Chapter 163: A Man Worthy of Trust
From the way things were arranged, she could tell her daughter really did use this room regularly.
It wasn’t just set up for show to deceive people.
Now, Li Fengzhi completely believed that her daughter had her own separate room here.
As for whether the two of them had truly remained platonic while living under the same roof, that was impossible to tell.
Chen Mo, on the other hand, was actually feeling a little guilty.
After all, just two days ago, he had deliberately locked Su Yuqing’s room to trick her into sleeping in his bed.
His intentions had been less than pure, to say the least.
So naturally, he didn’t have the confidence of someone with a clear conscience.
Every extra glance from Li Fengzhi made Chen Mo feel guilty.
After touring her daughter’s room, Li Fengzhi felt much more at ease about her living here.
’Living here, my daughter can be happy. There’s a boy who knows how to respect and care for her, watching over her.’
’This is already an excellent outcome.’
’It’s much better than staying by my side.’
"Chen Mo, thank you so much for taking care of Yuqing all this time."
As she spoke, Li Fengzhi once again took out some money. "Please take this as Yuqing’s rent for staying here."
Chen Mo immediately pushed the money back and shook his head. "There’s no need for that. Yuqing already signed a contract with us. Her living here is a condition we’re required to provide under our agreement. How could we possibly accept rent?"
"But you... What am I supposed to do?"
Li Fengzhi knew very well that the contract was just for show.
’If they had really hired Su Yuqing as a housekeeper, why did Chen Mo smell faintly of cooking fumes while Su Yuqing didn’t?’
’And Chen Mo was sick right now, no less.’
’If Su Yuqing were really the housekeeper, she should have been focused on taking care of Chen Mo, as well as handling the cooking.’
’But clearly, none of that had happened today.’
’Chen Mo had been home alone and was nearly killed by Li Tie.’
’He was sick, yet he had still cooked for himself.’
’What kind of person who’d spent several thousand yuan to hire a housekeeper would end up like this?’
’So, that contract was completely meaningless.’
’While living here, Su Yuqing was the one receiving Chen Mo’s care and the shelter he provided.’
In Li Fengzhi’s eyes, her daughter living here was more of an imposition on him than anything else.
’So naturally, she should be paying rent.’
’In fact, just paying rent seemed like too little.’
’There were food, drinks, utilities, and everything else...’
But now Chen Mo was using the contract as a shield. As for what work had or hadn’t been done, only the two of them who lived together would know.
If he insisted that Su Yuqing had fulfilled her duties, what could Li Fengzhi possibly say?
At that moment, her heart was filled with nothing but gratitude for Chen Mo and admiration for the young man.
She also found herself looking at Chen Mo through the eyes of a potential mother-in-law.
’If he was this kind of young man, entrusting her daughter to him might not be a bad choice at all.’
After staying at Chen Mo’s home for a while longer, Su Yuqing, concerned about Chen Mo’s illness, brought up the fact that he needed to go get an IV drip.
Hearing this, Li Fengzhi and Li Gang took the opportunity to get up and take their leave.
After leaving, Li Gang first drove Chen Mo to the hospital before taking the mother and daughter to the police station.
In the car, Li Fengzhi held her daughter’s hand, her face full of apology. "Mom can see that you’re living well at Chen Mo’s place, and that puts my mind at ease. But things can change. If he ever bullies you in the future, you must tell me immediately."
Feeling her mother’s firm grip on her small hand, Su Yuqing finally felt a trace of affection from her mother in her normal state.
Her eyes began to sting. It had been so long since she had felt such undisguised love from her mother when she was well.
’It seems Mom’s condition is gradually improving.’
’Or perhaps, since we don’t see each other every day, she can mostly maintain her composure when we do meet.’
In the car, Li Gang once again expressed his apologies to Su Yuqing and for what happened to Chen Mo.
Although Chen Mo was already at the hospital, Li Gang was clearly hoping Su Yuqing could help convey his apology and perhaps put in a good word for Li Tie.
Li Gang would have been too embarrassed to say this to an outsider, but with his stepdaughter, he got straight to the point.
After all, there had been many times when Li Fengzhi had an episode, and he was the one who stood in front to block her, allowing Su Yuqing to retreat to safety.
In a way, he had saved Su Yuqing many times.
Su Yuqing was very grateful to Li Gang.
"Yuqing, when you go back, could you talk to your classmate Chen Mo and ask him to forgive your Uncle Li Tie? The main problem is with his thinking. You’ve probably noticed that he’s normally a perfectly fine person. I promise that after this, I will take him to see a psychiatrist and get this problem treated for good.
"But the mistake he made this time was huge. Breaking and entering with intent to kill... that’s an aggravating circumstance.
"If he can’t get the victim’s forgiveness, your Uncle Li Tie’s life is completely ruined. I hope you’ll discuss it with Chen Mo and give him a chance to start over."
Hearing Li Gang’s words, Su Yuqing fell silent.
’If Li Tie had come at her with a knife, perhaps she could have forgiven him for Li Gang’s sake.’
’But he had attacked Chen Mo, almost killing him.’
’She couldn’t bring herself to say the word ’forgiveness’.’
Regardless, she decided she would meet with Li Tie first to see what his situation was really like.
If his case really wasn’t hopeless, then discussing it with Chen Mo afterward wasn’t out of the question.
But if his situation was completely hopeless, Su Yuqing had no intention of saying a single word to Chen Mo about it when she got back.
Soon, the three of them arrived at the police station.
With the police’s arrangements, Su Yuqing finally met Li Tie.
No, that’s not right. It was Li Tie who finally got his wish to see Su Yuqing.
After seeing Li Gang and Li Fengzhi, his final request before going to prison was to see Su Yuqing and repent for his mistakes.
Initially, they weren’t going to agree. But then Liu Xin said he could see that Li Tie showed signs of remorse and that it might be worth a try. Li Fengzhi also thought of her daughter’s personality; this incident wasn’t just about Chen Mo and Li Tie. Su Yuqing was caught in the middle and would surely feel responsible and blame herself.
They figured that if everyone met and talked things out, it might help Su Yuqing find some closure. Only then did they agree to contact her.
In truth, after sitting in the interrogation chair, Li Tie’s head had already cleared up significantly.
He hoped Su Yuqing could help him wake up the rest of the way, to make him give up his fantasies.
Everything you wanted, he got.
After Su Yuqing had talked with him for an hour, Li Tie suddenly looked up to the ceiling and began to cry with a sense of relief.
No one knew what Su Yuqing said to him, but afterward, Li Tie was like a different person. His mental state was clearly much better than before.
Evidently, Su Yuqing’s "talk therapy" was a success.
Su Yuqing, after all, aspired to be a psychologist. She had secretly taught herself a great deal about the subject, and as soon as she heard about Li Tie’s situation, she understood what was going on.
The reason she had agreed to come tonight was also to address his psychological problems.
At the same time, she wanted to see if she could put her knowledge into practice. Clearly, the final results were quite good.