Liu Ning seemed to be stumped by the rhetorical question.
She sat there blankly, with a momentary look of confusion on her face.
After a while, she flew into a rage, pointing at Qi Ye. "You're taking her side too, aren't you? You even compare your dad with her. Does she deserve it?"
Qi Ye stood at the entrance of the ward, looking distantly at his enraged mother, and smiled faintly.
"Back then, you didn't talk like this."
He stood against the light, his expression hidden in the shadow, making it hard to see clearly.
But there was a chilling coldness in his seemingly calm tone.
Liu Ning was even more confused. "What do you mean?"
Qi Ye walked in slowly, the smile on his lips cold, completely different from his usual gentle self.
"When you arranged for Shi Feng to marry into the Xu family back then, I remember you said Xu Tingyu was a famous lady from a noble family, beautiful and outstanding."
"Only such a beautiful and outstanding person was worthy of Shi Feng, the future heir of the Qi family."
After the news of the two families' engagement spread, many people came to ask if it was true.
At that time, the old master was really satisfied with Xu Tingyu.
So when people asked, he always praised the two engaged people, saying they were a perfect match.
Once, the person who asked probably didn't know the situation of the Qi family and asked, "Has the partner for the eldest young master of the Qi family been found? I heard the eldest young master is very outstanding."
The expression of Old Master Qi froze for a moment before he said, "We're not in a hurry for our eldest son."
Although the words were not unpleasant, the questioner could read between the lines and didn't say much.
But as soon as he turned around, it spread throughout the social circle that the Qi family had completely given up on the eldest young master.
Otherwise, why would they arrange a marriage for the second son first and not even bother about the eldest son?
Moreover, logically speaking, Xu Tingyu studied dance, and Qi Ye majored in art in college. They were both in the art field and would have been a better match.
In the final analysis, the Qi family didn't value Qi Ye, so they never considered him at all.
Now, when Qi Ye asked this question to Liu Ning, he was also voicing his injustice.
Why back then, had they never considered his feelings?
But Liu Ning couldn't hear the implication.
She had ignored Qi Ye so completely that at this moment, she couldn't understand his words at all. She just thought he was standing up for Xu Tingyu.
She became even more unhappy, pointing at her hair and shouting, "You're still speaking for her? Look at how she treated me!"
"She was never worthy of our Qi family. Back then, if it weren't for the fortune - teller the old master found who picked her out from a group of people, why would we choose her for the engagement?"
The old master was very superstitious. At first, he selected several young women of the right age, all with good family backgrounds and personal qualities.
Finally, he gave the eight - character horoscopes of these women to the master. After the master's recommendation, Xu Tingyu was finally chosen.
"Thinking about it now, maybe the Xu family knew this and bribed the master in advance. Hehe, anyway, I never saw how lucky she was for her husband."
Liu Ning had always been brooding over this matter. Even though it was the old master's choice, she had been complaining in her heart.
Fortunately, the master had passed away the year before last.
Moreover, he had also predicted that Xu Tingyu's fate had changed with the bankruptcy of the Xu family and she could no longer bring good luck to her husband. It could be considered that he had atoned for his mistake.
Otherwise, they might have had to help the Xu family pay off their debts.
Qi Ye was very disgusted by his mother's remarks. "At this time, you still want to slander her like this?"
Liu Ning was so angry that her blood oxygen began to become unstable.
"I'm slandering her? What's wrong with you? Can't you see how miserable she has made our family after she entered the door?"
"Now, she even instigated her mother to do this to my hair. How can I show my face?"
She had been treated like this, but none of her three children were on her side.
The other two didn't even answer the phone, and the one who did answer the phone was here to anger her.
"If you called me here just to scold her, then I have nothing to say to you. I'll ask the auntie to take care of you. I'm going back first."
Qi Ye didn't want to argue with her endlessly. After saying that, he was about to leave.
He still had a lot of things to do after returning to the country this time. There was no need to waste time here.
But now he was the only person Liu Ning could "hold on to". How could she let him leave easily?
She suddenly tore off the monitors on her body, got out of bed directly, and walked quickly in front of Qi Ye.
"Tell me the truth. Have you also been charmed by that vixen?"
The more she thought about it, the more something seemed wrong.
It was true that Qi Ye was gentle to everyone, but he shouldn't choose to side with Xu Tingyu between his mother and her.
She was just a former sister - in - law. Why did he need to stand up for her?
The only explanation was that he also had feelings for Xu Tingyu.
So in the past, he had always protected Xu Tingyu in various ways and even provided her with a lot of help.
Qi Ye's expression changed slightly. A shadow fell over his deep, black eyes.
Before he could say anything, Liu Ning remembered another thing.
"Five years ago, when the Xu family just went bankrupt, Xu Tingyu suddenly moved out for a while and lived in the same neighborhood as you."
"It started then, right? No wonder she dared to agree to divorce Shi Feng at that time. It turned out she had hooked up with you."
"Hehe, she's really amazing. It's not enough for her to ruin one of my sons. She also wants to ruin another one of my sons."
At that time, Xu Tingyu participated in a variety show and had a cold war with Qi Shifeng. She rented a house near the dance studio.
And Qi Ye also had a house in that neighborhood.
She had heard this from someone accidentally, who said they had seen them entering and leaving the same neighborhood.
At that time, she didn't take it seriously.
Because Qi Ye was often out of the country, and he had a villa in the country. How could he live in the same ordinary neighborhood as Xu Tingyu?
She thought the person had seen wrong.
Moreover, at that time, her attention was all on the divorce between Xu Tingyu and Qi Shifeng.
Now that she suddenly remembered this, she realized that the person might not have seen wrong.
Qi Ye was indeed in the same neighborhood as Xu Tingyu at that time.
He had deliberately chosen an ordinary neighborhood to avoid being noticed.
Qi Ye obviously also remembered this, and his face became even more unpleasant.
He admitted that it wasn't a coincidence that Xu Tingyu had rented a house in that neighborhood.
It was his step - by - step arrangement to guide her there.
The house she rented was also arranged by him. It was cheap and well - decorated.
It was a pity that Xu Tingyu didn't live there for long.
But now, he couldn't admit these things in front of Liu Ning.
"I don't know what you're imagining, but I don't want you to talk about her like this. Slandering a woman and ruining her reputation is the most despicable act."
"However, you're right about one thing. I do like her. If it weren't for your partiality, she should have been my wife."
"I can give up the Qi Group, and I can accept being ignored by you, but you shouldn't have destroyed my last hope."
Looking at Liu Ning's collapsed expression, Qi Ye openly admitted his affection.