Roses in Flames

After closing the shop in the afternoon.

Ye Yuntang and her mother Song Xuan went to the supermarket to buy groceries.

"Tangtang, has Shili been very busy lately? Give him a call and ask him to come over for dinner tonight. Mom will cook a few extra dishes..."

Before Song Xuan could finish speaking, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye.

"Isn't that proper etiquette?"

Ye Yuntang followed Song Xuan's gaze and, sure enough, Fu Shili was standing in the fruit section.

But he wasn't alone; not far away, Bai Chuwei was selecting durians.

Ye Yuntang instinctively tried to pull Song Xuan away, "Mom, let's go check out the seafood section."

Song Xuan sensed something was wrong, so she stood still.

A moment later, a slender and graceful figure took Fu Shili's arm.

Song Xuan's expression changed drastically. She tried to step forward, but Ye Yuntang held her back firmly.

"Mom, don't be angry. I was planning to tell you the truth sometime," Ye Yuntang stood in front of Song Xuan, blocking her view of Fu Shili and Bai Chuwei. "Fu Shili and I are divorced. Who he's with has nothing to do with me anymore."

Song Xuan frowned, her face grim. "Does he think our family isn't good enough for the Fu family? The Fu family's business is booming, they've become wealthy, and now Fu Shili is cheating on you and kicking you to the curb?"

Ye Yuntang patted Song Xuan's chest and said, "Mom, I got 100 million yuan in the divorce settlement. It's not a bad deal. Now your daughter is a rich woman. If you want to live in a big villa, your daughter can afford it."

How could Song Xuan not understand her daughter? She may appear calm on the surface, but she must be deeply hurt inside!

She and Fu Shili were childhood sweethearts. When Yuntang's father was still alive, his business was doing very well, and the Fu family was built up with his support.

Later, Yuntang's father disappeared during a riot abroad, and the family business plummeted.

The two families had a pre-existing marriage agreement, but the Fu family, perhaps fearing accusations of ingratitude, still arranged for Fu Shili to marry Yuntang.

Song Xuan thought Fu Shili would cherish it, but she didn't expect—

Seeing Song Xuan on the verge of tears because she felt sorry for her, Ye Yuntang hugged Song Xuan's shoulders and said, "Mom, don't be sad. Your daughter is doing well now. She's rich, beautiful, and has a job she likes. If you want to go to a club and pick up male models someday, your daughter can take you there."

Looking at Ye Yuntang, who was talking in a nonsensical manner, Song Xuan glared at her, "Mom isn't going. Mom is waiting for your dad to come back."

When their father was mentioned, both mother and daughter fell silent.

After sighing, Song Xuan broke the silence, "Mom will go and buy more of the seafood you like."

Ye Yuntang smiled, her eyes crinkling. "That's right. Don't worry or feel bad. Who hasn't made mistakes when they were young? From now on, we're on different paths. I'll meet someone better in the future, Mom, don't you think?"

Song Xuan nodded, "Yes."

The mother and daughter went to buy groceries hand in hand.

……

Song Xuan prepared a large table of dishes.

Ye Yuntang's younger brother, Ye Mo, is sixteen years old and has autism.

Ye Mo was handsome and refined, standing at 1.86 meters tall and slender.

Aside from not speaking, he excels in everything else and is always the top student in his grade at No. 1 Middle School in every exam.

Ever since her father disappeared during the riots, Old Master Ye had kicked their family out.

Grandpa Ye disliked his eldest daughter-in-law, Song Xuan, considering her a nemesis to the Ye family. He also disliked her children, especially Ye Mo, who suffered from autism.

Grandpa Ye's favorite son was Ye Yuhang, the youngest son of Ye Yuntang's second uncle and aunt. Ye Yuhang was the same age as Ye Mo, and his grades were terrible, but Grandpa Ye regarded him as the pride of the Ye family.

"Xiao Mo, has Ye Yuhang been bullying you at school lately?" Ye Yuntang put a piece of fish on Ye Mo's plate.

Ye Mo looked at Ye Yuntang with clear eyes and gently shook his head.

"If he dares to bully you, be sure to tell me, and I'll beat him up for you."

Ye Mo nodded.

Ye Yuntang, "Smile."

Ye Mo slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

Ye Yuntang reached out and touched Ye Mo's head. "Little brother is so good."

Seeing the interaction between the siblings, Song Xuan smiled.

"By the way, Tangtang, go visit Mengmeng when you have time."

Ye Yuntang looked at Song Xuan, "What's wrong with Mengmeng?"

Mengmeng is Ye Yuntang's aunt's daughter. She took the college entrance examination last year and got a good score.

However, the college she applied to wasn't what her aunt liked. After the acceptance letter arrived, her aunt tore it up and made Mengmeng repeat a year of high school.

Mengmeng was unwilling, had a big fight with her aunt, and then moved out.

"According to your aunt, Mengmeng will never repeat a year of high school again. She has also become obsessed with following celebrities. If your aunt says something wrong, she will threaten to commit suicide. Now your aunt is afraid to talk to her."

Ye Yuntang frowned. "Mom, I actually think Auntie was too strict with Mengmeng before, and the incident of tearing up the notice was too domineering. It's suffocating to think about it."

Song Xuan sighed, "I've also told your aunt that she regrets it now, but Mengmeng is unwilling to reconcile with her."

"After I finish eating, I'm going to Mengmeng's place."

……

Mengmeng rented a small villa with a garden in the suburbs.

Ye Yuntang drove over; the courtyard gate wasn't closed, and loud music was blaring from inside the room.

Ye Yuntang pushed open the door and went inside.

Mengmeng sat in the living room with a laptop on her lap, her eyes focused on the computer screen, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

Ye Yuntang walked over and took a look.

The screen displays the fan club's voting interface.

"Yay! My brother made it into the top three on the music charts! We, the Stars, are the best!"

Mengmeng jumped up from the sofa. A moment later, she realized something was wrong, lowered her eyes, and looked at Ye Yuntang standing not far away.

"Sis, what brings you here?"

Mengmeng quickly got off the sofa.

Ye Yuntang walked to the speaker and turned down the volume of the song.

"Aren't you scared living here all by yourself?"

Mengmeng shook her head. "I'm not afraid. The worst that can happen is I die."

Ye Yuntang frowned slightly. She didn't immediately criticize Mengmeng for having such a wrong idea. Instead, she handed Mengmeng the small cakes and milk tea she had brought.

Mengmeng grinned happily, "My sister really understands my preferences."

Ye Yuntang sat down next to Mengmeng. She glanced at the computer screen, which displayed a picture of a tall, handsome boy in a white hoodie with a clean and dazzling smile. "You like him?"

Mentioning her idol, Mengmeng's eyes lit up immediately. "Yeah, his name is Ji Chen. He's a very popular singer in recent years. Sis, have you heard his songs? They're super good."

"I think I've heard of it before."

"Sis, even if you're not a fan of celebrities, you've heard our brother's songs, which shows how popular he is."

Ye Yuntang glanced at the living room, where the walls were covered with posters of Ji Chen.

Glow sticks, support banners, and other merchandise were displayed on the coffee table.

Even the keychain on the bag has Ji Chen's portrait.

Ye Yuntang remembers that Mengmeng didn't follow celebrities before.

"Mengmeng, tell me, why did you suddenly like Ji Chen?"

Mengmeng put down her milk tea cup, lowered her eyelashes, and said with a heavy expression, "Sister, after my mom tore up my college acceptance letter last year, I almost jumped off a cliff to commit suicide."

Mengmeng's mother is a very strong woman. After giving birth to Mengmeng, she could no longer get pregnant due to health reasons.

Grandma Mengmeng has three sons, while the other two families both had sons.

Only Mengmeng's family has one daughter.

Mengmeng's mother wants to raise Mengmeng to be the most outstanding person, so that the sons of the other two families can only look up to her.

Mengmeng started drawing at the age of three, played the piano at the age of four, and learned to dance at the age of five. At such a young age, her schedule was more packed than that of a high school senior.

She wore out several sets of practice clothes, and blisters appeared on her fingers. When she didn't want to learn, her mother would pick up a small bamboo stick and hit her, forcing her to learn.

They would also tell her that everything was for her own good, and that she would be grateful to her when she grew up.

After she started elementary school, her mother demanded that she be number one every year, and that the wall of certificates be covered with them.

Whenever relatives came to visit, her mother would ask her to perform on the piano, dance, or recite poetry in front of them.

If she didn't do something right, her mother would criticize her after the guests left.

As she grew older, she wanted to make friends, but her mother was very strict with her. She wasn't allowed to play with boys who had poor grades, or get close to boys from ordinary families, and she couldn't say a word to them.

Back in junior high, she only helped a boy in her class with two questions. Her mother somehow found out and went to the school to find the boy, saying that he wanted to date her and forcing him to apologize to her in front of the whole class.

Since then, her classmates have avoided her like the plague.

Her drawer was crammed with all sorts of certification certificates.

She has many talents, but she can't be happy at all.

Under her mother's domineering pressure, she became sensitive, insecure, and vulnerable.

But she dared not defy her mother, and could only curl up in a ball in the dead of night, tears falling along with the sound of cicadas chirping outside the window.

In high school, she became increasingly silent.

Her desk was always piled high with exercise books, she never joked with her classmates during breaks, and she even went to the restroom alone.

She's like a robot with a pre-programmed routine.

Her grades were always among the best, but her classmates secretly mocked her as a robot who only knew how to do practice problems.

She was on edge the whole time until the day her college entrance exam scores came out.

She performed well, and her mother encouraged her to apply to the best finance school so that she could take over the family business and trample her uncles' sons underfoot.

But she had no desire to go into business, and she secretly enrolled in medical school without telling her mother.

She wanted to get away from her mother and from the city.

She thought her mother would give in after the notification came.

To everyone's surprise, her mother flew into a rage and tore up her admission notice.

At that moment, her blood seemed to freeze.

The moment the shredded paper fell, all the grievances and repression she had accumulated over the past ten years erupted.