Waiting for the old man's laughter to subside, Xu Qin's expression gradually cooled down as he talked about another topic, "Have you found anything about Su Gao?"
Xu Qin did a background check on Su Ming in the past. However, he did not look deeper into her family history.
The moment he found that Su Ming was not the person he was trying to find, he lost interest in knowing the rest.
Only when the current Xu Ming appeared before him did he pick up where he left off and find something wrong with Su Ming's father.
However, the affairs happened almost twenty years ago, therefore, it took a bit longer to confirm everything.
When it came down to business, the Old Butler no longer joked around and carefully placed a folder on the desk, "This is what you asked for."
"Thank you for your hard work." Xu Qin gave him a polite nod and proceeded to read what was inside.
Xu Qin usually had a good grasp of his emotions. Yet, after going through the report, he could no longer maintain his composure.
The papers under his hand crumpled due to excessive force. He was trying hard to repress this anger and bitterness that he had nowhere to vent.
The Old Butler who was watching on the sideline worriedly asked, "Eldest Young Master, what's wrong?"
Xu Qin took a deep breath before warily covering his eyes with his right hand. He then spoke in an almost inaudible voice, "You read them."
Per his order, the Old Butler quickly went through the documents. After he was done, disbelief was written all over his face. He was disgusted beyond words that he cursed out loud, "Su Gao, that damn dog does not deserve to be a human!"
After venting his anger, the Old Butler abruptly realized another grave matter. He worriedly voiced his opinion, "Then... Does Mrs. Xu know about this matter?"
Xu Qin removed his hand and answered in a hoarse voice, "I think she doesn't know."
Hearing this, the Old Butler hesitatingly added, "Then should we tell her?"
At this question, Xu Qin remained silent for a while. Soon after, he stood up, grabbed those papers, and walked toward the door.
"She deserves to know."
Staring at the closing door, the Old Butler could only give a tired sigh. He simply hoped that the Eldest Young Master wouldn't blame himself too much and that Mrs. Xu not be too heartbroken after learning about this affair.
Back to Xu Qin's side, he did not go to Xu Ming's room but instead, he went to the gym and as expected, the lights were on.
By the time he arrived, his emotions were already back in place. He did not hesitate to push the glass door and walked in with steady footsteps.
It did not take much effort for him to locate his target. The other side seemed to know her limit and merely used the treadmill at neither slow nor fast speed for today.
Xu Qin slowly walked up to her and softly asked, "May I have a word with you?"
"Go ahead." Xu Ming agreed without even glancing in his direction.
Did not want to come off as abrupt, Xu Qin started the conversation with an easier topic, "Ahem... Can you refrain from speaking so bluntly in front of Mei-er in the future?"
Hearing his request, Xu Ming's expression remained unchanged. He offhandedly said, "That's me being polite."
Xu Ming did not lie. Had anyone who had known him in the past seen his current behavior, they would have been gobsmacked seeing how humble and civilized he was.
The Xu family had it easy and they didn't even realize it.
On the other hand, Xu Qin had no way of knowing the real identity of his ex-wife. His mood was not good but despite that, he still felt dumbfounded by her shameless answer.
As if the dark clouds above his head dispersed, he momentarily forgot why he came here in the first place and instinctively retorted, "Does bringing up that kind of talk in front of a 4-year-old child sound normal to you?"
"It is not?"
Xu Ming asked this without much thought but he did not realize that this question sounded different in Xu Qin's ears. As a result, Xu Ming unexpectedly found the other party staring at him with remorseful eyes for no odd reason.
Nevertheless, it didn't take him long to find the cause of the man's sudden sympathy. Xu Ming reckoned that Xu Qin was probably filling the hole in his brain with some dog blood drama plot due to his strange circumstances.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, Xu Qin was afraid of accidentally hurting the other side's feelings so he carefully chose his words and explained in a rather soft voice, "Kids pick up things quickly so adults need to be mindful of their conduct and words in front of them."
Xu Ming was not interested in acting so he replied with an oh.
Xu Qin was not bothered by her lukewarm reaction, he helplessly questioned, "How will you answer, if she were to ask where babies come from?"
Without batting an eye, Xu Ming replied without a change in his expression, "Fertilized eggs."
Xu Qin: "..."
Seeing Xu Qin's speechless look, Xu Ming sneered, "Or should I say that the father came inside the mother?"
Xu Qin: "..."
For some odd reason, Xu Qin now truly believed that the other party was not joking when she said she was being polite.
Forget it. She hasn't lived a good life so I shouldn't blame her for acting this way.
Temporarily dropping this matter, Xu Qin steered the discussion to his real objective, "What are your plans after moving out?"
"That's none of your business."
Receiving her cold answer, Xu Qin was not surprised at all. No longer beating around the bush, he directly said, "I can help you deal with your father."
Xu Ming's disinterested eyes finally revealed a tinge of curiosity at this sudden mention of the Su family out of nowhere.
It has been several days since his discharge from the hospital but Xu Ming hasn't met a single member of the Su family yet. Had no one mentioned them to him, he almost forgot that they even existed.
He did know that Su Ming had a bad relationship with her family but he did not know the details. Now that Xu Qin suddenly mentioned Su Ming's father, it seemed like things were messier than he initially thought.
Interested, Xu Ming gave a slight raise of his chin, motioning the other person to continue.
In the meantime, Xu Qin secretly observed the other person's expression.
There were no fluctuations in her expression upon mentioning her father.
At this discovery, Xu Qin felt relief and sad at the same time. Relief because the other person wouldn't get too hurt by what she was going to learn. Sad because it showed that she didn't receive any familial love to become this numb.
Reaching out his right hand that was holding the folder, Xu Qin slowly said, "You can come and find me after you have decided what to do with the Su family."
Xu Ming said nothing and silently took the document from Xu Qin's hand.
"I will take my leave then."
Soon after Xu Qin's departure, Xu Ming too went back to his room.
After drying his hair, he sat down on the single sofa and began to go through what he got from Xu Qin.
Unlike Xu Qin's worry about seeing his disheartened look, from the beginning to the end, Xu Ming's face remained impassive as if he were reading a financial report.
In reality, in his hands was evidence proving that Su Ming's father scammed Su Ming's mother into a marriage when he already had a wife and a daughter.
Securing himself a position within the Su family, he secretly killed his wife disguised as a car accident. Unfortunately, his real wife died due to a terminated illness so he could only bring his first daughter into the family as an adopted daughter with the excuse of finding a companion for Su Ming after her mother's death.
Old Su rather trusted him and it was an adopted daughter anyway so he acquiesced with his actions. By this timeline, the relationship between Old Su and his biological son was beyond repair.
Su Ning has always hated his father for hurting his mother and his sister. His mother died due to depression not long after his niece was born. Some years later, his sister passed away all of a sudden and his father did not even grieve for her which made him sick.
As a result, Su Ning stormed out of the house and Old Su could only let his son-in-law who was the only man left in the house help him with his business.
At present, Old Su's health declined rapidly which was also the result of Su Gao's tempering with his medicine causing him to be hospitalized.
Honestly speaking, everything stemmed from Old Su which gradually led to the fall of the Su family today.
Su family could only be called a nouveau rich at most. Their root was in the countryside and their ancestors were farmers.
Only when it reached the Old Su's generation did the direction of the Su family change.
The Old man was a businessman and was not reconciled with settling down in such a small place. He worked his way from the bottom and eventually came to the big city 30 years ago bringing along his wife and two children.
Old Su has always been proud of himself for raising his family to this position. However, the moment he stepped into the city, he realized what a joke he was and he couldn't squeeze in no matter what.
Feeling a blow to his ego, Old Su worked harder trying to find a foothold in this big city.
He went to countless parties to make connections and he became more and more dissatisfied with his countryside wife who was unable to help him with anything.
Therefore, whenever he came back drunk and tired, he would always vent his frustrations to his wife and children.
Blinded by greed, he completely forgot that it was his wife who made it possible for him to have a higher education with her family support.
Old Su also didn't like his daughter who had a meek personality just like her mother. In other words, he valued a son more than a daughter so it was not difficult to guess what kind of treatment Su Ming's mother received from that kind of father.
To make matters worse, Su Ming's mother fell in love with Lu Gao who came from an ordinary family and was pregnant with his child which enraged the Old man even more.
Had it not been for his wife's constant begging and Lu Gao's promise to marry into their Su family, Old Su would have already forced his daughter to abort and marry a rich old man for benefits.
Fortunately, this cheap son-in-law listened to his words and had a business mind, unlike his son who rebelled and went to study medicine.
Old Su's anger slightly cooled down until his daughter gave birth to a granddaughter not a grandson for him.
It was not an exaggeration to say that Old Su acted as if he did not have a granddaughter.
While her father favored an adopted daughter more than her, Su Ming felt that she wouldn't have any good future staying in that family.
As luck had it, she caught Xu Qin and became his wife. After marrying into the Xu family, she did not hesitate to cut ties with her family and took on her husband's surname.
Su Ming made it clear that she had nothing to do with the Su family. Therefore, the Su family couldn't make it public that they were in-laws with the Xu family in fear of the latter's wrath.
Xu Ming who has grown up in a much worse environment was not fazed by these findings. He expressionlessly tossed the folder on the coffee table.
I guess it wouldn't hurt to take out some trash before leaving.