Chen Ma happened to pass by and witnessed the scene. She felt a jolt of alarm and quickly stepped forward to pull Qin Tianyi away. "Young Master, let go quickly! You'll choke the Young Madam like this."
Qin Tianyi allowed Chen Ma to pull his hand away, his eyes filled with coldness. He frowned and said, "If you dare to disobey me again and try to escape, I have a thousand ways to make your life worse than death!"
After speaking, he walked towards the garden with a blank expression.
Gu Susu sat stunned in her wheelchair, watching his retreating back, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Young Madam, are you alright?" Chen Ma asked with concern.
She snapped back to reality, unable to appear fragile. She held back her tears and said, "I'm fine."
Chen Ma sighed. "Young Madam, please don't blame the Young Master. He wasn't like this when Miss was still alive. He was so lively and sunny as a child. It was only after something happened that he was traumatized and grew up too lonely. He likes you, Young Madam, he just doesn't know how to express himself. Young Madam, you must be patient with the Young Master, he will get better..."
Gu Susu's nose twitched, and she nodded. She thought that Chen Ma was showing favoritism because of her loyalty to Xiao Yongmei, believing Qin Tianyi was a good person. Was he really like that?
Like? She never dared to think about that word. To him, she was just a toy pet he didn't want to let go of yet.
She had been alone her entire life, growing up, studying, working part-time jobs. She had Little Star, took care of the child, and then worked various jobs and side hustles.
She had always thought she was strong enough to face anything, but when the night was quiet, didn't she also wish for a harbor to rely on?
She had bad luck and never found such a harbor, but she knew Qin Tianyi was definitely not it. They were not a good match from the start, and she could only wait for him to get tired of her and let her go.
"Chen Ma, thank you just now. I'm going to the garden to play with Little Star." She forced a smile onto her face and pushed her wheelchair towards where Little Star was playing.
She couldn't let Little Star see her sadness. Little Star was so happy now, thinking he had a complete family, and his personality had become cheerful and lively. She could only temporarily maintain this illusion with Qin Tianyi, unwilling to shatter the child's hopes.
Because of this, her resentment towards Qin Tianyi grew. Didn't he know that casually weaving such beautiful bubbles for a child, once they burst, how could a young child like Star bear it!
"Mom, come quickly, look, I have so many flowers here." Little Star waved at her with a few pink and purple flowers in his hand.
Gu Susu walked into the flower bushes with a smile. "Mmm, I see them, they're so beautiful. Do you know what these flowers are?"
Little Star shook his head and ran to her side. "I don't know."
"Shall I teach you to recognize them, Mom?"
"Okay," Little Star said, tilting his little head.
Gu Susu pointed to the purple flower in his hand. "This is a violet, a very rare variety. It usually doesn't bloom this season. Where did you pick it?"
Little Star looked at the small glass greenhouse in the garden. "There are many more in there. Mom, what about this pink one?"
"Carnation," Gu Susu said, also looking at the glass greenhouse. From afar, she saw it was full of flowers, like spring in winter.
Qin Tianyi must have hired professionals and spent a considerable amount to grow these flowers in the temperature-controlled greenhouse.
"Mom, there are many other flowers in the greenhouse, I'll take you to see them." Little Star handed her all the flowers in his hand and wanted to take her to the greenhouse.
Gu Susu held the few stems of flowers and looked up to find Qin Tianyi in the greenhouse, looking at them through the glass.
"We won't go to the greenhouse, we'll stay here. Shall I teach you how to weed and plant flowers?"
Little Star immediately said, "Okay. Mom, do we need to dig a hole in the soil and then bury these flowers, and then next year they will grow new flowers?"
Gu Susu stroked his head. "Mmm, what you said is basically correct, but it's the flower seeds that need to be buried in the soil, not these flowers. Star, tell Mom what kind of flowers you like, and Mom will buy seeds online. For today, you can dig the small holes for planting flowers."
"Okay." Little Star thought for a moment and said, "I like this pink flower. Mom, what did you say it was called... Carnation?"
"Yes, Star, you're so smart, you remembered it as soon as I said it," Gu Susu praised him.
"Then I want to plant this flower. When it blooms with many, many flowers, I'll give them all to you, Mom."
Gu Susu hugged Little Star tightly, touched, and said, "Thank you, my little treasure." She kissed his head, vowing not to let anyone take her child away!
Qin Tianyi stood in the glass greenhouse, not far from them. He saw Gu Susu holding the fresh flowers Little Star had picked, her smiling face as beautiful as an elf who had fallen to earth.
His gaze was completely unable to move away from her. It was hard to imagine that a woman with such a beautiful and pure appearance could have done such dirty and unspeakable things before.
When he learned about Gu Susu's true past experiences, he had also asked the Ai family. They all said in unison that Gu Susu was the kind of person who was promiscuous, flirtatious, and had disgraced the Ai family's name. She was indeed Ai Shunan's biological daughter, but her whereabouts were unknown at birth. When she was found in an orphanage, she had become like this, without a good education, liking to deceive people, and full of lies, which led to her being expelled from school after only one year of college.
She had also been involved with her professor, accidental homicide, imprisonment, and giving birth out of wedlock... all the bad things he could never have imagined, she had done them all. Therefore, one cannot judge a person solely by their appearance.
Why had he never given up on finding her? Xiao Anjing had asked him this question more than once, saying he had fallen in love with this woman, no matter how bad she was, and that love had no reason.
But he had always refused to admit it. He felt he just couldn't swallow his pride and wanted to find her to punish her and vent his anger.
He clenched his fists tightly. Her previous words, "I really hate you," kept echoing in his mind, making him inexplicably angry.
Seeing how much she loved this child, he suddenly thought that taking this child away would be the best punishment for her.
Qin Tianyi walked out of the glass greenhouse and approached Gu Susu and Little Star. He saw Little Star holding a small shovel, diligently digging a hole.
He also squatted down and taught Little Star how to use the shovel most efficiently.
Little Star felt happy with his parents accompanying him and holding a real shovel and bucket to dig in the mud. It was more fun than playing with toys. He was so tired that sweat beaded on his forehead, but he couldn't stop to rest.
Qin Tianyi reached out and grabbed Little Star's arm. "Don't move, let me wipe your sweat." He used one hand to wipe Little Star's sweat directly, but he didn't notice that his hand was already covered in mud.
This wipe made Little Star's already slightly dirty face even dirtier.