Upon hearing that, Ye Zhuo raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.
From the remark, it was not difficult to tell that Ye Sen had a strong opinion of Mu Yourong. It seemed that there were still some hidden stories she had yet to unravel.
Ye Shu spoke up, "Let's stop talking about whether she is ungrateful. I can guarantee that Zhuo Zhuo is definitely not that kind of person! Oh right, you must be hungry after delivering packages until so late. There are noodles in the pot. You can get yourself a bowl while I prepare the bed for Zhuo Zhuo."
"I shall go with you, mom," Ye Zhuo uttered.
"Alright."
Then, the mother and daughter went to the room and took out the bed sheet to prepare the bed. It would be fine to leave the bed sheet spread out on the bed in the summer under normal circumstances. However, they were in a basement. The basement was extremely dim and cold all year round, regardless of the weather or season on the outside.
Ye Shu was still very unfamiliar with her daughter, Ye Zhuo. As a result, she was slightly reserved in her behavior and speech. She was even feeling at a loss for words when making the bed, so the atmosphere became a little awkward.
Ye Zhuo sensed Ye Shu's cautiousness; so, she smiled and searched for mutual topics of conversation.
She was not the original owner of her current body, so she was certain that she would not disappoint Ye Shu. In fact, Ye Zhuo was an orphan in her past life. Therefore, she would certainly protect the motherly love she now had that did not come easy to her before.
After the bed was prepared, Ye Shu wanted to serve Ye Zhuo some cut watermelon. However, Ye Sen stopped her. It was obvious that he was displeased. "Sister, she is the eldest daughter from a wealthy family, and she even uses Evian mineral water to wash her face! Why would she eat the watermelon in our slum? Don't you get snubbed despite your good intentions!"
Ye Sen was present when the Evian mineral water incident took place. He wanted to beat Ye Zhuo up at the time and only held back because Ye Shu stopped him. The girl had truly gone too far!
Ye Shu furrowed her brows ever so slightly and said softly, "The child has already admitted her mistake… As her uncle, why do you still want to fuss over this matter?"
"A human's mind is unpredictable! Sister, the child you raised all by yourself turned out to be an ungrateful brat; what more of this child who was raised by someone else!? I'm just afraid that you'll be hurt!"
Even though Ye Sen was a rather foolish person, he was genuinely very concerned about his elder sister, Ye Shu. He was afraid that she would be hurt once again.
"Don't worry; it won't happen." Ye Shu said with a determined expression. "I can tell from the child's gaze that she has changed for the better."
Ye Sen heaved a helpless sigh, but he did not attempt to stop Ye Shu anymore. "Sister, you refuse to give up until all hope is gone."
Ye Shu smiled and carried the watermelon while she walked to Ye Zhuo's room, not forgetting to turn around and remind Ye Sen, "Rest early after you're done eating. You lose nine out of ten times at gambling. You're not allowed to gamble."
Ye Sen nodded in response.
Then, Ye Shu arrived at Ye Zhuo's room with the watermelon. "Have some watermelon, Zhuo Zhuo."
"Thanks, mom."
Ye Zhuo used a toothpick to pick up a chunk of watermelon. She gave it a taste and found that it was very sweet because it was the middle part of the watermelon's flesh.
"Have some too, mom." Ye Zhuo passed a chunk of watermelon to Ye Shu.
Ye Shu answered smilingly, "I don't like watermelon; you can have it."
Just like all the mothers in the world, Ye Shu wanted to leave the best of everything to her child.
This made Ye Zhuo suddenly feel sad. She put down the watermelon and hugged Ye Shu. "Don't worry, mom. I will certainly give you and uncle a good life."
…
The night grew darker, and it was already midnight in the blink of an eye. The basement was all quiet by then.
A silhouette walked toward the outside of the basement cautiously and then shut the door without any difficulty. Ye Sen exhaled a breath of relief as if a weight was lifted off his chest.
He felt relieved that no one noticed him.
Meanwhile, someone tapped on Ye Sen's shoulder.
"F*ck! It's a ghost!" Ye Sen was so startled that he leaped up akin to a frightened bird. His face turned pale at once.
"Hush." Ye Zhuo put a finger on her lips and made a hushing action. "Speak softer, uncle. If my mom notices us, we won't be able to go out anymore."
Ye Sen was relieved to see that it was Ye Zhuo. "Go away! Scram! A pauper like me doesn't deserve to be the uncle of a rich kid like you!"
Ye Zhuo was not infuriated by his statement; instead, she followed Ye Sen just like that.
She was calm and composed as if she was casually shopping.
Ye Sen turned around and said furiously, "You must be sick, right? Mu Zhuo! Why are you following me?"
Ye Zhuo smiled. "Uncle, my surname is Ye, and my name is Ye Zhuo! Also, this road is not owned by you. If you can walk on it, and I can too."
Ye Sen was rendered speechless for a moment. He continued to walk ahead while cursing away.
It did not take long before they arrived at a brightly lit location. It was the largest underground gambling house in Yunjing Province!
Before Ye Sen entered the place, he clasped his hands together and prayed devoutly, "Bless and protect me, Bodhisattva! Bless and protect me, Bodhisattva! You must make sure that I have good luck today! I will burn joss sticks for you and make a generous donation to you if I win a lot of money!"
The gambling house reeked of smoke, and all sorts of people were there. The ones who won money were highly conceited; the ones who lost money were sighing sorrowfully.
Ye Sen was a regular at the gambling house. Someone greeted him as soon as he entered the place. "Brother Sen is here!"
"Hello, Brother Sen!"
"Who's this, Brother Sen? Is she your relative?"
Ye Sen had only just realized then that Ye Zhuo followed him all the way into the gambling house. He retreated a few steps at once and maintained a distance from Ye Zhuo. "I'm not acquainted with her! I'm not related to her at all!"
Ye Zhuo was not upset by his action. Instead, she followed Ye Sen until they arrived at the innermost gambling table.
A group of people was shouting so hard that their faces were flushed scarlet. "Big! Big! Big! It's going to be Big!"
The dealer opened up the chest that contained dice and said while smiling, "Three, one, five! Small!"
"F*ck! How could it be Small, huh!?"
"That's some f*cked up luck, really!"
The dealer shook the dice once again, and the scoring chart appeared in front of the table. The players could choose where to place their bets. The more types of wagers were hit, the more money a player would win!
Ye Zhuo's ears moved ever so slightly to focus her attention to listen to the sound of dice colliding inside the chest.
Meanwhile, Ye Sen chose to wager on 'Small' with careful consideration and then clasped his hands together to pray for God's blessing.
"Wager on Big, uncle. Wager on five, six, and one," Ye Zhuo said softly.
Ye Sen rolled his eyes at her. His gaze was filled with contempt.
'Who does she think she is, huh?'
'Look at her being all confident and steady; does she really think that she is a gambling queen?'
'What a joke!'
When the crowd was done wagering the bets, the dealer opened up the chest and announced the answer, "Five, six, one, and Big!"
Ye Sen took a glance at Ye Zhuo out of curiosity.
He did not expect Ye Zhuo's wild guess to be correct.
It seemed she was lucky!
Ye Sen calmed his state of mind; then, he continued to wager his bet.
At that moment, Ye Zhuo continued to say, "You've placed the wrong bet again, uncle. The answer is Big, and the numbers to go for are six, six, one."
Ye Sen was dumbstruck in bewilderment when the dealer announced the result. It was exactly the same as Ye Zhuo's claim! Her... her wild guess was correct again?
Ye Sen swallowed a gulp of saliva with great difficulty.
In the third round of bets, Ye Sen chose Small just the same.
He refused to be misled. He was an experienced man, so he refused to believe that he would lose to a little girl.
Ye Zhuo smiled and said, "It's still going to be Big. Six, four, one."
No, it could not be!
How could Ye Zhuo possibly make the correct guess every single time? How could it possibly be Big every single time?
Ye Sen stared at the dealer's hand pinned on the dice's chest with a piercing gleam in his eyes.
It would be Small for sure! It had to be!
He could not allow himself to lose to the little brat, Ye Zhuo!
He wanted to win the next round so badly.
When the chest was revealed, Ye Sen's face, which was initially a little pale, had turned ghastly.
Ye Zhuo made the correct guess yet again!
Even though Ye Zhuo made three correct guesses in a row, Ye Sen still refused to believe her.
In an instant, he had only 300 bucks remaining from the wage he had just received today. He would be doomed if he were to lose again.
Since the first few rounds were all Big, he was certain that this round would be Big again! He would not choose Small anymore.
As expected, he chose Big!
Just as he was about to wager his bet, Ye Zhuo's voice was heard in the air once again. "Uncle, it's not going to be Big this time. Choose Small, then place your bet on three, one, four."