Volume 2: Eagle vs. Dragon Chapter 18 Marriage by Agreement
Wu Chengjian felt a little sympathy for Ye Youyu's childhood experiences, but that was all.
Ye Youyu only said that her stepmother Ma was unfair to her, but Wu Chengjian knew that Ye Dalin was not very good to her either.
Everyone in Guangzhou's Xiguan knew that the Ye family had a very intelligent concubine's daughter who could read and write at a very young age, and could even recite long passages of poetry and songs. This was a very proud thing for Ye Dalin, who came from an illiterate family. Therefore, he liked to keep her by his side or let her go out to attend various occasions that girls could attend.
Just like a piece of exquisite porcelain, it would be a shame for Ye Dalin not to show it off - but who would treat their daughter like this if they were a wealthy family? If they really treated Ye Youyu as their precious jewel, who would be willing to let her show up in public?
Therefore, Wu Chengjian knew without asking that Ye Dalin could not be truly kind to Ye Youyu.
But he thought that living in Ye Dalin's house, it was actually a good thing that Ye Youyu could still be of use to him. Under Ye Dalin's control, it was really miserable for someone who was not even of use to him.
After a moment of silence, Wu Chengjian asked, "Do you hate this family?"
Ye Youyu lowered his head: "Some."
"Just a few?"
"I know them," Ye Youyu said, "They have their own sufferings and sins, so they treat me like that, but... I understand the truth, but I can't completely stop feeling resentful. After all, I'm not a Bodhisattva. But I don't want my resentment to expand endlessly. I can't let this resentment poison myself. My first half of life was not good, but I can't sacrifice my second half of life because of them."
Wu Chengjian said: "You have read a lot of books. This is the principle of Buddhism."
“No matter which publisher the book comes from,” Ye Youyu said, “as long as it can make people’s lives better, it is a good book.”
Wu Chengjian nodded. Ye Youyu's idea suited his taste. At least it didn't have the sourness of a scholar. So he said, "How do you want me to help you?"
Finally, she heard this sentence... However, Ye Youyu was not happy because this was not the answer she expected, so she said, "I don't know."
Wu Chengjian said angrily: "I don't like this answer. Since we are doing a deal, it is better to lay out the matter and give a clear price."
Ye Youyu's heart ached when she heard Wu Chengjian talk about "making a deal" and "clearly marking the price". No matter how smart she was, she was only a girl of seventeen or eighteen years old after all. The man in front of her was the person she had cherished for a long time, but this person was only willing to talk about "deal" with her.
"I am still too naive. I should have known... God... you wouldn't be so nice to me..."
She restrained herself from thinking any further, collected herself, and said, "I hope my mother and I can escape from the sea of suffering, but it is very difficult."
Wu Chengjian nodded and said, "It is indeed a bit troublesome."
It would be fine for Ye Youyu herself, but Xu was Ye Dalin's concubine, and a concubine who had given birth to a daughter. It would be difficult for her to leave the Ye family in this life. This matter could not be accomplished by just paying money.
Suddenly, he smiled again and said, "Maybe there is a way."
Ye Youyu said: "Hmm?"
Wu Chengjian said with a smile: "I have ruined the Ye family. Once the Ye family is ruined, it will be easy to rescue someone. What do you think?"
Ye Youyu clasped her hands together and said, "I have resentment towards my father, hatred towards my wife, and anger towards my brothers and sisters, but I don't want the Ye family to be destroyed. No matter what, I am still the daughter of the Ye family. If I really want to destroy the Ye family, I am afraid I will go to the eighteenth level of hell after I die. My mother will not allow me to do this."
Wu Chengjian said, "If it's not like this, then it will be difficult. Ye Dalin is a man who will take advantage of the situation. If I really just ask him for you and your daughter, he will definitely ask for a lot of money. At that time, I will have to pay a huge price, so much... so much that it far exceeds this favor you have given me."
Every word of these is based on calculations.
Ye Youyu felt sad and said, "I know."
Wu Chengjian said: "But I think with your personality, since you came to see me, you must have some ideas. You don't need me to help you find a solution, right?"
Ye Youyu was silent for a long time. The reason for her silence was that the following words were not what she wanted to say. However, there was no way back now: "Yes."
Wu Chengjian said, "Speak."
Ye Youyu said: "Third brother...Hao Guan, please take me as your concubine."
This was the second time Wu Chengjian was surprised tonight. After hearing what he had just said, he felt that Ye Youyu was a very proud person. In his judgment, Ye Youyu should be a person who would rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of an ox. In other words, she should prefer to marry a man from a middle-class family or even a poor family as a wife, rather than clinging to a rich man to be a concubine. Moreover, the root cause of her current predicament was her mother's status as a concubine. She was actually willing to repeat the same mistake? So Wu Chengjian couldn't help but feel surprised: Could it be that he had misjudged her ?
"Are you... sure?"
Ye Youyu said, "Now that you are powerful, Hao Guan, my father has let down your Wu family this time, so he is very afraid of your revenge. If you want to get me out without spending too much, it's actually easy. You just need to offer a few conditions that my father can accept, and then put forward an additional clause, saying that you want to take me as a concubine. In this way... In this way, my father will probably think that either you are using this matter to ridicule him, or that I charmed you with my beauty tonight. On the one hand, he will think that I am tattered and will no longer value me, and on the other hand, he will think that I am just an extra and will not ask for an exorbitant price. In this way, I can easily leave the Ye family without using much power from the Wu family."
Wu Chengjian felt that given Ye Dalin's personality, he would most likely think so, so he asked, "What conditions do you think should be set?"
Ye Youyu lowered his voice and said seven or eight sentences.
Wu Chengjian raised his eyebrows, extremely surprised: "You...you know so much about the Ye family's details!"
Ye Youyu said, "I have seen many guests with my father since I was a child. Sometimes he would talk to others about important matters without avoiding me. I am also attentive and can draw inferences from other things. Therefore, I am afraid that I know more about the situation of the Ye family than my brothers."
Wu Chengjian said with a smile: "Knowing so much is one thing, but you are really ruthless. If you put forward these conditions, Ye Dalin will lose a lot of skin."
Ye Youyu said, "There is no such thing as a cheap and good thing under heaven. The Ye family has wronged the Wu family, so they have to pay a price. Otherwise, it will be hard for you, Haoguan, to get over your anger towards the Ye family, right? If the matter cannot be resolved, and the resentment and friction between the Wu and Ye families continue, the damage to the Ye family will only be greater than this."
Wu Chengjian uttered a "huh" and said nothing.
Ye Youyu said: "But in this way, the Wu family will also benefit greatly, so Haoguan, you have to agree to one more condition of mine."
Wu Chengjian said, "Speak."
Ye Youyu lowered his head for a while before looking up again and saying, "Hao Guan, let's make a deal."
Wu Chengjian asked: "What agreement?"
Ye Youyu said, "If after we get married and we get along for a while, you think I'm a good match, I hope you can find a chance to make me your wife. If after three years, you still can't believe that I love you, then please divorce me, let me be free, and give me some money so that I can buy some property and support my mother until she's old. Is that okay, Haoguan?"
Wu Chengjian asked, "Are you really willing?"
"Of course I'm not willing to give up." Ye Youyu said, "I don't believe in fate, I only believe in myself. If there was a better opportunity, I would definitely not give up like this. But I didn't. My family is pushing me very hard, and I can't drag it out any longer. I have too few chips, and my luck is bad today..." She paused for a long time before continuing, "At this moment, I can't think of a better way, so I can only do this."
Wu Chengjian did not comment.
Ye Youyu said in a trembling voice, "Is it okay, Haoguan? This agreement? Can you agree to it?"
Wu Chengjian finally left and agreed.
The conversation lasted for a long time. Tietou Junba came back, and Wu Chengjian got on his boat directly.
Dongxue went up the stairs and saw Ye Youyu looking at the boat leaving with tears on her face.
Dongxue said anxiously: "Girl, girl, what's wrong with you?" She was fine when she was sending Wu Chengjian to the boat just now, how come she started crying like this in the blink of an eye.
Ye Youyu wiped her tears and said, "It's okay, I'm fine." After saying this, she wiped her tears and returned to her usual calm demeanor.
How could it be okay? Dongxue thought. This was the first time she saw Ye Youyu cry.
But Ye Zhong had already come up, glanced at Ye Youyu, ignored her tears, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Ye Youyu said: "When the time is right, he will talk to my father about the terms."
When Ye Zhong heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Wu Chengjian was willing to negotiate terms, that would be fine. After all, Wu and Ye were old friends. In the business world, as long as you are willing to sit down, there is room for negotiation. As long as you can negotiate, things won't be too bad.
He turned to leave, but suddenly stopped and said, "Don't think too much. There aren't so many good things in a person's life. Think more about the good side."
"I know..." Ye Youyu didn't expect that Ye Zhong seemed to have seen through her thoughts. She showed an ugly smile: "Thank you, Uncle Zhong."
On the boat steered by Tietou Junba, Wu Qi said with a smile: "Officer Hao, we made a profit this time. We got a beautiful bride."
Actually, Wu Chengjian had no intention to destroy the Ye family from the beginning. He occasionally spread some rumors during this period to deliberately intimidate Ye Dalin. He also revealed a sentence or two during the daily chat at home, so Wu Qi knew what Wu Chengjian was thinking and also knew the conditions that Wu Chengjian expected. But getting a stunningly beautiful concubine on top of that was an unexpected gain.
Wu Chengjian smiled, but suddenly he was stunned and his face froze.
Wu Qi said: "Officer Hao, what's wrong with you?"
"I'm going to die!" Wu Chengjian suddenly said angrily: "How could she know! How could she know! Is this woman a worm in my stomach?"
Wu Qi said: "Hao Guan, what's wrong? What's wrong with you?"
Wu Chengjian looked angry, as if he had been offended. Under his playful smile, he was actually thinking deeply. In the whole city of Guangzhou, only Zhou Yijin could understand his thoughts.
But the conditions Ye Youyu proposed just now were exactly what pressed his bottom line. It was precisely to prevent the Ye family from falling into ruin, and Wu Chengjian had also made up his mind.
"How could she calculate so accurately?" Wu Chengjian murmured, "Could it be that Ye Dalin taught her? No!"
If Ye Dalin could calculate me so accurately, why would he be so worried about my revenge? Then how could this woman, whom I had only met two or three times, know that I knew so much?
The boat was also at Baietan, so we quickly reached Huachahao.
When Wu Chengjian got on the boat and saw Tan Sanniang, his expression changed again, and his smiling face showed an unconcealable spring feeling.
Tan Sanniang was still helping him change his clothes as usual. Wu Chengjian asked, "Why don't you ask about the situation this time?"
Tan Sanniang asked, "Did the talks go well?"
"It went very smoothly." Wu Chengjian said with a smile, "Not only did I get the inside scoop on the Ye family, but I also got a stunning beauty as my wife. Girls are outgoing. Although Youyu hasn't married yet, her heart is already with me."
Tan Sanniang was stunned, but this time she had already calmed down, so she didn't react that strongly.
Wu Chengjian said, "You haven't seen the real person. The third daughter of the Ye family is truly a stunning beauty. There is no one else in Guangzhou who can compare to her! Although she is a concubine's daughter, it's not bad. After all, the Ye family and our Wu family are well matched. Moreover, my father once praised her, saying that this girl of the old Ye family is really good. She is also someone my father has taken a fancy to."
Wu Qixin beside him thought: "Aren't you going to take a concubine? You're not going to marry a wife, so why are you talking about being well-matched?"
But then I heard Tan Sanniang say, "Congratulations."
Seeing that she was still so calm, Wu Chengjian could no longer suppress his pent-up anger and said, "You really want to congratulate me? Don't you really care about me getting married?"
Tan Sanniang said: "I said, as long as you are well, I will be well..."
Before she finished speaking, Wu Chengjian became even angrier: "Sanniang, why do you hold me down like this? Do you really think I will marry you?"
Tan Sanniang said, "I have never controlled you...it's just...Hao Guan, we are really not suitable. In fact, as long as you are well, I will be at ease. You are also a person who sees everything clearly, why are you so confused about this matter?"
"You...you!" Wu Chengjian said angrily, "Okay! I'll go back and tell my father about this marriage. Tomorrow I'll ask my sister-in-law to find a matchmaker, and the day after tomorrow I'll marry Ye Youyu. Then you can go to Mr. Er He and see if he can give you a dose of regret medicine!"
