On the first day of the New Years, the Ye family, which was decorated with lanterns and banners, was very lively.
Regardless of whether it was distant relatives or close relatives, as long as they were people who were in contact, they all came to the Ye family to celebrate the New Years one after another.
The elders gathered together to drink tea and chat.
The young people gathered together and played poker games.
Ye Qingran was also dragged to play mahjong by her cousin, Ye Youtang, who was a few months older than her, and from her uncleâs family.
Last year, the original owner also accompanied everyone to play mahjong, but because her mahjong skills were not very good, she had always lost.
This year, everyone thought that she was still the same as before when Ye Youtang called her over to play.
Afraid that she was not willing to play, she even specially said, âI know that your mahjong skills are not good, so I will secretly feed you cards. Come on, come on, letâs play together.â
Ye Qingran smiled and nodded. She sat at the Mahjong table with her, along with Ye Chenfeng and her little cousin, Luo Beibei.
In the first round, Ye Qingran played cards. âSelf-draw.â
In the second round, in the third round..
âSea Depth Moon Search.â
âBlooming on the bar.â
âBearded Pair.â
Everyone looked at each other. How was this kid playing? He was clearly the worst at cards. The past years, he was not even as good as his 13-year-old cousin.
Ye Youtang was the one who wanted to cry the most.
In the beginning, she purposely fed Ye Qingran cards and let him play so that he wouldnât lose his interest and leave.
In the end, he didnât even stop once he started.
Could it be that this kid lost too much the previous years, and started to practice his card skills so that he could take revenge.
If she had known, she would not have said anything about feeding cards.
But when she did not feed the cards, Ye Qingran still played. âSorry, another self-draw.â
Ye Qingran pushed the mahjong cards to the table and spread her hands at everyone. âPay up, pay up.â
Ye Youtang expressed her anger. âYou won again, kid. Canât you let your sister play?â
Her little cousin, Luo Beibei, was about to cry. âThereâs only a little bit left of the lucky money that my dad gave me. If you win again, I wonât play with you anymore.â
The cute little girl was only fourteen years old. Ye Qingran smiled and patted her head. She gave her some of the money that she won from her. âThis is the lucky money that I give you.â
Luo Beibei immediately laughed happily. âCousin Qingran, youâre too kind. I love you the most.â
She almost jumped onto Ye Qingranâs face and kissed her.
Ye Youtang gently patted the table and asked aggrievedly, âYounger cousin, what about mine?â
She stared straight at Ye Qingran as if to say, âIâm feeding you cards. You should give me some of the money you won.â.
Ye Qingran nodded with a smile, and immediately shared some with her. âThereâs candy for you, cousin.â
Ye Chenfeng stretched out his hand and asked, âWhat about mine?â
Without waiting for Ye Qingran to speak, Ye Youtang and Luo Beibei said unhappily to him, âCousin Chenfeng, youâre a man, youâre older than us, how can you still have the nerve to ask for New Yearâs money? You should be the one giving us New Yearâs money.â
Ye Chenfeng:ââ¦â
Before he could react.
The money in front of him was taken by his cousins. They split it into four portions and left one for him, one for each of them and Ye Qingran.
They placed the portion that was left for him back on his table and smiled as they thanked him together.
âThank you, Cousin Chenfeng, for the New Yearâs money.â
âThank you Third Brother for the New Yearâs money.â
Ye Chenfeng didnât know whether to laugh or cry. âThe three of you did this on purpose. You colluded together to scam me of my money, right?â
His little cousin Luo Beibei immediately raised her hand and expressed her innocence towards Ye Chenfeng. âNo, no, absolutely not. I swear I just want to win some New Yearâs money so that I can buy a few more exercise books.â
Ye Chenfeng had a look of distrust on his face. âSo obedient?â
Luo Beibei nodded repeatedly.
Ye Youtang also smiled and said, âIn order to thank cousin Chenfeng for his lucky money, when you come to my house in two days, Iâll personally cook you my best dishes.â
Ye Qingran said, âIn two days, heâs going to the capital to see his girlfriend. I reckon that he wonât be able to eat your amateur dishes.â
Ye Youtang said in surprise, âCousin Chenfeng has a girlfriend, and sheâs even from the capital.â
Luo Beibeiâs eyes lit up as well. She asked with a gossipy expression, âCousin Chenfeng, is your girlfriend pretty? Do you have a photo? Let us take a look.â
Ye Chenfeng was a little shy and embarrassed. He glanced at Ye Qingran and said, âYou talk too much.â
However, he still took out Bai Beibeiâs photo and showed it to his two cousins.
Ye Youtang asked, âCousin Chenfengâs girlfriend is obviously a university student. Which university in the capital is she from?â
Ye Chenfeng replied, âSheâs from the same school as me, but sheâs from the capital.â
Luo Beibei said, âOh right, Cousin Youtang, by the way, you went to the capital to attend university this year. Was the capital fun?â
Ye Youtang said, âItâs alright. Thereâs a girl in my dorm whoâs from the capital. She brought our roommates around the capital. Iâll bring you around the next time you go to the capital.â
âSure, sure. Iâll go to the capital for university too then. Sister Youtang, tell me more about the capital.â
âThereâs nothing much to tell?â
âYour classmate is a local. Hasnât she said anything?â
âThe thing she told us the most about was the grudges between the rich and powerful families in the capital.â
âI love hearing about the grudges between the rich and powerful families in the capital. Sister Youtang, tell us quickly.â
Everyone continued to play mahjong while chatting.
Ye Youtang responded to Luo Beibeiâs request and said, âActually, thereâs nothing much to talk about. There are rich people everywhere in the capital. What she said is not worth talking about. What she said to me was about the Xiang family, the Chen family, the Bai familyâ¦â
As she spoke, she rambled on.
Suddenly, Ye Youtangâs interest was piqued. âI think the most interesting thing is the Yan family that she mentioned. They are considered the richest family in the capital.â
âAccording to her, the Old Master of the Yan family, for the sake of benefits of the family, forcefully separated his son from his first love. He even made his son think that his first love had betrayed him, and his son agreed to the marriage alliance in a fit of anger.â
âHowever, he didnât know his first love was pregnant at that time. Because she was too depressed after having her heart broken, to the point she couldnât eat or sleep well when she was pregnant, her body was too weak. Once she gave birth, she was gone.â
âMore than ten years later, the son of the Old Master of the Yan family had already inherited the Yan family and became the respected President Yan. It was only after an accident that he found out that the woman he loved the most did not betray him and even gave birth to a child for him.â
Luo Beibei was so lost in her thoughts that she forgot to play her cards.
Ye Qingran reminded her, âItâs your turn.â
Luo Beibei quickly played her cards and urged Ye Youtang, âWhat happened after that?â
Ye Qingran was very helpless. What was there to listen to in this kind of gossip.
There was no need to guess what happened after that. They must have taken the child back to the Yan family and then had a big fight over the family property.
Ye Youtang continued, âThis President Yan, despite the opposition of his family, resolutely took the child back homeâ¦â
Ye Qingran thought in her heart, âas expected.â