Main Text, Chapter 90: Madam Zhong Acts as Matchmaker

Ye Fei looked to Mrs. Zhong under careful scrutiny. She had already examined the young man yesterday, but today the situation was different, and she had to look at him all over again.

“You two, sit down,” Mrs. Zhong said.

In truth, she could neither say she liked Ye Fei nor that she disliked him. She simply thought the boy was decent enough; besides, he had helped their family the day before.

At first, Mrs. Zhong had assumed Ye Fei and Liu Yiyi were a couple. Yet today she discovered him in a compromising situation with her daughter in her room, and her feelings were indeed rather complicated. She was someone who had seen the world, and she could tell that Zhong Yuhan admired Ye Fei. More than that, Zhong Yuhan made no attempt at hiding her feelings for him. A blind man could have seen it.

Although last night she had also seen something in her daughter’s eyes when they looked at Ye Fei, she had thought that since Ye Fei already had Liu Yiyi as his girlfriend, her daughter would eventually come around. But today, seeing Ye Fei and her daughter together in the room like that, Mrs. Zhong could no longer make sense of it.

Still, things had come to this. Her daughter liked Ye Fei, and Ye Fei did not reject her. The two had even been intimate in the room. So Mrs. Zhong decided she would fight for her daughter’s happiness.

“Auntie—” Ye Fei sat down, and the instant he caught the flash of light in Mrs. Zhong’s eyes, he felt a shiver run through him.

“Mom.” Zhong Yuhan also sat down a little shyly.

Mrs. Zhong glanced at the two of them, then said something astonishing: “Xiaohan, since you like Ye Fei, I won’t object. I thought this boy seemed pretty good yesterday. Ye Fei, since you and Xiaohan have feelings for each other, and you two were in the room together... never mind, I won’t say more. In any case, I can’t oppose it now. From now on, you must be responsible for Xiaohan. I know you’re both still focused on your studies, so after you graduate, you can get married.”

“...”

“...”

“Auntie, you’ve misunderstood. Xiaohan and I have nothing going on. We were only in the room applying medicine to her hand. It was not what you think.” Cold sweat broke out instantly on Ye Fei’s back. Mrs. Zhong was just too formidable.

“Mom, yes, that’s right. Ye Fei and I have nothing going on,” Zhong Yuhan hurriedly explained.

“All right, you two don’t need to hide it anymore. I’m someone who’s been through it all—how could I not understand? Young people are just thin-skinned and embarrassed to admit it. I won’t bring this up again,” Mrs. Zhong said with an expression that clearly said, I know perfectly well.

Mrs. Zhong was stubborn to a fault; she believed only what she saw. And what she saw was Ye Fei holding Zhong Yuhan, the two of them still hand in hand, leaning intimately together, while her daughter’s face was flushed, her lips wet and marked by tooth impressions, clearly as if she had just been kissed passionately.

No matter how Ye Fei and Zhong Yuhan tried to explain it, Mrs. Zhong had only one theory in her mind: young people were thin-skinned and too embarrassed to admit it.

In the end, after Ye Fei and Zhong Yuhan talked themselves hoarse, they still could not change Mrs. Zhong’s mind. The two exchanged a glance, and by mutual understanding, they stopped trying to explain.

After that, Ye Fei helped Mrs. Zhong sort and put away the newly bought items. Zhong Yuhan had injured her hand, so she did not need to lift a finger.

“Ye Fei, I’m sorry. My mom doesn’t know...” Zhong Yuhan said softly as she walked beside him.

“It’s fine. I didn’t suffer any loss, did I?” Ye Fei smiled.

“Ye Fei...” Zhong Yuhan called to him. A sudden impulse rose in her—she truly wanted to ask him whether he liked her, whether he was willing to accept her as his girlfriend.

“Hm?” Ye Fei asked in confusion.

“Never mind, it’s nothing. Your medicine really works very well. Thank you,” Zhong Yuhan said, covering it up. In the end, she still lacked the courage to speak. Looking at Ye Fei, she desperately wanted to cast everything aside and shout her true feelings aloud.

“Heh, I already said there’s no need to thank me. If we’re being honest, this whole mess happened because of me. If anyone should apologize, it’s me,” Ye Fei said with a smile.

Sighing inwardly, Ye Fei looked at Zhong Yuhan’s gentle profile. She was a woman as soft as water, beautiful and kind, truly so similar to the one he had once known. He very much wanted to cherish Zhong Yuhan as if she were that person, to protect her properly. But for various reasons, there were already several entangled women around him, and Yi Yi was even carrying his child. He did not want Zhong Yuhan dragged into these muddy waters, nor did he want to hurt her.

The two walked together and talked along the way.

Only in the afternoon, after he had performed a second round of friction massage on Zhong Yuhan’s palm, did Ye Fei return to school.

“Mom, come in,” Zhong Yuhan called.

Mrs. Zhong walked in from outside and sat down beside her daughter’s bed.

“Mom, do you believe me now? There really is nothing between Ye Fei and me,” Zhong Yuhan said.

“Xiaohan, I saw what happened this morning with my own eyes. Don’t keep trying to fool me. I know the reason you’re acting this way is because of that girl from yesterday. My own daughter—how could I not understand? You’re like your father: kind-hearted and always thinking of others,” Mrs. Zhong said.

With a faint sigh, Mrs. Zhong continued, “That classmate of yours named Yi Yi—anyone can see she likes Ye Fei very much. Mom knows you’re kind and don’t want to compete with her. But a mother knows her child best. I can tell that you like Ye Fei too. You are my daughter, my darling flesh and blood. How could I bear to watch you give your happiness away to someone else?”

After a pause, Mrs. Zhong suddenly smiled with rare gentleness, as though remembering something especially beautiful. “Do you know how your father and I ended up together?”

“Dad used to say it was Mom who chased after him,” Zhong Yuhan said.

Mrs. Zhong smiled. “Back then, there were two boys who liked me. One was your father; the other was one of your father’s former classmates. Your father was just like you—kind-hearted. When he found out that his classmate also liked me, he chose to give up. He didn’t want to make his classmate sad, so he was willing to sacrifice his own happiness. But the one I liked was your father, so I chased after him instead. In the end, we ended up together.”

“Xiaohan, happiness is not something you give away. And what mother doesn’t want to see her child living a happy life?” Mrs. Zhong said, staring directly at Zhong Yuhan.

“Mom, I...” Zhong Yuhan grew anxious.

“Never mind. I know you still can’t fully understand this right now. I can’t just stand by and watch you be sad, so I’ll make the decision on this matter,” Mrs. Zhong interrupted.

Zhong Yuhan obediently fell silent. In her heart, she silently said, Ye Fei, I’m sorry. I did my best, but I really like you so much. But Zhang Xiaoxiao and Liu Yiyi also like you. I can’t compare myself to them. I’m not worthy of you, Ye Fei...

...

By then, Ye Fei had already returned to school. Passing the security booth, he cast a sidelong glance at the guards.

But the guards ignored him. They merely looked at him impassively before shifting their gazes elsewhere. Ye Fei’s suspicion had been thoroughly cleared. That morning, Rong Gui had personally called Brother Hua to say that the thing was in his hands.

Only then did Brother Hua realize that the object buried last night had been dug up by Rong Gui’s men. He frowned at once, not expecting Rong Gui to have inserted himself into the matter as well.

Then Brother Hua immediately called Sha Qiang—the big man—and told him not to conflict with Ye Fei. But after the call connected, he learned that Sha Qiang had already led people into conflict with Ye Fei, only to be defeated by him.

This showed that Ye Fei’s strength far exceeded their original judgment. To stir up such a blunder and provoke Ye Fei into becoming an enemy for no reason caused Brother Hua’s brow to furrow even more deeply. He hurriedly instructed his men not to clash with Ye Fei again. If Ye Fei were to incite Zhang Linsheng into causing trouble as well, then with his superb skills added to the mix, that would be an even greater headache.

Thus, the guards now avoided Ye Fei’s gaze, unwilling to further escalate the conflict.