Qi Ye dared to admit it because he knew Liu Ning wouldn't tell anyone.
It wasn't because she was tight - lipped.
It was because she simply couldn't accept that both of her sons had fallen in love with the woman she despised the most.
If this got out, she would be too ashamed.
Sure enough, as she stared at Qi Ye, her face flushed first, then turned pale, and finally turned green.
Finally, she suddenly shook her head.
"It can't be. You're just lying to me. You were sent abroad when you were so young. You never even crossed paths. How could you like her?"
As if she had found evidence, she repeated twice, "It can't be. You're just lying to me."
Qi Ye watched her crumbling state with little emotional fluctuation. In fact, as he watched, a hint of pity even crept into his eyes.
It was hard to tell who this pity was for.
Because he jeered, "So you do know I was so young when you guys sent me abroad."
After saying that, without caring about Liu Ning's stunned expression, he left the hospital without looking back.
He was less than three years old when he was sent abroad.
Because Qi Shifeng was born then, the Qi family sent Qi Ye away on the pretext that it was difficult to take care of two children under the same roof.
In an ordinary family, it was understandable that taking care of two children two years apart would be chaotic.
But the Qi family had hired four or five nannies.
The servants at home each had their own duties: there were those specifically for cooking, doing laundry, cleaning, taking care of the new mother, and taking care of the old master...
There was simply no way they couldn't take care of all the children.
Ultimately, it was because they had a replacement, so this "bigger version" with a frail body could be sent far away.
They didn't want people asking why the eldest young master of the Qi family looked so sickly or why he still couldn't walk steadily at over two years old...
They thought he was an embarrassment.
So they "exiled" him far away to Britain.
He really didn't like Britain.
Although he could be said to have grown up there, he didn't feel a sense of belonging deep down.
Moreover, even though he was taken care of by nannies and butlers there, he still felt lonely.
Because of his physical condition and his ethnicity, no one befriended him during his school days.
He was like a floating duckweed adrift in this world, with no roots and no idea where he was going.
It wasn't until he graduated from university that he went to a show.
A 16 - year - old girl danced her self - choreographed dance "Mirror Flowers and Moon on Water", shining brightly like a star.
For the first time, he felt his heart pounding violently, and for the first time, he had the urge to make friends with someone.
But at that time, Xu Tingyu was still a minor and was well - protected by the Xu family.
Even if he wanted to get to know her, he had no way to do it.
So at that time, he just watched all of Xu Tingyu's dance troupe's shows in Britain.
After the last show ended, he thought this magical encounter was over.
But who would have thought that the next day, he would run into this shining girl on the street.
She was wearing a white dress and had braided hair. It was a simple outfit, but she had the charm of a lotus emerging from clear water.
She seemed to have gotten separated from someone and looked helpless and lost.
He suppressed his inner excitement and took the initiative to step forward and ask if she needed help.
Xu Tingyu was truly innocent and naive. She was so well - protected by those around her that she had little sense of vigilance.
When she saw a fellow countryman, she immediately trusted him and told him where she was going.
She said she was lost and had gotten separated from her friends, and now she didn't know how to get there.
Qi Ye looked at the rather embarrassed little girl and smiled gently. "I'm also going there. It's not far from here. If you don't mind, we can go together?"
Xu Tingyu hesitated for just a moment. Seeing there were many people around, she thought he wouldn't do anything bad, so she agreed.
As they walked towards their destination, they chatted off and on.
Qi Ye took the initiative to say that he had watched her show and was very impressed.
Only then did she realize that he knew her. She blushed and said thank you for coming to the show and for still remembering her.
Qi Ye just smiled.
In fact, he really wanted to say that how could he forget? From the moment he saw her, his imperfect heart had been pounding non - stop.
But he was afraid of scaring her because she was still so young.
They chatted all the way and found they had many hobbies in common. For example, they both disliked the weather in Britain.
Another example was that they both didn't like British afternoon tea, but thought it would be nice to take a walk on Tower Bridge in the evening and buy an ice cream...
It was obvious that the little girl loved to eat, but to keep in shape, there were many things she couldn't eat.
A growing body would easily gain weight if one didn't control their diet.
And due to Qi Ye's physical condition, he also had to be very restrictive with his diet.
The two of them were like they had found a kindred spirit and talked about all kinds of food in Britain, praising some and complaining about others.
When they reached their destination, Xu Tingyu's companions were looking for her.
She greeted Qi Ye and then went to find her friends.
Qi Ye summoned up his courage and asked if they could take a photo together because he really liked her dance.
Xu Tingyu didn't refuse. After all, many times after a show, fans would go backstage to take photos with her.
Sometimes when she was walking on the street and met fans, they would also take photos.
So she was used to it and happily took a photo with him, then said goodbye and ran away.
They had only walked together for about twenty minutes, and Xu Tingyu quickly forgot about it.
She often performed in different places and met all kinds of people. This encounter was just a tiny little episode in her life.
So a few years later, when they met again at the Qi family's old mansion, Xu Tingyu didn't remember that they had met before.
At that time, she was invited by the Qi family to attend the old master's birthday banquet.
The adults were chatting away. She was wearing a white cocktail dress and was bored. Unconsciously, she walked into the back garden.
While she was staring blankly at the koi in the pond, Qi Ye walked over.
She thought she had walked into a place she shouldn't and quickly apologized.
Compared to a few years ago, she had grown taller, and her face had also matured, becoming even more vivid and beautiful.
At the dinner, many people were secretly looking at her.
Qi Ye thought he must not be the one who looked at her the most.
He suppressed his wildly beating heart and said, "No, this is not a place you can't come to. I'm just here to get some fresh air. Feel free."
Hearing this, Xu Tingyu indeed relaxed a lot.
But before they could talk further, Xu Jianmin showed up and called Xu Tingyu away.
After that, he learned about the arranged marriage between the Qi and Xu families.
He wasn't without expectations that as the first child of the Qi family, this arranged marriage would be between him and Xu Tingyu.
But he never expected that from start to finish, the Qi family never considered him.