Susu almost believed him, but immediately reacted and pushed him away, saying, "You're annoying."
"I'm telling the truth. Your heart isn't strong enough. How will you handle tomorrow's media frenzy? They'll probably call us vicious couple who ruthlessly seized all of the Qin family's assets."
Susu thought about it and leaned closer to him, "When can our lives truly be peaceful?"
Tianyi kissed the top of her head, unable to answer her. He mused that as long as people were alive, there would never be a moment of peace, especially given their extraordinary identities and status.
...
The next morning, as soon as Susu arrived at the studio, she told the receptionist, Zhang Ting, that she wouldn't see anyone today.
When she woke up, she and Tianyi had checked the news on their phones. Last night's commotion caused by Huang Xiuli had unearthed old scandals of the Qin family.
Tianyi and she had become villains, blamed by everyone.
To avoid harassment from the media, she had to avoid everyone.
However, she hadn't been in her office for long before she heard a commotion outside the door.
"If you try to force your way in again, I'll have to call the building's security to escort you out!" That was Zhang Ting's voice.
"Gu Susu, come out here!"
Susu heard another woman's voice. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't recall who it was for a moment.
The woman's voice rang out again, "I know you're in there! Hiding is useless. I must see you today, no matter what!"
It seemed like other people in the studio were also trying to stop the woman. Susu suddenly remembered who it was.
Qin Yaxuan, Huang Xiuli's daughter.
Yes, it was her. These mother and daughter were truly going too far. Her mother had caused trouble last night, and now she was causing trouble at the studio.
Susu felt a surge of anger thinking about Huang Xiuli's atrocious behavior last night. She immediately pushed open her office door and walked out to the reception area.
She stared at Qin Yaxuan, who was about to rush in, and said angrily, "What exactly do you want? You and Jin Meiyao conspired to harm me back then. Didn't Tianyi leaving you legally accountable count as leaving you a way out? Why are you still relentless?"
The moment Qin Yaxuan saw Susu, she froze. They hadn't seen each other for several years, yet Gu Susu still looked so young and beautiful. Time seemed to have left no trace on her face or body.
In contrast, Qin Yaxuan had lost her former arrogance and was disheveled by the hardships of life.
Suddenly, she let out a cry and knelt before Susu, saying, "I beg you, please don't press charges against my mother. She's old and sometimes her mind isn't clear. Please let her go!"
Susu hadn't expected the once very proud Qin Yaxuan to kneel.
However, Huang Xiuli had already used this tactic last night. Impatiently, Susu grabbed Yaxuan's arm, trying to make her stand up, and said, "Now you ask us to let her go, but last night she tried to throw scalding hot pot onto a child who had just turned one. It's impossible for me to let her go, and your kneeling is useless."
Qin Yaxuan refused to get up, saying, "My father is gone, and she's my only family now. I can't watch her go to jail. I know if you just say a word to Qin Tianyi, he'll let her go."
Susu was too lazy to pull her up and said, "It's no use begging me. As a mother, I won't forgive someone who tried to harm my child."
"She was confused for a moment, or perhaps instigated..."
Susu didn't want to listen to these excuses anymore. She said to Zhang Ting and the others, "Pull her up, find security to escort her out. If she still refuses to leave, call the police."
After speaking, she didn't want to look at Qin Yaxuan any longer and returned to her office.
Not long after, it finally became quiet outside. Susu tried not to think about how Qin Yaxuan had acted pitifully just now.
She hadn't been harmed by them before, and now she wouldn't pay them any mind.
Just then, the intercom in her office rang. It was Zhang Ting.
"Sister Gu, security just called and said that after dragging that woman downstairs, she seemed to have fainted. Should we do something?"
"She's definitely faking it. Don't bother with her. She's the best actress." Susu wouldn't fall for her act again.
"Okay."
Susu didn't want to be disturbed by such a trivial person anymore and just wanted to finish her work quickly.
...
Tianyi hadn't expected that the uncle who had deliberately caused trouble would actually dare to bring several elders of the Qin family to Ao Xiang Group to demand an explanation.
He didn't let them into his office but had his secretary take them to the conference room.
As soon as they saw him, they demanded the account books of the Qin Group before its acquisition and reorganization by Ao Xiang.
Some also claimed that Qin Zhaoye was still alive and had not designated Qin Tianyi as the heir to the Qin family. They asserted that Qin Tianyi had no right to take over everything from the Qin family back then and demanded that he return everything he had "swallowed" from the Qin family.
Qin Tianyi watched them speak, one after another, as if they all knew the events of the past like the back of their hands, becoming more agitated as they spoke.
A smile played on his lips, and he remained silent, letting them vent their frustrations.
Qin Tianyi offered no response. The elders also fell silent, all looking at him, waiting for an explanation.
He had already instructed someone to go to the finance department's archives and retrieve the Qin Group's account books from that year, which he directly threw in front of the elders.
"Actually, even if you hadn't come, I would have sought you out in a couple of days," Qin Tianyi finally said. "Back then, the Qin Group was on the verge of bankruptcy and was already insolvent."
The Qin elders were quickly flipping through the account books and were surprised to see that almost every entry was in deficit.
Qin Tianyi continued, "The reason why the Qin Group's bankruptcy wasn't announced to the public at the time was that while I acquired the Qin Group under the name of Ao Xiang, I also injected a significant amount of capital, barely managing to save a few small companies of the Qin Group."
"This is impossible. These account books are fake, definitely fake," someone said disbelievingly.
Qin Tianyi said coldly, "Whether they are true or false, you can verify them. At that time, thinking that the elders were collateral branches of our Qin family and would need a large sum of money to fill the loopholes, I didn't ask you for help. However, when you left the Qin family mansion before, you were all given some ancestral property and received dividends from the Qin Group. Now that you know the situation back then, shouldn't you also contribute some assets to compensate for my losses at the time?"
Someone immediately closed the account book and pushed it aside, saying, "It's all in the past. I don't think there's any need to bring up those events again. By the way, my grandson has a performance at kindergarten today, and he insists I attend. It's almost time, I should be going..."
"Hey, the matter hasn't been clarified yet, why are you rushing to leave?" The uncle who had been closest to the Qin family mansion tried to stop the person who was leaving.
But the others also stood up, intending to leave.
Qin Tianyi didn't let them go either, saying, "Since you've all come to see me, you can't just leave. If we can't negotiate for you to contribute some assets, then I'll have to hire a lawyer and resort to legal action."