After Bankruptcy, the Billionaire Asked Me to Marry Him!
Chapter 497: Can you tell me?

Chapter 497: Chapter 497: Can you tell me?

"Ah Li, why are you here?"

Li Xueqing had just woken up from a nap and, seeing Ye Li striding in, her face lit up with a smile. "No classes this afternoon?"

"No classes this afternoon, I’m here to keep you company."

Seeing her mother’s smiling face, Ye Li felt a pang in her heart.

Blinking to push back the tears, she stepped forward to take the warm towel from Aunt Lan’s hands and helped her mom wipe her hands.

Li Xueqing laughed and complained, "It’s just that I didn’t sleep well, not that I’m physically disabled. I can do it myself!"

She pointed to the fruit platter beside her, motioning for Ye Li to eat, and then turned back to urge Aunt Lan, "Sister Lan, please ask the doctor when I can be discharged."

"Alright, alright... I’ll go ask now."

With a troubled expression, Aunt Lan glanced at Ye Li before turning to leave.

Ye Li felt a dull ache in her heart.

Staying in the hospital, her mother was eager to be discharged.

Returning home, she’d easily be reminded of the past, which wasn’t conducive for recovery.

Regarding the originally planned visits to a few sanatoriums in the suburbs this week, thinking of Fu Yanci, Ye Li felt an inexplicable resistance.

"Mom..."

Ye Li peeled a tangerine and placed it in Li Xueqing’s hand, hesitantly asking, "Yesterday, when you told me to stay away from Fu Yanci, why was that?"

Mentioning Fu Yanci, the smile on Li Xueqing’s face instantly faded, "Ah Li, how far have you two gone in your relationship? You can’t be with him, Ah Li, please listen to me, stay away from him!"

Gripping Ye Li’s hand tightly, Li Xueqing looked at her anxiously.

Ye Li’s heart sank little by little.

"Mom, don’t be anxious..."

The tangerine in her hand was crushed, its juice trickling down their fingers, the faint scent of citrus spreading in the air.

Ye Li quickly released her hand, while wiping her mother’s hands and coaxing her, "I’ve already broken up with him, Mom. See, I’m obedient."

"That’s good, that’s good..."

Li Xueqing sighed and leaned back on the pillow, unable to help but furrow her brows and mutter, "Ah Li, when did you get together with him? Did you ever tell me? I have no recollection whatsoever?"

Ye Mushen was gentle, and Li Xueqing was tender.

Growing up, Ye Li had never been spoken to harshly by either of her parents.

Whatever Ye Li wanted to do, once she spoke up, Ye Mushen had only one response: Go for it! Dad supports you!

Since Ah Li started elementary school, Li Xueqing often heard adults complaining to each other about difficult teenagers or kids complaining about their explosive parents during menopause.

But in the Ye Family, none of that happened.

Ye Li didn’t have a difficult adolescence.

Li Xueqing never lost her temper or went crazy.

Whether the company was doing well or how much money the family made that month.

The couple would talk about it at the dinner table, never avoiding Ye Li.

And Ye Li, any big or small matters, fun or awkward, would all be shared with her parents.

They were not just father-daughter and mother-daughter but also friends.

When she was little, Li Xueqing would jokingly ask Ah Li if any boys were chasing her.

The two would huddle together, critiquing the love notes slipped into Ye Li’s backpack without her knowing.

Handwriting too ugly? No.

Name not pleasant? Still no.

Poor grades? Definitely not.

Then the Zhou Family moved into the same villa district.

The two families’ adults became good friends and would often tease her and Zhou Hecchen, the two kids inexplicably becoming young sweethearts in their words.

But it was just a childish crush.

In Li Xueqing’s eyes, Zhou Hecchen wasn’t worthy of her Ah Li, so they just joked about it.

As for Fu Yanci...

That Uncle Fu whom everyone in the Imperial City wanted to associate with?

On one hand, thinking only a man like that is worthy of her Ah Li, able to protect her for life.

But picturing Ah Li standing with him made Li Xueqing’s heart ache uncontrollably.

The voice of resistance in her heart shouted with all its might: No, it can’t be!

"Ah Li, you’re still young. You don’t know how dangerous people’s hearts can be."

Li Xueqing gently caressed Ye Li’s hair, tenderly advising, "Dad and Mom don’t demand you marry someone of equal status, nor should you seek powerful connections. Just find someone you like who also likes you, date for a while... Over time, you’ll see the true nature of people. Once both of you are ready for it, consider marriage, okay?"

Ye Li nodded obediently, dragging her voice, "Okay..."

But her heart, softly and gradually, kept sinking endlessly.

Other than the incident with Vicent Zhou Hecchen drugging her, which Ye Li didn’t tell her mom, everything else was shared when asked.

During that time, her mom and Aunt Lan often cursed Zhou Hecchen together.

Even when she casually mentioned what day it was tomorrow, just hearing the word Zhou, her mom would drag him out for a scolding.

Calling him heartless.

Saying he had no courage.

Claiming he was indecisive and a mama’s boy.

But after Zhou Hecchen relapsed, her mom didn’t say a harsh word to him.

On the contrary, Fu Yanci, who never missed a beat and took everything to heart, was treated with such caution and guardedness by her mom, fearing he’d harm her.

Fu Yanci... what did he really do?

Her temples throbbed, and the noise in her mind grew sharp again. Ye Li exhaled softly, trying to adjust her thoughts.

Aunt Lan returned, bringing the medicine fetched from the nurse.

"Sister Lan, did you ask the doctor?"

"Yes, yes... The doctor said if you take your medication and rest well, you can be discharged next week."

"Next week? By then, Brother Shen will be back, and seeing me still in the hospital, who knows what he’d think happened. I can’t have that. I’ll go ask the doctor myself, I’m almost recovered!"

"How about calling the gentleman first?"

"Okay... No, right now it’s dawn where he is. Sister Lan, remind me when it gets dark!"

"Sure!"

Her mom and Aunt Lan chatted in fragmented bits, while Ye Li gazed out at the dim sky, lost in thought.

Whatever it was that came to her mind, Ye Li stood up, "Mom, I’m going home to change clothes. It’s getting cold, my coat and down jacket are still at home."

"Alright, hurry along..."

Li Xueqing nodded, urging her.

Leaving the hospital, Ye Li hailed a cab by the roadside and headed straight for the Ye Mansion.

Despite only being away for a few days, the mansion felt like it hadn’t been lived in for quite some time, cold and empty.

Without even returning to her room on the second floor, Ye Li went straight to the study.

Turning on the computer, she browsed through her web history.

With just one glance, Ye Li’s heart began to race.

Was the cause of her mom’s illness her dad’s death anniversary, or...

The day before her dad’s anniversary, the 21st.

Page after page of web history, each link she clicked was eerily familiar.

Lantu.

Zhen Da.

Hua Chuang Wood Art.

...

In the dense search history, all of them were once business partners or suppliers of her own company.

The search history showed that these companies had all become partners of the Fu Family’s subsidiaries.

The most prominent of these was Lantu.

Next month, President Wang from Lantu was set to ring the Nasdaq bell.

A year ago, Lantu’s withdrawal left the Ye Group in a dilemma, ultimately leading to its bankruptcy.

A year later, Lantu, having climbed up to the Fu Family, soared to new heights, its business scale expanding multiple times.

The other companies all thrived in their own ways.

If not for Lantu’s withdrawal, the company wouldn’t have collapsed so rapidly, and her father wouldn’t have worked himself to the brink, eventually collapsing in the conference room.

Even if the company went bankrupt, leaving the Ye Family deep in debt, with this family in place, her father wouldn’t have left so abruptly.

Zhou Hecchen and the Zhou Family stood by, unwilling to lend a hand, while she, due to that conveniently timed one billion offer, became Mrs. Fu instead of Mrs. Zhou, and Fu Yanci’s timely advice saw the Ye Family’s perfect conclusion.

Was it a mantis stalking a cicada or the oriole behind?

Or, a snipe and clam grappling, letting the fisher benefit?

What on earth did Fu Yanci do?

Her temples throbbed, and the inside of her head was once more loud and sharp. Ye Li breathed low, calming herself.

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