After the divorce, he took care of his child and sold fried rice; his ex-wife was filled with regret

Xiao Li's eyes darted away, and he didn't dare to answer directly. Instead, he looked at Zhang Cuihua next to him.

Zhang Cuihua stood by the bed and spoke with a righteous indignation:

"Where else could they be? They're gone! That ingrate Lin Fan, he just grabbed the child and left, we couldn't even stop him."

"Lin Fan is here?" Su Qing's breathing suddenly quickened. She gripped the white sheet beneath her tightly. "You just stood by and watched him take the child away? Didn't you try to stop him?!"

"Why didn't you stop me!" Upon hearing this, Zhang Cuihua felt wronged and angry.

"Your dad and I had just arrived at the infusion room when we bumped into Lin Fan carrying the child, about to leave. I told him to put the child down, but he completely ignored me! He's a huge, imposing man, and his stern face is terrifying. How could an old woman like me stop him?"

Su Ming quickly chimed in, "That's right, Qingqing. We can't just fight with such an uncivilized person in public, can we? Besides, he was walking so fast, we couldn't stop him anyway."

Hearing her parents' nonchalant excuses, Su Qing felt a surge of anger rush to her head. She turned and glared at Xiao Li:

"What did I tell you before! I told you to keep an eye on him, and absolutely not let him take the child away! What have you been doing?!"

Xiao Li lowered his head after being scolded and explained, feeling wronged:

"President Su, Mr. Lin is the child's biological father in law. I'm just an assistant; I have no law enforcement authority. What right do I have to stop him?"

"If I forcefully stop him, he will call the police on the spot, and tomorrow's headlines about our company's restructuring and listing will all turn into your family scandal."

Su Qing gritted her teeth, the veins on the back of her hand bulging as she exerted force.

She knew Xiao Li was right, but she just couldn't swallow her anger.

Lin Fan taking the child away not only meant that all her scheming in the past few days had been in vain, but also that Lin Fan held the most fatal leverage over her.

"Qingqing, I have to say, you really are something else."

Seeing her daughter's gritted teeth, Zhang Cuihua shrugged indifferently and pulled up a stool to sit down by the bed.

"If he wants to take that burden with him, let him take him. Why are you arguing with him?"

Su Qing turned her head sharply to look at her mother, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Zhang Cuihua was completely oblivious to the change in Su Qing's gaze and continued talking about her plans.

"Actually, I've always wanted to tell you this: what's your net worth now?"

"The Su Group is about to go public in the United States, and you will be a real female CEO worth billions! The young talents and wealthy young men who want to pursue you will line up from Jiangcheng to Beijing."

Zhang Cuihua lowered her voice, speaking in a tone that suggested she was doing it for her own good:

"With your looks and qualifications, marrying into a wealthy family of equal standing wouldn't be a problem at all. But if you have a five-year-old child with you, then the situation changes!"

"When the groom's family hears that you have a child from a previous marriage, who wouldn't have reservations? Who would want to raise someone else's child?"

"Mom, what nonsense are you talking about!" Su Qing's voice trembled.

"How am I talking nonsense? I'm just looking out for you in the long run!" Zhang Cuihua slapped her thigh and said confidently.

"Since Lin Fan wants a child, let him raise it!"

"He's just a run-down restaurant owner; all he's fit for is sitting around the stove watching the kids."

"You could be focused on your career, living a carefree and comfortable life, enjoying high society – isn't that great? Why did you have to get so worked up over a child in the middle of the night that you ended up in the emergency room!"

Looking at her incessantly chattering mother, Su Qing felt a chill creep down her spine.

These are her family members.

While Lin Fan was busy making porridge in the middle of the night to help her daughter's fever go down, her mother was worrying about whether this granddaughter would affect her daughter's future "marriage market value".

"What do you know..." Su Qing bit her pale lips, her voice sounding like it was squeezed out from between her teeth.

"How could I not understand? I'm your own mother!" Zhang Cuihua said, somewhat displeased.

"You don't know anything!"

Su Qing suddenly lost control of her emotions, grabbed the stainless steel water glass from the bedside table next to her, and smashed it hard on the ground.

With a loud crash, water splashed everywhere, and the cup rolled a long way across the terrazzo floor.

The ward fell silent instantly. The patient and their family members in the next bed all turned around, staring at Su Qing as if she were a madwoman.

Zhang Cuihua was startled and jumped to her feet: "You brat, why are you taking it out on me like that!"

Su Qing was panting heavily, her eyes bloodshot and frighteningly red.

"Do you think I'm only doing this to fight for a child? Do you think I want to come to the hospital in the middle of the night to be pointed at and gossiped about?!"

Su Qing stared intently at Zhang Cuihua.

"The company is about to go public in the US! HSBC Capital's $500 million performance-based agreement includes a clear clause regarding the founder's reputation!"

"If Lin Fan sues me at this critical juncture, and the judge convicts me in court as an irresponsible and wicked mother who abandoned her seriously ill daughter, my personal reputation will be completely ruined!"

Su Qing became more and more agitated as she spoke, and pulled out the IV needle from the back of her hand. Blood beads instantly seeped out, but she was completely unaware.

"Once the media exposes this, the company's valuation will plummet, and the 500 million in bridge financing could be withdrawn at any time!"

"Forget about ringing the bell at that point, our whole family will go bankrupt and be liquidated along with the company, ending up sleeping on the streets!"

Zhang Cuihua was stunned by this series of words, and the color drained from her face instantly.

"Bankruptcy...?" she stammered, her previous arrogance completely gone.

"How did it escalate to this point? He's just a child!"

Su Ming, who was standing nearby, turned pale upon hearing this and quickly stepped forward to lower his voice:

"Qingqing, don't get agitated. The doctor said your blood pressure can't go any higher. Is it really that serious?"

"What should we do? How about... how about I take some money and go to the Lin family's shop privately to talk to him?"

She once thought that by kicking Lin Fan out of the house, she was leading the entire Su family to achieve a leap in social class.

But now she realizes that when she needed support the most, the people around her, besides making things worse and taking from her, couldn't offer any real support whatsoever.

Shen Man is right.

In the eyes of the Su family, money and face always come first.

Su Qing slowly leaned back on the pillow, closed her eyes, and concealed the despair and exhaustion in them.

"Get out, everyone." Su Qing's voice was weak, yet cold and hard.

"Qingqing..." Zhang Cuihua wanted to say something more.

"I told you all to get out!" Su Qing suddenly opened her eyes and shouted sharply.

Zhang Cuihua and Su Ming were so frightened that they dared not utter another sound and slunk out of the ward.

Xiao Li stood by the bed, unsure whether to leave or stay.

"President Su..." Xiao Li carefully handed over a tissue and pointed to Su Qing's still bleeding hand.