In Chen Yinuo's eyes, selling flowers was such a humiliating thing that there was no way Ye Chen would do it.

And earning two to three thousand yuan in just a few hours? That was nothing but boasting without even bothering to draft the lie properly!

In an instant, her disgust for Ye Chen surged exponentially, even though she already disliked him enough!

What worried her now was that their daughter, Ye Youyou, might be influenced by his ridiculous claims.

"I don't want to! I want to stay with Daddy!"

The little girl shouted stubbornly.

"Youyou, be good and go to Mommy for now! Daddy will get McDonald's for you tomorrow morning!"

Ye Chen put Ye Youyou down gently.

Youyou, who originally didn't want to leave, perked up at the mention of fries and burgers. "Really?"

"Really! Daddy wouldn't lie to Youyou!"

"Then pinky promise with Youyou!"

"Alright, pinky promise!"

Only then did Ye Youyou return to Chen Yinuo's side, satisfied.

"Let's go. Time to go to sleep with Mommy!"

Chen Yinuo grabbed Ye Youyou's hand and didn't even spare Ye Chen a glance.

"Yinuo, do you really not trust me that much?"

Before Chen Yinuo could take a step, Ye Chen asked, his face filled with struggle.

Her footsteps paused. Then, she let out a cold, mocking laugh.

"If you told me you won two or three thousand gambling, I might believe you. But selling flowers to earn that much? That's pure fantasy! I've been with you since I was twenty, and I'm twenty-eight now. Don't I know exactly what kind of person Ye Chen is? You, lowering yourself to sell flowers? That's the joke of the century! And to earn two or three thousand in one night? What kind of flowers are you selling?"

Chen Yinuo's reaction was not unwarranted, given that in all these years, Ye Chen had never come close to embodying the words "hardworking and reliable."

It was just like that failed business venture. If he hadn't been so overambitious, aiming for instant success, it wouldn't have ended in such complete failure.

"I—" Ye Chen started to explain.

But before he could finish, Chen Yinuo impatiently interrupted him.

"There's no need to explain! I'm not the fool I used to be, the one who got deceived by you over and over. Don't think that just because you cleaned up a bit, you're suddenly a changed man. A leopard never changes its spots. That phrase fits you better than anyone else!"

"I know I've been a jerk in the past, and I know I've wronged you, but can't you—"

"I've had enough!" Chen Yinuo cut him off again, unwilling to hear another word. "Fine, I believe you! I believe you sold flowers and earned two or three thousand, okay? But so what? A one-week deadline, twenty-seven thousand yuan—how are you going to repay that? Even if you earned two or three thousand a day, or even two or three ten thousand a day, you still wouldn't make it in time! Ye Chen, if you have even a shred of conscience left, if you're still a human being, just sign the divorce papers and then run off to the ends of the earth. That way, not only can you survive, but Youyou and I can also scrape by in peace!"

She pulled the divorce agreement out of her bag again and slammed it onto the table.

Without giving Ye Chen a chance to respond, she grabbed Ye Youyou and stormed into the room.

With a bang, the door slammed shut and locked.

Standing there, Ye Chen didn't move for a long time.

After what seemed like forever, he let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh.

Thinking about all his actions over the past few years, he found he couldn't muster even the slightest resentment for Chen Yinuo's hatred and disgust.

On the contrary, he completely understood her feelings.

If he were in her shoes, he might have long since picked up a knife and gone down with her.

Plop—!

Lighting a cheap cigarette, Ye Chen sat on the worn-out sofa, trying to push aside the tangled mess of love and hatred in his mind. After all, regaining Chen Yinuo's acceptance and approval wasn't something that could be achieved overnight.

What demanded his immediate attention was figuring out how to earn 270,000 yuan in a week to pay off that high-interest loan!

If memory served him correctly, tomorrow in his previous life, there had been a concert at the sports center.

A few overly zealous fans, having missed out on tickets, were so desperate to see their idol perform that they ended up buying tickets—originally priced at 560 yuan—for an exorbitant 10,000 yuan each!

The irony was that the tickets were sold by a group of students who had purchased them from scalpers at the original price of 500 yuan.

Since the concert had already started, the scalpers, who initially hoped to hike up the price, were forced to sell at a loss to avoid being stuck with unsold tickets.

The transaction between the fans and the students happened within a span of just ten minutes!

This incident later went viral online and even made it onto the trending topics list.

Back then, Ye Chen had left a comment on the post, calling those crazy fans outright foolish.

The next day, Ye Chen woke up early.

He first went out to buy a McDonald's kids' meal for Ye Youyou.

On his way back, he stopped by the market to pick up eggs, sausage, lean pork, pig liver, scallions, and a specific brand of non-fried instant noodles that Chen Yinuo loved.

These were her favorite noodles, though her busy work schedule often kept her from indulging, no matter how much she craved them.

To let the mother and daughter sleep in a little longer, Ye Chen moved around as quietly as possible, careful not to wake them.

After washing, chopping, stir-frying, and boiling, he finally had a steaming bowl of noodles ready after half an hour of effort.

Checking the time and realizing it was about when the two would wake up, Ye Chen decided not to linger in the apartment. He feared his presence would upset Chen Yinuo or, worse, make her refuse to eat the noodles he had cooked.

Shortly after Ye Chen left, Chen Yinuo and Ye Youyou woke up.

"Wow! Mommy, it's McDonald's! Daddy bought me McDonald's!"

The little girl squealed in delight upon seeing the kids' meal on the table.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

She called out a few times, but with no response.

The girl darted into her father's room, only to find it neatly tidied and devoid of his presence.

She ran back out and asked, "Mommy, where's Daddy? Where did Daddy go?"

Chen Yinuo didn't answer.

Her gaze fell on the steaming bowl of noodles on the table, emitting an unmistakably familiar aroma.

Her brows furrowed slightly.

It was the exact same flavor she had enjoyed for years—a taste that hadn't changed.

The last time she'd had these noodles, though, was a year ago. Not because they were extravagant, but because she simply hadn't had the time or energy to prepare them.

And the last time Ye Chen had cooked these noodles for her? She had to think back several years, and even then, it had only been that one time.