Chapter 27

Qu Xinru hurriedly said, “Mom, Qu Ling’er has already transferred her household register. She wants to cut ties with us!”

“Why?” Fang Xiaoman asked in confusion. She walked up to Qu Ling’er and said, “Ling’er, don’t blame Stepmother for nagging. You and your father have the same temper—both are unwilling to give in. But there’s no vendetta between a father and daughter. What happened? Can’t you just talk it out? You don’t have to run away from home. Listen to Stepmother and put down your luggage quickly—don’t make a scene.”

Qu Ling’er looked at Fang Xiaoman with indifference. She was elegant—her makeup was always impeccable—and she had always played the role of the perfect stepmother. However, Qu Ling’er was not a fool. She did not believe that Qu Zhisheng thought of the deal with Luo Xiao on his own and even had a backup plan in place—Fang Xiaoman must be behind this.

Qu Ling’er sneered, “Stop pretending. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a carrot or stick; I’ll still leave.”

Fang Xiaoman put on an innocent look and asked, “Ling’er, what are you talking about?”

Qu Zhisheng was furious. “Xiaoman, you don’t have to persuade her. She’s a heartless wretch!”

“Hubby…” Fang Xiaoman looked at Qu Zhisheng and called out helplessly.

Qu Zhisheng pointed at Qu Ling’er and railed, “Qu Ling’er, since you want to cut ties with us, fine. But before you leave, return all the money I’ve spent on you over the years. Why should I raise you for nothing?”

“Qu Ling’er: “…”

Qu Zhisheng continued, “I’ve raised you for so many years. Since you don’t want to contribute to the Qu family, pay back what you owe us! Your food and clothing expenditure is no less than Xinru. If you don’t pay it back, don’t even think about leaving! Either be a good girl or pay back the money! Your choice!”

Fang Xiaoman quickly advised, “Ling’er, just apologize to Dad. You’re father and daughter—stop this feud…”

“I can leave as long as I return the money?” Qu Ling’er asked coldly.

Qu Zhisheng did not think much of it—her mother had no money, let alone leave money to Qu Ling’er. The Qu family had paid for all of Qu Ling’er’s expenses in the past few years; it was impossible for her to pay them back.

Qu Ling’er put down her luggage—walked to the table—opened the drawer and took out a stack of red packets. “These are all the red packets that you and your relatives have given me over the past three years. I didn’t touch a single cent. They’re all here. And the clothes you bought for me—I haven’t worn them either—they’re all in the closet. You can dispose of them yourselves. Madam Fang gave me a monthly allowance via Alipay—a total of 164,000 yuan in three years—there’s a record of every single transaction. I’ll transfer the money back to her with interest within the next few days.”

She whipped out her cell phone—tapped on Alipay—and transferred 50,000 yuan to Fang Xiaoman.

Fang Xiaoman’s face darkened. “You… If you didn’t use this money, how did you manage all these while?”

Qu Zhisheng’s jaw dropped. He had wanted to use money as an excuse to force her to stay; he did not expect that she had not used the Qu family’s money at all! How many more secrets is she hiding?

Qu Zhisheng and Fang Xiaoman looked at each other, and Fang Xiaoman signaled him not to be anxious. She turned to look at Qu Ling’er and said gently, “Ling’er, don’t listen to your father’s nonsense. Keep the money I gave to you—you don’t have to return it to me. You’re going to university soon—you need money—a hundred thousand yuan is not a small sum. Keep it and spend it wisely.”

“There’s no need.” Qu Ling’er sneered. “I’m afraid that if I don’t return it now, I’ll have to return it 10 or 100 times in the future! My Alipay has a transfer limit—I can only transfer 50,000 yuan a day. I’ll transfer a sum to you every day. I’ll be able to repay it in four days.”

Seeing that she was not going to change her mind, Qu Zhisheng lashed out angrily, “Do you think you can just return the money and be done? Let me tell you, you can’t even repay me enough for what I gave you!”

Qu Ling’er smiled sarcastically, “If you think it’s not enough, call the police then.”

Qu Zhisheng said, “You!”

“Either we have a clean break or I call the police and let them serve justice.” Qu Ling’er looked at Qu Zhisheng and said coldly. She was betting on the fact that Qu Zhisheng would not dare to let her call the police.

Qu Zhisheng looked at Qu Ling’er and suddenly felt as if she was a stranger. Although they were father and daughter, they had never interacted much. He despised Qu Ling’er from the bottom of his heart—he felt that she had grown up in the countryside and was not presentable. Only now did he suddenly realize that Qu Ling’er was completely different from what he had imagined—he could not control her at all.

Qu Ling’er picked up her luggage again and threatened, “If you cause me any more trouble, I’ll definitely send the video to Luo Xiao. I’m leaving.”

With that, she lugged her suitcase out of the room.