Chapter 209: Come home with me, won't you know everything then?

After Shen Li took the elevator downstairs, she saw Shen Zhaozhao, who hadn't left yet, at the entrance. At this moment, Shen Zhaozhao turned around. Their gazes met, and the moment their eyes locked, there was a brief silence.

Shen Li walked up, stopped in front of her, and took the initiative to speak: "If you have something to say, say it. I'm in a hurry."

Shen Zhaozhao lightly bit her lip. The words she wanted to say were stuck in her chest for a moment, making them somewhat difficult to utter. After a while, she finally said with difficulty: "I'm sorry."

Shen Li looked at the guilt in her eyes; her own face remained expressionless and without a ripple, and there wasn't much of a stir in her heart either.

She didn't know what was going on lately, but several people had already said those three words, "I'm sorry," to her.

"I know," Shen Li said. "If there's nothing else, I'm heading back to school."

After dropping these words, she shifted her gaze away from her and stepped forward, intending to leave and hurry back to school.

Just then, her phone vibrated. She took it out of her bag and glanced at the message Xie Qin had sent: 【Shall I come pick you up?】

Shen Li replied to him: 【Okay.】

Behind her, Shen Zhaozhao continued: "About what happened back then, I'm sorry to you. I was young, immature, and didn't understand things. I was just too afraid of leaving that home."

She choked up: "Sister... I'm sorry."

After the message was sent, Shen Li heard these words and recalled the past; there was still some lingering sadness and suffocating emotion in her heart.

For Shen Li, this threshold was truly difficult to cross.

She slowly turned around, shifted her gaze away from her phone, and looked calmly at the tears in her eyes, watching her with a hint of amusement: "You weren't young, nor were you immature."

It was just pure, extreme malice.

"Actually, you understood everything."

Shen Zhaozhao couldn't say a word, let alone defend herself, and lowered her head in shame.

Shen Li noticed that the bag Shen Zhaozhao was carrying was no longer the luxury designer bag from before.

The Shen Zhaozhao of the past loved to dress herself up exquisitely, wearing and using only the best, and her face still had a bit of baby fat. Now, her hair was frizzy, her complexion was sallow, and she had lost a lot of weight.

It was as if she had fallen from heaven to hell, beaten back to her original form.

Yet, only Shen Li had remained unchanged for all these years.

Shen Li did indeed feel a sliver of satisfaction knowing she wasn't doing well, but more than that, seeing her brought back an inescapable sense of irritation from the shadows of her heart.

Since returning from abroad, their communication had been limited to WeChat chats; they hadn't met in person.

Today was the first time.

Shen Li didn't know what she was holding onto, and told her in a very flat tone: "What our family gave you over these six years, you've paid back. After you started working, you didn't send less money to the card for Mom's medical expenses."

"The kindness between our two families, let's just consider it mutually canceled. From now on... we owe each other nothing."

Shen Zhaozhao clung to her last shred of hope and asked cautiously: "Can I... still come to see you?"

"Don't worry, I won't cause you any trouble."

Shen Li frowned slightly, pursed her lips, and told her: "I heard your uncle broke his leg at a construction site a while ago and his situation isn't great. You have your own family to support."

"I will take care of Mom."

"You... don't come over anymore."

She had already made herself very clear.

Before going abroad, Shen Zhaozhao had already had her household registration moved back and changed her name back.

Thinking about it, she hadn't had it easy these years. Although her monthly salary was over ten thousand, the little money she had in her hands still had to support her biological father, her stepmother, and two younger siblings who were still in school.

Everyone had their own difficulties; there was no need for her to place her guilt where it didn't belong.

She didn't need her atonement.

In the distance, Shen Li saw that familiar car slowly driving over.

Shen Zhaozhao's voice trembled: "Okay."

"If you have time, go see Uncle. He divorced Aunt Wanyi. Because Uncle sold the house to cover Aunt's medical expenses, he argued a lot with Aunt Wanyi's side of the family. And that child got encephalitis and didn't receive timely treatment. Now he's eight or nine years old, but only has the intelligence of a three-year-old. Uncle has aged a lot over these years. He came to find me a while ago, asking for your contact information, but I didn't give it to him."

Shen Li's eyelids fluttered. After a brief moment of silence, she finally dropped a very faint sentence: "There's no need."

Yes, there was no need for anything anymore.

Having reached this point today, it was his own choice.

Whether good or bad, he should pay the price for the mistakes he made back then.

From the day he chose to leave her and Mom, they were no longer a family.

Xie Qin drove the car and stopped under the shade of a tree not far away, the window slowly rolling down. Shen Li lifted her eyes to look over, her gaze landing on him. Her lips curled up slightly, unbidden, blooming into a faint yet gentle smile, and then she walked with light steps, step by step, toward him.

Opening the passenger door, Shen Li got in, fastened her seatbelt, and said, "Let's go."

Xie Qin rested one hand on the steering wheel, turned the car around, and stepped on the gas to leave. "Is Auntie still pleased?"

Shen Li turned her head to look at him: "How much is the rent? I'll transfer it to you."

Xie Qin turned his head to meet her gaze and hooked his lips: "Just accompany me, that'll do."

Shen Li curled her lips: "One thing is one thing. You earning money... isn't easy either."

Xie Qin let out a low laugh, looking at her with interest: "Shen Li... think about it yourself. Why would I, a wealthy man, choose to work like a beast of burden to earn money?"

Shen Li looked at him without speaking.

Xie Qin stared at the road ahead, his other hand landing on the top of her head, rubbing it affectionately: "This money was meant to be earned for you, so you can spend it without any mental burden. Otherwise... do you really think I care about the ten or twenty thousand Zhang Shanfeng gives me every month?"

"To work for someone for this ten or twenty thousand, am I bored out of my mind?"

Shen Li was left unable to refute him for a moment.

A monthly salary of ten or twenty thousand was already a very good salary for an ordinary person.

But for Xie Qin, this amount of money might not even cover his expenses for a day or two.

Shen Li suddenly became curious: "Xie Qin, what does your family do?"

It felt like in his entire life, even if he didn't work or earn money, he seemed to have an endless supply of it.

He spent money as he pleased, without restraint.

Everything from what she ate, wore, and used was covered by him.

Since she moved in, Shen Li had calculated the accounts. The clothes, bags, and cosmetics Xie Qin bought for her... were all the best top brands. Last time, she looked up the price of a face cream, and it was over three thousand.

Shen Li rarely asked about his affairs; she knew he was rich when she was at Chengde University.

She just didn't know what the limit of his wealth was.

What kind of business did his family do?

Auntie Xue and Uncle Xie also rarely posted on social media.

Regarding his family background, Shen Li could be said to know absolutely nothing. Xie Qin had mentioned before that his mother did some small business and his father was a painter, but he was very vague about it.

Xie Qin curled his lips and said mysteriously: "Come home with me, won't you know everything then?" ===== CHAPTER 210 =====