Mother Lu scoffed, “Since I’ve asked you to come here, I won’t hold anything back.”

She took out a card from her bag and tossed it at Father Ye and Mother Ye.

“I can understand the pain of being hard pressed for money. There’s 10 million yuan on this card. I know that 10 million yuan won’t last long with your extravagant lifestyle, but if you’re frugal, this amount can still last you for a while. If you wake up to reality, then take this money and live your life well. Peacefully live out your later years. There’s no need for Ye Qing to work hard in the entertainment industry to support the two of you.”

Father Ye looked at that bank card. His lips twitched. “What… What do you mean?”

“I hope you take this money and peacefully live your later years. Have Ye Qing leave the entertainment industry. Most importantly, I want your family to leave Ye Zhen alone!”

Father Ye and Mother Ye were stunned.

“Mrs. Lu, what do you mean by this?” Mother Ye was extremely displeased. She felt that she had been deeply insulted. “Ye Qing likes the entertainment circle. Why should I have her leave it?”

Father Ye took a moment to weigh his options. He felt that Ye Qing’s earning potential in the entertainment industry far outweighed the 10 million yuan in front of him. He also shook his head and said with certainty, “Mrs. Lu, although I don’t know what happened, as a father, I’ve always respected my children’s ideas. Ye Qing wants to have a career in the entertainment industry. I respect her a lot. Of course, if she wants to leave the entertainment industry, I’ll support her too. But, I’ll never use my position as her father to force her to do something she doesn’t want to!”

Mrs. Lu mockingly smiled. “I take it that you’re enlightened parents then.”

Mother Ye pushed the bank card over. “Mrs. Lu, I’m very sorry. We can’t agree to this. Please respect us and Qingqing’s dream.”

“Yes, we regret that we can’t comply with your request.”

Mrs. Lu looked at that bank card. Her expression didn’t change. She took out another card and threw that one at the Ye’s. “There’s 10 million yuan on this card too. That adds up to 20 million yuan. Have Ye Qing leave the entertainment circle. I want your family to leave my daughter-in-law alone!”

20 million yuan!

Father Ye and Mother Ye looked at each other.

One of them falteringly said, “Mrs. Lu, money isn’t the issue…”

Mrs. Lu repeated her previous action; she took out another card and tossed it at them. “I won’t beat around the bush. The Internet is currently full of negative news about Ye Zhen. I don’t even need to check the authenticity of this information to know it's the results of a bunch of petty people gossiping.”

She glanced at Father Ye and Mother Ye. “It’s strange. Every time there’s negative news about Zhenzhen, your older daughter will show herself and profit from it. Don’t think I don’t know what’s really going on. Zhenzhen doesn’t care or mind, but as her mother-in-law, I have to care. I don’t know how you raised your children, but Ye Zhen has married into the Lu’s, which means she’s a member of my family. I don’t want to hear anyone speak ill of a member of my family behind my back again. Do you understand?”

Hearing Mrs. Lu saying these words, Mother Ye couldn’t sit still anymore. “Mrs. Lu, those people that are talking about Ye Zhen on the Internet have nothing to do with Qingqing. It's not like you can seal someone else’s mouth. They’re twins. They grew up together, and they look the same. It’s inevitable that other people will compare them. This… It's those gossiping people who are at fault. Qingqing is innocent!”

“Innocent?” Mrs. Lu said in a sunken voice, “Mrs. Ye, I’ve seen Ye Qing. It’s said that a mother understands her daughter best, but I see that not only are you blind in our heart, your eyes are also blind too. I don’t want to discuss with you whether this specific matter has anything to do with Ye Qing. This issue has happened every time. I don’t want to see anyone comparing Ye Qing and Zhenzhen on the Internet again. If Ye Qing can’t control her fans, then she better not appear in the entertainment industry and be used by someone else to attack Zhenzhen!”

“If it had only happened one time, then never mind. But how many times has it happened where you do whatever you please? Do you think there’s no one in the Lu’s, so you can insult us as you please?” Mrs. Lu’s anger bubbled up. She had seen those messy online comments and baseless fabricated rumors early that morning. Those words had all been directed at Ye Zhen and Ye Qing had been pulled out to compare with her. Did they think doing that demonstrated Ye Qing’s excellence?

Ridiculous!

She knew exactly what kind of person Ye Qing was. Before Ye Zhen had married into the Lu’s, she had contact with Ye Qing for a few days.

Mrs. Lu had seen countless people. It only took a single look for her to see that Ye Qing was harboring malicious thoughts. Ye Qing wasn’t a simple, kind person. She was the type of person that won’t give up until she achieved her goal. Thus, one look was enough for her to not want to have a good relationship with her.

Father Ye and Mother Ye’s expressions stiffened. Although they didn’t know what had happened, from seeing how angry Mrs. Lu was, they could guess that it wasn’t anything good. They knew their older daughter’s character. She wasn’t the type to concede defeat. They guessed that Ye Qing was secretly doing something to get face back because she wasn’t willing to accept that she had lost to Ye Zhen.

Soon after, Father Ye chuckled and said, “Mrs. Lu, drink some water to calm down. Zhenzhen is the Lu’s daughter-in-law. How could we dare to insult her? If Qingqing did something wrong, as her father, it would be difficult for me to escape censure. I’ll apologize on her behalf. Please don’t take it to heart.”

“The failings of children are due to a father’s failure to teach. It’s true that Mr. Ye should take responsibility for this. The two of you are Ye Qing’s parents. I hope that you can keep her from making more mistakes. I don’t want to hear any more news about Ye Qing. I came here today to talk to you as Ye Zhen’s mother-in-law. Right now, we can sit at the same table and discuss this issue. However, if you don’t agree, I’ll take my own measures.”

Mrs. Lu pushed the three bank cards to them. “In the end, you’re Zhenzhen’s parents. People online are saying that Zhenzhen isn’t filial to you. These three bank cards can be regarded as Zhenzhen repaying you for raising her. I think this amount should be more than adequate.”

Father Ye’s expression was ugly. Mother Ye’s expression was even worse than his. She finally experienced the feeling of being smashed on the head with money. She had also done something like this two years ago.

At that time, she had discovered that Ye Qing and Lin Zhan were together, and she had thrown a bank card with a million yuan on it at Lin Zhan and told him to leave Ye Qing. She had been looking down from above and treating him like a beggar that she was giving charity to. And now, she was like a beggar and someone was throwing money at her to buy out her relationship with her younger daughter. Feeling indescribable humiliation, she trembled all over.

“Mrs. Lu, this… this matter, Zhenzhen, she…”

“She doesn’t need to know!” Mrs. Lu promptly decided. “Back then, you said a married daughter is like water that’s been thrown out. She’s the Lu’s daughter-in-law, which means she’s a member of the Lu’s. She sees me as her mother, and it's the best for me to make this decision for her.”

Mrs. Lu knew Ye Zhen’s temperament. She never minded about things that others would be dissatisfied with. She had reason to believe that Ye Zhen knew about the stuff posted online and thought that Ye Zhen would at least complain and cry to her a little bit. However, she hadn’t seen any changes in Ye Zhen’s mood all day. All of Zhenzhen’s energy was put on Zhouzhou.

Ye Zhen could swallow this injustice, but Mrs. Lu couldn’t. Moreover, this wasn’t the first time!

Someone had started a rumor last time that Ye Zhen had stolen her sister’s boyfriend and that Zhouzhou’s mom is the other woman!

This time, no matter what, she couldn’t let this hidden danger remain!

“Mrs. Lu, I beg to differ. Ye Zhen is the daughter I worked so hard to give birth to. When I was giving birth to her, I almost…”

“You almost died on the operating table. Is that what you want to say?” Mrs. Lu scoffed, “Don’t keep taking that out as your excuse. It was your choice to give birth to her, not Zhenzhen’s. It wasn’t her fault that you almost died on the operating table either. You keep brooding over this issue and blathering on about it. You use this as an excuse to say that Ye Zhen owes you. Fine then, what she owes you, I’ll repay for her as her mother-in-law. This 30 million yuan can be considered buying out the mother-daughter affection between the two of you. Since you haven’t liked her since she was born, then you don’t have to regard her as your daughter!”

“In-law, don’t be so impulsive!” Father Ye tried playing mediator. He harshly glared at his wife, then he smiled at Mrs. Lu and said, “I know that we’ve treated Zhenzhen unfairly, but in-law, no matter what, you have to give us a chance to make it up to her, right? Look, we truly regret it now. We shouldn’t have treated our daughter unequally. Although we were biased, as parents, we still hope that our children will be well. The relationship between parents and child, how… How can it be bought out with money?!”

Mrs. Lu looked at Father Ye. “Let me level with you. Mr. Ye, my father-in-law had sought you out and requested you marry your older daughter to Beichuan in exchange for the Lu’s financial help. You agreed. When Ye Qing backed out of the marriage, you had Ye Zhen marry into the Lu’s. Back then, why didn’t you tell us that the relationship between parents and child can’t be measured with money? When you pushed Ye Zhen into a living h*ll by marrying her off, why didn’t you think that Ye Zhen was also your daughter?!”

“This…” Father Ye awkwardly said, “Mrs. Lu, it wasn’t that bad. Your family, the Lu’s, is a prominent family. How can it be considered a living h*ll?! I didn’t do it entirely out of selfishness either. I was also doing it for the sake of Zhenzhen’s future.”

“For the sake of her future?” Mrs. Lu smiled even more sarcastically. “My father-in-law clearly said the marriage was for the sake of bringing Lu Beichuan good luck! Beichuan had been unconscious for almost a year by then. We didn’t even know if he would ever wake up. Mr. Ye, are you telling me you can see the future and you knew back then that Beichuan would wake up?”

She pierced through the flimsy lies and didn’t leave any room for excuses.

Father Ye’s gaze was flustered, and he didn’t dare to look Mrs. Lu in the eye.

Mother Lu said, “So, Mr. Ye and Mrs. Ye, I advise that you take this money and draw a clear line with Ye Zhen. Don’t come looking for her or bother her. I don’t think Zhenzhen wants to be bothered by you either.”

“This won’t work.” Mother Ye shook her head. “I risked my life to give birth to Ye Zhen. I want to ask her in person if that’s what she wants. Otherwise, I’ll always be her mother.”

“Mrs. Ye, you can’t just give birth to a child, but not care for it. When you made the choice of ignoring her, you lost your right to be her mother.” Mrs. Lu stared at Mother Ye. “I’m tired of going back and forth on this matter. I don’t want to say anymore on this subject. I hope this is the last time I see something like that online. If you can’t handle drawing a clear line with Ye Zhen and having Ye Qing leave the entertainment industry, then I’ll have to step in. If I have to be the one that steps in and takes care of this, I can’t guarantee there won’t be damage to your reputation.”

This time, Father Ye didn’t refute.

The 30 million yuan in front of him was a huge sum of money. He had long been unable to make ends meet with the low salary he drawed from Ye Corporation. Ye Qing hadn’t succeeded yet in the entertainment industry. She spent more than she earned. Weighed down with such a heavy financial burden, Father Ye was truly tempted by the 30 million yuan.

However, he hesitated. He was sure that Ye Qing’s future value in the entertainment industry would exceed 30 million yuan.

Whether to choose immediate benefits or a plan that would generate benefits in the future, that was a choice all business people had to make.

This decision was complicated by Mrs. Lu’s tone. Based on her tone, it sounded as if the Lu’s would force Ye Qing to leave the entertainment industry anyways if she wouldn’t leave. In this way, not only would his long-term investment fail, the immediate benefit would slip out from his hands too.

Mother Ye shook her head in refusal. “No!”

Father Ye pulled on her hand and silently accepted the three bank cards. “Mrs. Lu, as Zhenzhen’s father, I’m gratified to see that she has a mother-in-law like you, who acts in her best interest. It’s my lasting regret that I wasn’t able to treat her well in the past, and I won’t be able to make it up to her in the future.”

He paused and earnestly said, “Since she’s not willing to forgive us, then I won’t force it. Mrs. Lu, if Zhenzhen changes her mind and is willing to visit us in the future, her mother and I will welcome her back.”

Mrs. Lu wasn’t touched by Father Ye’s words. “I’ll pass on the message. I hope that you and your wife will quickly deal with Ye Qing’s matter as her parents.”

Father Ye repeatedly nodded and uttered reassurances.

Mother Lu didn’t have anything else she wanted to say to this couple. Picking up her bag, she left. In Mother Lu’s eyes, it was worth it to pay this 30 million yuan for her daughter-in-law.

However, right after Mrs. Lu, Mother Ye glared at Father Ye. “Do you know what you’ve just done and said? Do you want to force Qingqing to death?”

Father Ye put away the three bank cards. Hearing his wife’s accusation, he looked unhappy. “How can you say I’m forcing Qingqing to death? It’s not like you don’t know that the entertainment industry is a dog eat dog world. I don’t have the ability to support her, and she doesn’t have the ability to become popular on her own. It’s better that she leaves the entertainment industry earlier and stops causing trouble and stirring up those messy things.”

Mother Ye was furious. “Ye Zhenting, just for this 30 million yuan, you sold your daughter!”

Father Ye didn’t like to hear these types of words. “How can you say I sold my daughter? Didn’t you also agree when we had Ye Zhen marry into the Lu’s? What right do you have now to accuse me of selling my daughter? Moreover, I’m doing this for you. Look at how much money you spend every month on clothes, jewelry, and social gatherings. You spend so much money. Let’s be frugal with this 30 million yuan. It’ll be enough for us to enjoy retirement.”

Since they were in public, Mother Ye restrained her rage. “Fine, I don’t care about severing our relationship with Ye Zhen, but I absolutely won’t agree to Qingqing’s matter. Do you think you have that much value in our older daughter’s heart? Do you think she’ll listen to you? Let me tell you, you can keep dreaming if you think you can have her leave the entertainment industry!”

For a while, anger welled up in Father Ye too. “Dream on? Then let me tell you. If she won’t leave the entertainment industry, then I’ll see what she’ll do once the Lu’s step in.” As he said this, he angrily got up.

Mother Ye looked at Father Ye as he walked away. She clenched her jaw in anger. Unable to think of what to do, she called Ye Qing. She wanted to tell her about this matter so that she could prepare in advance.

“What? Leave the entertainment industry?” Displeased, Ye Qing said, “Mom, enough. I can handle the matter on my own. Don’t worry about it.”

She hung up without listening to Mother Ye’s explanation.

What kind of bad joke was that? Using the momentum she got from Ye Zhen’s bad publicity, her fame was soaring. Leave the entertainment industry at this point in time? No way!

Ye Qing ignored Mother Ye’s calls. Finding her mother bothersome, she simply turned off her phone.

She and a few other actors and actresses in the same company were sitting in the conference room and waiting for the meeting to start. The stars in the company pretended to get along with each other as if they were the best of friends, but in reality, things were already ugly between them. They had been unscrupulously snatching resources from each other. It was only in front of the company’s senior executives that they pretended everything was peaceful.

Before long, the door was pushed open and several senior executives entered the room. One of those people surveyed the room. That person’s gaze stopped on Ye Qing.

“We called you over today to announce something.”

Everyone held their breath.

“Lu Corporation proposed to acquire our company and senior management has unanimously agreed to that proposal after discussion.”

Chaoxun Entertainment had been one of the best companies in the entertainment industry a few years ago. For a period of time, it had been glorious with countless popular stars under its banner and dominated the industry.

However, due to improper and harsh management, many stars jumped ship. After its remaining popular stars were also poached away, it had been unable to recover after that setback. It now only had the contracts of third to fourth-line stars. It didn't have any presentable stars left.

In a heavy tone, the company's boss announced, “Lu Corporation proposed to acquire our company and senior management has unanimously agreed to that proposal after discussion.”

Many actors and actresses kept the happiness that this news brought to them off their faces. They knew about the company's current condition. A company without much resources was limited in how many resources they could obtain for their actors and actresses. A slice of cake that was allocated to many people, how could they be satisfied?

It was different now that Lu Corporation was going to acquire this company.

Prior to this, there was news that Lu Corporation was investing in a movie. That was a shining omen that Lu Corporation was about to advance into the entertainment industry. Although Lu Corporation didn't have any relevant experience in the entertainment industry, it was one of biggest corporations in Haibin. It had capital, connections, and resolve.

Now that Chaoxun Entertainment was going to be acquired by Lu Corporation and be the only entertainment company under Lu Corporation, they were sure that Lu Corporation would do its best to build up Chaoxun Entertainment.

Naturally, as performing artists that had contracts with Chaoxun Entertainment, they won't have to worry about a lack of resources in the future.

Thus, everyone didn't dare to show the slightest trace of happiness in front of their boss and put on the pretense of worrying for their boss.

The big boss issued an emotional speech. The approximate meaning of the big boss's statement was that although Chaoxun Entertainment acquired, everyone would always be a member of Chaoxun. They were like a family.

Everyone looked as if they were deeply moved and couldn't bear this change.