Chapter 370: President Su
"What?" The news he’d gathered made Mr. Qu’s face fall.
A slut, someone who got rich by duping men...
He never expected things to have gotten this bad, and he certainly never imagined Qu An would do something like this.
This was the biggest blow to Mr. Qu.
He never thought that sensible son of his would turn into this kind of person.
When Qu An was little, the family was still struggling. Mrs. Qu was malnourished and couldn’t even produce enough milk, so Qu An was sick all the time and suffered a great deal.
Later, when the family made money, they inevitably felt the need to compensate and treated Qu An exceptionally well.
Fortunately, Qu An had always been sensible and cheerful, and he grew up well.
Mr. Qu knew that Qu An had gotten a bit arrogant in the past two years, but he hadn’t paid it much mind.
’It’s normal for young people to be full of themselves,’ he had thought. ’He’ll mature after a while.’
That’s what he had thought, but he never imagined Qu An had already developed such an arrogant, intolerant, and vindictive personality, one that was unforgiving and crossed every line.
Mr. Qu hung up the phone, not even knowing how he got home.
The door to Qu An’s room was shut tight. Mrs. Qu was in the living room, crying by herself.
Seeing Mr. Qu return, Mrs. Qu went up to him and complained, "What took you so long? An took a huge blow. He started punching the wall, and now his hand is bleeding, but he won’t let me bandage it. What are we going to do?"
Mr. Qu waved a hand dismissively. "Don’t worry about him."
"Honey, that Su Li doesn’t seem like an easy person to deal with. To be able to open such a big factory at her age, she’s no ordinary person. I’m afraid there’s no hope. We should just stop trying to ask her for help."
As a mother, her heart naturally ached for her son. Even though she didn’t know the whole story, Mrs. Qu had a knee-jerk aversion to Su Li, the person who had made Qu An so miserable.
Mr. Qu gave his wife a deep look. "You’re right, there’s no hope."
’She was the only hope.’
"Let’s just find someone else. The factory has been open for so many years, and we’ve worked with so many people. I can’t believe we won’t find anyone."
Mrs. Qu didn’t notice the strange look in her husband’s eyes and kept talking.
"...How could you hit An in front of an outsider today? An’s already so old..."
Mr. Qu impatiently cut off his wife’s nagging. "From now on... stop spoiling An."
He looked at her intently. "If you don’t want him to be led astray for good."
In this world, there’s always someone better, always someone more powerful.
The Qu family was better off than ordinary people, but compared to the real giants, they were nothing. Yet Qu An was already starting to act like he didn’t know his place.
This time he offended Su Li. What about next time?
With his personality, if he offends someone he can’t afford to cross, who knows if he’ll even make it out alive.
Mr. Qu’s tone was so heavy that Mrs. Qu immediately sensed it and fell silent.
That night, the family of three tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
The next day, just as Mr. Qu decided to look for help elsewhere and give up on Su Li, a heavy pounding echoed on their front door.
The debt collectors had arrived.
Knowing the Qu family was in dire straits, their unpaid business partners showed up at their door, afraid the family would skip town or refuse to pay.
The carefully maintained illusion of calm was finally shattered.
Once the first one came, the others heard about it. Fearing the Qu family would pay off the others but not them, they immediately came knocking as well.
Soon, three groups of collectors, each larger than the last, were camped out in the Qu family’s home.
The house was too noisy for Qu An to ignore, even if he wanted to.
He opened his door and saw the chaotic scene in the living room, staring at the menacing-looking debt collectors.
The anger and self-pity that filled Qu An’s heart were instantly extinguished.
From the moment Su Li had thrown up during his confession until now, Qu An had been in a strange state.
Even when Mr. Qu told him about the family’s business problems yesterday, he had felt anxious, but it hadn’t truly sunk in.
Only now did he understand what it all meant.
Only now did he finally feel like he was waking up.
’So... so this is what’s become of my family.’
"This house of yours isn’t half bad. Mortgage it, sell it, and you can pay us back."
"I heard your kid’s a big shot at school, spends money like water. How can you have no money to pay us back?"
"If we don’t get our money, we’re not leaving."
The collectors were rooted to the spot, refusing to leave.
Listening to their words, Qu An exchanged a long look with his parents from across the room, unable to make a sound for a long time.
A few hours later, Qu An stood in front of the familiar Love Reading bookstore.
His fists clenched and unclenched. His Adam’s apple bobbed for a moment before he finally summoned his courage and walked inside.
"I’m looking for Su Li," he said, his head lowered.
Chang E, who was working part-time instead of going home for the summer vacation, saw Qu An and her internal alarm bells went off.
"What are you doing here? What are you trying to pull now?"
Qu An looked at Chang E’s expression and closed his eyes for a moment. "I’m not trying to do anything. I just want to see Su Li."
Even now, he still couldn’t believe that Su Li was the boss of Pinjun.
But even so, even if there was only a one percent chance, he couldn’t give up.
His parents were being held captive at home, not allowed to leave, just waiting for him to bring back the money.
He had seen his mother’s tears and the look of humiliation and anguish on his father’s face. He couldn’t just turn a blind eye.
No matter how painful or difficult it was, he had to act.
He could apologize, he could beg Su Li—as long as she would forgive him and work with his family again...
Qu An’s fingernails dug deep into his palms, the pain a way to numb himself, or perhaps to keep himself lucid.
Chang E found Qu An’s demeanor strange, but she shook her head firmly.
"Su Li isn’t here. She rarely comes by unless there’s a reason."
Unwilling to give up, Qu An searched the entire store, upstairs and down, only accepting defeat when he didn’t find her.
"Do you know where Su Li lives?" Qu An asked Chang E.
Even if Chang E knew, there was no way she would tell Qu An.
"I don’t know. What do you want with her? I’m telling you, Qu An, don’t even think about causing her trouble, or you’ll have to deal with me."
Qu An closed his eyes. "I’m not looking for trouble. I just want to apologize to her."
Chang E was suspicious. "Apologize?"
"Yes, so please tell me where Su Li is. I need to see her about something urgent..." He gritted his teeth. "I’m begging you."
Seeing his state and hearing him actually say "beg," Chang E thought for a moment and said, "I’ll try calling her."
As Qu An watched with hopeful eyes, Chang E put down the phone.
"Su Li’s not home, and I don’t know where she is right now. Her internship doesn’t start for another two days."
Qu An had no choice but to leave the bookstore. He stood by the roadside, thinking for a while, until an idea struck him.
Two hours later, Qu An was standing in front of the Pinjun Clothing Factory.
Su Li wasn’t at home, wasn’t at the bookstore, and wasn’t at her internship yet. In a flash of inspiration, Qu An thought of Pinjun Clothing.
Qu An stood before the entrance to the Pinjun Clothing Factory, took two deep breaths, and couldn’t quite describe what he was feeling.
He hoped Su Li would be there, and at the same time, hoped she wouldn’t.
Even at this point, deep down inside, he still doubted the fact that Su Li was the boss of Pinjun.
But... the faint hope he was clinging to was quickly shattered.
When he told the gate guard he was looking for Su Li, the guard replied.
"President Su? Do you have an appointment? What is this regarding?"
The factory staff were tight-lipped and wouldn’t normally discuss Su Li’s affairs, but since Qu An had mentioned her by name, they responded in a professional manner.
Qu An froze for a second, his mind filled with the two words "President Su."