Xu Tingyu had no idea that her younger sister-in-law knew so much about her. She just thought the girl was standing up for her.
So she gave a gentle smile and stroked the girl's face.
"Love can't be weighed in terms of pros and cons. It comes without any warning."
All there is, is the thundering of one's heart.
There's no time for careful thought.
Qi Ruixi leaned on her shoulder and laughed. "But all of us in the Qi family are freaks. We don't know how to love anyone."
Xu Tingyu paused in the act of raising her glass and laughed too.
"It's not that you don't know how to love. You just haven't met the right person yet."
Qi Ruixi laughed heartily. "Forget it, forget it. I don't want to suffer from love. Having my sister-in-law is enough for me."
Just as the two were laughing and chatting merrily, Xu Tingyu suddenly spotted a familiar figure.
Her heart skipped a beat. She immediately stood up and chased after him.
The figure had already rushed outside. Xu Tingyu quickened her pace and caught hold of his sleeve.
Caught off guard, the person instinctively turned around. When he saw that it was Xu Tingyu, he immediately panicked.
"Sister, what are you doing here?"
Xu Tingyu looked at her pale-faced younger brother and frowned. "It's me who should be asking you. What are you doing here?"
It was the weekend, but Xu Jia was still a minor.
At this hour, he should be in bed, not in a bar.
Xu Jia looked flustered but didn't say a word. He just stood there, looking like a culprit awaiting punishment.
Seeing him like this, Xu Tingyu became even more suspicious. She asked directly, "Are you being threatened?"
Was it because the matter of his fight before hadn't been resolved?
But as soon as she received the payment from the production crew, she had immediately entrusted Secretary Qian to handle it.
Those people should have seen her sincerity.
Xu Jia still shook his head. Seeing how worried she was, he grabbed her hand.
"Sister, it's nothing like that."
"I was just curious about what a bar was like, so I came to take a look."
"Now I think it's boring, so I was about to go back."
His hands were cold, which showed that he was really scared to be caught by Xu Tingyu.
Xu Tingyu wasn't completely convinced by his explanation, but this younger brother had always been sensible and obedient, so she dispelled her doubts.
"You know, you're still a minor. You're not allowed to come to places like this, okay?"
"Wait until you're an adult. If you want to have fun, I'll bring you here."
She couldn't bear to scold him for his mischief. Moreover, she didn't smell any alcohol on him, so she didn't lecture him.
Xu Jia nodded too. "I know, sister."
Just as the siblings were talking, Qi Ruixi also rushed over.
Seeing it was Xu Jia, she immediately smiled. "So it's little brother Jiajia. You've grown so tall now."
When Xu Jia saw her, he politely called out "Sister".
"Ruixi, I'll take my younger brother back. You come back with me too."
It was late at night. Xu Tingyu couldn't let Xu Jia go back alone, but she was also worried about leaving Qi Ruixi here alone.
Qi Ruixi wasn't satisfied with the amount of drinking she'd done and naturally didn't want to leave.
"It's okay, sister-in-law. You take Jiajia back. I can go back by myself."
But Xu Tingyu was still worried. After thinking it over, she sent a message to Qi Shifeng, asking him to send two bodyguards over.
After all, it was dangerous for a girl to be out drinking.
It was only after Qi Shifeng replied with a simple "Okay" that she finally felt at ease.
She even waited until the bodyguards arrived before taking Xu Jia away.
On the way back, Xu Jia suddenly asked her, "Sister, how much debt does our family still have?"
"Why do you suddenly ask about this? You're still a student. All you need to do now is study."
"I'll take care of the debt. Don't worry."
"When you go to college, if you want to study abroad, I can afford it for you."
Xu Jia's dream was to be an excellent engineer, so the family had originally planned to send him abroad as soon as he graduated from high school.
Now that their father was gone, she still wanted to help him achieve his dream.
But Xu Jia just smiled. "It's good to study in college in China too, sister. When I graduate, I'll help you pay off the debt."
Such a sensible younger brother made Xu Tingyu's nose sour.
"Okay, I'll wait for you. But don't worry about so many things now, okay?"
But Xu Jia didn't say anything again. He just looked at her worriedly.
Just as they were about to reach home, Xu Jia's phone suddenly rang.
His face turned pale. He stole a glance at Xu Tingyu. He wanted to answer but was afraid to, yet he also seemed afraid not to.
He hesitated, looking extremely uneasy.
Xu Tingyu knew her younger brother well. She knew there must be something behind this.
So she immediately snatched his phone, answered it, and turned on the speaker.
"Xu Jia, where are you? All I asked you to do was buy a few packs of cigarettes. Don't tell me you ran away with my money?"
A young but extremely arrogant voice came from the other end of the phone.
Both Xu Jia's and Xu Tingyu's faces changed.
"You're not saying anything? If you don't say anything, I'll take it as a yes. You're dead when you come to school tomorrow."
The person on the other end of the phone got impatient. After dropping a threat, he hung up the phone.
"Explain. What's going on?"
Xu Tingyu's face was also grim. The knuckles of her hand holding the phone were turning white.
But she still held back her anger and just looked at Xu Jia.
Bars and cigarettes had nothing to do with a high school student.
After a long silence, Xu Jia finally broke down.
"I'm sorry, sister. They said that as long as I behaved like a good little dog, they wouldn't cause you any trouble."
"But I really didn't drink or smoke. I know my health doesn't allow it. I just wanted to do something for the family."
"I just wanted to prove that I'm not a useless person. I'm a man. You shouldn't have to support the Xu family alone."
He shouted and cried at the same time, making Xu Tingyu feel heartache.
Those creditors hadn't let Xu Jia off.
Their children had joined forces at school to pick on Xu Jia, ordering him around and humiliating him.
"What are you thinking? Those people are just lying to you. How could they cause me any trouble?"
"Have you forgotten? I'm Qi Shifeng's wife. No one dares to mess with the Qi family."
She held back her tears and deliberately smiled easily. She hugged Xu Jia.
But Xu Jia didn't believe her.
"You're lying to me. I've already heard that brother-in-law is going to divorce you."
"The person he likes has come back. Our Xu family has no money and no use value, so he's going to marry his sweetheart."
"Sister, if he treats you badly, just leave him. We won't let him look down on us. You deserve better."
Xu Jia shouted with a crying voice, making people feel really uncomfortable.
But Xu Tingyu couldn't admit it.
She gave a soft laugh and spoke gently.
"How could that be? Your brother-in-law isn't that kind of person. We're fine."
"Those rumors outside are just nonsense. Think about it. With his temper, if he really liked someone else, how could he have married me?"
"So don't believe those rumors. We're doing great. He'll help us. Don't worry."
It turned out that now everyone knew that her marriage was unhappy and that she had placed her trust in the wrong person.
But she suddenly realized that if she really got divorced, there would be many more people who would kick her when she was down.
She didn't really care, but what about Xu Jia and their mother?