Old Master Huo had not noticed Zhang Yichen’s tension. He twitched his lips and pointed out, “If you want to see flowers, you should go to the greenhouse over there.”
The greenhouse had been set up by his wife in the past, but she had passed away. Liu Tongjia did quite a lot of gardening in it too, as she liked flowers and plants as well. There were more varieties of plants in the greenhouse now then there had been under the management of his wife. There were some rare species of plants that were well taken care of too.
Truly, besides the fact that she was being extremely stubborn about Huo Jinyao, Liu Tongjia actually had few faults one could pick on.
“Well, now that you are here, let’s have a meal together. I had hoped Qingsang would stay, but she said she has something to do and left.”
Old Master Huo couldn’t help but glance over at Zhang Yichen when he finished that sentence. “Yichen, you don’t mind eating with this old man here, right?”
“Of course not.”
Zhang Yichen looked down, and his expression was gentle. Still his thoughts were of Su Qingsang – it did seem like she wanted to tell Old Master Huo something when she had come in.
Had she run into some trouble again?
He felt his heart aching somewhat. She seemed to be having a hard time after marrying Huo Jinyao.
His compulsion to care for Su Qingsang was growing out of hand and Zhang Yichen though had tried his best to restrain it, his instincts always revealed themselves at the very least opportune moment.
This was not a good thing, either for her or for himself.
Zhang Yichen pursed his lips and by the time he looked up at Old Master Huo, his emotions were back under control once more.
…
it was Sunday and at the Tianyu Group, there was practically no one in the entire office building. However in the President’s Office on the top floor, both Huo Jinyao and Yang Wenchang were still working.
Huo Jinyao looked at the arrangements he had previously set, seeing that everything was going as planned.
He was quite pleased with Yang Wenchang’s capabilities at work.
“You said Su Peizhen came to Rong City right after we did?”
When they left the Huo Mansion two days ago, he had asked Yang Wenchang to check up on Su Peizhen’s movements over the past few months.
It was easy enough to look into about Su Peizhen’s activities these few days, as she wasn’t even bothering to be discrete.
Huo Jinyao knew that she had taken over the supermarket chain that belonged to Xiang Caiping and was now its general manager.
It was only in the last month that she had gotten together with Huo Yifan. She followed Huo Yifan to his house the night they had left the Huo Mansion.
“Yes.” It was easy enough to find out which day Su Peizhen had entered Rong City.
“Su Peizhen came to Rong City, not long after she was reunited with Xiang Caiping. She has been contacting major suppliers since then.”
There was a supplier, by the last name of He, who used to work with the Tianyu Group. Through this supplier, Su Peizhen got in touch with a member of staff from the Tianyu Group.
And then, working her way through the staff progressively, step by step, she had eventually managed to make contact with Huo Yifan.
“She played her cards quite well.”
Huo Jinyao chuckled, but he was hardly being complimentary. With all the deliberate moves she had made, who could think that Su Peizhen did not have a larger scheme in mind?
“President Huo, the next…”
“Just keep an eye on her. Take note of who else she is in contact with, other than Huo Yifan.”
“Yes.” Yang Wenchang nodded. Then he thought of another person. “What about Vice President Huo Yifan?”
“Don’t worry about him.” Huo Jinyao sneered. “He is in this together with Su Peizhen. So if you keep an eye on Su Peizhen, it’ll be equivalent to keeping an eye on Huo Yifan.”
After instructing Yang Wenchang on how to proceed, Huo Jinyao decided to go home.
It had initially seemed like it was going to be such a good weekend. If it weren’t for his objections to speaking of company matters at home, in order to avoid causing Su Qingsang any misunderstandings, he would have preferred to stay at home.
Huo Jinyao drove home, after leaving his office. He passed by a flower shop and was suddenly reminded of something.
They had just spent the Lunar New Year in Lin City, due to Su Qingsang’s reunion with Li Qianxue. Those few days of the Lunar New Year were quite close to Valentines’ Day.
He realized he had not yet given any flowers to Su Qingsang, so he stopped his car and bought a big bouquet of roses for her.
He had not expected to see someone else in his living room when he entered the door roses in hand.
“Uncle?”
Why was he here? A hint of surprise flashed across his eyes.
Su Qingsang came out of the kitchen when she heard his voice. The first thing she saw was the big bouquet of roses Huo Jinyao was holding.
“You’re back?”
Su Qingsang wasn’t upset for not getting the answer to her questions the previous day as she had already expected as much.
Nonetheless, she felt that it was such a shame. She wanted to resolve the conflict between Huo Jinyao and Liu Tongjia as soon as she could. It would be a wonderful thing if the conflict could be resolved, and the two of them buried the hatchet.
Right now, it was looking like things were not going to be easy.
Su Qingsang was distracted by all that she had on her mind, and so had forgotten entirely that Zhang Yichen had told her only yesterday that he would be coming over the next day.
It was only when Zhang Yichen arrived, shortly after Ms. Yu had returned from the market, that she remembered what Zhang Yichen had told her.
Well, that had been awkward. She had not only forgotten to inform Huo Jinyao of Zhang Yichen’s visit but in fact, completely forgotten all about it.
Su Qingsang felt rather sheepish. In order to gloss over her chagrin, she asked Ms. Yu to go and get more ingredients. Meanwhile she went into the kitchen, got the rice cooker started, and proceeded to clean and prep the ingredients that Ms. Yu had bought.
She had just begun, when Huo Jinyao came back.
“Yes. Here, this is for you.”
Huo Jinyao was not bothered by his uncle being there. He placed the large bouquet of roses in front of Su Qingsang.
Su Qingsang was a little surprised, even shocked. “What’s the occasion today? Why did you get me flowers out of nowhere?”
“I can’t give my wife flowers if there isn’t an occasion?”
Huo Jinyao held onto Su Qingsang’s hand. “My wife is so delightful. Even if I were to give you flowers every day, it’s just what I should be doing.”
What a glib tongue. Su Qingsang jokingly speculated, “Perhaps a flower shop was closing down, and you just happened to be passing by…”
“So, you don’t believe me?” Huo Jinyao narrowed his eyes and hugged her. “Do you want me to buy a flower shop as a gift for you? Then I’ll have them send you a bouquet of flowers every day for the whole year? How about that?”
“While you are at it, do you want to buy a clothing store as well, to get me to get new clothes every day? And you might also buy another shop that sells bags, and another one that sells jewelry. Perhaps you ought to buy up an entire street first?”
“That’s not a bad idea.” Huo Jinyao went along with it earnestly. “How about I go with you to look around Rong City tomorrow? You’ll just need to let me know which street you fancy, and I will buy it for you. How about that?”
“You’re crazy.”
“You don’t say. I am crazy. For you.” Huo Jinyao liked to tease her. He would feel exceptionally accomplished, whenever he saw her blushing and speechless from his words.
Su Qingsang glanced at him, and just as she was about to speak again, she suddenly noticed Zhang Yichen standing off to the side.
She realized that Zhang Yichen had been staring at them and she was suddenly abashed.
“Jinyao.” She took a small step back, hinting to Huo Jinyao with a meaningful look. “Stop messing around.”
“It’s alright. Uncle is one of us.”
Huo Jinyao really did regard Zhang Yichen as one of his intimates. He had joined the army and participated in the training for a period of time in his past. Zhang Yichen had already seen his worst and ugliest moments. Their little flirtations were nothing in comparison.
Su Qingsang did not feel the same, so she made Huo Jinyao let go of her. “I still have things to do in the kitchen, so both of you can talk amongst yourselves first.”
She stepped back slightly from his arms. She glanced over at Zhang Yichen and realized that he was still looking at them. She explained his presence to Huo Jinyao.
“I met Uncle yesterday, and I remembered that we hadn’t thanked him for helping us at that time, so I invited him for a meal.”
“We ought to.”
After agreeing with her, Huo Jinyao was curious and asked, “Where did you meet him?”
Rong City was so large, how had they met each other? They had met by chance previously, had they just randomly bumped into each other again?
Su Qingsang paused for a moment, as she had not intended to tell Huo Jinyao that she went to the Huo Mansion alone.
“Let me go and place the flowers in a vase.”
After saying so, Su Qingsang smiled at Huo Jinyao and went to fetch a vase for the flowers.
Huo Jinyao walked to the sofa and sat down. He saw that there was a cup of tea that had been set in front of Zhang Yichen. It seemed like it had been there for quite some time.
“Uncle, have you been here for a while?”
“Yes. It happens to be my off day today.”
Huo Jinyao nodded. “Where did you meet Qingsang yesterday?”
“At Huo Mansion.” Zhang Yichen did not understand what there was to hide about it. “I happened to run into her when I was there to visit Uncle.”
Why had Su Qingsang gone to the Huo Mansion? They had just been there the day before.
Huo Jinyao glanced over at the direction Su Qingsang went to. He had a pensive look in his eyes and seemed to be no longer as casual and relaxed as he was before.
“What are you busy with? Why did you go out on a weekend?”
Zhang Yichen suddenly changed the topic. Unsure as to whether it was intentional or not, Huo Jinyao stopped thinking about why Su Qingsang went to the Huo Mansion and began chatting with Zhang Yichen instead.
…
Su Peizhen was in a good mood when she left Huo Yifan’s house that morning.
Everything had gone smoothly according to her plans.
She had both successfully won over Huo Yifan, and managed to please Old Master Huo as well.
She wasn’t stupid. She could see Old Master Huo knew exactly who she was. His attitude towards her yesterday did not mean that he really liked her, he was just giving Huo Yifan his due respect.
Still, that was enough for her.
Even if Old Master Huo only liked her a little now, she was capable of making him like her more.
And even if Old Master Huo really liked Su Qingsang now, she would make sure to reduce his affection for her, or even get him to dislike her outright.
Su Peizhen had no specific plans at the moment, but that did not affect her good mood. As long as she became a part of the Huo Family, she would get all the chances she needed, so why fret about it now?
She didn’t have to worry at all, as she would have many more opportunities to succeed in the future.
For now, the most important thing for her would be to keep her grip on Huo Yifan and his heart. For now, she may have gotten Huo Yifan to let go of her lying and making use of him. Nevertheless, when a man really wanted to turn on someone, all these old scores could be brought up anytime to be used against her.
Su Peizhen had decided to get a gift for Huo Yifan. Even if they each understood that they were only in this relationship for their mutual gain, she wanted to let him know that she would be different from the other women and people who wanted to exploit him.
In her musings, Su Peizhen had not expected that she would spot Liu Tongjia entirely by coincidence.
Her eyes lit up, when she confirmed that the person whom she had just seen was indeed Liu Tongjia.
