He... he couldn't have overheard the conversation from inside just now, could he? How utterly embarrassing.
Gu Qiqi was both mortified and furious, shooting Zhou Yi a vicious glare—*Damn it, crossing paths with you, the eldest young master of the Zhou family, is the worst luck I've ever had.*
Zhou Yi stood blocking the doorway, so Qiqi raised an eyebrow and said haughtily, "Mr. Zhou, would you please step aside?"
But Zhou Yi grabbed her wrist. "Hold on—didn't you come looking for me? Why leave without even talking to me?"
Qiqi stopped in her tracks, suddenly remembering the purpose of her visit—*Damn, that wretched woman drove me so crazy I almost forgot the real reason I'm here.*
*Fine, for Senior Brother Lu's sake, I'll endure it.*
She stepped to the side of the door and waited, noticing that Zhou Yi had already dismissed Madam Zhou's secretary.
Zhou Yi whispered in her ear, "Wait for me a moment. I'll be right back."
Then he brushed past her, unceremoniously pushed open the door to the director's office, strode straight in, and stood directly in front of Madam Zhou's desk. Madam Zhou hadn't expected him to arrive; she froze for a moment, her expression somewhat awkward. "Xiao Yi?"
Zhou Yi stood tall and proud, his tone cold. "Aunt Bai, I'm here to relay Grandfather's message—I've reported Zhibi's matter to him, and he's ordered Zhibi to leave for the U.S. immediately."
Madam Zhou's face paled. "Go to the U.S.? Is your grandfather really going to enforce the family discipline?"
Zhou Yi nodded. "That's the Zhou family's rule—Zhibi violated the family code. There's no way around it."
A pleading look crept into Madam Zhou's eyes. "Xiao Yi, can you put in a good word for your aunt? Don't let Zhibi go to the U.S. How can a girl like her endure the family discipline? She's your own sister, after all."
A flicker of reluctance passed through Zhou Yi's eyes. "I'll try my best to find a way... but once Grandfather decides something, no one can change it."
Madam Zhou seemed to deflate like a punctured balloon, collapsing back into her chair.
Zhou Yi sighed inwardly—*Now you regret it? Think back to how you indulged your sister back then.*
Thinking of the punishment awaiting his sister, he felt a twinge of worry. Still, he had already pleaded for leniency with Grandfather over the phone, so he knew Zhibi's trip to the U.S. wouldn't involve too much physical suffering. But a minor reprimand was unavoidable.
He looked at Madam Zhou, recalling the conversation he'd overheard outside, and added coldly, "I've delivered Grandfather's message. I hope you'll prepare yourself mentally, Aunt Bai. Also, just a side note—though you're Zhibi's mother and my elder, please don't meddle in my personal affairs. I think who I like and who I want to be with shouldn't require your approval, should it?"
Madam Zhou's face turned deathly pale, a mix of shame and anger twisting her meticulously made-up features, making her look particularly harsh.
But after stammering a few times, she could only squeeze out one sentence: "Xiao Yi, your aunt only means well for you..."
Zhou Yi's tone was indifferent. "Mm, I know you mean well. But Aunt Bai, you're not my mother, so you have no right to interfere in my life."
Madam Zhou's face grew even more ashen, her lips trembling, but in the end, she dared not refute Zhou Yi's words.
Qiqi caught fragments of this from outside and thought to herself—*So Madam Zhou isn't Zhou Yi's biological mother, and the relationship between this stepmother and her son seems pretty strained.*
*Still, Zhou Yi seems to get along well with his sister. And the Zhou family's discipline is really strict—they actually have a family code.*