Chapter 606: I Owe You Again

This was a rather remote villa in Rong City. It was a small three-and-a-half-story villa. It wasn’t particularly big, but it had an elegant environment and its surroundings were very quiet.

The distance between residents was also quite far, so the privacy was very good.

In the garden outside, there was a small white carved table. Huo Jinyao sat on the rattan chair next to him and looked at Qi Xiwei, who was pouring fruit juice into her cup.

“I’m sorry. I quit coffee when I became pregnant. I only have fruit juice at home.”

“It’s okay. I’m not here for a drink.”

Huo Jinyao looked at her and realized that her face was much paler than it had been two days ago.

“Are you okay? You don’t look too well.”

“No.” Qi Xiwei filled her cup with fruit juice and retracted her hand. She looked at Huo Jinyao and said, “It’s normal. There will be some changes because I’m pregnant.”

Huo Jinyao looked at Qi Xiwei. He didn’t quite believe her story.

“Is it really not because of that shot?”

Qi Xiwei froze for a moment and suddenly smiled. “What are you thinking about? Of course not.”

She picked up the gla.s.s of juice in front of her and took a sip. She said softly, “It’s been so long. I forgot about it. It’s remarkable for you to still remember.”

“How could I not remember? Of course I would remember.”

Huo Jinyao’s eyes were filled with guilt and pity.

The only people in his life he felt guilty towards was his brother, sister, and Qi Xiwei.

Huo Jinyao had studied at Yale. There were many Chinese people in their school, but Qi Xiwei was not only Chinese, but also from Rong City.

By chance, Huo Jinyao and Qi Xiwei got to know each other. Because both of them were Chinese, and both were from Rong City.

Qi Xiwei and Huo Jinyao got close.

Huo Jinyao was a diligent and hardworking person. He put all his energy into his studies.

However, Qi Xiwei was also very capable. She could be considered one of the few girls who could follow his train of thought when it came to business and studies.

This made Huo Jinyao, who originally only wanted to keep a distance from Qi Xiwei, unwittingly admire Qi Xiwei even more.

After a while, the relations.h.i.+p between the two became much better.

Some of the cla.s.smates who knew about the relations.h.i.+p between the two even thought that Huo Jinyao and Qi Xiwei were a couple.

However, only Huo Jinyao and Qi Xiwei knew that they weren’t a couple. They were just two people who had a good relations.h.i.+p with each other.

Qi Xiwei looked weak on the surface. However, she was very determined on the inside.

She had similar experiences with Huo Jinyao. She was born into a scholarly family. Her mother was born into a blue-blood family and was a professor at Z University, while her father was the president of a bank.

Growing up in such an environment, she was naturally very capable.

But just like Huo Jinyao, she had an unfortunate past. Her mother was a professor, and she had the air of a schola, but her father was the vice president of the bank.

His father was always busy with work. He cared more about his own interests and his own future than his family.

As a professor, her mother had always wholeheartedly supported her father’s work. But who would have thought that such devotion, support, and excessive trust would allow her father to indulge in his vices.

Qi Xiwei’s father later made a mistake that all men in the world were vulnerable towards, falling in love with another woman. That woman was also his secretary.

After Qi Xiwei’s mother found out about this, she thought it was useless to make a fuss. She calmly expressed that she wanted a divorce. However, Father Qi happened to be facing promotion at that time. He didn’t want to cause such a scandal and was unwilling to divorce.

Mother Qi had no patience. After collecting all the evidence of Father Qi’s infidelity, she intended to negotiate with Father Qi. Unexpectedly, she got into a car accident on the way.

After she was sent to the hospital, she died. At that time, Qi Xiwei was only a 12-year-old girl.

After her mother suddenly left, her father soon brought the secretary home and she became her stepmother.

If there was a stepmother, there would be a stepfather. Her father, who had doted on her in every possible way, gradually distanced himself from her after her stepmother entered the house. After her brother was born, her status plummeted.

It was also because of this that Qi Xiwei went to the United States to study alone at such a young age.

After learning about her experience, Huo Jinyao had a feeling that they were in the same boat.

Although his parents weren’t his step parents, they weren’t much different from step parents. More importantly, the turning point in their lives seemed to be when they were 12 years old.

He didn’t have any romantic feelings for Qi Xiwei, but his feelings for her surpa.s.sed that of platonic friends.h.i.+p.

Qi Xiwei was the same. Unlike Huo Jinyao, she had always been thinking of ways to avenge her mother.

After so many years, she kept suspecting that her mother’s death wasn’t that simple. She didn’t believe in the coincidence that her mother had a car accident just as she was about to divorce her father.

Unfortunately, she was too young back then, and there was nothing she could do about it. After she grew up, she left Rong City.

After she got to know Huo Jinyao, and after the two of them got to know each other more and more, one day, she couldn’t help but tell Huo Jinyao about her background.

Huo Jinyao was more capable than she was. She believed that he had the ability to find out.

Sure enough, Huo Jinyao helped her find out very quickly. Back then, her stepmother, the secretary, had tampered with the car.

Qi Xiwei unceremoniously sent her to prison and at the same time, spread the news. It made her father bear the responsibility.

In the end, her father lost his job and her stepmother went to prison. After settling all this, Qi Xiwei returned to Yale to continue her studies.

Huo Jinyao helped Qi Xiwei with a lift of his hand. He felt that it was something insignificant. However, Qi Xiwei was certain that she owed him one.

Huo Jinyao had many girls in school who liked him. Qi Xiwei was rumored to be his girlfriend, but since she never came forward to verify it, the girls felt that they still had a chance.

Qi Xiwei felt that she owed Huo Jinyao this time, so she automatically took on the responsibility of getting rid of them for Huo Jinyao.

Her looks made her very popular with Europeans and Americans, and she also had many suitors. Similarly, she used Huo Jinyao to fend off those suitors.

However, such a mutually beneficial relations.h.i.+p wasn’t enough to make Qi Xiwei think that she paid off her debt towards Huo Jinyao. She had always wanted to return Huo Jinyao’s favor.

Huo Jinyao knew what she was thinking, but he never took it to heart.

The Huo family had a lot of resources, and helping Qi Xiwei to solve this kind of problem was a piece of cake. However, he didn’t expect Qi Xiwei to be so serious, and she really seized the opportunity.

That Christmas, the two people in foreign land were invited by their cla.s.smate to attend that cla.s.smate’s party.

Before they went, Huo Jinyao first went to pick up Qi Xiwei, and then the two of them planned to buy a gift for that cla.s.smate.

When the two of them went to buy a gift, a terrorist attack actually happened on that street, the famous local shopping street.

Everything happened in an instant, so fast that people were caught off guard. There was no way to guard against it at all.

Gunshots rang out. Huo Jinyao looked at the few people who were shooting wildly in the distance. He was still thinking of protecting Qi Xiwei and bringing her to the nearest shop to hide for a while when Qi Xiwei suddenly pounced on him with her eyes wide open.

“Be careful.”

Qi Xiwei was too fast. She successfully pounced on Huo Jinyao. At the same time, she let out a m.u.f.fled groan.

Behind Huo Jinyao, there was another car. Two people got out of the car and were about to shoot in his direction when Qi Xiwei happened to see them.

“Xiwei?”

The gunshots continued, but Huo Jinyao couldn’t care less. He didn’t expect Qi Xiwei to use such a method to repay him.

In fact, he wasn’t an easy person to get close to. Even though he had known Qi Xiwei for so long, and they were even a couple on the surface, he only admired her a little.

They weren’t really intimate with each other.

But Qi Xiwei made such a choice at such a time.

Qi Xiwei was shot in the lower back, and blood gushed out. Huo Jinyao didn’t know where she was injured. The continuous gunshots outside made it impossible for him to send Qi Xiwei to the doctor.

He carried Qi Xiwei into the nearest shop. He looked at Qi Xiwei’s pale face and a rare look of guilt appeared on his face.

The bullet pa.s.sed through Qi Xiwei’s uterus. When she was sent to the hospital, she went into shock.

It wasn’t easy to resuscitate her. The doctor told Huo Jinyao that Qi Xiwei’s uterus had been pierced by the bullet. Although she had been resuscitated, it might have some effect on Qi Xiwei’s later pregnancy.

The doctor didn’t specify the extent of the effect. After all, everyone’s const.i.tution was different. It still depended on their later recovery.

The doctor said it conservatively, but in reality, even if foreign doctors didn’t know much about China, they could understand that Chinese men had their own obsession with children.

This time, it was Huo Jinyao’s turn to blame himself.

He didn’t expect Qi Xiwei to repay him in such a way. Now, it was Huo Jinyao who owed him.

He felt that he owed Qi Xiwei. After she was discharged from the hospital, he expressed to Qi Xiwei that he wanted to become her real boyfriend.

“Jinyao, stop fooling around. You don’t love me at all. You’re just pitying me.”

“It’s not pity.” There was not only pity, but also admiration, guilt, and other things.

Of course, Huo Jinyao himself knew that there was indeed no love among these feelings.

“Jinyao, then look into my eyes and tell me that you love me.”

Huo Jinyao looked into her eyes. The words “I love you” really couldn’t be said.

He knew that she also knew that there was no love between the two of them.

But even so, Huo Jinyao’s guilt couldn’t be dispelled for a while. He defined himself as Qi Xiwei’s boyfriend.

In life, he tried his best to take care of her.

Qi Xiwei knew how he felt and didn’t stop him from alleviating his guilt.

It was just that when Huo Jinyao was graduating, he offered to let her go home and take her to meet his parents. Qi Xiwei was shocked.

Not only Huo Jinyao didn’t love her, but she also didn’t love Huo Jinyao. She couldn’t let Huo Jinyao take her home.

They both knew that their relations.h.i.+p wasn’t that of romance, but it was also more than friends.h.i.+p. However, it was far from the point where they could spend the rest of their lives together.

So, Qi Xiwei fled. She left a letter for Huo Jinyao and then she left. She told Huo Jinyao that if he really cared about her wellbeing, he shouldn’t look for her and shouldn’t contact her again.

The best outcome would be for both of them to be safe and sound.

This was her request. Even though Huo Jinyao didn’t agree with Qi Xiwei’s choice, he did as she wished and didn’t contact her again.

If this was what she wanted, then he was willing to fulfill her wish.

Almost eight years had pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye. He did not expect the two of them to meet again.

“Actually, you don’t have to Remember.”Qi Xiwei’s words caused Huo Jinyao to retract his thoughts.

Other than her pale complexion, Qi Xiwei looked no different from eight years ago.

“I think that’s great. After all, that means that we’re even.”

How could they be even? What he had done for her was just a small favor. But what she did for him saved his life.

Huo Jinyao didn’t want to argue with her. “If you say so, then I owe you again this time.”

“Jinyao, you really don’t have to think like that.” As Qi Xiwei spoke, she yawned, and her face was full of sleepiness. “Ever since I got pregnant, I’ve become very sleepy, and haven’t been in good spirits. I really don’t have the ability to finish that case. Plus, I just happened to be back in the country, and I wanted you to do it. I know your aspirations, and I know you want to take Tianyu Group to the next level. It’s my fault for making such a mistake in the middle. So, you really shouldn’t say anything further.”

Huo Jinyao didn’t say thank you anymore. He only looked at Qi Xiwei with guilt, grat.i.tude, and pity.

“How are you feeling? Why do I feel like you’re not in good health?”

“No, I’m just a little more sleepy than the average person.”

“Last time, you said that you broke up with your husband. Does he know that you’re pregnant? If he knew, why didn’t he come take care of you?”

“Since we broke up, there’s no need for him to take care of me.”

This was the second time she used the word ‘break up’ instead of ‘divorce’. Huo Jinyao thought about the difference between the word ‘break up’ and ‘divorce’.

“Even if you two broke up, you’re pregnant now. He should take care of you no matter what.”

“He shouldn’t come.” Qi Xiwei’s expression was indifferent. There was a flash of disgust when she mentioned that person. “If he doesn’t come, I’ll be more at ease. If he comes, I’m afraid I’ll be even more uncomfortable.”

“Xiwei, that person isn’t good to you?”

“Can we not talk about him anymore?” Qi Xiwei changed the topic. “I’ve already asked the lawyer, because this case involves a huge amount of money. Moreover, this case also involves a foreign company. I believe that your cousin and Su Peizhen will definitely receive a heavier sentence. When the time comes, you can inform the lawyer. You can definitely let them stay in prison for a longer period of time.”

“Xiwei, you don’t have to worry about these things. No matter what, I really have to thank you this time.”

“Jinyao, look at you. You’re still so politely distant to me. Don’t tell me that in your heart, I’m not actually your friend?”

“Of course you are.”

“Since we’re friends, there’s no need to talk about those things.” As Qi Xiwei spoke, she yawned again. “I’m sorry, I might not be able to entertain you anymore. I think I’m sleepy again. I need to sleep for a while.”

“Okay. You go rest first.”

Huo Jinyao stood up and was about to leave. Since they were friends, there was no need to keep thanking her. He just had to keep it in mind.

“I know you don’t want to tell me some things, but if there’s anything you need help with, you have to let me know.”

“Don’t worry. I will.”cQi Xiwei stood up, but her head was dizzy and she fell to the side, as if she had lost all her strength.

Huo Jinyao quickly held her up and asked, “Xiwei, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Qi Xiwei shook her head. She didn’t tell Huo Jinyao that she indeed wasn’t in good health.

It was too tiring for her to bear this child. Her physical condition didn’t allow her to bear this child at all. However, she still insisted on doing it.

Now, she had suffered the consequences, but she couldn’t tell anyone about the process.

“Let me send you back to your room to rest.”

“Okay, thank you.”

As Qi Xiwei spoke, her face turned even paler. Huo Jinyao wanted to ask, but he knew that Qi Xiwei wouldn’t tell the truth. He decided to ask Yang Wenchang to look into it later.

If it was possible, he was willing to do his best to help Qi Xiwei.

..

Huo Jinyao had given Su Aingsang a warning. She knew that Xiang Caiping might come looking for her. Therefore, when Xiang Caiping appeared in front of her, she wasn’t surprised at all.

“Auntie?”

Xiang Caiping looked at Su Qingsang with a complicated expression.

Ever since she fell out with Su Peizhen the last time, she forced herself to stop caring about Su Peizhen and not to be concerned about her.

After that, Su Peizhen seemed to have disappeared. When she went to the company, her former subordinates told her that Su Peizhen hadn’t been there for a long time.

She knew that with Su Peizhen’s pride, she definitely wouldn’t have anything to do with her after she fell out with her.

She wanted to call Su Peizhen, but she didn’t want to give in first. She believed that she had treated Su Peizhen with the same sincerity as she did towards Su Qingsang.

However, Su Peizhen didn’t appreciate it. Not only did she not appreciate it, but she also wanted to return to the Su family and to Li Qianxue’s side.

Who was Li Qianxue? She was the culprit who stole her man and caused her to be lonely for half her life.

She couldn’t forgive Li Qianxue, and she couldn’t accept that her daughter only wanted to be with Li Qianxue.

She forced herself to harden and stop contacting Su Peizhen. Even if she really couldn’t bear it, she still had to wait for Su Peizhen to lower her head and admit her mistake.

However, she didn’t expect Xiang caiping to not wait for Su Peizhen to lower her head and Su Peizhen to come back and admit her mistake.

Instead, the police arrived.

When she found out that Su Peizhen was arrested for stealing trade secrets, and when she found out that the trade secrets Su Peizhen stole were related to the Tianyu Group, she could roughly guess that Su Peizhen must have done something to Su Qingsang.

And she must have done something very serious, something that hurt Su Qingsang very seriously.

With the little compa.s.sion that Huo Jinyao and Su Qingsang had for her, even if Su Peizhen had really done something, she believed that Su Qingsang wouldn’t mind if it was just a small matter.

To be able to cause such a ruckus to the point of being arrested, it could only mean that it was a very serious matter.

She could guess all these things, so she didn’t think of looking for Su Qingsang at first. Instead, she found a lawyer first.

However, after she asked the lawyer about Su Peizhen’s possible outcome, she struggled at home for two days. Finally, she couldn’t help but look for Su Qingsang.

“Auntie?” Su Qingsang looked at the time. There were still about ten minutes before she got off work.

“Wait for me, I’ll pack my things.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I’ll wait for you.”

Xiang Caiping’s expression was a little awkward. Su Qingsang saw it, but she could only force herself to pretend that she didn’t see it.