A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man In Rage)
Chapter 1046 The Shocked Ye Family

"A date? In ten days?" Ye Xi-Mei and the others blurted out in confusion.

Ye Xi-Mei had no idea what Yu Yun was talking about. What date was Yu Yun going on about? Her son had been dead for more than a month. How could he have promised someone a meeting in ten days' time?

Was it possible that Ye Fan was still alive?

A bewildered Ye Xi-Mei wanted to ask more questions.

But the young woman was gone.

She had given the crowd only a brief glimpse of her heavenly beauty before disappearing from their sight.

A long silence descended upon them.

Everyone was clearly still stuck in a daze that Yu Yun had left them in.

Ye Ya was the one who eventually stepped forward and asked Ye Xi-Mei in bewilderment, "Sis, is this...another one of Fan's female friends? This nephew of mine has seriously outdone himself. He's not satisfied with marrying a beautiful wife. He wants to surround himself with a whole harem of beautiful ladies. There's the eldest daughter of the Chen family, Miss Chen Nan, and Miss Xu Lei, a powerful CEO who calls the shots in Yanjing. Is this another one? My god, the saying is true. When it rains, it pours."

Ye Ya's lips twitched as he sighed with a mix of marvel and exasperation.

Then, in a fit of anger, he kicked his own son, Ye Jian.

"Why did you kick me, Dad?" Ye Jian grumbled resentfully. His father could shower praises on Ye Fan all he wanted. What had that got to do with him?

"Because you deserve it! You're useless. You're not as competent as your cousin when it comes to running a business or even fighting. The women you attract aren't even of the same caliber. Look at the ladies Fan has around him, then take a look at those who flock to you. They're either escorts or singers in pubs or receptionists at gaming cafes. You seriously embarrass me!" said Ye Ya furiously. How he wished he could send his own son to the grave with a hard kick in the head.

When Ye Fan and Ye Jian were kids, Ye Ya had been proud of his son and convinced that his son had been better than Ye Fan in all ways.

He had been wrong. In fact, there had been no competition in the first place.

"Dad, that's not fair. Yu-Lang's not faring any better than I am," grumbled Ye Jian softly.

Jiang Yu-Lang's face darkened when he heard that.

Whether he admitted it or not, that was the truth.

Jiang Yu-Lang used to think that the girlfriend whom he had met in college was going to be the best daughter-in-law that the Ye family would ever get. Reality had shattered Jiang Yu-Lang's childish fantasy.

Chen Nan, Qiu Mu-Cheng and that beautiful stranger who had saved them earlier were beauties that were beyond Jiang Yu-Lang's reach.

No matter how hard he tried, these were women who were unattainable to him.

But not to Ye Fan.

Jiang Yu-Lang had sensed from the words that the strange young woman had said earlier that she had feelings for Ye Fan.

But, why?

Jiang Yu-Lang couldn't figure it out.

In what ways was Ye Fan better than him?

He was the one who had topped the examinations, the one who had been crowned the scholar of Jiangdong and the one who had been admitted to Yanjing University.

Ye Fan had started off with a lower position in life and in a poorer family. His academic achievements and his appearance couldn't compare with Jiang Lu-Yang's at all. Yet, all these breathtaking beauties were all taken with Ye Fan. They had only eyes for Ye Fan and cared nothing for him. Why?

Their feelings for Ye Fan had not died with Ye Fan's death.

Xu Lei's hadn't and neither had the feelings of that mysterious woman.

Jiang Yu-Lang's fingers curled into tight fists. The illusion of superiority that he had been caught in all these years had been shattered completely.

When Ye Fan had been alive, he had been the leader of Jiangdong. The rest of the Ye family had lived in the shadow of his achievements.

Now, Ye Fan was dead. Mufan Group had been destroyed and Ye Fan's position had been usurped by another.

Everything that he had achieved had been destroyed or brought to an end.

Jiang Yu-Lang had thought that the time for him had finally arrived. He was going to be the next rising star in the Ye family.

But he had been wrong. In fact, he couldn't be more wrong.

Some men remained giants after they were gone, never to be surpassed by those who survived them.

Ye Fan was like a giant that sat in the hearts of everyone in Ye family. They knew that no one would ever scale greater heights than he had.

Vestiges of his influence remained after his death and continued to protect the Ye Fan's family and friends from harm.

The immediate danger had passed. But the Ye family was worried that Fenghua Group wouldn't let them off that easily and decided to leave immediately and meet Xu Lei outside the city. They bumped into Xu Lei as they were driving out of their estate. She had come in search of them.

When Xu Lei saw Ye Xi-Mei, she couldn't rein in her emotions anymore. The sorrow that she had been holding back all these days gushed forth like a torrent rushing out of a burst dam. She raced towards Ye Xi-Mei, threw herself into the older woman's arms and burst into tears.

Xu Lei had faith in Ye Fan. She was convinced that he wouldn't be killed that easily. But they knew in their heart of hearts that there was little chance that Ye Fan was still alive.

No one was willing to accept that fact though. They all longed for a miracle.

Yet all that endless and dreadful waiting had only intensified the pain and suffering that Xu Lei had been feeling.

She had spent nights weeping quietly and secretly.

She was the one who was holding the fort in Yanjing and had to put on a front of strength and authority. She couldn't afford to show weakness to anyone.

The sight of Ye Fan's mother, the woman whom she treated as her own family, finally broke her. The sorrow that she had pent up inside her finally erupted. Tears began to stream down her cheeks. She sobbed loudly like a young girl who had lost her first love.

Ye Xi-Mei's eyes reddened. She patted the young woman's shoulder gently.

"Alright now, Auntie Mei, we have to go. Fan told me to hold the fort in Yanjing because he was worried that something like this might happen in Jiangdong someday. He wanted you to have a safe place that you could escape to. I didn't believe that that day would come. I can't believe that his worries came true." After a long bout of weeping, Xu Lei wiped her tears away and pulled herself together. She was the strong and rational woman she had always been again.

Her precious Fan was gone. She had to shoulder the responsibilities that he had left behind and help him protect his family.

That had been why Ye Fan had thrusted her into the position of absolute power in Yanjing.

While his dominance over Jiangdong had seemed complete and Mufan Group looked like a vast and prospering business empire, Ye Fan had known that all that power and influence had hinged on him alone. If he were to fall, neither Qiu Mu-Cheng nor his mother would have been able to keep everything running.

Should anyone attempt to prey on Mufan Group, the vast commercial empire would fall without fail.

That had been why Ye Fan had helped Xu Lei establish power and influence in

Yanjing. He had meant that to be a backup plan for Qiu Mu-Cheng and his mother.

"We had no idea at all. He must have put a lot of work into it."

The Ye family was stunned by what Ye Fan had been doing all this while.

The wisdom and foresight that he had displayed and the meticulous plans that he had crafted vastly surpassed what experienced men Ye Tian and Ye Ya were capable of. They could not have done what he had done.