When Huo Jinyao came out of the bathroom, he saw Su Qingsang lying on the bed. She was holding her mobile phone in her hands and staring at the screen.
He could hear her occasional chuckles. The thermostat was turned up, so she was only wearing a short-sleeved night skirt. She looked happy, her feet wobbling from time to time.
This movement made her sleeping gown crawl up her legs.
Huo Jinyao couldn’t help but look at Su Qingsang’s fitted and fair calves. He walked slowly to the bed but Su Qingsang hadn’t even noticed him coming out of the bathroom earlier on.
Su Qingsang was chatting with her friend Shi Mengwan.
She had put up some pictures on social media earlier today. These were taken when Li Qianxue and Old Master Li were around a few days ago. It was taken in the snow.
The people from the south who didn’t get to see much snow showed their marvel by clicking the like button.
Shi Mengwan also saw it. She had been busy working on a design drawing but she was finally finished with it and was free to chat with Su Qingsang.
She expressed indignation and reprimanded Su Qingsang for ‘abandoning’ her and coming to Rong City. She was feeling envious and jealous as Su Qingsang was able to experience snow and even build a snowman.
Shi Mengwan’s last message was that she wanted to come to Rong City to visit Su Qingsang.
Su Qingsang sent her some pictures of the snow in reply to tease her.
It was followed by a line of text which said, “come on! come on! I will take you to see the snow. I have a big secret to tell you.”
The photos that she had posted didn’t have Li Qianxue or Old Master Li in them. New things had happened every day since she recognized Li Qianxue as her mother.
She didn’t know where to begin, because there was just so much to tell Shi Mengwan.
Shi Mengwan thought that Su Qingsang had come here with Xiang Caiping. She asked Su Qingsang how Xiang Caiping was doing.
Su Qingsang had some mixed feelings when thinking about Xiang Caiping.
As a matter of fact, what had Xiang Caiping done wrong? All she did was love the wrong person, only to have realized that she had recognized the wrong daughter all that while.
Su Qingsang still had Xiang Caiping’s number saved on her mobile phone and did not delete her contact on WeChat. However, she still could not find the courage to contact Xiang Caiping.
Xiang Caiping’s accusations that day made Su Qingsang sad, but also gave her a huge amount of guilt and reason for self-accusation.
All she could tell Shi Mengwan was that she would tell her more when she visited.
She then changed the topic by talking about the fun stuff that happened at Rong City. Shi Mengwan was full of envy.
Su Qingsang still didn’t notice that Huo Jinyao had already taken his bath. She was too engrossed in the conversation with her friend.
She jumped when her phone was taken away from her hand. Huo Jinyao was on top of her when she turned.
“Huo Jinyao?” Su Qingsang knew exactly what his look meant.
She was exhausted because of this guy. He kept complaining that she was distancing herself from him. It had been a long day for her, so she needed a good rest.
“I am very tired today. I need to rest.”
“Yeah, sleep after we do it. It’s good for your health.”
“Nonsense!” How did he manage to say such things in a composed manner with no scientific basis?
“Is it nonsense? You will know after you try it.”
After placing her phone on the bedside table, Huo Jinyao’s hand returned to her and slowly made its way towards her skirt.
“Hold on, hold on.”
Huo Jinyao looked at her and raised his eyebrows sarcastically to show that he wasn’t going to stop.
“Just one time, okay?”
Su Qingsang wanted to beg for mercy. What could she possibly do when she had a husband who lasted a long time?
“Just one time, Qingsang. I know that you are very tired today.” Huo Jinyao stared at her little face. “Alright! Just one time.”
Huo Jinyao did not ask her about what had happened with Liu Tongjia. He already made up his mind. No matter what Liu Tongjia knew or wanted to do, he would be there to protect his wife.
Later that night, the exhausted Huo Jinyao had nightmares again.
He tried but couldn’t escape the endless stretch of darkness. All he could do in the dark was to keep running.
No matter how fast he ran, he still couldn’t escape the darkness.
At the end of the dark path, he could see a faintly familiar face. He looked at the familiar face and felt relief at having found his way.
He tried hard to run in the direction of the familiar face. Only after coming closer was he able to see that person’s face vividly.
However, that person put his hand on his neck with great force and repeatedly said, “Why don’t you go to hell? Why don’t you go to hell?”
The feeling of being suffocated forced Huo Jinyao to wake up from the darkness.
He patted his chest, still panting continuously.
“Huo Jinyao?” Su Qingsang called softly. She had been very tired. She wasn’t yet completely woken up by his sudden movements.
She reached out and touched Huo Jinyao’s hand with only half-consciousness. She said, “No more, go to sleep.”
Her hands were soft and warm. Huo Jinyao gently held her hand, feeling the softness and warmth emanating from her palm.
He then lied flat and slept beside Su Qingsang.
He hugged her waist tightly and let her fall asleep against his chest. The dream he had just now was becoming vague, so Huo Jinyao closed his eyes and managed to fall asleep again.
This time the nightmare did not reappear. While holding Su Qingsang, he had no nightmares until dawn.
…
Rong City Airport.
Su Qingsang looked at Li Qianxue and Old Master Li. The latter was holding Li Qianxue’s hand, his eyes full of reluctance.
“Mom… you said that you would stay for two weeks.”
Li Qianxue was also feeling reluctant, but she had to go back to Lin City to deal with some matters.
By holding Su Qingsang’s hand tightly, Li Qianxue tried to hold back her tears. “I really want to bring you back with me.”
“Sounds good. I will buy another ticket right now and we can go back together.”
“You’re being silly again!” Li Qianxue glanced at Huo Jinyao then said, “you’ll only talk but you won’t do it!”
“What do you mean? I’m going to book the tickets now.”
Su Qingsang took out her mobile phone while speaking. Li Qianxue pressed her hand.
“All right, you are being very childish today! Never mind this time. I will come to see you again next time, and then you can come back to Lin City with me.”
It was easy to say, but not so easy to do.
Su Qingsang suddenly reached out and hugged Li Qianxue. She only spent a short amount of time with Li Qianxue, but her feelings were genuine and came from the bottom of her heart.
She finally realized the power of blood ties. She felt really attached to Li Qianxue.
Li Qianxue gently patted Su Qingsang’s back.
Su Qingsang stepped back, her eyes still a little red and puffy from crying. She sniffed her nose and looked at Li Qianxue. “Mom, you must come to Rong City to visit me again. I will also come to Lin City to see you.”
“Alright!” Li Qianxue nodded. “I have to go back to deal with some matters. I will come back to visit you once I’m done.”
Su Chenghui was still working at Li Corporation which made Li Qianxue feel uncomfortable. On top of that, Su Chenghui had been refusing to sign the papers.
Li Qianxue couldn’t take all of this any longer. She needed to go back to Lin City to settle this matter with Su Chenghui once and for all.
She wasn’t going to tell Su Qingsang about this, because there was no need for her to know. All she needed to do was to live her life happily.
Li Qianxue sent Su Qingsang to talk to Old Master Li. After Su Qingsang retreated from her side, she gave Huo Jinyao a glance.
Huo Jinyao noticed that the two stood a few steps away to his side.
Li Qianxue did not tell Su Qingsan about how Liu Tongjia had overheard her phone call, because she couldn’t quite figure out Liu Tongjia’s intentions.
She did not want Su Qingsang to learn about these things yet, but she thought that it was necessary to talk about them with Huo Jinyao.
She told him about how Liu Tongjia had overheard her phone call and what Liu Tongjia had said after that.
After narrating what had happened, she looked at Huo Jinyao and said, “I know you’re a good guy. But your mother does make me worry sometimes. That is why I have to overstep a bit. I hope you don’t mind.”
In fact, after the family dinner last time, she had already talked to Su Qingsang about how to get along with Liu Tongjia.
If it was not useful to try to please her, then they would have to avoid each other. As long as there was no head-on confrontation, they only needed to remain at peace on the surface.
It would become an undesirable situation if Liu Tongjia tried to take advantage of Su Qingsang as her mother-in-law. During such a time, Huo Jinyao would need to make an appearance.
“Don’t worry, Mom. I will not let Qingsang be wronged.”
“Alright then.” Li Qianxue somehow felt uncomfortable. She said, “Jinyao, don’t blame me for meddling in this matter. You know that Su Qingsang was raised as an illegitimate daughter in the Su family all these years. She has suffered a lot growing up. I really don’t want to see her being sad.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let it happen.”
“I am not an unreasonable person. I wouldn’t have cared if it was a small matter and I wouldn’t have said anything about it. But your mother has accused her of marriage fraud, saying that she tricked you into this. That made my heart ache so much. That is why I couldn’t help but—”
“I get it, I get all of it.” After all, who would know about Liu Tongjia’s personality better than her own son?
“Rest assured, I know what to do. Besides, Qingsang is married to me. She is my wife, and I will protect her well.”
“That’s good, that’s good.”
Li Qianxue had so much guilt towards Su Qingsang. The opportunity to make it up to her had long passed. For the future, she could only hope that Su Qingsang and Huo Jinyao would live life happily together.
As the boarding time was approaching, Su Qingsang looked at Li Qianxue with mixed feelings.
“Alright, you can leave us here. Me and your grandfather can accompany each other.”
Su Qingsang nodded and looked at Li Qianxue. She then stepped forward for the last time and spoke to her in a very low voice.
She said, “mom… If possible, you should end on good terms with dad.”
To be honest, she really wasn’t that close to Su Chenghui, although that man was her father.
However, Su Yuxin was different. In the past few days, she had sent photos to Su Yuxin and chatted with him about Li Qianxue and Old Master Li’s visit here.
Su Chenghui also went to see Su Yuxin, and she could feel that Su Yuxin had been touched by her gesture.
He was close to Su Chenghui. Their father and son’s relationship was strong. If the situation got ugly, Su Yuxin would not be able to take it
