Huo Jinyao fetched Su Qingsang a bowl of soup. Earlier that day, he told Ms. Zhou to make the soup.
Lately, Su Qingsang had been so busy that she even developed dark circles under her eyes. Huo Jinyao was concerned about her health.
“Try some soup.”
“I’ll get some myself.” Several people were watching them. She couldn’t bear to act intimately with her husband in front of such a large audience, especially with her cold-faced mother-in-law Liu Tongjia sitting right in front of her.
Liu Tongjia’s expression remained unchanged as if she didn’t see anything.
Unlike her, Huo Mingmei couldn’t help but glance at Su Qingsang and click her tongue.
“Jinyao has changed so much since getting married. He’s even learned to take care of his wife.”
Huo Jinyao remained calm as he put some fish into Su Qingsang’s bowl. “She’s my wife, so I need to take care of her, just like uncle-in-law takes care of you all the time. Would he take care of any other woman like that?”
Huo Mingmei’s expression changed. She almost banged the table.
Since she was Old Master Huo’s youngest child and the only daughter in the family, she was loved by the whole family.
Huo Yangyuan had two sons and no daughter. Thus, Huo Mingmei was the only female in her generation who inherited the family name.
Because she had been spoiled since she was a child, she easily lost her temper.
When she was young, she fell desperately in love with Wei Nantian. Wei Nantian’s family wasn’t poor, but they were far from being as wealthy as the Huo Family. Thanks to their relationship with the Huo Family, the business of the Wei Family had improved over the past several years.
His high status attracted some people. Some women were tempted to get close to him with ulterior motives.
Something like that had happened just a few years ago. To arouse Wei Nantian’s sympathy and earn his favor, one of his secretaries pretended to be weak and pitiful.
In the end, Huo Mingmei dealt with her before she caused any actual problems. Even so, it hadn’t been a good thing.
Huo Jinyao was referring to that moment just now. For Huo Mingmei, the memory felt as if someone was slapping her in the face.
“Jinyao, is that how you talk to your aunt now?”
“Did I say something wrong?” Huo Jinyao glanced at Huo Mingmei, pretending to look innocent.
Huo Mingmei was so angry that she almost passed out. She turned to Su Qingsang and said, “You didn’t say anything wrong, Jinyao. You are a good boy. I think the men from this family are always loyal to their marriages. Qingsang must be fortunate for you to be her husband.”
“Aunty, you’re wrong. I think I’m lucky to have her as my wife.”
As he spoke, Huo Jinyao glanced at Su Qingsang affectionately.
Upon hearing Huo Jinyao’s words, Huo Mingmei felt as if even her teeth were aching. There was usually no reason for an aunt to be so furious towards her nephew, but she just couldn’t help herself.
The Huo Family had a decent family culture. Old Master Huo and his brother, Huo Mingguang, had some minor issues with each other before. Despite this, they were both loyal in their marriages.
Having taken the liberty of choosing their spouses, they respected their wives and took good care of them. Huo Yangxiu had married into the Zhang Family, who acted similarly to the Huo Family.
Sadly, Huo Mingmei married Wei Nantian. Even so, he was nice to her and at least respected her for her family’s sake.
However, he never looked after her as thoughtfully as Huo Mingguang looked after Liu Tongjia. He never protected her as attentively as Huo Jinyao protected Su Qingsang.
That wasn’t to mention what had happened between him and that secretary. That moment had made Huo Mingmei feel too ashamed to face her own family.
She was about to speak up about something else, but Wei Nantian pulled her sleeve before she could say a word. Then, she raised her head to find her father a little sullen-faced. Finally, she stayed silent.
She was respected by the entire Wei Family solely because of her family background. If she ever displeased Old Master Huo, she would no longer be able to live comfortably.
With that in mind, Huo Mingmei stopped talking to Huo Jinyao.
All the while, Huo Mingliang had quietly focused on the food, acting as if he didn’t see what had just happened.
Unlike him, Huo Yifan and Huo Yiyang were a little disappointed with Huo Mingmei. They were expecting something better to occur.
“Alright, alright, both of you are lucky. I think you two should make a baby as soon as possible. Your grandfather will be so happy to meet his great-grandson.”
Old Master Huo was glad to hear that. He turned to Su Qingsang and looked at her amicably.
Once again, Huo Mingmei disliked how Old Master Huo thought so highly of Su Qingsang. She glanced at Su Qingsang’s stomach and said, “Qingsang and Jinyao have been married for half of a year, right? How come Qingsang still isn’t pregnant yet? Don’t you guys want a baby?”
“Of course we do,” Su Qingsang said.
Noticing the change in her expression, Huo Jinyao glanced at her before turning to Huo Mingmei. “Every baby is a precious gift to their parents, and ours hasn’t been delivered to us yet. They’ll be with us sooner or later,” he said.
He omitted the fact that they had only been married for less than a year. Many couples remained childless for years after getting married.
Huo Mingmei was ready to say something else, but Old Master Huo glared at her. He then turned to Su Qingsang and said gently, “Qingsang, there’s no pressure for you to have children. As much as I’d love to have great-grandchildren, I don’t want you to feel pressured into having them.”
Not every elder would say something so nice to their children or grandchildren, especially within a group such as the Huo Family.
Despite finding it ridiculously unfair, Huo Miingmei knew that was the exact reason why she shouldn’t say anything else that Old Master Huo’s wouldn’t want to hear.
Huo Yifan narrowed his eyes slightly, then dropped his head and fell into silence. He seemed to have thought of something.
Huo Manzi knew that she couldn’t afford to offend Su Qingsang, but she slightly envied the latter for being liked by Old Master Huo so much. Su Qingsang wasn’t even a member of the Huo Family.
Some were jealous of Su Qingsang, and Su Qingsang herself felt a little uneasy with Old Master Huo being so generous to her.
She never planned on having a baby so soon after getting married. Looking at Old Master Huo and sensing his attitude on the matter, she felt as if she was lying to him.
She felt that way the whole night. Su Qingsang had done a few nightshifts in the past week and was on her period before that. Huo Jinyao hadn’t slept with her in a few days.
As he held her in his arms, he sensed that something was wrong.
“What’s the matter?”
Su Qingsang looked at him but didn’t know how to tell him about it. She thought for a moment before deciding to tell him the truth.
“Huo Jinyao, I feel sorry for Grandpa.”
“Why? Nothing happened.”
“Grandpa wants a great-grandchild so much, but I…”
“What do you mean? There’s no need to worry. Grandpa just said that if you decided not to have a baby, he wouldn’t hold it against you.”
“Huo Jinyao.” Su Qingsang was serious. She was able to tell who was genuinely nice to her and who was faking it.
Ever since marrying into the Huo Family, Old Master Huo had protected her. She hadn’t spent much time with Old Master Huo yet, but she knew that he cared for both her and Huo Jinyao.
Because of that, she felt guilty about lying to Old Master Huo.
Huo Jinyao had never noticed Su Qingsang’s sentimental side until now. He found it to be quite interesting.
“I’ve already told you that Grandpa wouldn’t mind.” Worrying that she might not believe him, Huo Jinyao added, “Grandpa’s neither young nor as strong as before, but he is still healthy, other than having slightly high blood pressure. Don’t overthink it.”
“But…”
Huo Jinyao looked at her in the eyes and asked her in a serious tone, “Alright, let me ask you something. Do you want a baby now?”
Su Qingsang pressed her lips together, her pretty face putting her hesitation on display for him to see.
After spending about a minute struggling to come up with her answer, she shook her head and said, “No. Huo Jinyao, please don’t be mad at me. I just don’t want children now.”
Since her workload had just begun to increase, she was more excited to build a solid career. On top of that, she hadn’t completely freed herself from her psychological shadow just yet.
“See?” Huo Jinyao put an arm around her waist, lowering his head to kiss her cheek. “Like I’ve said, you don’t have to have children if you don’t want to,” he said. “You have that right, so you don’t need to worry about it. If you aren’t ready, we can wait until you are.”
The issue was important to her but trivial to him.
More importantly, Huo Jinyao wasn’t ready either. He had no idea how to raise a child well.
Su Qingsang blinked her eyes and looked at him. She always thought her husband was handsome, but this was the first time she found him tall and sturdy; he seemed as reliable as a mountain.
She couldn’t help but raise her head to kiss his lips and put her arms around his neck.
It was rare for her to initiate such intimacy with her husband. Huo Jinyao found that letting his wife occasionally take the lead was an interesting change of pace.
He wasn’t satisfied with that alone, though. He surely intended to grasp the opportunity to further benefit from it.
That night was, of course, a passionate night.
…
The next day was Saturday. Su Qingsang took a day off, which was unusual since her job didn’t allow her to take many vacations. Huo Jinyao had exhausted her last night, but she still got up early to keep Old Master Huo company. It had always been that way whenever she stayed in the Huo Family’s house.
The weather was still cold in Rong City. Old Master Huo wasn’t very strong, but he still went outside to play Taiji in the morning wearing a cotton-padded coat.
Su Qingsang put on a down coat and walked out to Old Master Huo’s side.
“Morning, Grandpa.”
“Morning.” Old Master Huo was happy to see Su Qingsang. He smiled and said to her, “Why are you wearing such a big coat? How are you gonna play Taiji in that?”
“It’s okay. It’s not super thick, so I can still play Taiji wearing this.”
She even made a few Taiji moves as she spoke.
“Alright, show me what I taught you last time,” Old Master Huo laughed.
“Sure.”
Su Qingsang warmed up and then started exercising.
After watching her play Taiji, Old Master Huo quickly nodded. He said to her, “Not bad, not bad. You don’t have enough strength yet, but the moves are right.”
“Thank you, Grandpa.”
As they spoke, Su Qingsang started learning the new moves from Old Master Huo.
Old Master Huo once again pointed out her lack of strength. While that was true and she wanted to improve on it, she was tired. Huo Jinyao was too energetic last night. It was already hard for Su Qingsang to get up so early in the morning.
After playing Taiji, she followed Old Master Huo back into the house. Ms. Zhou had already prepared breakfast for them inside.
Su Qingsang and Old Master Huo each returned to their rooms to freshen up before coming back downstairs.
Downstairs, she saw Liu Tongjia sitting there with a cold expression on her face. Her expression grew even sourer upon seeing Su Qingsang.
Su Qingsang stopped short and automatically glanced at Huo Jinyao, who was sitting in front of Liu Tongjia.
Huo Jinyao shook his head toward her. Su Qingsang stopped worrying, believing he was trying to tell her that everything was okay.
She didn’t know that Huo Jinyao had no idea what the problem was this time, either.
The outdoor swimming pool was iced. He got up in the morning, did some swimming in the house’s indoor swimming pool, then spent some time in the gym.
After he took a shower and came out of the gym, he found Liu Tongjia sitting on the sofa in the living room with a sullen face. She asked him to sit down when she saw him.
“Mom, if you have something to say to me, just say it,” Huo Jinyao said peacefully. After all, he hadn’t been close to his mother in a long time.
Just because it was Saturday didn’t mean he had nothing to do.
Liu Tongjia glanced upstairs and said, “Be patient. I’ll start talking when everyone is here.”
She glared at Huo Jinyao as she spoke, making him feel a little uncomfortable.
As he prepared to ask Liu Tongjia about what she wanted, Old Master Huo and Su Qingsang came downstairs.
“Why are you all sitting here? Aren’t you going to eat breakfast?” Old Master Huo wasn’t delighted to see his daughter-in-law’s sour expression from the stairs.
It was supposed to be a happy weekend with both his grandson and granddaughter-in-law back in the family house. However, Liu Tongjia’s sour expression ruined the delightful atmosphere.
That was enough to displease Old Master Huo. Even he knew that he wasn’t what was upsetting Liu Tongjia.
“Father, the breakfast can wait, but what I need to say can’t.”
As she spoke, Liu Tongjia stood up and walked to Old Master Huo to help him down the stairs. Old Master Huo waved a hand to stop her from doing that. He wasn’t so weak yet.
After sitting down on the sofa, Old Master Huo gently said to Liu Tongjia, “What this is about?”
Liu Tongjia prepared to start talking. The sight of Su Qingsang sitting beside Huo Jinyao further ignited the discontent in her eyes.
Along with Old Master Huo, Huo Mingguang had also been looking at her questioningly. They had no idea what she wanted to talk about.
“Father…” Liu Tongjia finally turned her eyes back to Old Master Huo and started talking, “All these years, I can tell how well you’ve been treating Jinyao. No one was ever as nice to him as you.”
That was true. As Old Master Huo’s eldest grandson, Huo Jinyao had seemed smart and handsome since he was young.
He grew to become mature and reliable. Ever since he took over Tianyu Group, he handled almost everything perfectly.
So what if he did? Wasn’t he making a mistake right now?
