Chapter 3: Unexpected Changes

Three hours later, Ye Chen walked out of the Yun City airport. Standing by the roadside, he sighed deeply.

“After five years away from Yun City, I’ve finally returned! Mother, little sister, are you both alright?”

Soon, Ye Chen hailed a taxi and set out towards home. Along the way, his heart was a tumult of excitement and anxiety.

Having vanished for five years without a word, his mother and sister must have assumed he was dead.

His father had passed away from illness when Ye Chen was only five. His mother had struggled bitterly to raise him and his sister alone. The moment she learned of his disappearance, surely her heart had shattered.

And then there was his sister, Ye Xue. Counting the years, she had just turned eighteen. It was July now—the results of her college entrance exams should be out. She’d always done well in school; surely she’d been admitted to a good university…

Ye Chen’s thoughts wandered as the taxi sped to his neighborhood. He arrived at the entrance and walked familiar paths to the door of Unit 1, Room 4-1.

Standing before the door, he took a deep breath and knocked.

A middle-aged woman opened the door, looking at Ye Chen with surprise.

“Who are you looking for?” she asked.

Ye Chen was taken aback. He didn’t know this woman; she wasn’t a relative.

“Is this not Zhou Xiufang’s home?” Ye Chen inquired.

The woman gave him a once-over. “Young man, Zhou Xiufang was the previous owner of this apartment. She sold it to me five years ago.”

What?

Sold the apartment?

Ye Chen’s face paled. This was their only home. If even this had been sold, something catastrophic must have happened to his family.

The woman noticed his change of expression and frowned, letting out a sigh.

“I heard Zhou Xiufang got into trouble because her son offended a wealthy heir in Yun City. The other party demanded five million in compensation!”

“That poor woman—her husband died early, her son died in that disaster, and she ended up saddled with a five-million debt! How could she possibly survive?”

Ye Chen’s brows knitted tightly, his heart sinking to the depths.

He hadn’t injured anyone that year; rather, he’d been beaten up by Wang Hai and his gang. Why, then, had his family been forced to pay them? And five million, no less! Was there no justice left in this world?

Anger flared in Ye Chen’s chest, but first he had to find his mother and sister.

He asked the woman urgently, “Do you know where Zhou Xiufang and her family live now?”

She thought for a moment. “When I took possession, I heard they were moving to the urban village. I don’t know exactly where.”

“Thank you.” Ye Chen turned and departed.

He knew the urban village well—it was where his grandfather’s old house stood.

Ye Chen hailed another taxi and rushed toward the urban village.

Soon, the taxi arrived. Rows of chaotic, dilapidated apartment blocks greeted his eyes, relics from the 1980s, now nearly deserted.

Ye Chen made his way to a courtyard and stopped. This was his grandfather’s old house.

The front gate was open; Ye Chen stepped inside.

He saw a thin young woman with her hair tied back, sitting on a small stool, scrubbing clothes in a wooden basin.

Ye Chen recognized her immediately—it was his sister. His voice trembled with emotion.

“Ye… Ye Xue?!”

At the sound, Ye Xue looked up. When she saw Ye Chen, her hands froze, the act of washing forgotten.

She stared, stunned.

Her pupils widened, disbelief flooding her gaze, lips trembling.

She couldn’t believe it—the brother they thought lost for five years stood before her.

She and their mother had long believed Ye Chen was dead.

Yet here he was, alive. But if he was alive, where had he been all those years?

Her nose tingled, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

Ye Chen’s own eyes grew wet. Seeing his sister’s pale, exhausted face, he knew how much hardship they must have endured these five years.

Just then, Ye Xue wiped her tears away, her expression darkening.

A surge of resentment welled up within her.

After their father’s death, Ye Chen was the pillar of the family. Why had he disappeared for five whole years without returning? What truly happened that night? Maybe, she thought bitterly, he’d stayed away just to avoid the Wang family, leaving her and their mother to bear the burden alone.

Ye Xue fixed Ye Chen with a cold, accusing gaze.

“Ye Chen, where have you been these past five years? Why are you only appearing now?”

“Do you have any idea what we’ve been through?”

“Because of what happened, Mom sold our home to pay them, and it still wasn’t enough.”

“I had to juggle school and work to pay off debts.”

“Did you know Mom tried to seek justice for you from the Wang family, only to have her legs broken?”

“She’s bedridden now, unable to afford treatment, and she’s close to dying…”

“Mom’s legs were broken?” Ye Chen’s heart pounded, rage igniting within him.

“Who did it?”

“Who else?” Ye Xue sobbed, rushing to Ye Chen’s side and shoving him hard.

“Back then, Mom and I thought you’d been killed by the Wang family. We went to demand your return, but their people beat us. Mom shielded me, and Wang Hai broke both her legs right then and there!”

“Afterward, the Wang family used their connections to sue you for assault. We couldn’t afford a lawyer and ended up branded as criminals, accused of you injuring someone and fleeing in fear!”

“They demanded five million in compensation! We still owe fifty thousand, and the Wang family sends people to collect every day. Not long ago, they beat Mom again…”

Ye Xue’s grief grew, her cries louder, until she collapsed into Ye Chen’s arms, wailing in despair.

“Brother! We can’t go on, we’re being driven to death by the Wang family!”

“Oh, brother…”

Ye Xue was heartbroken.

Ye Chen’s soul was torn apart.

His eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead, fists clenched tightly.

The Wang family!

Again, the Wang family!

Ye Chen swore silently, “If I do not avenge this, I am unworthy of being called a man!”

He gently patted Ye Xue’s back, his voice filled with remorse.

“I’m sorry, Xue. There are things I can’t explain yet. But now that I’m back, I’ll shoulder everything.”

“Where’s Mom?” Above all, Ye Chen was worried for his mother’s safety.

Ye Xue released him, wiped her tears. “Mom’s inside. I wanted to take her to the hospital, but she refuses to go.”

“I’ll go see her now,” Ye Chen said, determined to heal his mother first.

Just as Ye Chen was about to enter the house, an angry shout rang out from the gate:

“Zhou Xiufang, when the hell are you going to pay up? If you don’t cough up the money today, we brothers will drag your daughter off to the nightclub to earn it!”