Chapter 111: Severing the Tail to Survive Part 3

That was why Ming Li didn’t like looking back on that relationship. She didn’t blame Gu Qingshuang. The choice to love, the choice to divorce, and the choice to leave were all her own.

Ming Li didn’t actually want to become bitter enemies. Originally, she thought they could eventually become friends after she moved on. She just hadn’t expected things to spiral so far out of her control.

“Oh?” Gu Xueqiang raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You’re still defending her.”

“I’m just telling the truth.” Ming Li looked down, Gu Qingshuang’s face appearing in her mind. “She is a good person.”

Normally, at a banquet, Ming Li would have followed that with a compliment like, “You raised her well,” but she couldn’t say that to Gu Xueqiang.

Gu Qingshuang was good simply because she was inherently kind—perhaps too kind for her own good. If Ming Li had to take a side in the mother-daughter conflict, she would stand with Gu Qingshuang.

Perhaps it was because she had felt Gu Xueqiang’s “pressure” during those three years. She had learned a lot, but she had also felt suffocated. If she felt that way, she couldn’t imagine how Gu Qingshuang felt.

In particular, the image of Gu Qingshuang self-harming in the study after an argument with her mother was a memory Ming Li couldn’t shake.

This wasn’t the first time they had discussed the divorce, but it was the deepest the conversation had ever gone.

After Ming Li spoke, Gu Xueqiang was quiet for a few seconds. “I thought you would consider her a terrible person.”

“No.” Ming Li felt a weight on her chest, but she spoke her mind. “In my heart, she has never been terrible.”

“Then why won’t you see her?” No matter how loudly Gu Xueqiang fought with her daughter, she still worried. She was terrified Gu Qingshuang would do something extreme again and end up meeting the King of Hell. This latest incident had scared her half to death, which was why she was interfering.

Ming Li remained silent for a long time. She finally whispered, “I’m afraid my soft-heartedness will destroy her.”

Ming Li no longer possessed the martyr-like spirit she once had. She wanted to start over, so she had ruthlessly cut everything away. But Gu Qingshuang kept appearing in her life, disrupting her rhythm and leaving her feeling deeply frustrated.

Yet, that didn’t change the fact that she thought Gu Qingshuang was a good person. She had thought so since the day they met.

But Ming Li knew they couldn’t keep entangling themselves like this. If they did, it would only end in mutual destruction. While she still had the strength, she had to push Gu Qingshuang away. She had to distance herself from Gu Qingshuang’s unresolved feelings—whether they were habit or love—so that both of them could survive.

If Ming Li wavered, it would only give Gu Qingshuang a false sense of hope, trapping her in a fantasy.

Ming Li felt like she had severed her own tail to survive that marriage; now, Gu Qingshuang was the one who couldn’t let go of the tail. This was a decision she had to make for Gu Qingshuang’s sake. Severing the connection was the only way to save them both.

The large room fell into silence. Gu Xueqiang finally said in a heavy voice, “But have you considered that she might actually love you?”

“But I can’t love her anymore,” Ming Li said. “We missed our chance.”

Just as the words left her mouth, a bodyguard’s voice shouted from outside. “Miss Gu, you can’t go in! President Gu is in a meeting…”

A split second later, the sounds of a scuffle erupted. Within two minutes, the door to the private room was thrown open. Gu Qingshuang stood in the doorway, still wearing her hospital gown. She was deathly pale, and two bodyguards had been knocked to the floor behind her.

Ming Li: “…”

“What are you doing?!” Gu Xueqiang didn’t move, but her voice was commanding and stern.

Gu Qingshuang didn’t answer. With a dark expression, she walked straight to Ming Li, grabbed her wrist, and turned to leave. Her hand was as cold as ice, yet her knuckles were flushed red.

Ming Li was stunned for a moment. Just as she moved to pull away, Gu Xueqiang’s cold voice rang out. “Gu Qingshuang! You’ve become far too reckless!”

“And what about you?!” Gu Qingshuang snapped back. “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t meddle in my business anymore?”

Gu Xueqiang froze, her lips trembling, but she couldn’t find the words to respond.

She blamed herself for being too soft-hearted, worrying that her daughter would do something drastic. Now it seemed her daughter had plenty of fight left in her.

Ming Li patted Gu Qingshuang’s hand and said in a low, steady voice, “President Gu and I weren’t talking about you.”

Gu Qingshuang paused and looked at her. It was then that Ming Li noticed her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were flushed with an unnatural fever. Ming Li frowned, instinctively reaching out to check her forehead before pulling her hand back. It wasn’t appropriate.

“We were discussing work,” Ming Li said, falling back into her old habit of smoothing things over for Gu Qingshuang. “You’ve misunderstood.”

“Then…” Gu Qingshuang was momentarily speechless, her expression turning awkward.

“Apologize,” Ming Li said.

Gu Qingshuang pressed her lips together and remained silent.

Ming Li pulled her hand free and stepped back to a respectful distance. She sighed softly. “President Gu, I’ll be going now.”

“I’ll have someone see you out,” Gu Xueqiang said, casting a sharp glare at her daughter.

Gu Qingshuang didn’t dare meet her mother’s eyes. She silently followed behind Ming Li, while the bodyguard-driver followed behind them both.

Ming Li heard her following but didn’t say anything.

As they neared the exit, Ming Li suddenly stopped. Gu Qingshuang, focused only on Ming Li’s back, walked right into her.

Ming Li felt a dull thud against her back. Gu Qingshuang immediately scrambled back half a step. “I’m sorry…”

“Are you alright?” Ming Li sighed internally, her voice losing its forced coldness. “Do you still have a fever?”

“No,” Gu Qingshuang lied instinctively. “I’m much better.”

Ming Li knew they couldn’t go on like this. She glanced at the driver waiting nearby and told him he didn’t need to see her out. Then she looked at Gu Qingshuang.

“Let’s talk.”

“Talk about wha—” Gu Qingshuang cut herself off and nodded. “Alright.”

Ming Li looked at her thin hospital gown and let out another sigh, draping her own down jacket over Gu Qingshuang’s shoulders. “Let’s talk in your car.”