"Just think of it for Youyou, give me one month!" Ye Chen said.
Chen Yinuo sneered contemptuously. "Are you going to be willing to sign the divorce papers after a month, then?"
"If you still insist on a divorce!" Ye Chen replied.
"Hmph!"
Chen Yinuo let out a self-deprecating sigh. "Fine, what's one more month when we've waited this long! The condition is you'd better survive those loan shark thugs!"
With that, Chen Yinuo whirled around and pulled Ye Youyou toward the door.
"I'm not going to Grandma's, I want Daddy! I want Daddy, wuwu, I want Daddy, I don't want to go to Grandma's, wuwu!"
Little Youyou wailed loudly.
Yet Chen Yinuo remained completely unmoved, dragging her away by force.
Listening to his daughter's heart-wrenching cries, watching Chen Yinuo's departing back, Ye Chen felt as though his heart was being torn apart!
Yet he did not try to make them stay, nor did he step forward to keep Youyou with him.
Setting aside whether he even had the time to take care of Youyou right now, in his current state, he simply wasn't worthy of trying to make them stay!
Watching as Chen Yinuo and Youyou vanished from sight, Ye Chen clutched his head and left the rental apartment.
Instead of going to the hospital, he chose a nearby neighborhood clinic.
After getting stitches for the gash on his head and medicine applied to the cuts on his face, he finally returned to that chaotic, messy rental apartment.
"What a sin, what an absolute sin!"
Looking at the liquor bottles and cigarette butts littering the floor, with take-out boxes and instant noodle containers strewn everywhere amidst a foul, unbearable stench, Ye Chen ignored the pain and slapped his own face hard.
By the time he had cleared all of that away and mopped the apartment from top to bottom three times over, a full three hours had passed!
Sitting in the small living room that now looked brand-new, he lit a cheap cigarette he found on the table.
He pulled out the mere 178 yuan left in his pocket.
"I'll have to turn this 178 yuan into 270,000 within a week to get through this hurdle!"
Exhaling a thick cloud of smoke, Ye Chen—who hadn't smoked in years, let alone such cheap cigarettes—coughed harshly a few times.
Immediately afterward, his brain raced in recall and filtration, searching for a way to make a fortune.
For an ordinary person, turning 178 yuan into 270,000 within a week would undoubtedly be a pipe dream!
But he was no ordinary person. Setting aside that he had once possessed 40 billion in assets and ranked among the top billionaires, setting aside that he possessed the foreknowledge of the next sixty years—after all, none of that could be used just yet—his identity as a person reborn allowed his mind to vividly and meticulously recall every detail of how things had been back then!
Soon, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind.
He glanced over at the calendar hanging on the wall.
June 19th!
In his past life, on this very night, the city center was hosting its first mid-year light show, which inevitably drew throngs of countless young men and women.
For the first three days of the light show, romantic themes about love were continuously interspersed through the lighting displays.
Because no one knew a romantic lighting theme about love would appear, nobody caught onto the business opportunity on the first night.
However, on the second night, flower vendors with sharp business acumen immediately seized the opportunity!
Roses that cost one yuan at the wholesale market were initially hawked by vendors for five yuan a stem that night, and later on, they were even sold for ten yuan a stem.
That had caused Ye Chen, who went along just to join the bustling crowd at the time, to inwardly curse those flower vendors for being so cutthroat!
Calling it an inward curse was more like jealousy, really, considering it was a staggering ninefold profit margin!
Yet such crazy profiteering only lasted for a single day. By the second night—to put it exaggeratedly—the people who went out to sell flowers were almost outnumbering those watching the light show. This caused the roses that had been ten yuan a stem the previous night to plummet absurdly back down to two yuan a stem, and by the end, even selling them for one yuan just to break even, rather than letting them rot in their hands!
Thinking of this, Ye Chen already had a plan.
He looked at the wall clock; it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. The light show started at eight, and the romantic theme about love would unfold at ten—he didn't have much time left to prepare!
Because of time constraints and the stock he would need to deal with, Ye Chen managed to bargain the roses—normally one yuan a stem at the wholesale market—down to fifty fen a stem.
What's more, he pestered the flower shop into throwing in wrapping paper for him.
In the end, after deducting the cost of taking the subway back and forth, with the hundred-odd yuan in his pocket, he managed to buy a full three hundred roses along with wrapping paper.
Back at the rental apartment, he set to work without a moment's rest, wrapping those roses stem by stem.
It took a full four hours just to finish wrapping those three hundred roses.
By the time he arrived at the light show venue in the city center, the romantic lighting theme about love had already begun!
Because he had no competitors, Ye Chen didn't even need to open his mouth.
The moment they saw the large bag of roses he was carrying on his back, couples who had been caught up in the romantic atmosphere immediately came over to inquire!
With such a scene and such an ambiance, there was simply no room for bargaining.
The ten-yuan-a-stem roses instantly became the hottest commodity at the venue!
It made the vendors selling other items stare with their eyes popping out of their heads!
Stuff that cost at most one yuan was selling for ten, and nobody even tried to bargain?
That was fucking daylight robbery!
If they hadn't run out of time, they probably would have thrown away their own goods and joined the flower-selling army!
Yet what they didn't know was that this kind of outrageous profit could only happen once, under the perfect alignment of the right time, place, and people.
By tomorrow night, let alone making a killing, breaking even would be a blessing.
"Pity my capital wasn't larger, otherwise making ten or twenty thousand would have been a breeze!"
Before the romantic lighting theme of love had even come to an end, the flower bag strapped across Ye Chen's back was already empty.
In contrast, a full three thousand yuan was now resting in his WeChat balance.
Sitting at a roadside food stall eating a ten-yuan bowl of egg fried rice, gazing up at a night sky full of stars beneath a bright moon, a brilliant sparkle flickered in his eyes—one that he had never possessed even when he was worth hundreds of billions!
"Yinuo, Youyou, wait for me. Since the heavens have blessed me with a second chance at life, in this lifetime, I will surely grant you a boundless, glorious existence!"
After whispering these words to himself in a low voice, Ye Chen lowered his head and quickly shoveled in the egg fried rice before him!
In a subsidized housing complex in Jiangzhou.
Inside a three-bedroom apartment with a usable floor area of less than eighty square meters:
"Did that loser sign?"
Liu Xueqin, who was over fifty years old, looked at Chen Yinuo and asked.
"Not yet!" Chen Yinuo said, her expression grim as she bit her lip.
"Not yet? Why did you come back if he didn't sign? Do you plan to go on like this forever? Do you still expect me to support you and your daughter for the rest of my life, huh?!"
The moment she heard they still hadn't signed the divorce papers, Liu Xueqin instantly flew into a rage.
Her sharp demeanor and tone instantly frightened little Ye Youyou into tears. "Grandma is fierce, Grandma is bad, I don't want to play with Grandma!"
"Little ingrate, then get the hell out of here! You eat my food, drink my water, live in my house, and now you dare curse me?" Liu Xueqin screamed in fury.
"Mom, what kind of way is that to talk? Youyou is only four years old, is it appropriate for you to curse at her like that?"
Standing nearby and unable to bear it any longer, Chen Yihao quickly picked up the wailing Ye Youyou and glared at his mother with dissatisfaction.
"What? Are you going to stick up for this mother and daughter now? If it weren't for this blind idiot insisting on marrying that loser back then, would she have been reduced to this state? Among all the guys who pursued her back then, pick any random one—wasn't he a hundred or a thousand times better than that loser? But she stubbornly ignored me and her father, insisting on marrying that loser anyway. Now look at her, she brought this on herself, didn't she?!"
"If she had chosen those young scions back then, would she still be suffering like this now? Would our family still be in this half-dead state? If we had a wealthy son-in-law, if you had a wealthy brother-in-law, would our family still have to worry about your wedding apartment? You're not getting any younger; if you still don't have a wedding apartment, will Xiaoqian marry you? Will her parents agree to let her marry you, huh?!"
"And look at you now, yelling at me instead? Have you no idea what kind of situation our family is in? These two eat and drink day after day—if we keep supporting them, your father and I will have to spend every last cent of our coffin money on them, let alone buy you a wedding apartment! If she'd hurry up and divorce that loser, I could still find someone to set her up with a wealthy first-time husband. It's been half a year already, and they still haven't managed to get divorced. I seriously doubt whether she's doing this on purpose, whether she really can't bear to part with that loser!"
Liu Xueqin lashed out mercilessly, shouting at the top of her lungs without a shred of regard for Chen Yinuo, who was already standing there in tears.
Originally, she had even wanted to mention that Ye Chen had agreed to a divorce after a month.
Now, it seemed there was no need for that at all!
"Mom, aren't your words going too far? It's true my sister married the wrong man, but how did she become a burden to our family? Does she pay a penny less for food or utilities? Can't you speak with a clear conscience? Besides, my wedding apartment is none of your business to worry about. Whether Wang Qian wants to marry me or not is up to her; if worst comes to worst, I, Chen Yihao, will stay a bachelor for the rest of my life, I don't care!"
Holding Ye Youyou, Chen Yihao argued back with indignation and resentment.
"You—are you trying to make me drop dead of anger, huh?!" Liu Xueqin clutched her chest in rage.
"Enough!"
At that moment, Chen Jianguo, who had been standing by the sofa without saying a word, stubbed out his cigarette butt in the ashtray and stood up from the sofa.
He looked at Chen Yihao. "What? So your mother and I are in the wrong for thinking about your wedding? Are you trying to threaten me and your mother by vowing to stay a bachelor?"
Faced with his father's gaze and words, Chen Yihao clenched his jaw tightly and remained silent.
"Is your mother wrong? If your sister hadn't insisted on eloping with that animal back then, she would have been living in great wealth and luxury long ago, taking our whole family along to live the good life! Yes, that's right, her and Youyou coming back to our house is just one more pair of chopsticks and one more bowl, letting them stay for ten days or half a month is fine, but can we let them stay here forever?"
"Don't you know why Xiaoqian doesn't want to come to our house? Isn't it because your sister is here trailing a burden? The apartment is already small enough, and having two more people crammed in here makes it an absolute mess. Who would be willing to come under those conditions? Even taking a step back, suppose she were willing to marry you even without a wedding apartment—could she possibly accept a whole family crammed into this crappy old place?"
Without even glancing at Chen Yinuo or Ye Youyou, Chen Jianguo rebuked Chen Yihao word by word.
"Dad, Mom, stop arguing. I'll pack my things and take Youyou right now!"
Wiping away her tears, Chen Yinuo gave a mournful, bitter smile.
She turned and walked toward the small room—less than eight square meters—where she and Youyou stayed.
"Sis, don't listen to what they're saying, you and Youyou just keep living here!"
Holding Youyou, Chen Yihao chased after her into that cramped, stifling little room and urged anxiously.
Chen Yinuo didn't speak.
She just quietly and rapidly packed up her meager belongings.
"Sis, won't you listen to me? Where can you go if you leave here? Go back to that rental apartment? Go back to being bullied and beaten by that animal?"
Putting Ye Youyou down, Chen Yihao blocked Chen Yinuo's path.
"Yihao, I know you're looking out for me, and Sis thanks you! But Dad and Mom are right—me and Youyou staying here makes us a burden, we're just adding trouble for the family! Don't worry, Sis and Youyou have a place to go, we won't end up sleeping on the streets!" Chen Yinuo forced a smile.
With that, she pushed Chen Yihao aside, holding her luggage in one hand and taking Ye Youyou by the other.
"Mom, are we going back to find Daddy?" Little Youyou asked, her tears finally stopping.
Chen Yinuo gave a bitter smile and didn't answer, pulling her along as they walked.
"Sis!"
"Sis!"
"Sis, listen to me!"
Seeing this, Chen Yihao hurriedly chased out after them.
As for Liu Xueqin and Chen Jianguo, they merely let out cold snorts as they watched the mother and daughter leave.
Not a single half-word of persuasion was uttered...
"A Pack of Lies?"
Outside the neighborhood gates, Chen Yihao intercepted Chen Yinuo.
"Sis, can you calm down and listen to me for a moment!"
"Sis, even though Mom speaks without a filter, her starting point is still right!"
"With your conditions, even as a second-time bride, you could find a husband a thousand or ten thousand times better than that animal!"
"Think about how much suffering you've endured at his hands over the past few years! With an animal like that, why aren't you rushing to divorce him?"
Chen Yinuo smoothed down a stray lock of hair blown by the wind and shook her head. "It's not that I don't want a divorce, it's that he refuses to sign! He asked me to give him one more month. After a month, if I still insist on divorcing, he'll sign!"
"Are you kidding me? A month? Give him another hundred months, and a dog will still eat shit! He won't sign? Don't worry, Sis, leave this to me. I refuse to believe I can't fix him, I refuse to believe he won't sign!" Chen Yihao said, gritting his teeth.
Hearing this, Chen Yinuo immediately furrowed her brows.
"What are you planning to do? Let me tell you, no matter how much of a bastard he is, you are not allowed to mess around, and you are not allowed to do anything stupid! What's one month? I've endured such a long time already, another month won't kill me!"
"Sis!!!"
"Are you going to listen to me or not?"
In the end, Chen Yihao nodded. "Fine, a month—I'll give him one more month! If he still refuses to sign by then, don't blame me for not being polite!"
Chen Yinuo didn't press the matter further.
Pulling Ye Youyou along, she waved down a taxi.
Half an hour later, Chen Yinuo—exhausted in both body and mind to a degree that defied description—returned to the rental apartment with Ye Youyou.
The moment the door opened, she instinctively thought she had walked into the wrong apartment.
Everything was brand-new and meticulously organized.
To say it was spotless might be a slight exaggeration, but not a single speck of trash was to be found anywhere.
The cigarette butts and liquor bottles that had previously littered the floor were completely gone.
The dirty, stained floor tiles gleamed brightly.
Every single corner was neat and clean.
The foul, unbearable odors had vanished entirely, replaced by the faint lemon scent of an air freshener!
Did... did that animal clean this place up?
How was that possible!
"Mom, is this really our home? Did we go to the wrong door?"
Ye Youyou raised her head and looked at Chen Yinuo.
If not for the familiar furniture, Chen Yinuo would have thought she'd walked into the wrong apartment herself.
"We didn't go to the wrong door, Youyou. It's very, very late, Mom will take you to your room to sleep!"
With that, Chen Yinuo prepared to take Ye Youyou into the bedroom.
Naturally, it wasn't the room where Ye Chen slept.
In this rental apartment, which was small yet had two bedrooms and a living room, she and Ye Chen had been sleeping in separate rooms for a long time.
In fact, before going to sleep every night in the past, she had to lock her bedroom door tightly.
Because Ye Chen, returning home late at night dead drunk, was simply too terrifying—so terrifying that on many occasions she had wanted to perish together with him!
Yet before she could take a step forward, the front door of the apartment was pushed open with a clatter.
Ye Chen walked in.
"Daddy!"
The moment she saw Ye Chen, all sleepiness vanished from the little girl's eyes.
She excitedly lunged toward Ye Chen.
This time, Chen Yinuo merely frowned, but made no move to stop Ye Youyou.
After all, no matter what, Ye Chen was still her father!
"Youyou, give Daddy a hug!"
It wasn't just Youyou who was emotional.
Ye Chen was too!
Sixty years, a full sixty years!
Throughout those past sixty years, there wasn't a single moment he hadn't thought of his daughter.
How many times had he jolted awake from dreams in the middle of the night, curling up and weeping as he recalled the past with bitter regret.
How badly he had wanted to hug Youyou again, how badly he had wanted to pinch Youyou's cute little cheeks again!
Now the heavens had given him a chance to start over.
At this moment, as he lifted Ye Youyou into his arms, his eyes turned red and his vision blurred with tears!
Struggling hard to hold back his tears, Ye Chen forced a smile. "Youyou, didn't you go to Grandma's house with Mom? Why are you back?"
"Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa are bad, they scolded Mom, and they scolded Youyou too, and Mom cried!"
A young child didn't know discretion and blurted it all out at once.
Before Chen Yinuo could even stop her, panic set in. "Youyou, don't talk nonsense!"
It was no wonder Chen Yinuo panicked; the Ye Chen of the past had been notoriously difficult to deal with.
Every single time he heard that Ye Youyou had been scolded by her grandparents, he would threaten to go kill her family.
Of course, Ye Chen had only been running his mouth back then, but with a man like him, Chen Yinuo never dared to guarantee he wouldn't do something crazy under the influence of alcohol.
"Did those two bully you and Youyou again?"
Holding Ye Youyou, Ye Chen raised an eyebrow.
"Aside from you, no one bullies the two of us!" Chen Yinuo sneered.
"Don't go living under someone else's roof in the future. It's not like the place we rent doesn't have rooms."
No one knew what kind of pieces of work her father-in-law and mother-in-law were better than Ye Chen.
Therefore, even without Chen Yinuo saying a word, he knew just how stifled she and Youyou must have been over there.
"To correct you, this is the place I rented, not 'our' rental place! But don't you worry, even though I rented it, Youyou and I are just back to sleep here for one night, tomorrow I'm taking Youyou out!" Chen Yinuo snapped.
If hotels weren't so expensive, and if it weren't too late to rent another place, she truly wouldn't have returned to this dump, even though she was the one who paid the rent!
"Youyou doesn't want to go out, Youyou wants to stay with Daddy!"
Hearing Chen Yinuo's cold retort, Ye Youyou immediately cried out.
Then she reached out and tugged at Ye Chen's prickly beard, asking in a sweet, childish voice, "Daddy, where did you go today? Why are you only coming home now?"
"Daddy went to sell flowers!"
Ignoring Chen Yinuo's cold remarks, he knew that making Chen Yinuo accept him again would take time; it wasn't something that could change overnight.
However, Chen Yinuo scoffed at his claim of selling flowers!
No one understood Ye Chen better than she did!
He was a complete and utter unrealistic idealist with his head in the clouds!
Describing him as having ambitions higher than the heavens but a fate as thin as paper would be putting it mildly.
How could a man like him possibly lower his pride and dignity to sell flowers?