Susu could no longer sit still as it neared the end of her workday, so she packed up her things and left the studio first.
She returned to the villa earlier than usual, and Tianyi was not yet back.
She put down her bag and changed her shoes. The living room was empty, and she figured Chen Ma should be in the kitchen at this hour.
She tiptoed into the kitchen and saw Chen Ma indeed preparing dinner with great care.
"Chen Ma, so this is how you put cheese on shrimp," she said, lightly tapping Chen Ma's arm.
Chen Ma jumped in surprise. Seeing it was Susu, she clutched her chest and laughed, "Young Madam, you're back so early today. How come you made no sound? You almost scared this old woman to death."
"I know you don't have heart disease, so I dared to play a joke on you," Susu said, flipping a shrimp for her, her head lowered. "It wasn't too busy at the studio, so I came back early. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Nothing, nothing. It's rare for you to be free, you should go back to your room and rest," Chen Ma said with a smile and continued preparing other dishes.
Susu stayed with Chen Ma and asked, "Do you know if Tianyi's mother had any other suitors besides Qin Zhaoye when she was young?"
Chen Ma's hands stopped. Her entire body was facing away from Susu, as if frozen.
"Or, besides liking Qin Zhaoye, did she like anyone else?" Susu thought Chen Ma hadn't understood and rephrased her question.
Chen Ma suddenly turned to look at her and said, "Young Madam, where did you hear such nonsense? Miss would never do anything to betray her husband and family!"
"No, I... I just heard a mention of it from someone in the Qin family before. I was just asking casually." Seeing Chen Ma's strong reaction, Susu realized that Qin Yaxuan's claim that Tianyi's mother had an affair was not baseless.
Chen Ma wiped her hands and sat down, looking at Susu worriedly. "Just asking casually? Young Madam, no matter who told you this, please never mention it in front of the Young Master. He has always been most sensitive to such talk since he was little. Anyone who dares to say such things to insult Miss, he would fight them to the death."
"Mm, I understand." Susu thought back to the day Qin Yaxuan had said this, she had already discussed it with Tianyi.
Could it be, could it be that Tianyi went to confront Qin Yaxuan?
Then, was Tianyi involved in Qin Yaxuan's death?
A string of questions popped into her mind, and she couldn't help but ask again, "Then, did someone deliberately slander Tianyi's mother back then? Why would they do that? Was there such deep hatred that they had to ruin a woman's reputation?"
"Young Madam, you are right. Back then, people valued a woman's purity even more than they do now," Chen Ma sighed. "Actually, there was no deep hatred. The Qin family used Miss's purity to attack Qin Zhaoye, to prevent him from becoming the heir of the Qin family."
Susu still wanted to clear up her doubts and asked, "But they couldn't have fabricated things out of thin air. How could they achieve their goal that way?"
"This is a long story," Chen Ma said, looking at Susu. "Young Madam, I can tell you the reason, but you must not let the Young Master know, understand?"
"Mm," Susu nodded vigorously.
"Miss and the Qin family's old madam's nephew, Young Master Bai, had a deeply unforgettable romance. But fate played a cruel trick. Young Master Bai went abroad on official business and met with an accident. Miss thought he had died in that accident..."
Chen Ma began to tell her about some of the untold stories of Tianyi's mother when she was young.
After believing her lover had died, Tianyi's mother could not recover. She still maintained some contact with other members of the Bai family.
At a gathering of the Bai family, Qin Zhaoye, accompanying his mother, met the beautiful yet melancholic Miss Xiao, who was Tianyi's mother.
He then began to pursue this Miss Xiao fiercely. After all his efforts to finally marry the beauty, he discovered that Tianyi's mother still had someone unforgettable in her heart.
Qin Zhaoye, who had completely broken off with Jin Meiyao before marriage, perhaps because of this reason, got entangled with Jin Meiyao again and began to neglect Tianyi's mother.
Xiao Yongmei felt guilty towards him, and even though she knew he had someone else, she never argued with him.
Later, she discovered she was pregnant and wanted to forget her past lover and have a good life with Qin Zhaoye.
But at this time, Jin Meiyao also happened to be pregnant. Qin Zhaoye wanted to break off with the other woman but couldn't, and he wavered between the two.
While attending a charity event, Xiao Yongmei accidentally fell, and her first child with Qin Zhaoye was lost.
However, Jin Meiyao's fetus remained stable, and she eventually gave birth.
Xiao Yongmei could only endure it silently, trying her best to mend her relationship with Qin Zhaoye.
Their relationship could have been repaired, and Qin Zhaoye had even agreed to let Xiao Yongmei raise Jin Meiyao's child and give Jin Meiyao a sum of money to leave.
But as fate would have it, at this very time, Xiao Yongmei's first love, Young Master Bai, returned from abroad.
It turned out that Young Master Bai had not died in that accident, but had lost his memory.
The Bai family, in order to find their enemy, had publicly announced that there were no survivors of the accident and kept Young Master Bai hidden abroad.
By the time the Bai family found the mastermind behind the incident and resolved the matter, and Young Master Bai regained his memory, several years had passed, and everything had changed.
Young Master Bai could not accept the fact that Xiao Yongmei was married and constantly pestered her.
Upon learning the truth, Xiao Yongmei was also very sad and heartbroken, but she was also aware of her current status. To avoid suspicion, she tried her best to avoid Young Master Bai.
However, her attitude pushed Young Master Bai to desperation.
Young Master Bai, who had returned, was solely focused on winning back his beloved. He resorted to extreme measures and hired someone to kidnap Xiao Yongmei.
For those few days, no one knew where Young Master Bai had taken Xiao Yongmei.
Later, Xiao Yongmei returned unharmed. Young Master Bai did not harm her and left Lancheng disheartened, going abroad again.
From then on, this Young Master Bai never returned, and even the Bai family lost all contact with him.
Not long after this incident, Xiao Yongmei became pregnant again, and all the rumors started to spread at that time.
Everyone said that Xiao Yongmei's child was not Qin Zhaoye's, but Young Master Bai's.
Who knew what had happened between her and Young Master Bai during those days they were alone? Perhaps they had rekindled their old flame.
It was said that Xiao Yongmei, for the sake of her reputation, returned to the Qin family, letting Qin Zhaoye be the nominal father...
In any case, there were all sorts of nasty things being said then, and Qin Zhaoye became completely indifferent and dismissive of Xiao Yongmei from then on.
Only the Qin family's old madam stepped forward to support Xiao Yongmei, silencing those who spoke ill of her.
But those Qin family members secretly said that the old madam had ulterior motives. After all, whether it was Qin Zhaoye's child or Young Master Bai's child, they were all related to the old madam by blood, so the old madam wouldn't care.
Susu sighed with emotion upon hearing this. She could imagine the immense pressure and countless criticisms Xiao Yongmei must have endured from her pregnancy to giving birth to Qin Tianyi.