6. He cherished his little girl with tender care.

The call was from Jiang Yao.

The moment the line connected, she asked, “Qingran, did you go to see Lu Tingyuan? Why didn’t you tell me? If I had known, I would never have let Su Yiyi bully you like that.”

Ji Qingran was stunned, unable to understand how Jiang Yao found out so quickly—news traveled so fast?

Before she could speak, Jiang Yao anxiously asked, “Where are you?”

Ji Qingran answered truthfully, “I took a car and was about to head back.”

She had rented a cheap apartment near the company; hotels were too expensive, and she didn’t have the confidence to waste the little money she had.

Jiang Yao immediately said, “Alright, I’m coming to find you.”

She hung up before giving Ji Qingran a chance to refuse.

By the time Ji Qingran arrived at the apartment, Jiang Yao was already there, seemingly arguing with someone on her phone. She was so flustered she didn’t even have time to type, sending voice messages nonstop.

Ji Qingran walked over and casually asked, “What’s wrong? Who upset you?”

Seeing her, Jiang Yao quickly hid her phone behind her back and stammered, “Nothing.”

But she accidentally triggered the phone screen, and a voice message she had just sent suddenly played loudly in the silent hallway.

“Su Yiyi is nothing but a mistress. How dare she expect Qingran to apologize to her?”

Ji Qingran immediately recalled Lu Tingyuan’s expression when he forced her to apologize to Su Yiyi.

He cherished Su Yiyi so much—if he heard Jiang Yao say those things...

She had barely managed to settle things and didn’t want to endure that humiliation again.

“What’s going on?” she asked Jiang Yao, her expression dark. “Who are you talking to?”

Jiang Yao didn’t try to hide it. She tilted her head to look closely at Ji Qingran’s face. The hallway light was dim, but the handprint was still faintly visible.

Her nose tingled, and she spoke with indignation, “You’ve been with Lu Tingyuan for six years. Even after breaking up, he should remember the past between you two. How could he treat you like this?”

She reached out, wanting to touch Ji Qingran’s injured cheek, but worried she might hurt her, she withdrew her hand and said angrily, “Does it hurt? It must have broken your heart when he hit you.”

Ji Qingran looked at Jiang Yao, her eyes suddenly moist.

When facing Lu Tingyuan, she didn’t cry; no matter how hurt she was, she held back her tears, not wanting him to see her cry. But now, hearing Jiang Yao say this, the feelings she had just calmed began to stir painfully again.

“I’m fine.”

She opened her mouth but her throat tightened. “Lu Tingyuan didn’t hit me. I hit myself.”

Jiang Yao was stunned for a moment, then quickly understood, her eyes filling with even more pity. “He forced you, right? And Su Yiyi must have egged him on.”

Trying to comfort Ji Qingran, Jiang Yao began to cry herself, overwhelmed with sorrow: “They see you’re all alone. Even if you’re bullied, no one will stand up for you, so they dare to treat you like this. Qingran, you’re so good, why can’t they see it? The Ji family can’t see it, and Lu Tingyuan can’t see it either—they all bully you.”

Ji Qingran bit her lip tightly and fought hard to hold back her tears.

She tried to act nonchalant, patting Jiang Yao’s back to comfort her. “It’s all in the past. I don’t care anymore. There’s no need to cry for people who aren’t worth it.”

She pulled out a tissue and handed it to Jiang Yao, hesitating before sharing some somewhat good news: “Lu Tingyuan won’t target you anymore. Next time you find an interested investor, you can talk business freely.”

Jiang Yao sniffled and shook her head. “I knew you did it for me. It’s not worth it, Qingran, not worth it. At worst, I’ll soften up to my parents. Once they unfreeze my card, the company can keep running.”

“If you soften, you’ll have to obey your family’s plans and marry someone you don’t love. Jiang Yao, don’t gamble your whole happiness on a temporary hardship.”

Ji Qingran ruffled Jiang Yao’s hair and said lightly, “I slapped myself once and spared Lu Tingyuan and the company. If you think that’s not worth it, I think it’s a pretty good deal. The biggest skill I learned abroad is how to endure and adapt.”

Jiang Yao felt comforted by her words. Once inside, she insisted on applying some anti-swelling ointment to Ji Qingran’s face before she felt at ease.

While doing this, Ji Qingran managed to get the full story.

Jiang Yao had found out about her meeting Lu Tingyuan because someone posted two photos in a wealthy second-generation group chat where Jiang Yao was a member.

One showed Ji Qingran with a handprint on her face, locked in a standoff with Lu Tingyuan; the other showed Lu Tingyuan rushing away while holding Su Yiyi.

Along with the photos were mocking comments, painting Ji Qingran as a gold-digging woman desperately trying to latch onto Lu Tingyuan’s wealth and power but ultimately humiliated. Lu Tingyuan supposedly despised such opportunistic women and only had eyes for his innocent and kind little wife.

Jiang Yao was furious and defended Ji Qingran in the group chat, saying they had a stable six-year relationship, which only fractured after Su Yiyi appeared.

No one believed Jiang Yao. Several others spoke up, all siding with Su Yiyi.

After all, it was common knowledge in Jiangcheng that Lu Tingyuan had spent an entire night setting off fireworks for Su Yiyi. Who else but a woman he truly cared for would receive such a grand gesture?

Those people ridiculed Ji Qingran’s hopes as wishful thinking, calling her a toad trying to eat swan meat and told her to get lost.

They even hurled worse insults, and Jiang Yao, caught up in the heat of the moment, called Su Yiyi a mistress.

She immediately regretted it, knowing Ji Qingran was probably slapped tonight because of her involvement.

Now that it was confirmed, she felt even more guilty.

Although Ji Qingran didn’t recognize the avatar of the person who posted the photos, she guessed it was Du Mingqian’s WeChat.

Only he would have had the chance to take those pictures.

Du Mingqian disliked her and naturally did all he could to support Su Yiyi, which explained why Jiang Yao was so upset.

Ji Qingran didn’t blame Jiang Yao; instead, she comforted her for a long while and swore that Lu Tingyuan wasn’t truly heartless. After all, with six years of history between them, having Ji Qingran confront him tonight would at least remind him of their past, which was much better than Jiang Yao apologizing to Su Yiyi.

She spoke so lightly that Jiang Yao finally relaxed. Exhausted, she soon fell asleep.

Ji Qingran was also too tired to keep her eyes open. Just as she was about to sleep, Lu Tingyuan’s call came through.

Seeing his name flash on the screen, her heart skipped a beat.

Lu Tingyuan already knew what Jiang Yao said in the group chat.

Running away wouldn’t solve anything. She hesitated briefly, then answered the call.

His voice was hoarse and tired as soon as he spoke: “Ranran.”

Ji Qingran was momentarily surprised, thinking he was still abroad and had stayed up late just to call her and chat about trivial things.

But she quickly remembered that Lu Tingyuan had only treated her so attentively during the first year of their relationship. After that, as he got busier, he called less and less.

More often, she was the one calculating time differences, staying up late to call him.

Besides, she was already back in the country while he was currently at the hospital keeping watch over Su Yiyi.

Ji Qingran quickly gathered her scattered thoughts and replied calmly, “Jiang Yao didn’t mean it that way. It was those people in the group who spoke badly about me. Jiang Yao was just angry and spoke up for me.”

There was a long silence on the other end before he said flatly, “I saw everything. But Ranran, if Yiyi hears what Jiang Yao said, she’ll be very hurt.”

Hearing his words, Ji Qingran felt a chill run deep within her.