"Little one, you speak, you speak!" Ai Yiwei seemed to be pulling at someone on the other end of the phone. "Did you hear? Your mother doesn't care about you at all! She's married into a wealthy family now and has abandoned you."
"Mom, this auntie is so scary. She's pinching me, it hurts so much..." Little Star's frightened cries came from the phone.
Gu Susu's eyes immediately turned red, and she angrily said, "Ai Yiwei, try hurting a single hair on my son's head!"
"Then let's try."
Gu Susu then heard a slap, followed by Little Star's loud wail.
Ai Yiwei chuckled, "I hit him. What can you do to me! Last chance, will you help me or not?"
"I'll help! What exactly do you want me to help you with?" Gu Susu's heart pounded, her legs weak, wishing she could fly to Little Star's side immediately.
"Help me marry into the Qin family."
At this point, Gu Susu agreed to whatever Ai Yiwei said, without asking why Ai Yiwei wanted to marry into the Qin family.
"You just say 'yes' casually, without any sincerity. Believe it or not, I'll slap your son again?" Ai Yiwei crouched down, looking at the crying Little Star, and made a move to hit him again.
"I want Mommy! I want Mommy..." Little Star's cries were heard again.
Gu Susu roared into the phone, "Ai Yiwei, stop! You're pregnant with Qin Tianlang's child, and you want to marry him, right? What's so difficult about that? Since you're carrying the Qin family's flesh and blood, you'll definitely be able to marry into the Qin family."
Ai Yiwei finally let go of Little Star and stood up, saying, "Yes, you think so too?"
"How do you want me to help you? Do you want the Qin family to know about this, or do you want me to persuade the Qin family's old matriarch to agree to this marriage?" Gu Susu spoke while calming Ai Yiwei, and walked towards the roadside to hail a taxi.
Little Star's cries were intermittently heard from the phone, making her feel as if she were being grilled over a fire. She had to go to the Ai family immediately to see her child safe and sound.
Ai Yiwei laughed, "You've indeed become smarter. You guessed that Qin Tianlang doesn't want to marry me? So you can only go after the Qin family elders. As long as the elders pressure him, he'll have no choice but to marry me?"
Qin Tianlang had a notorious reputation. Gu Susu guessed that he was just playing around with Ai Yiwei. Since Ai Yiwei thought of using her pregnancy to threaten him, she could only go through the Qin family's old matriarch or Qin Tianlang's parents.
Ai Yiwei's tactic wouldn't work on Qin Tianlang. He was a playboy, and it was inevitable that he would slip up sometimes.
If Ai Yiwei could think of this move, other women could too, but other women couldn't get to the Qin family elders, and even if they could, their status wouldn't be sufficient.
"Yes, tell the Qin family elders about this, and he won't be able to evade his responsibility towards you," Gu Susu said.
Ai Yiwei said, "Then we're on the same page."
"I'm going back to the Ai family now. Give me the pregnancy test reports, and I can show them to the old matriarch or Qin Tianlang's parents today."
"Good, I'll be waiting for you at home." Ai Yiwei hung up the phone, glanced dismissively at the still crying Little Star, and impatiently yelled at the maid, "Sister Lin, take this child away, lock him in the room and ignore him. Let him cry all he wants."
"Yes, Young Miss." Sister Lin came over, grabbed Little Star, and took him away.
Ai Yiwei sat on the living room sofa. Without the child's cries, she felt much more at peace.
Around ten in the morning, the rest of the Ai family was out. Ai Shunan and Yuan Shuna had gone to the company early, and Ai Yifeng had gone to an overseas branch to verify a project payment.
She rested on the sofa for a while, then wearily took out several pregnancy test reports from her bag.
The results confirmed she was pregnant, but she couldn't be sure whose child it was.
In any case, Ai Yifeng absolutely could not know that she was pregnant. Last night, she had shown him the test results, and to her surprise, he had told her to get an abortion without a word.
The way Qin Tianlang looked at her then was no different from how he looked at those minor celebrities and models he had played with. What did he think she was!
She had never been so humble in front of any man. After all, she was the eldest daughter of the Ai family. She wouldn't listen to Qin Tianlang on this matter.
To make Qin Tianlang understand that she was different from other women, she was determined to become his wife.
Gu Susu sat in the taxi, burning with anxiety, eager to see Little Star. She hoped his young heart wouldn't be further hurt. She couldn't endure such days any longer.
She wanted to take her child away from all this turmoil. This thought grew stronger and more resolute!
As soon as she arrived at the Ai family's doorstep, Gu Susu quickly got out of the taxi and entered the Ai family villa. The first thing she said to Ai Yiwei was, "I want to see my son! If you don't let me see him first, we have nothing to discuss!"
Ai Yiwei looked upstairs. "That child was taken upstairs by Sister Lin. You know which room he's in, go up and see for yourself."
Gu Susu rushed up to the third floor. She reached the door of a small room and pushed it open. She saw Sister Lin holding Little Star and trying to comfort him.
Little Star wasn't crying loudly anymore, but his eyes were closed, and tears streamed down his face as he murmured, "I want Mommy..."
The child's voice was soft and timid, making one's heart ache.
"Give me the child," Gu Susu said, her heart breaking.
Sister Lin handed the child to her and said with a hint of pity, "Please comfort this child well." Then she left the room.
Sister Lin was the longest-serving maid in the Ai family. She had always followed the orders of others in the Ai family and had never paid any attention to Gu Susu, who had suddenly appeared.
This was also because the master and madam, as well as the young master and young lady, did not think highly of Gu Susu, and even treated her as just a servant of the Ai family. But after this child came to the Ai family, the master and young lady had always asked her to take care of him. Having been together with the child day and night, one's heart could not remain unmoved.
She had developed feelings for the cute and well-behaved Xingxing, feeling as if he were her own grandson, and her heart ached for the child.
Sister Lin shook her head helplessly, hoping that Xingxing would not be locked up here again, and then went downstairs to the kitchen.
Little Star heard Gu Susu's voice and knew he was in his mother's arms.
He no longer cried as he had the previous two times when he saw Gu Susu and begged to leave with her. Instead, he buried his face in her embrace, tightly clutching her clothes with his small hands.
Gu Susu felt she had let the child down too much, and said sadly, "Xingxing is fine now. It's all Mommy's fault. Just bear with it a little longer, and Mommy will take you away soon."
Little Star grunted in her arms and whispered, "Mommy, I'm very good. But why are the aunties here still mean to me?"
"It's not your fault. That auntie has a problem with her brain. Before Mommy picks you up, you must protect yourself and don't let yourself get hurt."
Little Star opened his eyes and looked at her with a confused expression, as if he understood, yet as if he understood nothing.
Gu Susu's tears couldn't help but fall. Asking a child over two years old to understand how to protect himself was simply impossible. What was the use of her telling him these things? It was all her fault for being an incompetent mother.
Little Star reached out his small hand and wiped away her tears, saying with a half-understanding look, "Mommy, don't cry. I'll protect myself when you're not here, and I'll wait for you."
Her child was far more sensible than his peers, and her heart shattered. Her tears wouldn't stop. She could only hold Little Star tightly and whisper in his ear with guilt, "I'm sorry, Mommy is useless, it's all because Mommy is useless..."