The next day at the studio, Susu received a call from Lan Yu.
"Susu, did you look for me yesterday?" Lan Yu asked. "I just saw your missed call."
Hearing Lan Yu's voice, Susu felt her emotions were stable. "Yes, but your phone was unreachable yesterday."
"Oh, my phone has been a bit problematic lately," Lan Yu said in a low voice.
"It's not the phone that's the problem, you just didn't want to answer An Jing's calls?"
"You know everything?" Lan Yu said helplessly. "I'm sorry, I really don't know how to take care of Xiaoxiao. I admit defeat. I can only live separately from An Jing."
"Don't say that. Xiaoxiao is a little different from other children, she's just a bit wary of adults, not a bad child," Susu tried to persuade her. "An Jing has temporarily placed Xiaoxiao at my home. I've already spoken to Xiaoxiao. Don't take it to heart anymore."
"Xiaoxiao is a child, she's fine. I'm the problem," Lan Yu didn't want to go back to that kind of life. She said, "I just want to live my own life with my own child. You know my past experiences. It wasn't easy to have Ning Yu, so consider me selfish. Tell An Jing that it's his business if he chooses Xiaoxiao, but I won't go back to that home."
Susu felt Lan Yu's attitude on the phone was very firm. "You're still upset. You need to calm down. Xiaoxiao promised me that she will treat you well from now on and won't deliberately go against you."
"Susu, I'm very calm right now. You don't need to say anymore. One child has already exhausted me physically and mentally. I really don't have the ability to take care of Xiaoxiao," Lan Yu said calmly. "Besides, Xiaoxiao has found her biological father. Why can't she go back to her biological father?"
Susu could understand Xiaoxiao's feelings.
When she learned that her biological father was Shu Zhongze, it took her a long time to accept it. Xiaoxiao is still a child; she should be afraid of unfamiliar people and environments.
"This should take time."
"Then let An Jing take his time to resolve Xiaoxiao's matter before talking to me. Right now, I really don't want to see him or talk to him."
Susu quickly said, "But An Jing got alcohol poisoning because of this. He was in the emergency room last night."
She deliberately exaggerated to see Lan Yu's reaction.
Lan Yu said "Oh," but her heart was already clenched. "He deserves it."
"Do you really not love him at all? Don't you pity him?" Susu asked.
"Which hospital is he in? How is he now?" Lan Yu couldn't pretend anymore.
That's right, she still loved An Jing and cared about him. It was because of her love for him that she could tolerate Xiaoxiao, maintain harmony in the family, and not worry An Jing.
But she realized that if she continued to tolerate it, she wouldn't even be able to protect her own child.
An Jing didn't care about Ning Yu, but she did. So she was unwilling to tolerate it anymore. She just wanted An Jing to face this issue squarely and make a decision.
Susu couldn't bear to lie to her anymore. "An Jing should be fine. Tianyi was with him last night and said he had his stomach pumped and received IV fluids. He's recovered."
Lan Yu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. Tell him to stop drinking. Drinking won't solve anything."
"Okay. Where are you staying after leaving home? Can you take care of Ning Yu by yourself..."
Before Susu could finish, Lan Yu had already hung up.
It was clear that she didn't want Susu to know where she was staying, fearing An Jing would find her.
Susu felt that she couldn't persuade Lan Yu this time. When she called again, the line was unreachable.
She put down her phone with a headache. She would only tell Tianyi about this when she got home that evening.
...
In the afternoon, Zhan Jiayi arrived at the fast-food restaurant where she had arranged to meet the reporter.
She arrived a little early and ordered two drinks.
A moment later, the reporter, surnamed Wu, appeared.
She had searched for the reporter's resume online and seen his photo. She waved to the reporter Wu, who had a crew cut and looked energetic.
Reporter Wu immediately realized that she was the one who had contacted him. He walked over and sat down opposite Zhan Jiayi.
"You're the owner of this fast-food restaurant. You look so young."
Zhan Jiayi smiled and said directly, "I'm sorry, I lied to you on the phone. I'm not the owner of this fast-food restaurant, and this store isn't mine."
Reporter Wu's expression changed immediately, and he prepared to get up and leave. "Are you crazy?"
"Wait, I just want to ask you, who asked you to report on Feng Rou's matter?" Zhan Jiayi quickly stated her purpose.
Reporter Wu was stunned and looked at her again, only then realizing she was pregnant.
"Who exactly are you?"
Zhan Jiayi motioned for him to sit down and said, "I'm someone related to the Xie family."
Reporter Wu examined her carefully, finding her increasingly familiar. Suddenly, he thought of something and said, "You, you're the one they said online, Xie Zhendong's lover."
Zhan Jiayi nodded and readily admitted it.
"As long as you tell me who asked you to publish that report, I can give you double the payment. Otherwise, you'll be on the headlines tomorrow, and I don't think it will be as simple as suspension."
"What do you want to do!" Reporter Wu's voice was clearly a little scared.
"It's nothing major, just about journalistic ethics. We could also put it online for everyone to discuss."
Reporter Wu gritted his teeth in anger, feeling that he shouldn't have gotten involved in the Xie family's internal disputes.
These women who were related to wealthy families and could be young mistresses in wealthy families were all formidable.
However, when he thought of Yang Shasha's treacherous behavior, he felt there was no need to protect her.
He gritted his teeth and decided to tell Xie Zhendong's woman, letting them fight to the death. What did it have to do with him?
"I can tell you, but don't say I told you."
"Of course, I know that. Go ahead."
...
After meeting Reporter Wu, Zhan Jiayi returned home. It was still early, and Xie Zhendong wouldn't be back before dark.
When she heard that the person behind her was Yang Shasha, she was a little surprised, but upon thinking about it, it wasn't strange.
If her child were born, Xie Qining and Yang Shasha's child would be the most threatened.
She just didn't expect Yang Shasha to be so cunning.
When this woman was still a celebrity, she had also seen some gossip about Yang Shasha.
It was said that after winning international awards, she acted like a diva, dared to talk back to the director, and often had conflicts with actresses in the same drama.
She originally thought she was just a brainless vase, but she didn't expect her to be so deep.
Was it Yang Shasha's idea to forcefully take her to have an abortion last time?
She shivered as she thought about it. It seemed she had encountered a formidable enemy.
If Yang Shasha was behind Feng Rou, then she had been using Feng Rou to completely break ties with Xie Zhendong, bearing the reputation of a vicious woman, while Feng Rou remained unaware.
Xie Zhendong and Feng Rou had been married for decades. They only knew to hate each other but didn't realize they were being played by Yang Shasha.