One Word Changed, Characters in Chaos

Ye Lin was somewhat bewildered.

He had just finished shooting a movie in complete seclusion for three months, yet it felt as if everything had changed beyond recognition.

He knew about the matter of finding Ye Xiao.

He thought that just having one more person in the house wouldn’t make much of a difference.

But the result.

His originally sweet and adorable sister Ye Bingtong seemed to have completely transformed.

First, she stabbed her elder brother in the back for Chen Yueyue’s sake; in that recording, Ye Bingtong repeatedly urged Chen Yueyue to marry her brother with her illegitimate child. Ye Lin, having heard it, felt somewhat psychologically uncomfortable.

Upon his return, his family briefed him on even more.

Things like Ye Bingtong finding a young punk outside, putting a green hat on Gu Cheng, and the two families having already called off the engagement.

Things like Ye Bingtong having improper thoughts and even wanting to harm a child.

And all those exposures from Chen Yueyue were also recounted to Ye Lin one by one.

Ye Lin was now questioning his entire existence.

The Ye Bingtong he had known for the past twenty years, and the Ye Bingtong everyone was talking about now, were they really the same person?

Although he knew his family wouldn’t lie to him, without having witnessed these events for himself, Ye Lin always felt a sense of unreality.

“In any case, Ye Bingtong is no longer a person of our Ye family,” Ye Mingcheng said, “I know you’ve been close to her, but now Xiaoxiao has returned, and she is your true sister! You must not hurt Xiaoxiao’s feelings because of Ye Bingtong. Otherwise, I will never forgive you.”

“That’s right. Xiaoxiao has had a hard time alone all these years, and only now has she finally come back. If you dare to let Xiaoxiao suffer the slightest grievance, I will disown you as my son,” Du Yaru also said.

Ye Lin was dumbfounded.

What was going on?

He hadn’t done anything yet, and he was already being warned?

What would it be like if he actually did something?

He was usually so busy with work that it was hard to find time to come home, and whenever he did, he was treated like a star.

This time, it turned out to be quite the opposite; he had barely arrived and was already receiving a barrage of warnings.

The world was just too unfair.

“Ye Lin, remember what mom and dad said! If I find out that you’ve caused Xiaoxiao any unhappiness…” Ye Bolin cast a threatening look at Ye Lin.

A sense of injustice immediately welled up in Ye Lin’s heart.

He couldn’t help wanting to shout out loud.

He hadn’t done anything yet, he hadn’t done anything at all!

But in his heart, he became even more curious about this sister he had never met.

She must have a tremendous charisma to have bewitched the family like this!

He was truly looking forward to it.

“Big brother,” Ye Lin thought for a moment but couldn’t help asking, “What about Bingtong…?”

“Don’t mention her!” Ye Bolin immediately warned, “We’ve already said everything that needs to be said. From now on, in this house, that name is not to be mentioned. Especially in front of Xiaoxiao, or don’t blame me for being rude to you.”

Ye Lin was baffled.

It had only been a few days since Ye Xiao’s return, and the family had already changed like this?

Fine, fine, he wanted to see just how extraordinary this Ye Xiao was.

Ye Lin was frustrated but didn’t bring up Ye Bingtong again.

It was clear that Ye Bingtong had thoroughly angered the family, and Ye Lin planned to investigate the matter privately to find out what was really going on.

After all, he couldn’t just let go of so many years of affection without asking questions.

“Xiaoxiao will be coming home soon, so hurry up and prepare dinner. Don’t let Xiaoxiao go hungry,” Du Yaru instructed the nanny, “Make a few more dishes that Xiaoxiao loves.”

A crack appeared on the refined face of Ye Lin, and he couldn’t help saying, “Mom, it’s been several months since I’ve been home. This is my first meal at home.”

If it had been in the past, at least this meal should have included some of his favorite dishes.

“It doesn’t matter to you, anything you eat won’t starve you,” Du Yaru said without looking back.

Ye Mingcheng and Ye Bolin nodded, appearing to thoroughly agree.

Ye Lin:

So be it, then. There was clearly no place for him in this family anymore.

Towards evening.

Ye Xiao returned.

“Xiaoxiao, come over here.” Du Yaru had already stood up, her face bright with happiness as she approached: “Your second brother is back. Aren’t you planning to have some fun in the entertainment circle? Your second brother has quite a network; he can arrange things for you when the time comes.”

Du Yaru pulled Ye Xiao over.

Ye Xiao sized up the second brother he had never met before.

Compared to Ye Bolin’s sharp and cold demeanor, Ye Lin had a more gentle aura, with a faint scholarly presence about him. His entry into the circle was through the portrayal of a famous literary figure in history, which skyrocketed his popularity due to that one drama.

Everyone complimented that Ye Lin truly captured the essence of the literary style.

“Xiaoxiao,” Ye Lin said while sitting, his face calm, “I…”

“Put on what show!” Du Yaru glared at him: “Cut the crap, where’s the gift for our first meeting? Bring it out first.”

Ye Lin choked for a moment.

He looked somewhat gloomily at his mother, whose favoritism had apparently known no bounds, and produced a small box.

Du Yaru looked quite satisfied.

She had reminded him earlier that since this was their first meeting, in order to show his importance, Ye Lin had to prepare the gift carefully.

The packaging looked pretty good; could it be a small piece of jewelry?

Not enough effort, but okay.

No harm done.

Under the expectant gaze of everyone, Ye Lin opened the box.

Ye Xiao also looked on curiously.

Then, the whole room fell silent.

Inside the box, there was unmistakably a box of sand.

Ye Lin smiled and said, “Guess what? You didn’t guess it, did you! I was filming in the desert this time, and this sand is from that desert. Pretty special, isn’t it?”

Ye Lin genuinely thought the gift he prepared was quite nice.

But when he looked up, he found that his family were giving him murderous stares.

Ye Lin was bewildered.

What’s wrong? Is there a problem?

Ye Xiao chuckled softly and was the first to accept: “Thank you, second brother.”

[Second Brother Ye Lin, just like described in the book, seems to have that literary quality. To put it simply, he’s somewhat artistic, and then likes to immerse himself in his own world. Bringing sand from the desert over such a long distance, to him, indeed embodies his idea of romance.]

If it were someone else, they might have thought Ye Lin did it on purpose.

But Ye Xiao, knowing Ye Lin’s character, didn’t think so.

The faces of the Ye Family members relaxed a bit after hearing Ye Xiao’s thoughts.

Yet Ye Lin was still puzzled.

Hmm?

What did he just hear?

It was Ye Xiao’s voice, but Ye Xiao clearly hadn’t spoken such a long piece, had he?

Ye Lin was immediately shocked.

He tentatively asked, “Xiaoxiao, do you like it?”

Ye Xiao, with a composed smile, replied: “I like it.”

[Well, it’s the thought that counts. Why not try growing a cactus?]

Ye Lin stared at Ye Xiao for a while and became certain.

What he had just heard seemed to be Ye Xiao’s thoughts!

Could it be that filming for too long had scrambled his brain?

He should get his brain checked tomorrow while he’s on vacation.

[Alas, Second Brother might be a bit silly, but he’s also quite nice. How could such a bright and charming cabbage be ruined by a pig like Bai Shilan.]

Ye Xiao continued to muse.

With Ye Lin’s return, it meant the storyline from Bai Shilan’s book was set to officially begin.

Bai Shilan and La Jingzhou could play their cat-and-mouse games all they liked by themselves, but unfortunately, they had to drag Ye Lin into it.

Isn’t that just bullying?