Su Ding turned back, smiling, "Just out for a walk. I'm being discharged tonight."
Jin Ye naturally put his arm around her shoulder. "Mm, I'll come pick you up."
She didn't push him away.
At this moment, her desolate and chilled heart needed a strong, steady chest to lean on.
As Jin Ye supported her, he said, "I need to confess something to you."
Su Ding turned her face to look at him. "What is it?"
Jin Ye's expression was very serious. It seemed he had gathered great courage before saying, "Xiao Xi's parentage."
The bitterness in Su Ding's heart deepened.
It was coming after all.
Hearing the person involved admit it personally would at least give her feelings some closure.
"Five years ago..."
Just as Jin Ye began to speak, his phone suddenly rang. It was his mother.
He felt a vague sense of unease. He glanced at Su Ding and answered.
Noisy sounds came from the phone, followed by his mother's panicked cries, "Son, come back quickly! Linlin is injured!"
Jin Ye's face changed. "Mom, what happened?"
Jin's mother cried softly, urging him, "Come back and I'll tell you! Linlin lost so much blood, hurry back!"
Jin Ye felt something was wrong and looked at Su Ding apologetically.
Su Ding was also very worried. "You should go back quickly and check."
Hearing Madam Jin's crying on the phone, it didn't sound fake. Could Shao Lin really have had an accident?
Jin Ye nodded and ran downstairs quickly.
He sped all the way and soon arrived at the Jin family's old residence. The family doctor was sitting in the living room, and Shao Lin's arm was tightly wrapped in white gauze. Her dress was also torn and covered in dust, with abrasions on her knees and face.
Her wounds had been medicated and she looked quite disheveled.
Madam Jin sat beside Shao Lin, full of worry and heartache, tears streaming down her face.
Upon seeing Jin Ye return, Shao Lin immediately looked up at him, her eyes full of tears, gazing at him weakly. "Brother Jin!"
Madam Jin quickly pulled her son over. "Linlin was grazed by a car saving me! If it weren't for Linlin, your mother would be dead today!"
Jin Ye was forcefully pushed to sit next to Shao Lin.
Shao Lin fragilely reached out to take Jin Ye's hand, but he dodged it, her eyes filled with disappointment.
"Why aren't you comforting Linlin? She saved your mother," Madam Jin said from the side, showing her disappointment in his inaction.
"Shao Lin, thank you for saving my mother," Jin Ye said, forced to do so.
Shao Lin lifted her delicate and disheveled face, tears on her cheeks, smiling brilliantly. "I already consider Aunt Jin as my elder, so of course, I had to protect her."
Madam Jin was deeply touched by this and swore even more strongly to make her son marry this kind girl.
However, Jin Ye did not react much. The matter of planting needles in Su Ding's medicine had been thoroughly investigated, and it was Shao Lin who had instructed it. Su Qingmu's call and chat records with Shao Lin were clear evidence.
Her having done something so cruel and malicious made it difficult for him to believe she was actually a kind woman.
"Auntie, Brother Jin must have been busy with work. My injuries are minor, it's really unnecessary to make him rush back." Shao Lin said, being very considerate and sensible.
"And this is a minor injury? Just a little more, and she would have been hit," Madam Jin disagreed, shaking her head.
Shao Lin smiled gently. "Brother Jin has been so busy these days, rushing between the hospital and the company. By the way, is Sister Su Ding's injury getting better?"
Jin Ye frowned and looked at her. Her clear eyes showed no hint of pretense.
Madam Jin's expression changed when she heard the name. "Xiao Ye, did you just go to the hospital to see that woman?"
Jin Ye did not speak, tacitly admitting it.
Madam Jin was so angry she slapped the sofa. "I don't know what love potion that woman has poured into you and your father, making you so infatuated with her!"
Jin Ye wanted to retort, but after a second's hesitation, he decided to remain silent. Arguing in favor of Su Ding at this moment would likely not achieve any positive result.
"Auntie, perhaps Sister Su Ding is gentler. Don't be angry," Shao Lin said, shaking Madam Jin's hand as if in a childish plea.
She lowered her head, concealing the satisfaction in her eyes. Today's staged minor accident was well worth it; her status in Madam Jin's eyes had now improved. Su Ding, how dare you compete with me?
Madam Jin's expression remained grim. She had nearly been hit by a car, and it was thanks to Linlin that she was safe. Yet her son was accompanying another woman at the hospital. This was simply outrageous!
Jin Ye looked at his mother and Shao Lin's affectionate interaction, feeling an invisible sense of oppression. He stood up. "Shao Lin, you should rest well at home. I still have work."
"No, you must stay home with Linlin tonight. Are you planning to go find that woman again?" Madam Jin grabbed his arm directly.
"Auntie, I just remembered, Sister Su Ding seems to be discharged today. She's all alone and has no one to rely on in Jiangcheng. Why don't we let Brother Jin go pick her up?" Shao Lin suggested "considerately."
Madam Jin became even more assertive. "Her being alone has nothing to do with the Jin family! Why should he go pick her up? Son, you are not allowed to go."
Jin Ye's expression darkened, and he cast a cold glance at Shao Lin.
Shao Lin "innocently" took a step back. "Did I say something wrong?"
"You didn't say anything wrong, it's just that you're too honest, girl. How can you push people away like that?" Madam Jin sighed heavily and looked at Jin Ye. "We need to be clear about things today. Linlin gave birth to Xiao Xi for you and has stayed by your side for five years. A woman's five years of youth have been given to you, can't you give her some sort of commitment?"
"Mom, the entire family agreed to it back then," Jin Ye said with a grim expression.
Madam Jin was momentarily silenced. It was true that at the time she had also agreed to not let Shao Lin enter the Jin family. But things were different now. Five years had passed. She had come to know Shao Lin and knew this girl wasn't after the Jin family's wealth, but truly loved Xiao Ye.
Madam Jin paused and said, "In any case, you cannot let Linlin down!"
Jin Ye looked deeply at his mother, wondering why his usually calm and rational mother seemed to have changed.
"I will give her the compensation she deserves. Marriage, I cannot give her."
With that, he turned and left the mansion. Shao Lin stared hatefully at his retreating back, gritting her teeth in anger.