Song Xuanli talked a big game, but when Song Xinya actually asked him for money, he couldn't bear to part with a single dime.
"Xinxin, it's not that I don't want to give you money. It's just that business is tough right now. Several of the Song family's projects are losing money. The current economic environment is bad, and it's hard to make a profit."
Song Xinya replied, "If you're incompetent, just say so. Wherever you go, the 'environment' is bad. What, are you the destroyer of environments? Were you born just to ruin the economy?"
Song Xuanli insisted, "The economic climate really is terrible this year. Money is exceptionally hard to make."
Song Xinya retorted, "When has money ever been easy to make? Looking back, there are plenty of opportunities to get rich; looking forward, it's pitch black. Look back again in ten years, and you'll see that right now was still the easiest time to make money.
"The strong never complain about their circumstances. As for you, someone who loves to complain, I understand you perfectly. You are simply weak."
Song Xuanli looked thoroughly embarrassed.
Li Cuirou then made her grand entrance. "Xinxin, I personally cooked a few of your favorite dishes. Come home for dinner tonight."
Song Xinya said, "I wouldn't dare eat your cooking. What if you poison me with arsenic?"
Zhang Yingying snapped, "Do you think everyone is as vicious as you?"
Song Xinya mocked, "Do you think everyone is as vicious as you?"
A dead silence fell over the Song family's living room.
Desperate to secure a partnership with the Qin family, Song Xuanli forced down his boiling anger. "Song Xinya, I didn't call to argue with you. Blood is thicker than water; we are family no matter what. We haven't had a family reunion in a long time. I am sincerely inviting you to bring Song Tingye home tonight so we can all sit down for a casual family dinner."
He was starting to play the emotional card with her.
A year ago, Song Xinya, who still harbored a sliver of hope for Song Xuanli's fatherly love, might have been moved by these words.
But not anymore.
A year ago, when Song Xinya discovered that her sudden weight gain was because Li Cuirou and Zhang Yingying had replaced her vitamins with hormone pills, she was shocked, furious, and consumed by hatred.
Looking back, she had a slender figure as a child. She only started gaining weight right after Li Cuirou and her daughter moved into the Song household.
She had been secretly fed hormones by Li Cuirou and Zhang Yingying for over a decade!
How could anyone's heart be so wicked?
As a motherless girl who had already moved out of the Song house with her younger brother, what threat could she possibly pose to them? Yet, they still refused to let her off the hook.
A year ago, when she found out about the hormone poisoning, she thought she had concrete evidence of their crimes. She took the proof to Song Xuanli, hoping it would make him see the mother and daughter for who they truly were.
Instead, Song Xuanli told her, "You were just fed a few hormones, it's not like anyone died. Right now, Li Cuirou is helping me manage the company, and Zhang Yingying is helping me maintain client relations. They help me so much, and you want me to kick them out of the house just because of some hormones? You aren't considering my position as your father at all. As a daughter, Song Xinya, you are far too selfish."
In that very moment, the last remnants of familial affection and longing Song Xinya held for Song Xuanli completely vanished.
People always say that parents are a safe harbor, that there are no supermen in the world, and the one who will ride in on colorful clouds to save you will undoubtedly be your father.
It is true that many children in this world have wonderful fathers. Unfortunately, Song Xinya did not.
The very first life lesson she learned was that her father did not love her.
Was she heartbroken?
How could she not be.
Every time she saw other children being doted on by their mothers and loved by their fathers, she would stand in a dim corner, crying tears of envy.
She wanted her mother to be alive, she wanted her father to love her, and she wanted a complete family.
When she was young, whenever Song Xuanli cast a look of disdain and disgust her way, it felt as though her heart had been thrown into a blender, repeatedly sliced by sharp blades.
But now, she saw things with absolute clarity—
Song Xuanli only loved himself.
Faced with Song Xuanli's emotional manipulation, Song Xinya's heart remained as solid as a rock. Unmoved and entirely unfooled, she rationally negotiated her terms. "I can go back, but first, tell me what's in it for me."
Song Xuanli balked. "I'm asking you to come home for dinner, and you want a reward?"
Song Xinya replied, "Your mouth speaks of deep affection, but I can hear the abacus clicking in your head. We're both thousand-year-old foxes, so stop playing these little mind games with me. I'm twenty-five now, not five. You want to use me to latch onto the towering tree that is the Qin family. Did you really think I couldn't see through your agenda?"
With his disguise ripped away, Song Xuanli stopped pretending and asked, "What do you want?"
Song Xinya did indeed have something she wanted; otherwise, she wouldn't have wasted her breath talking to them.
"My mother's company, Yating Education Technology."
It was the only profitable company the Song family had left. The businesses Song Xuanli had founded himself were either bankrupt or bleeding money. If it weren't for this company holding things together, Song Xuanli would have lost the shirt off his back.
This company was like a goose that laid golden eggs, so naturally, Song Xuanli couldn't bear to hand it over to Song Xinya.
Song Xuanli flatly refused. "Stop daydreaming! There is no way I'm giving you that company!"
Song Xinya replied, "I'm hanging up then. I have things to do, so I won't be coming to dinner tonight."
Song Xuanli panicked. "Don't hang up, don't hang up! We can discuss this."
Song Xinya stated firmly, "I want the shares of Yating Education Technology. Otherwise, there's nothing to talk about."
Song Xuanli gritted his teeth, feeling as if a piece of his own flesh was being carved out. "No business deal can be finalized over the phone, and signing contracts requires both parties to be present. Come over, and we'll talk face-to-face."
After hanging up the phone, Song Xinya stood up and snipped two hydrangea blooms—one pink, one blue. Holding the flowers in both hands, she walked toward the living room.
She found a transparent glass bottle, poured in some nutrient solution, and arranged the pink and blue hydrangeas inside.
Holding the makeshift vase, Song Xinya knocked on the door of the study.
Upon hearing permission to enter, she pushed the door open, walked in, and placed the glass bottle with the hydrangeas on Qin Yuhe's desk.
The room, previously dominated by cold tones of black, white, and gray, instantly felt warm and romantic thanks to the bouquet of pink and blue hydrangeas.
Qin Yuhe tore his gaze away from his laptop, glanced at the hydrangeas on his desk, and then looked up, fixing his eyes on her face.
Just as Song Xinya was about to speak, Qin Yuhe said, "There's something I need to tell you."
Seeing his serious expression, Song Xinya asked, "What is it?"
Qin Yuhe replied, "I've been in Jingbei for a week, and there are some urgent matters in Shanghai that require my immediate attention. I'll probably be there for two or three days."
Song Xinya asked, "Are you leaving tomorrow?"
Qin Yuhe answered, "I'm leaving right now."
Song Xinya was surprised. "That's so sudden."
Qin Yuhe stood up and grabbed his suit jacket hanging nearby. "The business world has always been a jungle where the strong prey on the weak. Things change in the blink of an eye."
Song Xinya followed him out of the study. "I'll see you out."
Stepping out of the living room, Song Xinya saw a Rolls-Royce parked horizontally at the entrance.
The engine was already running, ready to depart at a moment's notice.
The assistant hurried over, clutching a stack of documents, his face flushed with indignation. "Those bastards from the Shanghai crowd poached our most important client while we were away! We were right on the verge of signing the contract, and the client suddenly backed out. Almost two months of our hard work in Shanghai is about to go down the drain. Damn it!"
Qin Yuhe's expression remained perfectly calm. "Society is just a game of competing for resources, and everyone relies on their own abilities. Those who fail to seize them are the weak, and those who succeed are the victors. Poaching the client is his skill, but whether or not I can snatch that client back is a test of mine."
He bent down and slid into the car, casting a sidelong glance at his assistant. "There is nothing to complain about."
The assistant couldn't help but admire President Qin's composure and quickly scrambled into the car after him.
Through the window, Qin Yuhe looked at Song Xinya standing outside. "It's windy out here. Go back inside."
Song Xinya wanted to tell him about her impending visit to the Song family, but she hesitated. Seeing how busy he was, she decided it was best not to distract him.
Instead, she offered him a sweet smile and waved. "Have a safe trip. I'll be waiting for you at home."
Home...
At the sound of that word, Qin Yuhe's long, straight eyelashes fluttered heavily.
The concept of "home" had always been a foreign one to him.
He gazed at her, a gentle, tender smile gracing his handsome features. "As soon as I finish my work, I will come right back home."
"To our home."
