Chapter 447 - Have I Done Something Wrong (1/2)

Once she had laid it out, Su Qingsang left it at that and immediately turned to get in her car without looking at him again.

However, even after she got into her car, Su Qingsang’s emotions had not quite calmed down.

She was once a naïve illegitimate daughter who knew nothing about her own history. That kind of background was not necessarily something to be proud of, but at least her way of life was peaceful.

Now her identity had changed, and her peace was gone as well.

The next day, at the Lantern Festival, Old Master Li would invite all the extended relatives of the Li family to visit. When that time came, she would have yet another new situation to deal with.

There was still the Huo family. This time, she did not go back with Huo Jinyao, though she actually felt that was very inappropriate. However, with everything happening in Lin City, she knew she couldn’t get away.

She suddenly missed the times she had at medical school when she only needed to go to lectures and do her research. Everything was so simple then, so easy.

Now, on the other hand…

She sat in her car in a daze for a long time. Finally, she drove off, but she still felt uncomfortable and guilty. In the end, she took out her mobile phone and called Huo Jinyao.

“Jinyao.”

As soon as the call was connected, Su Qingsang couldn’t wait to call out her husband’s name.

“Hey. Isn’t this the elusive sister-in-law of mine whom I have not had a chance to meet yet? Yeah. What’s up? Are you looking for my brother?”

Su Qingsang froze for a moment. She had not expected that it would be Huo Manzi who picked up the call. “And where’s your brother?”

She made sure to calculate the length of time needed for Huo Jinyao to fly to Rong City and return to the Huo mansion. He should have been there by now and was even supposed to have had the time to rest for a while.

“As soon as he came back, Grandpa had called on him to give him a telling-off. Sister-in-law, would you like to know what my grandfather told my brother?”

From the sound of Huo Manzi’s tone, it was definitely not a good thing. “Since he is busy, I’ll call him again when he’s available.”

“My brother will be busy for quite some time now. And come to think of it, aren’t you to be blamed for that? Wouldn’t you say that my brother has married someone who can never find the time to meet his family? Not only didn’t you follow my brother to Rong City, but he also had to go to Lin City to be with you. Even if put all that aside, we are in the midst of the New Year celebrations now, and as a granddaughter-in-law and daughter-in-law, shouldn’t you at least have shown up for a bit? Speaking of that, I think that my uncle and aunt have shown quite a bit of self-restraint. I’m afraid that if it were another family, it probably wouldn’t be the case.”

Huo Manzi truly chose the words that would sting most bitterly. Su Qingsang was very uncomfortable with that and was about to hang up the phone. Huo Jinyao’s voice rang out on the other end, however.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Huo Jinyao had gone upstairs before and realized just now that he had accidentally dropped his cell phone on the sofa.

He didn’t expect that his carelessness would allow Huo Manzi to intercept his call just like that.

Huo Manzi was in a pretty bad mood, and she just happened to be sitting there. Huo Jinyao caught her right in the act.

He took the cell phone from her and glanced at her coldly. Then he went upstairs.

“Qingsang…”

“You said everything would be okay.” Su Qingsang was really quite embarrassed by the whole situation. “Grandpa is angry, isn’t he?”

“Yes, I did say that it wouldn’t matter.” Huo Jinyao walked to the end of the second-floor corridor, where there was a study room that belonged to him.

As he entered the room to cut off the outside noise, his tone warmed up a couple of notches. “You just need to relax. Manzi is spouting nonsense. Don’t be bothered by what she said.”

How could Su Qingsang believe all of that now? She thought that perhaps after tomorrow, she should go to Rong City after all.

However, the more she thought about the difficulties of such an abrupt move, the more her head seemed to hurt.

“Don’t worry about Manzi. Now tell me, what was it that you were calling me about? Is everything alright?”

Su Qingsang blinked several times, reflecting on all of today’s events, sighed, and decided to tell Huo Jinyao everything.

“Huo Jinyao, you tell me, have I done something wrong?”

“I don’t see how you could have done anything differently.”

“Neither do I.” Su Qingsang really couldn’t let herself get past that one thing, however. “Maybe I shouldn’t have insisted on knowing the truth. If I had just pretended all along that I didn’t know anything, and went on treating Xiang Caiping as my mother, maybe things would be less complicated. Don’t you think so?”

“If you think that way, it would be really unfair to your mother.” Huo Jinyao understood that she was still in pain from having had to break such bad news to Xiang Caiping,

“Perhaps if you could shut out what you found out, you could go on pretending to know nothing. But what about your dad? He had made up his mind to take revenge on your mother. You might have wanted to preserve the status quo for a lifetime, but consider the possibility that your dad would have made a different choice. He could have waited until your mother was seventy or eighty and nearly at the end of her life. Then he would reveal the truth. Your mother would never know where her real daughter was. Even worse, perhaps one day your dad would get angry, and he would use this as…”

Huo Jinyao did not go on, but Su Qingsang understood everything he wanted to say.

Some things seemed temptingly simple in hindsight. If Li Qianxue didn’t know about this whole thing, she could go on living as she had before.

However, in the future, if it really came to a day like Huo Jinyao described, wouldn’t that be even more miserable?

“Thank you, Huo Jinyao.” Su Qingsang came back to her senses now. She smiled bitterly. “I’m not sure what I was thinking.”

“I think Xiang Caiping is still very emotional now. When she cools down, I think she might try to establish contact with Su Peizhen. As for your mother, you don’t have to think about anything else for now, just stay with her for a few days.”

“Mm.” Su Qingsang nodded without objection.

Huo Jinyao thought about it for a while. “By the way, I have already spoken to Cheng Xianyun. When you arrive, go directly to the hospital where he works. He is at a private hospital, their fees are pretty high, and doctors also get a higher income. You will not be so overwhelmed with work then.”

Su Qingsang was about to agree but then thought about Zhang Qiubai’s call from before. “But my teacher had heard that I was going to Rong City. He had written a letter of recommendation for me, to apply for a position at Rong City Hospital.”

Private hospitals were good. However, there were more patients in public hospitals, and they could make better use of her skills and research.

“Okay. I’ll leave that up to you.” Huo Jinyao would not interfere in Su Qingsang’s affairs in this regard. “You can decide for yourself.”

Su Qingsang nodded. She appreciated the fact that Huo Jinyao never interfered with her work and respected her decisions.

After chatting with Huo Jinyao for a while, Su Qingsang felt much better. After hanging up the phone, her body seemed to relax quite a bit.

Glancing out at the neon lights on the streets, she murmured something softly.

Huo Jinyao, I miss you.

…

Su Qingsang was in a much better mood, but Su Chenghui’s feelings, on the other hand, had hit rock bottom.

He stumbled a little as he got into his car, and Su Qingsang’s words kept echoing in his mind.

In fact, Old Master Li had also told him something like that before, but at that time, he didn’t take those words to heart.

In his opinion, he had already attained so much success. There was nothing he could lose. He was invincible.

He had felt that everything was under his control, and he was in no danger of losing anything that he cared about, whether it was a person or possession.

Now, however, he was just full of uncertainty. The words of Su Qingsang, the confrontation with Li Qianxue, the advice of Old Master Li, even what Huo Jinyao had said before… it all affected him.

Every accusing phrase of theirs seemed like a tidal wave that came crashing against him. They came wave after wave, almost drowning him.