"Weren't you famous back then? A renowned name, quite imposing," Susu teased him playfully.
Huo Zheng couldn't manage a smile and said sternly, "Don't mention the past again."
"Alright, alright, I won't," Susu stopped teasing and said, "Since you don't need my help, I'll be going."
Huo Zheng waved her off, "Go quickly, go quickly."
As Susu reached the door, she turned back and said seriously, "Manage this boutique your sister left behind well. Help her fulfill her unfinished dreams."
"I will," Huo Zheng nodded solemnly.
After Susu left, she couldn't flag down a taxi on the street and ended up booking a ride-hailing car online.
She got into the back seat of the car, not paying much attention to the driver, engrossed in her phone.
After a while, the driver spoke up, "Gu Susu, you still have the nerve to return to Lancheng? Where is that scoundrel Yang Sijie?"
Recognizing the voice, Susu hastily looked up and instinctively called out, "Brother, you're driving a ride-hailing car?"
"Who's your brother? I've never had a sister like you."
As soon as Susu got into the car, Ai Yifeng recognized her and didn't follow the agreed-upon route.
Since she and Qin Tianyi had both safely returned to Lancheng, she had actually wanted to find Ai Yifeng, as he was her only remaining family.
"I'm sorry, I never intended to destroy the Ai Group, and I hoped you would inherit it. But I truly couldn't control Yang Sijie's actions..."
"Don't say useless things. I'm asking you, how exactly did Dad die?" Ai Yifeng avoided the congested roads, driving through small streets and alleys instead.
During this period of having nothing, of wishing for death, what he wanted most was to understand what had happened to Ai Shunan, who was shot and killed by the police as a kidnapper.
Without parents, without family, without the Ai Group, he had tasted all the coldness of the human world, surviving only by driving a ride-hailing car with a borrowed car from a friend.
The truth was quite cruel. Susu asked, "Do you really want to know?"
"Was he killed by Yang Sijie, or did you conspire together?" Ai Yifeng turned his head, looking at her with eyes full of hatred.
Susu looked out at the street, only then realizing he was taking the wrong route. She tried to open the car door, but found it was locked.
"Ai Yifeng, where are you taking me? This isn't the destination I entered online!"
"I want you to kowtow to Dad and admit your mistakes, and make Yang Sijie pay with his life!" With that, he swerved out of the alley and onto a road with few cars and people.
Susu recognized the road. It led to the Ai family villa. Was he taking her back to the Ai family?
But as far as she knew, hadn't the Ai family's house already been sealed by the court?
Susu hastily picked up her phone and said, "You'd better stop the car and let me out, or I'll call the police!"
"Go ahead and call. I have nothing left now anyway! If you dare to call the police, I'll drive into the mountainside. We can die together!"
The Ai family's villa used to be in a beautiful affluent area, where people built their homes along the scenic hills.
He said that and then stomped on the accelerator, the car speeding up. Susu looked at the dashboard; the speed had already climbed to a hundred kilometers per hour.
Seeing that Ai Yifeng's emotions were somewhat out of control, she dared not provoke him further. She put her phone aside and said, "Calm down. I won't call the police, nor will I contact anyone. I'll tell you the whole truth!"
As Susu put down her phone, she tapped on the chat box with Tianyi and quickly shared her location.
Ai Yifeng saw through the rearview mirror that Susu had indeed put her phone aside and was no longer as agitated.
While he was driving, Susu remained silent, maintaining her quiet demeanor.
The car finally stopped in front of the Ai family's former residence. Ai Yifeng immediately opened the door and forcefully pulled Susu out from behind.
In her haste, Susu grabbed her phone. Ai Yifeng angrily knocked the phone from her hand and roared, "Now you can tell me, what exactly happened back then!"
Susu looked at the Ai family's main gate. A seal was pasted on it, and a large iron lock firmly secured the door.
...
Qin Tianyi had everything prepared in the VIP room of the restaurant, but he waited and waited, and Susu never arrived.
A waiter came to ask him, "Sir, would you like us to light the candles on the candelabra?"
"Wait a moment." Qin Tianyi dialed Susu's phone, but it went through with no answer.
He found it strange. He asked the waiter to leave first and was about to send Susu a voice message when he noticed that their location sharing was active again. He immediately clicked on it.
This wasn't right. Susu wasn't on her way to the restaurant; she was heading to a high-end villa district.
He hurriedly stood up and rushed out of the VIP room, feeling that something must have happened to Susu. Could that brat Huo Jin have done something bad and taken Susu to the villa?
The waiter outside the room didn't know what was happening and called after him, "Sir, where are you going? The dishes are all ready in the kitchen..."
Qin Tianyi ignored the waiter and left the restaurant in a hurry, driving towards Susu's shared location.
...
Susu looked at the dusty main gate, her heart filled with emotion.
She told Ai Yifeng everything that had happened at the time, word for word.
The sheer volume of information was too much for Ai Yifeng to accept. He asked disbelievingly, "You're saying Dad actually kidnapped you and wanted to kill you, which is why he was shot by the police?"
"I had already fainted at the time. I only found out he was shot after I woke up in the hospital."
Ai Yifeng ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "How could this happen? How could Dad do such a thing? After all, you are his biological daughter!"
Susu felt there was no need to hide it from him any longer. "Actually, I'm not Ai Shunan's biological daughter. My existence was a constant reminder of the humiliation he and Mom suffered in the past."
Ai Yifeng stared at her, his eyes reddening, "What do you mean? Didn't you have two DNA tests done before bringing me back?"
Susu told him what Yuan Shuna had said before she died.
"Mom said on her deathbed that you were only my half-brother? And that Dad used to... used to give his own wife to others for business?"
Thinking about it, Susu felt both resentment and hatred. But now that Ai Shunan and Yuan Shuna were both gone, who was there for her to hate?
Ai Yifeng suddenly began to pound furiously on the locked iron gate. The hatred that had sustained him through the ruin of his family was now revealed to be the result of his parents' own misdeeds. He couldn't face this reality at all.
He suddenly looked at Susu, grabbed her arm, and shook her, "Where is Yang Sijie now? Where is he! I don't care about all this, it's all his fault! I must kill him! I absolutely must kill him..."
Susu grabbed his other hand and said calmly, "Ai Yifeng, if you want to get revenge on Yang Sijie, you'll have to find him in hell, because he's already dead."
"Dead... How did he die?" Yang Sijie flung her away, his voice nearing a breakdown as he yelled, "You're lying to me! He has an overseas group worth hundreds of millions. He wouldn't die so easily, no!"