Meanwhile, at the Qi family.
Guo Shaofen returned to the Qi family gate disheveled and in a mess, immediately greeted by a flurry of flashes from the media reporters staking out the entrance.
"Old Mrs. Qi, is the exposé online true?"
"Is Qiao Qiao really not a blood relative of your Qi family? Then why did you publicly claim she was?"
"Why did you buy trending searches to smear Doctor Yu?"
"There's a rumor that you were actually the mistress who broke up Doctor Yu and Old Mr. Qi's marriage. Is that true?"
...
Guo Shaofen kept her mouth shut, struggling to force her way through the reporters' encirclement with great effort, protected by bodyguards, before finally entering the house.
As soon as she stepped into the living room, she angrily smashed a blue and white porcelain vase by the door.
Yu He, Yu Xiuxiu!
She would never forgive them!
After calming herself down for a while, Guo Shaofen took out her phone and made a call:
"Fourth Madam, I won't waste time with pleasantries. You must have seen the news about my Qi family, right? Can you help?"
"I wanted to help, of course. Wasn't I planning to arrange a marriage alliance between our Qin and Qi families at my birthday banquet? Who knew your family's daughter would crash and burn so quickly?"
Madam Huang couldn't help but gossip, "So, is Qiao Qiao really your Qi family's biological daughter? I've already recommended her to the family head to become my Qin family's seventh wife."
Upon hearing this, Guo Shaofen's eyes gleamed. A marriage alliance with the Qin family was the best way to save the Qi family.
Even if Qiao Qiao wasn't their biological daughter, she would insist she was.
"Of course, we can do a paternity test in person!"
"If she's your biological daughter, there's nothing to worry about with outside rumors. Bring her to my birthday banquet, and this time we'll ensure the Qin-Qi alliance is successful," Madam Huang said.
"Then thank you, Fourth Madam." Guo Shaofen smiled, "But Fourth Madam, an alliance alone might not be enough. You'll need to speak some good words for my Qi family to the public."
Those good words weren't easy to come by; it would mean using the Qin family's reputation to vouch for the Qi family. If the Qi family's online scandals were fake, it would be fine, but if they were true, it would directly implicate the Qin family.
"Madam Qi, that might be inconvenient," Madam Huang said.
"Fourth Madam, my Qi family has always been accommodating to you. You have what you have today, and I believe my Qi family has at least contributed to it. Since you find it difficult, and my Qi family's reputation is currently in jeopardy, to protect ourselves, I might have to dig up some information to divert the online public's attention," Guo Shaofen said deliberately.
Madam Huang's expression darkened. She had several secrets that the Qi family knew. Guo Shaofen was threatening her!
She was furious but managed to suppress it, "I can't help you with your family's scandals, but I can help you get revenge on the culprit who caused this."
"What can you do?" Guo Shaofen gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with ferocity, wishing she could skin Yu He alive right now.
"You don't need to worry about that. Handle your family's affairs, and bring Qiao Qiao to my birthday banquet as planned," Madam Huang said.
"Alright!" Guo Shaofen hung up the phone and immediately called Qi Suilin, "Where is Qiao Qiao? Find her and bring her back immediately!"
Qi Suilin on the other end of the line was also in a panic and had no idea where the discarded pawn, Qiao Qiao, had gone. "Grandma, why are you looking for her now?"
"Whether you need me to find her or not, bring her back tonight!" Guo Shaofen said through gritted teeth.
—
Doctor Yu's Clinic.
To prevent her grandmother from worrying too much, Yu He asked her grandmother to go out with her grandmother and mother, while she stayed to see patients and would return to the community that evening to be with them.
After resting for a week and being accompanied by everyone, the gloom brought on by Guo Shaofen had completely dissipated from Old Mrs. Yu's heart.
She was happy, but Qin Beiting, who had been sleeping alone for a week, was not.
That evening, after the cleaners had finished tidying up and disinfecting, Yu He closed the clinic, went to the west wing to pour food for the little piggy, and was preparing to head over to the community when Qin Beiting returned.
"Baby, are you still going over there tonight?"
"Yes," Yu He replied.
Qin Beiting's handsome face showed disappointment. Tomorrow was the Qixi Festival, and it was also his birthday. He didn't want her to go.
However, the community was where Yu He's grandmother, whom she cared about, was. He couldn't force Yu He to come back when Old Mrs. Yu needed companionship after her injury.
Seeing his unhappiness, Yu He explained, "My brother is coming over tonight. After dinner, he'll take my mother and them back. I'll stay to accompany my grandmother. Tomorrow, Grandma said she'd come to the clinic."
Qin Beiting's eyes lit up at this. "Then are you free tomorrow?"
"I have an appointment with Qi Nan tomorrow," Yu He said.
She had previously made an appointment with Qi Nan to try hypnosis to recover her memories, but it had been postponed due to her grandmother suddenly being targeted by the Qi family.
The light in Qin Beiting's eyes instantly dimmed. "Alright, go ahead. But you must reserve your time for me tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow night... let me see, I think I made plans with Tianxin," Yu He said, flipping open her phone's memo. "Tianxin has a variety show live competition and asked me to make a guest appearance to help her. We made the appointment last week. I can't back out on her. By the time I'm done, it will be very late."
Qin Beiting frowned unhappily. Yu He reached out and smoothed his furrowed brow. "Will you accompany me the day after tomorrow?"
"..."
Qin Beiting listened to her tentative tone, feeling a little disappointed. The little girl not only didn't remember his birthday but also didn't remember that tomorrow was Valentine's Day.
"Okay," he replied reluctantly.
"Are you free tonight? Shall we go over and have dinner together?" Yu He asked.
"No, I have to meet a business partner at Di Yi Hotel later," Qin Beiting said, turning and entering the room.
Although Yu He felt that no one could force him to drink, she still reminded him at the door, "Don't drink too much, and come back early."
"Even if you come back early, you won't be here," Qin Beiting said, looking back at her with resentful eyes.
"..."
Yu He thought for a moment. "But you still have your son at home to keep you company."
Qin Beiting looked disgusted. Did he need the companionship of that pig?
He wanted Yu He.
Just then, Yu He's phone rang. The caller ID on her phone displayed, "Okay, my brother is calling. I'll head over now."
Qin Beiting watched her leave, feeling immensely disappointed. He opened his phone and called Chen Dong, "Cancel the plan for tomorrow."
"Ah? Why?" Chen Dong on the other end of the phone was very surprised.
He had followed his boss for so many years and had never seen his boss celebrate his birthday. Every year, his boss was either on a mission or working, and he never mentioned it himself.
If it weren't for him having seen his boss's ID number, he wouldn't have known that the workaholic and cold Ting Ge was actually born on the romantic Qixi Festival.
Ting Ge had finally started dating, and this year he wanted to spend his birthday with his嫂子 (sister-in-law). A month ago, he had started asking him to prepare a yacht. He had even seen Ting Ge hire someone to custom-make a ring, clearly intending to propose to his嫂子 on his birthday.
The yacht had been decorated for a month, and the entire route was finalized and decorated just this noon. Why was it suddenly canceled?
Had Ting Ge and his嫂子 quarreled?
But Ting Ge had only just returned to the courtyard less than half an hour ago. How did they manage to argue in less than half an hour?
Could it be that the嫂子 had been caught in the act by Ting Ge?!
Otherwise, he really couldn't understand how Ting Ge could argue with Yu He.
"Just cancel it when I tell you to, why so many questions?" Qin Beiting said coldly.
Chen Dong sensed his anger and quickly replied, "Yes."