TFRLTOP Chapter 51 Part 2

“If you’ve got the guts, let’s go downstairs and let the neighbors in the courtyard judge who’s right!”

Bai Yuehua wasn’t about to back down. Her voice shot up another octave:
“Fine, let’s go! The neighbors here watched us both grow up—what do you think they’ll say?”

Yan Junsheng barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes.

“Let’s go then.”

“Let’s go!”

The two of them, fueled with stubborn fire, shoved past Madam Bai and Madam Yan and stomped downstairs. Junsheng hurried after them, grabbing Ming Ming by the arm.

“What on earth are you two doing?” he hissed.

“Don’t ask. I’ll explain later.”

Downstairs, just outside the courtyard, they ran straight into Bai Houxiong, Bai Zhanying, and that blind date—the son of some old comrade.

Bai Houxiong’s face was thunderous. His very first words were a roar at his daughter:
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

Ming Ming: “…”

“Sis, what are you doing?” Her younger brother glared at her with full disapproval.

His brand-new brother-in-law was standing right there. He’d hoped to lean on that connection later for a few favors. But now, with this public circus, he felt even more humiliated than his sister.

“Shame? What shame?” Bai Yuehua shouted. “Didn’t you all want me to marry into the Yan family? Well, here I am, clinging to them just like you wished. Why are you still unhappy?”

The comrade’s son paled, glanced around, then muttered an excuse and slipped away.

Bai Houxiong marched forward and slapped his daughter across the face.

The blow was so hard that finger marks immediately flared across her cheek, and blood welled at the corner of her mouth.

Her head snapped to the side, but for the first time in her life, Yuehua felt reckless, fearless. Standing there in the blazing summer sun, under her parents’ accusing eyes and her brother’s disgust, with the house she’d lived in for over twenty years looming behind them, she suddenly felt as if the whole wide world had no corner left for her.

Her lowered hand brushed against something hard in her pocket.

Ah. The gold bar.

Chen Chanjuan really was something else—she hadn’t even noticed when she slipped it in.

Her palm pressed over it, and all at once Yuehua thought: The world is huge. Surely there’s somewhere for me to go.

She let out a slow breath, gave a small laugh, and in a voice low enough only her family could hear, said:
“Now the whole courtyard knows your daughter is a shameless woman chasing after another man’s marriage.”

Her smile widened, sharper. “Embarrassing, isn’t it?”

“I could disgrace you even more. Want me to prove it?”

“You’d throw away your own reputation?” Bai Houxiong could hardly believe her audacity.

Yuehua tilted her head, shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “What reputation? I’m not some well-loved dean of the compound. I’m not some respected professor.”

“In your mouths, my brother is always ‘our Zhanying.’ Me? I’ve only ever been ‘that girl of ours.’”

“What’s so precious about my so-called reputation?”

Madam Bai’s face twisted with fury. “Are you threatening us? We’re only asking you to get married! Is this how you repay us? We raised you with so much effort, and this is what we get? When your brother couldn’t study abroad, we sent you instead, and you—you’re nothing but an ungrateful wretch!”

Yuehua laughed coldly. “He didn’t go because he couldn’t. If he’d had an ounce of ability, there would’ve been at least one school willing to take him.”

“And as for why you sent me abroad—you really want me to spell it out? You weren’t investing in me. You were just packaging me up to look more suitable for marrying well in this new era. If it were still the old days, you’d have locked me up at home to be some pampered young lady in the attic.”

Bai Houxiong’s chest heaved with rage. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed curtains twitching, neighbors peeking out their windows—colleagues, their families, all watching the spectacle. Who knew how this would spread tomorrow? Forcing his anger down, he muttered, “We’ll talk at home. Stop disgracing us in public.”

Yuehua had expected that response. She smirked, provocative, and headed inside first.

Junsheng muttered under his breath, “I didn’t know about any of this. Yeah, we both studied abroad, but the second we landed, we went our separate ways. We barely even saw each other overseas…”

“She probably could’ve broken free back then, but she softened because of her family.”

“Both of you—study with me,” Yan Chengming ordered coldly.

Junsheng refused flatly. “No. I bought a duck for Juan’er. It has to be eaten while it’s hot.” He pulled Ming Ming upstairs.

Behind them, his father shook with rage, finger trembling in midair. Madam Yan, unwilling to give the neighbors any more of a show, dragged him inside.

Back in their room, Ming Ming stood at the window, keeping an eye on the commotion across the way. Junsheng paced, stone-faced, muttering on repeat:
“Want some duck?”
“The duck’s getting cold.”
“The skin’s turning soggy.”
“If you won’t eat it, I will.”

Ming Ming ignored him.

Finally, she waved him off without turning around, annoyed by the noise.

Down below, Bai Yuehua stepped out of her house with a bag slung over her shoulder, her cheek still marked red. As she passed their building, she glanced up.

Ming Ming leaned out immediately.

Yuehua gave a carefree wave. The bruise on her face and the blood at her mouth only sharpened her usually gentle features into something bold and striking.

Junsheng leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “She’s been kicked out?”

“She’s off to find her freedom,” Ming Ming whispered back. “I even gave her a gold bar. She said when she makes it big, she’ll give us a wedding gift!”

Junsheng snorted, shooting her a sidelong look, voice dripping with sarcasm: “Latecomer takes the lead, huh?”

Another glance out the window. “Not fighting, not scrambling?”

He jabbed a finger at himself. “You think I’m the kind of guy who takes whoever comes along?”

Ming Ming darted over, threw her arms around him, and kissed his chin, then his lips, trying to distract him.

“Come on, I was just helping your childhood friend. Good deeds bring good karma. May you live a long and blessed life!”

Junsheng lowered his eyes, silently watching her, and tugged at her cheek with a sigh.

“Honestly, the two of you—playing house like kids. What a stunt.”

“Don’t underestimate her. I bet you anything she’ll make something of herself one day.”

Ming Ming’s eyes darted, then she gave a guilty little grin. “Sorry for dragging you into the mess, making you lose face with me.”

“We were going to move out anyway. Let them talk. Consider it a demonstration of how the new youth stand apart.” Junsheng pinched her nose.

Ming Ming wriggled free, went looking for the duck, and complained, “Your mom was clanging around outside while I was trying to nap. Too much.”

“She did that?” Junsheng frowned. “I’ll talk to her later. We’ll move in the next couple of days. What else did she do?”

“That’s it. Now let me at my fragrant roast duck—so fragrant, so fragrant…” Ming Ming unwrapped the greasy paper. The rich smell wafted up, she inhaled deeply—and suddenly gagged, hand clapped over her mouth.

“What’s wrong? Too hot out? It’s spoiled?” Junsheng patted her back nervously and shoved the cold duck aside.

Ming Ming kept retching.

“I—I don’t know…”

Then Junsheng froze. A thought struck him.

“How long since your last period?”

Ming Ming’s eyes flew wide.

“Holy shit… no way…”