Li Xiaoyan, with a face mask on, had a sudden flash of inspiration. "Hey, what if... look, the real issue was with his parents. So, if I apologize to Jiang Liu’s mom and dad, wouldn’t that smooth things over?"

"Then I’ll get his parents to persuade Jiang Liu. Back when they were divorcing, his mom even came to plead with me. This plan will definitely work!"

Yang Yixue’s mood lifted after reading the message, and she couldn’t help but feel a flicker of hope.

"Then you should try it, quickly. Remember to tell me what happens."

Li Xiaoyan was just about to search for Lin Qiu’s contact on WeChat.

Then she slapped her forehead.

"Oh crap, I completely forgot. I deleted her."

A week ago, Lin Qiu had tried to voice call her, but Li Xiaoyan rejected it. Lin Qiu then sent her a message, saying it wasn’t easy for a young couple and that if they could avoid divorce, they should. Any problems could be sorted out if both sets of parents sat down to talk.

Li Xiaoyan had immediately assumed that Lin Qiu was just afraid her son would lose his prize catch.

So she gave a few dismissive replies, then secretly deleted Lin Qiu as a contact.

Li Xiaoyan was mortified. Her only option was to send a new friend request.

「South City Wenxi County First People’s Hospital.」

Lin Qiu was a dermatologist in the dermatology department.

It was her lunch break, and she was sitting in the consultation room, fiddling with her phone.

Just then,

A WeChat friend request from "Ms. Li from South City" popped up.

Lin Qiu frowned.

’She already deleted me. Why is she adding me again?’

’Could it be something important?’

Lin Qiu thought for a few seconds and accepted the friend request.

The moment she was added,

Li Xiaoyan sent a message: "Sister Lin, I must have misclicked and accidentally deleted you before. I just realized. I’m so sorry. What have you been busy with these days?"

Lin Qiu smiled coldly. "Why did you add me? If you have something to say, say it. If not, I’m deleting you."

That was just her personality; she never bothered with politeness or hiding her feelings when dealing with certain people.

Taken aback by the sharp reply, Li Xiaoyan felt a surge of anger. She typed back: "Sister Lin, why the big temper?"

"I really didn’t delete you on purpose. No matter what, we share a granddaughter. We should be getting closer, not further apart, right?"

Lin Qiu wasn’t buying it. "If there’s nothing, I’m deleting you."

Li Xiaoyan panicked. "Please don’t! There is, there is something."

"It’s like this. Our kids had a falling out, didn’t they? And didn’t you ask me to talk to Yixue before? I already did. The girl was just having a tiff with Jiang Liu. Now she wants to remarry him. So, what do you think? Could you help me persuade Jiang Liu to take Tongtong and Yixue out for a meal and have a chat?"

After reading the message, Lin Qiu’s brow furrowed in confusion.

But it quickly smoothed out.

She understood now.

She connected it to the last conversation she had with her son. He had said he was making good money and had even bought a car worth several hundred thousand.

’So, my son is successful now, and this family wants to come back and exploit him again?’

Lin Qiu felt a mix of pride and simmering anger. She didn’t spare Li Xiaoyan’s feelings and replied directly:

"You only want them to get back together because you saw my son’s shop is making a lot of money, right?"

Exposed so bluntly, Li Xiaoyan’s face paled and flushed. Angrily, she sent a voice message:

"Sister Lin, you think too highly of yourself, don’t you? My daughter earns over a million a month. Is she short on money? Do you think she gives a damn about Jiang Liu’s little bun shop? That girl wants to get back with him purely because she has deep feelings for him and wants to be responsible for Tongtong! How can you be so petty-minded?"

"I came to you out of consideration for Tongtong’s future, and for Jiang Liu and Yixue’s happiness! It has nothing to do with vulgar things like money!"

Did Lin Qiu believe her? Not for a second.

’Before Jiang Liu opened his shop, they complained about this and that. Now that he’s making money, suddenly it’s all about "deep feelings," "thinking of the couple," and "thinking of Tongtong."’

’Why were they so eager for the divorce back then?’

Working at the hospital, she had met all kinds of people. She could tell instantly if someone like Li Xiaoyan was lying.

Lin Qiu didn’t reply rashly.

Instead, she messaged Jiang Liu to ask for his opinion:

"Son, your ex-wife’s mother contacted me. She says they want you to get back together, and that your ex-wife has deep feelings for you. What do you think?"

Jiang Liu was already home, rewatching an anime on the sofa.

Sometimes Tongtong would grill him, asking what episode they had watched together before, or what Big Bear had said.

If Jiang Liu couldn’t answer, it meant he wasn’t paying proper attention, and Tongtong would punish him by making him buy her an ice cream.

Jiang Liu saw the message from his dear old mom and chuckled before replying:

"She called me ten minutes ago. I blocked her. You shouldn’t bother with her either. You know what kind of person she is and how she treated our family. Just block and delete her."

Lin Qiu nodded in satisfaction. Her son wasn’t a fool.

’He definitely got my genes!’

Lin Qiu: "Good! My son’s all grown up. We should stay far away from people like that from now on."

"Before the divorce, they looked down on you. After the divorce, they see our son is making money and start trying to butter us up, all while sounding so high-and-mighty."

"[Image]"

Lin Qiu then sent her son a screenshot of her chat history with Li Xiaoyan.

Jiang Liu looked at it but didn’t reply.

After a moment, Lin Qiu sent a photo of a single white hair.

She sent a voice message: "Son, when are you going to find a good daughter-in-law for your mother? I’m so worried my hair is turning white. If you don’t find someone soon, your mom will be so embarrassed by the jokes at work I’ll have to quit."

Lying on the sofa, Jiang Liu replied helplessly, "Relax, Mom. Aren’t our lives great right now? We have food, drinks, fun, and a lovely granddaughter."

"Gotta go. I want to take a nap. I have to go back to work later."

Lin Qiu: "Okay. Take care of yourself, son. If anything’s on your mind, talk to me. Don’t keep it bottled up."

The two ended their chat.

Lin Qiu then sent Li Xiaoyan several messages in a row.

"I’ve already asked my son. He has no desire whatsoever to get back together with your daughter!"

"Also, don’t think my family is easy to bully. Let me tell you, my son told me all the nasty things you said about me back then. The only reason I didn’t call you out was to save you some face. One of you with a middle school education, the other with an elementary school education—you really think your family is all that, don’t you?"

"My son’s life is great now, so we don’t need the two of you worrying about him. Finally, I’ll leave you with this: get as far away as you can. Stop making our family sick!"

Lin Qiu had finally let loose.

Before, it was because Jiang Liu and Yang Yixue were together.

She was afraid of causing trouble for her son.

She could only swallow her grievances and endure the insults.

But now, things were different.

Her son was grown up, and it was clear he was disgusted by that family too.

What did Lin Qiu have to worry about anymore?

She went straight to cursing them out.

No more indulging their shameless family.

’The money they borrowed from me before... even though they eventually paid it back, they didn’t even say thank you, let alone mention any interest.’

’Several hundred thousand. If she had put that in the bank for three years, she would have earned twenty or thirty thousand in interest.’

’What a complete waste.’

’Besides, that Yang Yixue was never good-looking enough for her son.’

’Even Lin Qiu’s colleagues said her son must have been blind to end up with Yang Yixue.’

’The only good thing was that Jiang Liu’s genes were strong. Tongtong was a carbon copy of him, just the female version.’

’Otherwise, even if it was her own granddaughter, if she had looked like Yang Yixue, it would have soured her mood just looking at her.’

On the other side, Li Xiaoyan, still with her face mask on, was completely stunned.

Seeing the usually gentle, elegant, and mild-mannered Lin Qiu become so fierce and explosive...

Li Xiaoyan was reeling from the verbal assault.

Her face mask fell off without her even noticing.

Li Xiaoyan wanted to curse back, but she rationally held herself back.

’The woman’s son is now making over a million a month.’

’They weren’t the same Jiang Family as before.’

’The old Jiang Family, even though they all had jobs as public officials or in government institutions...’

’...the key point was, they had no money.’

’Like a tiger without claws or teeth.’

’It’s different now.’

’Jiang Liu is making big money, and my family wants to keep a connection with him. I can’t treat Lin Qiu the way I used to.’

Li Xiaoyan replied humbly, "Sister Lin, please calm down. Don’t harm your health over this. We were truly in the wrong. If you’re unhappy, we’ll do whatever it takes, as long as you’re not angry with me."

"I also hope we can come together as one big family, with a house full of children and grandchildren, and a happy home for the kids, isn’t that right?"

The first message went through.

As she sent the second...

...a red circle with an exclamation mark in the middle appeared.

[AutumnsLeaf has enabled friend verification. You are not their friend yet. Please send a friend request. You can chat only after they accept the request.]

[Send Friend Request]

’She deleted me!?!’

Li Xiaoyan was so furious she kicked a heavy trash can, sending it flying.

Melon rinds, peanut shells, and scraps of paper scattered all over the floor. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

She was panting with rage.

Anxious and not getting any news, Yang Yixue sent a message to Li Xiaoyan to ask:

"What’s happening, Mom? Have you two finished talking?"

Without a word, Li Xiaoyan sent her the screenshots of the chat.

"Daughter, look, just look at how that shrew cursed out your mother."

Yang Yixue finished reading the chat log.

She felt a deep unease.

’She didn’t care that her mom got cursed out.’

’But the fact that Jiang Liu’s mother didn’t support them getting back together was very upsetting.’

Yang Yixue stared out the window at the clear blue sky.

She slowly let out a frustrated sigh.

She and her mother were focused on different things.

Li Xiaoyan had her eyes on Jiang Liu’s food shop.

But she had her eyes on Jiang Liu himself.

’Ever since the divorce...’

’Yang Yixue had been going on blind dates every day, but the more she compared them, the more she realized that Jiang Liu was infinitely better than any of her dates.’

’Besides, they had been together for so long and knew each other inside and out.’

’If she found someone new she didn’t know as well, she wasn’t sure if they could make it in the long run.’