Live for Yourself

Li Xiao's parents were clever. Before locking her in, they had taken her phone.

Fortunately, Li Xiao had a spare. She used it to call Ye Qing.

That was when she realized that, apart from her family, Ye Qing was the only person she was close to here.

Her life suddenly seemed rather sad. She had spent so long earning money that she could hardly remember the last time she had enjoyed it.

Outside the door, her parents' voices drifted in and out.

"Now that she knows, let's withdraw all the money. We've got some of our own. Put it together, and we'll have enough to buy our son a house."

"Mm. We'll go tomorrow."

"All right. I'll see if there's any other money around the house."

Li Xiao listened to her parents plotting. Her heart had long since gone numb.

Knock, knock, knock. Someone was at the front door. Li Xiao's eyes lit up. Ye Qing was here.

"Hello. We're friends of Li Xiao's. We need to see her tonight."

Li Xiao's parents were startled. Did finding one person really take this many people?

There were six of them. Ye Qing stood in front, with Ye Father and Ye Mother close behind him. Ye Ci, Ye Chen, and Gu Ze brought up the rear, forming a solid triangle. Every one of them was taller than Li Xiao's parents, and they looked very much like they had come to pick a fight.

It was entirely accidental, though. The hallway was narrow, and that was the only way they could stand.

Li Xiao's parents were frightened, but they reacted quickly. "You're looking for Xiaoxiao? She isn't here today."

Ye Qing smiled at them, his voice gentle. "She really isn't here?"

"She isn't. She really isn't."

As soon as they said it, the sound of Li Xiao pounding on a door came from inside, along with her faint voice.

Perhaps she was too heartbroken. She no longer had the strength to speak loudly.

Ye Qing remained perfectly polite. "Auntie, are you sure she isn't here? I thought I heard Sister Li just now."

"No, you didn't. That was our pet."

Ye Qing's eyes narrowed. He was done holding back. "Let me tell you something. Even if you're her parents, it's still illegal to hold someone against her will."

Li Xiao's mother finally caught on. "So you're the help that girl called in."

"Besides, what business is it of yours if we discipline our child?"

"Or do you like our girl?" The more Li Xiao's mother looked at him, the more certain she became. Why else would anyone help without wanting something in return?

Convinced she was right, Li Xiao's mother put on airs. "You can marry our girl, but the bride price is two hundred thousand."

"She may not be a peerless beauty, but she's good-looking enough, and she's capable, too. Marrying her would be a bargain."

Ye Mother couldn't bear to listen anymore. She had never met anyone like this. "Aren't you selling your daughter?"

Li Xiao's mother's eyes darted. "You must be the future mother-in-law. Why put it so harshly?"

"I see there's no reasoning with you."

Ye Qing glanced behind him. "Big brother, second brother, you're up."

Before Gu Ze could react, Ye Ci and Ye Chen exchanged a helpless look. They stepped forward without a word and stared at Li Xiao's parents.

The three brothers had done this often. Whenever someone tried to bully Ye Qing or challenged him to a fight, all he had to do was go home and fetch Ye Ci and Ye Chen.

After all, Ye Ci had rarely smiled, even as a child. Other children found him rather intimidating.

Now, faced with the tall men behind Ye Qing, Li Xiao's parents shrank back. They only dared throw their weight around at home. Once Ye Qing stopped being polite, there was little they could do.

Ye Qing strode into the apartment. "Sister Li, where are you?"

A knock came from behind one of the doors. Ye Qing searched for a while but couldn't find the key.

"Where's the key?"

Li Xiao's parents said nothing.

Ye Qing didn't care. "If you won't tell me, don't blame me for breaking down the door."

Li Xiao's mother glared. "You wouldn't dare."

"Why wouldn't I?"

Ye Qing kicked the door.

...It didn't budge.

[That was a little embarrassing.]

[Ugh, my foot hurts, too. I'm never doing something reckless just to look cool again.]

The Ye family members put their hands to their foreheads. He really hadn't changed a bit.

While everyone was still stunned, Gu Ze walked slowly over to Ye Qing, gave him a tender smile, and kicked the door.

The door still didn't move.

[Thank goodness. At least I'm not the only one who couldn't kick it down.]

But Ye Qing celebrated too soon. With a bang, the door fell inward.

In that instant, everything seemed to slow before Ye Qing's eyes. He could only watch the door fall.

[What do I do? This makes me look unbelievably weak.]

Hearing that, Gu Ze offered an explanation. "It was about to fall after your kick. I just gave it one more."

The Ye family members thought the explanation might have made things worse.

But that no longer mattered. Ye Qing went in and helped Li Xiao to her feet.

"No, you can't leave." Li Xiao's mother said it, but no one listened.

"Sister Li, would you like to stay at my place tonight?"

Li Xiao declined his kind offer. She had already troubled them enough today. She couldn't keep doing it.

"Then how do you plan to deal with this, Sister Li?"

Li Xiao fell silent. Her mind was a mess. She had an idea, but she didn't know whether to go through with it.

"Take the next few days to sort things out with your family," Ye Qing said. "Work can wait."

At the hotel, Li Xiao recalled what Ye Qing had told her before they parted. "I've always thought every relationship in the world should go both ways."

"Whatever the relationship, if one person gives far more than the other, I think something is wrong."

"And I've always believed not every parent deserves to be called one."

Thinking back on everything that had happened, Li Xiao made her decision.

When Li Xiao appeared before Ye Qing again, she seemed like a different person. The weight she had carried had quietly vanished.

Ye Qing smiled. "Welcome back, Sister Li."

Li Xiao smiled back. She had cut ties with her family. Beyond the basic support she owed them, she would give them no more money.

Still, remembering how her younger brother had stood on his moral high ground and condemned her left a bitter ache in her chest.

Then she learned that her parents had only let her attend high school to raise her bride price. They had later given up on marrying her off because her brother said she could earn more money to support the family. That wiped away the last trace of attachment she felt.

The people she had thought of as family had never seen her as one of their own. To them, she had only been a way to make money.

Now that she understood that, the pressure she had carried was gone.

She had gotten all her money back, too. Soon, she would have a home of her own.

How could she not be happy?

From now on, she would live for herself!

Watching someone's life get better, Ye Qing thought, was one of the happiest things in the world.

Once Li Xiao's situation was settled, the date of Ye Qing's audition was confirmed.