Chapter 288: Chapter 286: Caught by Yang Xiumei
The work must go on, but she also had to think of a good plan.
Yet, while going about her job, Ye Xiaotong did come up with a brilliant plan.
She had many clients, including many regulars.
And several of those regulars had significant backgrounds.
Of course, she wasn’t quite sure what those backgrounds entailed, but she could hint at her troubles, crying about someone threatening her, saying she might not be able to continue in this line of work much longer.
As expected, one of the regulars who had visited often couldn’t stand this, and upon learning about Liu Dongliang’s information, immediately threatened to make sure he wouldn’t dare come to town again.
That day, Ye Xiaotong was thrilled, and she managed to placate the client, even shared the exact timing with them.
By tomorrow, at the latest, Liu Dongliang wouldn’t dare show his face in town again.
And he also promised Liu Dongliang wouldn’t dare spread the news of her activities at the barbershop.
Ye Xiaotong trusted him very much.
But that evening after work, before the client could make a move, Liu Dongliang still came to find her.
This time, the gaze Ye Xiaotong cast on Liu Dongliang was no longer filled with hate, but rather with pity.
Liu Dongliang, possibly having just finished work and hurried over, was covered in dust and sweat, filthy and smelly.
Ye Xiaotong had no other choice but to coax him into washing the grime off his face and arms at a place with a water well, and once he was barely presentable, they found a secluded corner to settle the matter.
But this time, Ye Xiaotong had miscalculated.
She never expected that so late at night, Yang Xiumei would come out, and specifically to pick her up.
Having heard that the town had become rather unstable, and with Ye Xiaotong coming home later every day, she was quite worried, so she left Wu at home and came out alone.
Ye Xiaotong and Liu Dongliang hadn’t strayed far from the barbershop and had casually chosen a hidden alley by the roadside.
The alley was cleaner than the one the day before, with the occasional passerby, but generally, no one would enter the alley so late, so Ye Xiaotong dared to bring Liu Dongliang in.
But Liu Dongliang was too unaware of his limits.
Because he preferred young women, he was obsessed with Ye Xiaotong and constantly wanted to try things out with her.
But that trial led Ye Xiaotong to cry out in pain, attracting the attention of a passing Yang Xiumei.
She thought she had misheard, but seeing that dark alley, with what sounded like someone talking inside, she worried if something had happened to Ye Xiaotong and went over.
Ye Xiaotong, held by Liu Dongliang, suddenly heard Yang Xiumei tremblingly call her name.
"Xiao... Xiaotong?"
Yang Xiumei’s voice was extremely familiar to both Ye Xiaotong and Liu Dongliang.
Liu Dongliang was so frightened that he pushed Ye Xiaotong to the ground and turned to run to the end of the alley. Meanwhile, Ye Xiaotong barely had time to cry out in pain, hurriedly picking herself up while frantically tidying her clothes.
"Mom..."
She panicked, completely panicked, not knowing how to explain!
Of all people, Yang Xiumei had to witness such a thing!
All because of that damned Liu Dongliang!
"Xiaotong, who was that person just now?"
"Why did he look so familiar..."
Yang Xiumei’s voice trembled, her legs unable to support her as she leaned against the wall, trying not to fall from the shock of what she just saw.
Ye Xiaotong, not knowing what to say, remained silent.
Seeing her daughter with messy clothes, her eyes darting around, Yang Xiumei connected the dots with how she had been earning steadily over the past six months, her dressing becoming more flamboyant, and suddenly, she understood.
She pointed at Ye Xiaotong, incredulously asking.
"Xiaotong, you wouldn’t be doing that kind of work, would you?"
The last thing Ye Xiaotong feared was her acquaintances discovering what she was doing, let alone her family.
But now Yang Xiumei had seen it all, and no amount of explanation would help. Better to just admit it.
"Yes, I’m doing that kind of unspeakable work."
Hearing her own admission, Yang Xiumei’s vision blurred, nearly fainting on the spot.
Her fingers clutched the wall, her mind reeling.
"Daughter, how could you be so foolish!"
"How could you be so desperate to do something like this? You’re degrading yourself, and people will look down on you for life!"
Yang Xiumei’s words were filled with raw emotion, as if she had aged ten years in an instant.
She never imagined her carefully nurtured daughter she had always been proud of would turn out like this.
"Isn’t this just selling?"
Selling her youth, her dignity, like a commodity.
Yang Xiumei felt anger and heartache, her heart twisting with pain.
But Ye Xiaotong felt that Yang Xiumei was looking down on her.
She sneered twice.
"That’s right, I am selling."
"But aren’t you also being supported by the money I’ve made?"
"That money was earned this way, and you spent it quite well, didn’t you? What’s the use of saying this now? Can you still live those days when there wasn’t enough money to buy meat?"
"Heh, heh, can’t, right? Because just like me, you’ve long grown accustomed to the days when you can buy what you want, so why disdain the money for being dirty?"
Hearing this, Yang Xiumei was utterly shocked.
She pointed at Ye Xiaotong’s face, witnessing the coldness and nonchalance in her expression, and finally blacked out, collapsing.
Ye Xiaotong never imagined a few words could make Yang Xiumei faint.
She quickly rushed to catch Yang Xiumei, and after pinching her philtrum for a while, finally got her to wake up.
At the sight of her, Yang Xiumei couldn’t help but cry, unable to utter a single word.
Ye Xiaotong inexplicably felt a pang of discomfort in her heart.
She bowed her head, awkward but still managing an apology.
"I’m sorry, Mom, I shouldn’t have said those things."
"But from the beginning, I had no choice. I fell into someone else’s trap. If I didn’t do this, you and Wu wouldn’t have had a good life."
"They used you and Wu to threaten me, and I had no choice."
"Besides, didn’t I make money? And a lot of it."
"I truly can’t do business. When I first came to town, I was losing money, and I was scared, afraid of not being able to support Wu, afraid of not surviving. Besides, things are already like this, might as well accept it. At least we have money now, right?"
"Isn’t this better? Better than the old days of hardship, and there’s no one to hit or scold me."
Thinking of those suffocating days at the Xie family made Ye Xiaotong seethe with resentment.
But months ago, she had successfully divorced Xie Fengmian, citing his imprisonment, and now she had money and someone to spoil her. Life was excellent.
Those hard days were memories she often didn’t want to revisit.
Yang Xiumei had witnessed Ye Xiaotong’s transformation and had seen her covered in bruises after Xie Fengmian’s beatings.
But she still couldn’t accept her daughter selling herself to make money.
"Xiaotong, is there still a way out now?"
"Mom can still work, and you’ve saved quite a bit in these months. Why not stop, and we’ll go somewhere else to start life anew, doing some small business, and live well."
Ye Xiaotong furrowed her brow, not quite understanding Yang Xiumei’s thought process.
"Mom, what are you talking about?"
