Gu Susu cut to the chase. "Mr. Ai, you begged me to take over Ai's Group. Now you're constantly urging me to return it, and your wife keeps calling me. Have you considered her feelings or her health?"
"Susu, what are you calling me? And what are you calling your mother? We're a family. Can you calmly and rationally think this through and not let outsiders interfere?" Ai Shunan said, glancing at Xiao Anjing.
Gu Susu said without mincing words, "I haven't had a family for a long time, nor do I consider you my family. I've come today to tell you that I can return Ai's Group to Ai Yifeng, but you have to promise me that Ai's Group will cooperate with Aoxiang to create a brand-new online sales platform, with all profits from the platform going to Aoxiang."
"You mean you want us at Ai's to work for Aoxiang for free? That's impossible, and we have no interest in cooperating with Aoxiang," Ai Shunan refused outright.
Gu Susu stated firmly, "Then I won't return Ai's to Ai Yifeng and will directly entrust Mr. Xiao to manage it. The effect I want to achieve should be the same."
"You unfilial daughter, are you trying to anger me and your mother to death!" Ai Shunan roared, pointing at her. "Even if you're unwilling to change your surname to Ai, you carry your mother's blood and are part of the Ai family. We trusted you and were forced to make that choice back then. Now you're colluding with outsiders to threaten me!"
As Gu Susu was about to retort, Xiao Anjing stopped her and said politely to Ai Shunan, "Mr. Ai, Ai's Group has achieved its current status partly thanks to the help of the late Mrs. Qin when she was alive. Even after we acquired Ai's Group, it was due to Ai's Group's own operational problems, making it insolvent and unsustainable. During the acquisition, you repeatedly sought help from our President Qin. We helped you out of tight spots at least twice and also agreed on the terms after a successful acquisition. But you suddenly turned your back on us, without any prior communication, and launched a counter-acquisition war with financial support from Yang Sijie. Your actions were truly unethical. Even if Miss Gu doesn't return Ai's Group to you, you deserve it."
Gu Susu stared at Ai Shunan, dumbfounded. It seemed Ai Shunan was the one who kept breaking his promises, and his actions had seriously harmed Qin Tianyi.
Ai Shunan shamelessly said, "You all want to get your hands on Ai's. If I don't act like this, how can I protect Ai's Group?"
Xiao Anjing made a move to stand up and said to Gu Susu, "It seems there's nothing more to discuss with him. Let's go. You can directly entrust me to manage Ai's Group for you."
"Alright," Gu Susu said, also standing up, ready to leave with him.
"Wait, don't go," Ai Shunan called out, seeing them about to leave. He regretted transferring the company to Gu Susu, thinking women were fickle and would give away their family's business.
Gu Susu stopped and turned to him. "Is there anything else?"
"I promise, and you'll return Ai's to Yifeng?" Ai Shunan asked, not entirely convinced.
Gu Susu nodded. "If you cooperate with Aoxiang Group and build a good online sales platform, I will sign under the witness of a lawyer."
Ai Shunan gritted his teeth. "Fine, I agree."
Gu Susu smiled at Xiao Anjing and then said to Ai Shunan, "I don't understand much about your business cooperation, so I'll leave it to Mr. Xiao to discuss with you."
After saying that, she prepared to leave. Ai Shunan stopped her. "Susu, since you've achieved your goal, take some time to visit your mother. She really wants to see you more."
Gu Susu said coldly, "Isn't Ai Yifeng by her side? It doesn't matter if I go or not."
Ai Shunan said, "Yifeng isn't very considerate and can't take good care of his mother. If you visit her, it might be one of the last times."
Gu Susu couldn't help but ask, "Didn't she say the treatment was going smoothly? What do you mean by that?"
"According to the latest examination report, the doctor said the cancer cells have metastasized," Ai Shunan said with a sorrowful expression.
"She doesn't know yet?"
Ai Shunan nodded. "I haven't told her, for fear she couldn't handle it."
Gu Susu didn't lack concern for Yuan Shuna, but she feared that going to the hospital would lead to something she couldn't accept. She also didn't know if Ai Shunan was genuinely worried about Yuan Shuna or trying to gain her sympathy using Yuan Shuna's illness.
"Alright, I understand," Gu Susu said and left the tea house.
Outside the tea house, she felt inexplicably uneasy. She stood by the roadside for a moment, hailed a taxi, and went directly to the hospital to visit Yuan Shuna.
At the hospital, she bought a bouquet of flowers from the shop at the entrance and went to the single room in the inpatient department. Peeking into the room from the doorway, she saw Yuan Shuna sitting on the hospital bed, looking very weak, holding an apple and eating it with difficulty, bite by bite.
Gu Susu walked in with a heavy heart, a smile on her face, holding the flowers. "I came to see you. Are you feeling any better?"
Yuan Shuna's face, now gaunt, lit up when she saw her. "Susu, why are you here? You didn't let me know in advance."
"I was handling some business nearby and just happened to pass by the hospital," she said, placing the flowers aside.
"Oh, no wonder you have time to come over." Yuan Shuna put down the apple she was holding and reached out to hold Gu Susu's hand.
Gu Susu dodged her outstretched hand and looked at the apple on her cup. "You're not feeling well, you shouldn't eat apples like this. Let me cut them into small pieces for you."
She found a fruit knife and a plate and began to cut the apple, which Yuan Shuna had already bitten into, into four pieces, removed the core, and then cut it into small chunks.
Yuan Shuna watched her with a smile. "You're so thoughtful. Yifeng isn't even half as meticulous as you are."
As she was speaking, Ai Yifeng entered with packed meals. The moment he saw Gu Susu, he said irritably, "What are you doing here? You're not needed here!"
Gu Susu quickly put down the cut apple, preparing to leave immediately.
Yuan Shuna grabbed her and said to Ai Yifeng, "Susu came to see me out of kindness. How can you be so harsh to her? I'm not letting her go. I have a lot more to say to her."
Ai Yifeng quickly went to the bedside and pulled away Yuan Shuna's hand that was holding Gu Susu. "Mom, wake up. She hates us. She's here to visit, but it's really to get revenge!"
"What nonsense are you talking about now!" Yuan Shuna trembled with anger.
Ai Yifeng glared at Gu Susu. "She's been colluding with outsiders to deal with us, first Qin Tianyi, and now this person named Yang! And even if Yiwei did something wrong, she shouldn't have caused her to be imprisoned for life. She's definitely going to deal with us now..."
"Ai Yiwei wasn't sentenced to death?" Gu Susu was a bit surprised by this news. The lawyer last time had said the probability of a death sentence was very high.
"Mom, listen to him. She wishes Yiwei would die!"