Li Juekai was confident that he could bring the family back to its past glory if he worked hard.
Sadly, Li Juekai’s traffic accident dashed his hopes completely just when things were looking up. In the process, he also lost his daughter.
He was unable to forgive himself for not being with his daughter all these years.
Gu Qingqing said softly, “We plan on staying in the capital. Don’t worry about us. Shi Jin, we can take care of ourselves, so you should focus on yourself.”
She genuinely did not want to burden her daughter.
“Then what about Dad’s injury? What do you plan to do about it?”
“We have been treating it while we were abroad, but we were only able to stabilize his condition. If he ever wants to walk again, it is basically impossible…” Gu Qingqing shook her head gently. She glanced at Gu Jingyuan and continued, “Since your older brother is a surgeon, he plans on operating on his father.”
Gu Jingyuan was a renowned surgeon. He had gained a lot of fame after succeeding in performing a lot of complicated procedures. However, he did not dare to operate on his father. Li Juekai’s injury occurred many years ago, so he had already undergone countless surgeries. To begin with, old injuries were harder to treat than new ones.
Secondly, he could not help feeling apprehensive about surgery since the patient was his father.
Shi Jin could empathize with how he felt.
She said, “Tell me when you are ready for surgery. I will come to help my brother.”
Could any random person help with the surgery?
Li Juekai and Gu Qingqing felt very moved when Shi Jin wanted to help. Their baby girl had grown into a sensible young woman.
It did not matter if she was able to help with the surgery. All that mattered was her concern.
“Mom, why don’t all of you have some rest. I will swing by in a couple of days to see you.” Shi Jin sounded as though she had known them forever.
Although the Li family kept feeling guilty for not being able to spend quality time with Shi Jin all these years, Shi Jin knew how much they did for her.
Before long, Shi Jin and Fu Xiuyuan left. The Li family was pleased with this change in Shi Jin.
Shi Jin kept thinking about her father’s condition after leaving the Li residence.
Fu Xiuyuan was deep in thought about getting introduced to the Li family.
After she had decided what to do about her father, she finally realized Fu Xiuyuan had been looking at her all this time.
“Is there something wrong with my face?” Shi Jin automatically pointed at her cheek.
Fu Xiuyuan looked at her deeply as he placed his hands on the back of her hand and her cheek. “Uh huh.”
“What is it?”
“I have to say you are quite pretty.”
Shi Jin felt tickled. It was hard to imagine a serious and restrained man saying something like that.
She could not help saying, “It seems you are in an excellent mood.”
“My mood is excellent.” Fu Xiuyuan’s eyes came alive as he spoke. The love of his life had just introduced him to her family and nothing was more gratifying and blissful than this. “Thank you, Shi Jin.”
He wanted to thank his girl for everything she gave him.
Shi Jin could tell what was on his mind and she felt sorry thinking about it. All she did was a minor gesture, but he was incredibly moved. She had introduced him to her family mostly to ease their worries. However, he was reacting as though it was a huge honor.
“Honey, this is completely normal. From now on, we will get to see even more family members,” said Shi Jin softly.
Fu Xiuyuan’s smiley eyes lit up and dazzled like stars.
Even though this was everyday life, he was swimming in bliss since he was with Shi Jin.
***
Before Shi Jin had even gotten around to helping out during Li Juekai’s surgery, it was already Shi Qing’s birthday.
Since it was Shi Qing’s birthday, it was naturally a grand affair for the Shi family.
Shi Jin was their foster daughter, so she was also invited.
As Yu Xiuhua handed Shi Jin the invitation in person, she suddenly recalled something and said, “Oh yes. I heard your parents and older brother are in town. Why don’t you bring them over?”
She always had the impression that the Li family was not doing well, so she wanted to invite them and embarrass them at the party.
“Sure,” agreed Shi Jin right away.
It was the perfect time for the world to learn the truth.
Since it was inappropriate for the Li family to bring such matters up, Shi Jin would do it for them.
Yu Xiuhua smiled happily. “You don’t have to bring any gifts and just treat it like you are coming home.”
Shi Jin could tell what Yu Xiuhua was trying to do. It was Shi Qing’s birthday, but Yu Xiuhua was trying to mislead her about not bringing a present. How could the guest come empty-handed? It would have been completely rude.
Although Shi Qing was not very good to Shi Jin, he was loads better than that two-faced Yu Xiuhua. Shi Qing was at least like a normal father to Shi Jin, so Shi Jin was not about to sever ties with him completely.
“Try to swing by early,” said Yu Xiuhua.
***
Chu Ling’s family was the first to arrive on Shi Qing’s birthday.
Yu Xiuhua and Shi Xuexin welcomed them into the house personally. Yu Xiuhua looked at Chu Ling happily as she said, “Chu Ling, welcome. Please have a seat.”
Ever since the plagiarism incident, Chu Ling had kept a low profile and had not shown his face for some time.
Through the talent agency’s efforts, the public was no longer talking about this, but Chu Ling had clearly lost weight over the matter.
This incident was a real setback to his career. He deeply regretted his actions, so he found himself a new music teacher and was determined not to take shortcuts from now on.
The moment he saw Yu Xiuhua, he greeted her politely, “Hi, Madame Shi.”
The Shi and Chu families both felt someone was out to get Chu Ling, so they felt sorry for him. Yu Xiuhua noticed all the weight Chu Ling had lost and said, “Chu Ling, you youngsters can’t keep dieting. The kitchen made some nourishing tonic soup. You must have some later.”
Chu Ling thanked her before entering the villa.
Shi Xuexin went up and entered the villa with Chu Ling’s parents.
There was heavy security since it was a gathering of the rich and powerful and they had to ensure no reporters would get in.
Chu Ling’s cousin was present as well. The moment Chu Jia saw Shi Xuexin, she went over and greeted her, “Hi, Xuexin!”
“Jiajia, come upstairs with me later. I bought some new skincare and it suits your skin type, so I got you a set too.”
Chu Jia was delighted. “Thanks! You are the best!”
The Chu clan were rich and powerful, so skincare meant nothing to them. However, it was very thoughtful of Shi Xuexin to keep thinking about them and saving nice things for them, so everyone in the Chu family liked her.
Mr and Mrs Chu watched as Shi Xuexin held Chu Jia’s hand and went upstairs. Their guilt towards Shi Jin automatically diminished a little.
Since Shi Jin only cared about herself, she was incapable of taking care of Chu Ling if they got married. Shi Xuexin was far better since she was poised and thoughtful.
