From Broken Family to Life Winner: A Reborn Mother's Journey

”I’m her classmate. I need to see her about something urgent.” Qu An finally found his voice.

”A classmate, huh? What’s your name?” the guard asked as he dialed the phone.

Qu An blurted out a name.

It wasn’t his own. He was afraid Su Li wouldn’t see him.

Whether it was because he hadn’t given his real name or not, Qu An was eventually let into the factory and led to an office.

And then, Qu An saw Su Li.

A Su Li who was both familiar and strange.

Her clothes were the same, no different from what she wore at school, but the Su Li of this moment was different at a single glance.

Utterly and completely different from how she was at school.

”...This design is almost finalized. Just go back and tweak the minor details...”

”Yes, President Su.”

Su Li walked out of the conference room after her meeting, still handling matters as she went.

”President Su, this is about the partnership we’re negotiating with the Jiangzhou City side. They’re demanding...”

”Our franchise agreement is very clear. We’re not making any concessions...”

As Su Li spoke, she looked up and saw Qu An, her brow furrowing slightly.

She handed the documents in her hand to the person beside her. ”Brother Fang, you should get back to it. Remember to be confident during the negotiations.”

”Understood, President Su.”

The middle-aged man nodded at the impossibly young Su Li without the slightest hesitation and left to do as she’d instructed.

Qu An was completely frozen to the spot.

Su Li was the boss of Pinjun Clothing. This fact was now undeniable.

No matter how much Qu An refused to believe it, he had to accept this absurd reality.

’Su Li... really is...’

”President Su, he said he’s your classmate.”

The security guard who had brought Qu An in spoke for him when he saw Qu An remained silent. Noticing how strange Qu An was acting, the guard was secretly on alert.

”Yes, thank you for your trouble. I’ll talk with him.”

After speaking with the guard, Su Li looked at Qu An. ”How did you find this place? Let’s talk over here.”

Su Li didn’t want to see Qu An, nor did she want to talk to him, but she really didn’t want to provoke this Young Master Qu into shouting something like ’tramp’ in her factory.

With that, she turned and walked toward her office.

Qu An stood dumbfounded for a moment before following after Su Li.

Su Li entered her office, sat down, took a sip of water, and then looked up at Qu An standing in the doorway.

”Have a seat.” Su Li gestured to the chair in front of her desk.

Qu An stared at the person sitting behind the desk, this Su Li who seemed like a complete stranger. The words he had rehearsed over and over on his way here were now stuck in his throat.

He had imagined countless possible scenarios for meeting Su Li again, and countless ways she might react—including taking the opportunity to mock and humiliate him—but he had never once imagined this.

Su Li was terrifyingly calm, terrifyingly composed.

Qu An should have been relieved, but instead, an inexplicable emptiness hollowed out his heart.

He had treated what Su Li did to him as a major offense, viewing her as a grave threat, but to her, he was nothing at all...

She hadn’t taken him seriously in the slightest.

’This is more unbearable than being insulted to my face.’

This attitude of utter indifference made him truly realize why he was here today, and all his earlier impulsiveness vanished into thin air.

Just as Su Li had told him, he sat down in front of her.

He heard himself say, ”I’m sorry.”

Without much resentment, without much humiliation, just a simple, plain ”I’m sorry” came out.

Su Li was a little surprised by Qu An’s behavior.

She listened and nodded. ”Your apology is unexpected, but it’s good that you can be so calm.”

Su Li got straight to the point. ”You’re probably here about your family’s business. But regarding that matter, you’d best go back and ask your father for the specifics.”

”He’s well aware that the termination of our partnership was not our fault. We’ve already found a new partner, and our collaboration is going very smoothly. We have no plans to switch for the time being. We can’t break faith with our current partner just to work with the Qu family again.”

When Su Li came to work today, she had specifically asked about the termination of the partnership with the Qu family.

”Can’t you just give us one more chance?”

Qu An pleaded as he looked at Su Li.

”You also know this isn’t something I can decide on my own. Besides, the reason we’re not continuing the partnership has nothing to do with you, so...”

Su Li spread her hands. ”I hope you can understand.”

Looking at Su Li, Qu An knew that the partnership truly might not be salvageable.

He thought of his family back home, closed his eyes, and said, ”So even if I apologize, even if I beg you, it’s useless, right?”

Su Li didn’t speak.

It was an impulsive question. Even without her answer, he should have known the response.

”Is there anything else?” Su Li asked, glancing at the time.

’What else could he have? This was the only reason he had come.’

”I’ll... be taking my leave, then.”

Qu An stood up as he spoke, took two steps, and then suddenly turned back.

”Su Li, did you know before that my family had a partnership with Pinjun? You must have heard about it, right?”

Su Li nodded. ”I did. At the time, I thought it was quite a coincidence.”

A bitter smile tugged at the corner of Qu An’s mouth.

Su Li’s answer was an indirect way of telling him that, in her eyes, a partnership like that... was no big deal.

Qu An thought about all the things he’d said to slander Su Li behind her back, thought about how he’d nickel-and-dimed her over a hundred-something yuan, and then looked at the spacious office, at the Su Li before him. A derisive smile appeared on his face.

The derision was aimed at himself.

”Why did you never say you were the boss of Pinjun?”

He asked Su Li, ”Watching me back then, did you think I was ridiculous?”

Su Li looked at Qu An. ”At school, my role is that of a student. There’s no need to add any other identities.”

”As for you... I wouldn’t say ridiculous or hateful. I just felt...”

Su Li didn’t finish her sentence.

’People like Qu An aren’t uncommon in society.’

’I just happened to run into him, and it was my bad luck that he blew up at me. I’ll just keep my distance in the future.’

Qu An wanted to say something more, but he was interrupted by Wu Sheng, who pushed the door open.

”Not done yet?”

When Su Li saw Wu Sheng enter, her entire expression and the look in her eyes changed completely.

Qu An turned, saw Wu Sheng, and froze on the spot, stunned.

”Still have business to discuss?” Wu Sheng asked, raising an eyebrow at Qu An.

”No, we’re finished,” Su Li replied, standing up.

Qu An fled Su Li’s office as if escaping for his life. After rushing out a few steps, he glanced back and saw the handsome, imposing man flick Su Li’s forehead playfully.

Su Li’s laugh was tinged with a coquettish charm.

The intimate atmosphere between them said it all.

Su Li had told him before that she didn’t like him, and later even said she had someone she liked. But he had never taken it seriously, always assuming she was just making excuses.

’I never thought... I never thought... everything Su Li said was true.’

Qu An didn’t even know how he left Pinjun.

He couldn’t even put a name to the feelings in his heart.

’He wanted to attack her for being divorced, just like before. He wanted to say that regardless of whether she was the boss of Pinjun, she was still just a woman who’d been abandoned by a man...’

’He wanted to accuse her of being fickle and improper in every way. He wanted to say the only reason she didn’t like him was because that other man looked richer...’

’But in the end, Qu An couldn’t bring himself to say any of it.’