Cheng Anya felt that Miss Li’s tone sounded a little sarcastic. Was she upset recently? “I say, Xiao Yun, are you two really going to break up? How can you sound like a wife holding grudges now in just a night?”
“Can’t I look for another one if we break up?” Li Yun was stubborn. If it was somebody else who asked, Li Yun might insist that Gu Zhensheng and her were still going strong in order to not embarrass herself. However, since it was Cheng Anya, she did not have to care about her face.
Anyway, they had seen each other at their lowest times. It would be too disgustingly emotional to say anything that was not from the heart.
It was not Li Yun’s style.
“Oh, listening to this tone, you must be really angry. Very angry. What did he do? Threatened you with that little fiancée in his house?” Cheng Anya asked with a smile. She rolled herself in the quilt and her tone was kind of gloating.
“How can you sound so happy?” Li Yun ground her teeth. The fortune wheel was really ever turning. When she was with Third Young Master Ye then, she did not say anything good about him. Now, Third Young Master Ye was still doing well but it seemed that she had burned down her backyard. She was bad at judging people.
“I’m glad that Mister Gu is free from the torture and gained freedom. You’ve been with him for a few years. If there are no problems, you should quickly marry him. Isn’t this what would happen sooner or later? What are you waiting for? Gu Zhensheng has a house, a car, and is rich. He is also a fine young man who is handsome with a great personality. You can’t find someone like this anymore. What else do you dislike about him? Didn’t he propose a year ago? What are you doing?” Cheng Anya said coldly.
In fact, they all knew what she meant. However, it was different to do things by yourself and say things about others.
Third Young Master Ye also has a house, a car, and was rich. He was also a fine young man. He looked handsome, but he did not have a good personality. But in general, he was okay. He had also proposed, but she did not agree to it too, right?
This was indeed…
“Let me tell you. It’s not that I have any problems with him. His family dislikes me. Getting married a year ago? What kind of marriage was that? Could his family agree to it? Oh, we went to Las Vegas and registered for marriage immediately. When we got back, I had to be at his mother’s disposal while he lived his dream every day. Gu Zhensheng said that he has two women in his life; one was his mother and the other was me. He is filial to his mother. His mother gave birth to him, raised him, and therefore, loves him. She wouldn’t tell him off. But it was different for me. She doesn’t like me and her words were like needles. I don’t want to be at her disposal anymore.” Li Yun was very depressed.
Miss Cheng was sympathetic. “It turned out that the problem was with the mother-in-law.”
Fortunately, she didn’t have to worry about this. She didn’t have to be at anyone’s disposal to marry Third Young Master Ye. As for Ye Zhenhua and Yang Yun, they could be ignored. It was indeed very comfortable to say that. If Ye Chen’s mother was alive, she must be someone nice too. She didn’t have to worry.
Besides, she had a cute little baby. What a bonus.
“Don’t gloat at me if you don’t have this problem, girl. I’m sick of this. I saw his mother last night when I came back and she called me a spendthrift when she saw how many things I bought, as if I had robbed his son’s salary. I don’t spend her son’s money to buy things and I even buy things for his son. What spendthrift? She wasn’t even born in a poor family. Moreover, I don’t lack money. Her nagging is almost about the same level as you.” Li Yun was frank and quick to speak. Her mouth could be sharp at times. Cheng Anya pondered that Li Yun’s future mother-in-law’s character might not be that difficult to get along with. Why didn’t they just each take a step back and solve the problem?
“And then? Did you quarrel with her?” Cheng Anya asked with a smile. She was sympathetic.
“No. I slammed the door in front of her. I was too lazy to quarrel,” Li Yun said and sneered coldly. “You also know that his mother is a stuck-up. When Gu Zhensheng first took me to see her a few years ago, she had already despised me. Look at me. I’m prettier than at least 80% of the women on the street outside. My education level can also crush a group of women. My personality is considered gentle, as long as other people don’t provoke me. Isn’t she just not fond of my poor family background? Am I not enough for her Gu Zhensheng who was born with a golden spoon? Gu Zhensheng is a prince in her eyes but I am not even counted as a Cinderella. It is very uncomfortable to know how biased she is.”
Cheng Anya agreed with Li Yun very much. It was true that most mothers have this mentality. Li Yun’s terms were very good. Her family background was better than hers. Li Yun’s parents were university teachers. Although they were poor, they were a family of scholars. Her family background was weaker. However, it seemed weird to say so…
“Xiao Yun, next time, take my son to her and tell her that your godson is the richest person in the world.” Cheng Anya joked and Li Yun chuckled.
Indeed, it was true that no one was happy recently.
“How thoughtful of you. Oh, how I envy you. Third Young Master Ye is alone. You don’t have to serve your parents-in-law. They are so difficult to wait on. If we get married, they might even force me to become a housewife and stay at home. I already feel like dying at the thought of this.” Li Yun was really jealous of Cheng Anya’s good luck.
“Actually, it’s better to have parents-in-law. You would have more people doting on you if you build good relationships with them.” Cheng Anya comforted her. “How I wish Ye Zhenhua was not like that and could dote on Third Young Master Ye when he was young.”
“It’s easier said than done.” Li Yun scolded her with a smile. “Don’t take this for granted.”
“How about you move out once you get married? There would be nothing to be depressed about if you don’t live with her.” Cheng Anya wondered. “Besides, why would you want to let him go if he wants to get married? How foolish.”
Li Yun paused. “I’d like to, but you also know that I’m such a bad-tempered person. If I’m not liked by others, I’d like to show her how well I’m living. But she was not someone else. I’ll have to address her as my mother if we really are married. I can’t possibly avoid her forever like she’s a stranger, right? Besides, Gu Zhensheng is a filial son. It would be me who will suffer over time. Am I not trying hard enough to gain her liking? We won’t last long if our relationship isn’t blessed. Man can say anything to you now when he loves you, but when the love fades over time, he will start to think back and feel that his mother is still the best.”
Cheng Anya was amused by her tone. What Li Yun said was so vivid.
“How would you gain her liking if you slammed the door in front of her? I’m glad that his mother didn’t spit out blood.” Cheng Anya could imagine this scene. Her son found a daughter-in-law that would quarrel with her and slam the door at her face. She then asked his son to dump her straightaway.
Let’s see who the winner was. She couldn’t possibly want a rude and disrespectful daughter-in-law.
But Li Yun was Li Yun. She was not Gu Zhensheng’s mother. That was another matter. Cheng Anya had met his mother once. She was a typical wealthy housewife and a little intimidating indeed. What was there to be proud of being a little rich? It was as if her son was only worthy of a British Royal Princess. She had expected that Li Yun would not be able to stand his mother’s temper. Everything was fine when they were in love with each other, but when it came to getting married, many problems surfaced.
Third Young Master Ye and she had no problems with their parents-in-law, and she was also okay with Third Young Master Ye’s sister. To think about it, she was really lucky.
“Let her be angry then. If her son is angry with me, I will make her angry. It’s fair.” Li Yun answered casually. Cheng Anya could hear that this was not her sincere words. Although Li Yun was always yelling that she couldn’t find another man, Cheng Anya knew that Li Yun had given her whole heart to Gu Zhensheng.
That year, when Gu Zhensheng had kissed her once, she lost sleep all night and listed the good qualities of Gu Zhensheng. At last, Miss Cheng said, “Aren’t you afraid that I would be jealous and snatch him over?”
Li Yun then shut up and let her go to bed. It was already six o’clock in the morning. Cheng Anya regretted that she had not said that earlier.
“Calm down, calm down. If you want to marry Gu Zhensheng, you have to bear your temper. Don’t be too stubborn. It’s not good for you,” Cheng Anya said it in a trite way.
Li Yun rolled her eyes. “I know this better than you. What I’m depressed about now is not anything else but Gu Zhensheng’s attitude. He did not defend me and accepted whatever his mother had said about me. If I’m not happy, he’ll say that she’s his mother and she should be polite. F***, don’t I have a mother too? His attitude made me angry. He doesn’t understand me at all. If he isn’t going to settle the problems between his wife and his mother, he’d better stay away from it. He didn’t help settle the problem but sided with his mother instead. What’s the matter with him?”
“If I were to quarrel with my daughter-in-law, my son would stand by me first and then coax his wife afterward.”
“The key thing is that he turned his back against me even after we had quarreled. I can’t stand living like this even before we got married. Marriage? If I can really let go of him, I will definitely dump him. How can I, Li Yun live such a suffocating life?” Li Yun seldom complained, but she won’t stop once she seized the chance to do so.
Cheng Anya could only listen and agree with her occasionally.
“Then, why are you still yelling that you’ll find a good one to remarry? There is nothing else on the street, only men. See how you are suffering now? Just saying it won’t do. Can you really go and find one?” Cheng Anya couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t mean to be sarcastic at all. She was very much looking forward to Li Yun’s rebuttal.
In fact, she thought that Gu Zhensheng was really good. If she had not been busy with raising baby Ning Ning, she would have wooed Gu Zhensheng. It would be interesting for her to snatch Li Yun’s boyfriend.
But he was a little too filial. Filial piety is a good thing. It’s a traditional virtue of the Chinese. But it would be a bit hard for his wife if he obeyed his mother, who was not so easy to deal with, blindly.
She was sure to get angry.
Li Yun was someone who could be persuaded by reason but not be cowed by force. In fact, he would be fine if he coaxed her slightly. However, Cheng Anya felt that this might have happened many times for Li Yun to complain about as Li Yun was not someone who would complain often. Otherwise, Cheng Anya would not only know about Gu Zhensheng’s fiancée recently.”
Whether it’s standing by justice or friend’s side, she was with Li Yun. After all, she knew how difficult she was having it as a woman.
“People always persuade others to stay together instead of separating. Why are you the opposite?” Li Yun was puzzled.
“I’m just showing you the way out of your gloomy life,” Cheng Anya said with a smile. “There are a lot of rich young men around you and you are famous now. You have both fame and wealth. There would be someone who wants you. Don’t worry.”
“Don’t even mention it. I tried to think of finding another man last night. I have so many people around me and I don’t need to hang on one tree like this,” Li Yun said in a very serious tone. “If he doesn’t understand me and only complies with his mother to pick on me, then he shall live his life hugging his mother forever. I am totally fine with not marrying Gu Zhensheng.”
Suddenly, Cheng Anya heard a loud door closing sound. She paused and hesitated. “Li Yun, what are you doing?”
“It’s nothing. He happened to pass by,” Li Yun said as if it was nothing.
Cheng Anya broke into a cold sweat. What did she just say? How could she be so calm after Gu Zhensheng had heard what she said? It seemed that Li Yun was really serious this time. Her determination was really extraordinarily strong.
“How long has he been listening?” Cheng Anya prayed that he had not listened too much. Li Yun really complained a lot this time and it was because he had failed as a boyfriend.
“Who knows how long he’s been listening, and what’s the matter with it? If he can do it, why can’t I talk about it?” Li Yun said indifferently without a care in the world. “We can’t possibly be stuck in this knot forever too. Isn’t it better for him to know about this earlier? Furthermore, he still has a fiancée. It’s not a big deal. He’ll just have to say if he wants me or not. In the worst-case scenario, we’ll just break up. Who can’t live without whom?”
“The more you say it, the more serious it gets. Go to the bathroom, take a cold bath, and think through it again. Don’t take things too hard.” Cheng Anya was anxious this time. She really didn’t want her friend’s marriage to be ruined.
With Li Yun’s temper, she must have been tough on that fiancée. She might even threaten her with her antics.
“That fiancée must not be your opponent. Then, aren’t you left with the problem with your mother-in-law? Just build a good relationship with her. How hard could it be? You should talk it out with Gu Zhensheng. Communication is the key.” Cheng Anya advised.
“I don’t have the heart for it at the moment. By the way, I forgot to tell you something. It seems that many enterprises are involved in the drastic change in MBS International. I lost my temper with him last night and didn’t sleep well. He picked up the call in the middle of the night and I overheard his conversation,” Li Yun said. “You better be fine.”
“The Gu family is involved?” Cheng Anya raised her eyebrows.
“It seems so, but I don’t know who they are siding with. But I think that Gu Zhensheng’s mother is more likely to take advantage of this chance. After all, the Gu family has a family business. I’ve seen several people in power, which makes it more likely,” Li Yun said. “Louis has cooperated with many local family businesses in City A. After all, these businesses have a powerful family background and a deep influence. It would be easier and more convenient for him to communicate with the local government and get the latest information to do whatever he wants.”
“Xiao Yun, that’s your husband. Why are you telling me this?”
“What’s the matter? I’m going to kick him out soon, so I’m not going to spare a thought for him anymore. Furthermore, how is a husband more important than a friend?” Li Yun said with a smile.
Cheng Anya felt a gush of warmth in her heart. “Although I don’t know what Ah Chen is planning to do, can you advise Gu Zhensheng not to interfere? I don’t know what MBS International will become at last, but Ah Chen would not admit defeat. He has invested so much in MBS International and he mainly wants to take revenge on Ye Zhenhua. I think that he would make that old man die of anger by hanging his name on MBS International. It was more straightforward to take revenge like that. The situation at present is not clear and it would be unwise to take advantage now. I’m not protecting him, but Gu Zhensheng is really not an opponent of Ah Chen in the business world. His method of settling accounts afterward is very frightening. You’d better ask him to get out of this quickly and stay uninvolved. Otherwise, he will surely suffer losses. If you believe me, listen to me and stay away from this.”
“So serious? I have never understood this. Will the company go bankrupt? ” Li Yun asked anxiously.
‘Damn girl, aren’t you thinking of breaking up with him? You are still concerned about him after all.’
Therefore, Cheng Anya exaggerated. “It’s possible. You’d better advise him.”
“That’s great.” Li Yun clapped her hands.
Cheng Anya was stunned into silence.
What’s happening?
Li Yun laughed and said, “If the Gu family goes bankrupt, I will buy firecrackers to celebrate and immediately marry Gu Zhensheng. Then, I will go to his mother and twist her son’s ear in front of her and say, ‘From now on, I will take care of your son.’ It would be my turn to look down on her. I don’t know how many times I have imagined this in my dreams, but it hasn’t happened yet. After hearing what you said, I might consider persuading him to take advantage of this chance. The earlier he goes bankrupt, the happier I am.”
Cheng Anya was speechless. “…You are evil!”
‘There’s only one word to describe you: Strong!’
“Don’t you know how pissed off I am?” Li Yun sneered. Indeed, she was a bit hesitant about this. “Hey, I originally called you to ask about your situation, but I did not expect this to turn into my ranting session.”
“It’s okay. This is rare.” Cheng Anya smiled. “It would be best if you let me hide at your house for a few days.”
“Go away. I have been trying to hide somewhere else these past few years too. I think it’s time for us to calm down and think about the next step. If we can’t get through it, I won’t force it. It’s pointless,” Li Yun said faintly. She really meant those words.
“Do whatever you want,” Cheng Anya said. “By the way, accompany me to the hospital tomorrow to get the report.”
“You haven’t told him yet?”
“It’s not a big deal. Nobody has the time for this now. Let’s see the result first.” Cheng Anya planned to solve this issue with little effort.
Li Yun was puzzled. “You, damn girl, still dare to tell me off. Aren’t you the same? Gave me tons of reasoning but you have done none of them yourself. Never mind. I’ll go with you tomorrow. You’ll have to treat me to a drink.”
“Okay. I’ll take you to the bar where I had Ning Ning.” She might have to drink and get drunk too, in case her result showed that she had late-stage gastric cancer or liver cancer.
“Okay, it’s settled then.”
“Go and coax your man. I’ll hang up now.” Cheng Anya hung up the phone with a smile and rolled on her bed several times before sitting up. It seemed like everyone was having a hard time recently.
‘This life is really depressing. When are depressing times going to end?’
She even told Ah Chen that they would get married at the end of the year. There were only four or five months left before the end of the year. The issues of MBS International still hadn’t been solved and she wasn’t sure if they could get married successfully.
It didn’t matter whether they got married or not. The life they were leading now seemed to have no difference from the husband and wife’s life.
Cheng Anya also had her own troubles. She had always felt that the two of them were together because of their child. Furthermore, Ye Chen had such an unfortunate past. Was he just sentimentally attached to the warmth of family and wanted to marry her because he loved Ning Ning and the feeling of home? Or did he really fall in love with her?
Miss Cheng was very sensitive to this problem. Did Ye Chen ever say that he liked her? It seemed like he did but Cheng Anya took that as the love language that men say in a specific atmosphere. If a man says he likes a woman, it does not necessarily mean real love. There are many kinds of love.
There was no doubt that Ye Chen was in love with this family. Cheng Anya thought to herself that if it was another woman who was pregnant with his child and came back to him seven years later, and she happened to have a great personality, it didn’t matter if the girl was her or not.
After all, Miss Cheng was also a girl. Although she was intelligent and decisive, she was also as thoughtful and delicate as other girls. She was usually too lazy to think about it and felt that it was okay to stay like that.
In the past, she always thought that something was missing if she didn’t get married, but she could not tell what was missing. Maybe it was this kind of uncertainty.
The phone call with Li Yun had reminded her of her worries. She was depressed and couldn’t help thinking about this problem, which made Cheng Anya very uncomfortable. In addition, she didn’t know what the results of her medical report were. Hence, Cheng Anya’s mood inevitably turned bad.
After sitting on the bed for a long time, she changed into a dress. She could finally say goodbye to the old suit. It was a happy thing.
She tied up her long hair into a ponytail. Cheng Anya looked at herself in the mirror. The more she looked at herself, the younger she looked. How could she not look like an adult at all? She looked like a big girl no matter what.
She was not happy and pulled down the hair tie again to let down her hair. She put her smooth hair on her shoulders and frowned. “Menopause is coming.”
How depressing.
She walked past the study room after getting out of her room and saw Third Young Master Ye typing on his computer frantically while talking on the phone occasionally to pass down orders. It was obvious that he was talking to Fourth Young Master Tang. Cheng Anya puckered her lips and went downstairs.
She brewed a pot of coffee.
She was such a housework idiot now that she could only make coffee to drink. She wasn’t good at it since the start. It was a miracle that Ning Ning could grow up safely after eating what she made for several years. Ning Ning took care of the housework after he grew up and Cheng Anya was happy that she did not have to do anything.
Seeing the coffee beans boiling and making bubbling sounds, Cheng Anya was in a bit of a daze.
“Forget it. Stop being depressed. Menopause would really come for me if I continue to be depressed.” Cheng Anya shook her head and decided not to think about those annoying problems. After the coffee was ready, she brought it upstairs. Third Young Master Ye was on the phone with Fourth Young Master Tang to tell him how to destroy the Repulse Bay project of MBS International. Once the project was destroyed, most MBS International’s funds would not be able to flow, unless Louis was a money printer which could provide MBS International with unlimited funds. But as far as he knew, Louis was tight on funds.
Cheng Anya figured out that the probability of them winning the battle was high and there was nothing to worry about. The only thing she worried about was that Louis might play dirty tricks.
After all, the business world was different from the Mafia.
He had asked Ye Wei and Eleven to stay just in case anything happened.
“Okay, you can leave it now and slow down. Let Louis be proud of himself for two days and make it seem like it’s peaceful. By the way, you are familiar with several senior officials of the land bureau, right? Invite them for dinner and dig out some information. After all, your underworld and business world identities are much more effective than Lin’s.” Third Young Master Ye knocked the tabletop with his fingers, which created a regular tempo. His deep eyes were full of evilness.
Fourth Young Master Tang agreed and Third Young Master Ye hung up temporarily. Cheng Anya served him the coffee and smiled, as if he was still President Ye and she was his chief secretary, Miss Cheng. “Try the coffee at home. The coffee beans were handpicked by our son.”
Third Young Master Ye seldom drank coffee at home. He was used to going to work after drinking coffee in the morning in the past. After he lived with his son and Cheng Anya, he had a rich breakfast every morning. His son had forbidden him to drink coffee with an empty stomach as it was unhealthy.
At home, he now drank tea the most. According to the young kid, tea is healthy.
“Better than the coffee in MBS International.” Third Young Master Ye smiled a little. “Miss Cheng, is brewing coffee all you can do now?”
“Well, that’s enough for you,” Cheng Anya said with a smile. “How are things now?”
“Klose is playing with Louis in the stock market while Fourth Young Master Tang and Lin are playing tricks behind his back. Louis can’t escape from any one of them.” Third Young Master Ye smiled coldly. The smell of coffee drifted into the tip of his nose, and his mood became very comfortable.
After the great chaos that happened in the stock market in the morning, Louis was slowly stabilizing. Klose was a pervert. He did not like to kill someone directly but torture him slowly and enjoyed the process, which was strikingly similar to Third Young Master Ye.
Third Young Master Ye also enjoyed such a distorted process. Birds of a feather really flock together.
Let him breathe for two days, and then in a few days, he would slowly feel the pressure.
“By the way, I just talked to Li Yun on the phone. She heard from Gu Zhensheng that many local enterprises have joined hands with Louis to fight against the attacks of the three of you. The Gu family in the south of the city is also among them. I expect that many family enterprises would side with Louis this time.”
The Ye, Yang, Tang, and Lin divided themselves into southeast and northwest of City A. The east and west of the city were dominated by emerging enterprises, which were also the most important areas for international large-scale enterprises to invest in, whereas the south and north of the city were dominated by family enterprises, occupying nearly half of the local market of City A. They were deeply rooted and had a very good relationship with the local government. If they had their help, they would be more powerful.
This was one of Louis’s wishful thinking.
“Yao Hua’s territory is in the south of the city while Lin’s territory is in the north of the city. If Yao Hua doesn’t take any big action, the big family businesses in the south of the city won’t make any noise. Louis used and betrayed Yang Zekun before, and this time, Yang Zekun may not help him. As for the north of the city, we only need to let Lin hold a meeting to frighten them. Louis wouldn’t expect that City A was basically under our control. It’s not so simple for him to join hands with all the big family businesses in City A. In addition, the local government won’t treat him well as he is a foreign guest. Besides, I’ve always made friends with senior government officials. Do you think they would like to continue to cooperate with me and make peace or work with Louis, the ticking time bomb? Unless the old man reveals Louis’ real identity and holds a press conference to say that he is Ye Yukun. However, the Mafia will then be in a mess because of this news, and Louis will not be able to cope with all the problems that have arisen both internally and externally.”
Third Young Master Ye analyzed and smiled. “Thanks, Anya, you have reminded me of the family businesses in City A. If they have joined powers, it would be powerful. Lin could suppress one of them while Yang Zekun, humph, he’s smart enough to not help Louis after being betrayed by him. I’ll have to remind Lin to gather the big families in the north of the city to have a talk to stabilize the north of the city first.”
Cheng Anya smiled. Li Yun’s reminder had helped them big time.