C18

Present-day-

TRING! TRING! TRING!...

Yang Li was woken up by the ringing of his phone. He looked at the screen. It was Mei. He picked up the call.

Mei asked, "Where are you?"

Yang Li said, "At the workshop."

Mei said, "What about Xue's matter?"

Yang Li, "Don't worry. It's been resolved."

Mei sighed on the other side. She said, "Take proper rest and don't overwork."

Yang Li replied, "OK." He ended the call and went back to sleep.

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A month later-

A couple of days ago a piece of news had spread across Cinea like wildfire. It was the news about the engagement between Yang Tian and Tang Yue. Their engagement was going to be held two months later.

All the news publications, magazines, and even Tv channels were going gaga over this news. A magazine had written an article describing Yang Tian and Tang Yue as the 'immortal couple' and their wedding as the 'wedding of the decade'.

This news had become the talk of the town.

Bing Xue had also joined MLH and settled in. It had been a smooth transition. Unlike YGH no one was suppressing her and her skills were valued. Due to her brilliant surgical skills, she became a favorite amongst all senior surgeons. She had assisted in more surgeries in the past month than in the whole year at YGH. She was given her own office on the 5th floor. It was just below Mei's office. Although she was very busy as her responsibilities had increased, she liked her job.

In the past month, she had become closer to Yang Li. They would chat with each other whenever they were free. Yang Li even visited her a couple of times at the hospital.

Two days after the engagement news was released Bing Xue received a message from Yang Mei.

It read- 'Let's grab a meal tonight. Only you and me.'

As Bing Xue was free, she replied- 'Sure sister Mei.'

They decided to go to Golden Palace. Mei told Xue to meet her at the hospital entrance at 8 p.m.

After completing their work for the day, they met at the hospital entrance at the designated time.

Instead of taking a taxi, Mei decided to drive her Range Rover to the restaurant. They reached the restaurant in fifteen minutes.

Both of them were directed to their table in the VIP section.

It was a weekday, so it was not crowded. The girls started chatting.

Suddenly Mei asked, "So, how is it going with my brother??"

On hearing her question, Xue started coughing. Mei passed her a glass of water. After drinking it, she looked at Mei. Her cheeks were burning. She said, "W-What do you mean, sister Mei?"

Mei smiled at her and said, "Oh!! Come on!! don't be like that. You both obviously like each other. There is a beautiful chemistry between the two of you. Why are you being coy in front of me??"

Xue's cheeks were completely red now. She didn't look at Mei. Instead, she stared at her food and started playing with it.

Mei continued, "So, let me ask you a serious question?"

On hearing this Xue looked up and saw that Mei had a serious look on her face. She felt a little unsettled. She asked, "What is it, sister Mei? Ask away."

Mei said, "It's about my brother." She then looked straight into Xue's eyes and asked, "Do you really like him? Is it serious??"

Xue looked at Mei perplexed, "I-I don't really know…. I have never felt this way before. I think I am really drawn to him. As to how serious it is I myself do not know."

Mei paused for a moment and said, "You know that both of us are surnamed, Yang. Right?"

Xue nodded. Mei continued, "And do you remember that Jue once asked if we were from the Yang family."

Xue nodded again.

Mei said, "We are actually from the Yang family. However, 14 years ago my brother, our mother, and I was disowned. Since then, we have severed all relationships with the Yangs."

Xue was shocked by what she had heard. She had always wondered about the origins of the siblings. They were very elegant and looked like royalty. So, she was not very surprised by the fact that they belonged to the most influential family in the country. What shocked her was the news about their disownment.

Mei continued, "Since then it has just been the three of us. We had a very hard time after we left the Yang family. The Yang family had turned hostile and suppressed us. We had nowhere to go."

"Since then, it has been Yang Li who has protected our family. Our mother was continuously suppressed by the Yangs and not able to get a good job. Although, he was the youngest it was him who kept us safe."

"Though he is younger than me, in the past 14 years he was the elder one in the relationship. Sometimes, he even took on the role of a parent as well."

"He had a very tough and lonely childhood away from mother and me. This made him indifferent towards everyone and everything. He only interacted with me and our mother apart from a few people. Even today the number of friends he has can be counted on one hand. He has always given us everything and demanded nothing in return. Therefore, both my mother and I are very protective of him."

"If someone harms me, I may be able to forgive the person. But if someone harms him, I will use every means to destroy that person."

When Mei paused and looked at Xue, she found Xue listening to her with a serious gaze.

Mei continued, "So when it comes to Yang Li both my mother and I are very careful. Therefore, I wanted to know how you really feel?"

Xue said, "I like him. As to how much…. well, I don't know."

Mei said, "One more thing if it's okay with you I would like to tell you about our childhood. Before the two of you go any further in this relationship you should know about it. Then you can decide whether to move forward or not."

"However, I will only be able to tell you the broad details where I was present. When Yang Li was five, he was separated from our mother and me. So, I don't know what happened during the period he was not with us. I have my guesses which I will tell you. But for what exactly happened you will have to ask him yourself."

Xue was a bit nervous and excited after hearing this. She said, "Sure! sister Mei, I would like to know all about your childhood."

At that moment their food and drinks had also arrived. As the waiter served them the dishes, Mei started telling Xue about their childhood. She told her about the forceful separation, Yang Li's training, her mother's isolation, her father's negligence, Yang Li's return and change, their discord with the Yang's, and finally their disownment. She also told Xue about her guesses about the kind of training Yang Li underwent.

Throughout this duration, Xue was paying attention to each and every word spoken by Mei. Sometimes she frowned, sometimes she was angry, sometimes she was sad and, in certain instances, she teared up. She was so engrossed in what Mei was telling her that she had forgotten to eat.

After Mei finished talking, she looked at Xue and said, "So I've basically given you the gist. If you are interested in the details you will have to ask my brother about it."

She continued, "So, now you know the broad details. You should really think about how you want to proceed with Li."

Xue said, "Sure! sister Mei, I will think it over. But Sister Mei what happened after you left the Yang's?"

Mei winked at her and said, "That, my beautiful Xue, is a story for another day, another meal. In fact, you should ask Yang Li about it after you have made your decision."

"Now, finish your food. You haven't eaten anything since I started speaking. You must be hungry."

Xue started eating her food and the ladies started chatting about other topics.

Xue suddenly asked Mei, "So, sister Mei do you talk to your cousins or not?"

Mei replied, "No. Even if we see each other in public, we simply ignore each other."

Xue said, "But you shouldn't have any conflict with the younger generation. Right?"

Mei replied, "That's true. However, you must have heard that the members of the Yang family are extremely proud and arrogant. This is by design as each successive generation is trained in such a manner and the children inherit the arrogance from their parents. Even before we left the Yang family, we had little contact with them as our mother was ostracized. But now after so many years, there are no ties left. All of them are proud heirs and heiresses. Because of their arrogance, they will never extend an olive branch. Similarly, we are also not interested."

Xue said, "But sister Mei, both you and brother Li's are very different. Nobody can tell that you belong to the Yang family."

Mei said, "Well that's true. The only thing we have in common with the Yangs are our names."

Mei then asked Xue, "Ohh! You have been working in YGH for the past year. Yang Ruowei should have been your colleague. Right?"

Xue snorted, "Yes! she was."

Mei asked, "So, are you, friends, with her??"

Xue scoffed, "FRIENDS!! More like MORTAL ENEMIES!"

"She is the reason I changed my job. She has been my classmate since college and has been competing with me since then. As she was always second in college, she became more hostile towards me. Finally, when I joined her YGH she got her chance. For the past year, she has been using her influence to suppress me and create trouble for me. In short, she is a total BITCH!!"

"Hahahahahaha...…...She has always been competitive. But you have described her perfectly." replied Mei with a grin on her face.

"Sister Mei, have you heard about the news related to the Yang family? Currently, everybody is talking about it.", said Xue.

"Yes, I did hear about the engagement.", replied Mei

Xue asked, "So what do you think about it? Are you going to attend?"

Mei replied with a straight face, "Nothing. I don't care about such matters. Well, I might attend if they invite the CEO of MLH. Why? Are you interested in attending?"

Xue said, "Not really, I was just curious as to what you will do. That's all."

Mei said, "But if you really want to go, you should go with Yang Li."

Xue was confused, "But why will they invite him?"

Mei smiled in a mysterious manner, "Don't worry. Even if I don't get an invite he definitely will." Then looking at Xue she said, "Don't look so confused. You will know soon. He will tell you himself."

Mei and Xue finished their meal. Mei then called the waiter to order some drinks. As the waiter took their order, they saw a group entering the VIP section.