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In recent days, things have gotten back on track. Without Bai Lutong's daily "pursuits" and An Chi's constant clinging, Ge Jin is no longer so restrained.

But Su Qingye's news came suddenly.

Before Su could even sit down, Ge Jin pushed open the door and entered: "Old Su has received a critical condition notice."

He glanced at his private glass window and said, "Ge Jin, replace all the glass on this floor with the same type."

"President Su, what have you been up to these past few days...?"

“I always have a place to work. Let’s go, we still have a tough battle to fight.”

Go to the hospital.

Su Wensheng was already standing in the ward, with the woman who had cheated on him and her child beside him. The child seemed to be timid, hiding behind her mother.

No wonder Su Wensheng didn't dare to lash out at Su Qingye after having an illegitimate child. To put it bluntly, he knew that a girl could never catch Su Qingye's eye, because even she, Su Yao, was just a stepping stone.

If Su hadn't come to cause trouble, she would have first inquired about the doctor's condition and learned that the rest depended on Su Qingye's mental and emotional development, which she found regrettable.

She left the ward and saw the housekeeper. "Hasn't Wenxie arrived yet?"

"Young Master is on his way here." His submissive demeanor made Su Yao feel that he was being hypocritical.

When Su Wenxie arrived, he was out of breath. He saw Su Yao talking to Ge Jin outside the ward and went up to her: "Sister, how are you? How is Grandma?"

It was common knowledge that Su Qingye was good to Su Wenxie; they had a close, intergenerational relationship. However, Su Yao didn't feel much of this because Su Qingye spent far more time on guard against her than close to her.

Ge Jin took a step back, giving Su Wenxie and Su Yao space to speak.

“The doctor said it depends on Grandma herself.” When Su Yao calmly said this, Su Wenxie’s expression had already changed. Tears suddenly welled up in his eyes, and his chest, which had just calmed down a little, began to breathe heavily again.

Su Yao had deep feelings for her younger brother, but she knew that Su Wenxie had never suffered any hardship in his more than twenty years of life, and rarely even felt down. She gently patted his back: "Wenxie, go in and see Grandma. Don't cry. Grandma doesn't want to see you cry."

Silently counting in her mind, Su watched as Su Wenxie stepped into the room. Not long after, a commotion broke out inside.

She was sensible and reasonable, and ignored the mother and daughter, but Su Wenxie couldn't. He was always so childish, and this commotion would always wake Su Qingye up. Some things had to be settled.

Within minutes, the nurses heard the commotion and rushed over.

Ge Jin stopped them, but Su wanted to go inside.

Everything was as Su Yao had anticipated.

Su Wenxie stood in front of the hospital bed, while Su Wensheng stood opposite him, protecting the mother and daughter.

Su quietly walked between them, trying to calm both sides and act as a peacemaker: "Grandma will be woken up by you."

The butler outside only dared to watch from outside the glass window; he didn't dare to come in.

Those who seem to be doing what's best for the Su family will actually only stand aside when things happen.

Su Qingye's soft cough was especially clear in the silence, and Su Wenxie's voice suddenly rang out: "Grandma!"

Su Wensheng also quickly looked over, and the mother and daughter also peeked out, no longer as timid as they had been when they were frightened by Su Wenxie.

Su was the last one to turn around and look.

Su Qingye's aged voice sounded particularly weak. She was no longer young, and the treatment she had persisted in for so long became even more fragile at this moment, like a layer of fine sand in a bamboo basket, which could crumble at the slightest shake.

The outstanding women who once led the Su family could not escape the ravages of time.

"Xiaoyao stays." She was too exhausted to even say anything more about the others leaving.

Su was somewhat surprised. In her opinion, the order should be Su Wenxie, herself, and Su Wensheng. She didn't expect to be ranked first.

However, this did not affect her inner belief that Su Qingye would explain things to her.

After everyone else left, Su bent down slightly to listen to Su Qingye's words.

"Help Wenxie."

Su should reply seriously.

"The Su family."

Everything was exactly as she had predicted.

“Recognize the child.” Su Qingye wanted the illegitimate child to be recognized by the family. Su Yao remained silent this time, even though she had been prepared for it, she only felt that it was unfair to her mother.

"It's no use if I agree; Wenxie won't agree."

She gave the answer she had already rehearsed in her mind, with a gentle smile on her face.

"Never mind." Knowing that her time was limited, Su Qingye was indeed easy to talk to, after all, in her eyes, Su Wenxie was still the most important.

"I'm sorry, Kaname."

Su was momentarily stunned when she heard this. She had never imagined such a sentence and didn't know how to answer for a moment, but time was of the essence.

Su Qingye closed her eyes. Suddenly, the monitoring device next to her beeped. Su immediately pressed the emergency button and shouted, "Doctor!"

Su Wenxie and Su Wensheng immediately rushed in.

The last sense to disappear before a person dies is hearing.

“Grandma, Grandma, don’t you like Wenxie the most? You haven’t talked to him yet,” Su Yao said, lying down next to her.

Su Wenxie cried and called for her grandmother.

Su Wensheng was old, but his eyes were also glistening with tears.

The woman protected the child, preventing the child from seeing it, and tried to leave, but was stopped by the doctor who rushed over.

The emergency treatment was quite fast, but Su Qingye still passed away.

The ward was filled with the smells of disinfectant and the doctor's apologies, the strong smell of medicine and Su Wenxie's sobs, mixed with the faint fragrance of fruit and flowers and Su Yao's silence.

She never expected that Su Qingye's last words would be an apology to her.

The mother and daughter managed to escape amidst the chaos.

Su didn't want to stay there too long; she was feeling restless and agitated.

She went outside and saw the mother and daughter hiding there. She handed them a card and said, "There are 20 million in here. Leave this place, or you will regret it. Su Wensheng couldn't protect you before, and he can't now."

The woman's expression changed quickly, from surprise to disdain.

Su interrupted her directly: "Only 20 million? If you think it's not enough, you can try staying in City A."

"I'll think about it." The woman said this, but her hand took the bank card.

Su looked at the child who was always behind the woman and remembered that her mother used to protect her in the same way.

Su Yao was not someone Su Qingye was wary of from the beginning.

She was smart and cute, and was loved by all the elders since she was a child.

However, being too sharp and outspoken is not a good thing.

When it came time for Su to go from junior high to senior high, she managed to get into a good school on her own.

This should have been a happy thing.

But everything changed when it was Su Wenxie's turn to go to college.

He couldn't reach Su Yao's level of ability, so Su Qingye directly spent money to send Su Wenxie abroad.

It was around that time that Su Qingye's attitude towards Su Yao changed.

She could no longer talk to Su Qingye on equal terms. That commanding tone, to her, who was not yet an adult, became proof that Su Qingye did not like her.

Then her mother would tell her afterwards, "Grandma just wanted you to be better."

But when she couldn't win Su Qingye's favor no matter what she did, Su Yao realized that her mother said those words only to protect her.

The most memorable time was when her grades dropped.

Su Qingye was furious, and the glass shattered at Su Yao's feet with a loud, sharp sound.

Young and proud, she didn't try to hide, but her mother grabbed her and pulled her away from the shards, angrily shouting, "Xiao Yao is your granddaughter!"

"Wang Mingfei, are you deliberately going against me now?" Su Qingye's finger trembled as she pointed it directly at the mother and daughter.

Wang Mingfei is her mother's name.

Her maternal grandfather's family expected her to be able to distinguish right from wrong, but she ended up marrying into a family that couldn't tell the difference between good and evil.

"Mom, you're a woman too. Why don't you want Xiaoyao to be your heir? Is it because you're afraid that Xiaoyao will grow up and fail like you did with your investments? But Xiaoyao hasn't even grown up yet, and you're already acting like this. Isn't that going too far!"

That was a rare moment when she saw her mother angry.

Her mother, just like her own name, was often able to distinguish right from wrong and to uphold justice gently yet forcefully.

Even in her rage, her mother still thought of her and turned to Su Yao, saying, "Go back to your room, Yao. Your grandmother and I have something to discuss."

Su Yao already knew at this point that what followed would only be more hurtful. She held her mother's hand tightly and said to Su Qingye, "Don't make things difficult for my mother because of me. Let's move out."

"Good, good, good, this is the good daughter you, Wang Mingfei, have raised."

Wang Mingfei suddenly realized that her daughter was braver than she was. She led her to the room: "Mom, you pack first, I'll go pack too, I still have some money in my bank card..."

Wang Mingfei felt extremely sad. She placed her other hand over Su Yao's hand and said, "Xiao Yao, you should move out. Mom can't. Your father is still here. Wen Xie will have to stay here when he comes back. I'm sorry, Xiao Yao."

Actually, Su Yao could understand what Wang Mingfei was saying. Compared to an individual, she had to live with her family, and she didn't want to embarrass her maternal grandfather's family.

However, Su Yao did not understand this when he was young.

Before she ran away, she had a big fight with her mother.

Although they reconciled later, she still regrets being so immature back then.

From then on, she lived outside.

Because of this, she was unable to be by her mother's side when she was sick.

Regret intensified in an instant.

Feeling the stinging in her eyes, Su Yao just wanted to hide away, so she walked towards the emergency exit in the hospital.

Ignoring the dust on the ground, Su sat down on the ground, hugging her knees with both hands, her neck and shoulders heaving, her sobs not very clear.

She didn't want others to see her like this.

She didn't notice when the emergency exit door opened.

"Su Yao." A familiar male voice appeared.

Su instinctively looked up, momentarily forgetting her current state.

An Chi squatted down, kneeling on one knee, looking at Su Yao. He had never seen Su Yao cry so sadly. He thought Su Yao had always been invulnerable.

The tears didn't stop, just as Su realized she wanted to wipe them away.

The kiss landed on the path of the tears, from top to bottom, all the way to the lips.

Su was somewhat surprised. Before she could push him away, An Chi had already ended the kiss, which was both brief and long.

"Don't cry, Su Yao." After he finished speaking, he wanted to kiss the other tear stain.

Su tried to push him away, saying, "Everyone else wipes their tears with their hands, what are you thinking with your mouth?"

"I just want to know all the scents on you." He smiled faintly, then used his hand to wipe away the tears on the other side, but then wiped them on his lips and licked them with the tip of his tongue.

Su wanted to watch his movements, so she swallowed hard and pushed his shoulder to make him move away: "I'm going to get up, don't block my way."

An Chi also got up, patted the dust off his clothes, and then dusted Su Yao off as well.

Getting back to the main point, "How did you get here?" Su had to remember that she was on guard against the media.

"I went to your company, but Assistant Tang said you were in the hospital, so I rushed over. I saw you go into the emergency exit as soon as I arrived."

An Chi looked at her and smoothed her sweaty, sticky hair with his hand: "I thought something had happened to you. I'm glad you're alright."

“It’s Su Qingye who has passed away,” she replied.

"Don't you and your grandmother have a bad relationship?"

"Her last words before she passed away were an apology to me." Su Yao suddenly felt like smoking, but she reached for her cigarette and realized she didn't have one on her.

An Chi spoke up to remind them, "Smoking is not allowed in the hospital."

How did you know I wanted to smoke?

"I can't exactly pull out a recording pen and make me listen to her apology, can I?" An Chi took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, and handed it to Su Yao, "Go outside and smoke."

Su didn't answer: "I'm not smoking anymore, it's bad for my health."

He withdrew his gaze, but Su Yao didn't look at him. Instead, she stared at a spot as if they were having a conversation. She continued, "She apologized to me on her deathbed when she realized that I was the only lifeline that could save the Su family. She thought I wouldn't see through it and that I would have a change of heart, but I understand much better than she does. She was the one who truly couldn't see through it."

An Chi remained silent; it wasn't appropriate for him to discuss these matters further, as he was no longer Su An Chi.

"If I don't take back the Su family business, will you think I'm heartless?" Su asked, looking at him.

An Chi told her, "People are different and independent individuals. One should not use one's last words to hold another person hostage for their entire life."

“You’ve come back from abroad, and everything you say is so philosophical. If Wenxie had acted like you when she went abroad, she wouldn’t have apologized to me.” Su Yao smiled. “I’m not going to talk to you anymore. If you need me for something, let’s do it next time. I have some things to take care of.”

An Chi nodded, watching Su leave through the emergency exit.

As expected, Su Qingye's lawyer arrived and announced her will, which left all her estate to Su Wenxie.

Su Yao laughed self-deprecatingly. She thought Su Qingye's apology would be more convincing, at least giving her something in return, but there was nothing.

No one was making a fuss, except for that woman who was pulling at Su Wensheng, but when Su looked over, she became quiet.

Su Yao instructed Ge Jin to arrange her affairs after her death. She looked at Su Wenxie sitting next to her and sighed.

After talking to Su Wenxie for a long time, Su Yao finally managed to persuade her.

She took the upset Su Wenxie and left first, warning Su Wensheng before leaving: "Keep an eye on your little girlfriend."