Chapter 356: Grandmother-in-Law? More like Great-Grandma!
For Ye Liang Chen’s confidence, Li Qing Xue just wanted to bang her head against a wall and pretend he wasn’t there. She instinctively decided to ignore him, because honestly, who needs more headaches?
“Ye Liang Chen, are you sure you’re not a little too full of yourself?” she asked, giving him a look that just screamed, “Please, go bother someone who cares.”
“I’m not upset or touched by your sudden appearance. Not at all,” she added, emphasizing the point with all the sarcasm she could muster. “Actually, your appearance has briefly made an impact—on my very sanity.”
“If you really want to go a bit nuts, could you do it somewhere else? I don’t need your knight-in-shining-armor act, okay?” she snapped. “Really, I don’t.”
And then she threw in, for good measure, “Oh, and by the way, I honestly don’t understand — what kind of mindset are you even talking from?”
He had previously accused her so nastily, and now he had the gall to think she’d feel moved? Seriously?
Upon hearing this, a tiny crack appeared on Ye Liang Chen’s ever-present smile, as if someone had just told him his favorite snack was discontinued.
“Qing Xue, what are you talking about? It’s me who opened your eyes to Dragon Bro’s true nature. I’m the misunderstood hero trying to save you all, yet here you are — stabbing me in the back with words so hurtful,” he lamented, his voice oozing heartbreak.
“You saw the photo, right? Dragon Brother is just a no-good lying cheat who can’t control his LOWER half. He doesn’t cherish you, he’s kissing random girls today and probably booking hotel rooms with them tomorrow. He doesn’t care about you at all,” he declared like he was the only adult in the room.
“But I! I’ve been silently protecting you all along…” he finished dramatically.
Li Qing Xue snorted in disgust, giving him a look that clearly said, “Yuck, get a new hobby.” Honestly, if Wan Ning hadn’t been there, she might have seriously believed him. How does he even have the nerve? Talking smack about Dragon Bro while boosting himself—who does that?
“First point—even if Dragon Bro makes mistakes, I’ll fix him. That’s none of your business!” she shot back, stubborn as ever.
She had already made up her mind. She would steer Dragon Bro back on track, show him the right way, and make sure he didn’t do bad things anymore. That was her plan. Easy peasy.
But Ye Liang Chen’s ears only heard a screeching noise—like nails on a chalkboard—and he couldn’t comprehend a single thing she said. Her mind must’ve been on another frequency because he was utterly baffled.
“Li Qing Xue, what happened to you? You’ve completely changed. You used to be so straightforward—what’s with all this nonsense?” he whined, painfully confused. “Don’t you realize? We’ve been friends for ten years. I’ve done everything for you. And now…? You’re just going down the drain, not caring about right or wrong?”
Seeing Ye Liang Chen’s breakdown, Li Qing Xue didn’t want to fight anymore. She just turned to leave, tired of the verbal rollercoaster.
But this was when the dominoes started falling—because Ye Liang Chen, apparently pushed past his limit, snapped his rational string like a twig and lost it.
Memories of all he’d tried so hard to do for Li Qing Xue flooded his heart, fueling his frustration. He gripped her arm, voice trembling. “You don’t get it? You can’t communicate with me, but you can with Dragon Bro? Do you even understand how much I’ve sacrificed? Do you know what I’ve done for you?”
His voice cracked. “All I want is for you to see—I care about you more than anyone else in this world…”
Li Qing Xue struggled and yanked her arm away, her eyes burning with a flicker of anger. “Am I not clear enough? Fine, then listen up: Ye Liang Chen, you make me sick!”
His heart pounding, Ye Liang Chen couldn’t stand it. He’d poured his soul into showing he cared, only to be spat on—literally and figuratively. The rejection cut deeper than any sword.
Nothing hurt more than seeing his kindness met with disgust.
“Come with me,” he pleaded, grabbing her wrist desperately. “You’ll see how shameful Dragon Bro really is.”
“Let go of me! I don’t want to go with you,” Li Qing Xue yelled, struggling harder. “I know Dragon Brother better than you do!”
Ye Liang Chen shot back, “You’re blind! Since you’re so stubborn and fallen into darkness willingly, as a knight, I can’t just stand by and watch you go down that path.”
Before he could do anything further, Ye Liang Chen suddenly ‘bamf’—a swift kick sent him crashing onto the ground.
“Are you okay?” Hu Yu Ying hurried over, anxiously checking on her friend, making sure she hadn’t gotten hurt.
Dragon Brother stepped in front of them, frowning at Ye Liang Chen sprawled on the dirt. Ugh, again with this guy? How does he keep appearing?
Xiao Yatu, and Li Qing Xue, were still at A University, having come to school that day and witnessing Ye Liang Chen dragging Li Qing Xue along like a puppy.
Without hesitation, driven by Xiao Yatu’s urgency, Dragon Brother didn’t hesitate. He shot forward and kicked him again.
Seeing Hu Yu Ying looking out for her, then at Dragon Bro standing fiercely in front of her, Li Qing Xue’s mood shifted instantly—she looked utterly helpless and whined, “He’s crazy! He just keeps insisting on saving me, even though I told him I don’t want saving. It’s so frustrating I could scream!”
Hearing this, Hu Yu Ying felt her heart tighten even more: “It’s okay. Don’t worry, Brother Long is here. He’ll protect us…”
But Ye Liang Chen, still lying on the ground after the second kick, recognized Dragon Bro and Hu Yu Ying, and his fury boiled over. He ground his teeth and got up with gritted resolve, glaring at Dragon Brother as if he wanted to eat him.
All the grievances and frustration boiled over—it was Dragon Bro’s fault, all of it.
If it weren’t for him, Ye Liang Chen wouldn’t be like this now.
He just wanted to save Li Qing Xue but, no—Dragon Bro refused to admit his mistakes and even attacked him. How dare he try to stop his perfect plan?
Rage, pure rage.
“Why did you kick me?” Ye Liang Chen spat. “Do you even know how long I’ve known Li Qing Xue?”
Not done yet, he demanded: “We’ve known each other for ten years. Everything I’ve done was for her! Why are you stopping me?”
Dragon Bro ignored him outright and turned to Li Qing Xue.
Seeing her eyes misty and shaking her head, he launched a slap.
“Don’t pretend you’re doing this for her,” he snapped, pointing a finger. “You’re just doing awful things and calling it ‘helping’. How disgusting.”
He mockingly poked his cheek with his tongue, then slowly turned his face to look her straight in the eyes. “What I do is disgusting? Ha. I laugh. Yes, I laugh because I’m finally seeing the truth.”
“Dragon Bro, you’re the one who’s unqualified to say such things,” he continued, eyes blazing. “I’ve been protecting them all this time—you, on the other hand, are hurting them! You keep hiding behind the ‘for their good’ mask while doing some sleazy things. And now you have the nerve to call me disgusting?”
He punched Dragon Bro square in the face!
“I at least don’t force them to do things they don’t want to,” Dragon Bro retorted, grabbing Ye Liang Chen’s fist mid-air and tossing one back.
In that moment—everything seemed to slow down. The surroundings, everything in his sight, reflected in slow motion. His vision, the face of the generous ‘Grandma,’ floated above like a fond memory. Above all, there was chaos—the loud noise of the fight filling the air.
“Dragon Bro, he… he might d*e, right?” Li Qing Xue sniffed, eyes reddening, trembling slightly. “You think he’ll be okay?”
“Of course not. Bro just touched him lightly. Look, he’s still wide awake,” Xiao Yatu said, nodding to Ye Liang Chen’s open eyes, trying to shield him—the knight-like concern clear on her face.
Looking at Ye Liang Chen’s twisted face on the ground, Dragon Bro approached the scooter, pulled out a bottle of mineral water, took a sip, then sprayed a little on him and asked softly, “Hey, you okay?”
“Looks like Grandma’s coming to pick me up…”
