Chapter 51 "From now on, I will only play my own games..."

Qiao Kaiyu scoffed coldly, and when he tried to send another message, he found that he had been blocked.

He felt that Yu Zeheng was also sick.

And he was quite ill.

—

Qiao Shu resigned from the company.

She and her other colleagues at the company learned about this at the same time through company emails.

Knowing her thoughts, Qiao Kaiyu's first action was to kick her out of the company.

Qiao Shu had an idea.

With almost no new moves, Qiao Kaiyu's counterattacks were as bad as ever.

Colleagues sent their condolences, saying it was all too sudden and they wondered why she would resign so abruptly. Several close friends asked her if she was unhappy at the company and what had happened.

Qiao Shu replied casually, "I'm tired and want to rest for a while."

"Okay, it's just a pity we didn't have time for our farewell dinner."

There will be other opportunities in the future.

Qiao Kaiyu called to explain, his tone laced with undisguised malice: "This is also Grandpa's idea, Xiao Shu. If you were more clear-headed, you wouldn't be thinking about things that don't belong to you."

Qiao Shu gazed at the green branches outside the window, her voice clear and crisp: "Thank you, brother. I'll treat this as a holiday."

Her mindset was indeed no different from that of someone on vacation.

Qiao Shu got up early as usual, exercised, walked the dog, ate breakfast, and then went back to the Qiao residence to visit the old man. He pushed him out for a walk, chatted with him, and ate with him. The grandfather and grandson maintained a peaceful relationship without saying a word.

Occasionally, she would bump into her aunt and Chen Yi who came to visit. Her expression was no longer as friendly as before. Her aunt was bossy and sarcastic, and she said to Li Ma indirectly, "People nowadays really won't do anything without a profit. They look well-behaved, but they are actually very scheming and will secretly play dirty tricks."

Chen Yi couldn't help but argue with Qiao Shu: "I really didn't expect you to be this kind of person. I was so touched by how much you liked Qiao Yan. He's still so young, are you going to take advantage of him? How can you face him calling you 'Auntie'?"

"What? Sister-in-law, this is your first day at the Qiao family. Don't you know what our family is like? Why are you so angry? Is it because I didn't give you any advantage, or because you're really sincere towards me?" Qiao Shu asked gently.

It's foolish to exchange sincerity for sincerity, and to exchange sincerity for pretense.

"You'll get your comeuppance sooner or later." Chen Yi crossed her arms, glanced down at her, and left.

Qiao Shu looked at the sky listlessly.

On an otherwise ordinary Monday, a news headline went viral online: Qiao Kaiyu, Zhongcheng's handpicked future successor, was suspected of illegally taking kickbacks, with the amount involved not being small. Furthermore, an internal employee revealed that the company had long been embroiled in factional strife, with the princelings around Qiao Kaiyu disregarding company rules and regulations, endlessly protecting their own people, and taking the blame for their subordinates when things went wrong, with countless victims.

After the news broke, Zhongcheng's stock price, which had risen two points at the opening, suddenly plummeted and fell sharply, hitting the daily limit down at the morning close.

At this moment, Qiao Shu was helping the old man practice calligraphy.

She had been learning calligraphy since she was a child, but her personality was restless and she could never write a single stroke steadily. Therefore, she had not made any progress even after several years of practice.

In contrast, the old man had beautiful handwriting, with sharp strokes and flowing lines. He wrote Cen Shen's line, "My heart is as pure as flowing water, and my body is as free as floating clouds." As he finished writing, his phone vibrated. He put down his pen and then took the phone.

Qiao Shu held his wrist and copied the same sentence.

I truly hope that people can be like poetry, pure and open-minded, unburdened by worldly affairs.

"I understand." Qiao Zhenkai listened to the phone call expressionlessly, without any reaction. After hanging up, he looked at Qiao Shu and then at the words in her hand.

Qiao Zhenkai said, "I've hired so many teachers for you, but your handwriting still hasn't improved at all. It's important to know your own limitations. If you can't write well, you don't have to force it."

Qiao Shu smiled and finished writing the poem.

"Whether it's well written or not, I have to write it first to know. I'll just write as I go. Please be more understanding. I'm just starting out, and there's still a lot I need to learn from you."

Qiao Zhenkai remained silent for a long time, and his aura turned cold.

Qiao Shu put down his pen and said, "If you're tired of writing, I'll take you back to your room to rest."

"Does it really have to go this far?" Qiao Zhenkai asked her calmly. The calmer he appeared, the more furious he was inside. What on earth had he been raising?

Qiao Shu looked back at him, showing no fear whatsoever: "When did you first think of this? Was it during the last check-up, or even earlier?"

Qiao Zhenkai gripped the armrests of the wheelchair, the veins on the back of his hands bulging as he tried his best to suppress his emotions.

“You’ve already remembered everything. Doesn’t it hurt to see me hanging around in front of you again? What have you been thinking these past few days? Are you just going to go with the flow and keep up this act, and even better, coax me into having a child? That way, what does it matter whether we remarry or not? You’ll still be bound to the Yu family for life.”

Qiao Zhenkai sneered: "If it weren't for this illness, you wouldn't have had a chance to come back. You think you're so important? Did our Qiao family collapse without you these past two years? I just didn't expect that you'd become more and more greedy before I even taught you a lesson."

Qiao Shu sometimes wonders where they went wrong, leading to the current situation between him and his grandfather.

The old man praised her more than once as the person in the Qiao family who was most like him. Similarly, while she inherited his abilities, she would also inherit his stubborn and ruthless personality.

People who are too similar will always clash.

Qiao Zhenkai controlled his emotions. The closest people are often the ones who know the other's pain points the most. His face was tense, but his tone softened: "Do you know what I thought when you impulsively got a divorce and ran off to Australia?"

“I am disappointed in you, but not surprised. You can’t even handle such a small thing and give up. This just proves my point. You are as weak as your mother and can’t bear any burden at all.”

Qiao Shu laughed: "You're disappointed and want to kick me out over just this one thing? But it's understandable and unconditionally tolerant of my two older brothers? What are the rules and standards anyway?"

"The rule is that you were not eligible to participate from the beginning. This is your two older brothers' game, and it has nothing to do with you."

“When I brought you back, I never imagined that I would raise you like this, raising you to be arrogant and ignorant, and to have an insatiable ambition.”

Human hearts are made of flesh and blood, and Qiao Shu also felt the sting.

Every glance, every word, felt like needles piercing my heart; with each heartbeat, I could feel the dense, agonizing pain.

She blinked, feeling only dryness in her eyes: "Unfortunately, there's no medicine for regret in this world."

"yes."

Qiao Zhenkai stared at her, his eyes cold and dark: "I should have known. What good daughter could your good-for-nothing father have? I should have kicked you and your father out together. I can pretend I don't have this son, and I can pretend I don't have this granddaughter."

Qiao Shu paused for a moment, then said firmly, "You will need me."

The kickback incident was just the beginning. Soon, victims began to expose his outrageous remarks, workplace gender discrimination, embezzlement, multiple investment losses, losing everything in futures trading with leverage, huge debts, and a chaotic private life with mistresses in various places.

It's unclear whether it's a case of everyone kicking someone when they're down, or if there are things Qiao Shu doesn't even know.

Qiao Kaiyu has been jokingly referred to by netizens as someone who has grown up on his scandalous posts.

Outside, the storm raged; inside, there was no peace either.

Zhou Wanying took the initiative to come to him. Qiao Kaiyu had only given her tens of thousands of yuan, and the promised time was kept being delayed. She worked hard, and given that she had been in an ambiguous relationship with Qiao Kaiyu for so many years, she knew that he couldn't possibly be bought off for just 30,000 yuan. In addition, after seeing the news that Qiao Kaiyu was heavily in debt, she naturally wanted to take back what was rightfully hers first.

Faced with Chen Yi's questioning, Qiao Kaiyu naturally denied it outright and grabbed Zhou Wanying's arm, telling her to get out.

Zhou Wanying was prepared: "Back when I was with Qiao Kaiyu, I made a list of all the women he slept with after he cheated on me, including who he slept with, when and where. Once when you took your son on a trip abroad, he brought back more than one woman."

Chen Yi had always turned a blind eye to Qiao Kaiyu's affairs, but she never expected her husband to be so shameless as to bring his mistress home, possibly even to their bedroom bed. Just thinking about that scene made her stomach churn and she clutched her chest, gagging.

"Divorce! Qiao Kaiyu, I want a divorce from you, you bastard!"

The phone kept ringing, from the company to home. Finally, it was Chen Yi, who was crying and saying that Qiao Kaiyu was sleeping with other women and she wanted a divorce.

Qiao Zhenkai had a splitting headache.

When he thought of Qiao Shu, he felt as if he had been bitten hard by the cub he had raised.

Qiao Zhenkai, unable to contain himself any longer, asked her what she really wanted to do.

That usually obedient face broke into a smile: "Grandpa has always been the one to set the rules of the game."

"I want to quit playing."

"From now on, I will only play my own games."

—

When Qiao Shu left the Qiao family home, he was still somewhat dazed.

Everything around her—the neatly trimmed shrubs and the tall camphor trees lining the road—was familiar to her, scenes she had watched grow up, yet now they felt somewhat unfamiliar.

Once things start, there's no turning back.

Qiao Shu has done nothing these past few days but stayed in South Bay, tending the garden with Uncle Lin in her spare time, or chatting and reading with Aunt Chu. It felt like she was back in Australia.

The difference is that Yu Zeheng is here.

The two interacted as usual, without mentioning anything about the Qiao family.

Things became complicated. She didn't want to find any high-sounding reasons for doing these things; she was simply following her ambition and doing what she was supposed to do. Whether it was good or bad in other people's eyes was none of her business and wouldn't affect her.

She could only put aside what Yu Zeheng thought and how his parents viewed her for the time being.

As the two lay in bed as usual, Qiao Shu held her phone, her thoughts drifting back to that night when Yu Zeheng asked her if there was anything she wanted to say to him.

She does have it.

Qiao Shu was very proactive tonight. She lifted her skirt and sat down, her empty and lost feelings filled with joy. A flush spread across her face, and her dark eyes looked bright and moist.

Yu Zeheng twirled her dark curly hair with his fingers, his prominent Adam's apple rolling heavily across her face as he stared intently at her, his voice low and husky: "If I give you a piece of candy now, will you get slapped tomorrow?"

His tone held a helpless smile, yet also an air of resigned indifference.

Qiao Shu paused upon hearing this.

"Don't stop, don't cut corners." Yu Zeheng leaned back against the headboard, his eyes dark and deep, his thin jaw taut, as he slapped her buttocks.

His ease was infectious to Qiao Shu, and her anxiety and frustration these past few days were somewhat relieved. She leaned forward, reached out and cupped his face, and said in her usual light and cute tone, "You're so smart."

Qiao Shu kissed his chin: "I will announce to the media tomorrow that we are divorced."

At that time, the Qiao family's stock will continue to fall, which may also affect the Yu family. However, after a short-term decline, it will rebound, and the impact will be much smaller than that on the Qiao family.

But no matter what, it will still have an impact; she cannot be generous with other people's money.

"That's it?" Yu Zeheng supported her waist, distracted by the person giving him candy, so he had to ask for candy himself.

Qiao Shu hummed in agreement: "Aren't you angry?"

“Why are you angry? It’s a fact that we’re getting a divorce.” Yu Zeheng picked her up, switched positions, and kissed her forehead. “But I’m glad you told me first.”

Instead of holding it in like before, I will trust him.

Qiao Shu was slightly taken aback, but then all her attention and energy were drawn into the dramatic events unfolding before her.

Finally, she hugged him tightly, resting her chin on his shoulder and neck, and whispered, "I was actually worried that you wouldn't be on my side. Even my dad called me and told me to stop making trouble."

How can I describe that feeling?

Qiao Shu never expected her father to help her in any way. She thought that since she had no expectations of him, she would not be disappointed. But she did not expect that when he called, she would still feel pain.

She walked alone for a very long time, so long that she never thought anyone would walk with her.

"Do you think I'm making a fuss?" Qiao Shu asked softly.

Yu Zeheng patted her back and said, "No matter what you do, I will only go along with you. Besides, I have a gift for you."

He didn't tell her directly what the gift was.

Every gift should have the most appropriate time to be given and opened.

After taking a shower, Qiao Shu's phone already had multiple call notifications. Before she could even check them, Qiao Kaiyu called again.

She hesitated, preparing to refuse.

During this period, Qiao Kaiyu called me frequently, going crazy.

“Let me do it.” Yu Zeheng extended his hand.

"Let's play it out loud."

After answering the call, Qiao Shu turned on the speakerphone.

Qiao Kaiyu's foul language followed on the phone. He gritted his teeth and questioned Qiao Shu: "How could you be so vicious? You even shorted Cheng's stock. Are you even a member of the Qiao family?"

Qiao Shu frowned.

Yu Zeheng took the phone: "It's me."

"And thanks to you, I made a lot of money from this short selling, and I sold all of your company's stock."

-----------------------

Author's Note: Here we go!

50 red envelopes, kiss kiss!