Su Quansheng really wracked his brains all day long but couldn't figure out where he had offended Xu Lize.
However, the Su family's factory was in complete chaos that day. Orders were slipping away one by one, and contracts were being invalidated one after another. In just a few hours, Su Quansheng felt as if the sky was about to fall.
It wasn't until around 4 p.m. that Su Quansheng received a call from the police station, asking him to go and sign for the bail of his daughter, Su Qian.
Su Qian originally thought that after going to the police station on Monday to cooperate with the investigation, everything would be over. But early this morning, she received another call from the police station, telling her that she must come again immediately.
As soon as Su Qian arrived, she was taken into custody by the police on the grounds that she had instigated others to commit a crime.
Zhao Jingxuan's father confessed everything, explaining how Su Qian had approached him, induced him to believe that Su Yang was related to his daughter's death, and a series of other issues.
Of course, Su Qian refused to admit the crime, claiming that she didn't even know Zhao Jingxuan's father and accusing him of slandering her.
The two of them were at a stalemate in the police station until Officer Liu found Su Qian's friend from University A. Afraid of getting into trouble, the friend didn't wait for Officer Liu to ask in detail and just blurted out everything about how Su Qian had inquired about Zhao Jingxuan's suicide and her family.
With the charges confirmed, Su Qian finally panicked. She called a lawyer but was told that if she wanted to be bailed out, a direct family member had to come and sign.
Su Qian had been in the police station for most of the day. Finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore and nodded in agreement, asking Officer Liu to call Su Quansheng.
On the way back, Su Quansheng held his anger in and said nothing. Su Qian sat in the passenger seat with red eyes and a pouting mouth, also keeping silent with the seat - belt on.
A wave of fear welled up from her spine. Su Qian couldn't understand why Zhao Jingxuan's father, who seemed so shrewd, had handled things so clumsily.
She couldn't understand even more why Su Yang, who had always been so easy to manipulate and bully, had suddenly turned her life around after getting involved with Xu Lize.
However, when she had privately approached Zhao Jingxuan's father to slander Su Yang before, she hadn't been bold enough to want him to stab Su Yang to death.
Su Qian thought that even though she hated Su Yang, she still knew the simple truth that killing was against the law.
In fact, she just wanted Zhao Jingxuan's father to teach Su Yang a lesson, to make her get hurt and be unable to defend herself. Su Qian thought that would achieve her goal.
She just didn't expect that Xu Lize would get involved, and then the situation gradually got out of control.
The father - daughter pair returned home in silence. Zhang Minghui, Su's wife, who had no idea what was going on, was quite surprised to see them come back together. She stepped forward with a beaming smile.
"What wind has blown you two back together? It's rare for you father - daughter pair to..."
Before Zhang Minghui could finish her sentence, Su Quansheng slapped Su Qian, who was standing beside him. The slap was so hard that Su Qian staggered and almost fell to the ground.
"Su Quansheng!" Zhang Minghui shrieked in confusion. "Are you crazy!"
"Crazy?!" Su Quansheng sneered. A hint of violence flashed in his dejected expression. "Why don't you ask your precious daughter what she has done? I think it's her who's crazy!"
"Dad..." Su Qian knew she had caused a big problem this time. She covered her face with red eyes and started to cry. "I know I was wrong, but I didn't instigate anyone to commit a crime. That girl just committed suicide by jumping off a building. You tell me, if she had no grudge against Su Yang, why would she jump in front of her? There must be a reason!"
Zhang Minghui, standing on one side, didn't understand what was going on. She was anxious watching the father - daughter pair glaring at each other.
"Su Quansheng, talk things out calmly. How can hitting your daughter solve the problem? Qianqian, explain things clearly to your father. What do you mean by jumping in front of Su Yang?"
Su Quansheng glanced at Zhang Minghui and impatiently pushed her away. "If you don't understand anything, don't make things worse." Then he glared at Su Qian with an angry face and said, "Come upstairs with me. I have something to ask you!"
...
As it was getting close to the end of work, Su Yang received a message from Xu Lize asking if he should come and pick her up later.
Su Yang replied that it wasn't necessary. She said she had to meet a classmate near the train station after work, and then she would take the subway home directly.
However, not long after she sent the message, Xu Lize's call came through.
"What classmate?" Xu Lize asked.
"A roommate from my dorm. She's taking the train back to her hometown tonight. After this, we may never get a chance to meet again. I'm going to see her off," Su Yang replied truthfully.
"I'm still at the industrial park checking the site. Send me your location when you get there. I'll pick you up when you're done." The man's tone was non - negotiable. It was an order, not a discussion.
Su Yang wasn't trying to argue with him. She just asked seriously, "Has the hospital approved your discharge? Why did you suddenly come to our company today without saying a word?"
Xu Lize was rarely at a loss for words. After a few seconds of silence, he asked casually, "... You've been arguing with me all day today. Well, are you happy?"
Even Xu himself didn't notice the subtle hint of indulgence in his tone over the phone.
Su Yang was answering the phone in the bustling office. She was being very cautious, so naturally, she didn't have the extra thought to notice Xu Lize's unusual tone.
Hearing this, she gritted her teeth and complained, "Happy! Why wouldn't I be happy? Just now, I was taken to the pantry by Director Yang for a private chat!"
"Yang?" Xu Lize thought for a moment and then understood. "Oh, Yang Zhenli. What did he ask you?"
"He asked if I knew you!" Just thinking about it made Su Yang feel a bit scared. She lowered her voice and huddled in her computer chair, whispering to Xu Lize, "Why do you think Director Yang asked me this?"
"How did you answer?" Xu Lize didn't answer but asked instead.
"I said I knew your sister and we were on good terms." At this moment, Su Yang didn't think she was lying. In fact, her relationship with Xu Zhiying was indeed quite good.
"Humph, you sure know how to twist the facts," Xu Lize sneered.
Su Yang naturally heard that he was mocking her for being timid. She retorted defiantly, "What do you mean by twisting the facts? I'm protecting your reputation. Well, do you want me to tell everyone that I'm your... only then will you be happy?"
Although it was getting close to the end of work and the office was noisy, Su Yang still didn't dare to be too blatant. When it came to the crucial words, she just mumbled them.
However, Xu Lize got excited. "You can give it a try. I don't mind."
But Su Yang didn't buy it at all. Since she couldn't see him over the phone, she got a lot bolder and retorted directly, "Why should I be the one to stick my neck out?"
She wasn't stupid. She knew her own identity clearly. If she were to go out of her way to tell others about her current relationship with Xu Lize, who would believe it?
Not even she herself believed it!
They exchanged a few rounds of meaningless words, but neither of them realized that this call could have ended a long time ago.
But somehow, neither of them could bring themselves to say "goodbye". It was as if the words were stuck in their throats, sticky and hard to utter.