What is Emperor Su's current state?
Du Yaoyao, holding her phone, quietly opened the bedroom door and looked towards the living room outside.
A moment later.
She silently closed the door and said in a low voice, "Her face is like stone, her expression is blank, she's been sitting there for a long time, not moving. Her mind is elsewhere, she's listless. The air pressure in the house is exceptionally low, back to how it was before you came on New Year's Eve. That's when Shen Chongchong and I lost at rock-paper-scissors and had to stay home to look after her, in case she did something foolish."
"She's not as foolish as you say."
Li Qianfan asked, "Where did Chongchong, who won the rock-paper-scissors against you, go?"
"She went to the company with Maomao. Sigh, I'm actually more reluctant to be in this house than anyone."
Du Junlin thought for a moment and whispered, "Qianfan, why do I always have this illusion? Emperor Su seems like a jilted lover. I guarantee that as soon as you come home, she'll come back to life."
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Li Qianfan quickly reprimanded her in a low voice.
"I'm just speaking the truth."
Du Junlin scoffed silently and said, "Besides, I told you that day, as long as we are happy, why bother with so many things?"
Li Qianfan fell silent.
Du Junlin's thoughts were simply too dangerous.
This was directly related to her, who had tasted the sweetness of love after her rigid exterior had bloomed, having turned the steering wheel too sharply.
Thus, it gave rise to a distorted view of love: "As long as you and I are happy, nothing else matters."
"Yaoyao."
"Hmm?"
"Don't say such things in the future."
"I'm just talking to you. Don't lovers always tell each other everything?"
"Saying this is the greatest blasphemy to your parents!"
"Qianfan, I have a few questions for you."
"Go ahead."
"How long can a person live? After death, can one only know if their descendants are cursing them? Why can't people, within their brief decades, choose to live happily without affecting others?"
"Your questions are all useless."
Li Qianfan said, "If people cannot strictly adhere to the bottom line that must never be crossed! Then what's the difference between them and animals?"
Du Junlin fell silent.
After a long pause, she said in a low voice, "Qianfan, you and Mom are really going to pass away within a year."
"Wh-what?"
Li Qianfan stammered, "Wh-what did you say?"
Du Junlin continued to speak to herself, "After you and Mom die, I will go with you. Because without you and Mom, this world will have no meaning to me. Before I understood love, even with Mom's care, I wanted to die in the Blackwater Forest. What's more, after you and Mom are gone, there will be no one left in this world worth living for me!"
Li Qianfan remained silent.
He was stunned by Du Junlin's words.
"I've known for a long time that you only have eight months left to live after your 209 is activated."
Du Junlin gritted her teeth and quietly opened the door a crack.
She said loudly, "On New Year's Eve, I accidentally saw my mother kneeling before the ancestral tablets of my maternal grandparents and saying those words about 'Four Phoenixes Circling the Beam'! That's when I realized why my father wanted to retire! My mother has at most a year to live!"
Li Qianfan never expected Du Junlin to know these things.
He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say.
"If—"
Du Junlin glanced at the living room through the crack in the door.
Su Nanyin, who had been sitting listlessly on the sofa, suddenly stood up.
Her face was pale, and her eyes were filled with panic as she looked this way.
Su Nanyin's shock from Du Junlin knowing the secret was far greater than Li Qianfan's.
Most importantly.
Su Nanyin could tell from Du Junlin's loud speaking that she was deliberately saying it for her to hear!
"If! If you all want to be well, then the five of us must disregard all ethics and morality! When my mother saw that post this morning and was in a daze, besides contemplating how to resolve this rumor, she was completely disheartened."
Du Junlin continued to speak loudly, "I really don't understand! Why is this world so full of malice towards her?"
Li Qianfan didn't understand either.
Su Nanyin, who walked over unsteadily, understood even less.
"My mother! She's just a beautiful woman who doesn't age."
Du Junlin asked sharply into the phone, "What did she do wrong to suffer so many heavy blows? Does the cruel reality truly deserve her to carry such a burden of filth for the sake of so-called morality and ethics, and leave this damned world in a year?!"
Li Qianfan on the other end of the phone did not respond.
"If I were her—"
A defiant look flashed in Du Junlin's eyes, "I would definitely have a child with you! I want to show the whole world that even if we did this, so what? Who the hell dares to gossip."
She paused.
Her voice became extremely sharp as she yelled, "Kill!!"
Kill.
Since she was going to die anyway.
Since she was going to die sooner or later anyway.
Since she was going to die no matter what she did, why couldn't she do as she pleased while she was alive?
The door opened.
Su Nanyin, trembling all over, raised her hand and fiercely slapped Du Junlin across the face.
With a "slap."
The phone fell from Du Junlin's hand.
Du Junlin, who had been slapped hard, didn't move. She raised her clean, small face high.
Her eyes, filled with a mad killing intent, stared fiercely at Su Nanyin.
Su Nanyin raised her hand again—
But she couldn't bring herself to bring it down with force.
Her hand, like carved white jade, gently rested on Du Junlin's small face, which was exceptionally clean but somewhat contorted. She asked softly, "Yaoyao, does it hurt?"
Du Junlin just looked at her.
It was a full three minutes later—
She suddenly threw herself into Su Nanyin's arms and cried hoarsely, "Mom, are you tired of living like this?"
This was Du Junlin.
She hadn't shed a single tear back then, when she had almost stabbed Li Qianfan into the palace and her father had broken her leg and kicked her out.
But now—
She slowly slid down from Su Nanyin's embrace, knelt on the ground, and tightly hugged her mother's legs, crying uncontrollably.
Su Nanyin didn't cry.
She simply looked down at her daughter kneeling at her knees, a daughter who used to be cold-hearted but was now willing to do anything for the happiness of her family of four. Her eyes were filled with a tenderness she had never had before.
She said softly, "Yaoyao, you have to believe your mother. I will ensure that you and Qianfan grow old together without crossing that red line. What I, Su Nanyin, decide to do, no matter how wicked, only your father can stop in this world!"
"I don't want Qianfan to die, because I love him! I don't want you to die either, because you are my mother!"
Du Junlin raised her head, her voice breaking as she cried out, "Do you know? You are my mother!!"
The phone on the ground beeped.
Li Qianfan had ended the call.
He truly hadn't expected Du Junlin to accidentally learn the secret of "Four Phoenixes Circling the Beam."
He also hadn't expected that Du Junlin, who had finally bloomed, would have a far more "unfettered" way of solving problems than he had imagined.
"Why does this damn fate keep pushing me towards the wrong path?"
Li Qianfan sat there blankly for a long time before muttering in confusion.
*Bang bang bang.*
There was a soft knock on the door.
It was Zhaihua and Zhaixin.
They pushed a meal cart and entered.
Actually, they had come to bring Li Qianfan his meals long ago, but they had faintly heard him on the phone and didn't dare to disturb him.
"Young Master."
As Zhaihua was arranging the plates, she reported, "As you instructed last night, I called and invited Wang Zhe, Zhu Hui; Xie Wenxiu, Vice President Huang, and others this morning. We will have lunch together today in the Supreme Private Room at the club."
Li Qianfan's trip to Tiandong this time was originally to accompany his father-in-law and mother-in-law for a meal in place of Su Ziyu.
Of course.
The key was to help his father-in-law make an initial plan on how to rationally utilize the 100 million yuan in funds to expand the scale of the clothing and pharmaceutical factories.
With the smooth passage of the Spring Festival, both his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Lan Mu Hou, breathed a sigh of relief.
On the evening of the third day of the lunar new year, the family of three celebrated while video chatting with Su Ziyu.
Yesterday, under the leadership of his father-in-law, Li Qianfan "presided" over the pharmaceutical factory for a whole day.
When he wanted to go home in the evening, he was rejected by his father-in-law with the excuse, "My dear son-in-law, Dad begs you not to disturb our world of two!"
Li Qianfan's heart ached—
Recalling the past—
Su Ziyu, Mo Hongti, Shen Chongchong, Dai Paipai!
These four great beauties had created a warm home for Li Qianfan in Qingyun.
But now?
Su Ziyu and Mo Hongti, who were supposed to have gone on a trip to Longxu, were unable to return for the time being due to continuous invitations from forces like the Main Imperial Palace (such as a tour of the Main Imperial Palace).
With the rapid expansion of the Su family, Shen Chongchong would likely have to stay in Sijiu to help Su Maomao manage the company.
Especially Boss Paipai, her whereabouts were a mystery.
Without those four in Qingyun, Li Qianfan could no longer experience the warmth of home that he once had.
It was at this moment that his father-in-law had rejected his dear son-in-law.
He could only check into the Victoria.
"Alright."
Li Qianfan nodded and said, "Actually, it's just a casual meal together. After all, Chu Yazhi and Chen Dong haven't finished celebrating the New Year yet. When the time comes, the two of you will also be there, and we'll have a good drink."
While Li Qianfan was being served breakfast or lunch by his two personal beauties in Qingyun.
Su Maomao, who was in Sijiu, took Shen Chongchong to Su's Pharmaceutical.
According to relevant regulations.
Su's Pharmaceutical would only have all employees return to work on the seventh day of the lunar new year.
But neither of them wanted to stay at home.
The air pressure at home was too low—kuAiδugg
"General Manager Su."
Old Wang, the company's security guard, saw Su Maomao and quickly bowed and wished her a happy new year.
Su Zui returned the greeting with a smile.
"Oh, General Manager Su."
Old Wang remembered something and said, "The new secretary you chose has been in place since New Year's Day. Currently, she is in the company's employee dormitory. Would you like me to have her come to see you?"
"My newly chosen secretary?"
Su Zui paused and asked, "Who is it?"
Old Wang—
He pointed to a girl walking nearby and said, "General Manager Su, it's her."