CHAPTER 116: CHAPTER 115: WHAT ARE YOU PRETENDING FOR?

Xie Fengmian really didn’t want to accompany Ye Xiaotong back to the village for the New Year, but he also didn’t want to be gossiped about. After all, Ye Xiaotong was pregnant, and if he didn’t accompany her back, he’d definitely be the one getting scolded.

So, Xie Fengmian had no choice but to ride a bicycle with Ye Xiaotong, casually picking some cigarettes and liquor brought by other relatives as a New Year gift to take back to the village.

Right now, he was extremely fed up with Ye Xiaotong. If he wasn’t afraid that she’d fall off the bike and lose the baby, his son, Xie Fengmian wouldn’t even want her holding onto his clothes.

After getting pregnant, with the passage of time, Ye Xiaotong’s belly hadn’t shown much change yet, but she had become much uglier.

Now her face was dry and full of pimples, those white pus-filled pimples were scattered across her forehead and cheeks, making him nauseous every time he saw them.

Xie Fengmian talked to her every day while holding back his disgust, and would avoid touching her whenever he could.

Ye Xiaotong also knew he found her repulsive, so she cared more about the child in her belly. She didn’t have time to worry about her appearance; everyone changes during pregnancy anyway, and she couldn’t do anything about it.

She just hoped to have a son in the future so she could raise him well and have him take her side. Only then could she stand firmly in the Xie Family, and it wouldn’t matter if Xie Fengmian still disliked her.

Very soon, the two of them arrived at the Ye Family, outwardly cordial but inwardly at odds.

Yang Xiumei and Ye Guoqiang had gotten up early and were waiting in the main room. Upon seeing them return first, Yang Xiumei clapped her hands, a bright smile quickly appearing on her face.

"Oh my, you’re back! Come in, come in and sit for a while. Have some hot tea to warm up, and gosh, isn’t it cold? Must have been tough on Fengmian, cycling all this way back, come, warm your hands."

Yang Xiumei knew about their situation, but she’s the one who taught Ye Xiaotong to keep the child to secure her position in the Xie Family, so she knew how to put on a show.

She diligently handed a cup of hot tea to Xie Fengmian.

Xie Fengmian accepted it calmly but didn’t have much to say, his attitude somewhat indifferent.

He hadn’t visited the Ye Family many times, and each time his attitude worsened. Yang Xiumei and Ye Guoqiang noticed this, exchanged glances, but could only sigh to themselves and continued to engage Ye Xiaotong with warm words.

Ye Guoqiang didn’t say much either; he still held a grudge over how indifferent Ye Xiaotong had been to them before. Although she had explained later, he always felt this daughter wasn’t quite the same as before.

It was as if everything the old Ye Xiaotong did was an act, and how she was cold to her sick parents that day was the real her.

However, he usually said little and didn’t want to get involved in matters between the mother and daughter, so he simply kept silent.

It wasn’t until much later that Ye Manman and He Chen showed up.

Ye Manman loved to sleep in, and she didn’t like leaving the house on an empty stomach in the morning, so He Chen had breakfast ready at home and waited for her to wake up. Only after breakfast did they finally arrive.

The New Year gifts they brought were simple too — a big fish they caught earlier and some cigarettes and liquor.

The fish they couldn’t eat were kept in a big water tank, so the fish they brought over was still alive and flopping around, surprising both Yang Xiumei and Ye Guoqiang.

Yang Xiumei immediately set aside the hand she was holding onto Ye Xiaotong with, opened her eyes wide, and went over to catch the fish, smiling like a blooming chrysanthemum.

"Oh my, what a big fella! Where did you catch this? It’s still so lively, quick, quick, put it in the tank to keep it, we’ll have food for days!"

Yang Xiumei was overjoyed, never expecting Ye Manman to be so generous this time, not only bringing back a heavy fish weighing six or seven pounds but also some cigarettes and liquor.

Her eyes were sharp!

Just the packaging of this liquor and cigarettes looked much more expensive than what Ye Xiaotong and Xie Fengmian brought back.

Originally planning to rebuke Ye Manman a bit, Yang Xiumei completely forgot about it now.

She had heard there was an educated youth who was Lucky Baby, catching many big fish the other day, making Yang Xiumei envious, craving fish every day. Ye Manman unexpectedly brought one back now.

Yang Xiumei had never felt Ye Manman to be so pleasing to the eye before.

She endlessly praised Ye Manman for becoming more mature after getting married, knowing how to respect her elders, and complimented He Chen on becoming more handsome and successful, making money, completely sidelining her own daughter.

"Come, come, come, quickly, come inside and sit, have some hot tea to warm up."

In fact, when buying the cigarettes and liquor, Ye Manman anticipated Yang Xiumei would react this way. After all, such people were always driven by money, but Ye Manman hadn’t expected Yang Xiumei’s expression to change so quickly.

Just as they entered, Yang Xiumei had a stern face ready to scold her, but seeing the fish and liquor, she immediately changed her tone the next second, as if becoming a different person.

Ye Manman pursed her lips but stayed silent, sitting down calmly.

Anyway, she didn’t think much of it; though the original person had suffered a lot in this home, Ye Guoqiang was still her biological father. She was tired of Yang Xiumei’s constant sarcasm, so why not spend a little money to shut her up?

After all, they made a lot of money, and buying these wasn’t much, and the big fish was simply because they couldn’t finish eating it, afraid of waste, that’s why they brought it.

But only she and He Chen knew this. Everyone else thought they were really doing well; that’s why they brought these to flaunt.

Especially Ye Xiaotong and Xie Fengmian, whose expressions were becoming worse and worse.

Xie Fengmian originally thought just returning to the village, bringing some casual gifts would be enough for these two old people, never expecting He Chen to be so cunning, openly presenting more expensive items to embarrass him.

Wasn’t this just saying that he, a city dweller, was still no match for someone from the countryside?

Ye Xiaotong loathed Ye Manman extremely, watching her mother doting on Ye Manman over a few gifts made her feel utterly disgusted.

"Hmph, showing off like nobody else has them."

She deliberately pretended to be indifferent, taking a sip of hot water. Her voice was soft but loud enough for Ye Manman sitting next to her to hear.

Ye Manman didn’t even bother to glance at her, not wanting to pay attention to her, instead having He Chen take out a book from his pocket to show her.

Returning to her family for New Year couldn’t do without a meal before leaving. Ye Manman felt it would be boring in the Ye Family, so she specifically had He Chen bring a book from the publisher that she hadn’t finished reading.

Reading stories was much more interesting than listening to idle prattle.

He Chen sat next to Ye Manman, being with her, not finding other distractions to pass the time, but instead kept lovingly looking at her, smiling as though he wasn’t bored one bit.

Ye Xiaotong’s complaint didn’t even cause a ripple. Seeing Ye Manman nonchalantly reading, she couldn’t help but snort.

"Who doesn’t know which university student is back? What’s there to pretend, bringing a book while visiting home for New Year, the whole family are old acquaintances, what’s there to pretend about."

She rolled her eyes dramatically and deliberately went over to disdainfully pinch a page to see what useless things Ye Manman was reading, only to find a bunch of unreadable foreign text.

Seeing this, Ye Xiaotong was even more convinced it was a pretense.

"Tsk, choosing a foreign book especially, can you even understand it? Everyone knows you hardly went to school, what a joke."