Qin Tianyi was right, compared to Shu Yan, she was a completely useless idiot.
She stopped talking, closed her eyes, and leaned back in the seat, trying hard to keep her tears from flowing.
After sending her back to the apartment, Xiao Anjing got back into the car and, as Qin Tianyi had instructed, contacted Xiao Mei, asking her to come and look after Gu Susu, who had a fever.
For some reason, he also felt a strange sense of guilt towards Gu Susu. It wasn't that he wanted to break them up, but rather that Qin Tianyi and she were truly not suited for each other. If they were, they wouldn't have been breaking up and getting back together all these years, causing Qin Tianyi to make two wrong decisions and almost ruin their entire plan.
As soon as Gu Susu returned to the apartment, she closed the door and collapsed onto the sofa, sobbing uncontrollably. She kept comforting herself, telling herself that leaving this place of trouble with Little Star was what she wanted. Now that she had finally made Qin Tianyi let go, her goal was achieved, and she should be happy. Why was she crying? Why had she even gone to him willingly, only to be at his beck and call and listen to his sarcastic remarks?
Why was she so foolish? Why...
Two days later, Gu Susu's fever finally broke. The cold had come on fiercely this time; it wasn't something she could just sleep off as she had imagined.
While she was dizzy, feverish, and drowsy, Xiao Mei had been by her side, worried and anxious, urging her to go to the hospital. But Gu Susu stubbornly refused, enduring it by taking medicine and applying ice packs herself.
After the fever subsided, her mind finally cleared, and she sat on the bed, drinking plain congee.
Seeing that her fever had broken, Xiao Mei said with joy and excitement, "Miss Gu, you really scared us these past two days. You kept talking nonsense, and I wanted to send you to the hospital, but you wouldn't let me."
Gu Susu smiled and said, "Thank you. I'm so grateful to have you here."
When her consciousness was blurred, she could feel Xiao Mei constantly giving her water and wiping her sweat.
"You don't need to thank me. It's thanks to the young master who called the family doctor and told me how to help you reduce your fever with physical methods..."
"Qin Tianyi? He sent a doctor here?" Gu Susu interrupted her to ask.
Xiao Mei nodded and said, "Yes. Your fever was very high the other day, and after you took the medicine, it still wouldn't go down. I didn't know what to do, so I asked Chen Ma for help. Somehow, the young master found out and had Xiao Lin bring the family doctor over. He changed your fever-reducing medicine and gave you an injection."
Gu Susu responded with a weak "Oh," not understanding why he would care if her cold had gotten better if he wanted to break ties with her completely.
As the saying goes, recovering from illness is like unwinding a silk thread. Although Gu Susu's cold was gradually getting better, she still felt weak and hadn't fully recovered.
She wasn't in a hurry to go to the hospital ward anymore. Thinking that Shu Yan was accompanying Qin Tianyi, her concern and care seemed too one-sided and self-indulgent.
Now, she was considering leaving with Little Star once her body had recovered, as far away from here and from Lancheng as possible.
A week later, Gu Susu's body had completely recovered, but her spirits were still low. Except when she video-called with Little Star every day, making herself seem happy and cheerful, she was listless the rest of the time, not wanting to do anything, and lacking the energy for any activity.
She saw that Su Kangxi was taking good care of Little Star, and Little Star had even learned to walk and salute like a police officer with him. During their video calls, he no longer asked about Qin Tianyi, which helped her try not to think about those bothersome matters.
Around eight o'clock tonight, Su Kangxi called as usual for a video call, allowing her to talk to Little Star.
Gu Susu asked Little Star with a smile how his day had been.
However, Little Star said, "Mommy, are you done with your work? When are you coming to pick me up? I miss you."
"My darling, I miss you too. Mommy is done with her work long ago, but I had a cold these past few days, and I was afraid of infecting you. I'm all better now. Can I pick you up tomorrow?" Gu Susu had let Su Kangxi take care of the child for so long; it was time to bring him back.
Before, her illness had infected Little Star, and later she was afraid her low mood would affect the child. Now, she should pull herself together.
She knew Su Kangxi would take care of the child because, in orphanages, older children would help the caregivers look after the younger ones. But she couldn't keep bothering Su Kangxi.
"That's great!" Little Star jumped around Su Kangxi on the video call.
Gu Susu called out to Su Kangxi through the video, "Xiao Su, thank you for your hard work recently. By the way, during the day when you're at work, do you take Little Star to the police station? Is there anyone there to help you look after him?"
"Yes, there are female clerks who can help look after him," Su Kangxi replied, asking with concern, "Sister Susu, have you recovered from your cold? You need to take care of yourself."
"I'm all better. I'll pick up Little Star tomorrow. I want... I want to..."
Just as she was about to tell Su Kangxi about her plan to leave Lancheng, Little Star suddenly jumped in front of the video and said, "Mommy, can you come pick me up a little later tomorrow? I still want to play with that uncle for a while longer."
Su Kangxi's expression changed; he hadn't expected the child to say it so soon unintentionally.
Gu Susu asked curiously, "What uncle are you talking about? Aren't you talking about Uncle Xiao Su?"
Su Kangxi pulled Little Star and said to Gu Susu with a smile, "He's not talking about me, he's talking about Brother Sijie."
"Yes, that uncle speaks English so well, and he's really good at playing puzzle games. I like playing with him," Little Star chimed in again.
"Sijie? Yang Sijie!" Gu Susu asked in surprise, "Has he returned to the country? Has he been in Lancheng all along?"
Su Kangxi handed Little Star a toy and explained to Gu Susu, "Not exactly. Brother Sijie just came to Lancheng two days ago. He came to find me and happened to meet Little Star, so he played with him for a while."
Gu Susu thought of the bouquet of flowers from when she was hospitalized and asked, "The flowers you brought to me when I was in the hospital last time were actually from him, right?"
"Yes," Su Kangxi had no choice but to tell the truth. "He heard you were hospitalized and asked someone to give the flowers to me to bring to you. But Mr. Qin, your ex-husband, was also in the ward that day, so it wasn't convenient for me to tell you."
Gu Susu wasn't sure whether she should meet Yang Sijie. He had returned to Lancheng but only contacted Su Kangxi, not her. Was there some inconvenience?
"Is he doing well?"
Su Kangxi smiled and said, "He's doing very well and has always cared about you. Why don't you meet him when you come to pick up the child tomorrow?"
Gu Susu hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Okay. We haven't seen each other for so many years; it's time for the three of us to get together."
"Then it's settled. See you tomorrow." Su Kangxi was extremely excited at the thought of arranging for Brother Sijie to meet Sister Susu. He always felt that Brother Sijie was the most suitable person for Sister Susu, and they would be very happy together.
After ending the video call, Gu Susu looked in the mirror and found herself looking so haggard. They hadn't seen each other for many years; what would Yang Sijie have become like?