Seeing how concerned Ye Junwan seemed about Ye Shaohua, Aunt Hong naturally took a liking to her.
After all, ever since Ye Shaohua had returned, the eldest daughter of the Ye family, Ye Junjin, hadn’t even sent a servant to check on her, and the third young master was nowhere to be seen.
As for the parents—well, there was no need to even mention them.
It was true that after sixteen years apart, there was bound to be some distance, but Aunt Hong still felt it was unfair to Ye Shaohua.
Throughout the entire Ye household, only Ye Junwan had shown any kindness—sending over clothes and even bringing that novel camera today.
So when Ye Junwan asked, Aunt Hong saw no reason to hide anything. She simply assumed Ye Junwan genuinely cared about Ye Shaohua. “The master came by earlier and said he’d arranged a fine marriage for Ye Shaohua.”
Aunt Hong no longer had any expectations of the Ye family. The initial joy she’d felt upon Ye Shaohua’s return had already faded quite a bit.
Hearing this, Ye Junwan hesitated before asking, “A fine marriage? Which family?”
“The Tang family. I heard it’s the second young master of the Tangs.” Aunt Hong’s eyes sparkled as she smiled.
She had raised Ye Shaohua and thought of her as her own daughter. Having no children of her own, all she wanted was for Ye Shaohua to live well. Hearing about this promising match put her heart at ease.
But Ye Junwan gave her a troubled look. “There’s something… I’m not sure if I should say this…”
That expression made Aunt Hong uneasy, and she pressed for an explanation.
“To be honest, the Tang family’s second young master was originally meant to be engaged to me, but I turned it down,” Ye Junwan said, casting a sympathetic glance at Ye Shaohua. “The truth is, that young master didn’t grow up with Uncle Tang—he’s practically a rustic brute. Before he’s even arrived, he’s already making a fuss about getting married. He’s probably not much to write home about. Father and Mother brought you back precisely to marry him off.”
Aunt Hong’s face, which had been glowing with happiness, turned pale in an instant.
Seeing her reaction, Ye Junwan offered a sympathetic look. “Don’t be too upset, Aunt Hong. You just didn’t know what was really going on.”
After saying a few more words of comfort—though Aunt Hong remained silent—Ye Junwan finally left with her servants.
Once the room was empty, Aunt Hong threw herself at Ye Shaohua, wiping away tears. “My poor Second Miss! How could your mother and father treat you so cruelly? What they didn’t want for their precious Fourth Miss, they’re forcing on you…”
She had thought that Ye Shaohua’s father was at least fulfilling his duty by finding her a good match, but she never expected this.
It turned out to be nothing but a castoff.
Before Aunt Hong could finish crying, someone from the Ye family arrived.
“The master says the Second Miss is not to leave the house for the next few days. I’ll be watching the gate closely,” said the man, one of Ye Shaohua’s father’s trusted subordinates. He looked at her with cold indifference.
Aunt Hong closed the door.
Turning back, she saw Ye Shaohua still holding a book, her expression as calm as ever. Aunt Hong thought she must be past the point of even feeling pain.
“Why are you crying?” Ye Shaohua walked over and wiped away her tears. “The Ye family just has too much free time on their hands.”
She murmured under her breath, “Time to give them something to keep busy with.”
“What?” Aunt Hong didn’t catch her words, as they were too soft.
“Never mind. Don’t worry about this.”
Ye Shaohua thought about the Tang family and that arranged marriage. She narrowed her eyes slightly. She didn’t need this fiancé.
In the past, she had no say in anything. But thinking back to the people she’d contacted that afternoon, Ye Shaohua smiled faintly.
No rush. She had power now—not just a little, but quite a bit.
It should be more than enough to break off an engagement.
Aunt Hong assumed Ye Shaohua was just trying to comfort her. She knew Ye Shaohua had always been considerate, so she simply shook her head with a bitter smile and held back her tears.
The Second Miss was already troubled enough—she didn’t need to make things worse.
What good would crying do anyway?
Three days later, it was the birthday of Ye Junwan—the famed Fourth Miss of Shanghai.
On that day, the eldest daughter Ye Junjin, who was usually too busy to visit, and the third young master Ye Junqing, who couldn’t easily leave his military post, both returned.
The three of them had grown up together, supporting each other through years of war, and their bond was naturally very strong.
In comparison, Ye Shaohua—who had been kept at arm’s length—was like a complete stranger.
Ye Junjin was accompanied by the son of the First Bank’s president, a man of considerable fame. Half of the guests at the Ye household that day had come just to see him.
“Second sister,” Ye Junjin finally found a moment to lecture Ye Shaohua, “Father says you’ve been restless this past month. Shanghai is a chaotic place, so you should just stay quietly at home until your wedding day. Father went to a lot of trouble to find you a good match—don’t ruin it.”
Most of Shanghai’s young elite had studied abroad, or at the very least attended prestigious local schools and made names for themselves in literary circles.
For someone like Ye Shaohua, who had little to offer, finding any decent match was already a stroke of luck.
Of course, Ye Junjin had her own motives too. Her father-in-law’s bank needed strong backing, and the Tang family was an excellent choice for that.
After all, she was her father’s daughter, and she’d inherited more than a little of his ambition for power.
To be fair, people who didn’t care about money or influence were few and far between in this world.
She might not have been willing to sacrifice her beloved fourth sister, but she had no such qualms about this distant second sister.
Ye Junjin spoke to Ye Shaohua with the authority of an elder sister, but to her surprise, Ye Shaohua didn’t respond—and her gaze was rather cold.
Frowning, Ye Junjin finally left with a huff, muttering, “Completely beyond teaching.”
She had initially considered introducing Ye Shaohua to some of her acquaintances, but after that attitude, she couldn’t be bothered to lift a finger for her.
“What happened?” Ye Junjin’s husband asked quietly after finishing a conversation with a department store owner.
Ye Junjin was still upset with Ye Shaohua.
She shook her head. “Let her marry into the Tang family—it might not even be a good thing. We won’t be able to count on her in the future.”
Hearing this, her husband thought for a moment, then instructed someone to put away the welcoming gift they’d prepared for Ye Shaohua and replace it with something ordinary.
If that was the case, she wasn’t worth the effort.
