Chapter 256: Consider This Five Million Dollars A Gift For What Happened Before

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“So now that you’ve said it like that, it’s my fault?” Yu Qianying said aggrievedly.

“Absolutely not, it is your right to be mad. But can you forgive them once you calmed down? Song Yu is pregnant now, it will be unwise to see her worrying all day for this matter, it may be harmful to her and the baby. I can see that they value this child and if anything goes wrong...” Xia Wenna took out a pack of tissue paper from her bag and started wiping the tears off her eyes and blew her nose.

“Song Yu is my daughter, don’t you dare think I do not care about her. I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to her!” Yu Qianying whimpered. “Please put yourself in my shoes, imagine someone torn your company—the company that Qi family painstakingly managed for years—apart. Overnight, you have to move from a mansion into a small apartment, always having to see which way the wind blows in order to survive. Roaming in bustling cities would be a stressful and daunting experience as you won’t know when you’ll bump into acquaintances from the higher class. Song Yu’s job requires her to socialize often. There were countless times that she was ridiculed when she bumped into Jixia High School’s associates in Shengyue. Song Yu and a lot of her Jixia High School’s associates furthered their studies at University B. She was forced to work part-time during her study. Those imbeciles gossip about how Song Yu used to be a lady from a notable family and came down in the world. They mocked Song Yu for being aloof even after living in poverty. Song Yu did not care about their comments and judgments but it doesn’t mean she should accept all these silently.”

Yu Qianying took out a piece of tissue paper and wiped her tears off. “Are you able to accept yourself being an hourly employee and clean houses every day? Do you think Qi Zhongliang would like to drive a cab in the middle of the night? Then one day you realized that your son-in-law is the culprit who made the Qi family’s life miserable, he then marries your daughter and made her pregnant. How will you feel? Forgiveness? It’s easy to say but don’t you dare ask for forgiveness before putting yourself in my shoes!”

“Qianying.” Grandmother Qi let out a long sigh, she was not her usual self for referring Qianying as ‘Xiao Yu’—Qianying’s nickname. “Let us dismiss this discussion for now. I heard Song Yu said you had a fallout with her because of this and you wanted her to choose between you and Chengzhi?”

Xia Wenna pursed her lips and remained silent. She inhaled deeply and wiped off her tears.

Grandmother Qi sighed heavily, turned and stared at Song Donglin. “Same thought as well?”

Song Donglin shook his head, implying this was what Yu Qianying preferred. He could not argue with Yu Qianying at the presence of Qi Chengzhi.

Besides, the reason why Yu Qianying was in wrath was because she felt miserable witnessing Song Donglin having to live in such grief and sorrow.

Grandmother Qi nodded and turned toward Yu Qianying. “Qianying, since you mentioned to view matters from a different perspective, what will you do if your parents asked you to choose between Donglin and them?”

“But Lao Song did not destroy the Yu family,” Yu Qianying replied.

historical

“Yes.” Grandmother Qi nodded, then she breathed out heavily. “But Song Yu loves him, the love is so strong that she is willing to forgive him and live the rest of her life with him, she even bears his child. You can be angry at him, it is your right, but you should also give him your right to forgive, agree? Song Yu chose to forgive, you cannot feel irritated at her choice. I know you suffered, but have you realized that Song Yu had the same suffering as well? You are grown ups with experiences, your will are strong enough to withstand the hardship during bankruptcy, but Song Yu was just seventeen years old at that time, she suffered a lot more than you at that young age. You also mentioned that she paid for her tuition fees by using her salary and scholarships. She did not ask for any penny during that time, your responsibility was just payment for other amenities. Now she graduated, found a job, and you lived your retirement lives. The two of you retired at a much younger age as compared to the general public. The retirement age by law is sixty years old for male and fifty years old for females. Donglin has not reach that age, right? And you are just a year younger until retirement age, and now the two of you are enjoying happily at home and do not need to worry about life. These are all thanks to Song Yu spending a great deal of effort and struggled to let you lived without much to worry. She had a lot more to deal with in terms of fatigue, in terms of suffering one has to endure.”

When Grandmother Qi mentioned Song Yu, Yu Qianying became gloomy and ashamed.

“Try to imagine a young woman like her, and she just turned twenty-six years old this year, but she had to support her family’s expenses. She lifted all these on her tiny shoulders, anyone of you dare say you suffered more than her? Normally one enters the workforce after graduating from university, some even has a higher level of education such as Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree or even Doctor’s Degree before starting to enter the workforce, but Song Yu was just seventeen years old when she entered the workforce during the period of bankruptcy. Are you willing to force such a sensible child to choose between you and the man that she loves? She forgave Chengzhi despite the suffering, and being the one who went through the most, she has the right to make her own choice, agree? Do you really think you have the right to force her, who single handedly supported this family, to make a choice? Let me rephrase, are you actually willing to force her to make a choice?” Grandmother Qi gesticulated with the shoulder width of Song Yu.

Yu Qianying’s lips twitched, and tears started rolling down in an unbroken stream.

Grandmother Qi sighed heavily. “As a mother, I understand that you hope for the best for your child, and the best for your child now, is not to force her, agree? She could not live the life she wanted for a long time, and she is just a human just like us, we cannot put more pressure on her puny shoulders anymore. Now that Song Yu is pregnant, she cannot take it anymore, she should relax now, agree? Qianying, the purpose we are here to visit is not to plead for forgiveness, we are here for Song Yu’s wellbeing. To be frank, deep down I am terribly sorry for my dear Song Yu, and I am truly happy and blessed to know that Chengzhi is going to marry her and make her my granddaughter-in-law. Song Yu is a good and kind hearted child, she will not choose between you and Chengzhi, because she cannot leave him, I need not say much as I am sure you realized this fact. You can continue to be mad at Chengzhi because he deserves it, he must pay for his own sin. As a grandmother, I will not plead for him, but I ask that you do not make it hard for Song Yu as well.”

Yu Qianying dropped her head further, perhaps out of guilt after what Grandmother Qi had said, she did not look at Grandmother Qi and Xia Wenna.

“Xiao Yu,” Grandmother Qi was back to her old self again, she stood up and exhaled. “I know you too are a kind hearted and rational person, please reconsider what I said just now. These few days Song Yu looked a little peaked and I feel very sorry for her.”

Yu Qianying pursed and relaxed her lips, her chin quivered, and she stood up too.

“Wenna, let’s go,” Grandmother Qi hold Xia Wenna’s arm for support.

Yu Qianying followed behind silently, no matter how angry she was at the Qi family, she would still respect an elderly.

When Grandmother Qi passed by the kitchen and saw the gifts Xia Wenna put on the table, she turned towards Yu Qianying and said, “These are not gifts for apology, we should bring gifts even when relatives by marriage stop by, right? It will be a disgrace not only for you but also for us too if these gifts are brought as a means of apology. Xiao Yu, if you’re infuriated at the Qi family and detested the gifts, then feel free to regift.”

Grandmother Qi seemed as if she does not care at all and walked away with Xia Wenna.

Yu Qianying closed the door and returned to the living room, feeling as if she was suffocating. She immediately detected the scent of cigarette smoke the moment she walked in the living room. She turned and saw Song Donglin smoking again just after Grandmother Qi and Xia Wenna left.

“Why did you smoke again?” Yu Qianying sat down, wanted to take the cigarette off Song Donglin’s mouth, which he dodged.

Song Donglin started smoking after Yu Keyao left since Sunday. He smoked when he felt gloomy these few days which incurred an unpleasant smell of cigarette smoke on Yu Qianying.

Yu Qianying breathed out heavily, and suddenly Song Donglin said, “I have been thinking for quite some time.”

Yu Qianying turned her head towards him briskly. Song Donglin seldom spoke these past few days, and his voice was croaky following cigarette smoking after breaking the habit for so long.

“What Grandmother Qi had mentioned makes sense. I have been thinking a lot about what Song Yu said on that day. Actually we have never reflected on ourselves. We did not know if Song Yu was happy in the beginning, we were only concerned that we did good to her by providing her a prospering life, our background permitted her to go towards the upper classes and made an engagement to the Qi family. She lived her life carefree and without worries, but was she truly happy? To be honest, come to think of it, we never asked for her opinions whenever we made any kinds of decisions since her childhood until now,” Song Donglin pulled the wastepaper bin from under the coffee table and flicked the tobacco ash.

“We wanted her to learn piano since young to train her temperament, plus usually ladies from notable families have one or two masteries, we never asked if she would like it or not, she just did whatever we instructed. I told her I wanted to train her to be successor for my company at the beginning, I never asked if she wanted to do it, I merely notified her that she will be managing my company later on. Later, when we brought up a joke Xia Wenna and you made during your pregnancy, we paired both her and Qi Chengji together and arrange them for engagement. We knew she had a crush on Jian Yi at that moment but still we did not ask for her opinions. We did not even bother to ask her if she wanted to marry Qi Chengji and live the rest of her life with him.”

Song Donglin got a little snotty and his eyes reddened. He smoked again and felt soreness at the back of his throat.

“Do you still remember the day when we have decided on her engagement with Qi Chengji?” Song Donglin stared at Yu Qianying.

Yu Qianying opened her mouth slowly and said, “She cried. That was the first time she disagreed on our decision. She asked if she can stay single. She also asked us why she did not have the right to choose the love of her life. She ran away when I told her everything we did was for her own good, only to come back feeling down. She was unusually quiet during the engagement feast with the Qi family, and she closed herself in her room once returned home. I did not hear any rejections and she seemed normal afterwards so I did not take it to heart.”

Song Donglin smoked and white fumes were exhaled, he said, “Actually Grandmother Qi was right, she was not happy when we decided on her engagement. To be frank, she lived for us rather than for herself until the bankruptcy. No, she even took responsibility for the sake of our family even after bankruptcy. Perhaps the profession she studied at the university and the work she did are the only decisions she made for herself since birth.”

“She sacrificed so much for us, and she went through the most during bankruptcy. If she can forgive Chengzhi for the things he had done, then perhaps we do not have the right to scold her, right?” Song Donglin put out the cigarette and threw it into the bin.

“Qianying, our child gave up so much for us, come to think of it, her forgiveness on Chengzhi’s wrongdoing seemed to be a trivial matter in comparison. Is it too harsh to disregard her as our daughter because of this? Now I realized, I owe her an apology,” he sighed.

Yu Qianying could not contain herself anymore and tears started to stream down her cheeks. She thought of the pain and suffering Song Yu endured these past few years and she deeply regretted what she had said to her on that day.

The agony that they went through, Song Yu did too. It was her right to forgive Qi Chengzhi, nobody can blame her or has any comments on this.

“I also knew what I said that day was truly hurting to Song Yu. She is my daughter, I cannot simply disregard this fact! I cannot really have any judgements or demand anything from her if she insists on living her life with Qi Chengzhi. Now she even conceived his child, do you think I can disengage them forcibly? As for Qi Chengzhi, there is no way I am going to forgive him, the very sight of him maddened me,” Yu Qianying continued wiping the tears off.

“I know, if we can forgive Song Yu, that is more than enough,” Song Donglin gently tapped Yu Qianying on her back.

...

...

Mu Huaisheng’s gaze remained on his computer when he heard knocking on the door. He nodded coolly when his secretary opened the door and told him that Yu Keyao arrived, then the door closed.

Yu Keyao walked to the front of Mu Huaisheng’s desk and stood. Mu Huaisheng then looked at Yu Keyao with an expressionless face. He was businesslike and brusque during office hours.

“Yes?” Mu Huaisheng asked with a flat tone.

Yu Keyao hold her hands tightly and appeared to be hesitant. Yesterday she received a call from Yu Zidong claiming that Qi Chengzhi started to go up against Dong Hua for god knows why.

Although Yu Zidong was unclear of the reason, Yu Keyao immediately knew that this may be related to her breaking the truth regarding the bankruptcy to Song Donglin and Yu Qianying when she received the call from Yu Zidong.

She never thought that Qi Chengzhi really shamelessly risking everything he had and wanted to go against her family too.

She did not frame him, what she said was the truth.

She was still a lady from notable family if the company still exists, and she could potentially rise from the ashes again. She would lose that chance once Dong Hua was gone completely.

“Director Mu, I...” Yu Keyao inhaled deeply. “I know you are close with Qi Chengzhi, and he is about to confront my family’s company, my father cannot withstand the pressure anymore. Can I ask... if you can talk to him and ask him to let it go? We will apologize if he is dissatisfied with our family.”

Emotionless, Mu Huaisheng leaned against the back of his chair, his gaze was difficult to understand. He asked coldly, “Why would Qi Chengzhi want to confront your family for no absolute reason?”

“I...” Yu Keyao hesitated. She did not want anyone especially Mu Huaisheng to know about the past.

Mu Huaisheng did not wait for her answer. He took out a cheque book from the drawer and wrote down a figure, tore it down and passed to Yu Keyao.

Yu Keyao grabbed it and took a glance at the figure, and her jaws dropped in disbelief. “Five million dollars?”

“I will not talk to Qi Chengzhi about this and I think you know why he wants to confront Dong Hua. Consider this five million dollars a gift for what happened before. From now on, we are just superior-subordinate relationships,” Mu Huaisheng’s voice remained warm, and he appeared as if he is a gentleman of scholarly bearing. “If you want to save Dong Hua, perhaps this five million dollars may have helped a little.”

Yu Keyao never imagined the words that came out from him was so cold and without affection. He ended a relationship without any foreshadowing.

She grasped the cheque Mu Huaisheng gave, her face ashen-grey. According to him, this five million dollars were payments for the one night stand, or it can be considered as payment for her virginity.

She was the one who first came to him and appealed to him, but his actions appeared contemptuous in her eyes.

Mu Huaisheng stared coldly at Yu Keyao’s reaction, his tone remained flat and said, “Do not mix business with pleasure, I hate it when that was broken. I will allow this brief interlude only this once, our relationship stops here. You should be scrupulous in separating public from private interest if you wish to continue your employment in this company, do not ever think that you can have any kind of other relationships other than superior-subordinate relationship here. If you think your presence here will be awkward, I can help you find other jobs elsewhere.”

Actually that day Mu Huaisheng acted slightly compulsive. Yu Keyao’s helpless yet innocent face made him think of Ruan Danchen, who stood there quietly just like Yu Keyao, lonely and vulnerable, when she was framed by Mu Sisi. He wanted to hug Ruan Danchen badly when he saw her at that time, to give her comfort and support.

He saw something just as similar as Ruan Danchen on Yu Keyao but after all, Yu Keyao was not Ruan Danchen. He knew he would not be able to find any affection, pity or even admiration after a couple times.

Ruan Danchen’s feeling of helplessness was usually well-hidden, only visible to those who were concerned, but as a matter of fact, she was a strong-willed person, sometimes a little too stubborn, and she did not like to show her emotions. On the other hand, after getting to know Yu Keyao, one can see the differences. She liked to show to the public that she was meek and deserved to be protected.

In short, she was more pretentious than Ruan Danchen.

Although Yu Keyao did not mention anything, but he can see that she did not merely wanted a simple one night stand. He did not plan on having a personal relationship with his female subordinate, he merely got fresh with Yu Keyao when he saw some similarities between her and Ruan Danchen, there was no other supporting reasons.

Yu Keyao already crossed his line when she went up to him and ask him to help her solve her family matters. Mu Huaisheng did not plan on giving her the unrealistic fantasy.

This five million dollars was considered a humongous amount for her, he hoped she can forget about it for the rest of her life.

“Are you doing this because you think I asked you to help my family?” Yu Keyao asked in a trembling voice, her face blanched from disappointments.

Yu Keyao appeared delicate with tears welling up in her eyes.

“I was going to break it to you today,” Mu Huaisheng gave her a blank stare, no trace of personal emotions can be seen.

Yu Keyao’s heart sank into her boots. She can still see some signs of affection in his eyes before the fornication, but now those disappeared without a trace.

“I told you, I did not plan on social climbing,” A tear rolled down her face and her hands trembled when lifted. “I did not plan on asking... any financial support from you, or ask for any other support.”

Mu Huaisheng still appeared graceful and elegant, but his stare was cold as ice.

Yu Keyao returned the cheque back on him. “I do not want this money, it gives me the impression that I am a prostitute. You know that I am not, I gave you my virginity, not sold it. I came here today as a friend, not mixing business and pleasure. Maybe I anticipated too much that our so-called friendship was merely me social climbing too. Keep your money, I do not want to relate my virginity with cash. I gave you my virginity based on my affection to you, and I do not want to feel disappointed towards a man I like. Maybe you think that I have a price, but to me, I am priceless.”