Xia Xibei was stunned when she saw the look on Qiao Yanjue’s face suddenly change.
“What- What do you mean?”
Qiao Yanjue reduced the force on her leg, and soon returned back to his normal self.
“My brothers and sister are all about ten to twenty years older than me, and they never liked me or my mom. Don’t call them my family. Ha! They treat me like I’m their enemy!”
He gave a self-deprecating laugh, and there was a hint of tears in his eyes when he said that, which he tried to conceal by hanging his head low.
Xia Xibei felt her heart aching terribly.
In her past life, she had heard of things about the Qiao family, and knew that they all had complicated relationships.
However, she wasn’t sure what exactly was going on with them.
All she knew was that Xia Qinghan had become a daughter-in-law of the Qiao family, which she was extremely proud of. The Xia family also became better off because of that.
With financial support from the Qiao family, Xia Qinghan’s career had an even smoother sailing.
She had also heard that Qiao Yanjue wasn’t on good terms with his brothers and sister. There were even rumors saying that he murdered his brothers to get to where he was.
Of course, these were just rumors and gossip, and she couldn’t ascertain their authenticity.
Besides, despite all that, he and his brothers appeared to get along when outsiders were around. Xia Qinghan also had a good relationship with Qiao Yanjue’s fiancée, Li Weiyun.
No matter how intensely people discussed them, they never failed to put up a respectful, harmonious front.
Nevertheless, now that Qiao Yanjue said it himself, it must be true.
Qiao Yanjue did not stop what he was doing, continuing, “Don’t talk about brotherhood. When they never stop hoping that I’m dead, somewhere out there…”
Xia Xibei interrupted him, “When I first met you, was it also them who…”
“Yes.” Qiao Yanjue held nothing back, looking crestfallen. “The second time too.”
He wasn’t lying. The feud between them was real. It was just that these things could no longer upset him ever since a few years ago, all because it wasn’t worth his while.
Looking at the vulnerability that he had never shown her before, Xia Xibei felt a lump in her throat, and she found it a little hard to breathe.
“Don’t- Don’t be sad, I…”
She used to think that it was Qiao Yanjue’s enemies that were hunting him down, but she had never expected it to be his own brothers.
She knew how terrible it felt to be hurt and betrayed by family and relatives. She knew it all too well.
“I’m not sad,” Qiao Yanjue chuckled, his vulnerability nowhere to be seen now, as if the tears he had just shown were nothing but an illusion.
He said, “I’m just trying to tell you that those who truly care for me will always believe in me and stand by my side. As for those who don’t, I don’t give a damn about them.”
In other words, those who didn’t stand by his side would never be considered as his close ones.
He massaged her leg harder, and spoke in a serious tone,” In fact, my parents are both great. It’s just that my dad can be a little hard-headed at times. But you don’t need to worry, he’s not going to hurt you.”
Xia Xibei was shocked and couldn’t help but frown. Why did his words sound a bit off?
“As long as you treat me well, my parents will be good to you.”
Xia Xibei didn’t know what to say. That sounded even more wrong!
Before she could get her head around it, Qiao Yanjue went on, “By the way, what else did you want to tell me?”
Xia Xibei hesitated for a moment before asking, “Do you know Xia Qinghan?”
“Yea, she’s my nephew’s fiancée,” Qiao Yanjue nodded. “Why? You two don’t get along?”
He had looked into their relationship before, and knew that they weren’t on good terms, but he wasn’t very sure about the exact reason. It was like they had developed a feud out of nowhere.
Xia Xibei looked somewhat grave as she asked, “If I get into a fight with her, what would you do?”
“Call 120,” Qiao Yanjue replied without a second thought. “Then find a lawyer.”
Xia Xibei was speechless.
