Gu Susu sat in the passenger seat, watching his skilled driving. She couldn't help but say, "Your driving skills are not bad. Did you learn Taekwondo? You probably know many other things. If you're so capable, why pretend to be foolish? How long do you plan to keep this up? Won't pretending your whole life be exhausting?"
"I'm willing to," Qin Tianyi replied irritably. "Are you tired of playing along with me?"
"No," Gu Susu thought. What was pretending with Qin Tianyi compared to her three years in prison, which was much harder?
She asked doubtfully, "But if you faced everyone as your true self, no one would dare bully you."
"Yes, then no one would dare bully me openly, but what would they do in secret? It's easier to dodge a direct attack than a hidden arrow. If I didn't pretend to be foolish, I wouldn't have survived until now."
Gu Susu fell silent, unable to articulate her feelings. So, he was also acting for self-preservation, burdened by so much helplessness.
He had lost his birth mother at a young age, his father had allowed that high-level white lotus to become his stepmother, and he also had a wicked and ruthless older brother. She could only imagine his situation and felt a kinship with him.
His birth father only had eyes for Jin Meiyao and her son, while her own parents and brother showed her no affection. Therefore, she could somewhat understand his situation and feelings.
When they arrived at the police station, the bespectacled man who had intended to harm Qin Tianyi had finished his statement and was cuffed to the side, dejected.
Seeing Gu Susu and Qin Tianyi arrive, he glared at them with extreme resentment, shot up, and pointed at Qin Tianyi, shouting, "Is your Qin Group deliberately playing with me? Qin Yaxuan signed a contract with me. After I finished delivering this batch of goods, she refused to pay the final payment with various excuses. Now it's even worse; they say the person in charge has changed, and all previous contracts are void! Damn it, all of you look respectable, but you're all scum!"
"Sit down! This is a police station, watch your mouth!" a police officer yelled, banging on the table and pointing at him.
Qin Tianyi frowned and glanced at the man, as if dismissing a piece of trash.
Gu Susu, hearing the man's aggressive shouting, finally began to understand.
It seemed this man had prior disputes with Mishang Company. Now that Qin Tianyi had taken over Qin Yaxuan's position, Qin Yaxuan and her mother were transferring this conflict to them. Whether it was accidental or intentional was worth investigating.
The bespectacled man, still unwilling to calm down, was forcibly escorted out of the office by two police officers, likely to be held elsewhere.
A middle-aged police officer smiled at them and asked, "How is this lady's injury? Is it serious?"
Gu Susu answered truthfully without thinking, "Not serious..."
"She needed several stitches; the cut is deep and long. You should get a medical examination," Qin Tianyi interrupted her crisply, saying to the officer, "This madman has already committed assault. My representative lawyer will be here shortly."
"Yes, yes, he definitely committed intentional assault," the middle-aged officer agreed with him and politely added, "It's only right for you to sue him. Please sit down and make your statement according to procedure."
Qin Tianyi snorted coldly and sat down first.
Gu Susu glanced at Qin Tianyi. She actually didn't want to sue this man; she wanted to clarify the situation and see if it could be resolved amicably.
She had heard him say earlier that he was pushed to desperation. The man didn't seem like a vicious villain, and she thought if she could understand the whole story and what went wrong with the contract, she might be able to help him.
She knew too well the helplessness and pain of being pushed to desperation.
When they left the police station, the sky outside had already darkened. Gu Susu saw that it was already seven in the evening.
Qin Tianyi was still discussing with the lawyer arranged by Xiao Anjing how to send the bespectacled man, who had committed assault, to prison and what charges to file to ensure he served more years.
The lawyer said, "Mr. Qin, rest assured. With witnesses and evidence, the case is clear. You and Madam don't need to appear in court to convict this person."
"Convict? How do you plan to prosecute and convict him?" Qin Tianyi asked coldly.
The lawyer quickly replied, "Of course, we'll charge him with intentional assault, which carries a sentence of three to ten years in prison."
Qin Tianyi was dissatisfied. "Three years? That's too little."
"Three years is the minimum sentence."
Qin Tianyi smirked and said, "When he attacked with a weapon in the office, he didn't just intend to harm my wife and me; he wanted to kill us. He also repeatedly shouted that he wanted to take me down with him."
The lawyer immediately understood and changed his tune, "Then he is guilty of attempted murder. The nature of the crime and intentional assault are very different, and the sentencing is also different."
"It's good that you understand. I don't want to see such a person again!"
"Alright, I know how to prosecute," the lawyer replied.
"Thank you for your trouble." After speaking, Qin Tianyi dismissed the lawyer and turned to take Gu Susu's hand.
Gu Susu listened to their conversation, feeling a chill run down her spine, shivering. Her face turned pale, reminding her of the scenes of her sudden arrest, prosecution, and sentencing more than three years ago.
When Qin Tianyi took her hand, she instinctively pulled away and took two steps back, unable to stand steadily.
"What's wrong? Your hands are ice cold. Are you not feeling well?" Qin Tianyi saw her extremely pale face.
Gu Susu shook her head and forced herself to say, "I'm fine."
Qin Tianyi keenly sensed something was wrong. He moved closer to her, took her hand, and asked, "You didn't even blink when that madman attacked. Are you suddenly scared now?"
Gu Susu remained silent, still trying to control her chaotic emotions.
Qin Tianyi pulled her forward. "Get in the car, let's go back and talk."
Sitting in the car, Gu Susu calmed down considerably before speaking, "I'm hungry."
"We'll be back soon. Grandma must have asked Rong Ma to prepare food..."
The thought of the Qin family's mansion, like a cage, made Gu Susu interrupt him, "Can we go back later?"
Qin Tianyi was about to start the car. He turned and looked at Gu Susu, who was curled up in the passenger seat. He felt like she was afraid of something. Considering she had only been at the Qin family's house for two days and had already been harassed by Qin Tianlang and experienced such a dangerous incident, she was probably terrified.
Even if her personality was stubborn and strong, she was still a woman. He inexplicably felt a softening of his heart. "Then let's go get some dessert to fill our stomachs first. I know a dessert shop that makes excellent bird's nest soup, perfect for calming your nerves."
Gu Susu breathed a sigh of relief and said nothing more. She leaned to the side, resting her head against the car window, gazing at the twilight sky at the end of the road, half-covered by darkness but still stubbornly displaying its beautiful brilliance.
When they arrived at the dessert shop Qin Tianyi mentioned, she found it was located in a small alley, not on the main street.
Qin Tianyi parked the car. They got out and walked for a while through the narrow streets and alleys. The dessert shop was renovated from an old house. At this time, there weren't too many customers.