You're dumping me, huh? Fine, then I'll just pick up the school beauty and make her my wif

"Miss Ye, I admit that you are Qinghe's biological mother. I cannot deny this blood relationship, nor do I have the right to deny it."

Ye Yunjin's eyebrows twitched slightly; she hadn't expected Jiang Che to start with such a remark.

"However," Jiang Che changed the subject, "blood ties are never a magic bullet."

"You were absent from her life for eighteen years. During those eighteen years, she was abused by the Su family, kicked out of her home, lived on the streets, and went blind... You were not there when these things happened."

"Now you've brought a bunch of people and cornered her here, telling her, 'Come to your mother's side...'"

"Ms. Ye, don't you think that's a bit too flippant of a statement?"

Ye Yunjin's expression finally changed; her jaw muscles tightened, and the light in her eyes dimmed.

But she is Ye Yunjin after all.

Before she could lose control of her emotions, she had already firmly pressed them back into place.

"Are you finished speaking?"

"That's about it." Jiang Che shrugged.

"Then I'll also give you a few words." Ye Yunjin raised her chin, her voice regaining its usual coldness, "Jiang Che, do you think you're more qualified than me to stand beside her?"

"What can you, an eighteen-year-old boy, give her? How much hardship can you shield her from?"

"You couldn't even stop Zhao Wenyu's kidnapping in time today, so what guarantees you won't hurt her again?"

These words are not without reason.

If the time and setting were different, Jiang Che might actually be stumped by the question.

But not today.

"Miss Ye is right." Jiang Che nodded and frankly admitted, "What happened today was indeed my negligence; I failed to protect her."

Ye Yunjin was taken aback.

She had expected the brat to argue back, to jump up and down, and to say some arrogant and ignorant things out of youthful impetuosity.

But he didn't.

He acknowledged his shortcomings.

"But Miss Ye, you should know that when she cried, she wasn't looking for you, she was looking for me."

"When she's scared, she doesn't call for you, she calls for me."

"When she was trapped in this manor and wanted to escape, she wasn't thinking about you."

"it's me."

The scene was deathly silent.

The security personnel around them involuntarily held their breath; they had never seen anyone dare to speak to Ms. Ye in such a tone.

Ye Yunjin's face was extremely gloomy because she had no way to refute it.

Not a single word could refute it.

After all, the fact that Su Qinghe relies on Jiang Che is undeniable.

And what about yourself?

In her daughter's eyes, her own biological mother is probably not as good as a stranger she has known for less than half a year.

This realization made Ye Yunjin feel a tightness in her chest.

"Jiang Che," Ye Yunjin finally spoke, her voice even colder than before, "I heard everything you said, and it's very well said, very reasonable."

"But theory is theory, and reality is reality."

"She is my daughter, and the blood of the Ye family flows in her veins. That won't change just because you say a few nice words."

"I'm telling you this now—she can't go with you."

Jiang Che glanced down at Su Qinghe in his arms, then looked up at Ye Yunjin. "So, Miss Ye, do you intend to push this to the extreme?"

"Going too far?" Ye Yunjin chuckled lightly. "How is it going too far for a mother to take her daughter home?"

"Jiang Che, you're young, there are some things you don't understand yet."

Ye Yunjin's tone was once again filled with condescending pity, "I can see that you like her, and I don't deny that you have indeed put your heart into her."

"But liking something, at your age, comes and goes quickly."

"Once you go to college, meet more people, and experience more things, you'll realize that what you said today was nothing more than an impulse driven by hormones."

Jiang Che wasn't angry after hearing this. "Miss Ye, I don't deny that you have more life experience than I do."

"But you made a mistake—you shouldn't have judged me by your own standards."

"You think that feelings at eighteen are impulsive, that's because when you were eighteen you didn't meet someone willing to climb over the wall for you."

"But Qinghe encountered it," Jiang Che said calmly.

But it is precisely this calmness that gives this statement an unshakeable weight.

"Furthermore," Jiang Che continued after a pause, "I am quite puzzled. The Ye family in Hong Kong is indeed very strong, but my Jiang family in Beijing is by no means inferior to the Ye family."

"Why is Miss Ye so opposed to my relationship with Qinghe?"

Ye Yunjin did not answer the question.

However, Jiang Che still noticed the complex emotions that flashed across her eyes.

Could it be that there's something you're having trouble saying?

"What's wrong? Is it inconvenient to say?" Jiang Che pressed.

Ye Yunjin remained silent.

Of course she wouldn't tell.

Some things are not just her own business, and they involve more than just the feelings between two young people.

The old score between the Jiang and Ye families is actually quite laughable.

The two old men fought tooth and nail for the same woman when they were young, but in the end neither of them got her. One of them stayed in the inland and settled down in Lincheng, while the other went to the port city and started his own business.

Decades have passed, and the woman has long since disappeared, but the rift between the two families remains like a hidden sore that has never truly healed.

On the surface, the Jiang family and the Ye family are simply drifting apart and no longer interacting.

But the older generation is well aware of the underlying rivalry and resentment. As the heir of the Ye family, how could Ye Yunjin possibly allow the Ye family bloodline to have any further dealings with the Jiang family?

Even if she agreed, the old man would never agree.

Of course, Ye Yunjin would never lay out these old, stale matters in front of a group of subordinates, especially since the person standing opposite him was the Jiang family's brat.

So she chose not to answer.

"It seems Miss Ye is indeed unable to speak." Jiang Che noticed Ye Yunjin's silence and smiled slightly. "Then I'll just assume that Miss Ye simply dislikes me."

"But whether you like me or not, I can't let you force Qinghe to stay here."

Ye Yunjin still refused to back down. "Jiang Che, I'll say it one last time, she's a member of the Ye family, she can't go with you."

"This is my bottom line."

Jiang Che sighed softly after hearing this.

He had actually anticipated this outcome.

From the moment Bai Yuning relayed Ye Yunjin's attitude to him, he knew that this negotiation was unlikely to have a good outcome.

This woman is so stubborn.

"It seems we really have nothing to talk about."