854 A Million Times for You 216

"What happened afterward?"

An Xiaoning explained, "Mo Li found out that she was destined to have no son in her life and that the Ye family would not have any male heirs after Ye Xiaotian. Ye Xiaotian's mother then resorted to extreme means in order to make Mo Li conceive a baby boy. She hired a medium to write a talisman that she dissolved in water and forced Mo Li to drink. Mo Li did get pregnant again afterward, but it was against Heaven's will since she was not destined to have any sons. Hence, Heaven punished her by taking her daughter's life. As a result, she suffered a miscarriage and divorced Ye Xiaotian. Well, that incident almost killed her. Fortunately, she managed to tide through and gave herself a new lease on life. It was tough on her. It took her a great deal of backbone to divorce Ye Xiaotian without taking a single cent from him."

Everyone was appalled.

"This is a good shirt. No. 8, aren't you going to go tell Ms. Mo that the shirt fits you well?"

"Okay." Just as he was about to remove the shirt, No. 3 stopped him and said, "Why are you removing it? You must keep it on when you see her to show her your sincerity. Hurry along."

He then pushed No. 8 out of the house.

"Are you trying to make me freeze to death?"

No. 3 handed him a blazer and said, "Put it on."

No. 8 tucked the shirt into his trousers and put on the blazer, exuding an alluring charm.

No. 8 then proceeded to the apartment on the 32nd floor of the building opposite.

He pressed the doorbell.

Mo Li opened the door and immediately got the jitters the moment she saw that he was wearing the shirt she had bought him. "You're here," she said nervously.

"I really like the shirt. Thank you."

"Good… that you like it. Would you like to come in?" she asked meekly.

"Nah, I just came by to tell you that I liked it. I still have to follow Sis Xiaoning out later. Why haven't you gone to work yet?"

"I'm going to get going real soon."

"Alright, be careful while on your way home later at night. I'll be taking my leave now."

She nodded and said, "Okay."

She only realized that she should have asked for his mobile number after he'd entered the elevator.

Would it be a little inappropriate to ask him for his number if he didn't initiate exchanging numbers with me? she thought to herself.

She closed the door and felt much more at ease, knowing that he fancied the shirt.

She grabbed her bag and went to work merrily.

—

An Xiaoning had dinner at home and chatted with Shi Qingzhou for a while before leaving the estate.

She headed straight to the Gu family mansion.

"Young Madam, I've already completed everything you wanted me to," said Fan Shixin, who was already waiting for her.

"It's been hard on you. Is he awake yet?"

"No, but he should come to very soon. The effects of the anesthesia will wear off soon enough."

"Alright, go back and get some rest. Come back again tomorrow."

"Okay. This is his mask," said Fan Shixin, handing her a mask.

An Xiaoning took it from his hands and took a close look to find that it was of superior quality.

An Xiaoning headed to Bei Qi's room after Fan Shixin left.

Not long after, Bei Qi came to. However, he couldn't feel the pain in his legs since the anesthesia in his legs had yet to wear off.

"Didn't you say that you would treat me well?" he asked.

"Of course I will, but how do I explain this? You were the one who caused my godparents' death. Beicheng and his wife are still lying unconscious on the hospital beds. That's all your doing. Of course, Gu Dongcheng had initially harbored ill intentions and had a motive for killing his family members. However, you exploited that agenda of his and manipulated him into killing them. I had your legs amputated so as to make you pay for what you had done. Otherwise, it'll always be a thorn in my flesh. I really wanted to kill you, though."

"There must be other reasons, am I right? Your main purpose is to prevent me from escaping. Now that I've become immobile, it would be much harder for me to escape your clutches."

"What are you saying? When there's a will, there's a way. If you're bent on leaving me, you would still find a way to escape, even if you lost all your limbs. I've already spoken to Pei Yi over the phone. He too knows that all of his subordinates have been killed by me. Let's be candid and state things clearly beforehand. Even if you run away from me and go back to him, he'll definitely kill you. After all, why would he want you again if you've already become my lackey? Aren't I right?"

"I'll resign myself to fate since I've ended up in your hands. I know there's no way I can ever escape your clutches. You definitely won't allow me to make it out of here alive," Bei Qi said dejectedly.

An Xiaoning did not deny it and said, "I won't ill-treat you as long as you're loyal and devoted to me. Why should I keep you around if you're not genuine about working for me wholeheartedly?"

"You're a very decisive person."

An Xiaoning handed him the mask in her hand and said, "Here, I got this made for you especially. I can guarantee that no one will recognize you."

"Thanks for going the extra mile."

"It's only my duty."

As soon as she left the room, she heard Bei Qi shrieking in excruciating pain.

The anesthetic must have worn off, An Xiaoning thought to herself. She had opted to administer him with both full-body and specific-area anesthesia, so as to prevent him from feeling pain as soon as he came to.

However, the grueling pain would come sooner or later.

Her heart grew heavy at the thought of the still-unconscious Gu Beicheng and Lin Mingxi.

She would be filled with fear and anxiety for as long as they were unconscious.

There were many complicated issues she had to face, all of which would be resolved once Gu Beicheng comes to, even if he's still hospitalized.

Yet, he was still unconscious.

"Sis, there are some malicious speculations going around the media claiming that Mr. Gu's already dead. It has become a viral topic online, and there are all sorts of guesses and theories."

She whipped out her mobile phone and searched about the topic on the internet.

She could not help but feel exasperated upon seeing the nasty and ill-intentioned comments, although she knew not to be bothered by strangers.

"Let's not care about them. Their mouths belong to them and they have the freedom of speech. I, too, have the right to block all their comments from appearing online." She immediately called Fan Shixin and instructed, "Help me erase all the data and information about Beicheng's death hoax online. Delete all the comments and discussion forums too. If anyone constantly makes those malicious and nasty comments online, find out their IP addresses and send me a name list."

Fan Shixin could tell that she was infuriated and said, "Young Madam, are you planning to meet those netizens in person?"

"Stay out of this. You just have to follow my instructions."

"Alright."

After ending the call, he looked at Jin Qingyan and said, "Young Madam seems to have hit the roof."

"It does seem like it. She used to be nonchalant toward those evil netizens who criticize her online, and she would never let their harsh remarks affect her mood. Yet, she's become so sensitive and protective now that Gu Beicheng is involved. However, there are all sorts of people in society who come from different family and education backgrounds. The way they carry themselves is different too. A wise person will never spark rumors and join in on frivolous banter and groundless gossip. Take those people in our circle who often take it to the internet to slam others, thinking that they're upholding justice. We're already busy enough, how could we possibly have the time to poke our noses in others' business?"

"I shall go and arrange for this to be done, then."

"Go ahead."

Noticing that he was about to stand up, Fan Shixin asked, "Young Sir, where are you going?"