Su Shengjing had really wanted to rush over and snatch his daughter back, but An Yuan had held him back. She wouldn’t let him go over. She had said that they were just children; they weren’t at the age where they would develop feelings for each other. They were just good friends.
Moreover, it was almost the new year, so Su Shengjing could not lose his temper and ruin the mood. He could only restrain himself.
Su Jiu could not help but retort, “Daddy, Big Brother did not take advantage of me!”
“Are you speaking up for him?” Su Shengjing narrowed his eyes. He was a little hurt by his daughter’s act of siding with an outsider, but more than that, he felt helpless.
“I…” Su Jiu did not continue.
An Yuan could not stand this anymore. She walked over and hugged the girl, protecting her in her arms. Then, she turned her head and glanced at Su Shengjing. “Alright! Little Jiu already said that they’re just good friends. Don’t think too much about it. It’s so tiring every day. Little Jiu is so smart. She won’t be taken in by a little brat, right?”
“Yes! Unless he’s more handsome than Daddy! But I haven’t met anyone like that yet.” Su Jiu immediately jumped at the chance to flatter her father.
This little girl…
The corners of Su Shengjing’s mouth twitched. However, he liked it whenever Su Jiu tried to suck up to him, and his temper instantly disappeared.
He could only reach out and gently cuff her head. “And I hope you never meet anyone like that.”
Su Jiu blinked. “Daddy, if I don’t meet anyone like that, I can never get married.”
“It’s fine if you never marry; it’s not like I can’t support you. If you really never get married, Daddy will support you for the rest of your life!” Su Shengjing said righteously.
Su Jiu’s heart warmed, and she jumped into his embrace. “Daddy is so nice.”
“Hmph, you’re finding out only now?” Su Shengjing snorted and reached out to stroke her soft hair. He thought of something and said, “I received a message just now saying that you spent 10,000 yuan. What did you do?”
Su Jiu was speechless.
The card she had used was her father’s second card. If she used it, a message would be sent to her father’s phone, so Su Shengjing would know about it. If I tell him that I spent the money on the little villain, would Daddy get angry and jealous again?
However, he already knows that I spent time with the little villain, so there’s no point in hiding it from him. Hence, she truthfully said, “I booked a hotel room for Big Brother and Auntie Song where they can stay for some time. They’re visiting us for the first time in so long, but they only booked a room in a lodge with poor conditions to save money. And I couldn’t bear that, so…”
She stole a glance at Su Shengjing’s expression as she spoke.
Su Shengjing harrumphed. “You sure are warm-hearted.”
“I learned it from Daddy! It’s because Daddy is good that I’m good. Shouldn’t daughters follow their daddies’ good example?”
An Yuan laughed and gently tapped Su Jiu’s forehead. “You little bootlicker.”
Su Jiu playfully stuck out her tongue cutely. She left Su Shengjing’s embrace and was about to go upstairs to change when she suddenly heard her mother call her. “Little Jiu?”
Su Jiu instinctively turned around. “Yes, Mom?”
An Yuan saw the corner of the brocade box that was partially hidden in her daughter’s coat pocket. Seeing that the box looked like a precious gift, An Yuan got a little curious. “What is this? Did your little brother give it to you?”
Eh?
Su Jiu looked down and saw that the brocade box was indeed poking out.
Oh yeah, I had almost forgotten about that.
Su Jiu took out the brocade box and nodded. “That’s right. This is a gift from my big brother.”
“What did he give you? It looks quite old.” Su Shengjing was also surprised.
Su Jiu opened the box and handed it to Su Shengjing. When Su Shengjing saw the jade pendant inside the box, his expression suddenly became complicated. An Yuan was also stunned. “This… Did he really give you this?”
“Yes.” Seeing that their expressions did not seem right, Su Jiu was puzzled. “What’s wrong?”
An Yuan sized up the jade pendant. “He really gave you such a valuable thing.”
Su Jiu immediately asked, “Is it very expensive? I had said to him that if it was very expensive, I would not accept it. He told me that he had bought it from a roadside stall and it was not expensive.”
“Heh, that kid is dishonest.” Su Shengjing complained as he reached out to pick up the jade pendant. After taking a closer look, he continued, “It’s real jade, and the best kind at that. If it was on the market, such a small jade pendant would probably cost millions.”
An Yuan nodded. “I’m afraid it’s more than that. Jade like this is really rare.”
It’s difficult to imagine that the brat would give such an expensive item to Little Jiu. This is too illogical!
Su Shengjing suspiciously looked at Su Jiu. “Baby, did that brat negotiate with you when he gave you this?”
“No, he just asked me to accept it.”
“Really?”
Su Jiu vigorously nodded. “Yes!”
Su Shengjing was speechless.
This is too strange. Such a valuable item, for free?
Or is it that the brat did not know that this jade pendant was very valuable?
Before they could say anything, Su Jiu had already snatched the brocade box out of his hands and said, “I need to go look for him!” before rushing out.
An Yuan turned to look at her retreating back and sighed. “Our daughter is too charming. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. The gifts that these boys give her are each more expensive than the other.”
Every year, Su Jiu would receive many gifts during festivals or on her birthday, especially from Han Siye, Sheng Zhiyan, and Xiao Wei. They have her presents every year, never missing a single one.
Even the Young Master of the Li family, Li Mohan, would sometimes give Su Jiu gifts when he remembered her birthday. He would often give her limited-edition bags and jewelry worth tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan.
It was one thing for those rich young masters to give the girl expensive gifts, but that poor little boy had also given her such an expensive gift too. This stunned An Yuan.
Su Shengjing snorted in disdain. “I don’t know what’s wrong with young boys these days. All of them are so young and ill-behaved. They keep having these ideas about my daughter. Hmph! Little Jiu is only ten years old, and they’ve already started. Is that even reasonable? What a bunch of little beasts! I really want to beat them up!”
He gritted his teeth, but An Yuan was laughing so hard that she was shaking.
***
Su Jiu ran all the way to the hotel and took the elevator. She reached the third floor where the little villain was staying, found his room, and pressed the doorbell.
Soon, Rong Si opened the door.
Seeing Su Jiu at the door, he was surprised and confused. Why’s she here?
“Big Brother, you lied!” She glared at him.
Rong Si was stunned.
Su Jiu took out the box from her pocket and passed it to him. “Tell me, where did you buy this? Was it really from the roadside?”
Rong Si pursed his lips and looked at the box without saying anything.
Su Jiu curled her lips. “Big Brother, my parents said that this jade pendant is a precious piece that’s worth millions. They wouldn’t be wrong about this. Did you know what this jade pendant was worth? Why did you give it to me?”
Rong Si was silent for a few seconds before looking up at her with a deep gaze. “I gave it to you because I knew..”
