He saw at her with a questioning look. Su Qingsang seemed to ignore the look on his face but said peacefully, “I saw this suit while shopping and thought it would suit you, so I bought it.”
Su Qingsang planned to go straight home when she came out of the apartment where Zhang Yichen and his friends stayed in. However, she thought of the bloodstain on her clothes and decided to buy some new clothes to change into.
After shopping for herself, she passed by Versace and saw that leisure suit in the window.
She liked it at first glance, because of its design and color.
She didn’t know much about fashion brands, and she knew that almost all of Huo Jinyao’s clothes were custom-made. However, that didn’t quench her impulsion to buy that suit for Huo Jinyao.
Detecting the excitement in Su Qingsang’s eyes, Huo Jinyao started to put the suit on while cracking a joke to Su Qingsang.
“As the famous saying goes, anyone who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions. Darling, did you do anything evil that you felt sorry for me and bought this suit?”
Su Qingsang reached out and grasped Huo Jinyao’s shirt-front.
“Yeah, I did something really bad. I was on a date with a man just now. After that, I was worried that you might find out, so I bought you a suit to make you happy.”
Was he the only one who knew how to talk nonsense? No, she could do that too.
Huo Jinyao paused briefly, then leaned toward her. He stared at her face and said, “are you mad? I was kidding.”
“I’m serious,” Su Qingsang said, looking at him and blinking. She never seemed serious. “I was really out with a man earlier. We spent two hours together in a room.”
“Darling, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have suspected you.” Huo Jinyao looked at her, kissed her on the cheek and then quickly put the suit on.
He was six-foot and sixteen inches tall, and his upper body was shaped like an inverted triangle. Any suit would look perfect on him.
The royal blue suit made him look especially energetic. Su Qingsang took a step backward and landed her eyes on Huo Jinyao.
“I have a great taste, don’t I?”
“Of course you do,” smirked Huo Jinyao. He didn’t care if the suit was comfortable to wear or not. All he cared about was Su Qingsang’s kindness. “Thank you, darling.”
“You’re welcome.” Su Qingsang gave a small smile and said, “I did something that made me feel sorry for you, so I surely needed to be nice to you.”
“Darling.” Huo Jinyao put an arm around her waist, easily lifted her and said, “I told you that I was kidding.”
“I was kidding too.” Su Qingsang was going to tell Huo Jinyao about what had happened earlier, but since Zhang Yichen asked her not to, she decided to keep it a secret.
She didn’t know much about what happened in the military, but she was aware that there were rules in the army. She hesitated for quite a while but decided at last that she wasn’t going to tell Huo Jinyao about what had happened earlier that day.
…
Su Qingsang wasn’t expecting to see Zhang Yichen in the family house again in the near future.
February had begun. The weather in Rong City grew warmer and warmer. It had been a week since Su Qingsang helped that ‘friend’ of Zhang Yichen.
That day, Zhang Yichen was wearing a military uniform, looking especially different.
Because of the uniform, Su Qingsang couldn’t help but give him a few extra glances.
Zhang Yichen was very good-looking too, but in a different way from Huo Jinyao. He had relatively masculine facial features, with heavy eyebrows and large eyes. Doubled with his tall and strong body, he looked impressively dashing.
In that military uniform, he even looked like a thriving pine tree. As some people said on the internet, all the handsome men had been serving the country nowadays.
He was indeed a very handsome serviceman.
When Su Qingsang looked at Zhang Yichen, he was looking at her too. While making eye-contact, he nodded at her slightly as a form of greeting.
Su Qingsang considered that as a friendly move. After all, she had dealt with his friend’s wounds for him before.
She quickly turned her eyes away from him, then sat down in front of Old Master Huo together with Huo Jinyao. Soon after they sat down, Liu Tongjia and Huo Mingguang came downstairs.
Despite the bad relationship between her and Liu Tongjia, Su Qingsang still stood up to greet them.
The way Su Qingsang had addressed Liu Tongjia was a little embarrassing. She should by right be calling Liu Tongjia ‘Mother,’ just like how Huo Jinyao did, but Liu Tongjia apparently wouldn’t like that.
Su Qingsang had lived in Rong City for quite a while already but still, she never called Liu Tongjia ‘Mother’ even once.
She called her ‘Aunty’. Upon hearing that, Zhang Yichen couldn’t help but have his eyes linger on Su Qingsang’s face for a few extra seconds.
Neither did Su Qingsang nor Huo Jinyao notice that, but Liu Tongjia did. Her face grew even more sullen than before because of that.
During dinner, Su Qingsang found Liu Tongjia looking even more unhappy. She looked as if someone had done something to displease her.
The unhappiness on Liu Tongjia’s face grew very obvious when she looked at Su Qingsang. She landed her dagger eyes on Su Qingsang. Those eyes of hers were filled with unconcealed discontent, and something else more sinister.
Apart from Su Qingsang, even Old Master Huo and Zhang Yichen had noticed that excessively obvious look in her eyes.
“I’m full.”
Liu Tongjia put down her chopsticks and left after having very little food.
Su Qingsang grew a little nervous. She couldn’t help but look at Huo Jinyao and ask him about what was going on using her eyes.
Huo Jinyao responded to her with a glance and signaled to her that everything was fine. It wasn’t the first day that Liu Tongjia didn’t like the two of them.
Su Qingsang couldn’t stop worrying, but it wasn’t the right time for her to ask Huo Jinyao any questions out loud.
The atmosphere at the dinner table was intense. After dinner, Old Master Huo invited Huo Jinyao to play chess with him.
Zhang Yichen sat on the side to watch. Su Qingsang watched for a short while and then started feeling bored. She told Huo Jinyao that she was going upstairs, then left.
Similar to the previous time, Huo Jinyao didn’t come upstairs even after Su Qingsang had taken a shower and spent a short while reading.
Su Qingsang thought for a moment, then went straight to the gym.
To her surprise, Huo Jinyao wasn’t there. Zhang Yichen was there alone, sitting on a bench lifting dumbbells.
He had already taken off the military uniform. He was wearing a vest only. Su Qingsang saw his strong muscles and olive skin at first glance.
It was inappropriate for her to stare at his bared skin. Su Qingsang turned her eyes away, preparing to leave. However, Zhang Yichen had seen her already.
“Are you looking for Jinyao? He’s in the study room with my uncle.”
“Oh,” Su Qingsang said and turned to leave. As a thought crossed her mind, she stopped, turned back, and looked at Zhang Yichen. “That man, is he okay?”
Zhang Yichen had already put down the dumbbell. He stood up and walked toward Su Qingsang.
“He’s fine,” he said as he walked up to Su Qingsang. Su Qingsang couldn’t tell how long he had been exercising. His cheeks were a little ruby-colored, but he wasn’t sweating yet.
“He did have a fever that night. I did what you said, to drop his body temperature. The fever was brought down, and he woke up the next morning.”
“Good, as long as he’s fine.” Su Qingsang had only asked that question casually. She felt relief, knowing that the man was fine. After all, he was her first male patient.
She turned to leave, but Zhang Yichen reached toward her hand without thinking. Su Qingsang saw his movement and instinctively stepped backward.
She moved too quickly, so she stumbled. Instead of stepping away, she fell backward.
The moment she lost her balance, Zhang Yichen swiftly moved forward and held her. Su Qingsang ended up leaning against his chest.
She quickly pushed against his chest and stood straight. Her palms were still on his muscular chest, while his hands were on her waist.
That inappropriately close distance made Su Qingsang feel awkward. Zhang Yichen seemed to understand how she felt. He didn’t change his expression, but said to her, “I’m sorry. I just want to say thank you.”
“No need,” Su Qingsang said, her voice a little cold. “You had already said that last time.”
Yes. he had said that the last time. This time, he was only trying to find an excuse to talk to her.
She was very close to him at that moment. The familiar aroma once again invaded his nose. It was her scent.
He moved a foot slightly and wanted to hold her again like how he had just now. However, he knew that Su Qingsang wouldn’t like that.
Without saying anything to him, she turned and left.
She left at a fast pace. Zhang Yichen followed her with his eyes until she disappeared around the corner.
Standing there, he took a deep breath. For him, the aroma didn’t fade but grew stronger and stronger instead.
“Su Qingsang” He called her name in his head. He was so focused on her that he hadn’t notice Liu Tongjia standing in the shadow on the other side of the hallway.
She had seen them holding each other. She couldn’t hear their conversation, but what she had seen was enough for her to picture many scenes in her mind.
She pulled a long face, walked through the kitchen from that side of the hallway, and went upstairs back to her room.
…
Liu Tongjia was going for a spa session together with Mrs. Xu in the afternoon. Mrs. Xu was Xu Ruoli’s mother.
Some time ago, she and Mrs. Xu had nearly become relatives by marriage. They were in close contact all the time.
If Huo Jinyao married Xi Ruoli, their child might have been old enough to go to kindergarten by now.
This time, the things between them became even worse. Huo Jinyao might have said something to Xu Ruoli that could have made her decide to go abroad and study at the end of last year. She hadn’t been home for months already.
Mrs. Xu was a little unhappy bout Xu Ruoli’s decision. She knew that Huo Jinyao was the cause, but didn’t dare to blame him.
Her daughter was such a stubborn person. Who could she possibly blame for what had happened? Currently, she was still being nice and polite to Liu Tongjia.
The two of them went to the beauty salon together and ran into Li Xiangyuan unexpectedly. She was with He Xuanyao, and they seemed to be there for the spa session too.
“Tongjia?” Li Xiangyuan was surprised to see Liu Tongjia. “What a coincidence! I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
Li Xiangyuan was Li Junsheng’s aunt. She was married into He Family and was the mother of He Xuankai and He Xuanyao.
The He Family wasn’t as wealthy and powerful as the Huo Family or the Li Family. The Li Family was a rather rich family. Li Xiangwan had married below her status.
She and Liu Tongjia were friends. They knew each other since they were little.
“What a coincidence indeed,” Liu Tongjia said and saw He Xuanyao, who was standing right beside her.
If she remembered correctly, He Xuanyao used to create all kinds of opportunities to visit her family. She also knew that He Xuanyao liked Huo Jinyao.
“Aunty Huo,” greeted He Xuanyao. She was a nice girl in Liu Tongjia’s eyes all the time.
Liu Tongjia had been scanning the girl with her eyes when something suddenly crossed her mind.
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