Madam, Please Behave

Chapter 128: Just Say Yes

An Yuanyao patted her slightly bloated stomach. Once again, she couldn’t finish her ramen, though she had tried her best. The portions at the ramen shop Liu Changqing had taken her to were simply too generous.

When the small bowl of ramen was served, it had already been an overwhelming sight for her. There was no way she could finish it all. She ended up transferring some noodles into Liu Changqing’s bowl, and after carefully eating what she could, she sat back with a contented smile, watching him eat.

Thinking back to the way Liu Changqing slurped his noodles, An Yuanyao couldn’t help but smile. Just watching him eat seemed to stir up an appetite.

Her gaze drifted toward him. Liu Changqing was standing a bit farther away, back turned, speaking on the phone. She couldn’t hear who he was talking to, but he’d been on the call for a while.

Curious, An Yuanyao began walking toward him, deliberately softening her footsteps. Standing behind him, she stretched out her hands, planning to cover his eyes as a playful surprise.

However, her hands froze mid-air as Liu Changqing suddenly turned around. His red-rimmed eyes caught her off guard.

“I need to head back,” he said quietly, hanging up the call and slipping his phone into his pocket.

Looking at her outstretched hands, Liu Changqing didn’t have the energy to tease her this time. Struggling to keep his emotions in check, he said,

“You’re full now, right? Go back to your new place and get some rest. I’ve got something urgent to handle.”

An Yuanyao could sense something was wrong. This was the first time she’d seen such an expression on his face. Concerned, she asked,

“What happened? Is something wrong?”

“It’s got nothing to do with you,” Liu Changqing replied in a low voice.

The call from Lan Yixian earlier had clearly shaken him, making it impossible for him to stay calm.

He walked past An Yuanyao, raising a hand to hail a taxi. When one stopped, he turned back to her and said,

“Get in and go home.”

“What’s going on? You were fine just a moment ago!”

An Yuanyao caught up to him, grabbing his wrist with a face full of worry.

Instead of answering, Liu Changqing simply gave her a look, then pulled her along and firmly placed her into the taxi.

Though she struggled, her resistance was no match for Liu Changqing’s strength.

The door closed with a light thud.

An Yuanyao rolled down the window and reached out to grab his shirt.

“What’s wrong with you? Tell me!”

“I already told you—it has nothing to do with you. This is my problem.”

With a firm grip, Liu Changqing removed her hands from his shirt. Staring directly at her, he spoke slowly and clearly,

“I have an emergency to deal with. Go home and rest, understood?”

Leaning in closer, he whispered in her ear,

“If you don’t listen to me, I’ll be very upset.”

Pulling back, he raised his voice slightly and addressed the driver.

“Driver, please start the car. She’ll give you the address.”

The driver nodded and started the engine.

“Liu Changqing!”

Even as the car drove off, he could still hear An Yuanyao calling out to him.

He turned away without responding, lighting a cigarette. Taking a deep drag, he exhaled slowly and pulled out his phone. He dialed a number he had long memorized by heart, bringing the phone to his ear.

It was Li Wanran’s number.

Walking briskly to where he had parked his van, he climbed in and shut the door with force, fastening his seatbelt. The call went unanswered.

Liu Changqing redialed, his frustration mounting. When it still didn’t connect, he scrolled through his contacts and found Ye Rong’s name.

This time, the call was picked up almost immediately.

Before Liu Changqing could say anything, Ye Rong’s voice came through clearly:

“Let’s cut to the chase. Three million. The agreement you signed back then is void. Liu Zhiyue stays with you, and we’ll return the house and car to you. All we want is custody of Liu Xiazhi.”

“…”

Liu Changqing remained silent, flicking the ash off his cigarette. He took another long drag, his eyes fixed on the windshield in front of him.

“Three million? So, what was the plan back then?” His voice was calm but carried a sharp edge.

“You forced me to sign that agreement, left me with just three thousand yuan to raise two kids, and even schemed to shut down my factory. What was the point?”

He genuinely couldn’t comprehend the twisted logic behind their actions. With their family background, they could have easily taken custody of the kids back then. The old Liu Changqing wouldn’t have been able to fight back.

But they had insisted on making him choose between the kids and the money. Naturally, he chose the kids, giving up everything else.

After transmigrating, Liu Changqing had pieced together their reasoning.

It was humiliation, pure and simple. They wanted to see him crushed by the weight of divorce, stripped of everything, forced to raise two children in poverty, only to be abandoned by them in the end.

They wanted to see him betrayed by the children he had sacrificed everything for.

Their plan was to make him fall from privilege into despair, believing that the children would eventually seek out the better life offered by Li Wanran’s side.

This was how Ye Rong thought. Raised in comfort and never experiencing hardship, she viewed people as mere pawns in her schemes.

This kind of person…

Ye Rong fell silent at Liu Changqing’s pointed question. When she finally spoke again, it was only to say,

“You just need to say yes.”

Hearing those words, Liu Changqing couldn’t hold back any longer.

Lowering his voice, he gave his answer:

“Go f*** yourself!”