Xie Qingqing held up a string of pearls against her cheongsam and replied, "He has plenty of people with him. His great-grandparents are all over there, and his uncles are here too. He doesn't need me at all!"

The uncle Xie Qingqing mentioned is the current head of the Xie family and also Xie Ming's uncle.

Upon hearing that the Xie family had also arrived, Xie's mother shifted uncomfortably.

After she returned, she avoided talking about things there, and was even more afraid to see Xie Huai Ren and Lu Ya standing together.

She had grown old and frail, no longer the charming beauty she once was. Having lost her radiance, she didn't want to ruin the image of beauty he held for her.

"Grandma! Grandma!"

Xie Qingqing noticed her mother was lost in thought, so she knelt down and took her hand.

"Diudiu, I'm okay!"

Xie Qingqing pursed her lips and remained silent. She was oblivious and hadn't figured it out yet.

But she knew her grandparents' love story, and of course, she knew who her grandmother was thinking about when she was lost in thought.

"Grandma, I've seen Grandpa, he's a bad person!"

As she spoke, tears began to fall...

Xie's mother's hand suddenly tightened, her eyes filled with expectation, but she said, "Diudiu, he's married, he has a family and children to take care of. We can't expect others to suffer like us just because we're suffering!"

"Grandma, that's not fair! It was all yours before!"

“When it was mine, we worked hard together. Even though it later became someone else's, I have no regrets. I just feel sorry for my own child. Besides, there isn't that much fairness in the world. There are so many war-torn places where people struggle to even have enough to eat. How can they expect fairness? My good child, Grandma won't make things difficult for you. Don't worry about Grandma!”

Xie Qingqing rested her head on her mother's knee, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

The Qi family's banquet started promptly at 6 p.m.

Qi Hehua appeared before everyone, holding his daughter's hand, and everyone's attention turned to the group of people in the room.

"Thank you all for taking the time to attend this meeting. I am honored to have found my child who was lost for many years..."

After the opening ceremony, Qi Hehua solemnly introduced Xie's mother, Xie Ming, and Xie Qingqing, which, as expected, was met with bursts of applause from the audience.

"See that? Those are the 'butler' and 'butler's niece' you used to complain about?"

Ji Shijie patted Ji Mu on the shoulder, his face full of sarcasm.

He could see Ji Mu's regret and struggle, but so what? Wasn't this the path he chose himself?

"Do you know what? This invitation came from your butler uncle, whom you used to look down on. Aren't you very grateful to him for giving you so many days of rest? Are you satisfied with your current situation, young master of the Ji family?"

Xie Ming had noticed the father and son in the corner long ago. He knew all along that the most torturous place in the country was the Ji family's underground "poisonous insect farm".

Look at that once ambitious young man, how quickly those eyes have turned sinister and timid. I don't know how they dealt with him, but Ji Mu, dressed in a suit jacket, still looks like a young nobleman.

Those unaware of the situation might mistake him for an ordinary person.

As expected, Ji Shijie never disappointed him.

He looked away and glanced at his niece beside him, who was smiling politely without showing her teeth, and felt very gratified.

Ji Mu also noticed Xie Qingqing, who seemed to be glowing. He had never felt so deeply that the little girl he had grown up with no longer cared about him at all.

Thinking of this, an overwhelming sadness appeared in his eyes.

At this moment, Ji Mu was secretly heartbroken and had no mind to pay attention to anything else.

But a pair of eyes in the corner were staring intently at him.

Cui Ruxue stood outside the crowd in her uniform, her hands holding the tray, her fingertips turning white from the effort she exerted.

Standing out of place in the elite social circle, her former enemy was fawned over and flattered like a princess, while she crawled around in the shadows like a maggot.

Witnessing the shining moment of the person you hate most is like tearing flesh from her body.

Previously, Cui Ruxue thought that after arriving in J City, she would continue to study and go to school as before, then search for Ji Mu, make friends with elites from all walks of life, and begin her wonderful life...

But she never imagined that her own mother would use Ji Mu's false information to send her to those men's beds.

She resisted and tried to escape, but her mother had her photos.

From then on, she served all sorts of men like a prostitute; whenever her mother called, she had to rush over and beg for a man's affection...

She really didn't want to live like this anymore...

Just when she was in despair, she learned that the Ji family would be attending the Qi family banquet. Clinging to a sliver of hope, she used all her strength to persuade a man to give her the opportunity to work as a waitress.

Upon entering and seeing Xie Qingqing, whom she had once tried to trample underfoot, she finally understood what status and position truly meant.

At this moment, her only salvation—Ji Mu—was completely oblivious to her presence in the corner, his eyes glued to Xie Qingqing.

Cui Ruxue simply couldn't believe that the person she once held in the palm of her hand would change his mind!

At this moment, she hated Ji Mu more than Xie Qingqing.

Ji Mu gave her hope and then took it away. It was also because of her search for Ji Mu that she ended up in this state.

How could she, in hell, allow this man to enjoy happiness on earth? And that Assistant Xu too!

Go to hell! Let's all go to hell together!

At this moment, Cui Ruxue desperately wanted to burn everything down.

A ghostly fire blazed in her eyes, foreshadowing the final fate of the two.

Things unfolded exactly as Cui Ruxue had imagined.

That day, Xie Ming gave the woman special treatment, allowing her to meet Ji Mu and even let her take the intoxicated Ji Mu away.

When Assistant Xu received the news that his daughter had hooked up with Ji Mu, he was only puzzled for a moment, but was quickly persuaded by Cui Ruxue and rushed to arrange the "aftermath" scene for his daughter.

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