Li Mengyao, at this moment, found Ye Yun's words utterly repulsive.
The idea of earning a lot of money tomorrow and buying ten Winnie the Pooh toys was beyond her belief. Even if he somehow acquired such a sum, she was certain he'd squander it on gambling. The rest would only amplify her daughter's disappointment. Looking at Ye Yun any longer made her feel sick.
"No, bad mommy, I'm hungry. I don't want to sleep, hmph!" Ke Ke burrowed into Ye Yun's embrace, whining stubbornly.
"Ke Ke, be a good girl. Go to Mommy first. Daddy will go buy some ingredients and make you your favorite braised pork," Ye Yun gently set Ye Ke Ke down.
Upon hearing "braised pork," Ke Ke's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Of course. Let's pinky promise!"
"Okay, pinky promise, no changing for a hundred years!" Ke Ke eagerly sealed her promise before skipping back to Li Mengyao's only room.
Li Mengyao remained silent, too weary to even glance at Ye Yun.
"Mengyao, here's ninety thousand yuan. Take Ke Ke out to buy some things tomorrow. I'm going to buy some meat now." Seeing Li Mengyao's desolate back, Ye Yun's eyes filled with pain as he spoke softly before turning to leave.
Stopping in her tracks, Li Mengyao retorted sarcastically without turning around. "Ye Yun, can you really produce ninety thousand yuan? Don't lie like that. I've been with you for eight years, since I was twenty. I know what kind of person you are. Don't talk about ninety thousand, have you ever even had nine thousand?" Li Mengyao couldn't be bothered to turn. She knew Ye Yun too well. "Ambitious and pretentious, with a beggar's air" was the best description for Ye Yun. Their current predicament was entirely his own doing.
A moment of silence, then the sound of the front door closing, indicating Ye Yun had indeed gone to buy groceries. Li Mengyao angrily turned back.
Nine stacks of crisp hundred-yuan bills lay on the corner of the table. Under the lamplight, their red hue was dazzling. She couldn't help but walk over and count them with trembling hands. "One, two, three..." Ninety thousand. It was truly ninety thousand!
But in the next instant, Li Mengyao felt no joy, only a surging wave of fury. A leopard never changes its spots; she knew Ye Yun better than anyone. A fixed thought had taken root in her mind. Ye Yun's sudden attentiveness—offering money, cooking, cleaning—was nothing but a ploy to deceive her! First, he'd try to change her impression with chores, then create the illusion of being able to earn money. His motives were undoubtedly impure, aiming to trick her into becoming a contented housewife. When reality hit, she'd be jobless, and Ye Yun would be penniless. What then? He'd surely ask her to sell herself! This money was most likely borrowed from loan sharks! Forcing a virtuous woman into prostitution was their specialty! Otherwise, why wouldn't Ye Yun use this money to repay his debts? Those people had issued death threats if he didn't pay within a month!
Ye Yun could never have imagined that his past actions would lead Li Mengyao to such a wild conclusion. Of course, even if he knew, Ye Yun wouldn't blame Li Mengyao. Instead, he wished he could pull his past self out and beat him to death. To make his wife so fearful, to be such a waste—he didn't know how his past self had the nerve to keep living!
Ten minutes later, Ye Yun returned with braised pork, only to find the money on the table untouched. Sighing, he also left the money there. After cooking the braised pork, he quietly knocked on the door and placed the dishes and rice outside. However, the room remained silent all night, and the food was untouched. Ye Yun spent the night making do on the sofa.
Despite the braised pork and rice remaining uneaten, Ye Yun went to the market the next morning and bought a fish. He made two bowls of fish noodle soup, fried some eggs, and reheated the braised pork from the night before. Ke Ke, who had gone hungry all night, ate heartily in the morning, her mouth slick with oil. Seeing the lavish breakfast, Ye Yun's diligence, and his subsequent washing of all the dishes, Li Mengyao's expression grew darker.
"Mengyao, this money..." Ye Yun pushed the ninety thousand yuan forward again.
"Heh, everyone knows what kind of person you are, Ye Yun. What? Weren't you the one who stole Ke Ke's tuition last week for three thousand yuan in gambling money? What, suddenly have a conscience?" Li Mengyao interrupted directly, not taking the money and sneering. Ye Yun froze, then remembered. Last week, pressured by loan sharks, he'd gambled away Ye Ke Ke's tuition fee, fantasizing about winning it all back in one go. He'd lost everything and was still being pursued by loan sharks. Seeing Li Mengyao's mocking gaze, Ye Yun wished he could strangle himself. He could only say, "It's not a sudden change of heart; I've long felt I should treat you and our daughter better."
"Fine, then tell me where this money came from? Don't tell me you won it gambling!"
"Yesterday..." Ye Yun briefly recounted last night's events. However, the scorn on Li Mengyao's face intensified. "If you said you gambled and won a hundred thousand yuan, I might believe you a little. But you're telling a story about making a hundred thousand yuan selling scalped tickets?" Ye Yun, do you even know what a hundred thousand yuan means? How could anyone pay so much for a ticket?" It wasn't surprising Li Mengyao said this. Accustomed to a frugal life, for a ticket priced at four or five hundred yuan, someone paying tens of times more? How was that possible!
"I..." Li Mengyao clearly didn't want to hear Ye Yun's excuses. "Enough! I believe you, Ye Yun, that you can earn a hundred thousand yuan from scalping tickets. All right?" "So what? Can such good things happen every day?" "In a month, those loan sharks demand one hundred and fifty thousand yuan from you. How will you repay it?" "Ye Yun, for goodness sake, be a human being and sign the divorce agreement. Give our mother and daughter a way out." "Find a place where no one knows you and hide. It's better for you, and better for us." With that, Li Mengyao took out the divorce agreement and slammed it onto the table. She then turned and, without giving Ye Yun a chance to speak, stormed out holding Ye Ke Ke!
Bang. As the door was slammed shut with a loud noise, the sound of Ye Ke Ke's crying faded into the distance. Left behind, Ye Yun was speechless for a long time, then a hint of bitterness appeared on his face. He had to bear the consequences of his own actions. Putting herself in his shoes, Li Mengyao had already been more than kind. *Plink*. Ye Yun lit a cigarette, watching the swirling smoke but not inhaling. Yes, Mengyao was right. The top priority was to repay all his debts! With that settled, Ye Yun tidied up briefly and left. On the table, the ninety thousand yuan remained, a stark red, untouched. Beside it, the divorce agreement bore a single tear stain, glaringly obvious.