Mrs. Shen gaped at her dazedly for a good long while.
“You… it seems like only pissing me off will make you feel good.”
Shen Qi stood rooted to the spot as her eyes were glued to her mother.
“Mom, isn’t asking one hundred and fifty thousand from me similar to taking my life?”
“Fine. You don’t have to give me one hundred and fifty thousand! How about one hundred thousand? Even fifty thousand will be fine too!”
“Mom, you really think too highly of me.”
“Shen Qi, I raised you. Is this how you’re going to repay my effort? Are you not even willing to give me fifty thousand? Are you going to be such an unfilial daughter?”
Remaining silent, Shen Qi clenched her fists that were at her side and bit her lower lip forcefully, ignoring the judging stares the bypassers were giving her.
It didn’t matter. She would just let them look as long as they liked.
The thing was, she really could not fork out that amount of money now.
“Say something!” Mrs. Shen walked over to her and tugged at her shirt forcefully. “Look at what you wear and what you use everyday. Didn’t I give all these to you? How unfilial you are for abandoning your parents after becoming rich!”
As she was shouting at the top of her lungs, Shen Qi closed her eyes as she allowed her mother to tussle with her.
All of a sudden, a pair of large hands drew her away as it blocked all Mrs. Shen’s attacks on her.
“Madam, please stop behaving in this way.” A gentle and soothing voice was heard somewhere above her. Shen Qi opened her eyes at once and stared at that person dumbfoundedly.
It was Ye Linhan…
Why was he here?
“W-Who are you?” Mrs. Shen stared at the man who had emerged suddenly and shielded Shen Qi behind him. He exuded a majestic aura and everything he wore looked extraordinary.
Mrs. Shen squinted her eyes as she sized him up. “Are you Qi’s husband?”
Shen Qi was stunned for a moment before she quickly clarified, “Mom, he is not…”
Ye Linhan appeared somewhat shocked when she heard Mrs. Shen but he answered with a faint smile, “Ah. So you’re Qi’s mother.”
Shen Qi stared at Ye Linhan in astonishment. What did he mean by saying that? Why didn’t he deny what her mother had said?
“Yes, I’m Qi’s mother. I suppose you’re her husband?” Mrs. Shen immediately put on a simpering smile as she continued, “To be frank, our family is having some financial difficulties, therefore I’m here to borrow some money from Qi. However, she is behaving rather stubbornly and she claims that she doesn’t have any… How’s that possible? Hasn’t she already married into the Ye family? I bet she is usually given a handsome sum as her allowance. What’s more, she is still working…”
Yet, before Mrs. Shen could even finish her grumbling, Ye Linhan had already asked with a subtle grin, “Sorry for interrupting, but may I know how much do you need?”
Mrs. Shen uttered the sum she wanted immediately, “It’s not much. I only need two hundred thousand!”
“Mom. That’s not what you said just now!” Shen Qi could not help but cut her off with a shrill voice.
Mrs. Shen shot her a vicious glare.
Still smiling, Ye Linhan pulled her behind him again to stop her from saying anything before taking out a card from his wallet and handing it to Mrs. Shen.
“Madam, there’s three hundred thousand in this card. If you need money urgently, just take it. The password is a hextuple of sevens.”
When Shen Qi, who was now behind Ye Linhan, heard the amount, she hastily stepped forward and tried to snatch the card away but it was already taken by Mrs. Shen, who looked overjoyed.
“It seems like my son-in-law is the more sensible one! Thanks for the money. Qi, you’ve found yourself a fine husband!”
With that, Mrs. Shen quickly retreated as she talked as if she was worried that Shen Qi would lunge forward and snatch the money away from her any minute. “I’ve got to go as I have something urgent to attend to. I’ll visit you two some other day.”
After turning a corner at the end of the street, something suddenly dawned upon Mrs. Shen.
That’s weird. Isn’t the man Shen Qi married a handicap? But that man was standing!
Forget it. After all, with three hundred thousand in my hands, I can do whatever I want.
On the other side, Shen Qi stood unmoving with a look of dejection on her face. Ye Linhan turned around to look at her.
“Your mother is gone now.”
“Why did you give her the money?” asked Shen Qi in a dispirited tone. She lifted her head, her beautiful eyes laden with desolation. “Do you have any idea how much money is three hundred thousand? I have no way to repay you that amount of money! Also, do you know what she is going to do with that money?”
Ye Linhan was first taken aback by the abjection in her eyes before letting out a faint laugh after a short while.
“That’s nothing. I’m happy to be able to help you. What’s more, I don’t intend to ask you to repay me the money.”
Shen Qi took a step back as her beautiful eyes opened widely.
“How could I not repay you? I loathe being in debt of favors the most. Since my mother has taken your money, I will repay the money on her behalf!”
She took three hundred thousand at one go. This is just great.
The smile on Ye Linhan’s face turned slightly bitter. “Are you blaming me for giving her the money?”
Staring at him unflinchingly, Shen Qi remained wordless.
A trace of concern emerged in his eyes as he added, “In that case, you have to forgive me. I really don’t want to see you suffer all that scolding and beating without fighting back. It makes my heart hurt, you little fool!”
With that, he even stretched out his hand and tousled her hair.
Shen Qi was left speechless.
She stood frozen on the spot as she gawked at him in disbelief.
What’s with his affectionate tone? Shen Qi could not gauge the emotions in his eyes as there was something complicated hidden beneath the gentleness and affection.
What’s that?
When Shen Qi came to her senses, she took a large step backward as she stared at him somewhat fearfully. Ye Linhan’s hand stopped moving and hung in the air before it was taken back after a long while.
The smile on his face slowly disappeared. “It’s my bad. What I have done for you is purely because you’re my family, so please don’t feel stressed about it. Just treat the money as my gift to you as a commemoration of our first meeting.”
Shen Qi said, “Linhan, you’re really generous for giving me three hundred thousand as a gift.”
The sarcasm in her words was so obvious that it was sensed by Ye Linhan too.
Shen Qi clenched her fists as she turned him down, “You don’t have to give me the money as a gift because I’ll slowly pay you back.”
With that, she turned around and left.
“Qi…” Ye Linhan tried to stop her by calling her name but it seemed like Shen Qi could not hear him; before long, she disappeared from his sight.
Shen Qi went back to the office tower at lightning speed; her face immediately became stern as soon as she stepped into the elevator.
Ever since she joined the Ye family, her life had been turbulent. Not only did she owe money to the company, but she was also indebted to Ye Moxuan. At first, she intended to work hard so that she could get new projects from which she could receive bonuses, but to her dismay, she was demoted by Ye Moxuan.
Right now, it was an arduous task for her to earn more money.
Suddenly, she thought of the agreement of the mall that Ye Moxuan gave to her.
If it wasn’t because she was desperate at this moment, she would have forgotten about the existence of that agreement.
At that time, Ye Moxuan had purchased the entire mall and gave her the ownership but she felt that it was inappropriate to accept it. Yet, he had not wanted it either, so she had kept the agreement in a box.
Right now, it seemed like it was about time for her to visit the mall.
She made her way directly to the mall after work.
Once she reached the mall, she went to the clothing store she had visited last time. The moment she walked in, the salesperson caught sight of her and beamed.
“Miss Shen, you’re finally here!”
Shen Qi was speechless.
Has she been waiting for me to come all this while?
