The lights in the Huo family’s house were all on.
Sitting on the long, U-shaped sofa in the living room were Old Master Huo, Huo Mingguang, Liu Tongjia, Huo Mingliang, Huo Yifan, and his brother, Huo Yiyang. Surprisingly, Liu Lexian was also on the scene.
Huo Jinyao gave Liu Lexian a bland glance, then looked at Old Master Huo.
“Grandpa, Qingsang is back.”
Old Master Huo glanced at him and responded to him with, “Hmm.”
Su Qingsang detected the strange atmosphere when she came into the house. She was thinking about something else, though.
She hadn’t come back for the New Year or the First Full Moon Festival. She had called Old Master Huo to wish him a happy new year, but she’d assumed that Old Master Huo was probably still unhappy about her absence.
“Grandpa.” Su Qingsang took a step forward to greet the elders.
The others responded to her politely. Only Liu Tongjia snorted coldly and turned her face away.
Su Qingsang had always known that Liu Tongjia didn’t like her. She thought for a moment and turned to look at Huo Jinyao.
Huo Jinyao took two steps forward, put an arm around Su Qingsang’s waist, and said, “Mom, Qingsang is tired now. She flew here from Lin City today. I’m taking her upstairs to rest.”
“Yeah, she must be tired.” Seeing Huo Jinyao protect Su Qingsang, Liu Tongjia grew even angrier. “How can she not be tired? She’s been hanging around out there all day.”
Huo Jinyao cast a glance at Liu Lexian. Liu Lexian shrugged, made eye contact with Huo Jinyao for a moment, and turned his head away, pretending to be careless.
Huo Jinyao gave a small smile, ignoring his unreliable cousin, who loved to cause trouble.
“Grandpa, Qingsang’s plane took off from Lin City this morning. She arrived at lunchtime. She didn’t come back home once she arrived because her mother and grandfather came with her.”
Huo Jinyao didn’t look at Liu Tongjia. He said to Old Master Huo, “Qingsang’s grandfather is Li Yongfeng, the former chairman of the Li Group in Lin City. This time, he and Qingsang’s mother have come to Rong City together to visit our family.”
“Visit us? Oh, that’s probably too much for us. They’re here already, but instead of visiting us, they let their daughter hang out with you. They obviously have no respect for us. We don’t deserve their visit.”
Liu Tongjia did not like Su Qingsang. It would be hard for her to change her mind about that.
“They didn’t come here right after they got off the plane because, according to the tradition in Lin City, one should not visit his in-laws after noon. Since they couldn’t come here, I took them to look around the city this afternoon.
“Grandpa won’t mind such a small thing, right?”
“Yongfeng, my brother, is here?” Old Master Huo had met Old Master Li a few times before. “Great. We can catch up tomorrow.”
Liu Lexian couldn’t bear watching Old Master Huo protect Huo Jinyao unconditionally. So he snorted and said, “I didn’t see my cousin-in-law’s grandfather this afternoon. Cousin, have you hidden him somewhere?”
He sounded like he meant to ask a simple question, but the look in his eyes was provocative.
The look on Liu Tongjia’s face grew even sourer. Huo Jinyao still didn’t look at her.
“Grandpa, don’t worry,” he said to Old Master Huo. “They’ll be visiting you tomorrow morning.”
Old Master Huo nodded. He had met Li Yongfeng once or twice and had a good impression of him.
“But didn’t you tell me that…” He still had a question.
“Grandpa.” Huo Jinyao interrupted his grandfather. “If you want to know about that, I’ll talk to you later in the study. Now, I should take Qingsang upstairs to get some rest. She’s really tired.”
Before Old Master Huo nodded, Liu Tongjia couldn’t help but start talking.
“What can’t be said right here? Why do you have to go to the study to talk about it?” She glanced at Su Qingsang in a very unfriendly way and continued, “Are you trying to hide something shady?”
Upon hearing her words, the people in the living room wore different expressions. Old Master Huo was a little displeased but didn’t say anything. After all, Liu Lexian was in the room, too. He didn’t want to embarrass Liu Tongjia in front of the young people.
The others looked like they were watching a show. Huo Mingguang didn’t really agree with his wife, but he decided not to join the conversation.
Su Qingsang furrowed her brows slightly. Her pretty face wore no obvious expression.
She had talked to Huo Jinyao about this on her way home. Earlier, when she was still in Lin City, she had mentioned it to Huo Jinyao once.
She had asked him not to tell his family about what had happened to her yet.
Su Chenghui, her father, had switched her with another girl when she was born to get revenge on her mother.
Su Qingsang didn’t find that embarrassing. Letting the Huo family know about that wasn’t a big deal for her.
However, Li Qianxue had thought ahead for her and told her that having a father like Su Chenghui was nothing to be proud of after all, even though she might not feel ashamed because of it.
If her husband’s family knew that her own father had done something like that to her, they might never show her any respect.
So they had discussed how to explain to the Huo family.
On the way home, Su Qingsang had told Huo Jinyao this. She had asked him to tell his family what Li Qianxue had told the Li family.
His family would be told that the two babies had been mixed up. As for how and why that had happened, no one would try to dig up all the details.
“Mom.” The look on Huo Jinyao’s face changed the moment he heard what Liu Tongjia said. “There’s nothing to hide. It’s just that Qingsang is tired. I want her to get some rest.”
“She’s tired? Why didn’t she come home earlier if she’s so tired? Why didn’t she even come home for dinner? I understand. You only care about her family now. Do we mean anything to you?
“Isn’t she an illegitimate daughter? Why did people from the Li family come here so eagerly to visit us because of an illegitimate daughter? Visit us? Really? They’re not trying to make a profit off us, are they? After all, this illegitimate daughter from their family has now married into our family.”
Her words sounded so aggressive. Even Su Qingsang couldn’t bear to listen to that, let alone Old Master Huo.
She prepared to argue with Liu Tongjia. However, Huo Jinyao pressed a hand against her hand and didn’t let her speak. “Mom,” he said, “are you finished? If you are, I’m gonna bring Qingsang upstairs. As for those shady things, as you said, we’ll surely be talking about them in secret.”
“You…”
Liu Tongjia was infuriated. She said, “I haven’t finished yet. I just want to know if this family still means anything to you two, and if I, your mother, still mean anything to you.
“I only asked a few questions. What? Are you not confident? Did I say anything wrong? They didn’t even come here when you guys got married. So why are they visiting us now? Is it not because they want something from us?”
