Chapter Eleven: I think you've lived long enough.

"fine."

Su Xiao grasped Xu An's hand in return:

"An'an, go back and remove the trending topic."

"I'm not leaving. How come I never realized he was so shameless?"

Xu An was absolutely furious:

"He didn't care when you were affected by the scandal, but now that Xia Zhiyi is in trouble."

"He came all this way? He must have been controlled by the little head, otherwise how could he do something like this?"

"I swindled him out of two villas located within the Second Ring Road."

Sunlight slanted across the white sheets in the hospital room. Su Xiao slowly lowered her eyes, a few strands of hair falling beside her cheeks, making her appear even thinner.

"Holy crap! Two sets!"

Xu An's mouth is so round it looks like it could fit an egg.

"Yan Mingshen really went all out."

“Yes, An’an, let’s each have one apartment. After the divorce, you can live with me.”

Su Xiao smiled brightly, her eyebrows curving upwards.

*

The next morning, when Su Xiao checked her phone again, all the news about Yan Mingshen and Xia Zhi had been deleted from the internet.

Xu An went to run errands, while Su Xiao completed her discharge procedures, hailed a taxi, and headed to Qin Yu's studio.

As soon as she entered, the young woman at the front desk greeted her enthusiastically and led her to the third floor.

The second floor is usually used for receiving guests, and simple repairs can be done there, but the items rescued from the gallery are far beyond the scope of simple repairs.

Despite being mentally prepared, Su Xiao was still startled by the scene upstairs.

The original workbench was moved to the center of the room, and the less damaged works have been assigned by Qin Yu to undergo the restoration process.

The severely damaged portion was inside the box, and part of it was on Qin Yu's desk.

The entire studio was almost completely filled with clutter.

"Senior sister! You've come at the perfect time." Qin Yu's eyes lit up when he saw her, and without bothering with pleasantries, he quickly waved Su Xiao over.

"Take a look at this."

Spread out in the middle of the workbench is a meticulous flower-and-bird painting, which is Mr. Lin's.

The burn marks weren't large, but the problem was that the damaged area happened to be right at the corner of the bird's eye.

"This part is the most difficult to work on. If the brushstrokes are not done well, the painting will be ruined."

Adding the finishing touch is like giving your work a soul. Everyone's understanding is different, and the things they make will be different. It is difficult to completely replicate the original.

"It's alright, I'll handle this one." Su Xiao reached out and touched the edge of the burn mark. Fortunately, not much of it had been discolored by the heat; otherwise, even if the Tang family's man came, he wouldn't have been able to save it.

"Could you help me make a list and calculate the losses?"

She plans to call the collectors of the works that were saved tomorrow, and I will visit the rest of them to apologize after the funeral.

The longer this matter drags on, the more troublesome it will become.

"I knew you could save her." Seeing her speak, Qin Yu breathed a sigh of relief, put away the flower and bird painting and handed it to Su Xiao: "Xiao Li has already calculated it, and I will send it to your email by noon tomorrow at the latest."

Although they were both taught by the same master, Su Xiao was more talented than him and started learning earlier. If he hadn't gone into traditional Chinese painting back then, he wouldn't be where he is now.

Su Xiao took the painting, found an empty spot on the workbench, laid it flat, and carefully cleaned away the scorched areas.

Restoring calligraphy and paintings is inherently a time-consuming task, and Su Xiao spent almost the entire day in the studio until the evening when the Su family called.

"Su Xiao, the old lady wants you to come back and keep vigil."

"I understand." Su Xiao rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.

It's time to go and keep vigil for my father.

These past two days have been filled with one thing after another, and she's been so busy that she's neglecting one thing while trying to take care of another. She's completely overwhelmed.

"Qin Yu, I have to go back to the old house first." Su Xiao felt really bad looking at the restorers working diligently under the lamp.

"I'll order you some food. Don't stay up too late. We can't finish preparing all this in a short time."

"It's alright, senior sister. We get overtime pay, and besides," Qin Yu pushed up his glasses, his eyes shining brightly under the desk lamp, "so many ancient paintings are a rare opportunity for us."

Their studio is not large, and they don't always receive works of this caliber.

"......Thanks."

Su Xiao's eyes welled up with tears. She herself had studied restoration and knew how tough this profession was.

She couldn't come up with anything nice to say, and after a long pause, she could only manage a "thank you."

"Once I get the money for those two houses, I'll pay everyone double the overtime pay."

The agent messaged her this morning saying the house has been sold, but the payment will have to wait a few more days.

After saying goodbye to the people at the studio, Su Xiao went downstairs.

The Su family's car had been waiting downstairs for a while, and the driver was the same one as last time.

Su Xiao leaned back in her seat, watching the car slowly drive away from the city.

She had rarely ridden in the Su family's car since she was a child, and each time it ended badly.

The most recent time was during her sophomore year of college. Her father was away on a business trip, and she was taken to the old house. She both hated and feared the old lady Su, and dared not utter a sound even when she was whipped.

It was Yan Mingshen who, seeing that she hadn't come to class, went to the Su family and caused a scene, taking away the injured Su Xiao.

Such a good person back then, how could they change so suddenly...?

The car stopped at the entrance of the courtyard house, where people were already waiting for her.

"Young Miss, the old lady is already waiting in the ancestral hall."

"Um."

Su Xiao got out of the car and followed the housekeeper into the courtyard.

The door to the ancestral hall was open, but there weren't many people inside. My father's urn sat alone in the middle.

"Kneel down."

Grandma Su sat to one side, lifted her eyelids, and gave Su Xiao a cold glance.

Su Xiao didn't say anything. She walked to the futon in the middle and reached out to touch it.

The cushion was lined with thorns, except for a very thin layer of cotton.

This is an old trick of the Su family; the thorns on the brambles are not long, and there is cotton padding on them.

It's unlikely that kneeling will actually cause any serious injury, but it's enough to keep the person kneeling in bed for ten days to half a month.

Su Xiao picked up the prayer mat, weighed it in her hand, and threw it directly at Old Madam Su's face: "I think you've had enough of living."