“What did you say?”
Yu Yu raised an eyebrow. Her fierce glare made the servant quickly duck his head.
Lin Shu stood there for a full ten minutes, her beautiful eyes fixed on the winding staircase ahead, her heart a desolate wasteland.
At last, she spoke. Her voice was hoarse.
“Secretary Yu, let’s go.”
She should go. She didn’t belong here, or anywhere Zhou Yanli was.
It had been over between them for a long time.
The expensive black limousine had been left in the villa’s courtyard.
Lin Shu walked past it without giving it another glance.
She disdained touching anything that belonged to Zhou Yanli. If Wen Xin wanted it, she could have it.
Yu Yu hailed a taxi for her. Lin Shu sat alone in the back, looking out the window at the scenery on either side of the road.
Spring would come after winter. Then the hills would be covered in green, new flowers would bloom, and wisps of mist would drift over the layered mountain ridges. Lovers would whisper their deepest feelings to each other somewhere no one could disturb them.
What a beautiful life that would be. Hadn’t she, too, wished to escape the turmoil of the world and live together with the person she loved?
But in Zhou Yanli’s gilded cage, it wasn’t her who was hidden away.
The ringing of her phone pulled Lin Shu back to reality. Dr. An’s name showed on the screen.
She raised the phone to her ear.
“Hello, Lin Shu. I need to tell you something. Old Master Zhou wants to give his chance for surgery to someone else. His condition isn’t looking good, and at his age, every day he puts it off means another day of danger. I thought I should let you know in advance.”
Surprise slowly spread through Lin Shu’s eyes. The Old Master wanted to give his chance for surgery to someone else?
What did that mean?
She held the phone in silence for several seconds, then suddenly thought of someone.
Wen Xin.
Could the Old Master be planning to give the chance to Wen Xin?
Her heart clenched painfully again. An Qianhe’s voice came through the phone.
“Lin Shu, are you still there?”
“I understand. I’m going to the hospital now to find out what’s going on.”
The taxi changed course at once, carrying Lin Shu and her tangled thoughts, which churned into a muddle in her mind…
…
The hospital corridor was filled with the same unchanging smell of antiseptic.
The Old Master had just woken up and seemed in fairly good spirits.
“Dr. An told me you’re giving your chance for surgery to someone else.”
Lin Shu came straight to the point. The Old Master seemed unaccustomed to her bluntness.
He knew he couldn’t keep it from her.
“Lin Shu, the Zhou family owes Wen Xin.”
Just as she’d expected. Even though she’d guessed, Lin Shu’s heart still tightened painfully.
She sat beside the Old Master’s bed, her expression unchanged.
“Your condition can’t be allowed to worsen. Dr. An managed to get a week’s time for you. If he saves Wen Xin, he won’t have time to save you.”
The Old Master sighed. He looked at Lin Shu with a resolute gaze, then quickly changed the subject.
“I know Yanli has wronged you. Don’t worry. I’ll make him make it up to you.”
Make it up to her. Lin Shu silently scoffed.
Six years of her youth. Six years of unwavering devotion. Even when Zhou Yanli was at his lowest, she had stood by him without hesitation, weathering every hardship with him. How could the Zhou family ever make that up to her?
Lin Shu asked the question she shouldn’t have.
“Is Wen Xin really that important to Yanli?”
Even the Old Master was willing to give up his own life to save her. If Wen Xin was someone the entire Zhou family couldn’t let go of, why had they accepted Lin Shu in the first place?
“Lin Shu, I hope you won’t compete with Wen Xin. That girl suffered so much for Yanli. Besides—”
The Old Master paused. “She once saved Yanli’s life. Yanli is the only heir in the Zhou family for three generations. Saving him was the same as saving the entire Zhou family. We can’t leave that debt unpaid.”
Old Master Zhou spoke earnestly. “You’re a sensible girl, and you love Yanli very much. Please save Wen Xin. Whatever you want, if there’s anything this old man can do, I’ll grant it.”
Lin Shu was so overcome with pain that she felt numb.
Wen Xin had saved Zhou Yanli’s life. But hadn’t Lin Shu also risked her own life to save him?
“Five years ago, when Yanli had just taken over Zhou Group, he worked day and night to win the shareholders’ approval. He flew between domestic and overseas destinations thirteen times in one week. For a twenty-million-yuan order, he went without food or water and stayed with the client for three whole days.
“He worked until he vomited blood and was unconscious for an entire week. The hospital’s blood supply ran low while they were trying to save him. I gave half my blood and nearly died on the operating table. I saved Zhou Yanli’s life too.”
Her tone was calm, but every word rang with force. She looked out the window, and in her heart, winter was passing.
The Old Master listened intently to his granddaughter-in-law, his eyes growing moist.
As an elder, how could he not know how Lin Shu felt about his grandson? That was exactly why he believed the Zhou family had wronged her.
But—
Wen Xin mattered deeply to Zhou Yanli too. Back then, knowing Wen Xin couldn’t have children, he had personally broken them up.
The only condition Zhou Yanli had set for marrying Lin Shu was that the Old Master take care of Wen Xin for the rest of her life. He had agreed.
He had no choice but to agree. He owed his biological grandson a lifetime of happiness.
For the sake of the Zhou family, he had sacrificed Zhou Yanli and Wen Xin. Giving Wen Xin his chance to be saved was also his way of atoning.
He couldn’t bear to hurt Zhou Yanli again, so he had sacrificed Lin Shu once more.
“I know how good you’ve been to Yanli.”
The Old Master let out a long sigh, his voice heavy with meaning.
“Lin Shu, tell me what you want. If there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it.”
The Old Master wouldn’t change his mind.
Lin Shu sat listening to him, utterly still.
“If you insist that I ask for something, then I want fifty percent of Zhou Group’s shares, transferred into my name immediately.”
Her gaze was resolute. Back when Zhou Yanli’s company’s total assets were worth less than a hundred million, she had been the one to support him until he was worth more than a hundred billion.
Fifty percent was still too little.
The Old Master’s shrewd eyes sharpened at her demand. Then, after a moment’s thought, he reasoned that if Lin Shu bore a son for the Zhou family, the assets would eventually go to the boy anyway. Giving them to Lin Shu would only mean she was holding them temporarily.
The Old Master hesitated for no more than three seconds.
“Fine. You deserve it.”
His hoarse voice caught with emotion. As Lin Shu was leaving, the Old Master said two words: “Thank you…”
Lin Shu’s hand rested on the doorknob. There was not a trace of triumph on her face; instead, it was filled with bitterness and sorrow that no one could see.
Wen Xin’s life was worth fifty percent of Zhou Group. What was hers worth?
How much was Lin Shu worth to the Zhou family?