No change
From the moment Zhou Qiting learned that Zhou Xihe was going to let Zhou Min go, he fell into the fear of losing Zhou Min forever.
Zhou Min was still a wanted criminal by the Investigation Bureau. If his whereabouts were discovered, being arrested alive and interrogated by the Investigation Bureau would be the best outcome. The worst outcome...
Zhou Qiting didn't dare to think about it anymore.
She sat in the speeding car, feeling restless. The strong and chaotic emotions and invisible sense of urgency made Zhou Qiting want to call Zhou Xihe directly to plead with him to let Zhou Min go.
But her remaining rationality stopped her at the last moment. She realized that instead of letting herself collapse and be further controlled by her mother, it would be better to calm down and use the bargaining chips she had to exchange with her mother for Zhou Min's chance of survival.
At this moment, Zhou Qiting no longer dared to hope that she could still be with Zhou Min. It was enough for her to be alive and well, even if the price was that they would never see each other again.
The fact that Zhou Xihe did not let the bodyguards send Zhou Min directly to the investigation bureau or harm Zhou Min shows that Zhou Xihe was also very clear that if she did these things to Zhou Min, the relationship between mother and daughter would become irreversible.
That's why she tried every possible way to make Zhou Min leave Zhou Qiting on his own initiative. In this way, Zhou Qiting would not be able to blame her too much for hiding Zhou Min in the manor despite her objections.
As for what kind of danger Zhou Min would fall into after leaving Zhou Qiting's protection, this did not seem to be within Zhou Xihe's consideration.
In other words, what Zhou Xihe wanted was for Zhou Min to disappear quietly in some unknown corner, never to appear again, and never to influence her daughter again.
It was truly a brilliant move to win the battle without bloodshed.
Thinking of this, Zhou Qiting felt a wave of complete sorrow in his heart, for Zhou Min who had stepped into danger, and for himself who was powerless.
I just don’t know what reason my mother used to make Zhou Min leave her on his own initiative.
Coercion? Inducement?
If it was the former, Zhou Min would have sacrificed her own life, so how could he be coerced? If she really wanted to live, she would naturally understand that staying by Zhou Qiting's side and living a miserable life was the best option.
As for the latter...
Zhou Qiting would rather Zhou Min really took his mother's money and left, and lived an anonymous life from then on. At least he could still live a good life somewhere.
But Zhou Qiting also knew that Zhou Min was willing to spare no effort to support the welfare home, and the possibility of him accepting bribes was very small.
She urgently needed to know why Zhou Min left so that she could judge what might happen to Zhou Min next and find a way to deal with her mother.
Under the invisible pressure of the solemn atmosphere in the car, the driver did not dare to delay. The car quickly drove to the Zhou family's old house. As soon as it stopped, Zhou Qiting, who had already calmed down, opened the car door and walked to Zhou Xihe's study with heavy steps.
"What did you talk about with Zhou Min?" Zhou Qiting went straight to the point as soon as they met.
Zhou Xihe was sitting on the sofa drinking coffee at this time, with several documents on the coffee table. Faced with Zhou Qiting's direct questioning without saying hello, he slowly put down the cup and looked at her.
I saw my daughter, who was always calm and composed and never showed her emotions easily, walk in with a pale face and stand still at a distance. Her breathing had not yet calmed down. Although she had tidied her appearance, there was still redness at the corners of her eyes.
Zhou Xihe's heart sank, and he no longer concealed the truth and gave one of the true answers.
"I told her that she is not worthy of you. Given her current status, staying with you will only have a bad influence on you."
The implication is that Zhou Xihe took advantage of Zhou Min's inferiority complex.
But the premise of all this is that Zhou Xihe knows Zhou Min’s inner thoughts and knows that Zhou Min cares about the impact Zhou Qiting will have because of her.
How did Zhou Xihe know this when even Zhou Qiting, who had lived with Zhou Min day and night, was not sure?
Even though what her mother said was corroborated by Zhou Min's expression after receiving the call, Zhou Qiting still suppressed her doubts. Unless she saw solid evidence with her own eyes, she would not trust anyone now.
She remained expressionless and deliberately scoffed, "Mom, how could someone like her care about me? The reason you made up is too illogical."
"Don't you know whether she cares about you or not?" Zhou Xihe knew her daughter's thoughts very well, but he still patiently presented his arguments so that she could not refute them. "In the two accidents she caused, the final choice was to save you each time. If not because she cares about you, what else could it be?"
If Zhenbang's elevator accident only made Zhou Xihe suspicious, then Zhou Min's behavior of returning to release Zhou Qiting even after being shot and injured after kidnapping her was almost enough to make Zhou Xihe convinced -
Zhou Min also cares about Zhou Qiting.
Thinking of this, Zhou Xihe looked at his daughter's much thinner figure and couldn't help but start to worry.
If Zhou Qiting was just playing around like before, Zhou Xihe would naturally turn a blind eye, as long as his daughter was happy.
But from Zhou Qiting's restlessness in the three months after Zhou Min's disappearance, her meticulous personal care for her after Zhou Min was seriously injured and unconscious, and her subsequent frequent departures early and return late to travel between the city and the manor, Zhou Xihe knew that his daughter had also fallen in love with Zhou Min, and was deeply in love with him.
And Zhou Qiting even took Zhou Min directly to the welfare home yesterday. Combined with the daily reports from the bodyguards, Zhou Qiting no longer restricted Zhou Min's personal freedom. So the sense of crisis finally exceeded the critical value. Zhou Xihe realized that the two of them should have put aside their past grudges, and she had to take action to stop the loss in time.
As Zhou Qiting's mother, Zhou Xihe naturally did not want to see her daughter, who had been pampered since childhood, do anything for someone else, not to mention that Zhou Min not only bore numerous crimes, but also committed harmful acts such as kidnapping and imprisonment against her daughter. These were not things that could be easily written off.
That's why Zhou Xihe activated the plan she had prepared long ago, using the truth she had investigated and verbal stimulation to make Zhou Min leave his daughter on his own initiative.
But his daughter, who had always been calm and sensible, now came to him so aggressively to get angry, and Zhou Xihe couldn't help but feel a headache.
But she still couldn't bear to say anything too harsh to her daughter, and continued softly: "If you think she doesn't care about you, why do you act like you care about her so much?"
Zhou Xihe knew very well that his daughter, who was proud at heart, would not confide in anyone who disliked her.
Zhou Qiting had no way of refutation. Her tone was nasal, but her words were calm: "Of course I care about her. After all, if it weren't for her, how could I have escaped from the kidnappers back then? If it weren't for me, how could she have been retaliated against by the kidnappers later?"
She continued to use guilt to shake Zhou Xihe: "Mom, you clearly knew the truth back then, why did you lie to me? Why didn't you save her? If it weren't for us, how could her life have become so hopeless?"
"You know, her body is covered with scars from the abuse she received from that man."
Zhou Xihe was speechless for a moment.
Of course, she had tried to save Zhou Min and also wanted to bring the mastermind who kidnapped Zhou Yiting to justice.
But for so many years, that person's whereabouts remained unknown. It was not until three years ago that she received information from the Investigation Bureau, telling her that the mastermind of the kidnapping case had been found, but the man had been stabbed through the heart with a dagger and turned into a cold corpse.
The only one missing was Zhou Min.
Zhou Xihe even thought that perhaps Zhou Min had really died in that dark little room a long time ago, and had not disappeared, and did not have to continue to suffer long-term torture.
She has always been brooding over this matter.
When she learned that her daughter had been kidnapped again, she thought, retribution has finally come, but why should retribution befall her innocent daughter?
At that time, Zhou Xihe inevitably fell into despair of the possibility of losing his daughter, and he did not hesitate to use all means to force everyone to find Zhou Qiting as soon as possible.
But what was unexpected was that Zhou Min not only grew up in hardship, but also disguised his identity to get close to Zhou Qiting, deceived her trust, and finally even kidnapped her.
What surprised Zhou Xihe even more was that three days later, Zhou Min let Zhou Qiting go and let her return to him unharmed.
Later, Zhou Xihe learned from his daughter's unclear attitude towards Zhou Min that Zhou Min had probably never told his daughter the truth about what happened that year.
"I did feel guilty towards her back then, but that's no reason to let her be with you." Zhou Xihe didn't follow Zhou Qiting's explanation and asked evasively, "Who told you all this?"
Noticing the evasiveness in Zhou Xihe's words, Zhou Qiting tacitly agreed with her guess and further expressed his attitude.
"If Zhou Min hadn't saved me back then, her life wouldn't have been ruined. Even if she and I had no other relationship, I couldn't just watch her fall into danger again."
Seeing Zhou Qiting's resolute attitude, Zhou Xihe reluctantly said, "Then what are you going to give in exchange for her safety?"
"Exchange?" Zhou Qiting suppressed the sadness in her eyes. "You gave me my life, and she saved it. I owe you and her at the same time. What qualifications do I have to exchange her safety with you?"
Hearing his daughter say this, Zhou Xihe felt heartbroken, but he remained calm on the surface.
Zhou Qiting naturally knew that Zhou Xihe would not change her mind because of her words. She took a deep breath and said, "Mom, please consider this as a reward for her saving your daughter, and also as compensation for accidentally ruining her life."
"As for me, I can only assure you that I will shoulder the responsibilities that come with being the heir to the Zhou Group."
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