Liu Tongjia knew a thing or two about the family business. “Jinyao has been helping the Li family a lot, actually. Am I right?” she said. “I heard that he has given a lot of projects to the Li family. Some of the projects aren’t even within the scope of the Li family’s business.”
Her voice was soft, but her words were sharp. While saying these words, she stared at Su Qingsang aggressively.
“They have become aware of the benefits of it, and they want more. That’s why they came to us so eagerly, right?”
“Mrs. Huo.” Before Huo Jinyao said anything, Su Qingsang couldn’t help but defend her family. She didn’t call Liu Tongjia her mother. She knew that Liu Tongjia had never seen her as her daughter-in-law, and she didn’t expect her to.
“I’m sorry, but I really don’t like you talking about my family in that way. My grandfather and my mother came here to visit Jinyao’s family with sincerity. Jinyao and I have already gotten married. As my family, they intend to meet Jinyao’s family. That’s a normal thing. They have no other motives.
“As for the profits that you mentioned, I don’t really agree with you. The Li Group isn’t as large as the Tianyu Group, but in Lin City, it has always been a reliable, well-known company. Besides, as a local company, the Li Group has been providing the Tianyu Group with a lot of conveniences since Huo Jinyao went to Lin City, even though the Tianyu Group is a very powerful company itself. No other company in that city can do as well as the Li Group has been doing.
“Mrs. Huo, I don’t understand how this mutually beneficial cooperation is like us taking advantage of the Tianyu Group in your eyes. Of course, the Tianyu Group can choose not to work with the Li Group, but I believe that you won’t be able to find another partner in Lin City that is as good as the Li Group, because our company is the best in the city.
“Finally, I know that you don’t like me. You may think that I’m not good enough for Huo Jinyao. But that doesn’t have anything to do with my parents. You don’t like me, and I can’t change that. However, I want to tell you that my parents are the same as all parents in the world. They just want their children to live good lives and be happy. They’re not the kind of people that you think they are.”
After finishing that long speech in one breath, Su Qingsang ignored the others in the living room, turned to Old Master Huo, and said, “Grandpa, I’m really sorry that I didn’t come home right after I got off the plane. It was my fault. I promise you that it won’t happen again.”
“It’s all right. It doesn’t matter.”
Old Master Huo looked at Su Qingsang. At that point, he couldn’t have liked her more. That girl reminded him of his wife.
She was pretty and gentle but not weak. She was not short-tempered or reckless, either.
He believed that his grandson had chosen the right person.
Liu Tongjia couldn’t think of a word to respond to Su Qingsang. She wanted to say something, but Old Master Huo didn’t let her.
“You must be tired. Go upstairs and get some rest. We’ll talk later.”
“Thank you, Grandpa.” Su Qingsang was indeed tired. “I’m going upstairs, then,” she said.
After that, she glanced at the others in the living room, bowed slightly, and said, “Good night, Dad. Good night, Uncle. Good night, everyone.”
She turned around elegantly and went upstairs. She might not have had a manner as graceful as that of some girls from super-wealthy families, but she didn’t look worse than any of those girls.
Old Master Huo had decided he liked her. He touched his fingers to his chin and signaled for Huo Jinyao to go upstairs with Su Qingsang.
“Wait.”
Liu Tongjia wore a sulky look. Today, she had been embarrassed not only by her son, but also by her daughter-in-law. What Su Qingsang had said was like a slap in the face. How could she possibly tolerate that?
“Huo Jinyao, you stay here and clear this up.”
Huo Jinyao stopped walking and turned to look at Liu Tongjia in the eyes.
“Mom, what else do you want me to say? I think Qingsang was quite right.”
“Huo Jinyao, you have a wife now, so you don’t care about your mother anymore. Is that right?”
Huo Jinyao looked at her and said, “That’s not true, but if you insist on thinking that way, there’s nothing I can do.”
“Grandpa.” He turned to Old Master Huo and said, “I’m going upstairs.”
He didn’t seem to take Liu Tongjia seriously at all. His attitude displeased her even more.
Before she could lose her temper, Huo Jinyao left.
At that point, Liu Lexian joined the conversation. “Auntie,” he said, “don’t be angry. I think my cousin was just trying to take good care of his wife. She’s probably really tired. After all, they were out all day. Don’t be angry.”
By saying that, he was obviously trying to worsen the problem.
Liu Tongjia was Huo Jinyao’s mother. However, instead of thinking about her feelings, Huo Jinyao wanted only to take care of his wife. How could that be acceptable to Liu Tongjia?
“All right, it’s getting late. You guys should all go back home and rest,” said Old Master Huo.
On hearing that, the others stood up, heading home or going upstairs.
Liu Tongjia found herself stuck in her anger. She didn’t know how to channel that rage or how to ease it.
“Auntie, I’m heading home. I’ll come visit you in a few days.”
Liu Lexian had successfully stirred up trouble. However, he felt uncomfortable staying here under Old Master’s Li’s perceptive eyes. He left quickly.
Liu Tongjia suffered a headache. Huo Mingguang glanced at her. At last, she had no choice but to follow him upstairs.
Upstairs, Su Qingsang walked into the bedroom and threw herself on the couch.
She thought Huo Jinyao would spend a long while downstairs. To her surprise, he came up just a few minutes later.
She sat up quickly. “What happened? Your mom didn’t scold you, did she?”
“No.” It wouldn’t have been a big deal even if his mother had scolded him. She had scolded him often since he was a boy.
Su Qingsang looked at him guiltily and said, “I’m sorry. I really couldn’t help.”
She wouldn’t have said anything if Liu Tongjia had only been talking about herself. However, Liu Tongjia had mentioned Li Qianxue. Besides the fact that what she had said was completely untrue, if she hadn’t tried to defend her family and had let Liu Tongjia continue saying whatever she wanted to say, she would never have any dignity in the family.
“It has nothing to do with you.” Huo Jinyao walked up to her, ruffled her hair, and said, “I think what you said was right.”
Su Qingsang smiled, feeling slightly guilty about the fact that Huo Jinyao always supported her unconditionally.
“Huo Jinyao.”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
Huo Jinyao responded to her by flicking her on the forehead.
Su Qingsang tipped her head backward because of the pain.
“It hurts.”
Huo Jinyao was a very strong man. His flick had turned her forehead red.
“Let me see.”
Finding that the spot on her forehead had turned red, Huo Jinyao kissed the spot, then rubbed it with his hand, saying, “Don’t overthink it. My mom is always like that. If you don’t like living here, we can move out. We’ll just come back on weekends to visit Grandpa.”
“Really?” Su Qingsang didn’t want to spend time with Liu Tongjia every single day. “But we can’t do that now. We can do it in a few days, after I start working.”
“Hmm.” Huo Jinyao was thinking about something else, “Cental Hospital in Rong City is about a fifteen-minute drive away from my company. That’s not far. I have an apartment near that area. I’ll send someone to clean it, and we can move there.”
“Okay.” Su Qingsang felt touched by Huo Jinyao’s words. Most men would want their wives to get along with their mothers, but Huo Jinyao didn’t require that of her.
“Huo Jinyao, I’m willing to try to get along with your mother. But before I can do that, she has to be at least a little reasonable. Do you agree with me?”
Huo Jinyao squinted at her and said, “You’re bold. How dare you call my mother unreasonable?”
Su Qingsang blinked, wearing an innocent expression. Huo Jinyao suddenly reached out and tickled her under her arms.
Su Qingsang burst out laughing and fell into the bed.
“Stop it!” She curled up, but Huo Jinyao still didn’t stop.
Her body was very ticklish, so she tried her best to dodge. Looking at her pink cheeks, Huo Jinyao couldn’t help but lie on top of her.
Su Qingsang stopped laughing and looked at Huo Jinyao, blushing.
“W-what are you doing?”
“What do you think I’m doing?” Huo Jinyao looked deeply into her eyes and said, “Darling, we haven’t seen each other for quite a few days.”
“I-it wasn’t a very long time.” Su Qingsang swallowed and said, “Get off me. I haven’t showered yet.”
“It’s all right. Let’s shower together.” Huo Jinyao reached under her clothes. “It’s not like we’ve never done that before.”
Su Qingsang’s face grew even redder. While being aroused, she thought of something important.
“You don’t have that stuff here, do you?” She put her hands against Huo Jinyao’s chest, her voice growing shallow and uneven. “I’m not in my safe period.”
“I have them.” Huo Jinyao put his mouth against her ear and whispered, “I bought them earlier.”
Su Qingsang blinked and said, “You planned this, didn’t you?”
“Yeah,” Huo Jinyao admitted. “I totally planned this.”
He stopped Su Qingsang from talking by giving her a deep kiss.
After their short separation, they, of course, had a passionate night.
…
Su Qingsang slept a little late that morning.
She hadn’t rested well recently. Li Qianxue had wanted so much to spend time with her, so they had gone to bed at the same time every night.
Li Qianxue had endless questions for her. She liked to talk to Su Qingsang and hear about Su Qingsang’s past to learn more about her.
Therefore, Su Qingsang went to bed late and got up early every day.
She turned over on the bed, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
“Huo Jinyao, the b*stard.” She gritted her teeth, furrowed her brows slightly, and silently cursed Huo Jinyao in her head. “He doesn’t know how to restrain himself.”
In the study on the second floor, Huo Jinyao talked to Old Master Huo about what had happened to Su Qingsang.
There was nothing for him to hide from his grandfather. In fact, Old Master Huo could have guessed something was out of the ordinary. Su Qingsang’s mother and grandfather had come to visit his family without her father. Wasn’t that weird?
Yesterday, Old Master Huo had felt that something was probably not right when he heard about that. Today, after hearing Huo Jinyao’s explanation, he understood.
“So that’s what happened.”
“Yes.” Huo Jinyao told him the truth. “That’s what happened. Earlier, Qingsang stayed in Lin City to look after Xiang Caiping. Later, when she decided to come back here, her mother found out the truth and asked her to stay.”
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