When they arrived at the Su family's residence, the butler immediately inquired if the eldest young lady had come down for dinner. However, the household's nanny shook her head.
"Mr. Ou," the butler said, "we truly have no other recourse. Please try to persuade our young lady. If this continues, she will fall ill."
Returning to the Su residence, Ou Yunchen felt an pervasive chill. Indeed, a house without its mistress in residence exuded a somber atmosphere in every corner.
Ou Yunchen attempted to knock on Su Ruiyi's door, but there was no response.
"The young lady has been silent for a long time," the butler added.
Ou Yunchen accepted the key from the nanny and turned the doorknob again. This time, it was not locked.
"We dared not enter Miss's room without permission," the butler explained. "If she doesn't open the door, we wouldn't just barge in."
Ou Yunchen was about to push the door open but then decided against it, turning and heading downstairs.
The butler followed with a sense of urgency, "Mr. Ou, you can't leave."
Ou Yunchen stated, "Tell her to come downstairs. Say I'm waiting in the car. If she's not ready and in front of me within an hour, I'm leaving."
"But the young lady..." the butler began.
Ou Yunchen glanced at his watch, informing the butler that the countdown had begun.
The butler quickly summoned the nanny to knock on Su Ruiyi's door together.
Ou Yunchen was unsure if Su Ruiyi would come down, but he felt compelled to push her. Giving up was truly not how Su Ruiyi should behave.
Yet, Ou Yunchen finished an entire pack of cigarettes in his car, and Su Ruiyi still did not descend. As the hour drew to a close, Su Ruiyi's room appeared dark from the outside, the lights not even turned on.
The butler emerged, shaking his head in resignation. It seemed none of them could rouse Su Ruiyi.
"Young Master Wang visited a few days ago, and the young lady was the same," the butler recounted. "She saw no one and wouldn't even leave her room."
Ou Yunchen pulled open the car door, started the engine, revved the accelerator aggressively in place, and honked the horn incessantly. Still, there was no reaction from the room.
Ou Yunchen called out Su Ruiyi's name from downstairs until his voice grew hoarse. Finally, a shadowy figure appeared by the window in the room.
"The young lady is awake!" the butler exclaimed.
The butler signaled the maids to hurry upstairs and knock on the door. Even Ou Yunchen rushed up and pounded on it furiously.
"Su Ruiyi, listen to me," Ou Yunchen commanded. "I'm giving you one more minute. Get dressed immediately and come out to see me! If you're not out in one minute, you'll never see me again!"
After he finished speaking, everyone pressed their ears to the door, listening for any movement inside, but heard nothing.
"If you don't come out, I'm leaving. I'm truly leaving!"
To create the illusion of Ou Yunchen departing, he even shouted as he walked away, his voice seemingly fading and growing distant.
However, after a minute passed, the door remained tightly shut.
"Step aside," Ou Yunchen ordered.
As Ou Yunchen angrily twisted the doorknob, intending to force it open, he was almost blinded by the door swinging inward.
Su Ruiyi, wrapped in a blanket, stood at the doorway with a blank expression. Seeing the eldest young lady open the door, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed that only Ou Yunchen could manage Su Ruiyi.
"Get dressed and come with me," Ou Yunchen instructed.
Su Ruiyi shrugged off Ou Yunchen's hand and languidly returned to her bed. She lay down, pulling the blanket over her so completely that not even her head was visible.
"Young lady, Mr. Ou has been waiting for you for over an hour," the butler pleaded. "Please tidy yourself up and go out with Mr. Ou to relax."
But Su Ruiyi remained motionless under the covers.
Ou Yunchen dismissed everyone else, staying alone in Su Ruiyi's room. He then closed the door, instructing no one to enter.
Ou Yunchen sat on the floor by the bed. He couldn't see Su Ruiyi's head, but he reached under the blanket.
"Hand," Ou Yunchen said.
Miraculously, Su Ruiyi clasped Ou Yunchen's hand from beneath the blanket. Ou Yunchen then followed her hand and gently stroked her head.
"What do you want to eat?" Ou Yunchen asked.
Su Ruiyi shook her head under the covers.
"Is there anything you want to buy?"
Su Ruiyi shook her head again.
"Anywhere you want to go?"
Su Ruiyi remained silent, shaking her head.
"Talk to me, can you?"
Su Ruiyi slowly pushed the blanket aside. Their eyes met. Ou Yunchen rested his head on the mattress, stroking her hair.
"I feel like a failure," Su Ruiyi confessed. "I watched my mother die, and I couldn't avenge her."
Ou Yunchen felt a pang of pity for the unfortunate heiress. He knew that Madam Su had sacrificed her life in her struggle against Xu Shumming.
At this moment, Su Ruiyi was like a lamb ready to be slaughtered, with no other option but to accept her fate.
"Madam Su lost," Ou Yunchen said. "You, even more so, cannot become a victim of their conflict."
"Can you also stand by and watch my father take everything my mother had?" Su Ruiyi challenged. "Weren't you your mother's person? Didn't you establish ATL to help her reclaim the Su Corporation?"
"I no longer belong to ATL," Ou Yunchen replied. "Your mother fired me."
"I'll hire you. I'll pay you. Help me," Su Ruiyi pleaded.
"What do you have?" Ou Yunchen retorted. "Miss Su, besides your name, you possess nothing I need."
"Then what do you need? As long as you can help my mother fulfill her dying wish, I'll do anything," Su Ruiyi offered.
"Don't be foolish," Ou Yunchen said. "You can only be a rich young lady. Beyond that, you are useless."
Su Ruiyi's anger flared. She had never been so humiliated.
"Even if I'm useless, I know how to repay kindness," Su Ruiyi countered. "What about you? If my mother hadn't sponsored you to establish ATL, you'd still be a bartender at an entertainment club! Everything you have now relies on ATL's reputation!!!"
Ou Yunchen pursed his lips. He wouldn't argue with Su Ruiyi or reprimand her for her unguarded words when she was angry, as she was already in a pitiable state.
"ATL is in the past," Ou Yunchen said. "Madam Su is also in the past. You need to look forward."
"How can I look forward?" Su Ruiyi cried. "My father is the murderer of my mother!"
"Do you have proof?" Ou Yunchen asked.
"No!"
"Then swallow that thought. Let it fester and die within you," Ou Yunchen advised sternly.
"You..." Su Ruiyi began.
"Look at the current Su Corporation," Ou Yunchen continued. "You may hate your father, but you cannot deny that he is a brilliant businessman."
"Under his leadership, Su Corporation is rapidly reaching new heights. This is an opportunity many businesses only dream of, and your father seized it!"
"Is climbing over dead bodies the height you pursue?" Su Ruiyi retorted. "I may not understand business, but I know people should have principles! Not everything can be sacrificed! How dirty must the money earned this way be!!!"
"Those who make money don't care about its origin, nor is there a distinction between noble and base money," Ou Yunchen stated. "It's not just meticulously earned money that is clean. Therefore, whoever can make money is right."
"What about loyalty? Are you loyal? Did you betray your word when my mother died?"
"I cannot explain my actions to you right now," Ou Yunchen said. "I hope you won't obstruct your father. What he is doing now is the right thing."
"Nonsense! Everything he does is for his own benefit!" Su Ruiyi exclaimed. "He has now completely obtained the entire Su Corporation from my mother! And you consider this the right thing?"
"Let me ask you, if Madam Su had won, would she also wish for Su Corporation to be even more successful?" Ou Yunchen posed.
Su Ruiyi remained silent. Of course, that was her thought, but she had never admitted that Xu Shumming was better at managing Su Corporation. She only saw what Xu Shumming had taken from her.
"In other words, Madam Su wouldn't want Su Corporation to be ruined by anyone, correct?" Ou Yunchen pressed.
"In any case, I won't let go of whoever killed my mother," Su Ruiyi declared.
"Very well," Ou Yunchen replied. "When you have the capability to contend with a businessman like Xu Shumming, then you can say such things."
Su Ruiyi suddenly threw off the blanket, glaring at Ou Yunchen. She had initially believed Ou Yunchen would help her, or rather, help Madam Su. But Ou Yunchen had never mentioned avenging Madam Su.
"I know you hate me," Ou Yunchen said. "I didn't attend Madam Su's funeral, nor did I comfort you immediately, and I certainly won't agree to seek revenge on Xu Shumming..."
"If my father is number one on the list of people I hate, then you are now number two!" Su Ruiyi declared.
Ou Yunchen laughed heartily. He didn't know whether to feel honored or unfortunate to have gone from the object of her deep love to the second person she hated.
"You don't believe me?" Su Ruiyi asked.
"I believe you," Ou Yunchen replied. "But I recently heard a saying."
"What?"
"The world always makes way for the fearless."
"What does that mean?" Su Ruiyi questioned.
"I've always admired those who hate me. I call them brave people."
"Of course, you are among those I admire. You are braver than them because you dare to love and hate, never holding back your emotions."
"It's because I loved you too much that I believed you would be a good person!"
"I was never a good person," Ou Yunchen stated. "From a bartender to where I am today, how clean do you think my actions have been?"
"Yes, it's a pity I realized it too late!" Su Ruiyi lamented.
"Status, reputation, wealth, and women – I desire them all," Ou Yunchen confessed. "But the more beautiful things are, the harder they are to obtain."
"Success is essentially a slightly ajar door. How to utilize the resources at hand to overcome that hurdle is the most important thing."
Su Ruiyi grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. She increasingly felt a reflection of her father in Ou Yunchen. They shared a common trait: using others to get what they wanted.
Ou Yunchen picked up the pillow and tossed it back onto the bed. As Su Ruiyi reached out again, Ou Yunchen firmly grasped her wrist, pushed her down onto the bed, and pressed his entire palm down on her head.
"Let go of me! You scoundrel!!!" Su Ruiyi struggled.
"When you loved me, your attitude wasn't like this," Ou Yunchen countered. "Now that you've seen my true colors, you start to hate me? Then your love was too superficial."
"You're just like my father, despicable!"
"But like your father, I succeeded," Ou Yunchen said calmly.
"Let go of me!"
"With your capabilities, you think you can take revenge on Xu Shumming? I even doubt if you are Xu Shumming's daughter!"
"Did you inherit none of your father's decisiveness? Or were you, like your mother in her youth, blinded by love?"
"Don't you dare speak ill of my mother!"
Ou Yunchen increased the pressure on his hand. Su Ruiyi's eyes welled up with tears from the pain, but she gritted her teeth, refusing to beg for mercy.
"You want to win, don't you?" Ou Yunchen challenged. "Come on, try to win against me first. When you conquer me, then you can go challenge your father."
Su Ruiyi remained silent.
Ou Yunchen watched Su Ruiyi cry through the pain, feeling a twinge of pity. But he knew that a bit of provocation might bring this girl a hope akin to rebirth.
To defeat Xu Shumming, she had to muster the courage to stand up again!
When Ou Yunchen released his grip and left the room, Su Ruiyi remained motionless, lying face down on the bed. Her tears had soaked the pillowcase, and her tightly clenched lips were tinged with blue.