Zhang Qiu's lips parted and closed, her face full of mockery and disdain.
Xu Tingyu stared at her, her ears filled with a sharp ringing sound.
She even suspected that there was something wrong with her mind.
Otherwise, how could she hear such outrageous remarks?
How could it be?
How could she be regarded as a commodity to be sold at a good price in her parents' eyes?
When arranging her marriage, did they evaluate not the suitor's love for her but his economic strength?
Did they marry her off to Qi Shifeng just because there were benefits, even though they knew he didn't love her?
No, it couldn't be like this.
"You're lying. Before the wedding, Dad asked me. If I didn't want to, he would help me call off the engagement," she said, looking at Zhang Qiu. The tinnitus in her ears was getting worse.
Zhang Qiu burst into laughter. "You're so naive. If he hadn't said that, how could you have obediently listened?"
At that time, Xu Tingyu had already begun to have second thoughts.
After all, as a natural-born winner, people had always chased after her since childhood. How could she be the one chasing others?
Especially when the other person scoffed at her affection.
More importantly, at that time, she was fully dedicated to her career and hoped to achieve something in dance.
So she was in no hurry to get married at all.
Xu Jianmin noticed her hesitation and second thoughts. He took a step back to gain an advantage and came to her on his own initiative.
He said that if she didn't want to get married, he could help her call off the engagement.
But while saying these words, he casually revealed the difficulties of the Xu family.
As parents, they knew their child better than anyone else. They knew that Xu Tingyu was kind-hearted and loved her family the most.
She would surely be willing to get married for the sake of her family and to keep her parents from worrying.
"So, you even calculated my psychology?" Xu Tingyu clenched her fists tightly, afraid that if she loosened them, the anger in her heart would fade away.
"Otherwise, you're still too inexperienced. Do you really think your dad is that easy to talk to?" Zhang Qiu said, enjoying the shocked expression on her face. The smile on her face became even more obvious.
Yes, it should be like this.
Why had she been living in dire straits for so many years while her daughter could walk through the mud and stand on a high place again?
Weren't they a family?
Then the whole family should live in hell together.
Xu Tingyu was silent for a moment and tried hard to calm her emotions. "So, the car that chased after Qi Shifeng when he fled from the wedding was really from our family?"
It had always been said that the car belonged to the Xu family, but the people who chased after him relentlessly were from the Qi family.
So all along, in Xu Tingyu's mind, the root cause of Xie Zhen's accident was Old Master Qi.
Zhang Qiu snorted when she saw that Xu Tingyu was so concerned about this insignificant issue.
"Otherwise? It's all your fault for being so useless. You lost your husband before the wedding. Our Xu family was about to lose all its face. If your dad hadn't got the news in advance and rushed there, you would have made a complete fool of yourself."
That meant that when Qi Shifeng fled from the wedding, Xu Jianmin had directly participated in the chase.
Even at the scene of Xie Zhen's car accident, Xu Jianmin had been there.
It was just that the Xu family always cared about their reputation, and in the final analysis, this incident was caused by Qi Shifeng's fleeing from the wedding.
So Old Master Qi was willing to take responsibility for the whole thing and whitewash it.
Now, the truth was right in front of Xu Tingyu. She suddenly felt like a big joke.
She had thought that the bankruptcy of the Xu family and her father's suicide were just a rain in her life.
But she didn't expect that this heavy rain would surely make her life damp forever.
"So, in your hearts, I'm just a tool. When I was jilted at the altar, you weren't worried about whether I would be sad but about losing face?" she murmured, feeling that everything in front of her was absurd.
Because of their greed and their insistence on tying up interests, they had killed Xie Zhen.
Even now, she could guess that if the people who chased after them hadn't been so relentless, Xie Zhen's car wouldn't have had an accident.
"What are you trying to prove by showing that hurt look? You're a Xu. Shouldn't you give something back after enjoying what the Xu family has given you?" Zhang Qiu said indifferently. She even thought that Xu Tingyu's sadness was just being overly emotional.
How could this be the Xu family's fault?
If Qi Shifeng hadn't fled from the wedding and almost made the Xu family look bad, there wouldn't have been all those things later.
Moreover, what was she sad about now?
When she got married, all these things had been hidden from her to prevent her from overthinking.
She had been well protected by everyone. What else was she not satisfied with?
"Anyway, I don't care what you think or whether you and Qi Shifeng are just acting. There's no way you can remarry."
"Unless you transfer all your property to me and let Qi Shifeng give you a dowry of 100 million yuan. Then I'll consider it."
"Don't look at me like that. I'm already being very generous. I'm only asking for 100 million yuan from him." Zhang Qiu was still daydreaming, as if she had already got the better of Xu Tingyu.
Although Xu Tingyu's heart was on the verge of collapse, she didn't show too much on her face.
She thought it was ridiculous that her mother was still obsessed with asking her for money.
"So, you've told me all these things, let me know that you've never cared about me, and now you still want to ask me for money. What on earth are you thinking?"
"Do you think I'm so easy to deceive or that I'm just stupid? The worse you treat me, the more I should try to please you?"
"Forget it. I don't want to argue with you anymore. Go to sleep early. You can have everything in your dreams."
"I came here just to tell you not to waste your effort. Don't bother Chen Yan or Secretary Qian anymore. I won't pay any attention to you."
After saying these words, Xu Tingyu walked out of the ward without caring about Zhang Qiu's hysteria.
Zhang Qiu cursed behind her but didn't dare to rush up and hit her.
Because she knew that she had already offended Liu Ning. If she got into a fight with Xu Tingyu again, she would really be close to death.
So she could only watch helplessly as Xu Tingyu got into the elevator and disappeared from sight.
After getting into the elevator and making sure there was no one around, Xu Tingyu let down her guard.
Her mind was in a complete mess now, and she felt that her three views had been completely overturned.
She didn't know that her father, whom she had always thought loved her the most, actually didn't love her at all.
But thinking about it carefully, it made sense. If he really had feelings for her, how could he have had an illegitimate child?
How could he have pushed her into the fire pit of the Qi family just for the sake of those benefits, even though he knew it was dangerous?
She was just a vase carefully crafted with effort.
She was used for transactions and for people to admire.
But she was never loved.