Xia Qing

That evening, Li Xun sliced up some pork. There were still some baby bok choy in the fridge, so he planned to make himself a bowl of pork noodle soup.

He hadn't finished slicing the pork when the phone rang. It was his mother, Wang Huiqing.

"Mom, what's up?"

"Son, have you eaten?"

"I'm making something now. I'm going to cook some noodles. Have you and Dad eaten?"

"We just finished. We had bamboo shoots stir-fried with pork. Um... there's something your father and I wanted to discuss with you."

"Go ahead, Mom."

Your father and I think you should talk to Xia Qing and get your marriage certificate before the New Year. She's getting more and more famous, and with you two dragging this out, your father and I can't feel at ease."

Li Xun was silent for a moment before replying, "Mom, Xia Qing and I have already broken up."

"What? You broke up?"

Wang Huiqing raised her voice. "Was it her idea?"

The original owner had already sensed half a year ago that things wouldn't work out between him and Xia Qing, but he had never let his parents know. Whenever they asked how things were going between them, he always brushed them off by saying everything was fine. That was why Li Xun's sudden announcement that they had broken up came as such a shock to Wang Huiqing.

"More or less," Li Xun replied.

"She thinks she can just break up because she says so? As if!" Wang Huiqing continued. "Has she forgotten how she got down on her knees and begged us when she was fourteen? We put it in writing and had her press her fingerprint on the contract. The old village secretary witnessed it. Now she thinks she can just call it off? We never forced her, did we?"

"We've been paying for her education since middle school, all the way through college. We must have spent at least two hundred thousand yuan on her over the years. And after she graduated, before she became famous, wasn't it all your money she was spending? And now she's famous, making big money, and thinks she's too good for us?"

"She thinks she can just break up because she says so? Since when does the world work like that? Our families aren't even related, so why would we pay for her education? Wasn't it because she got on her knees and begged us, insisting she wanted to marry into our Li family? No way! I'm going to her house right now. We can't just let this go!"

"I'll handle it," Li Xun said. "But there's no way I'm marrying her. The law guarantees freedom of marriage."

"The law?" Wang Huiqing shouted. "Does having laws mean you can forget about morals? Does it mean you can have no shame? If she has no shame, we'll expose the contract our families signed back then, along with the fingerprint she pressed while crying and begging us. She's a celebrity. Celebrities make a living off their image. Let's see if she'll still have the face to do that after we expose her!"

"How about we ask her to pay us back? We can add up what we've spent on her over the years and ask her to return it. What do you think, Mom?"

"No, that won't do. If we'd used that money to buy a house, it'd be worth six or seven hundred thousand yuan now. If we'd used it to find you a wife, I'd already be holding my grandson. We can't just let this go."

"All right, all right. We won't let it go. Don't worry, I'll handle it. By the way, Mom, don't go to the press and expose her."

"You're such a pushover!" Wang Huiqing fumed. "You're still protecting her after all this! Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to expose her right away. If we do, we'll have no leverage left. What's that saying in the news? The greatest power of an atomic bomb is when it's still on the launchpad."

Wang Huiqing was one of the most capable people in the village. There was no way she would let this matter slide—not past her, at any rate.

"Trying to force something doesn't make it sweet," Li Xun said. "Besides, I don't even like her anymore."

It wasn't just that she didn't think much of Li Xun. Even if she did like him and wanted to marry him, he still might not want her. The original owner's feelings weren't his own, so Li Xun felt the only way to settle this in the end was to get the money back.

It wasn't that he cared about the money. He just didn't want things to end so ambiguously that people in the village would gossip about his parents.

Xia Qing would probably be willing to pay. She wasn't short of money now. But Wang Huiqing, who had always insisted on coming out ahead in everything...

"I don't care whether this melon is sweet or not," Wang Huiqing said. "Our Li family paid for it, so we bought it. If it's not sweet, we'd rather feed it to the pigs than let someone else benefit from it."

"Mom, what are you saying? Why do I feel like you're calling me a pig?"

Wang Huiqing sighed. "You are a pig. How many times have I warned you? You and Xia Qing still haven't done it? What am I supposed to do with you? How can you be so dense? Even the Cowherd knew to hide the Weaver Girl's clothes. Get her pregnant and have a couple of kids first, then figure things out! Honestly!"

"That just means your son has better morals than a mythological figure everyone knows," Li Xun said. "You should be proud of me!"

Wang Huiqing sighed. "Son, remember this: 'Lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha' means you need to have a knife in your hand before you can become a Buddha. You can choose to let her off in the end, but you can't let her think you're incapable of making her pay. Handle this yourself for now. If you really can't bring yourself to do it, then I'll throw away what little dignity I have left. No one gets to bully someone from our Li family—my son—and leave him without even a peep in response!"

After hanging up with his mother, Wang Huiqing, Li Xun thought it over. This matter needed to be resolved eventually, but there was no need to rush.

He was definitely going to make her pay, and not just whatever the Li family had spent on her. They had given her far more than that. Honestly, even asking her for two million yuan wouldn't make Li Xun feel the original owner had gotten a fair deal. But, as he'd said, there was no need to rush.

He had joined Penguin Video, and his first script was nearly finished. He believed he'd soon make a name for himself in the entertainment industry. He just wanted to discuss the matter with her as an equal.

As he thought it over, Li Xun continued making his pork noodles. After eating his fill, he went back to writing the script for the first arc of Young Bao Qingtian.