Chapter 147: The Price of Hating Li Mingye

"Why?" Jiang Xueting pinched Zhao Chengyi's ear, demanding an explanation, but he chose to endure the pain rather than say a word.

Looking at the cake in her hands, Zhang Xilu drifted into a trance for a moment. This cake had a distinct, peculiar flavor—one that only she had ever tasted.

After marrying Li Mingye, on his very first birthday, Zhang Xilu had tried to bake a cake herself. She misread the recipe, added a little too much lemon juice, and ended up with something intensely sour.

Li Mingye hadn't come home that night. Heartbroken, she ate the entire cake by herself and ended up vomiting for two days straight, leaving her with no mood to ever correct the recipe.

The cake in her hands had been made by Li Mingye following that exact, erroneous recipe!

She had already taken those notebooks and journals home. Did he still have a photocopy?

Zhang Xilu took a deep breath, forcing herself to stop dwelling on it, and set the cake down. "Zhao Chengyi, is he here too?"

"Who?" Jiang Xueting didn't stop her hands, glancing sideways at Zhang Xilu. "Who has this guy brought along this time?"

"No, really, no," Zhao Chengyi pleaded with Zhang Xilu. "Have mercy on me, my ancestors, my ear is actually going to fall off."

Zhang Xilu pulled Jiang Xueting away, making her let go of Zhao Chengyi. "Xueting, spare him. Let's eat."

Jiang Xueting released her grip and was about to take a bite of the cake when Zhang Xilu stopped her. "This tastes awful. Don't eat it."

She closed the cake box, pushed it straight aside, and asked a waiter to throw it into the trash can. Zhao Chengyi's complexion instantly turned ashen, as if he had just witnessed the end of the world.

"Oh, my god..."

After dinner, Jiang Xueting suggested going to a nightclub, but Zhang Xilu declined. She wasn't in high spirits today and felt a bit tired. It was probably due to the earlier tension, which had left her feeling unwell.

Still unsatisfied, Jiang Xueting dragged Zhao Chengyi along with her, and the others followed.

Xu Xinchi had been on night duty yesterday and needed to rest today, so she volunteered to drive Zhang Xilu home.

On the way, the two chatted about Li Linhao. Xu Xinchi mentioned that she had made things clear with him. She hadn't exposed his deceit, simply ending the relationship.

"I thought about it for a long time and ultimately decided not to make a messy scene. Luoluo, after all, we were together for so long. The effort he put into lying to me almost felt sincere." Xu Xinchi was rational; she had no intention of settling accounts with trash—it served no purpose other than exposing herself to danger.

"I agree with you. You have no idea how scared I was of Xueting today. I almost regret telling you." Remembering how Li Linhao's older brother had kidnapped her, Zhang Xilu still felt a lingering fear.

She became increasingly convinced that the person in the work uniform had been none other than Li Linhao. The one she saw at the mall earlier was him, too!

"Well, this matter is behind us now. Besides, my parents never approved of us anyway. I feel so light now; maybe I'm genuinely not cut out for romance, so I might as well just get married straight away." Xu Xinchi joked self-deprecatingly, having already decided to become a sacrifice for her family's interests.

As long as the other party wasn't completely terrible, she could accept it.

Compared to that, Zhang Xilu was truly fortunate. Her parents had never forced her into anything. Even her marriage had entirely followed her own wishes.

Even if she were to bring home a homeless person now, as long as his character was solid, they would agree...

"We're here. I won't go in; say hello to your uncle and aunt for me." Xu Xinchi yawned, dropping Zhang Xilu off at the entrance of Qinyuan.

"Drive carefully."

Seeing Xu Xinchi off, Zhang Xilu hugged her gifts and walked inside. Suddenly, a large hand appeared, grabbing her arm. Startled, she dropped her gifts, and one of the perfume bottles shattered, releasing an intense, overwhelming fragrance into the air.

Recognizing the culprit, Zhang Xilu's face darkened. "Why is it you again!"

She had known Li Mingye would definitely show up today, but she hadn't expected him to be bold enough to chase her all the way to the gates of Qinyuan.

"Did you eat the cake?"

"It tasted too bad, so I threw it in the trash," Zhang Xilu said coldly, before adding a polite expression of gratitude. "However, thank you anyway."

Today's events had fed a tiny bit of her vanity. Finally, there came a day when she could willfully trample upon his efforts.

Li Mingye's face darkened at a visible pace. His eagle-like eyes flickered, filled with anger, his brows tightly knitted as an icy chill enveloped his entire being.

He remained silent, yet the oppressive weight of his presence was palpable to Zhang Xilu, who instinctively wanted to leave.

"I'm heading inside."

"The thing he gave you—is it a ring?" Li Mingye suddenly demanded.

Zhang Xilu thought of the jewelry box in her bag. She hadn't unwrapped it, so she had no idea what was inside. Even if it were a ring, it was none of his business, right?

That double-faced scoundrel Zhao Chengyi! While acting as a spy for Ouyang Chen, he was simultaneously serving as a surveillance monitor for Li Mingye!

Jiang Xueting really needed to deal with him properly.

"I don't know."

Refusing to let it go, Li Mingye commanded, "Open it."

"Who do you think you are?" Zhang Xilu snapped, annoyed, lifting her chin to glare at him. "What right do you have to ask these things? My life has nothing to do with you, and who I'm with has nothing to do with you either. The way you are right now makes me truly despise you!"

The moment Zhang Xilu finished speaking, the entire world fell silent.

The light in Li Mingye's eyes dimmed bit by bit, his sharply contrasting black-and-white pupils becoming clouded with a layer of ash. He stared at Zhang Xilu, a desolate smile slowly forming at the corners of his lips.

He pulled a pocket-sized diary out of his coat pocket, tossed it onto the ground, and resolutely turned away. Step by step, he walked forward, moving further and further away from her until he vanished entirely from her sight.

His retreating figure appeared profoundly lonely and desolate... Before she even realized it, Zhang Xilu's face was covered in tears.

Why did his departure hurt her so deeply?

Zhang Xilu picked up the notebook from the ground and flipped open the first page.

"Our unfinished bucket list."

The first item was watching the stars at a mountaintop restaurant—a romantic date—and next to it was a drawn checkmark indicating completion.

The second item was baking her a birthday cake by hand, which was also checked off as complete.

These were things she had once written in her sweet diary, romantic dreams she had wanted to share with Li Mingye. He had returned those items to her, yet he had painstakingly copied them out anew.

His handwriting was bold and unbridled, exactly like the man himself.

Was all of this coming far too late...

Zhang Xilu gathered the items from the ground, struggled to steady her emotions, and slowly walked toward home.

Li Mingye seemed to have finally let go, shifting his entire focus toward Mu Peipei. He accompanied her to various events to boost her visibility in Longcheng. He even went on a yacht trip with Mu Changjia, getting along harmoniously as all past grievances were wiped clean.

With Li Mingye's assistance, the Mu family established the Changpei Corporation in Longcheng, primarily dealing in jewelry sales, with some business operations overlapping directly with the Zhang Group.

Even during its startup phase, the company began poaching clients from the Zhang Group, and many chose to terminate their contracts with the Zhangs purely because of their ties to Li Mingye.

Her parents were once again plunged into grueling work, frequently leaving early, returning late, and going on business trips...