When Xu Tingyu was on her way to the hot pot restaurant, a bodyguard named Zou Yu drove her there.
She sat in the back seat, silently looking out of the window at the street view.
The weather was fine, and there were many pedestrians on the street, all wearing happy smiles.
It had been a long time since she had seen such a bustling scene.
In that quiet nursing home, the number of people she could come into contact with was extremely limited.
And the number of those who talked to her was even fewer.
Especially this Zou Yu.
He used to be with Qi Shifeng, and she had seen him a few times.
He was nearly 1.9 meters tall, with a strong and imposing build.
It was said that he had served in the military before and had even been a mercenary.
He was a man of few words. During the months he guarded the nursing home, he had spoken no more than five sentences to Xu Tingyu.
At this moment, both of them remained silent.
As they were approaching the destination, Xu Tingyu suddenly spoke up, "Zou Yu, don't you have any family in the capital?"
The other party didn't say a word. He just glanced at her through the rearview mirror.
She realized that what she had said might not be appropriate, so she quickly added, "I mean, I've never seen you go back to visit your family."
Zou Yu just let out a soft grunt, without any explanation.
No wonder he was chosen by Qi Shifeng. He was just as difficult to deal with as his boss.
Xu Tingyu knew that it was impossible to get on good terms with him.
People like him were extremely loyal to their employers.
She gave up the idea of trying to befriend him and checked the balance on her phone.
This morning, Qi Shifeng had asked the finance department to transfer two million yuan to her account.
According to his plan, he would transfer two million yuan to her every month for her own use.
This time, she didn't return the money stubbornly.
After experiencing so many things, she had already understood that it was impossible to get by without money.
She might as well consider this money as the compensation for her mental loss during the time she was trapped by him.
When they arrived at the hot pot restaurant, Zou Yu got out of the car and followed her at a distance.
When they reached the door, he stepped forward and opened the door for her.
Xu Tingyu thanked him. Before she could take a few steps forward, a three - or four - year - old little girl suddenly rushed over and hugged her leg.
The little girl was extremely cute. She was wearing a pink dress and had two small braids. Her big eyes were blinking.
She rushed over with quite some force, but fortunately, Xu Tingyu had been practicing dance, so her lower body was stable.
She only swayed slightly and then regained her balance.
"Little girl, what's wrong?"
It was inconvenient for her to bend down because of her big belly, so she just stroked the little girl's head and softened her voice.
"Fairy sister, I've seen you. You're the fairy sister."
The little girl said in a childish voice and clung to Xu Tingyu tightly.
Xu Tingyu looked at her carefully but had no impression of her at all.
"Where did you see me?"
She was very patient and even had a bit of a smile on her face.
The little girl looked around and lowered her voice, "I promised my uncle not to tell anyone, so I can't say."
She shook her head and looked very serious.
Hearing her mention her uncle, Xu Tingyu's mind raced, and she suddenly asked, "What's your uncle's name?"
"His name is Su Yi. Sister, you know him, right?"
The little girl looked up at her.
But the next second, Xu Tingyu stiffened all over.
She did know Su Yi.
She would recognize him even if he turned to ashes.
Zou Yu, who had been following behind, noticed her uneasiness and immediately stepped forward to pull the little girl away.
At the same time, a fashionable young woman rushed over in a hurry.
When she saw the little girl, she immediately scolded, "Qingqing, you're running around again."
The little girl named Qingqing snorted, "I wasn't running around. I saw the fairy sister and came to find her."
The young woman seemed to notice Xu Tingyu at this moment. She was also stunned for a moment and then apologized repeatedly.
"Sorry, my daughter didn't bother you, did she?"
Although it was an apology, there wasn't much sincerity in her words. Moreover, her eyes were boldly sizing Xu Tingyu up and down.
Xu Tingyu recognized the woman in front of her as Su Yue.
Seven or eight years ago, they had studied in the same school and practiced dance in the same dance studio.
Unexpectedly, Su Yue, who was only two years older than her, already had a three - or four - year - old child.
Su Yue stared at her for a while and then asked uncertainly, "Excuse me, are you Xu Tingyu?"
Xu Tingyu found it rather ridiculous.
She had recognized Su Yue at a glance, but the other party wasn't sure if it was her.
Sure enough, the perpetrator was better at forgetting than the victim.
Xu Tingyu didn't answer directly. She didn't even look at Su Yue anymore. Instead, she bypassed her and continued walking inside.
But Su Yue followed her and spoke again, "You are Xu Tingyu, right? It's been so many years. How have you been?"
Xu Tingyu stopped walking. Her breathing quickened a bit, "Do you think I should be okay or not?"
After a pause, she glanced at Qingqing, who was looking at them curiously from behind, and lowered her voice, "If I were you, I wouldn't even have the face to talk to me."
After saying these words, she didn't say another word. She didn't even look at Su Yue again. Leaving the pale - faced woman behind, she turned around and walked away.
It wasn't until she reached the private room she had reserved in advance that her breathing still hadn't calmed down. Her thoughts were inevitably pulled back to the past.
But it was a memory she hated deeply, and she instinctively resisted recalling it.
Fortunately, Qi Ruixi arrived soon. As soon as she entered the room, she started gossiping, "Sister - in - law, guess who I saw just now?"
Xu Tingyu snapped out of her irritable mood and looked at Qi Ruixi. She cooperatively asked, "Who?"
"It's that adopted daughter of the Su family. Tsk tsk, I didn't expect her to have a daughter already. I haven't even heard that she got married. I don't know whose child this is."
Qi Ruixi sat down while gossiping with her.
"I heard that she has an ambiguous relationship with her so - called elder brother. Although they have no blood relationship, they grew up together after all."
"What's the difference between them and real siblings? I don't know what's on her mind. She's really shameless."
"Her daughter is quite cute, but it's a pity that she didn't have a good mother. She's really unlucky."
...
Qi Ruixi kept talking on her own and didn't notice that the fingertips of Xu Tingyu's hand holding the cup were turning paler and paler due to the force.
"By the way, sister - in - law, when I came in just now, I saw that Zou Yu was standing guard outside. He's so annoying. Why does he have to follow you everywhere?"
After gossiping for a while and not getting any response from Xu Tingyu, Qi Ruixi thought she wasn't interested and thus changed the topic.
Xu Tingyu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. She looked up and smiled at Qi Ruixi, "It's his duty. We can't blame him."
Qi Ruixi thought for a while and then nodded, "After all, it's my brother who is too worried about you. He sent you to the nursing home and arranged for someone to follow you all the time."
She said this with a bit of uneasiness.
Whether it was out of concern or surveillance, it was hard to say.
But she wasn't qualified to say anything bad about Qi Shifeng, nor did she dare to.
Moreover, Xu Tingyu was about to give birth, and she didn't want to say anything unpleasant to upset her.
Xu Tingyu didn't really care. She just casually said, "After all, I've been on the news so much recently. Maybe he's afraid that I'll cause trouble."