Chapter 3494

When the New Year's bell rang, it was just past nine o'clock in the evening in the Maldives.

To create a better New Year atmosphere, Bernard Arnault spent a fortune buying many fireworks, specifically having people bring them by boat to the bay to set off.

Colorful fireworks rose from the seaside and shot straight into the clouds, exploding in midair and bursting into dazzling, brilliant fireworks, while also being reflected by the sparkling seaside; this scene of sea and sky as one made people lose themselves in it.

Xiao Churan gazed at the fireworks outside the window by the sea, lost in thought, murmuring: "It's been so long since I've seen such beautiful fireworks..."

Ma Lan took out her phone to film while muttering: "Who wouldn't say so? With the urban ban on fireworks for so many years, I almost forgot what fireworks were. They're really beautiful, especially being this close, and even set off on the sea."

Xiao Changkun's pupils reflected countless tiny fireworks; the wrinkles on his face piled up into the undulations and curves of happiness. He smiled and sighed: "When I was little, my favorite thing was setting off firecrackers. Back then, our family was well-off, we had some spare money, and during New Year I always used all my lucky money to buy all kinds of firecrackers. Every day, a bunch of kids would follow behind me, sometimes giving them one or two firecrackers or sparklers, and they'd be overjoyed. They even pushed me to be their grand commander..."

Ma Lan didn't understand his nostalgia and feelings, merely teasing with some ridicule: "Cut it out. With Xiao Changgan around, you could still be grand commander? That grand commander wouldn't be your brother, would it?"

Xiao Changkun waved his hand and said casually: "No, you don't understand. We're years apart in age, not in the same troop. He was grand commander in his troop, I was grand commander in mine."

Ma Lan cracked melon seeds, laughing as she asked: "With your brother's little thoughts, did they ever think about absorbing your troop?"

Xiao Changkun slapped his thigh: "Hey! You really shouldn't say that! He's always been thinking about absorbing my troop, but I refused, and for that I haven't gotten off easy from his beatings."

"I told you so." Ma Lan snorted: "Xiao Changgan's that kind of person—you can tell from childhood he's a good-for-nothing, always thinking about taking advantage of others."

Xiao Changkun nodded, sighing: "This guy, from childhood he was spoiled rotten by my mom. Whether it's his or not his, he wants it."

Ma Lan wondered: "Hey, you say it's strange—everyone pampers the youngest, so why did my mom favor your older brother?"

Xiao Changkun gave a bitter laugh twice, saying: "Since I was little, I wasn't as obedient as my brother. My brother is smarter, knows how to win my mom's favor. Besides, in this family, who can truly split things evenly? One side gets a bit more, the other a bit less—it's normal."

Ma Lan deliberately teased him: "Your brother was rotten from childhood, you were weak from childhood—you two complement each other."

Xiao Changkun ignored her teasing, merely suddenly feeling some emotion: "Ah, I don't even know how they're spending this year, or how it's going."

Ma Lan got a little angry: "Hey, you're still thinking about them now? You really have too much free time."

"How do you say that." Xiao Changkun mumbled with a muffled voice: "However you say it, we're blood relatives. Even if we don't interact anymore, there's still some concern in my heart. Qian Hongyan was still able to earn some money not long ago, letting you cause such a mess—now she probably has no income either."

Ma Lan said indignantly: "That's what she deserves! Who let her keep doing those scammy things? I exposed her—that's contributing to society."

Xiao Changkun sighed: "Nine out of ten internet celebrities are scammers, not missing her one. She made money, my mom could also live a few good days because of it."

Ma Lan snorted coldly: "Her? Still wanting to live well? Heaven's been grinding its teeth at her until now and still hasn't taken her—she's already gotten off easy! That old thing should've died long ago! When your dad died, he should've taken her along too!"

Xiao Changkun grew somewhat angry, his face flushing red as he said: "My mom's already old—how many days does she have left? Can't you leave her some decency?"

At this moment, Xiao Churan felt a deep sense of helplessness welling up inside her, unconsciously thinking of Ye Chen's mother, An Chengxi—she was an outstanding woman for whom many Chinese had written books and biographies. Looking at her own mother, although she didn't dislike her, since learning Ye Chen's true identity, she always found herself uncontrollably wanting to compare.

An indescribable sense of shame made Xiao Churan feel her eyelids burning. She looked at Ma Lan and couldn't help but sigh: "Mom, it's about time. We've been separated from Grandma and Uncle for so long already—what grudge do you still hold that makes you hate them this much? Even on New Year's, you still want to curse them to death?"

Ma Lan didn't know her daughter's current state was different from before; she still thought she was just casually complaining a couple of times with no real bite, so she said disdainfully in a cold voice: "What's wrong with me cursing her to death? I tell you, if I hadn't personally beaten that old immortal to death, I'd already be a total good person! But if anyone else with a black heart had done it, your grandma would've died who knows how many times by now—maybe in some episode of 'Today's Saying,' they'd be telling the story of how she was killed!"

After saying that, she coldly laughed and mocked: "I'll speak my heart: in the Xiao family, only your grandfather counts as a good person. A few years ago I still complained he forced a good son-in-law on you, but now looking back, he must have done it for your own good—otherwise we couldn't be living this prosperously. By rights he should live a few more years, and you swap your grandma dying early instead! Ah! Truly, good people don't live long, while scourges live a thousand years!"

Ma Lan has always loved to win with her words, speaking recklessly and venting, which gives her intense pleasure. Over these many years, when she's been bullied outside, she basically relies on venting at home to make up for her emotions.

Sometimes, she also produces that kind of mindset where she deliberately opposes people.

For example, now—actually she's just casually mocking and sneering at Xiao Churan's grandma a couple of times, but Xiao Changkun and Xiao Churan both seem to blame her a little, so in her heart she can't help but get fired up, thus having this thought: "Hey, I cursed that old immortal twice just to satisfy my mouth, and you two actually dare to sing counterpoint to me? Then I'll just insist on cursing her to death even more!"

Once this emotion flares up, her speech becomes like a machine gun—nonstop venting: "Damn it, this old thing hasn't bullied me less over the years. My leg was broken by that old immortal. If she really dies one day, I'll definitely buy twenty thousand yuan worth of firecrackers to celebrate properly! Even if the city bans firecrackers, I'll still set them off! If they arrest me and put me in detention for a few days, I'll still set them off! I just want that old immortal to die and not even rest in peace!"

Usually gentle Xiao Churan suddenly stood up, slammed the table hard, and blurted: "Enough!!!"

This sudden action not only startled Xiao Changkun and Ma Lan, but also startled quite a few nearby customers.

Xiao Churan lost control of her emotions, ignoring the surprised glances of those around her, stood up and quickly walked out.

Ye Chen saw this, hurriedly stepped forward to follow, only hearing Ma Lan behind him say stubbornly: "This kid, her elbows always turn outward, not one bit toward me..."

The moment Xiao Churan burst out the door, tears just wouldn't stop flowing.

Ye Chen caught up to her, seeing her tear-streaked face, hurriedly asked with concern: "Wife, what's wrong?"

Xiao Churan shook her head, stubbornly saying: "Nothing, I'm fine..."

Ye Chen sensed something was off, immediately asking: "Why are you crying? Mom's just like this—I've gotten used to speaking frankly. You should've gotten used to it by now after all these years."

Xiao Churan couldn't control herself, crying with some emotional breakdown: "I just don't want her to be like this her whole life! I only hope she can improve a bit, become better a bit, not keep smashing her pots and pans and giving up—why can't she do it?!"

"From childhood to now, almost thirty years—she's always been like this! Over so many years, she's suffered so many losses, but she's never truly learned from experience!"

"Over so many years, she's never once corrected her own flaws and problems! Always blaming others, always saying others owe her!"

"You know, over all these years, the only progress I've seen from her is what?"

Ye Chen awkwardly shook his head and asked: "What is it?"

Xiao Churan cried out loudly: "It's your attitude! Over so many years, the only progress she's made is that her attitude toward you has improved. Everything else shows absolutely no change or progress!"

Ye Chen comforted: "Even if only this one point of progress is seen, it at least counts as progress, right? So you can't completely deny that she's had no progress all these years, right?"

Xiao Churan suddenly burst into tears, sobbing: "Yes... yes, there's this little bit of progress... but... but I know this isn't really her getting better! It's you getting better!"

Saying this, she lifted her head, her bloodshot eyes looking at Ye Chen, tears unstoppable, sobbing: "It's your abilities growing stronger, your network widening, your money increasing—so she now calls you a good son-in-law in one breath, no longer daring to mock or insult you as before! At the root, she's still her, that eternally unchanging her!!"

At this moment, Xiao Churan's emotions completely collapsed—she crouched on the ground, buried her face in the crook of her arm, and trembled as she cried.

Ye Chen didn't understand, always feeling Xiao Churan shouldn't be this sensitive—people say lice don't itch when there are too many, and he's been bitten by Ma Lan for five or six years and is now completely immune. Xiao Churan lived with her for thirty years—why would she suddenly lose reason? So he guessed Xiao Churan's state was clearly problematic; this sudden loss of control didn't seem entirely related to Ma Lan.

But what exactly the other reason was, he couldn't figure out.

In life, some things are just like this—it's like a math problem missing a key condition: you know something's off, but you can't work out exactly where, nor guess the correct solution or answer.

Xiao Churan's suffering is layered—years of accumulated repression, unspeakable bitterness, and even pain with nowhere to vent.

Thinking that in a month she'll have to disappear from Ye Chen's world makes her heart hurt even more.

At this moment, she is the loneliest person in this world.