After speaking, Qin Jiao helped Qin Zhonghui walk out.

Completely disheartened, Qin Zhonghui didn’t once look back at his mother.

Sun Li raised an eyebrow from the side. ’That girl is really something else.’

Qin Bogang grumbled, "’Something else?’ She’s just reckless! Causing a scene!"

Sun Li scoffed.

Over here, Qin Na was also completely exasperated. She said to her grandmother, who had stopped her crocodile tears, "You’ve driven away the one who was truly filial. Just you wait and see how the one you spoil pampers *you*!"

After she spoke, she grabbed her things and left without a backward glance.

Sun Li had only come to keep up appearances and had no real desire to see the old woman. After a quick glance, she claimed she had business to attend to, turned, and left as well. Qin Bogang had no choice but to stay behind and keep his mother company.

The old woman still felt aggrieved. She murmured, "Eldest, Zhong Hui was never like this before. Tell me, do you think his wife has been bad-mouthing us behind our backs?"

Qin Bogang gave a noncommittal grunt.

The old woman continued, "Sigh, I was against him marrying that Su Yun from the start. And look what happened. My honest second son has really been corrupted by that woman."

Qin Bogang didn’t want to bad-mouth his younger brother and sister-in-law, so he remained silent.

The old woman glanced around and asked anxiously, "Hey, why did you come alone? Where’s Ji Qun?"

"Oh, we don’t have room at my place. I gave him some money to stay in a guesthouse near the hospital." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Oh, I see. He probably isn’t up yet. After all, yesterday must have been quite a scare for him. Let him sleep in a little longer," the old woman said affectionately.

Thinking of his younger brother, who had barely slept all night and had even caught a cold, Qin Bogang felt a pang of discomfort.

Just then, Qin Jiqun swaggered in. He called out, "Mom," then spotted the congee on the table, immediately grabbed it, and began to wolf it down.

"Hey, this congee is great! Where did you buy it?"

"Jiqun! That’s the congee your sister-in-law made specially for Mom!" Qin Bogang said hurriedly.

But the old woman just waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, it’s just some congee. If Ji Qun enjoys it, let him have it all. Eldest, just go to the cafeteria and get something for me to eat."

Qin Bogang’s brow furrowed. Finally, he turned and walked out.

**

Sure enough, Qin Zhonghui had caught a cold. He developed a high fever as soon as he got home, his temperature soaring to forty degrees Celsius.

Before leaving the hospital, Qin Jiao had made a point to get some medicine for his fever, cold, and inflammation. After giving her father a dose, she told him to lie down and rest.

Even though he was delirious with fever, he still struggled to open his eyes. He looked at his daughter sitting beside him. "Xiao Jiao, that severance agreement you mentioned... will it work?"

He was truly exhausted.

He didn’t want to drag his wife and daughter down with him anymore.

Qin Jiao shook her head. "Shen Zhengfeng is a businessman; he cares about his reputation more than anything. Once that agreement is in effect, he’ll be too concerned about his image to cause any more trouble. But it won’t work on Grandma and Grandpa. There’s nothing you can do with people who have no sense of shame, especially when they hold the trump card of having raised you."

Qin Zhonghui’s expression was blank, his eyes hollow.

Qin Jiao continued, "But because of this, they won’t dare to show their faces around our house for a while. If I’m not mistaken, Uncle will come over to try and talk you out of it. He’s the type who believes ’a harmonious family prospers.’ But Dad, you just have to stand your ground and insist on signing the papers to sever ties."

Qin Zhonghui nodded.

Qin Jiao went on, "In another six months, after my college entrance exams next year, we’ll move. Once we’re settled in the new place, we can focus on the business. We’ll be completely away from them then. Let them deal with their own messy lives."

’Doting on a child is their ruin. The reason Uncle’s family is so unreliable now is that Grandma and Grandpa spoiled them rotten.’