Ai Yifeng’s voice lowered as he said, "What good does it do for us to feel guilty towards her? She doesn't accept it."
Gu Susu turned to look at her family members bickering. Apart from feeling some sympathy for Yuan Shuna, who was terminally ill, she felt nothing else. She asked them directly, "Did you ask me to come today because you need my help with something?"
Ai Shunan fed Yuan Shuna some water. Yuan Shuna stopped coughing and beckoned to Gu Susu, saying, "Susu, come here, let me have a good look. I haven't seen you in so long, why are you still so thin?"
For the sake of the patient, Gu Susu walked over to the bedside and let Yuan Shuna look her fill.
Yuan Shuna sat up with effort, grabbed her hand, and said guiltily, "Susu, I'm sorry, Mom is sorry for you. We were all deceived by Yiwei, which is why we even looked down on our own biological daughter. Thinking back now, it was so foolish, so foolish..."
Gu Susu couldn't describe the feeling in her heart. She no longer needed her parents' love. Yuan Shuna's words at this moment left her completely unmoved.
"Oh, that was all in the past. Don't think too much about it, focus on recovering. I'll visit you again when I have time."
Yuan Shuna, however, held Gu Susu's hand tightly and cried, "But think about it, Yiwei is someone we raised as our own daughter. Later, when we found out about the mix-up and brought you back, our feelings for Yiwei couldn't just be withdrawn. Please forgive your dad, your brother, and me."
Gu Susu pulled her hand back, unable to offer forgiveness. "I told you, it's all in the past. I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"I told you, she doesn't accept your apology at all. What's the point of trying to please her with a smiling face?" Ai Yifeng still spoke with sarcasm and mockery.
"Shut up and get out!" Ai Shunan directly reprimanded him.
Ai Yifeng shot Gu Susu a glare and walked out of the ward. Yuan Shuna tried to reach for her hand again, but Gu Susu dodged it.
Ai Shunan said, "Susu, your mother is right. It's really hard for us to suddenly stop thinking of Yiwei as our daughter..."
"I never said you should abandon Yiwei, or only give all your love to me," Gu Susu interrupted him, unable to hold back any longer. "You can both consider us your daughters and just share your love with me a little. But have you ever treated me as your own daughter, as a person?"
Ai Shunan and his wife were stunned into silence, finding no further reason to argue.
"I really should be going. Oh, and by the way, thyroid cancer is one of the most curable cancers. It doesn't necessarily mean death. Cooperate with the doctors and get proper treatment yourself." Gu Susu felt the ward was too stuffy, making it hard for her to breathe.
Yuan Shuna quickly said, "Okay, okay, okay. Such a filial child. Wait, your father still has something he needs to tell you."
Gu Susu knew they wouldn't have called her here just to mend their relationship. She asked calmly, "What is it?"
Ai Shunan sighed and said, "You know how difficult it has been for our Ai Corporation to survive until now. Now there's a chance for a turnaround, and we need you to help your mom and dad one last time."
Gu Susu immediately refused, "I don't understand anything about the group's affairs. I can't help."
"You don't need to understand," Ai Shunan said directly. "Come out with me, and I'll explain it to you in detail."
Gu Susu still didn't know what they really wanted. She could only follow Ai Shunan out of the ward, truly wanting to leave. "What exactly do you want me to do?"
"I will transfer all the assets and shares of Ai Corporation to your name. This way, we can avoid mixing the group's funds with my personal debts. I can apply for personal bankruptcy, but the group will not be affected and can be saved. Once we get through this difficult period, it will be transferred from your name to Yifeng's, allowing him to succeed me as the head of Ai Corporation. If your mother can survive this ordeal, I will live a quiet life of retirement with her."
Gu Susu never expected this. They were willing to transfer everything to her name. She paused and said, "Aren't you afraid I'll just keep it and not return it to Ai Yifeng?"
Ai Shunan's expression turned stern, but he quickly resumed his smile and said, "No, you've never been interested in business matters, so there's no reason for you to keep it. Even if you don't give it to your brother, it's only right for you to manage it, as you are our biological daughter after all."
Gu Susu couldn't quite believe that Ai Shunan would become so generous and trusting, willing to give her everything he had painstakingly built.
Gu Susu wondered if Ai Shunan's heart was bleeding as he spoke these magnanimous words. She asked, "Is what you need me to do really that simple?"
"Yes, it's very simple. You just need to accept the transfer of all this and return it to Yifeng at the appropriate time," Ai Shunan tried his best to persuade her. "This has no downside for you; on the contrary, you'll gain ownership of a group and a sum of assets. Regardless of whether you're willing to forgive us, we are still family with blood ties. Your mother is so ill, and this is the only way to save the group. Can you really bear to watch us all go bankrupt, your mother without money for treatment, and us living on the streets?"
Gu Susu pursed her lips, thinking that he wouldn't be willing to transfer the group and his assets to her name if he weren't at his wit's end. Finally, she nodded and said, "Alright, I can accept it under these conditions. But I won't help you with anything else. As for the things you insist on transferring to my name, I will return them to Ai Yifeng! I've never cared for your money."
After leaving the hospital and returning to her residence, she had to rush to cook for Xiao Xingxing, as it was almost time for him to get out of school. She didn't have time to think too much about it. It was another chaotic day.
That night, after Xiao Xingxing had fallen asleep, she finally had some time to herself to calm down and recall what Ai Yifeng had said at the hospital when she visited Yuan Shuna – that her award for the most potential in fashion design was bought with money.
Ai Yifeng had been mocking her about everything today, likely because Ai Shunan was going to transfer all of Ai Corporation's assets to her name.
But his sudden remark made her wonder if he knew something about the inside story.
Ai Yifeng wasn't someone who fabricated things out of thin air. While her winning the award was unexpected, she had definitely not paid for it, nor did she even know anyone from the organizing committee of the ceremony.
Gu Susu immediately thought of Yang Sijie. Had he spent money to buy her an award?
If that were true, she found it hard to accept that she had unknowingly accepted such an expensive gift from Yang Sijie.
After all these years, Yang Sijie still remembered her and treated her so well. She was very touched, but it was only touched.
...
In the evening, Qin Tianyi dismissed everyone who had been accompanying him in the ward and stayed alone. He found himself particularly missing the nights when he could hold Gu Susu as he fell asleep.
Earlier that day, Xiao An had told him that he had taken Gu Susu to see Ai Weiwei and had also asked Gu Susu when exactly she had met Yang Sijie.