Gu Susu could hardly believe her ears. "Yang Sijie is finished? What do you mean? Did something happen to him abroad?"
"The police abroad have concrete evidence of his money laundering and have arrested him. So he can no longer threaten you. You don't need to be afraid of him."
"That's impossible." Susu didn't believe Yang Sijie would be caught so easily.
Qin Tianyi held her tighter and said, "Even if he wasn't caught, I'm here now. I will protect you..."
Susu didn't want to hear him continue. It wasn't about him, but about the fact that she was no longer the Gu Susu she used to be. She was broken, truly unworthy of being with him again, and she feared he would despise her.
"I can't... I can't go back to you anymore. I can't go back."
Qin Tianyi's voice, though low, was clear enough for her to hear. "When you weren't here, my mind was filled with you. I missed you terribly. What happened between you and Yang Sijie was forced. I won't mind. Susu, I love you. I love you so much I can't help myself."
His "I love you" pierced her heart like an arrow, freezing her in place.
She could no longer suppress her deep, unforgettable love for him. She hugged him and cried loudly.
"There, there. It's all over now. Whatever happens in the future, we'll face it together. Don't hide things from me anymore and bear them alone, okay?" Qin Tianyi was also heartbroken, filled with regret and self-blame. If only he had believed in her love for him back then, if only he had realized sooner that she was enduring hardship for his sake, protecting him and Little Star, perhaps she wouldn't have suffered so much pain and grievance.
Susu finally stopped crying. They couldn't stand on the street like this forever, so she took him back to her place.
After being apart for so long, they could finally sit down, talk openly, and have tea.
When Qin Tianyi heard Susu explain why she missed the airport, he clenched his fists tightly and crushed the glass cup in his hand with sudden force.
Susu, startled, quickly told him to let go. "Tianyi, don't do that! The broken glass has cut your hand, and it's bleeding!"
But Qin Tianyi's eyes seemed to want to kill someone. He flung her away and said, "It's nothing. I'm going to kill that bastard Yang Sijie!"
She forcibly held him back and comforted him. "Thinking about it now, even if I had gone on vacation with you, Yang Sijie wouldn't have let me go. Fortunately, you and Little Star are safe. It's good that you are all unharmed."
Qin Tianyi, still holding the shattered glass cup, said with hatred and anger, "It's all my fault. I didn't protect you well enough... I was so foolish to think you were truly devoted to Yang Sijie and were just deceiving me!"
He spoke with immense regret, grabbed Susu's hand, and urged her to hit him. "I'm a scoundrel. Hit me, hit me hard!"
"Tianyi! I'm also at fault. I didn't listen to your advice, always thinking that even if there wasn't love between us, there was friendship and family affection. But I was wrong, terribly wrong." Susu forcefully pulled her hand away, cradled his hand holding the glass, and said softly, "Put the cup down slowly. I'll get the first-aid kit. We'll stop the bleeding first, and then go to the hospital immediately."
Qin Tianyi seemed not to hear her, still consumed by extreme anger and heartache.
Susu persuaded him again. "I knew you would react like this, which is why I didn't dare tell you. We can't change what has already happened. Can you calm down and not hurt yourself?"
As for the terrible things Yang Sijie had done to get her, she no longer dared to tell him.
Qin Tianyi calmed down a little, finally releasing the glass cup. The pieces fell to the floor.
However, some glass shards had embedded themselves in his palm. The sight was shocking. Susu quickly went to the room to get the first-aid kit.
Qin Tianyi sat there, looking dejected, like a stone statue, his eyes red.
Susu cautiously approached him, trying to get him to spread his injured palm as much as possible. She sprinkled styptic powder on it, and as she looked at the glass fragments embedded in his flesh, her heart ached, and tears welled up.
"Does it hurt? We should go to the hospital first..."
Qin Tianyi seemed to feel no pain. He suddenly embraced her, like a helpless child, filled with unspeakable regret and self-recrimination.
Susu continued to comfort him. "Tianyi, I'm fine now. I'm right here in front of you. And nothing will happen to me from now on. But your hand is still bleeding..."
"This little bit of blood is nothing. I only regret that I couldn't kill Yang Sijie with my own hands!"
"Killing someone means paying with your life. Is it worth it for him? I want us both to be well from now on." Susu said, carefully wiping the blood from his palm with a cotton ball.
Qin Tianyi gazed at her, realizing how much he had failed her over the years. She was right. Fortunately, she was unharmed. He would make it up to her from now on.
Susu felt his emotions had calmed down considerably. She tried to help him up. "Let's go to the hospital. Let the doctor treat the wound on your hand."
Qin Tianyi took the tweezers from the first-aid kit and, without feeling much pain, extracted a shard of glass from his palm. "There's no need to go to the hospital. I can handle this minor injury myself."
Susu snatched the tweezers from his hand. "Let me. Bear with the pain."
She carefully removed the glass fragments from his flesh, ensuring not to miss any, then disinfected and applied medication to his palm. Seeing her gently blow on his wound as she applied the ointment, he felt much of his heartache dissipate.
He had thought he would lose her forever. Even if he defeated Yang Sijie and got her back, she would have been just an empty shell.
He hadn't expected that the person she loved was still him. It felt like a dream, and he was terrified of waking up from such a beautiful dream.
While she was still looking down, bandaging his hand, he clasped her hand, pulled her into his embrace, and kissed her hair.
"Stop messing around. I'm not very good at bandaging wounds. I might wrap it incorrectly." Susu tried to break free.
"It doesn't matter if it's wrapped incorrectly." As he spoke, he used his uninjured hand to lift her chin, forcing her to look up and meet his gaze.
Susu saw the desire in his eyes and became completely flustered. As if struck by something, she pushed him away. "Your wound is treated. I also know about Yang Sijie. If you have nothing else, you should go back."
Saying this, she packed the first-aid kit, acting as if she wanted to keep him at a distance and didn't want him to be close.
Qin Tianyi didn't understand why her attitude had changed so suddenly. Moments ago, she had clearly cared about him and his pain, and now she was asking him to leave.
Thinking she was still blaming or resenting him, he decided he wouldn't let go again and hugged her from behind.
"Susu, if you want to blame me or resent me, you can hit me or scold me, but please don't push me away, ignore me, or treat me coldly anymore, okay?" Qin Tianyi, usually so domineering, now spoke with a tone of pleading.
The more he acted like this, the more her heart ached, making it difficult to breathe.