Chapter 563 - I have nothing to say to you (1/2)
It was mid-afternoon in Rong City and the weather was mild.
The two other ladies with whom Liu Tongjia was shopping with seemed to be rather well-heeled themselves.
“Aunty.” The moment Su Peizhen saw Liu Tongjia, she moved forward quickly to greet her.
“Hello. Are you here to shop as well?”
She spoke in an overly casual manner as if they were on familiar terms with each other.
Liu Tongjia looked at Su Peizhen with an expression that was wholly indifferent. She responded to Su Peizhen and then dismissed her.
Despite that, Su Peizhen was not someone who gave up so easily. “Aunty, it’s must be fate that we’ve met. Yifan is always saying that both you and uncle took great care of him and that he’s been really grateful as well…”
“Su Peizhen, the way in which you’ve humored the Old Master,” Liu Tongjia interjected tersely, “you can leave off trying that on me.”
Su Peizhen had not expected to get the brush off just like that before she had even tried anything, but she was not to be discouraged.
“Aunty, you’ve really misunderstood me. I’ve only spoken the truth.”
Su Peizhen glanced over at the two women beside Liu Tongjia as she spoke.
“If you don’t believe me, you can ask your companions to see if what I was said wasn’t true. Who doesn’t know that you are a kind and generous woman?”
The two women who were with her happened to be Mrs. Xu, the mother of Xu Ruoli, and Li Xiangyuan.
It was impossible for the two of them to disagree with the statement Su Peizhen had made.
Liu Tongjia’s interest in shopping had waned somewhat after having being interrupted by Su Peizhen.
She turned around and looked at Mrs. Xu and Li Xiangyuan. The two of them immediately claimed they had somewhere else to be, leaving as they made their excuses.
After separating from her companions, Liu Tongjia did not turn her attention to Su Peizhen. Instead, she took out her phone and called for the chauffeur to pick her up.
Su Peizhen put herself in Liu Tongjia’s path in a well-timed move. “Aunty, now that we have met, shall we have a chat?”
“I have nothing to talk about with you.”
“But I think we must have a lot to talk about.”
They were standing at the entrance of the shopping mall, a completely unsuitable place for talking.
Liu Tongjia gave Su Peizhen an intense look before walking directly into a nearby café.
Su Peizhen’s lips curled up as she followed behind her.
The two of them sat down at the table near the corner of the café, Su Peizhen smiling warmly.
“What would you like to drink?”
“I am not here to get a drink. Just speak your mind.”
“Aunty. I honestly just wanted a chat with you. After all, someone like you definitely dislikes being lied to, right?”
“What are you trying to get at?”
“I wanted to talk about Su Qingsang’s true identity. I think you may not have known that…”
“I know. She is the daughter of Li Qianxue, while you…”
Liu Tongjia swept her gaze up and down over Su Peizhen, a contemptuous look in her eyes. “You are the illegitimate daughter whose origins are unknown.”
Su Peizhen was slightly uncomfortable that she had pointed that out.
“Aunty, why do you have to say about me? Even if Su Qingsang is no longer illegitimate, it’s not as if you don’t still dislike her, right?”
“So?” Liu Tongjia leaned forward slightly. “You want me to work with you to handle Su Qingsang?”
“Aunty, I don’t know what you mean by that. Also, since you don’t even like her, why are you acting this way?”
Su Peizhen could not believe that Liu Tongjia would be indifferent to her proposition. “I heard that you had wanted a different lady as your daughter-in-law. I would be helping you out there, wouldn’t I?”
“Helping me?” Liu Tongjia sneered. “Would you be helping me or helping yourself?”
“Why don’t you think of it as us helping each other?”
“Helping each other?” Liu Tongjia laughed. “Why? Did you think that just by saying you dislike Su Qingsang, you would be able to get me to go along with this?”
Seeing Su Peizhen’s expression change, Liu Tongjia’s smile faded from her face.
“Su Peizhen. I am not afraid to tell you this. Indeed, I do not like Su Qingsang. However, I dislike you even more.”
“Huh? Aunty?”
“Now that you are no longer the pampered young lady of the Su Family, you ought to reconcile yourself to your position. I can understand if you do not want to accept it. If you want to get back what you originally had. But I don’t care to be your backer.”
“But…”
“But I don’t like Su Qingsang. Is that what you were about to say?”
Liu Tongjia looked at her, with an even greater degree of disdain apparent in her eyes.
“You’ve presumed too much. Yes, I don’t like her, but she is already married to Huo Jinyao. Why? Did you think that I would let Su Qingsang leave the Huo Family, just because of your covetousness?
“Aunty, what?”
“Enough.” Liu Tongjia no longer had the patience to listen further. She stood up saying, “You’re still far too inexperienced to even begin thinking about exploiting me.”
“I really didn’t mean it that way, Aunty.”
“It does not matter whether you meant it that way or not. Anyway, I don’t enjoy being used by others. I am not interested in working with you either. After all, a woman like you who displays her ambitions so clearly on her sleeve, you are even more annoying to me than Su Qingsang.”
Liu Tongjia headed straight for the exit after finishing her sentence.
Su Peizhen sat there, her face gone bloodless. She had not expected such a reaction from Liu Tongjia.
Her chest was heaving heavily. She breathed out slowly as Liu Tongjia left her field of vision.
Good, just great. So compared to Su Qingsang, she was even more annoying? She was going to see who would have the last laugh, Su Qingsang or her.
…
It was still quite early after they had eaten. Su Qingsang came out of the kitchen with some cut fruits and placed them on the coffee table.
Zhang Yichen glanced over at her and whispered his thanks.
“You’re welcome.”
Su Qingsang looked at Huo Jinyao then at Zhang Yichen. Using her eyes to communicate with Huo Jinyao, she asked him to entertain Zhang Yichen before she headed out of the room.
She still had her incomplete thesis on hand, so she thought about using the time to finish it.
Su Qingsang took her laptop and her printed materials with her as she lay on the bed to start on her thesis, but she ended up falling asleep without meaning to.
In the end, she was woken up by a kiss from Huo Jinyao. She blinked as she looked at Huo Jinyao’s face still right in front of her own. “What time is it now?”
“About four in the afternoon.”
“Has Uncle left?”
“He’s still outside.” Huo Jinyao planted a kiss on her cheek. “Why were you sleeping? Tired?”
Su Qingsang shook her head. “Doesn’t he have anything else to do? Why hasn’t he left yet?”
“You don’t like having him around?”
“No, it’s not like that.” Su Qingsang thought about the varied embarrassing situations she had found herself in whenever she had met Zhang Yichen, and she felt a little uncomfortable. “I just thought he seems very free.”
“He’s never free. He is always tied up whenever he comes to Rong City.”
That’s right, he’d always had something on whenever he was in Rong City. He was busy all the time, yet he could spare the time to go to the Huo Mansion, and somehow always managed to catch her right when she was in an awkward moment.
“Is he still going to eat here tonight?”