After a Flash Marriage with a Professor - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Chaos Family

A gust of wind came in, making the door creak. Yu Le looked toward the source of the wind. The thick, unmoving darkness outside was swaying as if the weather was about to change.

Professor Shen had already left with Mingshu. Yu Le belatedly ran after them, out into the wind, but they were already gone. Only leaves were being blown off the trees by the fierce wind, and one landed on her shoulder. She picked it up.

Mingshu loved to collect different leaves, make them into specimens, and press them into books. This apartment was one that Mingshu had helped her search for for a long time before they finally decided on it. On weekends, she would often pick up Mingshu to stay for a couple of days. During the day, they would do whatever they wanted to pass the time. Sometimes, they would do nothing, and it was still comfortable to just be together. At night, they would share a bed and watch movies projected onto the ceiling.

From now on, Mingshu might not be able to come over easily.

Yu Le looked down at the leaf in her palm. Its edges were curled, and the middle was raised, making it look a bit special. She held the leaf tightly in her hand, still instinctively wanting to save it for Mingshu.

Yu Le wasn’t surprised that Professor Shen chose to marry Mingshu; she was surprised by how Mingshu had met Professor Shen on a blind date.

Logically, the difference in their backgrounds was immense, and no matchmaker would have put them together.

Was it a chance encounter?

If so, it must be fate.

It was the middle of summer, so the fierce wind wasn’t cold, but her face ached a little. Yu Le went back inside with the leaf, closed the door, and heard her phone buzz with two incoming text messages.

Yu Le hurried over, picked up her phone from the glass coffee table, and sat down on the gray sofa, right where Mingshu had been huddled.

The messages weren’t from Mingshu or Professor Shen. They had only just left and couldn’t have gotten home so quickly.

The messages were from her dad, asking if a million yuan was enough and if he should transfer more. There was also a cautious follow-up question.

Lele, your birthday is coming up. Can I come to see you?

A lump formed in Yu Le’s throat. She looked away from her phone. The phone buzzed in her hand again. This time it was a deposit notification. She had 500,000 yuan herself. To help Mingshu, she had to swallow her pride and ask her dad, whom she hadn’t contacted in a long time, for money. She had asked for 500,000, and her dad had given her a million, which was generous.

Unfortunately, it was all too late.

Mingshu had gotten the money in her own way.

Yu Le lay down on the sofa and looked at her phone. She had saved her dad’s contact as “Stranger.” She sent a thank you message to this stranger and didn’t reply to anything else.

Closing her eyes, Yu Le felt the curled leaf in her palm and thought of Mingshu again.

Mingshu and Professor Shen, Professor Shen and Mingshu…

The image of Professor Shen steadily lifting the huddled Mingshu replayed in her mind. She even remembered more details: Professor Shen’s gentle care for Mingshu’s nervousness, and Mingshu’s trust and dependence on Professor Shen.

The more Yu Le thought about it, the more powerless she felt. Just then, a phone call came in, noisy and loud. Yu Le waited for a few seconds before answering. It was Mingshu’s younger brother, Wenxuan.

Her heart tensed. Yu Le sat up on the sofa and answered the call. Yan Wenxuan’s anxious voice came through.

“Lingyu-jie, is my sister with you?”

“No, she isn’t.” Yu Le lied, which turned out to be the truth.

“Miss Jiang, is our Mingshu really not with you?” Mingshu’s mother, Qin Shu, snatched the phone to ask.

Yu Le suppressed her anger. “She’s really not here. Has Mingshu not gone home yet?”

“Not yet. Is something really wrong?”

A few words of concern from Mingshu’s father came through the phone. Knowing the whole story, Yu Le only felt sarcastic and disgusted. She played along for a few more sentences before hanging up.

Of that family, only Wenxuan had any humanity.

At the Yan family’s rental apartment, chaos had erupted. Boss Huang’s plan to force the marriage had failed. He felt that the Yan family had colluded to fool him and was furious. Yan Hongbo was hit by two solid punches from Boss Huang, leaving his face bruised and swollen. Qin Shu was also pushed to the ground. Only Yan Wenxuan still had a bit of pride, determined to stand up to Boss Huang.

“If you keep this up, I’ll… I’ll kill you!” Yan Wenxuan took advantage of the chaos to grab a kitchen knife, pointing it at Boss Huang. Boss Huang was a little scared, but he was sure the boy didn’t have the guts. He provoked him, saying, “Wenxuan, if you were really that fierce, your useless father wouldn’t have been cornered by debt collectors.”

Yan Wenxuan swung the knife forward and gritted his teeth, “Why don’t you try? Anyway, our family is completely ruined now. You’re taking advantage of us, and my sister doesn’t even like you, but you’re still forcing her like this. I’d rather die with you.”

Hearing the fiery teenager say this, Boss Huang was genuinely scared.

“Wenxuan, calm down. Didn’t we agree that if I marry your sister, I’ll pay off your father’s gambling debts and send you to study abroad? Don’t you want to study abroad anymore?”

Yan Wenxuan gripped the knife even tighter with both hands. It still had blood on it from when his mother killed a fish that evening. Yan Wenxuan’s eyes were as red as the blood on the knife.

Study abroad, of course he wanted to. After not getting into a good university, he was desperate to find another way out. He had been confused for a few days, tempted by the offer, but what did it matter how great the temptation was? That was his sister. He couldn’t push his sister into a pit of fire. His sister was so good to him, so good to this family. Even if their whole family went to hell, his sister should be clean and marry someone she truly loved.

Yan Wenxuan took a step toward Boss Huang. Boss Huang no longer dared to say anything, afraid of enraging the red-eyed teenager in front of him.

At that moment, Yan Hongbo, who was rolling on the ground in pain, spoke up: “Boss Huang, you should go first. Just go. When Mingshu comes back tomorrow, I’ll tell you.”

“That’s right, Boss Huang, you can come back tomorrow.” Qin Shu pressed her lower back, smiling obsequiously. “Wenxuan and his sister have a good relationship. He’s just a little emotional. Don’t take what a child says seriously.”

The couple’s tag team performance helped Boss Huang regain some face.

“Then I’ll be going now. I’ll be back tomorrow.” Boss Huang threw out this sentence and scuttled out the door. Once outside, he spat hatefully toward the door. Once he got his hands on that little girl, he would turn against them.

After Boss Huang left, Yan Wenxuan took the knife to the door, locked it from the inside, and slid the iron bolt closed.

“Oh, Wenxuan, why are you still holding the knife? Put it down quickly,” Qin Shu got up and tried to snatch the knife from her son’s hands. “What are you doing? Are you going to sacrifice your own life for that worthless sister?”

“Mom!” Yan Wenxuan roared. Qin Shu also realized she had gone too far. She pouted and put the knife back in the kitchen, then came out with a smiling face again.

“Wenxuan, tell me the truth. Did you tell your sister in advance that Boss Huang was at home today?”

Yan Wenxuan glared at his mother and didn’t speak.

“Mom knows it was you. I don’t know who that little vixen learned from, seducing any man she can, not even sparing her own brother.”

“Mom, what are you talking about!” Yan Wenxuan looked at his mother in disbelief.

“What am I talking about? If she hadn’t been so young and indecent, doing nothing but mischief, I would…”

“Slap—”

Qin Shu didn’t finish her sentence before a slap landed on her face, stunning her.

Yan Wenxuan was also stunned. He had only ever seen his mother hit his father. This was the first time he had seen his father lay a hand on his mother.

“It’s getting late. Go back to your room and rest,” Yan Hongbo said, patting his son’s shoulder with a still-trembling hand.

Qin Shu came to her senses, covering her slapped face with one hand, and started wailing and cursing. Yan Wenxuan watched his mother and father wrestle on the torn sofa. His father tried to cover his mother’s mouth, and his mother dodged while continuing to curse.

Yan Wenxuan heard some extremely absurd things. His mother said his father was a pervert who liked his own daughter, and that his sister was a vixen who seduced her own father.

He wasn’t sure about the first part, but Yan Wenxuan didn’t believe the second part. He had been raised by his sister. She was five years older than him and had taken care of him since he was little, playing with him, telling him bedtime stories, and helping with his homework. His sister had done all the things that parents should do. Yan Wenxuan felt that his sister was the best person in the world to him.

His sister had never actively seduced anyone. On the contrary, there were many terrible people who had malicious intentions toward her. Because of this, Yan Wenxuan had been determined since he was a child to protect his sister when he grew up.

After thinking about it carefully, Yan Wenxuan felt that his father did have a liking for his sister, but it was not to the point of being a pervert. It was his mother who was blinded by jealousy. He found this thought unbelievable, and he felt it wasn’t a sufficient reason for his mother to behave this way. A normal mother would never slander and persecute her own daughter like this.

“I’ll make a call and tell my precious daughter that she can come home,” Yan Hongbo said.

“Didn’t you already call? It was turned off. Your memory is terrible!” Qin Shu cursed.

Yan Wenxuan said, “I’ll try.”

Yan Mingshu’s phone was still turned off. After Jiang Lingyu turned it off for her, she hadn’t touched it. There was only one thing left in her world: crying.

Yan Mingshu cried until her throat was dry and sore, and her voice became hoarse. The throat that had just healed thanks to Professor Shen was ruined again on the same day.

Tears fell like rain, and the sky changed along with her, crying with her.

Only this time, she didn’t have an umbrella and didn’t have to worry about getting wet. Professor Shen had carried her into the car, where she was protected from the wind and rain. It felt like a dream. She felt as if she had become a flower in a greenhouse, but she was not a real greenhouse flower.

The rain didn’t get on her, but she had soaked herself.

After carrying Mingshu into the car, Shen Junlan focused on driving. The sudden night rain required her to be extra careful.

Shen Junlan didn’t know what had happened to the young woman to make her cry so heartbreakingly, but it must have been something terrible.

They finally arrived. Shen Junlan lived in a seaside villa. She flashed her car lights, and the auntie waiting for her came out with an umbrella to open the gate. Shen Junlan parked the car in the private carport in the yard. Opposite was a garden with a grape trellis. It was the season for grapes. She wondered if Mingshu liked them.

“Mingshu, we’re home.”

Shen Junlan first unbuckled her own seatbelt, then leaned over to unbuckle Mingshu’s. After unbuckling it, she turned to get out of her side of the car. Mingshu suddenly grabbed her wrist tightly. Shen Junlan turned back, and Mingshu loosened her grip, gently tugging on her wrist.

In the dim car, Shen Junlan saw that Mingshu’s eyes were wet, and the look in her eyes was like a stray dog that had been abandoned, seemingly even more pitiful than a stray dog.

A needle pricked her heart. Shen Junlan held Mingshu’s thin wrist, pulling the teary-eyed Mingshu into her arms.

“It’s okay, Mingshu. I’ve brought you home. To our home.”

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