Ying Jiaojiao hadn't seen Li Chen all morning, and her calls and messages went unanswered. Her heart sank, and she skipped her afternoon classes to go to his place.
The community has excellent privacy and security, and the gatekeeper wouldn't let her in at all. She stayed in the gatehouse until evening, but she didn't see him. There was no activity on her phone either, and it almost ran out of battery and shut down. She had to borrow a charger to keep it running.
She returned home dejectedly, only to find a familiar yet unfamiliar middle-aged man in the house. She paused for a few seconds at the door before realizing that it was her father, and there was also a flamboyant and beautiful woman, her stepmother.
Hearing the door open, Ying Xingye looked up, his brows furrowing deeper as he scrutinized her.
The stepmother raised her narrow, fox-like eyes and swept them over Rong Xi's face, waist, and legs. She gave a very soft chuckle, glanced at Rong Xi, and a clear sense of smugness and contempt appeared in her eyes.
Ying Jiaojiao was overjoyed to see her father come over. Even with her annoying stepmother around, she was able to temporarily suppress her anxiety about her boyfriend's disappearance. She thought she could ask her father to help her find Li Chen.
"Dad, what brings you here?"
"Come here, I need to ask you something." Ying Xingye beckoned to her, and she immediately went over and squeezed past her stepmother.
The latter raised his hand to cover his nose, seemingly bothered by the smell of her sweat, rolled his eyes slightly, and decisively moved to the single sofa next to him.
"Dad, what's wrong?"
"I heard from your mom that you've started dating recently?"
A shy blush immediately appeared on Ying Jiaojiao's face, her eyes filled with expectation, as she replied, "Yes, Dad, will you bless us?"
Ying Xingye remained noncommittal and continued to ask her, "What's his name? Where is he from? What does his family do?"
"His name is Li Chen, I think he's from Beijing, and his family is probably in business."
Ying Xingye's expression turned somewhat grim: "What are the two characters in his name?"
"The character '历' in '历史' (history) and '琛' in '王牙琛' (Wang Shenchen) are related."
The stepmother looked surprised and swept her over again with that scrutinizing and disdainful gaze, her eyes seeming to say, "That's it?", full of incomprehension.
Do you have any photos?
Ying Jiaojiao opened her phone's photo album, which contained photos of Li Chen sleeping, walking, eating, and lying in a hospital bed.
Before she could choose, Ying Xingye snatched the phone and examined it carefully for several seconds, as if to confirm whether it was real.
The stepmother followed closely and muttered under her breath, "No wonder."
Ying Jiaojiao didn't understand what was going on, so she asked Rong Xi. The latter looked indifferent and said, "I don't know, ask your dad."
"Dad, what happened?"
Ying Xingye threw his phone at her, his gaze icy: "So it was you."
The stepmother breathed a sigh of relief for some reason and kindly explained, "A wise man said that our Ying family has a daughter and a Li family son who are destined to be together. Their birth charts are a perfect match, but they will bring misfortune to their close relatives. At first, they will only have poor health and declining fortune, but in the later stages, it will even be fatal."
Those in the real estate business are somewhat superstitious. Yingxingye follows selective superstition, but it's enough for Dixiu and 001 to make a fuss about it.
They caused him some minor trouble, and then bribed a conman to swindle people.
Ying Xingye was skeptical, so he found another master who was said to be very accurate. The master calculated the birth charts of Ying Xinyuan and Li Chen and said that the two were incompatible and not suitable for marriage.
Ying Xingye couldn't tell who was telling the truth and who was lying. He found another woman, and after a long conversation, they said they could get married.
People like to hear good things, but they can't help but think the worst. At that time, the Li family had not yet encountered any obvious trouble, and Ying Xinyuan refused to cancel the engagement, so the matter dragged on for a month.
But as one family affair after another occurred, Ying Xingye also felt frequent aches and pains in his body, and his own company also encountered many minor problems. When he met that "expert" again, he finally believed him and even specially invited him back.
In fact, given the Li family's situation, he really didn't want to be dragged into it, so breaking off the engagement was just a natural step.
But the "expert" said that was not right, because the woman from the Ying family, whose birth chart was a perfect match for the men of the Li family, was not in this family.
His second wife thought he was having an affair, and their two children also joined in the commotion. He remembered his daughter from his previous marriage, so he came over to check on things, only to find out it was true.
From a man's perspective, Ying Xingye had serious doubts about Li Chen's judgment. From a father's perspective, he still felt that his daughter was not good enough for Li Chen.
The stepmother had similar thoughts, thinking that it was no wonder her precious daughter was so beautiful, slim, talented, and intelligent, yet she couldn't win over Li Chen. It turned out that he liked the exact opposite type.
Ying Jiaojiao was stunned, her mind unable to process what was happening. After a long while, she rushed over and grabbed her father's hand, asking anxiously, "Has something happened to Achen?"
Ying Xingye reacted strongly, forcefully pulling his hand away, his brows furrowed, and he said coldly, "Break up with him."
"No, Dad, has something happened to him? Tell me."
The stepmother chuckled and said, "He's fine, it's just that the Li family is in trouble. Jiaojiao, the expert is right, you and Li Chen are a good match in terms of horoscopes, but it will drain the fortune of your closest relatives. For everyone's sake, you should separate."
Rong Xi, who had been silent all along, asked, "Then why is the Li family almost finished, while I and you are still doing well?"
Ying Xingye's face darkened. His stepmother glanced at him and explained with a forced smile, "She said it's because our relationship with Jiaojiao is not as close as that with the Li family."
The expert also said that it was fortunate that the Ying family's daughter wasn't paired with Ying Xinyuan, the child they doted on, otherwise they would probably have become sworn brothers with the Li family.
Thinking about her usual relationship with her daughter, Rong Xi paused for a moment, then calmly ordered, "Jiaojiao, break up with him."
The three of them tried to persuade Ying Jiaojiao, but she couldn't win against them. She just kept shaking her head, very stubborn, and no one could convince anyone else.
Frustrated, Ying Xingye went to the balcony to smoke and then called the "expert" to explain the situation.
"They are a match made in heaven. Alas, it is indeed difficult to separate them. I have another plan, but alas, I shouldn't have meddled in this matter. Now I am truly caught in a dilemma."
Upon hearing that there were other methods, Ying Xingye immediately inquired further, and ultimately persuaded him with donations.
After a long sigh on the other end of the phone, he said, "Since it cannot be stopped, then we can only distance ourselves. But kinship cannot be broken by physical separation; only severing the kinship relationship can."
"This is illegal."
“Benefactor, you are being too attached to appearances. Metaphysical matters should naturally be resolved by metaphysics. As long as both parties agree, I, this old Taoist priest, will perform a ritual. However, you will no longer be able to interfere with her afterward.”
"but……"
"I know what you want to say, benefactor. Your daughter is still three months and five days away from coming of age. Before the ritual, you can take care of all the necessary arrangements for her."
The specifics needed to be discussed in person, but Ying Xingye felt relieved. After going inside, he told Ying Jiaojiao, "Either you break up with Li Chen, or you sever all ties with us."
The other two women were both taken aback.
"If you agree, I will give you 500,000, but from now on, I will no longer care about you."
Ying Jiaojiao thought about it and nodded in agreement.
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