2: Underneath A Thousand Skies

234 Vixen Above, Mensao Below (48)

With several doctors overseeing her health and Ye Minzhe never leaving her side, nagging her about this and that, Song Jia recovered from her cold very quickly.

It was only when she got out of bed and temporarily left Ye Minzhe's sight that she managed to ask some people about Gu Yuan's situation. Song Jia didn't dare to ask Ye Minzhe, afraid of triggering him again.

Turns out, Gu Yuan was sent by Ye Minzhe out of the Ye estate and into Nanjing, where one of the government safe houses was located. He had beaten Gu Yuan black and blue, with barely a breath left, before sending him there. After Ding Xiuxiu showed him the video, he had smashed her phone, so there wasn't a copy of it anymore.

He had also promised, anyone who dared watch it, he would personally poke their eyes out.

Of course, after that ruthless statement, everybody pretended they hadn't seen it. At least on the surface, they pretended to treat Song Jia the same way as before.

Ye Minzhe still didn't let the matter rest. After knowing that it was Long Aotian who had sent the video, he once again lost his temper.

"Did he think that because I let him off before, this laozi became a vegetarian? Since he wants to die so much, I'll fulfill his wish!"

Thus, the seething anger from Gu Yuan transferred to a new target. Ye Minzhe decided not to let Song Jia know that he was trying to track down Long Aotian.

He was still wary of her words that if he killed someone, she would never be able to forget him. Then, just kill Long Aotian in secret, dump his corpse, and let that matter be hidden forever.

Because Ye Minzhe used his father's forces to track him down, Papa Ye knew about Ye Minzhe's plan. He couldn't help but smack his vicious son on the head.

"Killing someone, do you think that's an easy matter, as simple as crushing an ant? Your temper has always been violent, but don't go around murdering people like a thug. A person's life isn't something you can just extinguish as you please."

It was past midnight, and Song Jia had already went to sleep. Ye Minzhe had moved his chair right outside her door, standing guard. Papa Ye nearly had a heart attack when he saw him.

Ye Minzhe's voice was ice-cold. "I have a bottom line. Anyone who dares touch her is a dead man in my eyes."

Seeing how solemn his son was, practically a rare expression from him, Papa Ye hesitated.

"That 'her' you speak about...is it Ye Jia? I don't know what changed between the two of you for your relationship to become this good, but being too much of an overprotective brother is also..."

"I'm not her overprotective brother. I'm her husband."

Papa Ye had still not finished speaking, and he directly choked up. Looking at his son lazily shifting his neck pillow, he felt his face turn red, then white.

"You brat! That's your sister!"

He was about to smack him again, but this time, Ye Minzhe dodged his hand.

"Old man, you're beginning to become senile. Your child with that foreign woman already died when she was only one month old, but you let that woman fool you with a fake daughter for years. Ye Jia and I aren't related by blood."

As if this statement wasn't shocking enough, Ye Minzhe added another one.

"And even if Jia and I are related by blood, I completely don't mind."

What kind of blood relation, what complicated societal taboos, what nonsense of moral and ethics, this completely didn't matter to Ye Minzhe. As long as Jia stayed by his side, what did everything else count as?

Since she had been born into this world and showed up in his life, don't expect him to let go. He, Ye Minzhe, always got everything he wanted.

He had never wanted anything in his whole life as much as he wanted her. He had never needed anyone as much as he needed her.

If anyone thinks he could just loosen his grip and let her extricate herself from him, no need to think about it, that person must be dreaming.

It was the overbearing meaning of the red salvia flower.

Forever mine.

After the brief talk with his father, Ye Minzhe pushed open the door to Song Jia's room and went in. He sat on the edge of the bed, careful not to shake it, and looked down at her sleeping form.

Her eyelashes fluttered, moving gently as a butterfly's wings. Her lips were slightly parted, and a stray lock of her hair was plastered to her forehead. Ye Minzhe felt that everything about her was beautiful, so beautiful that his heart ached.

Even the way she curled her fingers in her sleep seduced him. He couldn't help but extend one finger to poke her cheek. The fact that she was real, and that she was beside him, still managed to make him feel amazed.

Ye Minzhe stared at her and said, "Jia, you can never leave me."

He couldn't stand Gu Yuan's existence, who could take her away from him. Even if the chance of that was small, he still couldn't bear it.

He couldn't allow someone like Long Aotian to live, because he kept targeting her. Anyone that was a threat to her, they should directly be eliminated.

He would never give her the opportunity to leave him. Any reason that might give her that opportunity, he would never hesitate to erase it out of existence.

Ye Minzhe caressed her cheek for the last time and stood up.

"Jia, I'll try my best, so fall in love with me soon, okay?"

He would never allow her to be with others.

Maybe it was her bad luck to have met him. Because for her to stop any tragedy from happening, she could only fall in love with him.

The corners of Ye Minzhe's lips curved up, but there was no happiness in it. His shadow fell on her body, outlined in silhouette, looking lonely and desolate.

Ye Minzhe looked away. He went out of her room, back to his uncomfortable chair that was slowly killing his back. Picking up his abandoned neck pillow, Ye Minzhe hugged it in his arms and continued to look out into the darkness.

...

Song Jia's plan to turn the Ye estate into a safe house was approved by Papa Ye, so in the next few days, there were more and more people living in the Ye estate.

The ones who took it the hardest were her rich classmates. Even though they knew they had to save up on supplies and food, as spoiled sons and daughters of rich families, the word 'conserve' wasn't in their dictionary.

During breakfast, even Ye Minzhe widened his eyes at the small amount of food on her plate. He had gotten angry at the butler, demanding to know why they wanted her to starve.

"Ye Minzhe, I was the one who told them to portion the food like this. In fact, if you look closely, all the needed nutrients are there."

"What are you talking about? There's barely any vegetables!"

"Although we have greenhouses, we can't pluck them all. Vegetables can't be preserved for too long, so we have to lessen our consumption," Song Jia explained patiently.

She had started to replace the flowers inside the greenhouses with edible plants, but because it was still in the initial stages, it wasn't a full out farm yet.

"Not eating vegetables, do you want to get sick again?" Ye Minzhe transferred his share of vegetables to her. "Then eat my portion, I don't need them."

Sitting opposite them, Sheng Li observed their interaction. Unconsciously, the grip on her chopsticks tightened.