Qu Xiujie thought that he had already mustered up a lot of courage but when he stepped into the Qu family’s house again, the nanny was still very surprised. “Young master, why are you back?”


  Qu Xiujie knew that the difference between ‘why are you back’ and ‘you are finally back’ was like night and day. It was precisely because of this that the coldness on Qu Xiujie’s face increased. “Where is that person? Where is he now?”


  “Old master is in the study.”


  The nanny stuttered and opened the door for Qu Xiujie to enter.

  “Alright, got it.”


  Qu Xiujie walked straight to the study room. Just as he was about to press the door handle and enter, he was stopped by the nanny. “Young master, old master’s health is not good recently and his cough is getting worse. You…… you shouldn’t make him angry anymore.”


  “Alright, I understand.”


  Qu Xiujie nodded and entered.

  It used to be the place he was most familiar with, but now it was the coldest and scariest place in the world. “How have you been recently?”


  “You still have the cheek to come back and ask me what happened?”


  Old master Qu sat on the chair. It had been a while since they last met but he seemed to have aged a few years.

  “Why don’t I have the face to come back? My surname is Qu, not Ji.”


  Qu Xiujie sat on Old master Qu’s desk and picked up a crystal tiger to play with.

  Ever since Qu Xiujie could remember, this tiger had been on Old master Qu’s desk for a very long time. He did not think that this crystal tiger was special but now, he realized that Old master Qu’s identity was way past the time he used such cheap accessories.

  A person must have his own story for something so ordinary and ancient.

  “Put that thing down, put it down!”


  Old master Qu coughed again the moment he finished speaking. His eyes were tightly shut and his face was red as though he was about to cough even harder.

  “Your cough is so bad now?”


  Qu Xiujie felt uneasy as though that woman’s plan was earlier than he had imagined.

  “What has my cough got to do with you? You’d better put your things on my table or I’ll get the butler to chase you out.”


  Old master Qu pounded his chest and coughed violently.

  Qu Xiujie looked at the cold tea in the porcelain cup in front of Old master Qu and poured it into the basin in the room. He poured another cup of hot tea and placed it on Old master Qu’s desk. “Drink some hot tea. Don’t anger yourself to death. If you die, you won’t be able to listen to what I want to tell you.”


  “Just tell me what you want to tell me. Don’t keep me in suspense.”


  Old master Qu glanced at Qu Xiujie but did not touch the cup of hot tea.

  “What I want to say is related to your life. Is this how you treat me?”


  Qu Xiujie suddenly turned around and placed both his hands on Old master Qu’s table. He looked down at Old master Qu and continued, “Old man, listen. On the day of your birthday, don’t drink anything that woman brings you.”


  After Qu Xiujie said that, his lips curled up into a vicious and proud smile. Looking at Old master Qu’s shocked expression, he continued, “You better keep this in your heart or don’t blame me for not telling you.”


  “What do you mean? You mean—”


  Old master Qu coughed again. Recently, he had been coughing more frequently and it would be more painful in the morning and night. However, even after taking the medicine prescribed by the doctor, it did not seem to have any effect. Old master Qu had his suspicions but he was more willing to believe it.

  To believe that all of this was an accident, to believe that he was the one who came up with all of this and not the one who proved it.

  “You don’t believe anything I say?”


  Qu Xiujie let go of his hand and sat on Old master Qu’s study table again. He was about to throw the crystal tiger and Old master Qu was so frightened that he quickly reached out and shouted, “No, put it down!”


  “First, tell me how important this thing is to you, or which lover of yours gave it to you?”


  Qu Xiujie quickly caught the crystal tiger when he was about to throw it away.

  “You’re spouting nonsense!”


  Old master Qu’s face was red and his eyes were filled with anger as he looked at Qu Xiujie. He had already swallowed everything Qu Xiujie said previously.

  “You unfilial son, let go of me. If this tiger is hurt in any way, I’ll make sure you can’t leave the Qu family today!”


  Old master Qu’s face turned ferocious as his cheeks turned red and he coughed violently.

  “Oh? You still want me to leave the Qu family?”


  Qu Xiujie felt a chill in his heart. Thinking about how he could not be compared to this tiger in Old master Qu’s heart and was even less valuable than this tiger, no one would be able to accept this fact.

  “Put it down!”


  Old master Qu coughed violently again. It was longer than before and he could not control himself.

  Qu Xiujie sat on the table but his palms were sweating. This tiger was actually more important than his life. His surname was Qu but his status in the Qu family could not be compared to this toy.

  Qu Xiujie gritted his teeth as he panted heavily. What exactly did this man have to make Zhang Manhua sacrifice her past hatred to save him?

  If it were him, no matter how capable he was, he would not choose to save him.

  Just as Qu Xiujie was about to break the crystal tiger, Old master Qu coughed and explained, “That belongs to your mother.”


  Qu Xiujie’s hand froze in mid-air. He did not expect Old master Qu to still keep this closely to heart.

  “You said that it belongs to my mother. Why should I believe you? It might have been sent by a mistress. Only a fool like you would cherish it like a treasure and keep it in front of you every day. Don’t you feel upset seeing it every day?”


  Qu Xiujie sounded sarcastic as he turned around to look at Old master Qu who was clutching his chest. He could not help but his voice become even colder.

  “Old man, in your heart, there’s still my mother. Do you think I’m a three-year-old child? Do you think I’ll believe you so easily?”


  Qu Xiujie sneered coldly. He saw Old master Qu’s face turning redder and redder as the temperature in his palms rose rapidly.

  How long would it take for him to get rid of this dark shadow, and how long would it take for him to truly forgive this man? This man had once caused him to lose the person closest to him, as well as his original intention.