BXBX NOVEL Chapter 619 - I Don’t Want Insincerity
Chapter 619: I Don’t Want Insincerity
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The shop clerk here was Wan Xianyang’s subordinate. Wan Xianyang was Huo Jinyao’s childhood friend.
Even if the other party only misinterpreted things, Su Qingsang didn’t want such a misunderstanding to spread to Huo Jinyao’s ears.
She explained too quickly and didn’t notice Zhang Yichen’s strange expression because of her words.
The shop clerk was a little embarrassed now. He looked at Zhang Yichen and then looked at Su Qingsang. Indeed, they didn’t seem to be boyfriend and girlfriend. It was his fault for not asking clearly just now.
“Young Master Zhang, forgive my faux pas.” The shop clerk slapped his face gently. The apology wasn’t directed at Su Qingsang.
Su Qingsang didn’t want to get entangled with this person anymore. She looked at the bracelet in his hand.
“Let me see it.”
“Okay. Look over here.” The shop clerk had made a slip of the tongue just now. He could only try his best to salvage the situation.
“Madam, look at this translucence. This is a type of glass from Myanmar. I’m not bragging, but with this bracelet of this color and this brightness on your wrist, you will immediately look like a high class lady.”
Su Qingsang glanced at that person and laughed.
Her gaze fell on the bracelet. It was indeed very beautiful. Even someone like her who didn’t know anything could see that this bracelet was extraordinarily beautiful and of excellent quality.
She had some impression of Liu Tongjia’s hand. It was very white and round. She was indeed very suitable for wearing such a bracelet.
“This one.”
“Okay.” The shop clerk had seen many straightforward customers, but Su Qingsang’s straightforwardness still surprised him.
Without thinking, he answered and took the bracelet to wrap it up.
Su Qingsang took out the card and handed it to him to pay. Because Zhang Yichen was standing at the side, once the waiter left, there were only the two of them left.
She felt a little uncomfortable being alone in a room with another man. She turned her face away and pretended to look around casually.
The furnishings upstairs were all very exquisite. Just the antique shelf looked like it had been around for a long time, not to mention other things.
Su Qingsang was interested. She glanced at the shelf on the side and was immediately attracted by one of the objects.
It was a jade sculpture, much more exquisite than the eight immortals crossing the sea downstairs.
On a rock that wasn’t much bigger than a fist, there was a pavilion, but inside the pavilion, there was an extremely small figure.
Upon her closer inspection, it turned out to be the twelve flowers of Jin Ling from the Dream of the Red Chamber. The twelve flowers each had their own movement.
There was a jade burial flower and a precious hairpin catching a butterfly. They looked small, but they were exquisite in terms of both form and spirit. Even though Su Qingsang had seen a lot of good things since she married Huo Jinyao, she was still amazed by the exquisiteness of this jade carving.
If not for the glass, she would have reached out to touch it.
What kind of craftsmanship could make the jade carving look so lifelike? If one looked closely, one could almost see the expression on Lin Daiyu’s face, a look of sorrow and distress.
Su Qingsang couldn’t help but stare at the jade carving for a long time. At the other end, the clerk had already wrapped the jade and swiped the card.
He handed the card and the small bag to Su Qingsang.
“Take it. There’s a certificate inside. Everything that leaves Bo Gu Zhai has an ID card. You’re welcome to find someone to verify it at any time.”
Su Qingsang didn’t respond. She was naturally willing to trust Wan Xianyang. Speaking of which, that person said that he wanted to follow Shi Mengwan to France last time. She didn’t know what happened after that.
Perhaps she could ask Shi Mengwan today.
After taking the things, she found that Zhang Yichen was still there. She nodded slightly at him.
“Thank you, Uncle. I’ve troubled you today.”
“You’re welcome.” Zhang Yichen’s voice was indifferent. “It’s also because Wan Xianyang isn’t here. I helped play host on his behalf.”
“Then, I’ll be leaving first.”
“Okay.”
Su Qingsang bowed and then walked forward. After she left, Zhang Yichen looked at the display she had seen just now and told the shop assistant to wrap it up.
He took the jade carving and picked out another gift for the Old Master. Zhang Yichen then left.
He thought that the few minutes he stayed behind was enough for Su Qingsang to leave. He didn’t expect that when he walked to Antique Street, he would find Su Qingsang still standing there.
“What’s the matter?”
Su Qingsang was a little embarrassed when she saw him. She had wandered around a small shop nearby just now. When she came out, she found that her car was gone.
“My car seems to have been towed away. I’ll hail a taxi here.”
Parking wasn’t allowed there, but Su Qingsang didn’t know. When she saw the faint white line on the ground just now, she thought it was a parking space.
She didn’t expect that it wasn’t a parking space. Now, her car was towed away. She wanted to take a taxi, but she didn’t know what was going on here. There wasn’t a single taxi.
“You can’t park here. You can’t park a taxi either.” Zhang Yichen’s voice was indifferent. “You’ve been in Rong City for so long, so don’t you know?”
It was a simple question, and it didn’t contain any criticism. However, it succeeded in making Su Qingsang blush.
There were only a few places that she went to. Most of the time, she would be with Huo Jinyao. She really didn’t pay too much attention to it.
“Let’s go. Where are you going? I’ll drive you.” As he spoke, he had already started walking forward.
“No need. I can walk to the front and hail a taxi.”
Su Qingsang’s words made Zhang Yichen turn around. He stood straight. His gaze fell on Su Qingsang’s face.
“Are you afraid of me?”
“Why would I be?” Su Qingsang was a little embarrassed. Speaking of which, the other party was not only Huo Jinyao’s uncle, but also her savior.
The corners of her mouth twitched, and her smile was a little stiff. “Then I’ll have to trouble you, Uncle.”
The word ‘Uncle’ made Zhang Yichen’s brows furrow imperceptibly. He lifted his feet and walked forward. Following him neither too far nor too closely, Su Qingsang was about a meter behind him.
After taking a turn there, Su Qingsang finally saw the sign of the parking lot. It was also her fault for only thinking about buying a gift for Liu Tongjia and being a little distracted.
He got into Zhang Yichen’s Hummer. He put the bag in his hand in the back seat of the car.
Su Qingsang saw him carrying the box just now. “Have you bought the things you want to buy?”
“Yes. Where are you going?”
Su Qingsang looked at the time. She wanted to go back to the old mansion first.
After looking at the time, she realized that Huo Jinyao was still at work. “Send me to Jinyao’s company. I’ll go look for him.”
When she mentioned Huo Jinyao’s name, even if she didn’t notice it, Zhang Yichen could hear the gentleness in her tone.
His expression didn’t change as he calmly drove the car to the Tianyu Group.
The car was very quiet. During this time, Su Qingsang received a phone call from Li Qianxue. She asked her how the gift-shopping was going, and Su Qingsang told her about the bracelet she had just bought.
Li Qianxue didn’t say anything. She only told her that she had to prepare for something like this in advance next time. Although the bracelet wasn’t to the extent of being un-presentable, it still wouldn’t seem sincere enough.
Although Li Qianxue didn’t like Liu Tongjia, Su Qingsang was already the daughter-in-law of the Huo family. Of course, she also wanted her daughter to live in harmony.
Su Qingsang chatted with Li Qianxue for a while. Because she was talking to her mother, her tone of voice sounded a little intimate.
“The hospital hadn’t been busy recently. It’s fine. There’s nothing else.”
“You video-chat with me every day. If something happened to me, you would have known long ago.”
Speaking of which, Su Qingsang was glad that although she was taken away by the police that day, she left quickly. Otherwise, Li Qianxue would have been worried.
“Mom, I’m already grown up, so why are you still talking about this?”
“I know. Okay. I will.”
Zhang Yichen didn’t know what was said on the other end of the phone, but Su Qingsang’s voice had a hint of mirth.
“Okay, I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry about me and Huo Jinyao. We’re on good terms. We even have a movie date tonight.”
However, she couldn’t go. She had to return to the old mansion to celebrate Liu Tongjia’s birthday. Upon hearing Li Qianxue’s words, Su Qingsang smiled again. “Yes, it’s okay.”
She acted endearingly. He didn’t need to care about what the person on the other end of the phone was saying. He just needed to look at her.
Her eyes curved into a smile. Zhang Yichen glanced at her and pursed his lips a little more. He looked forward again. When he saw the signal light turn green, he started the car again.
Not long after Su Qingsang hung up the phone, the expression on her face wasn’t as relaxed as she appeared to be previously.
Ever since Su Peizhen had lost so much face in Lin City after scheming against her, within the Li family, there was a tacit understanding that they wouldn’t mention Su Peizhen’s matter again.
This included Su Peizhen going to jail this time. She hadn’t told Li Qianxue about it either.
At this moment, she was a little conflicted. Forget about Li Qianxue and Grandpa. If they didn’t know, then so be it.
But should she tell Su Chenghui or not?
“We’re here.”
Zhang Yichen’s voice made her snap back to reality. Looking at the Tianyu Group building in front of her, Su Qingsang turned around and thanked Zhang Yichen before getting off the car.
“Qingsang, here’s your stuff.”
Su Qingsang realized that she had dropped her bag in the car. She really realized that she always seemed to be letting Zhang Yichen see her in an embarrassing state.
She quickly picked up the bag and headed towards Tianyu Group. Su Qingsang didn’t recover from the discomfort until she entered the elevator.
She went upstairs to look for Huo Jinyao, who happened to be in a meeting. Su Qingsang looked at the time. There was still half an hour before he got off work.
The other secretaries in the secretarial office knew Su Qingsang, so they didn’t dare to be negligent, and led her to the office to sit down.
“Mrs. Huo, President Huo’s meeting will be over in ten minutes. You can wait for him here for a while.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Zhang Yang and Yang Wenchang accompanied Huo Jinyao to the meeting. Otherwise, as a small secretary, it wouldn’t be her turn to attend to Su Qingsang.
The secretary brought some flowers to Su Qingsang, then left.
Su Qingsang sat on the sofa and took out her phone to check her Wechat moments. She didn’t have many friends. Apart from her family and friends, most of them were colleagues and classmates from the hospital.
Sometimes, people would discuss Weibo on their Wechat moments. There would often be some academic exchanges on it. It was quite interesting.
Huo Jinyao had already arrived before she had even finished scrolling through her Wechat moments.
He didn’t know that Su Qingsang was there when he entered the room. Behind hin were Zhang Yang and Yang Wenchang.
“I didn’t want to delay the merger any longer. I wanted to settle it quickly. Also, let the people from the branch office –”
“Qingsang?”
Su Qingsang stood up at that moment and smiled at Huo Jinyao.
“Jinyao, Secretary Zhang, Assistant Yang.”
“Greetings, Mrs. Huo.”
“Greetings, Mrs. Huo.”
“You can all leave now. Do as I say for the rest.”
“Yes.”
The two of them left quickly. Huo Jinyao watched Su Qingsang walk towards him after the door was closed. He reached out and put his arms around her waist.
“What’s wrong? Didn’t you just make an appointment to watch a movie tonight? Why are you so eager to see me?”
“Yeah.” Su Qingsang wrapped her arms around his waist. “Can’t I?”
“My pleasure.” Huo Jinyao kissed her on the lips. He seemed to have thought of something. “I had a contract to sign tonight. In order to focus on my date with you, I signed the contract in the afternoon. How is it? Isn’t your husband great?”
“Okay, okay, okay. My husband is the best in the world.”
Huo Jinyao pinched her nose and withdrew his hand under her disapproving gaze. “Let’s go. What do you want to eat tonight?”
“Whatever you say.”
“Then let’s go eat at a private restaurant.” Huo Jinyao tidied up the things on the table and picked up the car keys. “It’s new, but I went with Cheng Xianyun and the others last time. The food tastes pretty good.”
“Sure.”
Su Qingsang didn’t object. Her hand touched the bag, which contained the gift she was going to give to Liu Tongjia.
When Huo Jinyao came over, she followed him and hooked her arm around his.
The two of them went out and entered the elevator. Su Qingsang suddenly turned around.
“Jinyao?”
“Yes?”
“Speaking of which, it seems that we haven’t gone back to see Grandpa and the others for some time. Why don’t we go back to see Grandpa?”
“You mean back to the old mansion?”
“That’s right. Look, Auntie Zhou and Auntie Wang’s culinary skills aren’t any worse than those cooks outside. Why do we have to go out to eat?”
Huo Jinyao narrowed his eyes at her, while Su Qingsang said calmly, “How about it? It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten Auntie Zhou’s dishes and the soup that Auntie Wang makes. Why don’t we go home for dinner today?”
After staring at her face for a long time, Huo Jinyao realized that the elevator had already reached the first floor. Huo Jinyao glanced at her and finally nodded.
“Okay.”
... ... ..
The car pulled up to the parking lot outside the house. Huo Jinyao saw the Hummer as soon as he got out of the car.
He looked at Su Qingsang discreetly, and then stared at the Hummer for a while.
Su Qingsang blinked her eyes. She didn’t expect Zhang Yichen to come. Didn’t he say that he was going back to see his father?
“Let’s go.” Huo Jinyao looked away and put his arms around Su Qingsang’s shoulder.
Liu Tongjia was sitting in her own room. Her complexion didn’t look too good.
Huo Mingguang came back very early today. He knew that today was Liu Tongjia’s birthday.
“Happy birthday.”
He gave the gift that he had prepared beforehand to Liu Tongjia. Liu Tongjia took it and only thanked him. She didn’t even have the intention to open the gift, and just put it aside. Upon seeing this, Huo Mingguang sat down beside her.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you like my gift?”
Liu Tongjia shook her head. Huo Mingguang sighed and said, “Why don’t I just call Jinyao and ask him to come back?”
“I don’t want you to call him back. If he wants to come back, he can come back on his own.”
So what if he came back? If he didn’t really come to celebrate her birthday and wanted Huo Mingguang to beg him to come back, he might as well not come back.
Huo Mingguang was about to say something when someone knocked on the door twice. Soon, Uncle Cheng’s voice was heard outside.
“Sir, Madam. The eldest Young Master and the Young Madam are back.”
“Okay, got it.”
Huo Mingguang replied. He turned around and looked at Liu Tongjia with a faint smile in his eyes. “Alright, he’s back. He came here on his own.”
Liu Tongjia’s eyes had hints of joy. However, she quickly glared at Huo Mingguang.
“It really wasn’t you who called him back?”
“It really wasn’t.”
Huo Mingguang held her hand and asked her to come downstairs with him.
“Jinyao must have remembered that it’s your birthday today and came to celebrate your birthday.”
Huo Mingguang’s words made the smile on Liu Tongjia’s face deepen. Her footsteps quickened.
Huo Mingguang felt a little emotional when he saw his wife like this. If it weren’t for what happened back then, Liu Tongjia and Huo Jinyao would be like any other mother and son.
Although they had wasted more than ten years of time, it wasn’t too late to make up for it from now on.
The two of them went downstairs together. Liu Tongjia’s joyful face froze when she saw Zhang Yichen.
“Cousin, Cousin-in-law.” Zhang Yichen stood up to greet the two of them. Su Qingsang and Huo Jinyao also stood up.
“Dad, Mom.”
“Dad, Auntie.”
“Yes,” Liu Tongjia greeted them. She looked at Zhang Yichen, and then at Su Qingsang. Her previously dissolved irritation towards Su Qingsang started to flare up again.
She walked to the sofa very slowly and sat down. Huo Mingguang followed beside her. Naturally, he didn’t know what Liu Tongjia was thinking. He was very close to Zhang Yichen, his cousin.
The group of people sat down again. Old Master Huo sat on one side of the U-shaped sofa. Huo Jinyao and Su Qingsang sat across from Old Master Huo, while Zhang Yichen sat beside Old Master Huo in the middle seat.
At this moment, Liu Tongjia and Huo Mingguang came down. Zhang Yichen stood up and gave them the seat next to Old Master Huo, then sat on the other side.
However, this way, he was sitting next to Su Qingsang and Huo Jinyao. When Liu Tongjia saw this, her expression became even more unpleasant.
Huo Mingguang noticed that his wife didn’t look too well and turned to look at Huo Jinyao.
“Why are you free today, Jinyao? I remember you have a contract to sign today?”
“I’ve already signed it this afternoon.” Huo Jinyao glanced at Su Qingsang. “Qingsang said she wanted to visit Grandpa, so we came over.”
He was happy to put in a good word for Su Qingsang in front of the Huo family, and he was also happy to show Su Qingsang respect in front of the Huo family.
Su Qingsang nudged him gently. How could he talk like that? What did he mean by saying she wanted to see Grandpa? Did he not want to see him?
“Grandfather, don’t listen to his nonsense. He wanted to see you too.”
The Old Master’s stroke last time was serious, but it wasn’t that serious. After the Old Master almost had a stroke, his hands trembled slightly whenever he held something in his hands. Other than that, there wasn’t much of a problem.
After he was discharged from the hospital, there were specialized doctors and nursing staff to take care of the Old Master. Huo Jinyao was actually very concerned about him.
Liu Tongjia’s expression was already quite unsightly. Did these two people not know that it was her birthday at all? Were they just here to see Old Master?
Su Qingsang saw Liu Tongjia’s expression from the corner of her eye. After knowing that she had specially come to look for Huo Jinyao yesterday, she suddenly understood Liu Tongjia’s pride and awkwardness.
“Speaking of which, although it’s important to visit Grandpa, there’s something more important today.”
No matter what, she hoped that Liu Tongjia’s relationship with Huo Jinyao could be improved today.