Chapter 260: Chapter 260: “Xu Su, Do You Still Want This Father?

It was already dark when they left the hospital, and the rain had stopped.

Xu Su’s stomach was growling with hunger. Xi Zirong opened the front passenger door, his voice full of concern. “You didn’t eat lunch?”

“No.” The shock of almost going deaf had transformed her feelings about the abuse from her family, turning her initial heartache into horrified anger.

There hadn’t been much affection to begin with. That slap simply extinguished any lingering hope, which vanished like smoke.

Xi Zirong started the car and pressed the accelerator. “What do you feel like eating? Just so you know, since you’re injured, you can’t have anything spicy or inflammatory. It’ll slow down your healing.”

Xu Su looked down, silent. For the better part of the past year, it seemed all she ever did was get injured.

’She had heard the warning, “You can’t have anything spicy or inflammatory,” over and over again.’

“Let’s eat something light. How about soup? I know a place with excellent restorative broths.” Xi Zirong glanced at Xu Su and reached out to take her hand. “Why did… that person do something so cruel to you? Don’t keep it bottled up. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

“Just take me back to Imperial Central.” Xu Su didn’t answer his question, saying instead, “It’s New Year’s Eve. You should be home with your family.”

“There’s no need. My family isn’t particular about that stuff.” He could never bring himself to leave her alone, especially not under these circumstances.

Seeing that Xu Su was about to say more, Xi Zirong cut her off. “Don’t try to persuade me. In the same situation, would you leave me alone to go home for the New Year?”

“…” Xu Su fell silent, saying no more.

A few minutes later, Xi Zirong parked the car in front of a private kitchen restaurant.

The restaurant was doing great business. Many families didn’t want to go through the trouble of cooking, so they just booked a table for their New Year’s Eve dinner to save themselves the hassle.

They entered a small private room, where the heat was turned up high. The two of them sat facing each other. Once they had ordered and the server had left, Xu Su took off her coat and pulled down her scarf.

A thin layer of ointment had already been applied to her face. It no longer stung with a burning pain, but it still looked frightening.

Xu Su hesitated for a moment before asking, “Do you have Huang Feng’s phone number?”

Xi Zirong was smart. He knew what Xu Su wanted with just that one question. He lowered his gaze and fell silent for a moment, not wanting to make things difficult for her, then nodded. “I do. Do you want to contact her?”

He took out his phone and handed it to her.

Xu Su took it but hesitated for a long time, unsure whether she should make the call.

She planned to ask Huang Feng for Huang Chao’s number so she could contact Zhou Mochen.

She hadn’t contacted him all day and hadn’t even replied to his text from the morning. Knowing Zhou Mochen’s personality, he probably wouldn’t wait much longer before going to the Xu Family’s home to find her.

But… if she did contact Zhou Mochen, how would she explain being with Xi Zirong?

Her instinct to bury her head in the sand took over. Just then, the food arrived, so Xu Su simply set the phone aside and started to eat.

’I’ll worry about my troubles after I’ve eaten.’

The two of them hadn’t eaten together in over half a year. As Xi Zirong watched the girl across from him, his heart ached with a bittersweet tenderness, and he found himself unable to look away.

His stare made Xu Su very uncomfortable. She quickly finished a bowl of rice and then got a refill. This time she ate a little more slowly, asking him as she ate, “Did you go to the arcade specifically to find me?”

“Yes.” Xi Zirong nodded. “A friend of mine saw you. He wasn’t sure if it was you, but he said you’d been sitting there alone for a long time.”

Xu Su was a little touched. She had been so awful to him…

Xi Zirong suddenly asked, “Are you going back to that house tonight?”

“That’s not my home, and I’m not going back.” Xu Su shook her head. “After we eat, just take me to Imperial Central. I’ve been living there all semester.”

Xi Zirong was silent for a moment. “Okay.”

“…Thank you.” Xu Su pushed aside her sudden guilt, picked up her mango juice, and forced herself to sound cheerful. “Xi Zirong, Happy New Year. I hope you’ll come back next year as the top scorer on the exams, and that you’ll become a shining new star in the world of scientific research, making our City No.1 High School, and even our whole province, proud of you.”

Xi Zirong smiled. “You have such high expectations for me. So, will *you* be proud of me?”

“Of course.” Xu Su nodded earnestly. “If you really become a brilliant scientist, as your classmate, I’d definitely be honored!”

“Just a classmate?” Xi Zirong looked at her. “Xu Su, are we just classmates?”

“…” Xu Su was at a loss for words. “Anyway, just work hard, and I’ll be proud of you!”

Xu Su wasn’t that heartless. Xi Zirong had always been so incredibly good to her, pouring his heart out…

Filled with that strange guilt and a sense of gratitude she couldn’t repay, the two of them finished their New Year’s Eve dinner. Xi Zirong then drove her to the entrance of the Imperial Central residential complex.

Only then did Xu Su realize she couldn’t get in!

For the past half a year, Zhou Mochen had always picked her up and dropped her off, and they would go directly to the apartment by taking the elevator from the underground garage and scanning a key card. She had never used the main entrance of the complex. She didn’t have a key card, nor was she a registered resident, so the security guard flatly refused to let her in.

In truth, even if the security guard had let her in, she wouldn’t have been able to get into the apartment, or even into the elevator.

Xu Su shivered in the cold wind, feeling like a complete idiot.

She pleaded with the stoic security guard, “Do you have the phone number for the owner of the top-floor apartment in Building 16? Please, can you make a call for me? I’m freezing to death.”

Perhaps because she was a young girl who didn’t look like a troublemaker and seemed pitifully cold, the two young security guards exchanged a glance and actually went inside to look through their records.

In less than fifteen minutes, the screech of tires from a sudden stop pierced the air, and a familiar black Land Rover pulled up at the complex entrance.

Xu Su, who was squatting by the roadside, was so cold her mind felt sluggish. Before she could even react, the man who got out of the car pulled her to her feet.

Zhou Mochen yanked down the scarf covering Xu Su’s face, lifted her chin with one hand, and glared fiercely at her face under the dim yellow streetlight, his expression absolutely terrifying.

Xu Su’s lips moved. She wanted to say something, but the violent aura radiating from him was so intimidating that she didn’t dare to speak.

The last time Zhou Mochen had looked like this was when he found out about her and Xi Zirong…

Xu Su shivered. The next second, Zhou Mochen swept her up into his arms. Huang Chao had already opened the rear door of the Land Rover.

After placing the shivering girl in the car, Zhou Mochen sat her on his lap, his eyes never leaving her right cheek.

He watched her quietly for a long time, then suddenly asked in a calm voice, “Xu Su, do you still want him as a father?”

Xu Su froze. ’He knows Xu Weiping hit me?’

’He’s already been to the Xu Family’s house…’

Xu Su was silent for a few seconds before she spoke. “From now on, I’ll just consider myself an orphan. An orphan with no parents.”

Then she asked him, “Did you go to my… the Xu Family’s house?”

“Mhm, I went over before two in the afternoon.” Zhou Mochen reached out and tentatively caressed her cheek, his expression blank. “Since they’re not your family anymore, they’ve lost their immunity. Xu Weiping will have to pay the price for what he’s done.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep