After Becoming a Spare Tire, I Got Together with My White Moonlight - Chapter 30

On the Yan family’s side, there were many people, and in earlier years, there had been open and covert struggles for power, with plenty waiting for their chance to rise.

As for Madam Meng, it went without saying since the Meng family’s downfall, she had only one company left in her hands. Though it was still respectable, it was nowhere near as glorious as when Old Master Meng was alive. For Yan Guizhou to take over would be more than sufficient.

When Yan Guiqiu left home, the entire family had a thorough discussion. Madam Meng and her husband didn’t insist on either daughter inheriting the family business. Since Yan Guiqiu claimed she was pursuing her true dreams, they had no choice but to let her go.

At first, the two sisters had their minor conflicts, with the younger sister increasingly challenging the elder. But after Yan Guiqiu left and they grew apart, their relationship actually grew closer again.

Yan Guizhou’s wish for her sister to return was sincere. Only after learning under her mother did she gradually realize that her own abilities truly fell short of her sister’s.

But she believed that one day she would catch up.

Sometimes, during phone calls with her sister, she would get angry and say things she didn’t mean, accusing her sister of looking down on her by deliberately stepping aside.

Yan Guiqiu had heard her say such things many times in private, but her attitude remained firm. Once, during the New Year, they even argued over it.

The younger sister had thrown tantrums at her elder sister countless times growing up, but Yan Guiqiu had only ever lost her temper with her sister that one time.

In the end, neither said anything more. They remained distant for two or three months until Madam Meng happened to visit her elder daughter and shared updates about both sisters. Yan Guiqiu then called her sister, and things gradually eased back to normal.

But after that, Yan Guizhou never dared bring up those matters again in front of her sister.

In truth, Yan Guiqiu wasn’t all that angry. When she spoke of these things with Jiang Xuehe, she actually felt a bit guilty toward her sister.

“She hasn’t done anything wrong, and she might not even turn against me over this in the future,” Yan Guiqiu said. “But I’m still afraid.”

She only told Jiang Xuehe that she didn’t care for the business world and that her sister was ambitious and genuinely interested in managing the company. The secrets of her past life, of course, could not be spoken aloud.

But this made her seem narrow-minded, timid, and cowardly blaming her innocent sister for something that hadn’t even happened.

Yet Yan Guiqiu couldn’t afford to take that risk anymore.

In this life, unlike her previous one where she was surrounded by wolves and tigers, where a single misstep could lead to ruin, she now had a happy family with both parents alive. Even if there were some underhanded struggles among her uncles and cousins, in Yan Guiqiu’s eyes, they were nothing more than petty squabbles.

No lives were at stake, and no one would end up destitute on the streets. They were, after all, family. If any of them truly faced hardship, even for the sake of reputation, they would lend a hand.

The worst outcome would be losing the power struggle and living as a carefree idler. But with such a vast family fortune, even if they did nothing, they would never want for food or clothing in their lifetimes.

Wealth, power, fame, influence she had experienced them all in her past life, standing higher than anyone else in the Yan family. Yet she never found those things particularly appealing.

She had fought for them only to survive and secure her family’s stability and future.

In the end, it all came to nothing. There wasn’t even a single person left who would genuinely grieve for her.

In this life, she had no interest in the things her uncles were fighting over.

Many were eager to shoulder the family responsibilities on her behalf, but Yan Guiqiu had no desire to take even the slightest risk of turning her family into adversaries.

Cowardly, evasive, irresponsible, a failure. Yan Guiqiu didn’t care what others said about her. Even if her parents and younger sister complained that she lacked a sense of duty, failed to appreciate their hard work, or had no ambition, it was still better than ending up as enemies.

Once Yan Guiqiu decided to avoid the situation, she did so thoroughly. The moment she left home, she truly detached herself from it all.

“The reason lies solely with me,” Yan Guiqiu sighed, though she showed no intention of changing her mind.

After listening for a while, Jiang Xuehe roughly understood her meaning.

In most affluent families like the Jiang family, familial affection took a backseat to interests and power. As a child, Jiang Xuehe had been deeply cherished by her parents and older brother, but once the issue of inheritance and tangible benefits arose, so-called familial love became trivial.

Yan Guiqiu was the exact opposite. For her, family bonds and emotions came first.

If it weren’t for Yan Guizhou, would she really have given up the career her parents had painstakingly built just because she “didn’t like it”?

Of course not.

Yan Guiqiu avoided it simply because her younger sister wanted it, so she gave it up without reservation.

Even if it wasn’t the inheritance rights she never particularly liked, if it were something else she cherished, she would likely have parted with it just as readily, despite the pain.

Jiang Xuehe didn’t know where this extreme “self-sacrificing” spirit of hers came from. After a moment of silence, she didn’t press for the reason but instead asked, “So, do you plan to live like this forever? Avoiding everything, never returning home?”

Yan Guiqiu shook her head and said, “Originally, I planned to wait until I finished my studies and Guizhou had established herself.”

She didn’t mention another reason.

Around the time she changed her aspirations, she had just regained her memories and was emotionally unstable. In a moment of impulsiveness, she chose to leave home and stay away completely.

Over the past two years, thoughts of Qin Xiangxi’s matter had distracted her, and as she gradually calmed down, she began to regret her overreaction.

But after further reflection, she felt it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

Perhaps she herself was resolute in her stance, and her sister had no intention of competing with her for the time being, but there was no guarantee that others wouldn’t harbor illusions about her, causing trouble for her sister.

So, she decided to stay away for a few years as a statement of her position. Once her sister had a solid foundation, she could finally relax and no longer need to avoid things so dramatically.

Over the past two years, while interning at the company, Yan Guizhou had clearly noticed changes in how others treated her. Deep down, she understood her sister’s intentions.

However, being young, she probably didn’t grasp the full depth of it. Occasionally, when Yan Guiqiu seemed in particularly high spirits, she would daringly drop a hint or two.

Yan Guiqiu pretended not to understand. She would return home for a few days during the New Year, then pack up a bunch of holiday specialties and leave decisively, claiming she needed to prepare for exams.

This time, after two or three months, she suddenly returned because she had found a partner and needed to introduce her to the family.

So, in a way, the other members of the Yan family not only welcomed Jiang Xuehe’s visit but were also grateful to her.

“In that sense, they’re actually benefiting from you,” Yan Guiqiu said, blinking at Jiang Xuehe. “In a couple of years, they might even be looking forward to your visits.”

This was her way of reassuring Jiang Xuehe.

Jiang Xuehe smiled and called Yan Guiqiu over to wash her hair. While gently massaging her scalp, she couldn’t help but wonder: Was this just a spur-of-the-moment attempt to comfort her, or had Yan Guiqiu planned it all along?

Yan Guiqiu was indeed an intensely sentimental person, yet in some ways, she was almost excessively rational. Beneath her absolute rationality and self-control lay a certain kind of coldness.

But that coldness, after all, was not directed at her.

Jiang Xuehe slowly set those thoughts aside.

By the time Yan Guiqiu finished blow-drying her hair, Yan Guizhou was already knocking on the door, calling them downstairs for dinner.

They hadn’t booked a restaurant instead, a table was set at home.

However, since both parents were busy, the meal had been prepared by the housekeeper, who had specifically asked Yan Guiqiu about Jiang Xuehe’s taste preferences.

When Jiang Xuehe went downstairs, she saw a table of dishes laid out between the living room and the dining area. With just a glance, she noticed that most of the dishes were on the lighter side, with several being among her favorites.

Ms. Meng and Yan’s father happened to return home together.

As they turned around, they spotted Jiang Xuehe coming down the stairs, neither showing much surprise.

Nor did they display even a hint of hostility or displeasure.

Jiang Xuehe felt slightly reassured. Following Yan Guiqiu, she greeted the couple while subtly observing them.

Both were good-looking; even in their middle age, standing together, they immediately brought to mind the phrase “a perfect match.”

Each of them shared certain features with their daughters.

If one had to compare, Yan Guiqiu resembled her mother more, while Yan Guizhou took after her father.

Ms. Meng had long known about Jiang Xuehe from her daughter. The moment she saw her in person, her eyes crinkled into a smile, and her greeting carried a warmth that felt familiar.

In contrast, Yan’s father seemed a bit uncomfortable. When he noticed Yan Guiqiu holding Jiang Xuehe’s hand, his expression visibly stiffened.

But Ms. Meng, as if she had eyes in the back of her head, nudged her husband with her elbow.

Yan’s father winced in pain, held back for a moment, and finally forced a smile.

He thought it came off as friendly enough, but his younger daughter by the stairs couldn’t bear to look and turned her face away.

In front of him, Yan Guiqiu rubbed the goosebumps on her arm, a hint of unconscious distaste in her expression.

“Dad, you’d better not smile. It’s kind of creepy.”

Yan’s father: “…”

“Pfft.”

Yan Guizhou and Ms. Meng laughed one after the other.

Yan’s father suppressed his somewhat strained smile, straightened his face, and gave Jiang Xuehe a slight nod. “Make yourself at home,” he said.

Without a smile, he appeared rather stern, the kind of demeanor that would easily intimidate others. During holiday gatherings, wherever he went, children would instantly fall silent, bowing their heads like quails, only daring to breathe freely again once they had slowly moved out of his line of sight.

It wasn’t much better for young adults either. Even interns at the company would instinctively straighten their backs upon seeing him outside, not daring to utter a word.

Only his family understood his nature and were accustomed to his less-than-friendly face.

This time, Jiang Xuehe wasn’t intimidated by him. She nodded calmly and responded gently.

Yan’s father breathed a small sigh of relief, feeling a bit less awkward inside.

Although he didn’t outwardly appear to be a “doting father,” in private he was actually more indulgent toward his daughter than his wife. From beginning to end, he viewed his daughter through the lens of “she’s delicate and needs careful protection.” Back when she was still studying close to home, if he saw a young boy getting a little too close to her, he would already start imagining whether she might be bullied after getting married in the future.

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became, and the darker his expression grew. People around him would instinctively avoid him.

Even now, with one daughter studying alone far from home for years and the other already working in the company and growing increasingly authoritative, he still couldn’t help worrying about whether they might be bullied or deceived outside.

Fortunately, he wasn’t much of a talker. At most, he would hold his phone and hint at his concerns indirectly, never voicing them outright enough to make people suspect something was wrong with his eyes.

As his daughters grew older and their peers began discussing marriage, Yan’s father naturally started worrying about their marital prospects.

He felt they were too young for such matters, but he also feared that if they had no experience now, they might be deceived later.

He wrestled with these thoughts internally, never quite reaching a conclusion, but he felt he had at least mentally prepared himself to some extent.

However, all his previous worries had revolved around which young man might be suitable. Suddenly hearing that his daughter had brought home a woman, all that mental preparation went out the window.

His wife privately advised him that since their daughter had finally found someone she liked, he shouldn’t stand in the way.

After all, the Yan family had plenty of members, and it wasn’t as if Yan Guiqiu had to carry on the family line.

Moreover, even without this woman, Yan Guiqiu seemed more like the type destined to remain single. Finding a female companion was better than growing old alone.

Yan’s father thought this made sense, but he still felt awkward.

It wasn’t that he thought Jiang Xuehe was a bad person or that he was worried about being laughed at.

It was just that after all the worrying and imagining he had done over the years, the person he had always resented in his mind was “the pig who dug up my family’s cabbage.”

But now, with two women involved, how was he supposed to think about it?

Did someone else’s cabbage dig up my cabbage?

Or did my cabbage dig up someone else’s cabbage?

The latter sounded more plausible.

He should have been able to vent his frustration and blame freely, but with the other party being a woman, he found himself unable to get angry, yet unwilling to let it go.

Fortunately, Jiang Xuehe was a polite and well-mannered person. Even when faced with Yan’s father’s unconsciously stern expression, she remained calm and conversational, showing neither resentment nor fear.

Yan Guiqiu leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Jiang Xuehe’s gaze drifted subtly toward Yan’s father across the table, as if she wanted to laugh but didn’t dare. In the end, she maintained a polite smile.

The two stood very close, with Jiang Xuehe being much more reserved, while Yan Guiqiu was the one actively leaning toward her.

Soon, Yan Guizhou and Madam Meng joined the conversation.

The four women chatted happily, as if they had known each other for years.

The only man present picked up his rice bowl somewhat forlornly. Listening to the lively commotion he hadn’t heard in a long time, he gradually found some balance in his heart.

He might have “lost” one daughter, but he had gained another family’s daughter.

No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t a loss.

On the other side, although Jiang Xuehe was answering Madam Meng’s questions, she could still feel Yan’s father watching them.

Yan Guiqiu whispered to comfort her, “My dad looks at everyone with that ‘you owe me money’ face all year round. You’ll get used to it.”

After all, it was her first time meeting the parents. Though Jiang Xuehe’s expression remained calm, deep down, she felt a little nervous.

Over on the other side, Yan’s father had been lost in thought for quite some time, as if he had finally reached some conclusion. He set down his bowl and chopsticks, looking as though he had something to say.

Jiang Xuehe’s heart tightened in response.

“Ahem.” Yan’s father cleared his throat reflexively.

All eyes turned to him, but he seemed startled by the sudden attention, awkwardly picking up his bowl and chopsticks again before setting them down once more.

After a few rounds of this, Madam Meng grew impatient and kicked him under the table.

“If you have something to say, just say it. There are no outsiders here.”

“Guiqiu and Xuehe.” Yan’s father called Jiang Xuehe’s name somewhat clumsily, then paused again.

This time, even Yan Guizhou’s attention shifted toward him.

Madam Meng kicked her husband under the table once more.

Yan’s father’s face twisted briefly in discomfort, but he quickly composed himself, looking as though he were about to announce a matter of life and death.

“The wedding must be held in Ningcheng,” he said, frowning slightly as if realizing his tone was too stern. He softened his expression and added with a look of reluctant compromise, “At the very least, you must hold one ceremony in Ningcheng.”

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