Confused, Ye Fei looked at Xu Shuyun and asked, "Aunt, is something wrong?"
Seeing that her daughter had finally spoken up, Xu Shuyun no longer concealed her emotions and let out a soft sigh. However, she didn't respond to Ye Fei directly. Instead, she turned her gaze toward the study, her eyes reflecting such emptiness that it made Ye Fei feel a pang of sadness.
Ye Fei was about to ask more, but just then, a gruff voice from the study broke the silence, "Who's shouting out there? Don't you know it's rude to disturb someone's sleep?"
The voice felt crude. In the past, Ye Fei had always found this voice to be bold and energetic, but now it only came across as brash and harsh.
The door to the study opened, and out stepped a disheveled man with messy hair and a pale face, dressed in wrinkled pajamas. Ye Fei blinked in disbelief—this was supposed to be his once-dignified second uncle?
He barely recognized him. The man standing before him now resembled a homeless person more than the high-spirited man Ye Fei used to know.
Ye Lingtian forced a smile when he saw Ye Fei and said, "Ah, it's Xiaoman. You haven't visited your uncle in a long time. Stay for dinner tonight. Let your aunt make something good for you. Well, actually... I should head back to sleep." He yawned and, without so much as glancing at his wife or daughter, turned to go back to the study.
"Uncle, wait. I need to discuss something with you," Ye Fei hurriedly stopped him. Despite his disappointment in his uncle's current state, Ye Fei still held deep affection for him. After all, Ye Lingtian had been like a father figure to him growing up. He hoped to get his uncle's perspective on the situation with Ye Yu.
Ye Lingtian frowned impatiently but managed to sit down on the far end of the sofa, clearly eager for this conversation to be over. "Say what you have to say quickly," he said.
"It's about Brother Yu," Ye Fei decided to cut straight to the point, sensing his uncle's lack of patience.
"Xiao Yu?" A rare smile crossed Ye Lingtian's face. "He's been doing a great job. He's helped me manage so much these past couple of years. I've decided to hand over the Ye family's affairs to him."
Ye Fei was stunned. He hadn't expected his uncle to be considering stepping down already. He opened his mouth to object, but before he could speak, Ye Jing blurted out, "No, Dad! You can't hand the Ye family over to Ye Yu!"
As the door clicked shut behind him, the room fell into an awkward silence, broken only by the faint sound of snoring from behind the door. After a long pause, Ye Fei turned to Xu Shuyun and asked, "Aunt, what's happened to Uncle? He wasn't like this before."
Xu Shuyun sighed deeply, her face etched with sadness. "I don't know, Xiaoman. He started changing more than a year ago. His temper became short, and he stopped listening to anyone's advice. He trusts Ye Yu completely, and..." Her voice faltered, and her face reddened with embarrassment. "And he lost interest in me.
He moved into the study over a year ago."
"But during the New Year, you both seemed fine," Ye Fei said, recalling the festive gathering where everything appeared normal.
"He was holding it together for the occasion," Xu Shuyun admitted. "He didn't want to spoil the holiday, but this... this is how he's been for most of the year."
"And sometimes, he even hits Mom," Ye Jing added angrily.
Ye Fei's heart sank. "What?"
He had never imagined that his uncle, once a loving husband, could ever hurt Xu Shuyun. Shocked, he stood up and moved to sit beside her, gently putting an arm around her shoulders. "Aunt, you don't deserve this."
Feeling Ye Fei's warmth, Xu Shuyun's carefully held composure cracked. She buried her face in his chest and began to cry softly, finally letting out the sorrow and frustration she had been holding back. Seeing her mother cry, Ye Jing also began to weep.
Ye Fei didn't know how to comfort them with words, so he simply held them close, one in each arm, and softly patted their backs, offering the only solace he could.
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I'll like your advice guys!Also some motivation through a gift will be great!