Long Miaomiao grew increasingly angry the more she thought about it, eventually glaring at Ye Tiancheng with near fury.
"You don't trust me at all!" she said angrily.
Long Miaomiao hadn't actually voiced all her thoughts, but Ye Tiancheng wasn't entirely unaware of why she was angry.
He knew what Long Miaomiao was talking about.
He could also roughly guess what kind of distrust she was referring to.
As for this matter, Ye Tiancheng didn't deny it to himself, but he certainly wouldn't admit it verbally, as it would surely cause him trouble.
Since he didn't trust Long Miaomiao, there were certain things he couldn't tell her directly.
However, it wasn't as if Ye Tiancheng completely distrusted Long Miaomiao.
There were many things Ye Tiancheng wasn't afraid of Long Miaomiao knowing. Regarding these, he actually still trusted her, trusting that even if Long Miaomiao knew these things, she wouldn't betray him or cause him trouble.
But in other aspects, Ye Tiancheng had things he dared not gamble on.
For instance, regarding the tasks Long Miaomiao did for him, after Long Miaomiao ran off, Ye Tiancheng immediately found replacements and didn't place all his hopes on Long Miaomiao, handing over the choice to her.
Ye Tiancheng was not someone who would be preyed upon.
He would absolutely not compromise with Long Miaomiao for these matters; there were certain bottom lines Ye Tiancheng did not want to cross.
He himself might not care, but Ye Tiancheng couldn't entrust the safety of his friends and family to others. He couldn't tolerate even the slightest unexpected event.
Facing Long Miaomiao's questioning and resentment, Ye Tiancheng thought for a moment before finally speaking, "It's not that I don't trust you, but some matters are of utmost importance, and I can't gamble that sliver of trust on them. Any slight accident would be something I absolutely cannot afford to bear."
"Even you know this, don't you?"
"But even though you knew, you still stubbornly chose to let go and not care, because this was a matter of principle. Knowing I could never agree with you, you still ran off."
"Perhaps you just wanted to threaten me, not intending to do anything bad, but I couldn't let my guard down because it wasn't just my own affair. Any slight mistake would be absolutely irreversible."
"So I had someone replace you, for no other reason."
After Ye Tiancheng finished this long speech to Long Miaomiao, he paused for a moment before continuing, "Anyway, that's how I feel. I'm not deceiving you. Whether you accept it or not, I have nothing more to say."
"You can think whatever you want. If you resent me, I won't have any objections."
After hearing Ye Tiancheng's words, Long Miaomiao fell silent for a moment, raised her eyebrows slightly, let out a sneer, and said to Ye Tiancheng, "According to your logic, does that mean if I wanted to retaliate against you because of this, you would also have nothing to say and no objections?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Tiancheng furrowed his brows slightly.
He answered honestly, "If I were just an independent individual with no ties, then, as you say, I would be willing to accept whatever you decided."
"However, that is not the case."
"I have many ties, many people I need to protect, and even more things I must do. Therefore, even if I personally have no objections to this, I still cannot accept it and remain at ease."
A cold smile played on Long Miaomiao's lips.
She said, "But I've come to settle accounts with you, and I have no reason to yield to you or show you consideration, do I?"
Seeing Long Miaomiao like this, Ye Tiancheng's gaze lingered on her for a moment.
Then, he agreed and replied, "You're right, you really don't need to show me consideration."
Long Miaomiao tilted her head, looking at Ye Tiancheng's calm demeanor, and said, "If I'm unwilling to show you consideration, what will you do?"
Ye Tiancheng remained composed and indifferent.
He replied to Long Miaomiao, "Although I have no intention of hurting anyone, and I was indeed somewhat in the wrong regarding you, I had my reasons. You are certainly free not to show me consideration, and I understand. I originally didn't want to be your enemy, but if you insist on making things difficult for me, then I have no choice but to fight you."
As soon as Ye Tiancheng said this, Long Miaomiao almost exploded again.
She looked at Ye Tiancheng in disbelief and questioned him, "Are you actually planning to fight me?"
Ye Tiancheng stated frankly, "I don't want to fight you, but if forced, I certainly will have to. It all depends on your choice, Miss Long."
Long Miaomiao gritted her teeth in anger.
She stopped talking.
However, Ye Tiancheng didn't want to remain in this stalemate with Long Miaomiao in his dream.
Ye Tiancheng asked Long Miaomiao very directly, "Miss Long, you've gone to great trouble to come see me. You're surely not here just to throw a childish tantrum or make unreasonable demands. You must have something important to discuss, right?"
Long Miaomiao retorted, "Unreasonable demands?"
She emphasized the first two words.
Ye Tiancheng blinked and corrected himself, "Reasonable demands."
This time, Long Miaomiao was completely speechless. She fell silent once more.
Long Miaomiao hadn't said why she had come to see Ye Tiancheng, specifically entering his dream, but Ye Tiancheng could roughly guess.
It was likely that after leaving, Long Miaomiao had some regrets and wanted to return, but since she was the one who left, no one had coaxed her back, and now she couldn't back down gracefully.
This was why Long Miaomiao was acting this way.
Ye Tiancheng understood this in his heart.
But knowing was one thing; Ye Tiancheng didn't want to offer her a way out.
He hadn't forgotten the reasons for their previous conflict.
Ye Tiancheng didn't want to yield even a little to Long Miaomiao because of this.
Any slight concession on his part would lead to immense trouble for him later. Ye Tiancheng didn't want to face such consequences.
This was a situation where she advanced and he retreated.
If he chose to indulge her, he would eventually reach a point where he had no more ground to retreat to.
Ye Tiancheng didn't want to fall into such a passive position; being controlled by others was not a good thing, so he chose to take the initiative and make choices that were more beneficial to him.
Therefore, no matter how much Long Miaomiao fussed, he would not compromise on his own.
Seeing that Ye Tiancheng was so stubborn and unwilling to yield to her, Long Miaomiao had no choice but to find a way to save face for herself. After all, Ye Tiancheng clearly wouldn't do it, and she couldn't stand it if things continued like this.
If she chose to let things slide, sooner or later, she would have no place for herself by Ye Tiancheng's side.
Before meeting Ye Tiancheng, Long Miaomiao would never have imagined that she would one day yield to someone to this extent. In fact, in the past, others had always yielded to her.
Long Miaomiao herself was not one to compromise.
However, Long Miaomiao had eventually encountered someone who was more important to her.
Therefore, Long Miaomiao eventually yielded for Ye Tiancheng.
She slightly lowered her head and said to Ye Tiancheng, "How are things on your end? Do you need my help?"
Although she hadn't stated it directly, it was enough for Ye Tiancheng to understand Long Miaomiao's intentions and thoughts. To be honest, Ye Tiancheng was quite surprised. He truly hadn't expected Long Miaomiao to be willing to back down this much.
It was impossible to say he was completely unmoved.
People are not made of wood, and Ye Tiancheng was not an ungrateful person; he couldn't be entirely unaffected.
But that was all.
Now, Hou Mingzhu was missing, but she was completely devoted to Ye Tiancheng. Ye Tiancheng naturally wouldn't dare to wrong Hou Mingzhu, and he truly had a place for Hou Mingzhu in his heart.
If, at this time, Ye Tiancheng yielded to another woman, even if he didn't have such intentions, choosing to let things slide would be a betrayal of Hou Mingzhu.
Ye Tiancheng would not do such a thing now.
He and Hou Mingzhu now had a daughter, and they couldn't afford so much turmoil.
Ye Tiancheng was well aware that if things reverted to how they were before, there might be no future for him and Hou Mingzhu.
And Ye Tiancheng himself might never see his daughter again.
Although Ye Tiancheng wouldn't complain as long as his daughter was well, if he had a choice, Ye Tiancheng would still be reluctant to be separated from his daughter.
He even less wanted to see any resentment or hatred towards him in the eyes of his daughter, Ye Qingcheng.
Therefore, Ye Tiancheng didn't take the step down that Long Miaomiao offered. He simply replied to Long Miaomiao, "Thank you for the offer of help, but we don't need any at the moment."
"I'm very grateful that even after our past conflict, you're willing to let bygones be bygones, yield, and choose to help us."
"However, at present, we don't have any need for your assistance. Of course, if you're willing, we remain friends, and if we truly face insurmountable difficulties, we will indeed ask for your help."
Long Miaomiao couldn't help but look at Ye Tiancheng with a hint of complaint.
Ye Tiancheng smiled and said, "Back then, we didn't say we completely distrusted you. We did look for you and waited for you for a while, but since you didn't appear, we had no choice."
"To avoid the impact of this matter, we had to take some other measures."
"Even though you've reappeared now, we don't have any objections to that. However, what I'm saying now is the truth, so please rest assured. If we need anything, I will definitely tell you and won't be polite. But for now, there's really nothing we need to ask of you."
Seeing that she couldn't reach an agreement with Ye Tiancheng, Long Miaomiao, though unwilling, stomped her foot slightly. Her figure gradually faded and then disappeared from Ye Tiancheng's sight.
As Ye Tiancheng watched Long Miaomiao disappear again, not long after, he himself broke free from his dream and slowly woke up.
After waking up, Ye Tiancheng still remembered what had happened in the dream.
Moreover, he had a feeling about it.
So Ye Tiancheng knew that everything that had happened before had indeed happened; it wasn't just a dream or an illusion. However, he had indeed rejected Long Miaomiao, and it wasn't out of desperation. They weren't in such dire straits yet.
Therefore, Ye Tiancheng truly didn't want to rely on an object as uncertain as Long Miaomiao.