On the day of the divorce, I became Qin Shao's darling.

Grandma Qin turned to them and politely asked, "Hello, are the children here yours...?"

"They're our grandson, so what? Who are you people?" Zhao Xingfen's attitude was very impolite.

Seeing the hostility and suspicion on their faces, Director Yan quickly smoothed things over, saying, "We came to visit someone in the hospital, but we came to the wrong room. We're sorry."

He explained while gesturing to the caregiver who was helping the old lady.

The caregiver understood and immediately pulled the old lady back into her wheelchair and pushed her away.

Mr. Qin looked embarrassed and smiled at Mr. and Mrs. Lin Zheng'an, saying, "I'm sorry to have bothered you."

Zhao Xingfen stared at their hurried departing figures, muttering to herself.

"That old woman was wearing a hospital gown and was accompanied by a doctor, so she must be a hospitalized patient. But she was acting suspiciously. Could she be a child trafficker in disguise, trying to steal a child?"

Lin Zheng'an spat at her: "Are human traffickers this stupid? Stealing a child with leukemia? Hurry up and go find Weiwei, Yanzhou is still locked up in the police station!"

Without thinking twice, the two quickly pushed open the door and went inside.

Lin Xiwei had just finished shaving her son's head and cleaned up the stray hairs on the floor when she heard her parents talking outside the door.

She didn't go out to greet them; instead, she felt a bit annoyed.

Around noon, her parents called her several times, but she didn't answer.

Even if she doesn't answer, she knows what her parents are going to say.

They would definitely advise her to soften her attitude, coax Su Yunfan, and make up with him as soon as possible.

"Weiwei, have you had lunch yet? Look, I brought you chicken soup, drink it while it's hot."

Zhao Xingfen walked in with a smile on her face, and lifted the thermos in her hand.

Lin Xiwei was taken aback and looked at her mother, surprised that she was being so kind to her today.

She remained expressionless, neither responding nor even calling out to them.

She still remembered the slap her father had given her that day.

Lin Zheng'an saw through her thoughts and snorted coldly, asking, "What, are you still angry that I hit you that day? Isn't it a father's duty to discipline his child?"

Lin Xiwei calmly countered, "Then, from childhood to adulthood, did you educate Yanzhou?"

Her younger brother, Lin Yanzhou, is six years younger than her and is the family's darling, spoiled and pampered by their parents since childhood.

He was never beaten, and his parents never even said a harsh word to him.

Lin Zheng'an was stumped by the question, and his face hardened as he was about to explode in anger again.

But Zhao Xingfen interrupted first, "Weiwei, ignore your dad, come and drink the chicken soup. This is a free-range chicken that I specially bought at the market. The soup is very fragrant."

Since learning that her son was sick, Lin Xiwei has barely eaten anything these past few days.

Now, smelling the aroma of chicken soup and looking at her mother's kind eyes, she couldn't help but feel wronged and, moved by her mother's kindness, gave in.

"Yes, thank you, Mom," she replied softly, stepping forward to take the soup bowl.

But after sitting down and taking only one sip, she frowned.

The soup had a strong chicken bouillon flavor; it wasn't made from fresh free-range chicken at all. It was clearly a concoction of chicken broth brought from a restaurant.

She stared at the spoon, a bitter smile inexplicably curving her lips.

I thought my mother was being kind today and felt sorry for her daughter.

On the hospital bed, Su Chengjun fiddled with his toys, not even greeting the elders when they arrived.

Lin Zheng'an was preoccupied with something and anxious, but his wife repeatedly gave him meaningful glances, signaling him to wait a little longer, so he could only suppress his feelings.

Then his gaze fell on his grandson lying in the hospital bed.

"Why did you shave your head? You look like a little monk."

While complaining, Lin Zheng'an reached out and touched the child's head.

Unexpectedly, the little guy tossed his head and dodged directly, saying, "Don't touch me."

This reaction surprised all the adults.

Lin Zheng'an instantly flared up: "You brat! I'm your grandfather, what kind of attitude is this?!"

"You hit Mommy, I don't like you," the little guy replied calmly.

Enraged, Lin Zheng'an raised his hand without hesitation to slap her.

"Dad!" Lin Xiwei quickly stood up, rushed over and hugged her son tightly. "Junjun is sick, don't hold it against him."

"Waaah..." Su Chengjun, hiding in his mother's arms, burst into tears, "I don't want Grandpa, Grandpa is so fierce... Grandpa is a bad person, a bad person..."

Lin Zheng'an flew into a rage, "Look at this! They say you can tell what a person will be like at three years old, and you're already so disrespectful. Won't you become estranged from your own family in the future? Look at you, you can't even raise your child properly, and you can't even keep your husband. You—"

"Stop talking! The child is sick, why are you arguing with him? Weiwei is having a hard time enough right now."

Zhao Xingfen grabbed her husband, speaking up for their daughter, but her face was full of winks and grimaces as she reminded him again of the purpose of their visit.

Seeing her son wailing, Lin Xiwei felt heartbroken. While comforting the child, she hardened her heart and turned to look at her parents.

"You should go back now, and take this chicken soup with you. I need to take care of Junjun during this time, so I won't have time to come back and visit you. Just take care of yourselves, you don't need to come to the hospital."

To avoid upsetting the child or making her upset.

Seeing her daughter's stern face, Zhao Xingfen knew the atmosphere had become tense again.

Since we've already come all this way, we can't leave empty-handed.

She hesitated for a long while, pursing her lips, before finally smiling apologetically and saying, "Weiwei, it's okay that you don't have time to come back and see us, then... give us some more money."

More money?

Lin Xiwei suddenly turned to look at her parents, her heart turning cold instantly.

"You went out of your way to curry favor with me by bringing pre-made chicken soup, just to ask for money?"

When her daughter exposed the "chicken soup," Zhao Xingfen was embarrassed, but she still showed favoritism to the end for the sake of her son.

"Weiwei, this time it's different! Yanzhou got into trouble, and we had no choice but to come to you."

"What happened to him this time? Could it be that he's also got a terminal illness?" Lin Xiwei couldn't help but mock.

"What nonsense are you spouting! What kind of sister curses her own brother like that!" Lin Zheng'an blew his beard and glared, shouting sternly.

Zhao Xingfen stopped her husband, explaining with a pained expression, "Today, he and his friends were riding a motorcycle and they hit an old man, breaking his bones. The other party is demanding an exorbitant sum of 400,000 yuan! You need to think of something quickly, or your brother will be arrested and imprisoned."

Four hundred thousand.

Upon hearing this number, Lin Xiwei could only sneer.

"He's already in his early twenties, well into adulthood. Let him go to jail; he's taking responsibility for his actions. That's good."

"Weiwei, how could you do this? He's your brother, are you just going to watch his life be ruined?" Zhao Xingfen couldn't believe her daughter was so heartless.

"What can I do? A few months ago, Dad said he wanted to open a restaurant with someone and asked me for 200,000 yuan. I told him I didn't have any money then. Now Junjun is sick, and the medical expenses are 500,000 yuan. You're asking me for another 400,000 yuan. Am I a money-printing machine?"

"You don't have money, but Yunfan does!"

"We're getting a divorce, and he won't even pay for Junjun's medical expenses. How could he possibly clean up his brother's mess?"

Zhao Xingfen stepped forward and took her hand, earnestly advising, "Why get a divorce? You're already in your mid-twenties. Where will you find a man like Yunfan if you get a divorce? Go and beg him, speak to him gently and kindly, he won't divorce you."

"..." Lin Xiwei remained silent.

"Weiwei, listen to my advice, you can't get a divorce. Your dad's restaurant is just getting on track, it hasn't even started making a profit yet. What if it runs into cash flow problems again? Yanzhou doesn't have much education. If we don't save some money for him to get married, how will he ever get married and start a family? Our Lin family only has this one son, we can't just stand by and watch him—"

Lin Xiwei couldn't take it anymore. She shoved her mother aside and pushed her away, saying, "You only ever see your son, you've never treated me like a daughter. I'm just your free blood donation bag. You don't deserve to be parents!"

Lin Zheng'an was furious that his daughter would actually stand by and watch someone die.

"Lin Xiwei, let me tell you, this time you have to help, whether you like it or not!"

Lin Xiwei smiled slightly. "Or should I give my life back to you?"

"Slap!" Lin Zheng'an raised his hand again and slapped down once more.

Zhao Xingfen reached out to stop her, but it was too late.

"Hey! Why did you hit her again! We're counting on her to raise money to save our son, you really are—"

Zhao Xingfen scolded her husband, but before she could finish speaking, Su Chengjun rushed over and started smashing the toy models in his hand at them.

"Grandpa is bad! Grandma is bad! You're not allowed to hit my mom! I hate you! Get out!"

The little guy used all his strength to keep patting.

When Sister Hong came back from her dinner downstairs, she witnessed this scene and quickly came over to mediate.

Seeing that the talks were not going to work out, Zhao Xingfen angrily dragged her husband away.

Once the ward quieted down, Sister Hong saw the five-finger mark on Lin Xiwei's face and felt heartbroken. "How could there be such parents in the world..."

Little Junjun clung to his mother, crying incessantly out of fear.

Lin Xiwei suppressed her emotions and kept comforting her son.

After a while, once the little guy had calmed down a bit, she looked at Sister Hong and said, "Sister Hong, you stay with Junjun, I have something to do outside."

Sister Hong was worried that she might do something rash, so she whispered to her, "No matter how hard it gets, it will pass. You still have children."

Lin Xiwei nodded. "Don't worry, I can handle it."

The moment I turned to leave, tears streamed down my face.

She never imagined that one day she would become "Fan Shengmei".

To be exploited by one's closest relatives to such an appalling degree.

They didn't care at all how heartbroken their daughter was, nor about their grandson's illness, or even whether the child lived or died.

They only have eyes for their son, that good-for-nothing, that troublemaker.

Lin Xiwei grew increasingly desperate, not knowing where to go. She felt a suffocating tightness in her chest and wanted to clear her mind, so she walked to the terrace at the end of the corridor.

It's very windy.

The early winter wind brushed against my face, across my tear-soaked skin, bringing a dense, stinging pain, as if I were being gnawed by ants.

Thinking about the changes of the past few days: her husband's betrayal, the mistress's provocation, her child's serious illness, and her parents' exploitation...

For a fleeting moment, she really wanted to jump over the wall and end it all in an instant.

With no one around, Lin Xiwei no longer needed to pretend to be strong.

So she squatted down against the wall, hugged herself tightly, and let the tears flow freely, washing away the pain and grievances in her heart.

I cried for who knows how long, but I finally felt a little better.

She convulsively raised her head, trying to stand up by leaning against the wall, when suddenly the safety door on the other side of the terrace was pushed open.

She panicked, thinking how embarrassing it would be to be seen crying like this—but upon closer inspection, her expression froze.

The tall, imposing figure standing at the door was none other than the man I'd bumped into a few times in the elevator.

He exudes a powerful and dignified aura, making people hesitant to approach him.

Their eyes met, and Qin Jiamo's gaze darkened, his usually cold and resolute expression pausing slightly.