Since Youyou was born, all he had met were people who loved and protected him.
Even in the old mansion, there had never been such scolding and cursing.
Xu Tingyu thought her ears were playing tricks on her.
Otherwise, how could her mother scold her son like this?
Didn't she love her even a little bit?
Xu Tingyu couldn't help but take a step back and leaned against the wall behind to keep herself from collapsing.
Zhang Qiu also saw the shock and pain on her face at a glance.
But she didn't let her off.
"Xu Tingyu, I wish I had never given birth to you. If it weren't for you, Jiajia, Jianmin and I would be the happiest three people in the world."
"Never show up in front of me again. I wish I could kill you when I see you."
She didn't use a single dirty word, but it was as if she had torn Xu Tingyu's heart out, thrown it on the ground bloodily, and then stepped on it and crushed it.
Xu Tingyu only felt it was absurd and ridiculous.
"Is all this my fault? Mom, I'm also your child. Can't you be fair to me?"
"What happened to Dad and Jiajia was not what I wanted. Even if you asked me to die, none of this would go back in time."
"I can also answer you why I didn't die. It's because I have debts to pay, the truth to investigate, and you to support."
"Even if you don't admit it, the money for you to live here now is paid by me."
Her back was pressed against the wall, and it hurt.
With each word she said, her heart became more and more bloody.
Didn't she ever think about death?
When she learned about Jiajia's accident, she really thought about giving up.
But at that time, she was pregnant, and there were so many external debts in the Xu family. The deaths of her father and Jiajia were also full of mysteries.
If she died, Zhang Qiu would be even less likely to get justice for the Xu family.
She held on tightly. In order to survive, she lived like an actress in front of Qi Shifeng.
But Zhang Qiu, her own mother, had never once asked if she was tired or how her body was.
She even wished she were dead.
She had to admit that she was really a poor soul no one loved.
Seeing that she dared to talk back, Zhang Qiu got even angrier and started screaming and scolding hysterically.
However, Xu Tingyu didn't care anymore.
She turned around, grabbed the doorknob, and said, "I won't come again. Take good care of yourself."
Since Zhang Qiu didn't want to see her and got so emotional when seeing her, there was no need for them to meet again.
She might as well just leave everything to time.
Qi Ye had been looking at her worriedly, but in the end, he didn't try to mediate between them.
After Xu Tingyu walked out of the ward, he even helped Zhang Qiu to bed before coming out.
Xu Tingyu hid in the stairwell.
She thought the stairwell in the hospital's inpatient department was really her therapy room.
Every time she came here, she would bring emotions that were about to crush her and leave them all to the darkness to calm down.
Qi Ye found her with two cups of hot drinks, handed one to her, and said softly, "She still needs some time, Tingyu. Don't be stubborn."
He himself was a child abandoned by his parents.
Relatively speaking, Xu Tingyu was much luckier than him.
At least, before the accident in the Xu family, Zhang Qiu had never gone crazy like this.
During Xu Tingyu's teenage years, Zhang Qiu had also loved and protected her well.
Even after she got married, Zhang Qiu went to find Liu Ning because she loved Xu Tingyu.
It was just that her love wasn't enough.
The premise of her love was that it wouldn't exceed her love for Xu Jiajia and Xu Jianmin.
Xu Tingyu also couldn't do anything to harm their interests.
"I'm not being stubborn. I know it's not that difficult to admit that I'm not that loved."
Xu Tingyu took the hot drink and even let out a laugh.
If it had been a year ago, she would definitely have broken down crying by now and would have blamed everything on herself just like Zhang Qiu.
But now that she was also a mother, she knew that tears were useless.
She also didn't have time to be sad.
"Brother, thank you for last time. Hasn't he been giving you a hard time recently?"
She held the hot drink in her hands, and the warmth gradually returned to her body.
Qi Ye shook his head. "No. I'm his elder brother after all. Besides, he's been very busy recently. There's a problem with a project, and Grandpa is very angry."
"Recently, there's been a rumor within the company that Shifeng intends to step down as the CEO of Qi Corporation. Do you know about this?"
Qi Ye's gaze was very gentle. When he looked at Xu Tingyu, there was always a hint of worry in his eyes.
Xu Tingyu was shocked.
She didn't know about this. She only knew that since the baby was born, Qi Shifeng had been twice as busy as when she was pregnant.
"I don't know. We never talk about company matters."
She shook her head and couldn't help but think about the old man's reaction.
Qi Shifeng was Old Master Qi's most proud grandson and his second outstanding work besides Qi Corporation.
If he really wanted to resign, would the old man go crazy?
Four years ago, her marriage to Qi Shifeng was arranged by the old man.
This time, since Qi Shifeng had grown stronger, would he still obediently follow the old man's orders?
She was a little curious and a little looking forward to it.
Qi Ye's inquisitive gaze stayed on her face for a moment, then he changed the topic and took out a stack of documents from his bag. "Here are the information for a new bank account."
"I was supposed to give this to you after you got in the car last time, but the plan failed. The original one was destroyed. This is a new one."
"Tingyu, I still advise you to leave. If Shifeng really turns against the old man, you'll become a pawn in their fight, and you'll get double the harm."
Qi Ye's fingers were so white in the dim light that they didn't look like a living person's.
When Xu Tingyu took the things, her fingertips brushed against his, and she shivered from the cold.
"Brother, how's your health? Why are your hands so cold? If Western medicine doesn't work, you can try traditional Chinese medicine."
She inexplicably thought of Xu Jiajia.
They were both sickly and pitiful.
Qi Ye was even more miserable. Although he was the eldest grandson of the Qi family, he was treated like a weed because of his weak body.
"I'm fine. I've gotten much better. Tingyu, I'll live well."
He looked at her deeply, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Xu Tingyu also smiled at him. The two of them stood in the dark for a while longer before leaving the hospital.
"I've always said I'd invite you to dinner, brother. Since we've got the chance today, let's do it."
It was time for dinner. She wasn't completely in a good mood yet and didn't want to go back for the time being.
Qi Ye of course had no objection.
But Xu Tingyu remembered that Qi Shifeng was very averse to her meeting Qi Ye alone, so she also called Qi Ruixi and made an appointment to have dinner near Qi Corporation.
Qi Ruixi of course readily agreed.
When Xu Tingyu and Qi Ye went to the restaurant together, as she saw the Qi Corporation building getting closer, she suddenly spoke up.
"He doesn't like me coming here, so in the past few years, I've only been here a few times, which I can count on one hand."
"Actually, there's a dessert shop near here that I really liked when I was in school. I rarely ate there later, and I only found out recently that they've stopped doing business."