Chapter 1361: It really is you!

Ye Chen and Chen Zekai exchanged questions and answers, scaring Su Shoudao, who was standing beside them, out of his wits.

He truly hadn't expected Ye Chen's methods to be so ruthless. He cursed angrily in his heart: "Sending people to a dog farm—is this even human? Sending people to Mount Zhangbai to dig for ginseng?! Is this something a human being would do?"

In truth, whether it was the dog farm, Mount Zhangbai, or the black coal mines and Lion Mountain, those familiar with Ye Chen had long since ceased to be surprised.

It was just that, all this time, Ye Chen had lived in the shadows as far as Su Shoudao was concerned, so Su Shoudao knew nothing of Ye Chen's methods.

It was also precisely because he knew nothing that, upon suddenly hearing a few clues, he was immediately scared out of his mind.

And when he heard Ye Chen say he was going to take him to the executive floor, he became even more suspicious.

He didn't know why Ye Chen wanted to take him to the executive floor. According to him, it was to take him to see a few old friends, but who could these old friends be?

Amidst his confusion, Su Shoudao was dragged into the elevator by Ye Chen.

Immediately after, the elevator reached the top floor.

At this moment, the passageway from the elevator doors all the way to the executive floor had been completely placed under martial law by Chen Zekai's men.

Ye Chen pulled the panicked Su Shoudao straight toward the room where Du Haiqing and Su Zhiyu were staying.

And at this very moment, Du Haiqing and Su Zhiyu were still completely unaware of all this.

Just twenty minutes ago, Chen Zekai's men had just delivered breakfast to the mother and daughter.

Over these past few days, the two had already grown accustomed to this life of house arrest.

Although they couldn't go out, couldn't contact the outside world, and didn't even have any way to obtain information from the outside, which made it very hard for them to adapt at first, after a little more time had passed, the two had actually grown to like this simple, isolated life.

With no WeChat, no phone, no visitors, and no news, variety shows, or TV dramas, the most the two did every day was snuggle together to chat and read. As time went on, this also allowed the bond between mother and daughter to reach a new level of sublimation.

After all, in modern society, it is not easy to spend a few days living in such isolation from the world, modern technology, communications, and entertainment.

Sometimes Su Zhiyu would complain, saying that living here was worse than prison; at least in prison, there was time for outdoor recreation, and one could watch TV and keep up with current events in the outside world. But here, she had absolutely no idea what had happened in the world.

After eating, Du Haiqing began to clear the trays and said, "Zhiyu, in a moment, help me tell the guards at the door to help us buy a few books."

Su Zhiyu nodded and asked her, "Mom, what books do you want to read?"

Du Haiqing smiled and said, "Suddenly I really miss the days when we were young. The most popular literary works in the country back then were a batch of classic masterpieces from the former Soviet Union era, such as *How the Steel Was Tempered*, *The Dawns Here Are Quiet*, and *And Quiet Flows the Don*. At that time, the movies shown in cinemas were also mostly films from the former Soviet Union era, the most famous being *Lenin in 1918*."

Su Zhiyu said with a blank expression, "Mom, I don't seem to have any impression of these things you're talking about..."

Du Haiqing smiled slightly: "They are all very old works. You young people might not like reading them, but they had a very deep influence on our generation."

Su Zhiyu nodded: "Then I'll tell the guards at the door in a moment."

Having said that, she couldn't help but sigh helplessly and said, "I don't know when our benefactor actually plans to see us. I even dreamed of him last night..."

Du Haiqing asked curiously, "What did you dream about him?"

Su Zhiyu gave a bitter laugh: "I dreamed that he got into a fight with Dad. Dad was beaten black and blue, and he was even calling me over to help..."

Du Haiqing smiled and asked her, "Then did you help?"

"No." Su Zhiyu stuck out her tongue and said, "Not only did I not help him, I even kicked his shoe into the river."

Du Haiqing couldn't help but laugh a few times: "Haha, what kind of dream is that?"

Su Zhiyu laughed: "In the dream, it seemed to be by the Yongding River, which is the place I liked to go to fly kites the most when I was little."

As she spoke, Su Zhiyu added, "You say dreams are strange too. In the dream, I seemed to be just a little girl, but when I was dreaming, I didn't feel it was out of place at all."

Du Haiqing nodded: "What's strange about that? Most dreams that feel out of place are ones where you are incredibly invested while you are in the dream, and only feel they are absurd after you wake up."

As she spoke, she sighed softly and continued: "Sigh... In my life, I don't know how many absurd dreams I've had, dreaming that dead people were still alive, dreaming that I had changed to a different way of living..."

Su Zhiyu looked at Du Haiqing, and seeing the regret that could never be erased from her face, she couldn't help but ask, "Mom, do you regret marrying my dad?"

Du Haiqing was slightly stunned, then gave a bitter laugh and said, "If the girl who was the same age as you back then had known that marrying that man would be accompanied by a lifetime of unwillingness, she certainly wouldn't have married him. But when that girl had a daughter who was the same age as she was back then, if you asked her again, then she certainly wouldn't regret it."

After hearing this, Su Zhiyu's eyes couldn't help but turn slightly red.

She knew what her mother meant.

If it were just for herself, marrying her father was a regret;

However, if she included herself, marrying her father and having her and her brother, she did not regret it.

It was just that this single sentence of "no regret" buried her mother's true love for a lifetime.

Su Zhiyu couldn't help but say with emotion, "Mom... thank you..."

Du Haiqing smiled: "Silly child, what are you thanking me for?"

Having said that, she gently wiped away the tear from the corner of Su Zhiyu's eye and said earnestly, "Therefore, you are not me. You are the same as that girl who was your age back then, so when you choose your other half in the future, you must be cautious. Don't ever walk down your mother's old path. There are countless types of men in this world—tall, short, fat, thin, white, black, poor, rich—these are all unimportant. Only the 'right' one is the most important. So in the future, you must choose the right one. Remember your mother's words: don't settle."

Su Zhiyu nodded repeatedly and said with extreme earnestness, "Mom, I know..."

Just at this moment, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Su Zhiyu hurriedly said, "It must be the auntie coming to collect the tableware. I'll go open the door."

Having said that, she stood up and walked to the room door, reached out, and opened the door.

But she never dreamed that at the moment the door opened, what leaped into her view was the man she had been thinking of day and night, the man who haunted her dreams for so long...

Ye Chen!

At this moment, the lean and tall Ye Chen with a cold expression was standing at the entrance of Su Zhiyu's room. When Ye Chen's face was close at hand, Su Zhiyu felt as if she had been struck by lightning, and the excitement and agitation in her heart could no longer be contained.

She looked at Ye Chen, unable to hide her ecstasy, and blurted out, "Benefactor! It really is you!"

Ye Chen looked at Su Zhiyu and said expressionlessly, "Miss Su, please step back."

Su Zhiyu didn't understand, but she still obediently took a few steps back and asked subconsciously, "Benefactor, are you coming in?"

Ye Chen didn't speak; he reached out from the wall beside the door, grabbed Su Shoudao, and dragged him out in front of him.

For a split second, Su Zhiyu didn't even have time to see Su Shoudao's face clearly. She only saw Ye Chen pull a person out from the blind spot beside him, and immediately after...

Boom!

She saw Ye Chen actually raise his foot and kick that person into the room with one kick!