Su Qi choked on her food, patting her chest as she coughed.
"Wife, eat slowly, no one's snatching it from you."
The man was doing it on purpose.
He was absolutely doing it on purpose.
He even raised his hand and patted her back.
Qin Xue handed her a glass of water, "Eat slowly, don't choke. You're a mother now, be careful with everything."
"I know, Mom."
Su Qi's face flushed slightly. She took the glass of water, took a sip, and shot a fierce glare at the man beside her.
She had truly seen it now; this man's moods were truly unpredictable.
The weather in March changed as quickly as a child's face, and Huo Tingyun's face changed even faster than the March weather.
After dinner, Su Qi pondered how to bring it up with Huo Tingyun. She picked up her phone and sat on the sofa, playing with it. The man sat to her left, his legs crossed, a laptop on his lap, his long fingers dancing across the keyboard. Even the way he typed was so elegant and pleasing to the eye.
Su Qi almost stared blankly. When she met the man's eyes, she realized her lapse in composure. She quickly averted her gaze, only to shift it back a few seconds later.
Only she and Huo Tingyun were in the living room. Qin Xue, wisely not wanting to be a third wheel, made an excuse to go for a walk.
Su Qi bit her finger, lost in thought, completely unaware that the man was sitting beside her.
"What are you thinking about?"
Su Qi jumped when the deep voice sounded, nearly dropping her phone.
"Thinking about how to poison me?"
"No!" Su Qi frowned. "You're not afraid of death, but I am. I haven't lived enough."
Poison him?
She'd go to jail!
Huo Tingyun, you think too highly of yourself.
"Then do you need something from me?"
Su Qi pursed her lips.
"Speak," the man said concisely.
Su Qi felt like she was this man's subordinate, almost blurting out her request.
"It's nothing important."
"Then get some sleep early."
Huo Tingyun put down his laptop, picked up Su Qi, and carried her directly upstairs.
Their posture was intimate. Su Qi blinked, looking at the man before her, her eyes inexplicably welling up.
So the farthest distance in the world wasn't the ends of the earth.
It was being right beside you, yet feeling so incredibly far away.
Deep in Huo Tingyun's heart, there was always a woman he couldn't let go of.
Between her and Huo Tingyun, they were like two parallel lines that could never intersect.
Hospital.
In just one week, Xu Ruyun had lost over fifteen pounds. She had been plump and youthful, but after losing so much weight in a week, her condition was terrible.
Upon waking up in the morning, Xu Ruyun couldn't believe the woman in the mirror was herself.
All of this was Su Qi's doing.
Yet, she could do nothing to Su Qi.
Huo Tingyun was very clever; he had directly moved Su Qi back to the Huo family residence. She couldn't even lay a finger on Su Qi.
Xu Ruyun sat by the hospital bed, holding Xu Qingfeng's hand. "Old Master, please wake up quickly. Our daughter has been driven insane by someone else. She's confined at home every day, acting madly. Her life has been completely ruined by that vixen. What should I do..."
The man on the hospital bed was still in a coma, wearing an oxygen mask. His previously stable heart rhythm showed some fluctuations after Xu Ruyun spoke those words.
However, his body still showed no reaction.
"Old Master, I know you can hear me. If you can hear me, please wake up soon. The family needs you."
Xu Ruyun gathered her shattered heart, covered Xu Qingfeng with the blanket, and was about to get up when the hospital room door was pushed open from the outside.
A smiling man stood behind Xu Ruyun.
"Mrs. Xu."
"Who are you?"
"Who I am is not important. I know what you want to do. If I say I have a way, are you willing to try?"
"What are you talking about? I don't understand what you're saying!"
Xu Ruyun stared at the man warily. Seeing him enter the room, she took a few steps back, but still stood by Xu Qingfeng's bed, afraid that this stranger might harm Xu Qingfeng.
"I have no ill intentions. I'm simply offering you help. If it weren't for the Huo family, your daughter wouldn't have been driven mad by Huo Tingyun. Now Huo Tingyun is completely unharmed, and he pays no attention to your daughter. Don't you want revenge?"
"You..."
Xu Ruyun frowned deeply, looking at the man before her with a complex expression.
"You can help me?!"
She hated her powerlessness and hated Su Qi.
But she hated Huo Tingyun's cold-heartedness even more.
If Huo Tingyun hadn't pursued Lin Yun with such fervor back then, even making her famous, she had naively believed that Huo Tingyun was sincere towards Lin Yun.
But all his actions had completely chilled her heart.
Huo Tingyun was the true culprit behind her daughter's mental breakdown!
It was just that she was utterly powerless and couldn't contend with the Huo family.
What could this man before her possibly do?!
Late at night.
Huo Tingyun finished his work, his temples throbbing. He went into the bathroom and, despite the cold weather of early winter, took a cold shower. Emerging from the bathroom, he was wrapped in a towel from the waist down, his upper body still steaming.
The icy cold water seemed to extinguish some of his fatigue.
He picked up his phone from the bedside table. The little woman on the bed was already fast asleep. The phone was on vibrate mode, and there were several missed calls, all from Lin Te.
Normally, Lin Te would only make one call if he couldn't reach him and wait for a reply.
It was rare for him to call several times today.
Huo Tingyun tapped on the call log, scanned it, and then called back.
Lin Te on the other end answered almost instantly.
He could miss anyone else's call, but not Huo Tingyun's.
"Sir, you finally answered the phone."
"What is it? Speak directly."
"The people under me say they've found the person you were looking for."
"So quickly? Go verify it thoroughly before reporting to me."
"Yes, sir. I'll verify it first thing tomorrow morning."
After hanging up, Huo Tingyun's eyes darkened slightly.
After a moment, the sleeping little woman was reflected in his eyes.
The sentence echoed in his ears.
"If your white moonlight returns to you, how should I position myself?"
The next day, Lin Te rushed to the hotel and pushed open the door. He saw a woman sitting on the sofa. From this angle, Lin Te could only see her back.
"Miss Li?"
Lin Te walked forward and saw the woman who claimed to be Huo Tingyun's first love.
"Assistant Lin, it's me. Good morning." The woman smiled slightly and extended her hand to Lin Te.
"Miss Li, hello, hello. Please have a seat." Lin Te took out his phone, pressed the recording button, and asked some questions that Huo Tingyun had provided. To Lin Te's surprise, Miss Li answered them all fluently, making him a little convinced.
Furthermore, the woman before him was dressed simply and elegantly, wearing light makeup, presenting herself as a demure and gentle young lady.
Perhaps she really was Mr. Huo's first love.