“Of course, it counts!”
Xia Xiaolan thought about the 500,000 Hong Kong dollars she had spent. If it didn’t count, what was the point of spending that money? The money was spent on behalf of Ye Xiaoqiong, and also for Zhou Yi.
Ye Xiaoqiong pondered on the other end of the phone: “I can’t just suddenly appear and tell Zhou Yi that the man she married is scum. Do you think she would believe me?”
Believe it? Hell no!
Zhou Yi might think Ye Xiaoqiong still harbored feelings for Yuan Han and was deliberately trying to drive a wedge in her marriage with Yuan Han. Zhou Yi’s foolishness came and went in waves, sometimes better, sometimes worse. Her recent drive for self-improvement was only triggered by the provocations from Tong Lili and others.
“What do you have in mind? Feel free to share.”
Ye Xiaoqiong had her plans, and Xia Xiaolan wanted to hear them.
“Don’t worry about how to make her believe you. I can make her see Yuan Han’s true face… I don’t need help from you or Zhou Cheng. I just hope that when I take my revenge, the Zhou family won’t help Yuan Han!”
Ye Xiaoqiong wanted to take revenge herself?
Xia Xiaolan had intended to tell her about recovering some of the family heirlooms that Yuan Han had sold, and about Zhou Wenbin’s plans to help her reclaim her ancestral property. Instead, she was struck by Ye Xiaoqiong’s determination: “Are you serious? With our help, your path to revenge would be much smoother.”
“Yes, I’m serious! I don’t want to owe you any more favors. I want to take revenge on Yuan Han and the Yuan family by myself. Only by taking revenge with my own hands can I eliminate my hatred!”
Ye Xiaoqiong didn’t speak through gritted teeth; rather, her calm tone highlighted her resolve even more.
Xia Xiaolan wanted to cheer for Ye Xiaoqiong, “People live sustained by their spirit. This spirit can be ambition, integrity, pride, or even resentment – it doesn’t matter. As long as this spirit doesn’t fade, one’s life will keep getting better. Ye Xiaoqiong, I’m grateful to have met you on that train. I wish you success in your revenge and in recovering what rightfully belongs to you.”
What belonged to Ye Xiaoqiong?
The ancestral property was seized by the Yuan family.
The paintings and seals sold by Yuan Han.
And the justice owed to Ye Xiaoqiong by Yuan Han and the entire Yuan family!
Of course, there was also Zhou Yi.
Xia Xiaolan had caught the underlying meaning in Ye Xiaoqiong’s words. The methods Ye Xiaoqiong planned to use to wake Zhou Yi up probably wouldn’t be gentle… Xia Xiaolan had no intention of stopping her, as she shared Ye Xiaoqiong’s thinking – Zhou Yi needed to be taught a harsh lesson.
Cleaning up after Zhou Yi’s messes was the Zhou family’s responsibility, and Zhou Cheng couldn’t shirk this duty.
But if Zhou Yi wasn’t thoroughly shocked into reality this time, without Yuan Han, there would be Wang Han, Li Han – who knew what other foolish things Zhou Yi might do in the future.
At this point, mentioning returning the paintings and seals to Ye Xiaoqiong felt disrespectful to Xia Xiaolan. Since Ye Xiaoqiong didn’t want help from the Zhou family or Xia Xiaolan, preferring to recover her family heirlooms through her efforts, Xia Xiaolan could only tell her one thing:
“Among the items Yuan Han sold, the most expensive was a Qiu Ying painting, which sold for 400,000 Hong Kong dollars. It’s now in your boss Du Zhaoqi’s possession. The total auction price for all items was around one million Hong Kong dollars. If you can buy them back, I’ll tell you where they are.”
Except for those sold to Southeast Asia, only the Qiu Ying painting was with Du Zhaoqi.
The rest had been bought back by Du Zhaohui, and after Xia Xiaolan transferred 500,000 Hong Kong dollars to Du Zhaohui, she became the current owner of Ye Xiaoqiong’s family heirlooms. This was advantageous for Ye Xiaoqiong, at least ensuring the items wouldn’t be resold, and whenever Ye Xiaoqiong asked, Xia Xiaolan would return them to their rightful owner.
However, from Ye Xiaoqiong’s tone, she was unwilling to accept such “help.”
Ye Xiaoqiong was quite surprised, “You went to see Master Qiu?”
Was this the difference between people?
After learning that Master Qiu had organized the antique auction, Ye Xiaoqiong also tried to see him using Du Zhaoqi’s name.
Master Qiu hadn’t met with her, nor would he tell her who had bought the paintings and seals. Since Ye Xiaoqiong was falsely using Du Zhaoqi’s name, she hadn’t dared to push further, fearing Master Qiu might verify with Du Zhaoqi.
What seemed incredibly difficult for her, Xia Xiaolan and Zhou Cheng could accomplish with minimal effort.
Thinking of the investigation materials Du Zhaoqi had given her, Ye Xiaoqiong fell silent.
Taking revenge by herself would indeed be very difficult, but she didn’t want Xia Xiaolan and Zhou Cheng to intervene. She already owed these two too many favors, and some things would become more complicated for Ye Xiaoqiong.
Collecting her thoughts, Ye Xiaoqiong still shared her plans:
“I need to know where Zhou Yi is. Should I go to the capital to see her? I might not be able to return to the country right now.”
Du Zhaoqi’s factory had no business dealings with Beijing.
Frequent travel between the two places would naturally be difficult for her.
Xia Xiaolan denied: “No, Zhou Yi will be coming to America soon.”
America would work.
The factory’s products were already being exported to America, so Ye Xiaoqiong could at most request a business trip, and since Du Zhaoqi wanted her to strengthen connections with Xia Xiaolan and Zhou Cheng, he would definitely approve her trip to America.
“What about Yuan Han? I want to know his current situation too.”
Xia Xiaolan explained the job the Zhou family had arranged for Yuan Han. Upon hearing that Zhou Yi was going abroad while Yuan Han was being kept in the country, with work requiring long-term business trips, Ye Xiaoqiong fell silent again.
“Zhou Yi is so fortunate.”
Despite choosing the wrong person due to her blindness, the Zhou family couldn’t bear to scold or hit her and instead chose to separate her from Yuan Han by sending her abroad.
Ye Xiaoqiong couldn’t help but reflect on her situation. She didn’t even need Zhou Yi’s privileged background; if she had just had one or two close elders who could have guided her at crucial moments, she wouldn’t have been deceived into losing everything.
Yes, she had no elders and no family.
She could only rely on herself!
Ye Xiaoqiong pushed aside her faint envy of Zhou Yi and told Xia Xiaolan:
“I will come to America… Xia Xiaolan, I want to thank you and Zhou Cheng again for saving me on the train. For a long time, whenever I felt like I couldn’t go on, remembering your help would make me feel warm, and what you told me – to look up at the sky when I wanted to cry, telling me that all paths are made by people walking them… No matter how much time passes, I’ll always be grateful to you both.”
Ye Xiaoqiong’s voice became slightly choked.
Xia Xiaolan sighed helplessly: “That’s all in the past. We all need to learn to look forward. I believe you’ll live better, even better than now. No one’s development should be confined; you can still live out countless possibilities!”
Revenge must be taken.
But living only for revenge would be meaningless.
Xia Xiaolan believed that taking revenge didn’t conflict with living a good life.
Sometimes, living well enough was itself a form of mental torture for one’s enemies.
Ye Xiaoqiong fell silent for the third time, then hurriedly said “goodbye” and hung up. As Xia Xiaolan stood holding the receiver lost in thought, Daisy showed concern: “Xia, you don’t look too happy. Did something happen? Can I help?”
Xia Xiaolan shook her head: “Honey, you’re so warm-hearted. Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. I just feel that some people I used to know have become strangers now… Maybe I’m overthinking it.”