Sasha made a sound, wondering if she could take this opportunity to avenge Yang Sijie.
Xie Qining painfully recalled asking his mother for help after learning that the land was worthless.
His mother also realized the seriousness of the situation. If the shares in her hands were repossessed by the bank, it would not be a small matter, nor would their mansion.
It was she who had told the old lady that Qining was going to do something big, a sure bet, and had asked the old lady to help mortgage the mansion's property deed.
There was no other way, so she had to go to Old Xie herself and ask him to provide the money to repay this loan for his son.
That night, she was also scared, her legs went weak, and she forced herself to walk into the study and explain everything to Old Xie.
As expected, Old Xie flew into a rage. While speaking, he had someone drag Xie Qining out of his room and strictly ordered her to appease the old lady, forbidding anyone from feeling sorry for Xie Qining, the prodigal son.
Xie Qining was directly taken to the back garden, pinned onto a bench, and given a good beating. He wouldn't learn his lesson unless he was beaten until his skin was torn and flesh was bleeding.
Xie Qining still trembled when he thought of the beating that night. His father had almost beaten him to death, and no one in the family dared to intercede.
This was the worst beating he had ever received since childhood. No matter how mischievous he was, his father would always have someone else in the family to stop him. At most, he would be protected after three strikes.
This time, he screamed his lungs out, and even when he was on the verge of death, no one dared to protect him.
When he woke up, he saw his grandmother, mother, and two elder sisters surrounding him, weeping. His eldest sister was still scolding him, "You're too daring to trick Grandma and Mom into giving up their savings. What if you accidentally ruined the entire family?"
"Forget it, don't blame him anymore. Look at him, he's so pitiful, it breaks my heart," the old lady said, covering her chest and shedding tears.
No one dared to say anything more to him, and everyone sighed.
But fortunately, after his father beat him, he didn't abandon him. He still went to the bank to retrieve the mortgaged shares and the property deed, thus smoothing over the matter.
Sasha asked in a teasing tone, "How do you plan to get it back? Do you have any good ideas?"
"Don't you see I'm like this? What can I do? I'll have to wait until I'm better." Xie Qining couldn't move at all, let alone step out of the Xie family's door. He couldn't do anything.
Sasha smiled and reminded him, "You can't move, but what about your brothers? They've benefited a lot from following you, haven't they? Now is the time to use them."
"That's right, you're still the smart one. We shouldn't have raised them for nothing." Xie Qining couldn't help but smile and kissed the back of Sasha's hand.
...
A week later, Susu finally managed to contact Lan Yu. She didn't know what Lan Yu was so busy with.
She heard from Tianyi that An Jing had sent people everywhere to look for Lan Yu, but they hadn't found her yet.
Lan Yu had also resigned from her previous job at the dance school and no longer lived in the place she rented before marrying An Jing. It was truly like searching for a needle in a haystack, and it was not ruled out that Lan Yu had gone to another city.
Twice, she almost revealed that she had been in contact with Lan Yu, but she ultimately held back.
Thinking that she should keep her promise to Lan Yu, she would meet her first. If Lan Yu agreed, she could tell An Jing, and it wouldn't be too late to tell An Jing then.
After all, there was one thing she could confirm: Lan Yu was still in this city.
Lan Yu had arranged to meet her at seven in the evening in a hotel room and had sent her the location.
Susu told Tianyi that she had to work overtime and would be back late.
Tianyi didn't suspect anything and just told her not to work too hard.
Seeing that she couldn't go back with her again, Sophie curiously asked before leaving work, "Susu, there's no overtime today, why aren't you leaving with me?"
Susu smiled and said, "I'm not staying to work overtime, I've arranged to meet Lan Yu to see what misunderstanding there is between her and An Jing."
Sophie understood and said, "Where are you meeting? Do you want me to go with you?"
"No need." Susu took out her phone and looked at the location, saying, "It's at the Xinyue Hotel, not far from here."
"What hotel? There are no big hotels nearby with that name." Sophie had booked hotels nearby for out-of-town clients and didn't remember such a hotel.
Susu thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps it's a small inn like Qitian. Lan Yu left An Jing, so she probably doesn't have much money on hand."
Sophie made a sound and said, "Then come back early yourself."
"Remember, when you see Tianyi after you get back, don't let anything slip," Susu reminded her.
She made an OK gesture, but in her heart, she felt that Susu was too much of a busybody.
Besides, since Susu wouldn't be home at night, she would have more opportunities to spend time with Tianyi. So, she happily left the studio early.
...
Lan Yu still taught dance at a dance institution during the day and performed at a high-end club at night.
The performance at the club at night was introduced by a dance teacher who repeatedly assured her that it was a legitimate club with high-quality guests who were purely there to appreciate ballet.
After she performed at the club, she found that it was indeed true. However, the club only gave her one day off per week.
Coincidentally, she didn't have to perform that night, so she arranged to meet Susu.
After leaving Xiao An Jing, she couldn't find a suitable place and had been living in this small inn.
The inn was relatively clean and hygienic, and the daily room rate was not high, which she could currently afford.
In her room, she prepared lessons for her dance teaching while waiting for Susu to arrive.
It was almost seven in the evening when there was a knock on the door. She thought it was Susu and rushed to open it without thinking.
But the moment she opened the door, she found that the person at the door was not Susu, but a man who looked somewhat familiar.
The man's gaze towards her was filled with malice, and Lan Yu felt something was wrong. She wanted to close the door immediately.
The tall man outside didn't give her a chance to close the door. He quickly reached out and pushed her into the room, then followed her into her room and closed the door.
Lan Yu stared at the door in panic, wanting to escape, "Who are you? I don't know you! Did you come to the wrong room?"
"Sister-in-law, I didn't come to the wrong room. How can you not recognize me?" The man approached her step by step, smiling and saying, "Don't you remember eating and playing cards with Young Master Xie and us before?"
Lan Yu tried hard to recall when she had seen this person, but she still couldn't remember. She kept backing away, "Get out, this is my room. No one can come in without my permission."
The man amusingly reminded her, "Do you remember that time we were playing cards? The rule was that for every game lost, the female companion beside you had to take off an item of clothing until she was completely undressed."
Lan Yu remembered. None of the men who had eaten and played cards with Xie Qining that time were good people.
During the card game, they deliberately proposed this game rule. Xie Qining, for the sake of his reputation, did not object. She had endured the humiliation and taken off two pieces of clothing at that time.