"But whether a person deserves to die shouldn't be judged by others. If she's guilty, the law will punish her," Xu Tingyu frowned.
She didn't feel any sense of justice for Xie Shu. Instead, she was reminding Qi Ye that there was law in this world. People shouldn't and couldn't defy the law for their own desires.
Qi Ye understood what she meant, but he didn't care. He didn't think he was wrong at all.
"Tingyu, today, let's not talk about others. Let's just talk about us."
"I know you resent me for bringing you to me in this way, but I had no other choice."
"I can't just watch you stay with Qi Shifeng. He's not the right man for you. If you two stay together, you'll only get hurt."
"Tingyu, I'm the one who loves you the most. I'm willing to give everything I have to make you the happiest person in the world."
"I..."
Qi Ye's voice was tinged with a bit of eagerness, and his eyes were full of fanaticism. But Xu Tingyu didn't want to listen. She interrupted him directly, "You love me, so you had an affair with Chen Chunyao?"
Many things suddenly connected in her mind.
Before, Chen Yan had said that he saw Chen Chunyao with Qi Ye. At that time, Xu Tingyu didn't believe it. She thought there was no connection between the two. But after knowing that it was all Qi Ye's doing that she was brought here, she suddenly suspected that what Chen Yan said might be true.
How did Qi Ye know so many details about her? Even when Youyou went missing, it was so coincidental that Chen Chunyao found Fan Yi with another woman and broke down. Clearly, Chen Chunyao wasn't the kind of person who would cry and whine...
Once the seed of doubt was planted, many details that were previously ignored would be magnified. She began to be unsure what role her best friend had played in all these things.
When Qi Ye heard her mention Chen Chunyao, he immediately explained, "I definitely didn't have an affair with her. She loves me, but I've never responded to her."
"Believe me. I've only loved you, and I'll always only love you. If Chen Chunyao wasn't your friend, I wouldn't have had any contact with her at all."
So there was indeed a connection. Xu Tingyu's already broken heart trembled again.
"So, this is how you love me? Colluding with my best friend to deceive me?"
"Do you think I'll still believe you two?"
She took several steps back, putting some distance between them.
Qi Ye was really anxious.
"I didn't deceive you. Everything I did was for your own good. If I love you so much, how could I deceive you?"
"Even if I didn't tell the whole truth about some things, they were all white lies."
"Moreover, Chen Chunyao never hurt you. She knew that Qi Shifeng wasn't the right match for you, so she chose to stand by my side."
"We became an alliance because we both love you."
He used all his sweet talk to beautify his relationship with Chen Chunyao. If Xu Tingyu hadn't discovered these things, he would never have told her that Chen Chunyao was helping him. Because he always thought that Chen Chunyao wasn't worthy of being Xu Tingyu's friend. She came to him for profit and became his ally.
Now, to make Xu Tingyu feel better, he didn't mind beautifying Chen Chunyao a bit.
"Don't lie to me. I'm not a three - year - old child, Qi Ye. Doing all kinds of hurtful things in the name of love is not love at all."
"This is control. It's to satisfy your own desires. You don't really love me."
Xu Tingyu remained unmoved. In fact, she didn't want to discuss the issue of love with Qi Ye. It made her feel nauseous and uncomfortable. But she had to continue the discussion because she had no chance of winning in front of him. Youyou was still in his hands.
"I do love you. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't have given Chen Chunyao so many resources just to get some information about you."
"If I didn't love you, why would I have dragged my sick body back to the country again and again to look for you after knowing you were back?"
"If I didn't love you, why would I still be in contact with the Qi family and maintain that ridiculous relationship?"
"Everything I did was to get closer to you and know more about you."
"Moreover, if you were happy with Qi Shifeng, I wouldn't have planned all these things. It was he who gave me this opportunity."
Qi Ye's words were a bit jumbled. Clearly, he was really panicked. He didn't like the anger in Xu Tingyu's eyes, nor did he like the way she was keeping a distance from him. It made him feel like a fool.
"You gave her resources?"
Xu Tingyu didn't want to listen to those things. She only caught one point. Over the years, there had been whispers behind Chen Chunyao's back that she had good resources. In the entertainment circle, this couldn't be achieved just by good luck or hard work. Some people even said it in front of Xu Tingyu, and she was always angry. She even had a direct conflict with someone because of it. In her heart, Chen Chunyao was just that good. She was hard - working, intelligent, able to endure hardships, and had a very high EQ. It was normal for someone in the circle to be willing to support her. But now, Qi Ye said that he had given Chen Chunyao a lot of resources. In exchange, Chen Chunyao gave him information about Xu Tingyu. This kind of deal was unacceptable to her. She could accept Qi Ye supporting Chen Chunyao for other reasons and even think that Chen Chunyao deserved it. But she couldn't accept that she had become the bargaining chip in the deal.
"Yes. In fact, Chen Chunyao isn't that outstanding. She's not that remarkable in the entertainment circle, is she?"
Although Qi Ye tried his best to beautify his deal with Chen Chunyao, there was still a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth when he mentioned her. There were so many people like her in the entertainment circle. What was the use of just working hard? If she was really that good, she wouldn't have failed to even reach the second - tier level before he gave her resources.
"Tingyu, it was me who made her what she is today. You know how resource exchanges work in the circle. I've never touched her, and I've tried my best to protect her from many unspoken rules. As you can see, I don't really like her. But because she's your friend and I know you want her to be well, I'm willing to give her a hand."
No matter how much Qi Ye talked, he always circled back to his feelings for Xu Tingyu. He didn't hide his dislike for Chen Chunyao, which was also a foreshadowing. He wanted Xu Tingyu to know that in this world, no one loved her as purely as he did. Only he loved her most purely and passionately. He only loved her as a person, not anything behind her. So, she should also stay by his side and stay away from others.