CHAPTER 508: CHAPTER 307: THOSE BYGONE DAYS

"Should I address you as ’Master’s wife’, or as ’Minister Zhan’?"

When Luo Ye said this, Zhan Yuying’s expression stiffened. "Ye’er, you are quite the joker. Your mother and I are friends, so just call me Aunt Zhan."

"Aunt Zhan, please have a seat." Luo Ye casually pointed to the seat next to her master.

"No, thanks." Zhan Yuying quickly declined, "I’m here for a meeting. The old man asked me to bring some materials for his students. When I came up, I ran into Xiao Xuan. He said Ye’er was sick, so I thought I’d stop by to check on her." She glanced at the time, "Wen Xin, I’ll visit you later tonight, goodbye."

Wen Xin did not urge her to stay, and replied with a gentle smile, "Sister Yu Ying, if you are too busy, don’t worry about it. There will be plenty of other opportunities to meet."

"I will see Aunt Qi out." Ye Xuan tugged at Seventh Uncle Ye, "Seventh Uncle, didn’t you also have an appointment? We could go together."

"Xiao Xuan, my driver is waiting for me downstairs." Zhan Yuying continued speaking as she walked toward the door, and by the time her words fell, she had already left the ward.

Seventh Uncle Ye moved a couple of steps, his lips quivered, and then he settled back down. Ye Xuan looked at him helplessly, "I am really fed up with you, sir. Forget it, I’ll go."

"Ye, let me go." Wen Xin stopped him. "It’s better if I go."

"Master, you really are something." Luo Ye leaned weakly against Ye Xuan and observed Seventh Uncle Ye, "Even though you are my master, on this matter, I certainly won’t side with you.

After more than a decade without news and never fulfilling your duties as a husband, you suddenly show up. How can Master’s Wife calm down so easily? Can’t you plead more or say some softer words? Look at you, sitting there like a lord, anyone who doesn’t know better would think Master’s Wife is the one at fault."

Ye Xuan agreed, "Exactly, Ye’er is right."

Sang Qingqing hesitated for a moment, "Adoptive father, although I don’t fully understand everything, based on what I’ve just seen and heard from Ye’er, I also think you are somewhat in the wrong."

"Are you few youngsters holding a tribunal against me?" Seventh Uncle Ye sighed, "How could I not know that I have wronged her? It’s precisely because I feel I have not fulfilled my responsibilities all these years, I don’t want to keep bothering her."

"Master, could you clarify something for me, based on what you’ve said before, my judgment is that there must have been contact between you and Master’s Wife over the years, and each time the Ye Family was about to find you, it was Master’s Wife who tipped you off to leave, why is that?" Luo Ye took the opportunity to ask a question that had been puzzling her.

"Seventh Uncle, I can’t understand this either." Ye Xuan added, "Although Aunt Qi refuses to return to the Ye Family, she still favors the Ye Family overall. What motivates her to act this way?"

Ye JiaPing thought for a moment and then looked at the youngsters honestly, "Xiao Xuan should know that my relationship with her is somewhat special. It is a typical case of ’marriage first, love later’.

Before me, she had someone she liked. She got together with me for the sake of the family. So, when I left, I wrote her a divorce settlement because I didn’t want to hold her back.

When we were reunited, she was serving in Huang County. At that time, I wanted to win a bid and had to go to the county committee office for business, and that’s where I ran into her.

Even though I changed my name, we had lived together as husband and wife for years, how could I deceive her? After the business was dealt with, she sought me out privately and made a request that wherever I went, I should leave her my phone number.

Seeing my confusion, she told me not to flatter myself, that keeping my number wasn’t about concern but to leak information to me when necessary, preventing the Ye Family from finding me.

She said that if possible, she would rather not see me for the rest of her life. The reason she’s not divorced is not because she harbors feelings for me, but because divorce would inconvenience a woman in politics, while having a missing husband could actually work to her advantage.

These were her exact words. At the time, I believed them, but over the years, I’ve come to understand that she said all this out of anger and resentment, not sincerely.

After returning to the Ye Family, I sought her out several times, hoping to obtain her forgiveness, but she said that after all these years, she had become accustomed to living alone and really did not like the idea of having an encumbrance.

I’ve already owed her too much; at this age, I don’t want to be a clinging nuisance that annoys her, so if she wishes to live in peace alone, then I’ll just watch over her from a distance." Seventh Uncle Ye looked earnestly at the young people, "This is what I truly think."

"So you are saying, Master, you’ve always been in love with Master’s Wife, right?"

Seventh Uncle Ye nodded without hesitation, "Although our love came after marriage, our feelings were good. She is a very good woman."

"I have no more questions then." Luo Ye raised her voice recorder with a playful smile, "Master, please forgive your disciple for taking liberties. As for what happens next, we’ll only know after Master’s Wife listens to this recording."