RGL – Chapter 176

Xue Mian rarely drank, and his alcohol tolerance was terrible. After just a few gulps, he was already feeling a little dizzy. But when he heard Li Weisi mention the falling out, he sobered up a bit and said, somewhat aggrieved, “I don’t even know what happened. Why did she get so angry all of a sudden? She won’t even see me.”

“She won’t see you, and you just give up?” Li Weisi shook his head with a smile. “If you really can’t let go, then keep pestering her every day. From what I see, Su Min still has feelings for you. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have reacted so strongly.”

“Really?”

Li Weisi nodded with certainty. “I’ve been navigating the business world for years—I’m pretty good at reading people. That girl has a strong sense of pride. If I’m not wrong, it’s because she wants to spend her life with you that she doesn’t want to accept your help. If she didn’t want to be with you, she wouldn’t care if it was you helping her or not.”

Xue Mian had been feeling both frustrated and anxious these past few days. Hearing Li Weisi’s analysis stirred up a surge of hope and excitement in his heart.

“Uncle, then what should I do?”

Right now, he felt like a complete fool—totally at a loss.

Seeing his nephew so downcast, Li Weisi chuckled and shook his head. “It’s okay, let her cool off for a couple of days. Send her some flowers or something. When the time’s right, I’ll have a proper talk with her.”

With Li Weisi’s advice, Xue Mian suddenly felt like he had some direction again.

But Li Weisi wasn’t the only one who had noticed Xue Mian’s recent unusual behavior—Li Aiyun had noticed too.

As Xue Mian’s mother, although Li Aiyun felt helpless both with her son and the girl who had “stolen him away,” now that the couple had fought and possibly broken up, she had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

Young people in love—what’s the big deal? They argue, they break up. It’s normal.

She remembered how hard she had tried to break them up before and had failed. Now they’d broken up on their own. She couldn’t help but feel she had wasted her effort. Two people who aren’t right for each other won’t last anyway—even without her interference.

Still, just to be safe, Li Aiyun wasn’t planning to sit back and do nothing.

“I’ll call Manli over later and have her join us for dinner at the old house tomorrow.”

Xue Jun was reading the newspaper in the living room. When he heard this, he immediately frowned. “You’re still planning to interfere in Mianmian’s business? Aiyun, he’s our son. As long as he’s happy, that’s all that matters. Why do you have to control him?”

“How am I controlling him?” Li Aiyun had just been about to make a call. Upon hearing this, she slammed the phone heavily on the coffee table. “It’s because he’s my son that I can’t let his life be ruined. Marriage is a huge deal—it’s for life! I won’t let him marry that Su Min girl just because he’s momentarily blinded. Manli is the one who truly suits Mianmian. If our two families become in-laws, it’ll be beneficial for both sides. And besides, we get along well with the Sun family—wouldn’t it be even better to become relatives?”

“That’s just what you think,” Xue Jun’s expression darkened. These past few days, he thought his wife had finally calmed down, but the moment their son had a fight with his girlfriend, she was already ready to interfere again. She was basically rubbing salt into their son’s wound.

Though he had been busy with work and hadn’t spent as much time with his son as he would’ve liked, he still loved the boy deeply. He didn’t want his wife’s meddling to ruin his son’s happiness.

Li Aiyun replied indifferently, “I’m doing this for his own good. One day, he’ll understand my intentions.”

Seeing her so obstinate, Xue Jun sighed heavily, grabbed his briefcase, and stood up. “I’m going to stay at the military compound for a few days.”

Without waiting for a response, he walked out the door.

As she watched him leave, Li Aiyun angrily slapped the table. After a moment, she took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and finally picked up the phone to call the Sun family.

Ever since the falling out with Xue Mian, Su Min had been in a terrible emotional state.

She had been listless for several days in class, and just as absent-minded at work. The designs for the Paris fashion show had long been completed, but now she didn’t even have the courage to show them to Li Weisi.

“Everyone’s been really worried about you lately.” Liao Zhaodi had been pushed into the general manager’s office by several veteran employees to try and talk some sense into her.

Although she had accepted the task, Liao Zhaodi knew full well that Su Min had hit a dead end. She had tried pulling her out of it several times but with no success.

Su Min lay on her desk, staring at the fresh flowers placed by the window.

One bouquet a day, for the past few days.

She didn’t even need to look to know who had sent them.

“Still not willing to forgive Xue Mian?” Liao Zhaodi poured her a cup of hot water. “You really have a temper. If there’s an issue, you need to talk it out with him. What, are you planning to stay in a deadlock like this for the rest of your life?”

“I don’t know either.”

Su Min rubbed her head.

Even though she had lived a long time, she had very little experience in matters of the heart. She had never faced something like this before. Her mind had been in chaos these past few days, and she truly didn’t know how to face Xue Mian.

Liao Zhaodi sighed. “If you don’t know, then take my advice—go see him. Since you’re serious about having a future with him, what’s the point of holding onto this cold war? Both of you are suffering. Besides, every relationship goes through rough patches. That’s how people grow together. Or are you planning to live your whole life without ever making mistakes?”

Su Min was a little moved by her words.

In truth, she hadn’t been indifferent this time.

Although she had initially gotten together with Xue Mian partly out of being touched and partly out of liking him, she hadn’t thought she was deeply in love. But after this period of tension and not seeing each other, she had come to realize—she had already fallen in love with him.

Fallen in love with this man who treated her well, and was so simple.

Sometimes she couldn’t help but marvel—love was such a strange thing. Completely outside of her control, it had spread inside her just like that.

Su Min wasn’t someone who liked to wrong herself. Once she realized her own feelings, she didn’t want to just let go of her relationship with Xue Mian. Thinking about it carefully, the two of them had known each other since they were thirteen. It had been almost ten years now. How many decades does a person get in life? To give up just like this really was too much of a pity.

“But… how do I go see him?” She was still unwilling to be the one to take the initiative.

Hearing this, Liao Zhaodi couldn’t help but laugh inside, though she didn’t dare show it on her face, worried that Su Min might get annoyed. She quickly responded seriously, “He’s been sending a bouquet of flowers a day. You should at least give him something back. But going to him directly might be too obvious. Aren’t you quite close with Grandpa and Grandma Xue? Just go visit them. Xue Mian lives with them, so it’d be natural to run into him.”

This idea was something Liao Zhaodi had thought about for a while. She knew Su Min was prideful. Even if she wanted to reconcile, she would never take the initiative. So this was the best compromise.

Sure enough, after a moment of hesitation, Su Min nodded. “That could work.”

With the plan in mind, on Saturday, Su Min bought some health supplements and shyly made her way to the Xue family residence.

She knew the place well, and after registering at the gate, she was let into the compound without issue.

Ever since she started dating Xue Mian, she had been there a few times and had grown close to Grandpa and Grandma Xue. Especially Grandma Xue, who was very fond of her. Su Min had even visited her a few times on her own.

But since her fallout with Xue Mian, she hadn’t been back once. She had wanted to, but was afraid of awkwardly running into him.

After ringing the doorbell, Su Min stood nervously at the entrance, wondering what she should do if Xue Mian was the one to open the door.

She hadn’t figured it out yet when the door opened.

“Su Min?” a surprised voice called out. It was Sun Manli.

Startled, Su Min looked up and sure enough, there was Sun Manli standing in the doorway.

Unlike Su Min’s simple, elegant dress, Sun Manli was dressed elaborately today, her face fully made up—far more glamorous than her usual aloof self.

Seeing Su Min at the door, Sun Manli looked her up and down and sneered. “What are you doing here? Xue Mian doesn’t want you, so you came crawling to the house?”

Su Min hadn’t expected to run into Sun Manli here. She froze for a second, then seeing the smugness on her face, replied coldly, “I’m here to see Grandma Xue.”

“Oh really? Too bad. Today’s the day I’m meeting the family with Xue Mian. They probably don’t have time for you.”

“Meeting the family?” Su Min’s heart clenched. She frowned at her. “That’s impossible.”

“Why not? Did you really think Xue Mian only wanted you?” Sun Manli smiled and pointed to the car in the yard. “Look, that’s his car right there. He’s home. If you don’t believe me, I’ll call him out so he can tell you himself.”

“Manli, who is it? Go upstairs and check on Mianmian.” A voice came from inside—it was Li Aiyun.

Su Min’s expression immediately turned cold. She placed the gift she had brought down by the door and walked away from the Xue residence without another word.

The weather was already hot, yet she felt a chill creeping up her back. The once bright sky now seemed a little darker.

She glanced back once at the now distant Xue family mansion, then turned and resolutely walked away.

All that talk about a love that lasts a lifetime—it was just her own fantasy.

Young love is fragile to begin with. Hadn’t she seen enough young couples break up in her past life? And yet here she was, repeating the same story in this one. She had only herself to blame—for being tricked, for ending up like this.

After cursing herself in her heart, Su Min could no longer hold back the tears that blurred her vision.

Li Weisi was just pulling up near the military compound entrance when he spotted a familiar figure walking out. It was Su Min—whom he hadn’t seen for days. He hadn’t even had time to stop and say hello when she quickly got into a taxi and disappeared.

At the grand Xue family residence, as soon as Li Weisi walked through the door and saw the scene inside, a faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

No wonder Su Min had that expression just now—so this was what had happened.

Though he felt a little sorry for his nephew’s current predicament, he couldn’t help but feel a touch of schadenfreude.

“Weisi, why are you only just arriving? Everyone’s about to start eating.”

Li Aiyun came over with a smile.

Li Weisi casually tossed his car keys into his bag. “Where’s Xue Mian?”

“He’s not feeling well—still lying upstairs. That child, even when he’s sick, he refuses to go to the hospital.”

Li Aiyun couldn’t help but grumble. Today was supposed to be a chance for the Sun family to come over and smooth things out, so that both kids could settle things properly. Who would’ve thought that her son would end up with a fever and fall asleep in bed?

Li Weisi raised his brows, his sympathy for Xue Mian deepening.

“I’ll go up and check on him.” With that, he ignored Li Aiyun and headed straight upstairs.

“Hey, you haven’t even said hello yet!” Li Aiyun called after him in frustration. Seeing that he completely disregarded her, her expression darkened for a moment. But by the time she returned to the living room to entertain the Sun family, her smile was firmly back in place.

Li Weisi, familiar with the house, made his way upstairs and easily found Xue Mian’s room. Without bothering to knock, he walked right in—only to be surprised to see Grandma Xue sitting at the bedside.

Although half-paralyzed, Grandma Xue could still get around with a cane. While her mind sometimes wandered, her love for her grandson was etched deep into her bones. Knowing that Xue Mian wasn’t feeling well, she insisted on staying by his side even if it meant skipping dinner.

“Auntie,” Li Weisi greeted her with a smile.

Grandma Xue looked at him for a while but didn’t recognize him. She simply held onto Xue Mian’s hand and ignored him.

Li Weisi didn’t mind. He walked over and saw Xue Mian slowly open his eyes in a daze. Reaching out to feel his forehead, his expression suddenly shifted in alarm. “He’s burning up like this and still won’t go to the hospital?”

Xue Mian blinked at Li Weisi groggily and took a while to respond. “I don’t want to go out.”

“You not wanting to go out is the problem. This time, you’re really going to be misunderstood to death.” Seeing how lifeless he looked, Li Weisi lost the mood to watch the drama unfold. He pulled a chair to sit by the bed. “I just saw Su Min at the door when I arrived.”

“Su Min?” Xue Mian’s eyes snapped open, a flicker of alertness appearing on his face. He tried to sit up. “Su Min came? Where is she? Did she come to see me?”

Li Weisi reached out and pushed him back down. “She’s already gone. You won’t catch her now.” He raised an eyebrow. “Also, you should know—the Sun family’s here today. I’m pretty sure Su Min ran into them.”

Xue Mian’s face went even paler at those words.

The Sun family had shown up unannounced. When they came to his room earlier, he didn’t even have the energy to acknowledge them.

Who would’ve thought that Su Min would witness it?

He weakly punched his pillow in frustration, but his lack of strength made the gesture feel feeble.

“No, I have to go explain.” Flustered, Xue Mian threw off his covers and tried to get out of bed.

“No, you’re not moving. You’re sick,” Grandma Xue said firmly, holding him down with all her strength.

“Grandma, I have to find Su Min.” Xue Mian was desperate, but he had no strength, not even enough to push away his elderly grandmother.

Li Weisi sighed. “Don’t move. Even if you go, she probably won’t see you. If you push yourself like this, you’ll pass out before you get a chance to explain anything—and that’ll make things worse.”

“You don’t understand, Uncle.” Over the past few days, Xue Mian had been reflecting a lot. He’d asked his uncle to help Su Min without telling her, thinking it would protect her pride. But now, he realized—if he truly cared about her dignity, he should never have gone behind her back like that.

It was his own wishful thinking that had caused all this.

And now that Su Min had finally been willing to take the first step toward seeing him, she had run into Sun Manli instead. She must be terribly disappointed, or even angry with him now.

“You young people and your drama—I really don’t get it. But what I do know is this: if you don’t get better, none of this matters. Come on, I’ll take you to the hospital. The Sun family’s still downstairs. If you don’t go to the hospital, then you’ll be stuck here keeping them company.”

With that, he stood up.

“Uncle, I’ll go to the hospital with you.” Xue Mian was full of regret. If he’d known this kind of misunderstanding would happen, he wouldn’t have stayed home for even a second.

Downstairs, Li Aiyun was chatting with Sun Manli’s parents. The two families had been friends for years. Though Xue Mian had called previously to say he wasn’t interested in marrying Sun Manli—leaving the Sun family displeased—they hadn’t severed ties outright.

Besides, Li Aiyun had personally called to apologize and explain their intentions to strengthen the relationship.

Of course, the most important reason was their beloved daughter’s stubborn insistence on marrying into the Xue family. Even if they weren’t willing, they had no choice but to find a way to make this marriage happen.