After Divorce, She Astonished the World - chapter 12

“It’s nothing, I just accidentally knocked over the vase.” Su Hua bent down, squatting to pick up the shattered porcelain pieces.

“Let me do it, don’t touch it, you’ll hurt your hand.” Gu Beixian quickly walked into the bathroom, pulled her aside, casually placed his phone on the sink counter, and bent down to pick up the pieces.

He even forgot to hang up the call.

Su Hua found a trash bin and handed it to him, reminding, “Be careful.”

“My skin’s thick, it can’t be cut through.” Gu Beixian picked up a few large shards and tossed them into the trash bin.

“Nonsense, whose skin can’t be cut?” Su Hua squatted down next to him, helping him pick up the pieces.

Gu Beixian stopped her, not letting her touch them. “Those two years, I had a terrible temper, always smashing things. You followed me around cleaning up every day, you must’ve been on the verge of collapse.”

Thinking back to those two agonizing years, Su Hua’s nose tingled, and she almost burst into tears.

She quickly lowered her gaze and said gently, “I never felt on the verge of collapse, really.”

Gu Beixian stared at her long, lowered lashes for a while, then said, “You, your temper is so good it’s almost unreal.”

Remembering what Xiao Yi said, Su Hua asked softly, “Isn’t my personality kind of boring?”

Gu Beixian smiled faintly, “A little.”

“I’ll hit you.” Su Hua gently pushed his leg.

Gu Beixian laughed and held her hand.

Listening to the playful banter coming from the phone, Chu Suosuo angrily hung up.

With a “bang,” she threw her phone onto the car seat.

She was so angry she didn’t say a word the whole way.

Back at the Chu Family.

Hua Qirou saw her fingers wrapped up, her face dark, and hurriedly asked, “What happened to your hand? Why are you so upset?”

“My hand’s fine, just a small injury.”

“Then why are you so angry?”

Chu Suosuo complained indignantly, “Just a country girl, she was Brother Beixian’s housekeeper for three years, and now he protects her like that. I just said a couple things about her, and he got upset, even wanted to hang up on me. She picks up a broken vase, and he’s afraid she’ll cut her hand. He was supposed to take me to the hospital tonight, but halfway there, he got a call from Xiao Yi saying Su Hua got in her colleague’s car. He immediately got out, flagged down a taxi, and went to find her.”

Hua Qirou was puzzled too. “He cares about her so much, so why did he divorce her?”

Chu Suosuo kicked off her high heels. “Who knows? Last time Brother Beixian got drunk, he said divorcing her wasn’t all because of me, and that mentioning me was just a pretense. Who knows if he was telling the truth or just angry.”

“Probably just angry words.”

Chu Suosuo slipped on her slippers, plopped down on the sofa, and the more she thought about everything that happened today, the angrier she got.

Hua Qirou comforted her, “Beixian married Su Hua because she resembles you, which means he can’t let you go. You’re the real deal, why compare yourself to a counterfeit? Don’t worry, take it slow, give him time to accept you again.”

Chu Suosuo frowned, “Seeing how close they are, how can I not be anxious?”

“Being anxious won’t help. These things can’t be rushed. Think carefully and find a way to win him back-that’s what matters.” Hua Qirou handed her a glass of water.

Chu Suosuo took the glass, pouting and complaining, “It’s all your fault. A year ago, Brother Beixian could already stand up. I said I’d take a break from school and come back to find him, but you wouldn’t let me, insisted on waiting a year to observe. Now look, they’ve developed feelings, and soon there won’t be a place for me.”

Hua Qirou shot her a look. “Car accidents have aftereffects. If you don’t observe carefully and he relapses, ends up in a wheelchair, are you willing to take care of him for life?”

Chu Suosuo fell silent, drinking her water quietly.

After a few seconds of silence, Hua Qirou asked, “Did Su Hua accept the check you gave her?”

“She didn’t.”

Hua Qirou was surprised. “She turned down twenty million? Such a big appetite? Three years ago, for ten million, she was willing to marry a paraplegic. What’s she pretending for now?”

Mentioning this made Chu Suosuo angry again. “Do you know how arrogant she was? She threw the check in my face and said that if she hadn’t married Gu Beixian three years ago, she could’ve earned ten million with her own hands.”

“With her own hands?” Hua Qirou sneered. “Just a restorer of ancient paintings, is she really that impressive?”

“I had someone check. Her grandfather, Su Wenmai, was quite famous in the industry before he died. She inherited his skills.”

“So what?” Hua Qirou laughed coldly. “If her hands are ruined, let’s see how arrogant she can be.”

Chu Suosuo suddenly widened her eyes, glaring at her. “Mom, don’t do anything crazy!”

A week later, at noon.
Antique Studio.

Su Hua locked the restoration room and went downstairs to eat at a nearby restaurant.

She arrived at a Hong Kong-style restaurant, ordered a shrimp rice, found a seat by the wall, and quietly began to eat.

Her demeanor was gentle and serene, her skin porcelain-white, her features delicate and elegant. Her fingers were pale and scallion-white, holding ebony chopsticks as she chewed slowly and gracefully. In the noisy restaurant, she was especially striking.

After finishing her meal and settling the bill, Su Hua picked up her bag and walked elegantly to the entrance, raising her right hand to push the glass door.

The glass door was a little hard to push. After opening a small gap, she braced the door with her left hand and pushed together with some effort.

Suddenly, a figure from outside rushed over, slamming the door open with a loud bang.

Su Hua tried to pull her hand back, but it was already too late.

A heart-wrenching, excruciating pain shot through her fingers.

The pain nearly made her faint.

Her legs trembled so much she couldn’t stand. She squatted down, clutching her left hand, tears streaming down her face.

The four fingers on her left hand swelled visibly, the bones seemingly broken, blood seeping out and dripping to the floor-bright red and chilling.

In a daze, she heard someone apologizing, “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to.” The woman’s voice was hard, dressed in a yellow delivery uniform and wearing a motorcycle helmet.

She pulled out a wad of cash from her bag and placed it at Su Hua’s feet. “This is for your medical expenses. I have something urgent, I’ll contact you later, okay?”

Su Hua was in so much pain she couldn’t speak.

With tear-blurred eyes, she looked at her own hand.

Her hand-her hand. She had woken early and worked late, diligent and devoted, for nearly twenty years; hands that inherited every skill from her maternal grandfather and five generations before him.

Hands she had always valued more than her own life.

Now, just like that, they were ruined.

She was shaking all over, her face pale as paper, her eyes full of grief-utterly desperate.

By the time the restaurant owner heard the commotion and came over, the person who had hurt Su Hua was already long gone.

The owner drove her to the hospital.

After stopping the bleeding and while waiting for the X-ray, Gu Beixian arrived.

Dressed in a custom suit and tie, he had left a meeting a third of the way through after getting the call that Su Hua’s hand was injured. He handed the meeting over to his staff and rushed over.

Su Hua, supported by the owner, came out of the radiology department.

She was so thin and frail she could barely stand, her eyes red, brimming with tears, utterly lost.

Anyone seeing her would feel heartache.

Gu Beixian’s expression was grim. He stepped forward, took Su Hua from the owner, forced down his anger, and asked the restaurant owner, “Who hurt her? Where is that person?”

The owner, a woman in her early forties, seemed a little frightened and answered in a trembling voice, “The customers said it was a food delivery person. She’s already run off.”

Gu Beixian clenched his teeth and ordered his assistant, “Find her! Search every corner if you have to, but bring that person to me!”

“Yes, President Gu.” The assistant could feel that his emotions were at the breaking point, about to erupt.

He dared not delay and immediately took people to investigate.

The restaurant owner hurried after the assistant to help with checking the surveillance footage back at the shop.

The X-ray results would take a while. Gu Beixian helped Su Hua to a chair, holding her gently in his arms as if she were a baby.

Su Hua was still shaking, her hands and feet icy cold.

Gu Beixian unbuttoned his suit jacket with one hand, took it off, draped it over her, and held her tightly, his chin resting on her head, his expression severe and cold.

When the X-ray results were ready, he took them to the doctor.

The doctor said Su Hua’s middle and ring fingers were fractured and would need to be surgically reset.

Gu Beixian arranged for Bai Lao, the best orthopedic surgeon, to operate on Su Hua.

After more than an hour, the surgery was done.

After the observation period, Su Hua was transferred to the ward. Her fingers were swollen like carrots, the broken ones splinted, and she needed an IV.

Her condition was very poor. She was silent, lying there like a wooden doll, her gaze so hopeless it was as if the sky had collapsed.

Gu Beixian looked at her in silence for a while, then took a towel, dipped it in warm water, and gently wiped her face. When he finished, he fed her porridge and medicine.

Su Hua was very obedient-she drank the porridge and took the medicine, but didn’t speak a word.

A little after eight in the evening, the person who had hurt Su Hua was caught.

The assistant walked over to Gu Beixian and whispered a few words in his ear.

The more Gu Beixian listened, the colder his expression became. By the end, his jaw clenched, and his brows twitched in anger.

He took several deep breaths to steady himself.

He bent down and said to Su Hua, “I’m going out for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”