12 Tang Shiliu

Ye Xinxin walked down along the corridor, going down from floor to floor to look for Jiang Yanxu, but he couldn't find the man. Ye Xinxin stopped walking, thinking for a second that Jiang Yanxu might get in the hall, so he decided to head downstairs to the third floor.

Downstairs, people had already swarmed the hall. The tables were almost taken by crowd. There were lots of food and drinks on the table lined up neatly. The crowd was full of enthusiasm, which no doubt made it hard for Ye Xinxin to find the person he was looking for.

Ye Xinxin stood in the crowd, his eyes swept in all directions, eying people one by one, but all he found were strangers he had never met.

Ye Xinxin fell silent without moving an inch like a human statue. He didn't have a particular place in his head that could appoint Jiang Yanxu's whereabouts. Ye Xinxin thought and thought again until he decided to look for Jiang Yanxu outside.

As soon as Ye Xinxin turned around and was about to walk out, someone suddenly patted him on the back from behind. Ye Xinxin gasped, quickly spun his body.

"Yanxu ..."

Ye Xinxin initially thought it was Jiang Yanxu and was about to greet him. Yet, as soon as he found that the person wasn't Jiang Yanxu, his words were swallowed up in pain. The smile of joy on the young man's face slowly faded and then disappeared. He hung his head, disillusionment immediately passed into his heart.

"Xin'er, what's going on?" a middle-aged woman around forty-three to forty-five years old asked, "Where is Yanxu? Why don't you come with him?"

It was Tang Shiliu, his mother-in-law. As the legal wife of Jiang Yanxu's biological father, Jiang Hanxu, the woman was in power in many aspects, replacing Huang Yuqi who was Jiang Hanxu's first wife after her death four years ago.

They married not based on mutual love. It was just a one-sided love and their marriage was just a sham.

During Huang Yuqi's life, she once asked Jiang Hanxu to marry a woman who could take care of himself before she passed away, so Jiang Hanxu reluctantly did so. Since Jiang Hanxu didn't love anyone but Huang Yuqi, he chose randomly within his family and the person was Tang Shiliu, who even had a sixteen-year-old son at the time.

Unfortunately, they were never blessed with offspring until Jiang Hanxu died after their third wedding anniversary.

In silence, the woman looked at Ye Xinxin in surprise as it wasn't usual for Ye Xinxin to go alone. What she knew was that Ye Xinxin and Jiang Yanxu were an inseparable couple, entwined with a strong bond like a common string of fate in ancient legends.

Tang Shiliu frowned at Ye Xinxin. He pinched Ye Xinxin's chin and lifted the young man's face, forcing him to look directly into the confident woman's eyes. Tang Shiliu asked in a grim tone again, "Say it, what's wrong?"

Ye Xinxin was still silent, trying to keep the matter under wraps. But, since the woman was quite tough, she wouldn't give up so easily.

Tang Shiliu pulled Ye Xinxin's hand, brought the young man to the table to make Ye Xinxin more comfortable so that the young man could tell her everything frankly.

They sat over there, while Tang Shiliu kept pushing Ye Xinxin to talk until Ye Xinxin couldn't hold back any longer and started complaining.

"Yanxu's attitude suddenly changed to me. He kept ignoring me this morning," Ye Xinxin explained, "Ever since he woke up, he's been acting weird. He even seems to think of me like someone he just met. Therefore, we argued this morning until he made me angry and I accidentally smacked him in the face. After that, he left and I'm looking for him now but I can't find him."

Hearing the explanation, Tang Shiliu became even more confused. She heard Ye Xinxin's words obviously, but she was unable to understand them. Besides, last night was a family celebration after their wedding, what Ye Xinxin had just said would definitely cast doubt on him considering how happy they were last night.

Ye Xinxin's words ... it sounded impossible.

Tang Shiliu almost burst out laughing as soon as she thought about how unreasonable Ye Xinxin's words were, but she still held back, and said, "Don't be ridiculous. You guys just got married. Yanxu has wanted to marry you for a long time, even he didn't hesitate to kick Yan An out just for the sake of marrying you. Jiang Yanxu surely loves you a lot, dear."

"Mother, I mean it," Ye Xinxin tried to reassure Tang Shiliu with words, "I'm not lying. If I had lied, I won't look for him now and he will definitely be here with me now."

It sounded reasonable.

Tang Shiliu thought for a while before Ye Xinxin spoke again in a sulky tone, "Mother, has Yanxu been lying to me all this time? Has he been pretending to love me all this time? Somehow I feel like he was just forced himself to marry me."

Tang Shiliu's heart suddenly felt unbearable. After all, Ye Xinxin was the woman's favorite son-in-law and couldn't see Ye Xinxin grieve any longer. She hugged Ye Xinxin, trying to calm him down, "Oh, dear, no way. Yanxu even put your wedding date forward at that time. He loves you."

Being in the woman's arms made Ye Xinxin feel so comfortable. Having no parents, Tang Shiliu was like a mother to Ye Xinxin for now.

Ye Xinxin's father died in an accident six years ago, while his mother died of a serious illness two years before his father's death. Ye Xinxin depended on his uncle and now it was Tang Shiliu who became his mother.

Tang Shiliu would never let him be sad. Even when Ye Xinxin wasn't married to Jiang Yanxu yet, she always came over to him to comfort him and help him to keep in touch with Jiang Yanxu without the Jiang family head knowing it.

Likewise at this time. Tang Shiliu secretly glanced at one of the guards and signaled to come over her.

The guard immediately understood and swiftly approached Tang Shiliu.

As soon as a guard stood near them, Tang Shiliu asked him to find Jiang Yanxu and bring him to the hall as soon as possible. Without lingering, the guard rushed off to look for Jiang Yanxu as the woman had ordered.

Tang Shiliu gently caressed Ye Xinxin's back. "Xin'er, enough. Don't cry anymore. I'll talk to him, okay?"

After feeling better, Ye Xinxin slowly let go of his embrace. He smiled at Tang Shiliu, saying spoiledly, "Mother, don't let him dishearten me again. I have waited for him for five years and I have endured the pain of seeing him have to marry someone else."

Ye Xinxin was silent, wiped his tears, then said again, "He just didn't understand what I had faced back then, when his parents came to me and asked me to break up with him, it really hurt me. Now, we're married, but he's hurting me again with his attitude. So, mother, please, help me."

Hearing Ye Xinxin's words, Tang Shiliu felt very fond of the young man. Tang Shiliu gently stroked Ye Xinxin's face, then nodded slowly, "I will do anything for you, dear. I guarantee that Yanxu will apologize to you and won't disappoint you again. Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

Ye Xinxin smiled in satisfaction. He hugged her again as his love for all this time.