“What are you doing? I said I’m going to turn in.”
“Yes, go ahead. You do it your way and I’ll do it my way.”
Huo Jinyao teased her rather shamelessly and Su Qingsang felt her willpower crumble away as she was amused. She struggled to resist the temptation but was overpowered by him. Deliberating for a moment, she decided to give in to his desires.
The next day was an uneventful day at the hospital. In the afternoon, Su Qingsang entered all her records into the computer and did her rounds of the wards before leaving for home.
With the intention of saving Aunt Xiang from the hassle of cooking, Su Qingsang took her out for a meal. Even though Xiang Caiping looked to be in a better mood when Su Qingsang saw her, Su Qingsang still wanted to cheer her up.
Su Qingsang’s residence was a stone’s throw away from a department store, so she took Xiang Caiping shopping after their meal together.
“Qingsang, I have enough clothes. You don’t have to buy these.”
“It’s really alright, Aunt Xiang.” Su Qingsang slipped her arm through Xiang Caiping’s. “The weather here is different than in Rong City. It’s always good to buy clothes that suit the weather.”
“Qingsang,” Xiang Caiping was touched and momentarily at a loss for words.
“Aunt Xiang, there really is no need for you to stand on ceremony with me.”
Su Qingsang paused for a moment before deciding that she would take Xiang Caiping to buy a cellphone. The department store was right next to an electronics megastore.
Xiang Caiping always used a landline back in Rong City, so Su Qingsang chose a lightweight smartphone with high-performing features for her.
“Aunt Xiang, let me teach you how to use this.”
Su Qingsang downloaded a variety of applications in the new cellphone for Xiang Caiping and input her own ID into these applications.
Previously, Xiang Caiping had been basically living in seclusion. She was now paying careful attention in order to learn how to use her new cellphone.
“You mean I can just press this button on WeChat and a message will be sent to you? Don’t I need to type the message?”
“You don’t have to. I’ll teach you how. You can do this,” Su Qingsang explained. She used her cellphone to send a voice message to Xiang Caiping.
Su Qingsang then used Xiang Caiping’s cellphone to open the voice message for Xiang Caiping to listen to it.
“It’s crystal clear,” Xiang Caiping smiled gleefully. “This is so much better than the phone that I used to use.”
For the sake of convenience, Xiang Caiping used to use outdated phone models. This was her first time using an advanced cellphone.
“Yes. Next time, if I’m not coming home for a meal, I’ll send you a message in this way.”
“Sure, sure. This is great.” Xiang Caiping was extremely pleased with this new discovery. Seeing this, however, caused Su Qingsang to feel a little sorrowful.
Su Chenghui and Li Qianxue both owned customized cellphones. They were usually gifted with a myriad of electronic products by their commercial partners.
Even though Xiang Caiping was wealthy, she still lived without indulging in the pleasures of the world. Having had her heart broken, she had lost interest in indulging herself.
Henceforth, Su Qingsang was determined to treat Xiang Caiping better. It was not too late to start now.
“Aunt Xiang, you can slowly learn the ropes of handling your new cellphone when we get back home. Let’s go buy some clothes now.”
“Sure,” Xiang Caiping carefully packed away her new cellphone and the duo set off to buy clothes.
Leading Xiang Caiping, Su Qingsang made a beeline towards the women’s clothing section after entering the department store. The clothes Xiang Caiping owned were old-fashioned. Su Qingsang chose quite a few outfits for her that were sophisticated and fashionable.
“Aunt Xiang, don’t mind me. Please try these on.”
“Won’t these look too young on me?” Xiang Caiping felt that the clothes were not suitable for her, but she went to try them on anyway.
Su Qingsang watched Xiang Caiping enter the fitting room and thought about choosing more outfits for her to try on.
Then, some other customers entered the boutique. Initially, Su Qingsang was not aware of them. When she lifted her head and saw the reflection of the customers in the mirror, she shuddered.
They were Su Peizhen, Luo Meishan, and Song Youhe.
