner table, Cheng Yandong was still able to sit calmly. His son's face was swollen from being beaten, but he didn't look at it. He said directly, "Yuzhou, it's up to you."
On the boy's swollen face, two strands of black hair fell from his forehead and stuck to the corners of his eyes.
Li Yufei swallowed hard.
He should be sober by now, shouldn't he?
She watched as Cheng Yuzhou bent down and picked up the cardboard box that had fallen to his feet.
He bent down, opened the package, and took out a tissue.
Li Yufei hadn't seen Cheng Yuzhou cry in a long time; the last time was probably when they argued in fourth grade.
He cried when they argued, and after they finished arguing, he came to apologize to her while still crying.
Did she hit him so hard that he cried?
Feeling inexplicably guilty and embarrassed, Li Yufei shifted her gaze slightly, avoiding his gesture of wiping away tears.
But the next moment, the slender hand held the tissue to Li Yufei's eyes.
She turned around in surprise and met the boy's raised face, one side of which was pale and the other flushed.
“Feifei,” he said softly, “don’t cry.”
Cheng Yandong, who was behind him, suddenly chuckled.
His smile held an unspeakable irony and resentment. He brushed the shards of porcelain off his clothes and said to the stunned Mr. and Mrs. Li, "Then it's settled. The engagement will be tomorrow. We'll head back today."
Even Mr. and Mrs. Li found the father and son's attitude absurd.
The two hesitated, "Um... is Yuzhou's face alright? Let's go to the hospital to get it checked out." "Yes, yes, we need to get it checked out, it's bleeding."
Cheng Yandong glanced at his son's face.
Cheng Yuzhou's secondary sexual characteristics became more and more prominent, and he no longer resembled Fang Yuzhou, but became more and more like him.
"I don't see anything wrong," Cheng Yandong said indifferently. "As long as the marriage is settled, he'll be happy to be tickled by a young girl. Right, Yuzhou?"
Mr. and Mrs. Li were stunned and speechless.
They all knew how strong Li Yufei was; it wasn't something a little girl could easily defeat.
But Cheng Yuzhou said, "Yes, I'm fine."
Li Yufei took a half step back. An indescribable, slight unease crept up her spine.
The face she had seen since childhood, the face she had worn makeup on countless times, now displayed an expression that sent chills down her spine.
Cheng Yuzhou handed her a tissue and looked up at her.
Those clear, bright eyes clearly reflected the dazzling lights, yet they were as bottomless as a muddy pond.
A mix of conflicting emotions flooded their eyes, an overwhelming multitude of feelings converging within them. No matter how many emotions there were, they all sank to the bottom, unable to extricate themselves or escape.
This is not love at all.
"I'm sorry, Feifei." He looked at her with eyes as murky as dead mud. His face, which had been slapped by Li Yufei, was split in two. The lower half of his face showed guilt and pain, while the upper half suppressed a smug, self-deprecating joy.
“Even if we get engaged or married, you can still live the life you want.” He promised in a pleading tone, “I won’t interfere with you, and I won’t say anything to anyone else. You don’t need to have any worries.”
For the first time, Li Yufei realized that Cheng Yuzhou was acting strangely.
It's as if peeling off this beautiful exterior reveals not flesh and blood underneath, but a lump of rotten mud.
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