Guo Mei’s mother asked, “Miss, what is your name?”
“Gu Susu.”
She then asked, “And you, young man?”
“Su Kangxi.”
She repeated Gu Susu’s name thoughtfully, saying, “I’ve never heard Mei Mei mention you before. She often talks about CEO Gu at home, and you also have the surname Gu. Could you be the CEO Gu she mentioned?”
Gu Susu quickly waved her hands and said, “No, no, I’m just a designer at the factory.”
Guo Mei’s mother suddenly asked again, “Don’t hide it from me. Has something happened to Mei Mei?”
Gu Susu and Su Kangxi exchanged glances, unsure how to respond.
Guo Mei’s younger son, with his innocent big eyes, looked at them blankly and asked in a small voice, “Auntie, Uncle, where is Mommy? When can she come home?”
Gu Susu felt a pang of distress. These people were too cruel, knowing Guo Mei’s difficult family situation and still framing her like this.
“Mommy will be back soon. You need to be good and listen to Grandma,” Gu Susu said to the child with a smile.
Guo Mei’s mother said to the child, “Did you turn off the TV in the room? If not, go back and watch cartoons. Hurry.”
The child nodded obediently and went back inside. The sound of the TV was turned up.
“What exactly happened to Mei Mei? Tell me quickly. Is she injured? Is she in the hospital?” Guo Mei’s mother no longer concealed her anxiety and asked.
Gu Susu quickly said, “She’s not injured, she’s perfectly fine, really.”
“Then what happened to her?”
“She… she…” Gu Susu didn’t know how to explain, fearing that telling the truth would be too much for Guo Mei’s mother.
Su Kangxi took over, saying, “Auntie, Guo Mei is really fine. We didn’t tell you the truth because we didn’t want you to worry. Actually, she’s involved in a theft case at the factory, and she’s a key witness. The police have asked her to assist with the investigation at the station. Once it’s cleared up, she’ll be back in a few days.”
Guo Mei’s mother, knowing her daughter was alive, uninjured, and well, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. But what about this theft case?
“I know my daughter! She would never do anything underhanded!”
“Yes, yes,” Gu Susu said. “She didn’t steal. The police just asked her to be a witness, so you don’t need to worry too much.”
As she spoke, she stood up to leave, saying, “Auntie, please rest assured. We are Guo Mei’s colleagues and friends, and we won’t let anything happen to her. The police will let her go back once they’ve clarified things.”
“Okay, I believe you. Thank you for doing this for her, and please tell her that my children and I will wait for her to come back.”
Gu Susu dared not meet Guo Mei’s mother’s eyes again. She quickly bid farewell and pulled Su Kangxi away.
Outside, Su Kangxi suggested, “Susu jie, let’s find a place to have a drink and sit for a while.”
She nodded, but her mind was still on Guo Mei’s situation, and she was very worried.
They went to a coffee shop and sat by the window.
Gu Susu ordered a latte, and so did Su Kangxi.
She remained silent, gazing thoughtfully at the people passing by outside the window.
Su Kangxi spoke first, “Does Guo Mei have two children? I only saw one today. Is the sick child you mentioned the one we saw today?”
Gu Susu hummed in agreement and said, “Yes, the one we saw today is her younger son. He had leukemia before. Although he’s basically recovered, he still needs to take medication.”
“No wonder the child is so thin, but he’s quite well-behaved.”
“It’s truly pitiful for him to have suffered such a serious illness at such a young age,” Gu Susu said worriedly. “Even if Guo Mei is willing to plead guilty, she’ll still go to jail, and the children will be without a mother. What can be done?”
“Susu jie, do you think it’s possible to get Yimei to not press charges against her?” Su Kangxi had also seen Guo Mei’s family situation today.
If Guo Mei were gone, leaving only the elderly and the children, it would indeed be very difficult.
However, because of her family situation, she might be considered to have a motive for the crime.
Gu Susu was also thinking about whether Yimei Company could be persuaded not to prosecute Guo Mei, but how could this matter be discussed with Yimei Company?
As a mere designer, she couldn’t negotiate with them; only Qin Tianyi could.
“It’s not impossible, let me think of a way,” Gu Susu said, frowning in worry.
Su Kangxi wanted to cheer her up and changed the subject, saying, “Susu jie, do you remember Yang Sijie, who was always very close to you at the orphanage?”
“Sijie?” Gu Susu certainly remembered Yang Sijie.
At the orphanage, she and Sijie were the closest, almost inseparable.
From the time she was sensible, Yang Sijie, who was four years older than her, took care of her like an older brother.
Whatever delicious food or fun toys there were, Yang Sijie always gave them to her.
But when she was ten, a couple from America came to the orphanage to adopt children. They took a liking to Yang Sijie but not to her.
After Yang Sijie was adopted, more than ten years had passed, and they had never seen each other again.
She remembered that in the first year after Yang Sijie left the orphanage, they had corresponded by letter.
He had also sent her photos after arriving across the ocean. It was said that the American couple who adopted him were wealthy, able to send him to the best schools and provide him with the most superior living environment.
Later, for some unknown reason, all the letters she sent seemed to disappear into the sea, and she never received a reply from him.
They lost contact, and she didn’t know how each other was doing.
“Yes, Sijie ge said he’s coming to Lancheng soon and plans to invest and develop projects here,” Su Kangxi said with anticipation.
Gu Susu couldn’t quite believe it. She had lost contact with Sijie, and she couldn’t believe that Su Kangxi was still in touch with him. She asked, “Have you been in contact with him all this time? How come I never knew?”
Su Kangxi smiled and said, “I didn’t have any news from Sijie ge before either. Not long after you left the orphanage, Sijie ge returned from across the ocean once and came to the orphanage to look for you.”
“He looked for me?” Gu Susu couldn’t help but recall many things from her childhood and really wanted to see him again.
Su Kangxi nodded and said, “Yes, but you weren’t there then. We didn’t know where you were, only that you had been picked up by your biological parents. I remember Sijie ge was very disappointed not to see you then.”
Gu Susu said with a sense of loss, “Oh, so it was a misunderstanding that we never had the chance to meet again.”
“Did you tell him I’m in Lancheng?”
“I told him, and he asked a lot about your situation. I told him everything, but it’s strange,” Su Kangxi said, resting one hand on his head, as if full of doubts.
“What’s strange?”
“When he heard about your current situation, he didn’t seem as eager to see you as before. He just said he’d look for you when he had a chance to return to the country.”
Gu Susu couldn’t help but smile. “What’s strange about that? Would he fly all the way from abroad just for me?”
“But… I always felt that he would fly back specifically for you, but he didn’t. That’s what’s strange.”