After Saving My Possessive Best Friend, I Couldn't Escape (GL) - Chapter 34

Uncle Xue observed Ye Yu’s expression and suddenly spoke, “Xiaoyu, tell Uncle, who is this person?”

Ye Yu clenched the paper and only managed to move her gaze away after a long while. She spoke softly, as if unconcerned. “She is a friend I can trust.”

“But from what Uncle can see, her attire is very plain, unlike the friends you typically associate with,” Uncle Xue’s voice was calm. “When did you two meet?”

“About a week ago,” Ye Yu said.

Uncle Xue paused, looked at Ye Yu quietly, and then dismissed the people waiting behind them.

Ye Yu continued to flip through the pages. Uncle Xue sat on the sofa opposite her. “No need to look further. Everything has been checked.”

“Sun Yangyang,” Uncle Xue read the name. “A daughter of a Sun family branch. I hear she likes Zhou Meize. It’s just petty jealousy between young girls. The motive and evidence are all there for her entering your room and ruining your calligraphy. She won’t get away.”

Ye Yu flipped to a document covered in dense writing. As she read the investigation details, her heart gradually sank. She held the edges of the paper without speaking.

Uncle Xue said, “The results are out. How does Xiaoyu want to punish her?”

If the investigation was about Sun Yangyang, why was the majority of the information in her hands about Fang Zhile?

“Uncle,” Ye Yu lowered her head, turning her back to Uncle Xue. Her entire posture indicated rejection. “Why did you investigate Fang Zhile?”

Uncle Xue glanced at the documents in her hand. “Fang Zhile. A girl so ordinary that she’s hard to notice, yet she can enter and stay overnight in my child’s dorm. My child hasn’t had any friends for years. Shouldn’t I look into her?”

“You know I only asked you to find out about Sun Yangyang, to give me a name,” Ye Yu’s voice was a little hoarse.

It was from anger. The more suppressed, angry, and resentful she was, all her negative emotions would become a knife scraping her vocal cords—rough and grating.

Uncle Xue watched her for a moment and apologized. “My apologies, Uncle still sees Xiaoyu as a child and interfered with your personal privacy.”

Ye Yu did not calm down. Because she knew Uncle Xue’s actions better than most; he was absolutely not simply concerned about “my child’s friend.”

“Uncle is not a person without boundaries,” Uncle Xue sighed, stood up, walked to Ye Yu, and half-knelt to meet her gaze. His tone was apologetic, yet unconsciously firm. “You can make friends, have your own world, and do what you want. Uncle won’t interfere with any of that, but you must remember that you are an engaged person.”

My own world? Things I want to do?

He claimed she was free, yet even the friends she made were investigated and warned against.

Ye Yu suddenly felt very tired. She lowered her hands and gently turned her face away. Uncle Xue’s voice echoed in her ears, but her gaze fell on the scattered documents.

They were photos of Fang Zhile from childhood to the present: falling, crying, silently eating.

Every photo was quiet, so quiet that it was difficult to find any spark in her. Those long-ago scenes, which even Fang Zhile might not remember well, were now presented clearly before her.

Every single detail, without any privacy, laying a person’s life bare on the table—how powerful they were.

Ye Yu knew from a young age that she was different from other children. She didn’t have her parents nearby.

To live well, she had to attract the attention and affirmation of the man in front of her and the man behind him. So she ran to them, making sure they saw her.

Ye Yu also knew that relationships between people couldn’t rely solely on calculation and benefit, so she genuinely treated them well, respecting and caring for them as elders, holding them in her heart for many years.

She was also obedient, never using the Ye family’s power for anything, dutifully doing what they asked her to do.

But this time, and only this time, she needed to borrow greater power to accomplish one thing, to protect one person.

Just this once.

Help her.

In your capacity as an elder, with an elder’s care, help her.

In exchange for all the years of her never overstepping, of being attentive to you, help her.

—But they wouldn’t.

Instead, Fang Zhile was investigated, guarded against, and paid unwanted attention to.

Ye Yu had never felt such clear frustration and mockery.

All her years of silent sacrifice had become a joke.

She was still the child abandoned in the old residence, uncared for and unnoticed by anyone.

Uncle Xue noticed the change in Ye Yu’s expression and realized something was wrong.

He stood up regretfully and pulled her hand, his voice softening. “Xiaoyu? Why aren’t you speaking?”

Ye Yu slowly recovered, then helped Uncle Xue stand up.

“Please sit,” Ye Yu lowered her head. “I understand what you mean. I will be more careful in the future.”

Uncle Xue frowned gradually. “Xiaoyu, if you have any objections, please tell me.”

Ye Yu rarely used the formal “you” when speaking to him.

Between the two of them, Ye Yu was always more casual and playful with him.

But her current demeanor made Uncle Xue feel there was a barrier, preventing him from seeing her clearly.

“Uncle Xue is joking,” Ye Yu looked up, her eyes clear, devoid of any dissatisfaction. “It’s all for my own good. I understand.”

Ye Yu paused. Her long hair fell from her back to her shoulder, casting a faint shadow on her profile. In that shadow, she asked casually, “Uncle Xue, do you think this person, Zhou Meize, is worth marrying?”

The moment she asked the question, Ye Yu’s thoughts began to drift.

She had never personally experienced normal parental care, but she could glimpse it through classmates and social news.

There were news stories of a girl’s seven brothers turning up to beat her fiancé to the hospital for three months after a love rival showed up.

There were cases of catching cheaters in hotels and tearing up mistresses in the streets.

Even in social surveys, one-third of divorces were due to infidelity.

She had read the words of priests and understood the expectations of love in literature.

She knew Zhou Meize simply couldn’t uphold the word “loyalty.”

Yet no one stood up for her.

—Except Fang Zhile. Only Fang Zhile.

“Xiaoyu?” Uncle Xue’s voice pulled her back to reality. “Are you listening?”

Uncle Xue said, “It doesn’t matter what Zhou Meize is like. The person you are marrying is not her; it’s the Zhou family. Do you understand?”

Ye Yu blinked and nodded obediently.

See? The person she was supposed to spend her life with was irrelevant.

A temporary silence made the atmosphere even more stifling. Uncle Xue truly couldn’t bear it, but bound by the Elder’s instructions, he could only suppress Ye Yu and not take action on her behalf.

“Uncle Xue,” Ye Yu seemed to have finally made up her mind, coming to a decision. “I don’t plan to punish Sun Yangyang. But I want to move out of the school and rent an apartment nearby.”

Ye Yu was willing to let Sun Yangyang go? Uncle Xue looked at her a few times, a little uncertain, then thought for a few seconds. “The school really isn’t safe. Should I buy you an apartment?”

“No need,” Ye Yu gently shook her head. “It would be a waste to leave a house empty when I go to college later.”

“Real estate near the school really doesn’t appreciate in value,” Uncle Xue thought for a moment. If he couldn’t help her seek revenge, buying a house was always an option. He insisted, “Don’t worry about the rest. I’ll find you an apartment. It will be absolutely safe.”

Ye Yu nodded softly. “Thank you, Uncle Xue. Leave the rest to me. I will handle it.”

“Don’t be so formal,” Uncle Xue looked at her a few times, still hesitant, as if wanting to say something, but ultimately kept silent. “Then I won’t interfere with this matter anymore?”

Ye Yu also seemed to have forgotten the initial reason for calling Uncle Xue. She was as obedient as ever, smiling and nodding. “Mhm. Thank you for your trouble, Uncle.”

“About your competition,” Uncle Xue looked at her a few times, then suddenly said, “If there’s a need to participate, I can help you extend the deadline so you can still submit.”

Extend the deadline. Still submit.

Ye Yu felt inexplicably indifferent. Was the competition important? It seemed so. Did she like it? Not at all. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have ruined it so decisively.

“No need,” Ye Yu smiled. “Writing another piece would be rushed, and it would affect my mindset.”

“Alright, I respect your opinion.” Uncle Xue thought of another way to support her. He said, “There’s a dinner party tonight. I’ve invited the Zhou family’s child and the elders of both families. Let’s all have a meal together.”

Ye Yu nodded. “Okay.”

Uncle Xue glanced at the time. “I have some things to deal with. Stay here for a while, or you can go somewhere else, but remember to tell the driver. They’ll come pick you up later.”

After Uncle Xue left, a subordinate brought him a jacket. “You must take care of yourself.”

“Cough, cough,” Uncle Xue bent his head, covering the lower half of his face. After the tickle in his chest passed, he spoke almost inaudibly. “This old body of mine can hold on for a few more years. It’s nothing.”

The subordinate tried to hold back, but couldn’t help asking, “Do you really not need to explain to Miss Yu? These actions are at the Elder’s instruction, and you’re also afraid she’ll repeat the mistake of the former eldest daughter…”

“Ye Wuyin,” Uncle Xue’s gaze drifted far away. When he spoke the name, his voice was so faint it sounded like he was struggling to breathe.

“His most beloved daughter eloped with a poor boy and died in poverty… Since then, the children in the family must marry into influential families and absolutely cannot marry ordinary people.”

Uncle Xue looked back at the closed door and smiled softly, shaking his head. “Xiaoyu looks too much like her aunt. The Elder has been ‘suppressing’ her since she was little, terrified that she would show too much talent and cause trouble. He takes her engagement with the Zhou family very seriously, and no amount of persuasion works on him. It’s better not to tell Xiaoyu, so as not to pressure her.”

The subordinate sighed. “If that’s the case, won’t Miss Yu resent you?”

“Her? Maybe,” Uncle Xue said with a hint of absentminded indulgence. “I don’t fear her resentment. I don’t owe any of my own children anything in this life. Getting into trouble with her is more than enough for me.”

After seeing Uncle Xue off, Ye Yu stayed there alone for a while. She carefully organized all the investigation documents, categorizing them and putting them into her backpack.

She didn’t call the driver. Instead, she hailed a taxi, went to a pharmacy to buy anti-inflammatory and bruising ointment, and then returned to the school.

“Is Fang Zhile from your class here?” Ye Yu stopped a student and asked.

The person shook their head. “No, she asked for leave today.”

“Leave?” Ye Yu’s heart sank. She took out her phone and sent her a message, asking her whereabouts.

[Ye]: Text me back when you see this.

The person who usually replied instantly didn’t respond even after several minutes. Ye Yu placed a voice call. It rang for dozens of seconds, but no one picked up.

Fang Zhile was not someone who spent hours on the phone.

Her social connections were thin. Besides a few close classmates, teachers, and her boss, hardly anyone called her.

She was also not someone who dawdled.

Especially over the phone, she would get straight to the point.

If something couldn’t be explained in one or two sentences, she would arrange to meet in person.

This mature approach to communication meant her phone was usually free, and even if it was busy, she would call back within minutes.

However, Ye Yu looked down at the last call time. Forty minutes had passed, and Fang Zhile still hadn’t picked up.

Ye Yu was almost hysterically angry. It was a rage born of anxiety and tension, one she couldn’t control.

It was like a fierce fire igniting along her blood vessels with a whoosh, traveling up her nerves and exploding in her mind.

At the same time, Ye Yu realized she was utterly powerless.

Even now, when she wanted to do something, the resources she could use were incredibly scarce.

It wasn’t that something had definitely happened to Fang Zhile, but that in the event something could happen, she was helpless. She couldn’t do anything, not even as much as Zhou Meize, who at least had a few close friends. Ye Yu had no one she could even ask.

Ye Yu slowly put down her phone.

The building anger in her heart did not subside but slowly concealed itself in a different form.

It was a creeping, deep-rooted feeling, and it was not difficult to imagine how it would change her temperament over time.

The Ye and Zhou families’ dinner party was scheduled for the evening.

Ye Yu stood still for a moment, calming herself down. She walked to the art room door and asked someone to call Zhou Meize out.

When Zhou Meize came out, her eyes were evasive, and she refused to look Ye Yu directly in the face.

“Xiaoyu, why did you come here?” Zhou Meize asked.

“Did you get the notice that our two families are having dinner together tonight?” Ye Yu didn’t pay attention to her abnormality. Her expression was perfectly drawn on, flawless. “I figured Uncle Xue rarely comes out, so we shouldn’t keep the elder waiting. Let’s go now.”

Zhou Meize looked at the time. “Now? But it’s only the third period.”

Ye Yu chuckled. “Yes, we have less than three hours before dinner. I want you to accompany me to the mall to buy a dress to change into.”

Looking at Ye Yu’s beautiful smiling face, Zhou Meize couldn’t say no. “Wait for me. I’ll go back to the classroom and tell the teacher.”

Ye Yu waited for her outside. In the moment the door opened and closed, she saw Sun Yangyang silently pouting and clinging to Zhou Meize’s drawing board.

After Zhou Meize asked the teacher for leave and started gathering her things, Sun Yangyang pressed down on her drawing board, not letting her leave.

Zhou Meize seemed a little impatient and said something to her softly.

Sun Yangyang suddenly looked up toward the door, meeting Ye Yu’s gaze head-on. She glared at Ye Yu with vicious eyes.

For the first time, Ye Yu stared back. She returned the gaze with a high-and-mighty indifference, as if looking at a common wildflower on the side of the road, her disdain barely traceable. It was the arrogance and nobility of a superior looking down on an ant.

Sun Yangyang’s eyes turned red with anger.

Zhou Meize came out, feeling guilty, afraid Ye Yu had seen Sun Yangyang’s clinging. “Um, I’ll call the driver first.”

After they got into the car, Zhou Meize asked, “Why did Uncle Xue suddenly decide to come out this time?”

“I had a small matter and asked him to help. I asked him to come out,” Ye Yu said softly. “But it’s all resolved now.”

“What was it?” Zhou Meize asked. “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped you.”

This occasional surge of superior-woman complex made Ye Yu chuckle. She shook her head and sighed, “This matter, you really couldn’t have helped.”

Zhou Meize pouted. “Fine, since you hired Uncle Xue. We’re still young, not even adults yet. The family’s power doesn’t listen to me. Give me five years—no, three years—and I guarantee my word will carry weight.”

Ye Yu looked at her with a faint pity. “You think so?”

When the little wolf grows up, will the male wolf willingly yield his position? Throughout history, the transfer of power has been marked by bloodshed and mutual destruction. Few transfers are bloodless. She understood this principle and disdained to fight for it; Zhou Meize desperately sought power but was still so naive.

Zhou Meize said, “Yes, Dad told me to start working for the company as soon as I start college.”

Ye Yu nodded, saying nothing more.

A sudden silence filled the car, making the atmosphere awkward. Zhou Meize tried to make small talk. “Um, did Uncle Xue really only come out for your matter?”

“Probably,” Ye Yu thought. The minds of those people are bottomless. No one can say for sure. “Don’t worry. Tonight is just a simple meal for our two families to connect.”

Then, Ye Yu gave her a faint look, hinting meaningfully, “Uncle Xue knows everything.”

This look made Zhou Meize extremely uncomfortable, and her guilt intensified. Ye Yu might not know anything, but Uncle Xue was different. She had been afraid of these two Ye family elders since she was little.

“Xiaoyu, if Uncle Xue isn’t satisfied with me, you have to put in a good word for me,” Zhou Meize pleaded.

“He won’t be dissatisfied with you or me. We are the only children in our respective families. Isn’t there an old saying that when the young mistress makes a mistake, the servants suffer?” Ye Yu spoke cryptically, her voice pressed low, almost a whisper next to Zhou Meize’s ear. “He will only punish the people around us.”

The people around us? Zhou Meize went rigid, her expression freezing.

“Xiaoyu, I…” Before Zhou Meize could finish, Ye Yu interrupted, sounding comforting. “Don’t overthink it. Uncle Xue has no issue with your friends. The Sun, Li, and Liu families all have dealings with the Ye family. He knows all about them.”

Sun Li, Li Zi, and Liu Mei. Ye Yu was referring to those three. Zhou Meize felt a cold sweat breaking out. The thought of Sun Yangyang, who had just been clinging to her before she left—Did she fall into this category? Did Uncle Xue also know about her habit of seeking out young girls?

“Oh, right,” Ye Yu clicked on Uncle Xue’s messages. A few texts were waiting there. “Uncle Xue said to call those three young ladies too.”

Zhou Meize glanced at the screen. She made a sound of surprise, took out her phone, and said, “I’ll call them now, but Li Zi was just taken away by her family. Should I still call her?”

Ye Yu said calmly, “All three must come, not one less. If the Li family won’t release her, I’ll personally call Li Zi’s father.”

Zhou Meize frowned, contemplating. “They don’t know who you are yet. I’ll call Uncle Li instead.”

After connecting the call, Uncle Li did a complete 180-degree turn upon hearing that Uncle Xue was hosting the dinner. He immediately agreed to release his daughter, without any delay.

Zhou Meize called the remaining two. As the call connected, she suddenly remembered something. “Wait, they didn’t know your identity before. You never told them, right?”

“I never told them, and you never told them,” Ye Yu nodded. “They really don’t know.”

Ye Yu looked at Zhou Meize, her gaze perfectly placid. “So, do you want me to avoid them?”

“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant. I just thought you didn’t want to reveal your identity.” Zhou Meize quickly shook her head, like a rattle drum. It’s Uncle Xue’s dinner. If I ask Ye Yu to avoid them, her father and mother would tear me apart…

“Then help me tell Uncle Xue to let me avoid them?” Ye Yu asked.

Zhou Meize shook her head vigorously. “I wouldn’t dare.”

“Then let’s leave it at that,” Ye Yu turned off her phone.

No one saw the sentence quietly resting above Uncle Xue’s reply.

[Ye]: Uncle, I have a few other friends here. Please look into them too.

If she hid it for too long, no one would know who she was anymore. Ye Wucang didn’t allow her to publicly declare herself a Ye family daughter or use the Ye family’s power, but normal social interaction couldn’t be completely severed. At the very least, the Zhou family and their affiliates had to know Ye Yu’s true status.

On the other side, Zhou Meize’s call quickly connected.

“Yes, it’s just for dinner,” Zhou Meize frowned. “I don’t know anything else.”

“Don’t be too happy yet. Li Zi has been temporarily released. Remember to call Liu Mei,” Zhou Meize hesitated for a moment, then suggested, “Should we call Sun Yangyang too?”

Sun Li’s voice came through the phone, cautious yet disdainful. “Why bring her? Was it Uncle Xue’s instruction?”

Zhou Meize said, “No. Uncle Xue only told me to call the friends I play well with.”

“She’s low-class. Don’t bring people like her in front of Uncle Xue.” Sun Li sighed in relief.

Zhou Meize said nothing more. “Then just the three of you. Come over now.”

She hung up the phone. Less than ten minutes later, the driver stopped the car in front of Jing City’s largest shopping mall.

“I want to buy a simple style hoodie,” Ye Yu said. “Do you need to buy clothes?”

“A hoodie?” Zhou Meize recalled the three bedrooms full of clothes she had before high school, and the plain, generic blue-and-white school uniform she now most frequently wore. She felt she needed a change. “Yes, I should buy something. Let’s go look together.”

The sixth floor of the mall housed the luxury brand stores. Zhou Meize went straight there.

“Pack this one for me, and this one, and this one.” Zhou Meize showed the spirit of a traditional wealthy person—buying things just for fun. She tried on few clothes but bought many.

Ye Yu was simpler. She immediately asked for the best-selling, most youthful and popular style.

Zhou Meize disagreed. “Buying mass-produced clothes is one thing, but why ask for the best-selling one? Won’t that be everywhere?”

“I don’t like wearing those kinds of clothes,” Ye Yu didn’t explain much. “It’s just one dinner. This will be fine.”

Zhou Meize didn’t argue further. She picked out an outfit and took it to the fitting room to change.

Ye Yu looked at herself in the mirror with a cold expression. Right now, solely relying on keeping a low profile won’t work anymore. So, where should I start?

Does Ye Wucang want to see a doll wrapped in exquisite human skin, or a monster struggling out of the abyss? Or both?

She wasn’t a fool, and she wasn’t above using the greatest malice to predict their actions. She had to guess carefully and act when the opportunity arose.

Just as Ye Yu was consumed by these extremely dark and heavy thoughts, a familiar voice came from the shop entrance.

“Sister Shu, why did you bring me to this kind of place?”

“This probably isn’t a good idea…”

Ye Yu turned her head to look. Five or six meters away, Fang Zhile was shopping with a woman who had a cold, beautiful face and mature makeup. The woman was commenting on a mannequin that was only wearing a few pink rainbow hearts.

Yes, only that.

It was a sensual lingerie store.

Ye Yu didn’t know what the woman had said, but Fang Zhile’s cheeks suddenly flushed red, and her gaze nervously darted away. At first glance, it looked like they were flirting.

Ye Yu silently turned her gaze back to the mirror. After three seconds, she turned back again.

“Miss, your clothes have been selected. Would you like to change now, or should we pack them up?” the sales associate asked.

Ye Yu said without turning her head, “Change now.”

The sales associate gently placed the clothes in front of Ye Yu and tactfully retreated.

Zhou Meize came out after changing and urged Ye Yu to hurry and change as well.

“Xiaoyu!” Zhou Meize called out loudly. “I’ll swipe my card for you, by the way.”

Ye Yu’s brow twitched. She instantly turned around, and as she withdrew her gaze, Fang Zhile, who had heard the shout, also turned around.

“Ye Yu!?” Fang Zhile called out in surprise, rushing over. “You’re here too! What a coincidence.”

Ye Yu looked at the woman behind her, her expression unreadable. “It is quite a coincidence.”

Fang Zhile followed her gaze and looked behind her, assuming Ye Yu was looking at the lingerie store she had just walked out of. Her ears instantly turned red. “Um, that, that’s not it. I’m just accompanying someone on a shopping trip.”

“Shopping for lingerie?” Ye Yu’s gaze drifted down a few inches, lightly sweeping over her, and then again. “They only sell adult, sensual lingerie here. And you… you’re suited for an average size.”

Me. Average size.

Fang Zhile: … Where are you looking? And ‘average size’! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re mocking! I’m just a little small; it’s a genetic issue, and my growth nutrition didn’t keep up. Is that my fault! Besides, in a yuri novel, shouldn’t you be condemned for body-shaming another girl!

When did Ye Yu become like this! Where was her quiet, gentle, sweet-but-awkward best friend!