RGL – Chapter 177

Li Aiyun smiled and said, “What bad timing today—Mianmian is sick. I was going to take him to the hospital, but he said you were coming over as guests today, so he didn’t want to go. He insisted on staying home to host you.”

“This child is too polite,” Father Sun said with a smile and nodded.

He had always liked Xue Mian, the young man. For someone so young to have achieved so much already was truly outstanding. Most importantly, he came from a good family. For them, he was the ideal candidate for a son-in-law.

Li Aiyun glanced at Sun Manli, who was sitting quietly to the side. “Manli has suffered too. Mianmian was inconsiderate before. Young people often overlook things—please try to understand.”

Sun Manli pressed her lips into a faint smile at those words and was just about to speak when her gaze suddenly fixed on something.

Li Aiyun noticed and followed her line of sight with a puzzled look, only to see Li Weisi supporting Xue Mian as they came downstairs. It looked like they were about to head out.

“Weisi, where are you two going?”

Li Aiyun stood up in surprise and walked over.

The three members of the Sun family followed suit.

Li Weisi frowned. “Xue Mian is this sick—I must take him to the hospital.”

“Didn’t you say it wasn’t serious?” Li Aiyun stepped forward, reaching out to feel Xue Mian’s forehead, but he dodged her hand.

He glanced toward the Sun family and asked, “Did Su Min come by just now?”

Li Aiyun looked surprised. “No. Why?”

Sun Manli’s expression changed drastically. She instinctively lowered her head, avoiding Xue Mian’s gaze.

Though pale, Xue Mian’s eyes were sharp and clear. “I’ve already made my stance very clear on my own marriage. I hope you’ll stop interfering. You’re my mother—I don’t want things to turn sour between us.”

Hearing this, Li Aiyun’s face turned red with anger. In front of so many people—especially the Sun family—she felt utterly humiliated.

“Xue Mian, is this how you speak to your elders?”

“Mom, there’s no need to keep talking about this. I’ve told you many times already. Now that Auntie and Uncle are here, I’ll say it again clearly to your face: I will have nothing to do with Sun Manli. I’ll decide my own marriage.”

Smack!

Li Aiyun suddenly stepped forward and slapped Xue Mian across the face, leaving a red mark on his pale skin.

“Sister! What are you doing?” Li Weisi shouted angrily at her.

Xue Mian curled his lips slightly. The pain on his face reminded him just how real that slap was. Then he gave a small laugh. “Mom, even though you were rarely around all these years, and even drove Grandma to a stroke, I still respected you. But with how you’ve handled things lately, I can no longer do that. A selfish and self-serving mother—I can’t accept that.”

“Xue Mian, don’t say such things,” Li Weisi quickly interjected.

He knew that this time, Xue Mian wasn’t speaking in anger. Despite his young age, the boy had always been steady and composed. For him to say something like this now—it meant he was truly disappointed.

Li Aiyun’s face turned pale from fury. She pointed at Xue Mian, but for a long moment, she couldn’t say a word.

“Everyone out.”

Suddenly, Old Master Xue came downstairs, leaning on his cane. “You’re not welcome here. Mianmian stays. The rest of you—out.”

“Dad, what are you doing?” Li Aiyun looked up at him, her face already twisted in humiliation.

Old Master Xue looked sternly at her. “For years, I turned a blind eye to many things. I didn’t want to lose a son, and I didn’t want to put my grandson in a difficult position. Even when Xue Jun’s mother was driven to a stroke, I endured it. But now, you’ve gone beyond redemption. Mianmian is sick, yet you show no concern—you’re only focused on manipulating his marriage to control him.

“Li Aiyun, you show no respect to your elders, and no love for your child. We don’t need a daughter-in-law like you in this house. From today on, you are no longer welcome in the Xue family. If Xue Jun wants to come back, fine. If not, we won’t go looking for him either. Consider him no longer our son!”

“Dad, you—” Li Aiyun staggered a few steps in anger.

Sun Manli reached out to support her, but her mother pulled her back.

This visit to the Xue family had come at Li Aiyun’s invitation—she had told them everything was agreed upon, which was why they brought the whole family along. But now, things had turned into such a humiliating mess. Her precious daughter had even become someone else’s unwanted burden.

That alone made her deeply displeased.

But what upset her the most was Li Aiyun’s deception. She had truly wanted to form a family tie with the Xue family, but if she had known that neither the elders nor Xue Mian himself agreed to the marriage, she never would have brought her daughter here.

After all, although the Sun family wasn’t as prominent as the Li or Xue families, they weren’t insignificant either. There was no need to humiliate themselves this way just to beg for a marriage alliance.

“Yunyun, I want an explanation from you for what happened today.” Mother Sun said coldly, then pulled the unwilling Sun Manli toward the door.

Father Sun also let out a heavy snort.

“Axue, don’t go, please listen to my explanation!” Seeing this, Li Aiyun hurried to stop them, but Mother Sun pushed her away. Seeing them leave, there was no chance to stop them anymore.

Old Master Xue shook his head and said to Li Weisi, “Weisi, take Mianmian to the hospital. I’ve already had someone bring the car around. Someone will drive you there shortly.”

Li Weisi nodded and helped Xue Mian out the door.

Once they were gone, Old Master Xue didn’t even look at the still-stunned Li Aiyun and went straight upstairs.

In an instant, the once lively living room was now left with only Li Aiyun standing there in a daze.

By the time Su Min got home, she had already stopped crying.

After all, she had the soul of an adult. Though her first love had ended in failure, she understood that there are many things in life more important than love. So, even though her heart ached, the remaining rationality in her mind wouldn’t allow her to waste too much energy on this anymore.

Since the other party had already given up, there was no point in her continuing to hold on—it would only make her suffer.

Liao Zhaodi didn’t return home until it was almost dark. When she saw Su Min sitting on the sofa watching TV with a book in hand, she was shocked. “Why are you back so early?”

She had assumed that Su Min would go find Xue Mian to reconcile, and the two would definitely stay out late on a date. She hadn’t expected her to come back before nightfall.

Su Min’s expression froze slightly before she said, “Don’t talk about me and Xue Mian anymore. There’s no possibility between us now.”

“Huh?”

Liao Zhaodi was stunned, her face full of disbelief. Su Min had clearly been fine when she left—how could her attitude suddenly change? “Su Min, what’s wrong? Didn’t you say you couldn’t let go of Xue Mian and wanted to make up with him? You can’t be so wishy-washy.”

She was getting emotional now. Though Su Min was her good friend, if Su Min was taking advantage of Xue Mian’s feelings and trampling on them, she couldn’t support that either.

Su Min took a deep breath and looked away. “It’s not that I’m being indecisive. When I went to the Xue family today, I ran into Sun Manli.”

Upon hearing that, Liao Zhaodi already sensed that things weren’t simple. She quickly sat beside Su Min. “What was Sun Manli doing at their house?”

“She said she was there to meet the parents.”

“No way. Could it be that Xue Mian didn’t know about it?”

“He was there—his car was parked at home. And his mom said he was upstairs. His mom didn’t even know I was at the door, so she couldn’t have lied to me.”

Now Liao Zhaodi didn’t know what to say.

Although she knew the Sun and Xue families had ties, it was still strange. It wasn’t wrong for them to visit each other, but given the history between Xue Mian and Sun Manli, they shouldn’t be under the same roof like that.

“What is Xue Mian thinking?” she said angrily. She’d been helping speak well of him and match them up, but he was spending time with another woman?

“Do you want to talk to him again? Isn’t this a bit too hasty?”

Su Min waved her hand. “No need. Lately, because of relationship issues, both my studies and work have been affected badly. On my way back today, I thought about everything and realized how foolish I’ve been. I thought I was so important, that things would really be like Xue Mian said—that we’d never break up. But today, I suddenly realized that it was just a relationship. It could end at any time. Sacrificing my career for love—it’s just stupid.”

“Su Min, don’t be like this. Everyone gets hurt when they’re young. Besides, you said it yourself—if it doesn’t work, you break up. You can’t say love ruins careers.”

Liao Zhaodi looked worried. She was genuinely afraid that Su Min, having been hurt once, would now avoid relationships altogether.

“I’m fine. Actually, this time, after deciding to reconcile and then facing what happened today, I’m not even that upset anymore. Really. Before, I was sad because I felt I had let Xue Mian down, that I shouldn’t have given up. But now that I know I was the only one who still cared, it doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

Seeing her like this made Liao Zhaodi feel even worse.

No matter how strong someone is, how could they not be hurt after something like this? Su Min was just quietly suffering on her own. If she’d just cried it out, maybe she’d feel a little better.

In the following days, Liao Zhaodi paid close attention to Su Min’s emotional state, afraid she would be deeply affected by the blow.

But Su Min really seemed fine—in fact, she was even more hardworking than before.

Sometimes she was so busy she was nowhere to be seen.

Although Liao Zhaodi was worried, she and Su Min didn’t go to the same school. At work, she rarely saw her either, and when she returned home, Su Min was always working behind closed doors. There was no way for her to really understand what Su Min was going through.

“Zhaodi, I want to see Su Min. Is she home?”

A few days later, at the entrance to their residential complex, Liao Zhaodi finally ran into Xue Mian.

After not seeing him for a while, she noticed that Xue Mian seemed a bit different, though she couldn’t quite tell what had changed. She said coldly, “Why are you here again?”

“I want to see Su Min.”

Xue Mian said firmly.

“She’s not home. There’s no need for you to come.” Liao Zhaodi looked annoyed as she got ready to head into the residential complex.

As for the situation between Su Min and Xue Mian, she didn’t really know which one of them was more at fault, so she had no intention of arguing with him. But she definitely wasn’t going to help him get close to Su Min again.

Right now, for Su Min, Xue Mian was just a source of pain.

Seeing Liao Zhaodi’s attitude, Xue Mian knew his recent worries were true—Su Min really had misunderstood him, and the misunderstanding was serious.

“Zhaodi, please help me. There’s a misunderstanding between Su Min and me.”

“A misunderstanding? Su Min went to make up with you, only to run into your fiancée coming over to meet your parents. And you call that a misunderstanding?”

Hearing that, Xue Mian’s face turned even paler. He hadn’t expected that Su Min had gone to reconcile with him.

“You know what kind of person Su Min is. She swallowed her pride to make peace with you, only to see Sun Manli swaggering around your house meeting your parents. How do you think she felt? So, Xue Mian, don’t come looking for her again. Back when you two weren’t together, she was doing so well—her studies, her career, everything. But ever since she’s been with you, she’s been unhappy more often than not.”

At those words, Xue Mian’s hand clenched unconsciously, and sweat started to form on his back.

He had thought that being with him would make Su Min happy. He hadn’t expected that her life had actually gotten worse.

“She told you that herself?” His voice was hoarse.

Seeing his state, Liao Zhaodi felt a little pity for him. But she still said, “She didn’t say it—I could see it for myself. Like that time you secretly helped her career—she was really upset those days. And now with this situation, she’s been really unwell. I don’t know how other couples are, but for Su Min, it’s better not to be in a relationship at all.”

Back when she wasn’t in a relationship, Su Min had always been so radiant and full of life. Even though she was back to work now, she didn’t have that same carefree spark anymore.

Xue Mian looked even worse than before and swayed slightly on his feet.

Liao Zhaodi didn’t want to say more. Su Min had already made up her mind, and she knew things could only go this way now. Seeing that Xue Mian had nothing more to say, she turned and went into the complex.

Watching her leave, Xue Mian thought of what she had just said. Suddenly, he clutched his stomach, his face turning deathly pale as he crouched down, gritting his teeth.

“Young man, are you alright?”

The security guard uncle saw him and quickly ran over.

By the time Su Min got home, it was already very late.

This time, Liao Zhaodi had made a point not to go to bed. She had prepared a meal and was waiting for her to return.

Seeing that Su Min looked normal, she finally felt relieved.

“I made dinner.”

“Mm.” Su Min responded, putting her things away in her room before heading to the dining area.

Liao Zhaodi served her some rice and smiled. “You’ve looked really worn out lately, so I even made some soup.”

“It hasn’t been that tiring. Now that finals are over, I’ve got some free time.”

There had been final exams, project submissions, and a few cultural courses. Some of them she had fallen behind in and had to catch up, which took a lot of effort.

Liao Zhaodi smiled. “You’re going to be a junior soon. Senior year is basically working already. We’re finally graduating.”

Seeing Su Min eating with her head down, she added, “Su Min, that collection you prepared—the one for Paris Fashion Week—are you still planning to go?”

She knew Su Min had poured her heart into preparing for that event.

“I’m not going anymore.” Su Min shook her head. “That opportunity was only made possible thanks to Li Weisi’s help. He… I don’t want to owe anyone anything anymore. If it weren’t for the contract we already signed, I’d even want to leave Xiuse and go independent. But it’s too late to say that now.”

Hearing this, Liao Zhaodi was startled. She realized Su Min truly intended to cut all ties with Xue Mian.

With that in mind, she didn’t dare bring up Xue Mian coming to look for her earlier.

Su Min kept her head down, deep in thought, and didn’t notice Liao Zhaodi’s expression. All she could think about now was how to develop Xiuse further.

She had spent a long time preparing for Paris Fashion Week. Those pieces were carefully and thoughtfully selected. Now that they wouldn’t be used, she didn’t want them to go to waste.

She planned to promote them as part of a new collection. But just releasing them as a new line wasn’t enough. She needed to organize some kind of event to make good use of them.

After all, she now knew Li Weisi had only helped her because of that person. And since there was no possibility between her and that person anymore, she wouldn’t accept Li Weisi’s help either. She had made up her mind: she would rely on her own ability to build Xiuse step by step, minimizing her reliance on Li Weisi—until the day Xiuse could stand on its own.