Chapter 42 Qiao Yunzhou, You Don't Deserve It

"Furthermore, someone told me that the two of us have met before. When was that?"

Hearing this, Qiao Zhuxin raised an eyebrow with a hint of amusement. "Is this an interrogation?"

Qiao Yanxin lowered her head. "I wouldn't dare. I'm just looking for the truth."

"Ah, the truth."

Qiao Zhuxin absentmindedly twirled the ring on her finger. "Are you suspecting that your aunt and your fiancé have an illicit affair? Are you doubting a brother who was raised in the Qiao family alongside you since childhood, questioning his loyalty to your relationship?"

Qiao Zhuxin's words were brutally blunt, causing Qiao Yanxin to frown deeply.

"Little aunt, that's not what I meant."

"Oh, is that not what you meant? Yet isn't that precisely the sentiment you are expressing? How else am I supposed to interpret it?"

Qiao Yanxin sighed helplessly. "That's not my intention. I simply wanted to ask about it."

"If that's not your intention, what is?"

A sarcastic smile curved the corners of Qiao Zhuxin's lips. "I should be the one asking you. Since you knew that Qiao Yunzhou slit his wrists at the hospital back then, why didn't you go to see him?"

"When your fiancé broke both his legs and lay on his bed on the verge of death, where were you? You didn't even bother to visit him once, yet you get jealous and interrogate me because someone else went to see him? What right do you have to question this? By what authority?"

Qiao Yanxin's face turned extremely pale under this barrage of questions. "Little aunt, what do you mean by that? Fine, what about the other question I just asked you? Why won't you answer me? Did you or did you not meet with Qiao Yunzhou previously?!"

Knowing she was losing the argument and knowing she was in the wrong regarding that matter, Qiao Yanxin immediately shifted the topic back to the other issue.

Qiao Zhuxin let out a soft sigh. "It is true that Qiao Yunzhou and I met several years ago."

Upon hearing this, an expression of "I knew it" instantly appeared on Qiao Yanxin's face, as if she had already convinced herself that our previous meeting was proof of an underlying affair between us.

Before Qiao Yanxin could speak, Qiao Zhuxin cut her off immediately. "Why don't you ask why we met in the first place? Want to know why? Let me tell you."

Qiao Zhuxin no longer looked at Qiao Yanxin standing before her. Instead, she gazed into the distance, as if recalling the past.

"I remember when you encountered that earthquake abroad. Some fool—I won't name names—panicked, booked a red-eye flight, and flew overseas to find you."

"Just to rush to your rescue, unaware of how severe the riots were in that area. The moment he landed, he was cornered in an alleyway by a local street gang. Take a guess at what happened next, or better yet, guess if those people let him go after taking his money."

Hearing this, Qiao Yanxin widened her eyes. "T-this... how is that possible?"

Incredulity was written all over her face, while I could only curve my lips in a bitter smile.

That's right. I did go to look for Qiao Yanxin back then. It was simply due to a series of events that I ultimately failed to reach her.

Yet Qiao Yanxin had blindly believed Gu Tingchu's words, assuming that my absence meant I had gone abroad on vacation.

Because of this misunderstanding, she had given me the cold shoulder for a very long time.

No matter how many times I told her that I had gone out to search for her, she refused to believe me.

Ignoring Qiao Yanxin, she continued on her own train of thought. "Trapped in that alleyway with no way out, he had no choice but to empty his pockets. After all, they only wanted money, and if things dragged on, who knew if they would demand his life? So that particular fool handed over every single cent he had on him."

"Unfortunately, what he didn't realize was that those local gangs harbor a deep-seated hatred for East Asian faces. Perhaps driven by racial prejudice, they believed that Easterners are utterly foolish. Once you've willingly handed over your money, how could they possibly let you walk away easily? Consequently, he was pinned to the ground and beaten mercilessly—until I happened to cross paths with them and stepped in to save him."

"If I hadn't gone to his rescue that day, those men intended to beat him to death and harvest his organs to sell. After all, being a foreigner dying in a strange land, no one would have ever discovered his fate."

"Do you have any idea how wretched he looked when I finally found him?"

"There wasn't a single uninjured patch of skin left on his body. Both his legs and arms were broken, his face swollen like a pig's head, clinging to life by a single thread. If not for his sheer, overwhelming will to survive, he would have perished that very night, beyond the power of gods or men to save."

"Yet once I nursed him back to health, without uttering a single word, he immediately rushed right back to the Qiao family."

Listening to this account, a profound sense of melancholy washed over me.

Indeed, these events were true, but hearing them recounted through someone else's perspective felt entirely surreal.

Perhaps because time had healed the wounds, looking back now, I only thought of how resilient I had been back then.

When those clubs and pipes rained down upon my body, I had fought back, pleading with them to spare me if I gave them money, saying I still needed to rescue someone.

Yet how could they possibly understand a word I uttered?

Even when I switched to speaking English later on, they simply pretended not to hear.

I could clearly hear the sound of my own bones shattering, could feel my life draining away drop by drop.

At the time, I thought to myself that I was surely going to die right there. But then I told myself: *How can I die? I haven't seen Qiao Yanxin yet. I don't know if she's alright, I don't know if she survived. Without seeing her, how could I possibly die?*

The recovery process was excruciatingly painful. To heal as quickly as possible, I forced myself to walk persistently throughout the rehabilitation period.

Broken legs usually require several months to mend, yet in less than a month, I was rushing back to the country without a moment's rest.

I knew I had already lost too much time abroad and could not afford to waste another second.

I had to return immediately, to verify Qiao Yanxin's safety with my own eyes.

Yet upon hearing these revelations, Qiao Yanxin wore an expression of utter disbelief.

"How can this be? Little aunt, you're lying to me, aren't you? If this actually happened, why didn't Qiao Yunzhou speak up about it back then?"

Yet she forgot the truth: not a single one of them had been willing to believe me. They had firmly convinced themselves that I had simply gone off to play, branding me with the title of a cold-hearted ingrate.