After throwing out this threat, Li Qianxue hung up the phone.
The fact was that she had raised Su Peizhen for more than 20 years, and she did think about what Su Qingsang had said before.
It would only be the last resort, as she did not want to destroy Su Peizhen. To have Su Peizhen become an illegitimate daughter, unable to hold her head high in Lin City.
However, Su Chenghui’s refusal to sign the papers annoyed her. In her opinion, Su Chenghui was simply way too greedy. He must have felt that he was getting too little from them, she thought.
Or did he think that his revenge had not been enough? Did he want it all to continue? No matter what it was, Li Qianxue was unwilling to compromise anymore.
Su Chenghui was stunned for a while at the sudden end of the call. His heart, which was still beating fast just now, started to calm down until it returned to its normal state.
He looked at his cell phone for a while and tapped the screen again to call Li Qianxue back.
“Su Chenghui, what else is it that you want?”
“Qianxue. I won’t sign the papers.” Su Chenghui seemed as if he had finally found his voice. He looked at the Li mansion before him. Listening to the sound of Li Qianxue’s breathing on the other end of the phone, he spoke very seriously and chose each word carefully.
“You are the most important person in my life.”
“You…” Li Qianxue didn’t expect to hear this. “What are you trying to do?”
“I don’t want to divorce you,” Su Chenghui said very earnestly. “I finally know now how precious you are to me.”
There were a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line, and Li Qianxue sneered, “Are you thinking of using this method to make me forget about what you have done?”
“No, I’m not.”
“I’m telling you, don’t even think about it.” Li Qianxue’s voice was, in fact, angrier than before. “Su Chenghui, put away your vile thoughts. If you think you can say a few sweet words and make me forgive you just like that, you can dream on. ”
Leaving it at that, Li Qianxue hung up the phone yet again.
However, after a few moments had passed, she still felt that she couldn’t let it go. It was too infuriating.
She couldn’t help but call Su Chenghui again. “The day after tomorrow, at the very latest. If you don’t sign, I will make sure that all of Lin City knows of Su Peizhen’s true identity. That’s it.”
After Li Qianxue said this, she ended the call and turned off her phone. As soon as she looked up, she found that Su Qingsang was standing at the door and watching her. She did not know how much her daughter had heard.
A little uncomfortable, she stood up and walked towards Su Qingsang.
“Why are you standing here so quietly? Weren’t you keeping your grandfather company downstairs?”
“I was.” Su Qingsang nodded as Li Qianxue took her hand. “Grandpa is playing chess with Yuxin. I didn’t know what was happening upstairs, so I came up to look for you. Just now Nanny Zhang said that the food is almost ready and asked me to call you down. ”
“Okay.” Li Qianxue had calmed down completely as she held Su Qingsang’s hand. Thinking that she might have overheard the phone call just now, she felt a little uncomfortable.
“Qingsang, you don’t blame your mom, do you?”
“Why should I blame you?”
“I was afraid you might blame me for being too harsh and for kicking your father out.” Su Qingsang and Su Chenghui were father and daughter after all, and Li Qianxue was afraid that she would blame her. “If you do blame me, I can’t help it. Your dad and I can no longer get along. ”
“I understand you. And I don’t blame you at all for that.”
It was quite incredible that Li Qianxue had managed to tolerate him up until now. If it were any other woman, this would have blown up much earlier.
“That’s good.” Li Qianxue headed outside, hand in hand with her daughter. “After this, your grandpa and I, along with your brother and sister, will just have each other to depend on.”
Su Qingsang glanced at her, biting her lip, and her expression seemed to show she was struggling with something.
“What’s wrong? Are you upset about living with your mother?”
Li Qianxue was really worried. She did not forget that she didn’t have the best of relationships with Su Qingsang before.
“No.” Su Qingsang decided to be honest. “Mom, I know you and I have just reconciled, and you can’t bear to see me leave. However, I am married to Huo Jinyao after all. He’s back at Rong City now, while I’m still here. This is not appropriate. I was thinking that maybe I should go to Rong City, perhaps a couple of days hence.”
“No.” Li Qianxue clenched her hand. “How can you go? I… I have only just gotten you back. I…”
“Mom. We have our whole lives ahead of us.” Su Qingsang thought of Huo Manzi’s words from before. “Huo Jinyao has his family back at his house. I have married him, and until now I have only been to visit them once. I haven’t gone back for the Chinese New Year, and now I won’t be there for the festivities. That really would not go down well.”
“That, that—” Li Qianxue managed a few words, but was unable to argue any further.
When she got married, she had a higher status than Su Chenghui. Su Chenghui’s parents had always had to accommodate her.
Later, less than two years after Su Yuxin was born, Su Chenghui’s parents had passed away. She didn’t even have a proper mother-in-law to bear with.
Even so, it didn’t mean she understood nothing about proprietary and respect. Huo Jinyao’s family background, the status he was born to… she had always known about this.
She used to think that Su Qingsang had scored a windfall when she married into a family like Huo Jinyao’s, and even believed that she could not take the responsibilities of being the daughter-in-law.
Now, listening to what Su Qingsang had to say about this, she started to feel uncomfortable again. However, no matter how terrible she felt, she also knew that Su Qingsang was laying out the facts.
She was married and no longer on her own.
Realizing this, Li Qianxue started to feel upset again.
“My darling, I have only just reconnected with you a few days ago. And you did say you would stay with me.”
Su Qingsang didn’t know what to say. She also felt sorry for Li Qianxue. “Mom, I’m sorry. I…”
“That’s okay. Just go if you have to. However, you will stay for two more days. It must not be tomorrow. Let mom arrange for everything in a couple of days.”
Su Qingsang was surprised. She stared at Li Qianxue blankly and thought for a moment that she had heard wrong.
“What? Did you think that I would keep you hostage?” Li Qianxue was in fact really tempted to do that. “I still think that Huo Jinyao has had it too easy. I used to rather dislike him in the past. Now perhaps I might think even less of him. ”
This was her own daughter, of the relationship with whom she had been deprived for so many years. And now Huo Jinyao had married her and would take her away. Thinking of that, she decided that Huo Jinyao had gotten off the hook too easily.
“Mom,” Su Qingsang smiled. “You can rest assured, I will definitely come back to visit you.”
“Okay then. It’s all right. I have thought it through. I’ll go with you.” Li Qianxue was really reluctant to leave her daughter. “Anyway, I haven’t been on a trip with your grandfather for a long time. We’ll book tickets and go to Rong City for maybe two weeks or so to have some fun. ”
“That would be good. I haven’t had the chance to enjoy Rong City myself that much.”
Su Qingsang laughed, feeling that the dark clouds in her heart had dissipated. She linked Li Qianxue’s arm through hers. “Mom, thank you.”
Li Qianxue had made this concession, all for her. Su Qingsang was touched.
“There’s nothing to thank me for, silly child. You never have to thank me.” Li Qianxue stopped suddenly and looked at Su Qingsang with a serious expression on her face. “I do want to be a selfish mother. However, even more than that, I just hope that you are happy. ”
She owed a lot to Su Qingsang. How could she have the heart to interfere with her marriage?
The relationship between husband and wife had to be mutual. She knew how much Huo Jinyao had done for Su Qingsang before.
If Su Qingsang wanted to live with Huo Jinyao happily ever after, it was important that she should also consider his needs the same way.
Li Qianxue bit her lip, and all of a sudden felt that her eyes were moist.
“Qingsang, Mom has failed to do what you are doing now. It has been very hard. It has been very much a one-sided effort, and it has been exhausting not to have reciprocation. Although I don’t like Huo Jinyao very much, if he is good to you, you have to be good to him too. Otherwise, after a while, your heart will turn cold. ”
Li Qianxue was talking about her and Huo Jinyao, but Su Qingsang knew she was thinking about her own relationship.
“Mom, don’t worry. I know.”
“I know you do.”
Su Qingsang hesitated for a while, but still couldn’t help but speak out. “Mom, you are still young. You can meet a good man in the future. It is still possible to start afresh.”
“Why? Do you want a step-dad?” Li Qianxue already had her heart broken by Su Chenghui. Now, where would she find the energy to look for another man?
However, she didn’t want her daughter to worry or to think too much into this. As she hooked her arm through Su Qingsang’s, they headed down the stairs. “Don’t worry about this. After a spa treatment or two, I could probably still handle a couple of suitors. When I return home, I will look for one who is young and handsome. ”
“That’s good. I’ll also help you make the assessment when the time comes.”
Talking about these things, it really felt like a mother and daughter relationship. As if the barriers of the past two decades had never existed at all.
……
The Lantern Festival.
Compared to the stillness of the Spring Festival, the Su mansion was much livelier today.
Old Master Li had reconnected with his granddaughter and was very happy. It was not possible to tell the world or even the entire Lin city that Su Qingsang was the real heiress of the family. However, letting the rest of the Li family know was good enough.
Among the relatives of the same generation as Old Master Li, there were his two cousins.
The rest were the offspring of these two cousins. There were also several other, even more distant branches of the family. Their relationships were not as close, but they would still meet every now and then.
Old Master Li invited these people, and all of them made sure to come early. The maids were instructed to put the tea on and begin to welcome the guests.
Su Qingsang was still upstairs. Li Qianxue felt that this was her daughter’s first public appearance and that she should prepare accordingly. Even though they only had relatives over, she decided that they should make it quite grand.
Yesterday she had given Su Qingsang a beautiful gown, and today she opened her private safe. Inside was all the jewelry she had collected over the years.
“Have a look. Which one you do like?”
Li Qianxue, who just reconciled with Su Qingsang, couldn’t wait to give her all the best things.
It was the first time Su Qingsang had looked at all the jewelry, and she suddenly felt dizzy.
“Mom, this is a little over the top, don’t you think?”
“It is appropriate.” Li Qianxue looked at her daughter’s gown. “Have a look to see which one you like. Mom will give it all to you, but choose one to wear today.”
As the mother and daughter picked out jewelry, Old Master Li and Su Yuxin entertained the guests downstairs.
No one spoke much. They just waited for Su Qingsang to come downstairs.
At the same time, the courtyard door beyond the garden was left open. Su Peizhen got out of the car and saw the vehicles in the parking lot.
Many cars were parked there, and she knew a few of them. They belonged to relatives. She had seen them before.
From the distance, she could hear laughter coming from the house. Su Peizhen suddenly felt upset about the whole thing.
She was still alone and kept outside the house, but the family was now celebrating the festival with such fanfare?
