Su Qingsang indeed felt a little emotional in her heart. After Su Peizhen got slapped, Su Chenghui had stood up for her, and Li Qianxue was here to settle the score too.
Su Qingsang had never experienced the feeling of parental love and was never doted on. Now that she had had a taste of it, she felt that Su Peizhen really had quite a good life all these years.
“Your mother hit Peizhen?” Li Qianxue continued to move a step forward. She was already standing directly in front of Su Qingsang. The distance between both women was less than twenty centimeters.
Su Qingsang felt some discomfort and awkwardness due to Li Qianxue’s imposing manner. She took a step backward.
“Your mother hit Peizhen?”
When Li Qianxue spoke those words, the look in her eyes was quite sharp.
“Auntie, my mother is not to be blamed for this matter. The situation at that time…”
“I’m asking you, did she do that?” Li Qianxue was not there to listen to an explanation. She just wanted answers. “Did your mother get physical?”
Su Qingsang could not deny it. “Yes, she did.”
Li Qianxue’s expression darkened; she raised her hand and brought it down upon Su Qingsang’s face.
It did not occur to Su Qingsang that the usually pompous, prim and proper Li Qianxue would actually hit her. She had no intention to become a target of physical abuse, however.
Before Li Qianxue’s hand could land on Su Qingsang’s face, Su Qingsang did not think twice about rapidly holding out her arms to block the blow.
Li Qianxue did not expect Su Qingsang to have the audacity to shield herself and the fury on her face intensified. “Su Qingsang…”
“Auntie.” Su Qingsang was really shocked by the assault. Like Huo Jinyao, Li Qianxue was used to lording over others, so she had an authoritative air about her.
Moreover, she was already somewhat afraid of Li Qianxue, so shielding herself from her was, in fact, an instinctive defense motion.
“Auntie, as the saying goes, ‘A mother’s debt is returned by her daughter’. If you want to hit me today to vindicate Su Peizhen, I can’t stop you. However, if you hit me today, I will have to face everyone at work with a slap mark on my face, and that will not be good.”
“What’s that got to do with me?” Li Qianxue wanted to retract her hand from Su Qingsang’s grip but Su Qingsang held it tightly and resolutely.
Li Qianxue was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Not only was she never required to carry anything heavy when she went shopping, but others would also carry her handbag.
However, as a doctor, Su Qingsang had to lift beds when there was a shortage of manpower, assist in sending patients to their wards, and perform multiple surgeries. How could Li Qianxue ever overpower her?
“Su Qingsang, let go of me.”
Li Qianxue was determined to teach Su Qingsang a lesson that day. If her mother dared to lay hands on Su Peizhen, then Li Qianxue should not be blamed for doing the same to Su Qingsang.
“Auntie, do you expect me to let go so that you can hit me?” Su Qingsang sighed. “Auntie, please be a reasonable person.”
“Your mother chose to get physical first. Now you want me to reason with you instead?” Li Qianxue sneered. “Su Qingsang, who do you think you are?”
“Auntie,” Su Qingsang took a deep breath before continuing, “I don’t think I’m anybody and I do not make assumptions about that. Honestly, I can understand the fact that you want to hit me to settle the score for Su Peizhen, but Huo Jinyao will not let the matter rest. If you slap me today, I will just bear it and let it go. However, I can’t promise that Huo Jinyao will be capable of doing the same.”
“Are you threatening me?” Li Qianxue rarely lost her cool but Su Qingsang managed to cause her to lose it this time. The usual calmness in her tone was absent.
“No, I’m just telling you that no good will come out of what you intend to do.”
Su Qingsang saw that Li Qianxue’s anger was triggered and she took a step back to stand further away from her.
“Auntie, Su Peizhen only mentioned that she was hit by my mother. I guess she did not mention how offensive her verbal abuse was.”
Li Qianxue’s disposition was icy. Her hand hurt from Su Qingsang’s vice-like grip a moment ago. She rubbed her wrist and all she could think about was how difficult it was for her to swallow this bout of anger. She could no longer bear it.
“Su Peizhen verbally attacked me, and it was grossly offensive. My mother could not take it, so she hit Su Peizhen. It’s just like how you’re behaving today: rushing over here to settle the score for Su Peizhen after my mother had hit her. If I were to be hit by you, will my mother hurry to look for Su Peizhen again to cause trouble for her in order to settle the score for me once more?”
“You…” Li Qianxue’s demeanor got increasingly hostile.
“Auntie, both parties are responsible for this matter. Why don’t we each take a step back and let the matter rest? You can choose to forget about the fact that my mother had slapped Su Peizhen, and I will keep today’s incident quiet. What do you think?”
“What right have you to negotiate with me?”
“Indeed, I have no right to negotiate with you.” Su Qingsang nodded thoughtfully, her voice substantially gentler than before. “I just want to state the facts, Auntie. What you are doing brings no benefit to you. You look for me to settle the score, and then my mother will once again target you or Su Peizhen to return the favor. Yes, you have nothing to fear, but if you continue with this, it will create more opportunities for my mother to appear in front of my father. I assume you don’t wish that to happen either, right?”
Li Qianxue was stumped. She thought of how Xiang Caiping looked in her youth: that fragile-looking face that never failed to draw out Su Chenghui’s feelings of tenderness and protectiveness towards her. The anger in her heart morphed into hatred.
Of course, she was not willing to see Su Chenghui look for Xiang Caiping again and again. All these years, she was not able to take the place of that woman in Su Chenghui’s heart.
Even if Su Chenghui was with her, his heart still belonged to the other woman.
Now that her rival was back, she was afraid that she would lose her husband once and for all. The thought of that caused her wrath to rise, and her hatred to spill over.
Looking at Su Qingsang’s face caused her to despise this insolent girl more and more.
Her demeanor changed, and Su Qingsang was naturally aware of it. Su Qingsang knew in her heart that matters would escalate from here and she could only think of ways to continue to keep things quiet.
“Auntie, the fact is that I do not have any bad blood with you. My mother does not, either. The person who had brought me to the Su Family years ago was my father, not my mother. If you want to hate someone and settle the score with that person, it would be him. ”
Discerning Li Qianxue’s unchanging hostility, Su Qingsang continued, “Auntie, let me know if you agree with this: We let bygones be bygones and put this matter to rest. I promise I will not allow my mother to appear before my father ever again.”
“What would you offer as a guarantee?” It was not that Li Qianxue did not trust Su Qingsang; she did not trust Su Chenghui. If he knew that that woman was back, he would not stand by.
Did she not know where Su Chenghui had gone the previous day? She was sure that he had gone to look for Xiang Caiping.
He did not return for the whole night. Who knew what he had done? Did he cheat on her?
And what about that Xiang Caiping? After not seeing Su Chenghui for so long, would she feel the urge to run into his embrace when she saw him?
Whenever Li Qianxue thought about these possibilities, she could almost feel an ache in her teeth.
“What authority do you have to promise anything?”
Su Qingsang gave a sigh. She clearly had made up her mind about this matter previously, but at this moment, she had an even greater conviction towards it.
“Auntie, you should know that Huo Jinyao is from Rong City. In fact, my mother had been living in Rong City all along. The truth is, Huo Jinyao had been bringing up the matter of us moving back to Rong City. In the beginning, I was quite reluctant.”
“Now that I have found my mother, I have my own kin in Rong City. I have also already spoken to my mother about living there in the future. Auntie, I believe this will be the best outcome for you because we will be as far from Lin City as can be. In this way, it will not be possible for my father to see my mother, and my mother will never have any possibility of coming into contact with my father. How do you feel about that?”
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