TFRLTOP Chapter 50 Part 1

Chapter 50 – The Educated Youth’s Long-Suffering Wife

Plan to Save the Heroine

Ming Ming’s mind was racing: It’s her, it’s her, it really is her—our heroine, Bai Yuehua.

She stammered out a greeting. “Uh, hi, um, Yan Junsheng, he… it looks like he hasn’t come up yet.”

“Oh, no problem.” Bai Yuehua quickly waved her hand. “I mainly came to visit Uncle.” She set the fruit basket by the bedside and chatted politely with Chen Weiguo. “Uncle, just treat this place like your own hospital. Bai Houxiong is my father—if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. Just focus on recovering.”

“Yes, yes, thank you, thank you.” Chen Weiguo chuckled warmly. “Juan’er, go keep our guest company. I don’t need you here.”

Ming Ming invited her out to the living room and poured her a cup of tea.

“We really have to thank your father. He’s helped us out so much. If it were just me and my daughter coming to the city for treatment, we’d have been running around like headless chickens.”

“That’s too polite. Family doesn’t call it helping—it’s just what we should do. You’re Chen Chanjüan, right? Yan Junsheng always mentioned you in his letters. I finally get to see you in person.” Bai Yuehua sat down on the sofa, looking slightly embarrassed. “Actually, since you’ve been here a few days already, Uncle Yan and Auntie Yan really should have come by to visit. But they’re just too busy, so they asked me to come in their place. I hope you’ll understand.”

Even she felt awkward saying that.

The truth was simple: Yan Junsheng’s parents looked down on their sudden daughter-in-law and in-laws and had no intention of lowering themselves to meet them.

When they first heard their son had married a countrywoman, they were furious. Now, finally back in the city, he seemed reluctant to leave the countryside at all.

This rare trip back was only because his father-in-law needed surgery. All these days, he’d only gone home once—to grab some clothes before leaving again.

Bai Yuehua had a vague idea that when Yan Junsheng went home, his parents happened to be there too, and things hadn’t gone well.

Clearly, in their eyes, Chen Chanjüan was nothing more than some wild little temptress who had bewitched their son.

“It’s fine,” Ming Ming said, stoking the flames. “I keep telling him to go home, but he refuses. He insists on taking care of my dad. It really puts me in a tough spot.”

“Are Uncle and Auntie upset with me?”

“No, no, no, no,” Bai Yuehua waved her hands frantically. “That’s not what I meant—I mean, it’s nothing like that.”

Ming Ming: “…”

The two of them fell into silence.

Bai Yuehua finally said, “Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not here to cause trouble. Once the adults decided, I had no say in the matter. Even though I know, it does look like I came here to cause trouble.”

She hunched her shoulders miserably, looking more like a timid quail than the elegant socialite she was supposed to be.

“Wait—you don’t like Yan Junsheng?” Ming Ming sounded almost disappointed. She had expected some kind of dramatic showdown between childhood sweetheart and destined love.

Bai Yuehua made a face of pure disgust. “Who would like that stingy guy?”

Ming Ming: “Huh?”

Bai Yuehua gave her a pitying look. “Miss Chanjüan, how could you possibly like him? No—how could he possibly like you? He’s stingy and a chauvinist. Living with him must be exhausting.”

Ming Ming: “??”

What? That’s not the impression I got at all.

Ming Ming blinked in confusion.

Bai Yuehua sighed. “I actually came today for another reason, but since Yan Junsheng isn’t here, I’ll just tell him next time…”

She didn’t finish. Yan Junsheng walked in just then.

“Juan’er, Uncle Bai says the hospital’s serving steamed buns today. Let’s buy a few for Dad later.”

The moment he stepped inside and saw Bai Yuehua, his face hardened. He frowned and asked coldly, “What are you doing here?”

“I just came from Uncle Bai’s. Funny, he didn’t mention you’d be here.”

Bai Yuehua gave him a sharp look. “Our mothers teamed up and sent me here to spy on the enemy. You’d better watch yourself.”

She held out her hand. “Pay me back.”

Yan Junsheng frowned. “Pay you for what?”

“The pastries. The money you sent wasn’t enough. I had to cover the rest.”

Looking guilty, he pulled out his wallet, muttering, “And you’ve got the nerve to complain. What kind of jujube cake did you buy? The filling was bitter. Am I supposed to make my wife eat bitterness?”

He shoved the cash at her. “Keep the change!”

Bai Yuehua’s eye twitched. She looked at him like he was a complete idiot.

Ming Ming glanced left and right, shrinking into her seat, too scared to say a word.

“System,” she whispered, “you knew about this too?”

“I had no idea!” the system cried weakly. “Weren’t they supposed to be like-minded soulmates?”

“They’re obviously mortal enemies. If you called them a bickering couple, maybe that’d be closer…” Ming Ming suggested. “Does your database need updating?”

Before leaving, Bai Yuehua gave Ming Ming a look full of sympathy.

“What did she say to you?” Yan Junsheng sat beside Ming Ming. “Whatever it was, don’t believe it. We’ve disliked each other for years. If not for our parents, we’d pass each other on the street without even a glance.”

“Why do you two hate each other so much?”

Yan Junsheng ground his teeth. “I don’t care if she’s obsessed with her so-called freedom. But because of our parents, she keeps thinking she’ll be forced to marry me if she doesn’t fight it. So she treats me like a thorn in her side—sweet on the surface, backstabbing behind my back. And with that deceptively innocent face, I was always getting framed by her as a kid.”

“What’s that got to do with me?!”

Ming Ming let out a knowing little “ah,” patted his hand, and comforted him. “You’ve really suffered.”

But secretly, she was already scheming.

So Bai Yuehua is dead set on freedom? Then if I help her achieve it, wouldn’t that guarantee me a passing grade in this world?

No, wait—if I help her reach the peak of life, doesn’t that mean I’ll be forced to leave?

Ugh… I’d hate to leave Yan Junsheng behind…

There’s still money left. Maybe I should splurge before I go.

Ming Ming asked the system, “If I finish the mission, will I leave the world right away?”

“Uh, not necessarily,” the system mumbled. “I’ll… try my best.”

“Man, I must’ve been cursed, getting stuck with a host like you.”

Ming Ming’s eyes lit up. Then she pressed further. “Next world—make it modern, okay?”

“Get lost!”

Bai Yuehua’s “defeat” worried Mother Yan terribly. She clasped Mother Bai’s hands, sighing, “If I’d known, I would have married the kids off earlier. Then we wouldn’t be having all this trouble.”

Bai Yuehua rolled her eyes faintly from the side.

Mother Bai had wanted her daughter to marry Yan Junsheng before. But now that he was already married, what was the point? Still, she couldn’t outright reject Mother Yan, so she just offered comfort. “Children have their own destinies.”

Yan Junsheng really put his parents in a bind.

Of course, they wanted him back in the city. But he refused to leave that country wife. Punishing him by keeping him in the countryside for life—who knew if that was a penalty or a reward?

Father Yan’s current plan was to ignore him. With policies about to loosen, more and more educated youth would return to the city. When everyone else had left, and Yan Junsheng was still stuck in some dark village, then they’d see how desperate he got.

But what they didn’t expect was that Yan Junsheng didn’t need their help at all.

His relationship with his parents was a classic case of old-school authoritarian father versus independent new-generation son. The only time they could pretend to get along was when they lived far apart. The moment they got close again, conflict was inevitable—family war at the ready.

In Father Yan’s eyes, Yan Junsheng should walk the path he laid out, every step perfectly aligned with his plans. But Yan Junsheng was capable enough that he didn’t need his father meddling.