Chapter 310: Chapter 302: The Grand Finale (Part 3)
At the end of the day, everyone in the family was independent, only she and He Chen wanted to be tightly bonded for their entire lives.
After returning home, the two little ones quickly fell asleep exhausted after washing up.
Ye Manman wasn’t very tired, accompanying He Chen to sit in the yard and gaze at the stars and moon, reminiscing about the past together.
However, this beautiful time didn’t last long before it was interrupted by a soft knocking on the door.
By this time, the sky was quite dark. Although the moon outside was bright, most villagers wouldn’t run around at night, and most importantly, if someone wanted to visit them, they wouldn’t choose this time.
The two exchanged a glance, and a hint of caution flashed across He Chen’s face.
"Who is it?"
His voice was different from before, perhaps due to years of leadership — even a casual word could exert great psychological pressure.
Outside, there was no movement for a moment, as if hesitating.
But after a brief pause, an old yet somewhat familiar voice came from the door.
"Is He Chen back?"
The voice sounded familiar but different from their memory.
He Chen glanced at Ye Manman, intending for her to go inside, but Ye Manman shook her head, letting him open the door.
With a creak, the old wooden door opened, standing outside was a hunched, ragged, elderly woman almost unrecognizable.
It had only been eight or nine years, yet Li Hongmei appeared to have aged twenty or thirty, with gray hair and a face full of wrinkles. Were it not for her voice that still carried that familiar feeling, they might not have recognized her.
He Chen felt little emotion.
"What are you here for?"
It wasn’t him being callous, but this person had caused him, at the tender age of ten, tremendous psychological damage. Because of her family, He Chen had endured unspeakable hardships for over a decade.
If not for marrying Ye Manman, any other woman he married would have him living under their family’s shadow for life.
Not all women could support him unconditionally, understand him, and sincerely invest themselves like Ye Manman. He wouldn’t truly love any other woman, such marriages would just be compromises under pressure, a lifetime of suffering.
If not for Ye Manman, he might never have untangled his complex emotions and lived happily as he did now.
Essentially, he owed Li Hongmei nothing, and her family owed him plenty; his lack of retaliation was already exceedingly magnanimous.
Therefore, he didn’t understand why Li Hongmei came looking for him.
Moreover, he didn’t care why Li Hongmei ended up like this.
Li Hongmei was evidently no longer arrogant as before, when faced with the well-dressed, distinguished He Chen and Ye Manman, she felt inferior deep down.
But she was truly at her wits’ end.
"He Chen, I was wrong before, I’m sorry to you, but I have no one else to turn to. Tiejun has owed loan sharks outside, they broke his leg, and they said if he doesn’t repay a hundred thousand yuan within a week, they’ll cut off his hand..."
She spoke while weeping, utterly woeful, and ended up kneeling on the ground with a thud, abandoning all her dignity.
"Our family just has you as a relative left, He Chen, Tiejun is your only cousin, you must help him."
"I know you’re successful in Jing City now, earning quite a bit each year; the Sweet and Spicy Duck you sell is even available in town, I’ve seen it. You should be able to come up with a hundred thousand yuan. I..."
"Have you already forgotten? We have no relationship, I also don’t have any cousin."
He Chen coldly interrupted her, his expression even colder than before.
"Even if I truly had a cousin, he is an adult and should be accountable for his actions and choices himself. Why should the debt he owed be repaid by me? Even direct siblings wouldn’t make sense."
"Go back and don’t return."
He slammed the door shut with a cold expression.
Ye Manman pulled him back to sit in the yard; Li Hongmei continued to plead at the door, but realizing He Chen wouldn’t help her, her words grew nastier, beginning to curse outright.
The same as many years before, her foul-mouthed rant continued, despite the voice being old and hoarse, her curses were loud until the nearby neighbors grew annoyed and chased her away.
