Chapter: 329

Song Wan-ting nodded and said, "I'm indeed unwilling to, but I also have no other way."

"Why?" Yè Chén asked sincerely. "I think your grandfather should have changed his mindset after this near-death experience. And since you've saved his life, he might be willing to grant you a free choice or the right to make your own decisions about your future husband, I believe he would agree."

Song Wan-ting sighed and shook her head, saying, "It's impossible. Even if my grandfather is fond of me and wants to agree, he wouldn't dare."

"Why not?" Yè Chén asked, puzzled. "Isn't your grandfather the master of the family? Everything in the Song family belongs to him, what does he have to be afraid of?"

Song Wan-ting said seriously, "The Song family has developed many branches over the years, and each branch relies on rules to maintain order among themselves, so that everyone follows the family's teachings. If one were to break these rules, others would follow suit. Once your children are free to choose their own marriages, other families' children will also want to do the same. That would be a catastrophe for the Song family, and if everyone behaves this way, the Song family might eventually fall apart."

As she spoke, Song Wan-ting added, "The Song family has been able to maintain its strength since the late Qing dynasty, growing from one generation to the next because everyone follows the rules and doesn't go beyond what's allowed. Even when we divide and split into different branches, each branch still supervises the others, ensuring that no one allows anything to happen that would harm the Song family's interests."

Yè Chén sighed and said sincerely, "I always thought Miss Song was a very powerful woman, but it turns out you're just as trapped, with everything dependent on others' arrangements."

"Exactly!" Song Wan-ting let out a sorrowful sigh and said, "This is something that can't be fought against."

When she finished speaking, Song Wan-ting shook her head and lifted her cup to toast, saying, "Let's not talk about unpleasant things anymore. Come, let's drink! I'll pour you another cup!"

Yè Chén smiled slightly and lifted his cup, saying, "This cup is for freedom!"

Exactly! Song Wan-ting let out a sorrowful sigh and said, "This is something that can't be fought against."

When she finished speaking, Song Wan-ting shook her head and lifted her cup to toast, saying, "Let's not talk about unpleasant things anymore. Come, let's drink! I'll pour you another cup!"

Yè Chén smiled slightly and lifted his cup, saying, "This cup is for freedom!"

Song Wan-ting was taken aback.

Is it about freedom?

What kind of freedom does one have by oneself?

Although she felt suffocated, she still forced a smile and nodded, saying, "Come, let's toast to our freedom!"

As the wine went down again, Song Wan-ting's intoxication deepened. She gazed at Yè Chén and sighed, saying, "Many times I've wished I was born into an ordinary family, that way my life would be more difficult, but there would be no such heavy constraints. My family could give me nothing except this lofty status and the wealth that's still unspent after generations. There's no true happiness."

Yè Chén smiled and said, "Many ordinary people actually envy your kind of wealthy people who never have to worry about money. Isn't it a saying that goes 'prefer to cry in a BMW than laugh on a bike'? In your eyes, an ordinary family is very hard to come by, while for ordinary people, this ordinariness is exactly what they want to get rid of, and everyone's trying their best to earn money."

Song Wan-ting looked at Yè Chén and said sincerely, "Mr. Yè, you're not doing it just for the money! You seem to not care about how much money you have, just like that time when a single pill costs one million yuan, you can easily earn several hundred thousand, but you still won't take it. Isn't this treating money like dung?"

Yè Chén smiled calmly and thought to himself, I treat money like dung because I don't lack money.

I didn't have any money back then.

When Grandma Li was ill, I had to borrow money from Madam Shao to cover her medical expenses in secret.

I thought that if I treated her as a Buddhist, I would have thoughts like "saving one life is better than building seven levels of pagodas," and might even lend money to myself.

But I didn't expect that on the surface she claimed to be a Buddhist, but in reality she was an extremely greedy shameless person. JrNovels.com