Chapter 337: Don

Fu Guiru, upon learning that Li Kaibian had married Han Chunmei, seemed to finally let go, stopping her silent tears and instead smiling as she chatted with Li Ye about family matters.

"Li Ye, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Oh, yes."

"Is she beautiful? Is her family background good? Does she treat you well?"

Hearing Fu Guiru's rapid-fire questions, Li Ye couldn't help but laugh.

"She's very beautiful, treats me well, and as for family background—I don't care much about that anymore."

"How can that be?" Fu Guiru immediately said seriously. "You can't judge everything by what's right in front of you. You can't just focus on looks and ignore deeper, more important factors."

Li Ye: "."

Madam, have you misunderstood something? If anyone cares about family background, it's Wen Leyu who should be judging me!

Based on what Li Ye knew from his past life about upper-class families, he and Li Yue would likely have been rejected.

Just as Fu Guiru was getting more and more animated, the girl named Xiao Ruo returned with her younger brother, each carrying several durians.

"Mom, we couldn't get Musang King, only Red Shrimp."

Musang King and Red Shrimp are both Malaysian durian varieties, quite expensive—apparently Xiao Ruo isn't stingy.

But the little boy, seeing his mother's red eyes, immediately cried out: "Mommy, why are you crying? I told you not to come, but you insisted!"

"Enough, Xiao Man, Mommy didn't cry—just choked on her juice a moment ago."

"You choked on juice and cried?"

The boy named Xiao Man clearly didn't believe her, then turned sharply toward Li Ye.

Li Ye's hand trembled again, tempted to slap the kid across the face.

【Damn, is this what they call bloodline suppression?】

【And you're so ugly—you deserve a beating!】

But after the two children returned, Fu Guiru quickly regained her composure, radiating a calm, steady aura.

She took two watch boxes from her handbag and placed them on the table before Li Ye.

"It's been many years since I last saw anyone from Dongshan. Meeting you here is fate. These small gifts are for you and your sister."

Li Ye glanced at Fu Guiru, then calmly opened the boxes.

One was an IWC for men, the other a Cartier for women.

Li Ye pursed his lips and murmured: "This… is a bit too valuable."

Though not top-tier watches, IWC and Cartier are high-end brands—these two alone were worth far more than the pile of gifts in the corner.

Of course, given Li Ye's current wealth, he didn't care about their value—but if he accepted them, wouldn't he have to call Fu Guiru something?

"It's not much."

As Fu Guiru began speaking, the boy named Xiao Man interrupted: "They're actually quite valuable. Mom's homesick and got emotional—so could you please not take it seriously?"

"."

"Xiao Man, what are you talking about?"

Fu Guiru sharply silenced her son, then forced a smile at Li Ye: "Actually, these watches aren't worth much—they've been sitting at home unused for years."

"But I'll use them."

Xiao Man spoke again, his gaze toward Li Ye even sharper than before.

That's the advantage of being young—even in public, you can throw tantrums and roll around.

But the moment he finished, Li Ye snapped the watch boxes shut with two sharp clicks, slid them to his side, and began counting on his fingers with Fu Guiru.

"I'll take the IWC, the Cartier goes to my sister—what about my girlfriend's?"

"."

The boy named Xiao Man froze. Even his sensible older sister was stunned.

【How can someone be this shameless?】

【He looks so refined—how can he be this greedy? Are people from the mainland really as poor and desperate as they say?】

Fu Guiru stared at Li Ye for several seconds, then frantically unclasped the Breguet watch on her wrist, her fingers trembling so badly she nearly failed to undo the strap multiple times.

Fu Guiru had been unable to read Li Ye's thoughts all along.

She feared he might angrily question her—or coldly refuse to acknowledge her.

After all, the child was so young when they were forced apart—resentment couldn't be erased with a few words.

So she'd let it be, leaving the final veil unbroken, preserving a sliver of hope.

But now, Li Ye suddenly asked for "his girlfriend's share"—what did that mean?

You don't say it out loud, but you've accepted me in your heart, right?

Is that what this means?

Fu Guiru didn't hesitate for a second—even if there was only the slightest chance, she would grasp it tightly.

"Mom, what are you doing? You can't give away this watch! You said you were saving it for your future daughter-in-law!"

"Slap!"

A sharp slap landed on Xiao Man's face, leaving four bright red marks.

Fu Guiru didn't even glance at her son after striking him—she simply pushed the watch toward Li Ye: "I came too hastily—take this watch for now."

"."

Li Ye watched as Fu Guiru placed the watch before him, and sighed.

He recognized this watch—it was worth far more than the two in the boxes, and from Xiao Man's reaction, it was clearly a treasured possession of hers.

Slowly, Li Ye reached out and took hold of the women's watch, his eyes locked on Fu Guiru's.

He saw guilt. He saw anxiety. He even saw pleading.

"Boom—"

Outside the hotel, a sudden clap of thunder rolled through the air.

【Heaven strikes with lightning!】

Li Ye nodded, said nothing, and picked up the watch.

Outside the hotel window, large raindrops suddenly began pelting down—papapa—with urgency, soaking the dry pavement and nourishing the flowers and grass by the roadside.

Fu Guiru smiled with relief, then seemed to remember something and began rummaging through her bag again.

"You'll have to pay tax bringing this watch back—here's some money, take it for the tax."

Fu Guiru pulled out a thick envelope.

But Li Ye shook his head: "I can handle this myself. Too much cash will only cause unnecessary trouble."

"Oh, oh, right."

Fu Guiru thought for a moment, then tucked the envelope away.

She assumed Li Ye would ask his classmates or colleagues to each wear one watch to avoid customs duties.

In mainland China at the time, returning travelers often brought back a few items without declaring them—it wasn't as strictly enforced as in later years.

"You're studying at Peking University, Class of '82, Economics?"

Fu Guiru carefully wrote down Li Ye's contact address, then stood to leave.

Seeing her go, Li Ye asked: "Aren't you going to leave me your address?"

Fu Guiru paused, then wrote an address for him: "This is my address. Write to me. If your sister is willing—let her write too."

Li Ye nodded silently: "It might take some time."

Fu Guiru nodded repeatedly: "Give me a little more time… just a little more time."

………

After Fu Guiru and her family left, Team Leader Zhou asked Li Ye in surprise: "Li Ye, I just noticed she gave you her own watch—what exactly did you say to her?"

Another staff member added: "Yeah, Li Ye, you can't take advantage of her kindness. She gave us so many gifts—you can't be this greedy."

Li Ye rolled his eyes: "These are clues she gave me—I'm going to use them to help her find her family."

Team Leader Zhou looked at Li Ye's calm expression and had nothing more to say.

After all, she'd given all those gifts in the corner precisely because she was searching for her family across thousands of miles—and Li Ye was close friends with Dong Yuejin, who was doing the same.

Those TVs, in fact, were all benefits Li Ye had fought for everyone.

Of course, if Team Leader Zhou knew one watch was worth more than that entire pile of TVs, he might think differently.

"You absolutely must help her find her family! We took so much from her—we can't accept it for nothing."

Li Ye nodded: "I'm going to make an international call right now—then I'll bring back the invoice to get reimbursed."

"Huh?"

…………

Li Ye really did make the call—but not to the Lanhai Publishing House in Hong Kong. He called Pei Wencong in Hong Kong.

"Old Pei, write down this address: Johor, Malaysia."

After Pei Wencong wrote it down, Li Ye added: "I remember you have classmates in Malaysia, right?"

Pei Wencong said: "Yes, I have a few classmates from HKU in Malaysia. Are you asking them to contact this person?"

"No," Li Ye said calmly. "Find a way to investigate this address without alerting them—especially about a woman from Dongshan in mainland China, over ten years ago."

Pei Wencong blinked: "Mr. Li, are you feuding with someone? Or…"

"Don't ask so many questions," Li Ye said. "Can you do it? If not, I'll ask Wu Jinyuan."

"I can! Definitely!"

Pei Wencong answered instantly, then added: "But Mr. Li, I recommend hiring a private detective. If handled well, they won't even know who hired them—more discreet, safer."

Li Ye said: "Then get it done quickly! I'm leaving Lijiapo in three days. Here's the hotel's number. If you have news after three days, call Beijing—remember, only tell me, and don't let anyone else know."

"Understood, Mr. Li. I'll arrange it as soon as possible."

Li Ye hung up the phone and thought deeply for a long time, concluding he hadn't done anything wrong.

From Fu Guiru's words just now and her emotional fluctuations, it was clear she had left the mainland out of necessity.

As for her behavior today, it was obviously still influenced by the moral ideals of Huahua, and her conscience had been troubled.

Li Ye could sever this connection outright. But what did Li Yue and Li Kaijian think?

But what about Han Chunmei?

Given Han Chunmei's meek nature, what would happen if she found out about Fu Guiru?

【No wonder the best trope for time-travel novels is being an orphan! So much simpler.】

"Boom boom~"

"Crack crack~"

"Hey, you're getting fired up now?"