Volume One, Chapter Five: When She Was Still Alive

Gu Moting stepped aside while sending a message, his expression turning cold as he reviewed the document that had just arrived.

Suddenly, a strange sensation washed over him.

He frowned and turned around. At the corner window at the end of the long corridor, there was only a caregiver who had just arrived. His subordinates were waiting for him nearby. Gu Moting stared into the distance for a long time, unable to articulate the source of his unease, before finally withdrawing his gaze.

Su Qiuyu was pressed against the corner of the emergency stairwell, breathing heavily, her insides feeling as though they were being twisted in knots. Several minutes passed, but she could not suppress the turmoil. She crouched against the wall and pulled out her phone to message Zhu Lizhen, apologizing and saying she had left first.

Zhu Lizhen was currently playing dead. She admitted that she was the type to bully the weak and fear the strong; she would dare to stand tall and point fingers at a four-year-old girl, but the moment she saw Gu Moting, her mouth was effectively sealed. Yet, she had to admit, her attire seemed to grant her some mysterious psychological boost. Hidden behind her cheap sunglasses, she dared, for the first time in her life, to look Gu Moting directly in the eye.

Caregiver Chen was explaining the sequence of events to Gu Moting. Seeing the usually eloquent caregiver stuttering under Gu Moting’s overwhelming aura, Zhu Lizhen felt a sense of comfort in the equality of all beings, even contemplating lending her sunglasses to the caregiver.

Little Tao stood nearby, pouting, her eyes rimmed with red.

After listening, Gu Moting looked at Little Tao. "Who helped you look into this?"

Little Tao pressed her lips into a thin line and said nothing.

Zhuang Jian quickly interjected, "Mr. Gu, we were unaware of this."

Jiang Qiong followed suit to distance himself, "We didn't look into it. The young miss didn't mention a single word to us."

Gu Moting crouched down, his dark eyes stern and piercing. "Little Tao, you must answer me."

Little Tao’s eyes grew redder, and suddenly, large, bean-sized tears of grievance began to fall. As she cried harder, she let out a wail, "Little Tao doesn't have a mommy, but why didn't Uncle tell me that Little Tao has a grandma! I just wanted to see my grandma!!"

She suddenly turned and ran toward the other end of the corridor, sobbing as she went.

Jiang Qiong quickly said, "Mr. Gu, I'll go after her!"

Gu Moting stood up, watching the little girl’s retreating back. After a pause, he turned his gaze toward Zhu Lizhen.

Zhu Lizhen was just pulling out her phone to open the message from Su Qiuyu. Seeing Gu Moting look her way, she tucked the phone back and braced herself to meet his gaze.

Gu Moting’s voice was low. "Zhu Lizhen?"

*Oh my god,* Zhu Lizhen thought. Suddenly, she raised a hand and flashed a radiant smile. "Hi! Senior!"

"Have you been paying for the expenses at this nursing home for four years?"

"That's right."

"Why pay for it?"

Having rehearsed her lines long ago, Zhu Lizhen said sadly, "Sigh, Aunt Lu is Su’s biological mother. She’s practically the only person left in this world who has any close ties to the Su family. I had no reason not to look after her."

Gu Moting’s face was expressionless, his dark eyes so deep that Zhu Lizhen couldn't discern his mood. "How did you find her?"

"I've always known about her! Back when Xiao Yu was still alive, she had reached out to her. Xiao Yu and I were out shopping once when she received a call from her, so I went along to meet her, and that’s how I got to know her."

The phrase "back when Xiao Yu was still alive" caused Gu Moting’s brow to furrow slightly. He silently turned his gaze away, his dark eyes fixed on the closed hospital room door.

Since he didn't speak, neither did Zhu Lizhen. She quietly took out her phone, planning to see what Su Qiuyu had sent her.

Gu Moting suddenly looked at Caregiver Chen. "In these four years, besides her, has anyone else visited?"

Zhu Lizhen was alarmed and frantically tried to signal the caregiver with her eyes. Caregiver Chen looked at her sunglasses, unable to see the signals, and nodded to Gu Moting. "Yes! A woman has been here a few times. She and Sister Lu get along quite well! This woman is very sloppy, fierce, and often smells of alcohol. She doesn't like to talk to people and has inexplicably lost her temper with me twice. I’ve never seen anyone so unreasonable!"

Recalling this person, Caregiver Chen had plenty of complaints to air.

Gu Moting asked, "Do you have a photo of her?"

Zhu Lizhen quickly chimed in, "No! That woman is just too awful! Caregiver Chen has complained to me about her several times; I’ve even wanted to hit her myself! Damn it, if I had known, I would have had Caregiver Chen take a picture of her! How about this, Senior? Next time she comes, I’ll call you, how’s that?"

Caregiver Chen pointed upward. "It's fine, no photo needed—there’s security surveillance here!"

Zhu Lizhen: "..."

Gu Moting looked at the security camera facing the door of the hospital room. "When was the last time she came?"

Caregiver Chen recalled, "It’s been about two months."

Two months—the footage might not still be saved. Gu Moting ordered Zhuang Jian to investigate, just as his phone received a call from Jiang Qiong.

"Mr. Gu, Miss Little Tao won't stop crying. I’m going to take her back to the car first."

"Keep a close eye on her. I’ll be down shortly."

"Yes!"

Hearing that he was leaving, Zhu Lizhen let out a long sigh of relief. Finding an opportunity, she immediately messaged Su Qiuyu: "Four years later, Senior seems even more terrifying. The ultimate evolution of the Great Demon King!"

As he left, Gu Moting glanced at Zhu Lizhen.

Zhu Lizhen immediately smiled reflexively. "Goodbye, Senior."

Gu Moting said, "Lu Xiaoqian is Little Tao's grandmother. From now on, her expenses will be covered by the Gu family."

Zhu Lizhen dared not make a sound; she had no authority to decide that.

Gu Moting looked at her, his lips parting as if to speak, but he hesitated and said nothing. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but his courage failed him.

Zhu Lizhen, acting on impulse, blurted out, "Ah, Senior, I still haven't found their ashes. It really wasn't my fault—I wasn't a family member, so I couldn't claim them. The procedures were completely unreasonable. By the time I finished all the paperwork and went back, they were already gone."

Gu Moting’s dark eyes dimmed. Without a word, he turned and left.

*

Su Qiuyu was sitting in an abandoned park behind the nursing home. Zhu Lizhen handed her a bottle of water, sat down, and recounted what had just happened in a few sentences. The stone steps were cold, and autumn added a touch of desolation to the already abandoned park.

Su Qiuyu said gratefully, "Zhenzhen, thank you."

Zhu Lizhen worried, "I really didn't expect that you had only been back from Lingning for less than half a month, and he would follow you back to the country. But Hai City is so big, you shouldn't run into him again. Xiao Yu, you must never go back to Lingning."

"Actually, Lingning is quite nice."

Lingning was a third-tier city near Hai City; it only took half an hour by high-speed rail to travel between them. The pace of life was slow, and Su Qiuyu had lived very well in Lingning for the past four years. If there was any downside, it was that the wages and educational resources in Lingning were far inferior to Hai City. She wanted to take the adult exams again now; at twenty-four, she was still young.

Zhu Lizhen sighed. "Sigh, you two were such a perfect match back then. You were like lights in a crowd, the center of attention wherever you went. How did things end up like this? It's a pity I'm a coward, otherwise, upstairs just now, I should have pointed at Senior and scolded him."

Su Qiuyu smiled faintly. "Why would you scold him?"

"For not protecting you! His mother sent people to beat you like that, and where was he? Why did he go off to die in a foreign country so early? It’s infuriating! I still have nightmares about it—dreaming that I rushed over to find you lying in the water, covered in blood. It’s so terrifying! I’m so angry! What kind of old bitch is his mother? You had already broken up with her son, and he had gone abroad just as she wished, yet she still sent people to break your ribs! She’s a lunatic! She clearly loved you so much at first, but once she flipped, she went straight for the kill!"

Su Qiuyu said softly, "Zhenzhen, don't say any more. Let's turn the page."

"I won't! It’s not turning the page until we’ve fought back!"

"But if the Gu Group hadn't stepped in to help, those bad people who killed my father and the others would have escaped across the border and never been caught."

Thinking of the tragic death of Su’s father, Zhu Lizhen pressed her lips together. After a moment of silence, she said gloomily, "Xiao Yu, don't go back to Lingning, okay?"

Su Qiuyu couldn't promise her that. The corners of her mouth beneath her mask lifted slightly. "I... will try."

*

An hour later, Su Qiuyu returned home.

She inserted the old-fashioned key into the lock, it made a creaking sound, and the door opened. The moment she pushed it open, a figure lunged at her.

Su Qiuyu reacted quickly, dodging the slap that came her way.