Ye Zhinan changed the subject with a straight face. "How's Ruonan lately?"
"A bit thinner."
"Too tired?"
Ye Zhinan fired the questions one after another.
Unable to dodge, Lu Yanlai simply nodded, but then immediately shook her head. Her expression was thought-provoking. Finally, she caved in and told the truth.
"These days, I don't know if she found out something. She stopped Yan Xuan from handling the accounts. So his mother started badmouthing her in public again. Gossips spread and reached her ears. I wanted to help, but she won't say a word."
Since Liu Ruonan returned to the Yan family, she never talked about what happened there again, not even to Wang Zhilan. So Ye Zhinan was in the dark.
"It's not good for her to keep everything bottled up. Call her over for bean curd jelly tomorrow."
Lu Yanlai nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.
It was exactly what she had in mind.
The next day, Ye Zhinan returned home early and dished out the freshly made bean curd jelly.
Just as she finished setting the table, the door banged open.
Yan Xuan stood there with a solemn face. His eyes were like ice, cold enough to freeze anyone who looked into them.
"Ye Zhinan, what did you say to Liu Ruonan?"
"How laughable. What right do you have to question me?"
Ye Zhinan's eyes darkened. She ignored his anger and replied calmly.
"If you hadn't been spouting nonsense, fanning the flames, and driving a wedge between us, Ruonan wouldn't have changed like this!"
Yan Xuan gritted his teeth. His eyes were like a thousand sharp blades, wishing to cut Ye Zhinan into pieces on the spot.
Ye Zhinan crossed her arms in front of her chest, sat down slowly, and leaned lazily against the stone table in the yard.
"I see. So when your money source is cut off, you come here to throw a tantrum!"
"Admit it! Our Yan family has no beef with your Ye family. Why are you being so mean? If you make my life miserable, I won't let you have it easy either."
With that, Yan Xuan charged towards Ye Zhinan.
"Stop!"
At that moment, Liu Ruonan staggered over with her pregnant belly. Lu Yanlai was beside her.
"What's between us has nothing to do with Sister Ye. I have my reasons for not letting you handle the accounts."
After just a few words, Liu Ruonan was out of breath. Ye Zhinan quickly helped her sit down and took her pulse without drawing attention.
Thank goodness. She was fine.
If anything happened to her, Ye Zhinan would...
Ye Zhinan gently squeezed Liu Ruonan's hand, signaling that she'd handle everything.
Then her eyes turned cold.
"The shop belongs to my sister. Don't give me that nonsense about loving your wife and sharing her burden. Even if it were true, the boss doesn't want you to handle the accounts, so that's that. No more nonsense!"
"What does our family business have to do with you?"
"What Sister Ye said is exactly what I want to say."
Liu Ruonan lowered her head, making it hard to see her expression. But her words were firm and unshakable.
"You...?" Yan Xuan caught a glimpse of a shadow in the dark. He turned around and left with a flick of his sleeve.
"We'll see."
Only then did Ye Zhinan notice that Liu Ruonan's hands were ice-cold. She was sobbing uncontrollably.
"Take care of yourself."
"Sister, I've really tried hard for the baby. Dad said a child can't be without a father or a home."
So that's it.
Liu Ruonan endured all the humiliation after returning to the Yan family because of Liu Dongxing's words. Men are so selfish!
Ye Zhinan suppressed her anger and comforted her softly, "For the sake of the baby, you also need to think about yourself. Only when you're well can you bring happiness to others. So you need to figure out what you really want first."
Seeing Liu Ruonan sobbing uncontrollably, Ye Zhinan fell silent. Lu Yanlai noticed the bean curd jelly on the table and quickly picked up a bowl.
"Don't think so much. Have something to eat first."
The sun was setting in the west, leaving a trail of rosy clouds in the sky.
The bean curd jelly in the bowl was gone.
After calming down, Liu Ruonan slowly told them what happened today.
It turned out that Yan Xuan was unhappy about being investigated behind his back. He shifted the blame onto Ye Zhinan. Liu Ruonan insisted on taking back the account books and not allowing the Yan family to interfere in the shop's business anymore.
The two got into an argument. Yan Xuan was about to hit Liu Ruonan when Lu Yanlai showed up. Yan Xuan was convinced that Ye Zhinan was behind all this and that she was spying on them. That's why he came to the Ye family to cause a scene.
Liu Ruonan apologized repeatedly. Unable to hold back her sadness, she kept wiping away her tears.
"It's not your fault. He's deliberately targeting me. I should be the one apologizing for dragging you into this."
Hearing Ye Zhinan's words, the two of them looked at her in surprise.
"Does it have something to do with them?"
Lu Yanlai suddenly realized something. But seeing Liu Ruonan's confused look, she kept her mouth shut.
"Alright, you're here for the bean curd jelly today. Let's put those unhappy things aside for now."
After saying that, Ye Zhinan took Liu Ruonan's hand. "Stay here tonight. I'll check your body carefully. From now on, I'll visit you once a week to check on you and the baby."
Liu Ruonan nodded obediently.
There was no way she could go back to the Yan family tonight. When Yan Xuan raised his hand, she saw the coldness and ruthlessness in his eyes. She also saw a hint of schadenfreude in the eyes of the Yan family members.
After Lu Yanlai left happily with the bean curd jelly for Xiaohu, Han Xiangmei had already prepared the room.
"My place is small. You'll have to share the bed with Nannan tonight."
Han Xiangmei originally wanted to arrange for Ye Zhinan to sleep with her, Ye Shenyan to sleep with his son, and Liu Ruonan to sleep in her daughter's room. But Liu Ruonan insisted on sleeping with Ye Zhinan.
Ye Zhinan knew she had something to say. After her mother left, she got straight to the point.
"The baby is fine. You can't keep worrying like this. It's bad for your health."
Liu Ruonan was stunned. "Sure enough, only you understand me, Sister."
The baby was her heart and soul. She was afraid that all this would cause something bad to happen.
Ye Zhinan felt the same way. She checked Liu Ruonan's body again and again, then prepared some iron supplements, vitamins A, B, C, and D... She watched Liu Ruonan drink them before she finally felt relieved.
Suddenly, a shadow flashed past the window. Ye Zhinan instinctively followed it.
"It's cold."
A deep voice came from the shadow. A cloak was handed over.
It was still a bit chilly at night in early spring. Ye Zhinan took the cloak. A blush crept onto her face. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear and said softly, "There's still some bean curd jelly. I'll bring it to you."
With that, she trotted towards the kitchen.
Qin Yihuai wasn't tasting her cooking for the first time, but each time he did, it felt different.
This bowl of bean curd jelly looked simple, but the taste lingered on his tongue.
Ye Zhinan watched his every move until she saw his satisfied expression.
Qin Yihuai noticed her staring at him. He bowed slightly. "What are you going to do with Liu Ruonan?"
"She definitely can't go back to the Yan family."
Ye Zhinan quickly averted her starry eyes and pretended to be calm.
"It'll be easy then."
"Easy what?"