âReally?â Shi Mengwan asked as she touched her face. She looked at Su Qingsang, turned up the corners of her lips and gave her a guilty smile. âItâs maybe because I stayed up working late last night.â
âYou.â Su Qingsang poked her forehead with a finger, said, âyou havenât been taking care of yourself since I moved from Lin City, right?â
âThatâs not true.â Recalling running into Zhan Haoze again yesterday, Shi Mengwanâs smile grew stiff.
Sensing the concern in Su Qingsangâs eyes, she put an arm around Su Qingsangâs arm and said half-jokingly, half-seriously, âItâs because you abandoned me. I even lost my appetite after you left Lin City.â
âPoor thing,â said Su Qingsang as she clicked her tongue and patted on Shi Mengwanâs shoulder. âalright, Iâm gonna take you to have some delicious food today.â
âSure you are,â teased Shi Mengwan. She glared at her and said, âyou are the wife of the president of Tianyu Group. You wonât have the heart to let me eat from the stalls by the roadside, do you?â
âI will. If you keep complaining, I might treat you with spicy hot pot.â
Often, the two of them had spent time eating spicy hot pot together when living together. There was one spicy hot pot stall near where they had lived, and having a meal there was simple and convenient.
âAlright. Iâll eat it if you treat me to it. Then Iâll make a WeChat Moments post and Weibo post, to let everyone know how stingy Mrs. Huo now is.â
âDo that, do that right now.â
Su Qingsang happily chatted with Shi Mengwan. Both of them felt as if they had traveled back in time to when they shared an apartment.
However, Su Qingsang was so happy to see her best friend, that she hadnât noticed the sorrow which flashed across Shi Mengwanâs eyes.
Su Qingsang brought Shi Mengwan home and let her stay in the guest room.
Shi Mengwan walked in, looked at the tastefully furnished apartment and said, ânot bad, this is low-key luxurious.â
The apartment was furnished in a minimalist, modern style. She could tell that every piece in the apartment was the best of its kind.
She often designed wedding dresses for her clients, so she had some knowledge about top-rank brands.
âIs this Huo Jinyaoâs apartment?â The man who owned this apartment surely had a good taste.
âYes. This apartment is close to his company and my hospital, so we decided to live here.â
The apartment had one only floor but was very roomy. It was two apartments connected and the entire floor was occupied by Huo Jinyao and Su Qingsang alone.
As the two apartments had been merged into one, every room in it became spacious. There was also a huge terrace on the roof with a great view. Neither did Su Qingsang nor Huo Jinyao have much time for the view, though.
Su Qingsang put Shi Mengwanâs luggage in a guest room. Thankfully, she had cleaned all the guest rooms in advance, as she believed that Shi Mengwan would come to visit her sooner or later.
She took out a clean sheet and started to make the bed. Shi Mengwan wanted to help, but Su Qingsang didnât let her. She told her to sit there and talk to her.
Shi Mengwan looked around but didnât see Xiang Caiping. That was unexpected.
âEh? Where is Aunty Xiang? Isnât she living together with you two?â
She thought that Xiang Caiping would certainly be living with Su Qingsang.
Su Qingsang stopped short. She hadnât talked to Shi Mengwan about her real parents yet, because she thought it would be hard to explain everything clearly via phone. Now that Shi Mengwan was here, she finally had a chance to tell her the story.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
She told Shi Mengwan everything, from how she had found out she couldnât possibly be Xiang Caipingâs daughter to how she became Li Qianxueâs daughter, finally ending with how she had convinced Li Qianxue to come to Rong City with her.
Currently, she still video chatted with Li Qianxue every day. She had also been forging a close relationship with Old Master Li and Su Yuxin slowly.
âThatâs what happened.â
The bed-making was finished long ago. Su Qingsang finished talking and looked at Shi Mengwan who was looking stunned.
At last, Shi Mengwan clicked her tongue, stood up and walked to Su Qingsang. She walked a circle around her.
âOh my God. Why is your story so fascinating?â
Su Qingsang found it unbelievable too. âI didnât want to believe it at first, but the paternity test wouldnât lie.â
Besides, she was aware that she instinctively never had that kind of desire to be close to Xiang Caiping, despite how grateful she was to her and how bad she felt for her.
Shi Mengwan abruptly patted hard on her shoulder and said, âyou found out the truth on New Years, didnât you? I canât believe you didnât tell me until now. Am I still your friend?â
Su Qingsang pressed her lips together with guilt and said, âIâm sorry. I wanted to tell you.â
She just didnât know how to tell her, and more importantly, the circumstances at that time didnât allow her to share the secret.
âYou knew my mom. I mean, Aunty Xiangâs condition back then. She was upset and her waist was injured. I was afraid that you might fail to hide your real feelings and accidentally let her figure out that you knew. So I decided not to tell you.â
Also, she had decided to treat Xiang Caiping as her real mother at that time anyway. What did it matter if she told her friend the truth or not?
Shi Mengwan nodded. She was able to control her emotions, but it would indeed be a little difficult for her to act like nothing happened if she knew the truth.
âIt must have been hard for you to have kept it a secret for such a long time. You spent a long time with her after finding out the truth. Did she ever suspect you?â
âNo,â Su Qingsang shook her head. âWhy would she suspect me? She had always felt so guilty for me at that time. Of course, she wouldnât think so much.â
âThatâs true.â Recalling what Xiang Caiping had said in front of her, Shi Mengwan understood Su Qingsang and asked, âwhere is Aunty Xiang now?â
âI donât know.â Su Qingcang remembered Xiang Caiping blaming her for not telling her the truth earlier during their last meeting. That meeting between them had ended with a lot of unhappiness.
âBut I heard that Su Peizhen has accepted her and that sheâs moved in with her. I think sheâs probably trying to build a good relationship with Su Peizhen now.â
That was such a tragedy. Li Qianxue and Su Qingsang, Xiang Caiping and Su Peizhen, they were real mothers and daughters. However, because of what Su Chenghui had done, they all needed to rebuild their mother-daughter relationship.
They were mothers and daughters, but they couldnât spend time together like normal mothers and daughters.
Shi Mengwan liked Xiang Caiping. Recalling Su Peizhenâs personality, she furrowed her brows and asked, âSu Peizhen accepted her? Why donât I want to believe that?â
âWhy not?â Unlike her, Su Qingsang found it understandable. âSheâs her real mother after all. She abandoned Su Peizhen when she was just a baby because she had no choice. Not because she didnât want her.â
âI guess youâre right,â said Shi Mengwan. She didnât want to bring up any conspiracy theories. She simply felt that Su Peizhen wasnât someone who would easily accept a strange woman like Xiang Caiping.
âSo, you and your mother, your real mother, how is your relationship now?â
She didnât forget how much Li Qianxue had disliked Su Qingsang before. She always ignored Su Qingsang.
The expression on her face had been very interesting to watch when she found out that Su Qingsang was her real daughter. Sadly, Shi Mengwan hadnât gotten the chance to witness that moment.
âGood. Sheâs been busy at work recently. After all, my father has left Li Group. Now, there are many decisions for her to make.â
Old Master Li was not young anymore. Li Qianxue, of course, couldnât bear watching him toil and moil again. So currently, Li Group was run by Li Qianxue.
Su Yuxin wasnât living in school anymore. He went to the company to help her mother when he had time. He was good at his studies anyway. Working in the company wouldnât cause his scores to drop. He saw the work he had been doing in the company as an internship-in-advance.
Li Qianxue didnât mean to make Su Yuxin so busy. However, having a child keeping her company made her feel better.
âYour father left Li Group? Where is he now? Whatâs he doing?â
âI donât know.â
Su Qingsang shook her head. She didnât know. Earlier, she had heard from Su Yuxin that Su Chenghui saw him a few times, expressing his care for the boy.
He also apologized to Su Yuxin, saying that he hadnât paid enough attention to him. Apart from that, he also told the boy to take care of the family, as he was about to become an adult.
Su Qingsang had no idea if he had attempted to see Li Qianxue again because Li Qianxue was always very reluctant to talk about Su Chenghui.
She tried to talk to her about Su Chenghui once. Li Qianxue wasnât mad at her but was unhappy.
Su Qinghui had called Su Qingsang once, to apologize for switching her and Su Peizhen.
Unlike Li Qianxue, Su Qingsang didnât say much to blame Su Chenghui.
She believed that Su Chenghui did what he did on impulse back then. Even if he did do that after thorough consideration, the results could not be changed now.
She didnât want herself to be stuck with negative emotions, so she didnât want to blame Su Chenghui for what happened.
After that time, Su Chenghui never called her again. She called him twice. However, the two of them had never been close to each other, and there was not much to be said between them.
Both the calls ended after brief greetings. Su Chenghui had asked her about how she was doing in Rong City and told her to take good care of herself.
The last call she gave Su Chenghui happened half a month ago. So now, Su Qingsang had no idea where Su Chenghui was and what he was doing.
âI guess he doesnât want people to see him right now.â
After all, he couldnât possibly be living a wonderful life at the moment. Not only did he leave Li Group, but he also had a divorce with Li Qianxue. Most importantly, after the divorce, he found out that he was actually in love with Li Qianxue.
That was so ironic. He never cherished her when he had her, and when she left, he tried so desperately to win her back but realized that there was no chance left for him at all.
Recalling the short meetings she had with Su Chenghui before, Shi Mengwan sighed.
âDid your mother really divorce him just like that?â
âYeah.â Su Qingsang didnât want to believe that either. However, Li Qianxue was such a proud woman. She didnât want anything to do with that man anymore.
While video-chatting with Li Qianxue recently, Su Qingsang was able to see the exhaustion in her eyes.
She had been the president of Li Group for many years. Before that, Su Chenghui had always taken most of the workload without being asked to.
Along with the workload generated by the cooperation that Li Group currently had with Tianyu Group, Li Qianxue had also been working around the clock recently.
Sometimes, Su Qingsang video called her at night and found her still in the office working.
Su Qingsang was a little worried about her, actually.
She wanted to tell Li Qianxue that even though she and Su Chenghui were divorced, she should still let him keep working in Li Group. However, considering Li Qianxueâs personality, she never really gave her that advice.
She attempted to talk about it a few times, but Li Qianxue didnât want to talk about Su Chenghui.
Besides, Li Qianxue showed not only hatred but also strong disgust in her eyes every time Su Chenghui was mentioned. Perhaps, Su Chenghui could have done something else to hurt Li Qianxue, and Su Qingsang didnât know about it yet.