Chapter 3413

Ye Changmin, who usually loves to talk and express her opinions, has been quietly serving tea to everyone this whole time, basically not saying a word.

Her gaze keeps drifting toward Lin Wanqiu, and the more she looks, the more envious she feels.

Seeing Lin Wanqiu's appearance, skin, demeanor, and the feeling of full facial collagen, she feels she has become an ugly duckling, even feeling too embarrassed to lift her head at times.

Looking at her own hands while pouring tea, she notices they have already begun to show signs of aging; although she usually pays attention to skincare, skin is something that, no matter how well cared for, cannot resist the erosion of time, and even if she avoids contact with spring water in daily life, Ye Changmin, nearing fifty, still has noticeably dry and wrinkled hands.

Seeing Lin Wanqiu lift her cup with hands as soft and tender as a maiden's jade hands, she feels even more ashamed and inferior.

Lin Wanqiu has always been curious, because in her impression, Ye Changmin has always had a strong desire to express herself and been extremely self-centered; back then, she was the most fiery young lady in all of Yanjing, yet she never imagined that Ye Changmin would now voluntarily serve tea to everyone and remain unusually quiet.

Lin Wanqiu has no mirror in front of her, so unlike Ye Changmin, she cannot constantly see her face, which looks twenty years younger.

Precisely for this reason, he does not know why Ye Changmin is so quiet.

When the men are discussing matters, she herself does not wish to interrupt, so she curiously and secretly observes Ye Changmin.

At a certain moment, their eyes meet; realizing they are both secretly observing each other, both feel somewhat embarrassed.

Especially Ye Changmin, when their eyes meet, she sees the corners of Lin Wanqiu's eyes—the area women fear most, where wrinkles first appear.

Yet Lin Wanqiu's eye corners are as tender as tofu, full and smooth, showing no wrinkles or blemishes.

Ye Changmin feels extremely envious, yet also feels the gap between herself and Lin Wanqiu is too great, so she unconsciously lowers her head, and in her final gaze, there is even a hint of inferiority.

Only then does Lin Wanqiu understand why Ye Changmin has been secretly staring at her.

It turns out, it is Ye Chen's Rejuvenation Pill that has drawn attention to her.

As a woman herself, she naturally knows the allure of the Rejuvenation Pill for a fifty-year-old woman.

Ye Changmin's envy is only natural.

But thinking that Ye Changmin is Ye Chen's aunt, Lin Wanqiu also feels somewhat uneasy.

Ye Changmin cannot obtain such a pill, yet Lin Wanqiu has just swallowed a whole one, making her feel somewhat embarrassed.

However, she cannot decide this matter herself, so she can only awkwardly pretend not to have noticed.

Ye Changmin is not foolish; seeing Lin Wanqiu's slightly embarrassed expression, she feels particularly upset in her heart, even wanting to cry from feeling wronged.

Ye Chen is her own nephew—how did he end up treating her so coldly?

Thinking back to when he once confined her to a rental unit in Jin Ling to spend New Year's alone, she had been full of grievances, video-calling her father to complain; if she had known this nephew was so capable, even if he had let her stay in Jin Ling to serve as a maid for that shrew Ma Lan, she would have willingly agreed without complaint.

It's a pity that regret comes too late now—she has lost the opportunity to invest in Ye Chen's original shares, unlike the Gu family, who three members invested in Ye Chen over twenty years ago and have never sold their original shares, no matter what happened in between, which is why Ye Chen treats them so well now.

In contrast, she, his aunt, has become an unwelcome outsider.

Upon this thought, Ye Changmin rare ly reflects on her own life.

From childhood, she was pampered and indulged; not only did her parents spoil her, but her second brother Ye Changying also always doted on her greatly.

After her second brother married, his wife treated her just like a real younger sister.

Although Ye Changmin was spoiled back then, in front of her second brother and sister-in-law, she was well-behaved and sensible, never saying or doing anything out of line.

In fact, she deeply admired Ye Changying and An Chengxi in her heart and also had a strong sense of dependence; she even felt that with this dragon-and-phoenix pair of second brother and sister-in-law, she would surely be well protected and cared for in this lifetime, never expecting that they would both die in their prime.

After that, the Ye family declined; her grandfather had little thought to specially care for her, and her eldest brother was not close to her at all; for a long time, Ye Changmin suddenly became a marginal figure in the Ye family.

Meanwhile, her own husband, who had been promoted all the way by her second brother Ye Changying and had achieved considerable success, lost better development opportunities after her second brother's death; over these many years, he has shown nothing outstanding, causing Ye Changmin to gradually lose patience with him.

Looking at herself now, Ye Changmin suddenly feels life is truly sad; her other brothers still do not take her seriously, but instead guard against her everywhere; although her grandfather means to care for her, he is old and has already handed over the family headship, so the Ye family's resources are actually under the control of her nephew Ye Chen.

Yet this nephew has a poor relationship with her.

She cannot help but think of Ye Changying and An Chengxi, sighing inwardly: "If my second brother and sister-in-law were still alive, Chen'er would certainly not treat me this way; if my second brother and sister-in-law were still alive, they would surely love and care for me as before—how could it come to this, where no one welcomes me..."

Thinking too much, Ye Changmin feels deeply sorrowful, lowers her head, sits alone to one side, and begins to sob silently.

Ye Zhongquan finishes the hot tea in his cup, sees his daughter has not refilled it, and gently taps the tea table, saying: "Changmin, pour Dad some more tea."

Ye Changmin, head down and tears flowing, hears her father call her, snaps back to attention without even wiping her tears, and quickly says: "Okay, Dad."

Speaking, she picks up the teapot and goes to refill his tea.

Ye Zhongquan then sees his daughter's face already streaked with tears, eyes red.

He anxiously asks: "Changmin, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

The others hear this and all turn to look at Ye Changmin.

Ye Chen also sees Ye Changmin's reddened eyes and the thick foundation on her face washed away by two streams of tears; even from her expression, he can sense some sorrow and desolation.

Ye Changmin sees everyone looking at her, panics, and wipes her tears with both hands, covering up by saying: "Ah? Nothing, nothing—I was just thinking..."

Ye Zhongquan feels somewhat pained and asks: "What are you thinking about? At your age, you still make yourself cry?"

Ye Changmin does not know how to respond, so she can only lower her head and sigh softly: "Ah, nothing much—I just miss my second brother and sister-in-law."

After saying this, her inner resentment grows, tears burst forth uncontrollably, and she simply cannot hold them back—tears fall like rain.

Everyone watching feels shocked, while Ye Changmin thinks that since she is wearing makeup, crying will surely ruin it; she already feels inferior in front of Lin Wanqiu, and if her makeup runs, she fears she will look even more like a clown.

So she quickly stands up, flustered, and says: "You all keep talking—I'll go to the restroom."

"Go ahead quickly." Ye Zhongquan nods and waves at her.

Ye Changmin hurries away from the scene; Ye Chen watches her retreating back and gently shakes his head.

Ye Zhongquan empathizes with Ye Changmin's feelings, looks at Ye Chen, and sighs softly: "Chen'er, your aunt has actually had a hard time these years."

After saying that, he quickly adds: "Of course, I mean mentally, not materially."

Ye Chen nods slightly; having wandered outside for so many years, relying on others, he has seen much of human affairs, joy and sorrow, parting and reunion, so how could he not understand?