Chapter 539: There’s No Other Way

He had every reason to believe that the person who had paid Qiao Hong was the same person who had hired Lin Gang to frame Su Qingsang.

However, Huo Jinyao also knew that those two things could have been done by two different people. Maybe the person who had paid Qiao Hong was targeting him while the other one was targeting Su Qingsang.

Su Qingsang had never displeased anyone though. If she was targeted, Huo Jinyao might be the only reason why.

Either way, Huo Jinyao didn’t intend to let those people do whatever they wanted anymore.

…

When Huo Jinyao entered his apartment, Su Qingsang was putting away the folded clothes into the closet.

Ms. Yu had always tidied the apartment, and a cleaning lady came once a week. But most of the time, Su Qingsang preferred to do the housework herself.

Huo Jinyao liked to watch her organizing the apartment under his gaze, to see her making the effort to better their home.

She sometimes bought fresh flowers on her way back home after work. She had also put a fragrance lamp in the bedroom, which helped with getting good sleep. He liked watching her do all those things.

Bit by bit, she left traces of herself in every corner of that apartment.

After putting the last piece of clothing into the closet, Su Qingsang turned to see Huo Jinyao.

“Hi, welcome back home.”

She watched him come to her. She had already taken a shower. A refres.h.i.+ng aroma could be sensed from her.

Holding her in his arms, he felt so relaxed.

“You could have left the laundry where they were. Ms. Yu would have organized them tomorrow.”

“I’ve watched the weather forecast. It says there’ll be a heavy rain tomorrow. Why do we have to wait for Ms. Yu to do it? It’s just a small thing.”

Su Qingsang used to do all the housework herself, back in Lin City. She was married now, but she had no reason to turn herself into a lazy girl who was incapable of managing a house by herself.

While speaking, she heard the raindrops landing on the window. She turned and glanced at Huo Jinyao. “See, it’s raining already. Thankfully, you came home before the rain started.”

Huo Jinyao drove back. The rain wouldn’t have directly affected him, but it might have turned the road slippery.

The sky was dark already. Therefore, Su Qingsang felt that he had been lucky to dodge the rain.

Huo Jinyao loved seeing her be like that. Even the smallest things could cheer her up. The more time he spent with her, the more strongly he felt that she was a simple-minded person.

It suddenly crossed his mind that Yang Wenchang was having Ding Qing under his watch these days. Ding Qing hadn’t made contact with her boss yet.

Yesterday, he had even bugged her phone. He didn’t want to do that, but he had too.

Similar to Su Qingsang, Huo Jinyao didn’t like doing such sneaky things. However, just as what Su Qingsang would think, he realized that he had no other choice sometimes.

“What’s wrong?” Su Qingsang sensitively detected that Huo Jinyao seemed to be in a pensive mood.

“Qingsang.” Huo Jinyao held her hand, looked at her in the eyes very seriously, and said, “You’ve been in Rong City for a while. Have you gotten used to our life here yet?”

The Huo Family was a large family. Being a member of that family, Su Qingsang needed to face a lot of problems. Back in Lin City, the one who had always given Su Qingsang a hard time was only Su Peizhen. However, Su Peizhen never caused her any serious harm. She was Su Chenghui’s daughter too, after all.

However, things were different in Rong City. In Rong City, everyone was different from what they looked like on the outside.

Occasionally, Huo Jinyao wondered if Su Qingsang would get tired of a life like this.

“Yeah,” Su Qingsang said. She didn’t understand why he suddenly asked a question like that. She was already used to her current life.

The only bad thing about living in Rong City was that she could no longer meet with s.h.i.+ Mengwan as often anymore.

Except for Zuo Hongchen, many of her cla.s.smates still lived in Lin City. She had loved studying and doing projects together with them.

In Rong City, the only thing she would do when she wasn’t working or doing projects was to visit the Huo Family.

Life in Rong City was a little boring, indeed. It was fine in general, though. She had been making friends with some of her new colleagues. She wasn’t always feeling bored.

“Really?” Huo Jinyao didn’t believe her.

“What if I haven’t gotten used to the life here? I can’t go back to Lin City, can I?”

Huo Jinyao didn’t know how to respond to that. The headquarters of Tianyu Group was located in Rong City, so he was not allowed to spend a lot of time in Lin City.

Since he couldn’t leave, Su Qingsang would, of course, stay as well.

For the very first time, Huo Jinyao realized that he wasn’t able to accomplish everything he wanted to do. He had his own weaknesses and responsibilities.

He had no right to be self-willed. He held Su Qingsang in his arms tightly, as if he was afraid that he might lose her.

This time, Su Qingsang guessed what he was thinking about.

She gently patted his back with both her hands. Then, she raised her head to look at him and said, “Huo Jinyao, I’m really used to the life here. I think it’s great.”

The winter in Rong City was very cold, but their house was heated, so it was not a big problem for her.

She didn’t have many friends in that city, but she was trying to make some new ones.

As long as Huo Jinyao was still with her, there would be no problems.

She would stay contented and happy. She would try hard to live a great life in that city, for both him and herself.

Huo Jinyao looked at her face which seemed very fair under the light and lowered his head. Then, he gently kissed her lips.

He didn’t say ‘thank you’. He didn’t need to.

…

“Peizhen, it’s raining out there. Where are you going?”

Xiang Caiping looked outside the window, then found Su Peizhen dressed up, holding her purse, seemingly going out.

“I’m going to meet a friend.”

Su Peizhen answered the question impatiently.

Xiang Caiping noticed her tone, but at that moment, she was more worried about her safety.

“But it’s raining out there. Can’t you meet your friend tomorrow?”

“Mom, it’s a friend of mine from Lin City. She flew all the way here from Lin City to visit me. I can’t possibly cancel my appointment with her, can I?”

Xiang Caiping let Su Peizhen run the two supermarkets that she owned, but hadn’t given her a share of the companies yet.

For that reason, Su Peizhen forced herself to answer Xiang Caiping’s questions.

“Who is that friend of yours?”

“You wouldn’t know who she is even if I told you her name,” Su Peizhen said with a softer tone, as she had noticed the disappointed look on Xiang Caiping’s face.

She patted Xiang Caiping on the shoulder, and said, “I promise you that I’ll be home as soon as possible. You should have an early rest. Don’t wait up for me.”

“But…”

“Bye, mom.” Su Peizhen waved at her and left.

Xiang Caiping stood by the front door of the house. The door was still open, and cold air gushed in, making her shudder.

She closed the door and then walked to the window side. She watched Su Peizhen start the car, and drive off.

After moving to Rong City, she discovered that Su Peizhen really loved going out with her friends.

She went out day and night, as if she didn’t want to stay in the house and spend time with her mother.

She had asked the girl a few times about where she was going. Su Peizhen either refused to answer the question, or mentioned some random names.

If she asked again, Su Peizhen would tell her that it would be pointless giving her the names, as she couldn’t possibly know about those places.

Xiang Caiping couldn’t describe the feeling that she had been having. She was sure about one thing, though. What was happening between Su Peizhen and her was not the mother-daughter relations.h.i.+p that she had imagined, or wanted.

She remembered how nice Su Qingsang had been to her.

Su Qingsang had always come home in a haste after work, to keep her company, and chat with her.

She had taken her shopping and bought her gifts.

Unlike Su Qingsang, Su Peizhen seemed to have become someone else ever since they moved to Rong City.

She was always impatient with her mother, and she was never willing to tell her mother about her personal life.

Previously, Su Peizhen had even lost her temper because a supermarket employee had told Xiang Caiping where Su Peizhen had gone one evening.

She told to Xiang Caiping that she was not her prisoner. She asked her to stop watching her every day because it made her feel pressured.

Xiang Caiping didn’t dare to give her any restrictions after she had said those words.

She was sad, however. She didn’t really want to control her daughter’s life. She was simply worried about her. Why did the girl say those harmful words to her?

When the girl had said that, she tried so hard to explain to her. She almost cried.

Su Peizhen believed her, but never let Xiang Caiping lay a finger on her business again.

Su Peizhen also fired that employee for showing no loyalty to her.

Xiang Caiping clearly knew that all who were currently working in the supermarkets were senior employees, but still, let Su Peizhen did what she wanted to do.

Since then, those employees didn’t dare to talk to her again when she showed up in the supermarkets.

Xiang Caiping couldn’t even ask those employees about how Su Peizhen had been doing at work, and if there were any problems that she couldn’t solve.

Those employees wouldn’t tell her anything about Su Peizhen, because they didn’t want to lose their job.

Xiang Caiping used to work very hard in the past. She worked in the supermarket every day and night. She almost lived there. But Su Peizhen didn’t work like that. She later learned that Su Peizhen was often absent at work, and no one knew where she had been.

She had asked Su Qingsang about that once. However, Su Peizhen grew much short-tempered than before. The harder she tried to explain to her that she was only worried about her, the more Su Peizhen hated to answer her questions.

“I’m an adult. How could I ever get lost in the city?” Su Peizhen asked her.

Xiang Caiping couldn’t think of anything to respond to that.

She was clearly aware that it was hard for her and her daughter to be close to each other because she hadn’t been there watching the girl grow up. Of course, Su Peizhen wouldn’t want to listen to her.

Knowing that was one thing, but accepting it was another.

That was still her daughter after all.

Xiang Caiping looked outside the window. The rain grew heavier and heavier, and she felt more and more frustrated.

She couldn’t help thinking about another reality, where Su Qingsang was her daughter…

She cast that thought out of her mind once it emerged.

She did not allow herself to think about that. Su Peizhen wasn’t the perfect daughter, but she was still her daughter.

Su Peizhen was her real daughter. She hated Li Qianxue so much for stealing her man and then her daughter.

She also hated that woman for turning her daughter into a person like that. That was not Su Peizhen’s fault, actually.

It was all Su Chenghui’s and Li Qianxue’s fault.

Xiang Caiping told herself that she needed to treat Su Peizhen better.

Perhaps, the girl would change over time.

…

Yang Wenchang looked at Huo Jinyao, who was now wearing a sullen look.

It had been ten days since he asked Yang Wenchang to keep Ding Qing under his watch.

Yang Wenchang was patient, and so was Ding Qing.

She did nothing abnormal these days. Not only her behavior but all her phone calls also sounded perfectly normal.

However, something different had happened last night.

Last night, the people who worked for Yang Wenchang had wiretapped Ding Qing’s phone calls like they had been doing all this while.

After spending ten whole days pretending like nothing unusual was happening, Ding Qing finally made contact with that mystery person.