“I don’t know.” Huo Jinyao was not concerned about Su Chenghui. The two families were in a business partnership. Seeing that he was Su Qingsang’s father, Huo Jinyao would show him some respect.
However, if Su Chenghui wanted to make things difficult for Su Qingsang, that would definitely not be tolerated.
“I worry about…” Su Qingsang did not tell Huo Jinyao about what happened in Japan.
However, Su Qingsang was worried that Su Chenghui had come to settle the score with Xiang Caiping because of what had happened between her, her mother, and Su Peizhen.
“What do you worry about?” Huo Jinyao was quick to sense that something was amiss.
“It’s nothing.” It is better not to tell Huo Jinyao. Su Qingsang shook her head and trusted Xiang Caiping to be able to settle the matter by herself.
Huo Jinyao narrowed his eyes and looked at her; his arms tightened around her waist. “Spill the beans, darling. What exactly happened?”
Su Qingsang’s lips tightened into a straight line. She held Huo Jinyao’s hand in hers. “It’s nothing. I just feel that I’m a little confused about something.”
“What is it?”
“Do you think my father loves my mother or Auntie?” The ‘auntie’ she was referring to here was naturally Li Qianxue. Having addressed her as ‘auntie’ for so many years, she could not kick the habit.
Moreover, now that Xiang Caiping was not with them, she would not know that Su Qingsang had addressed her this way.
“We’ll have to ask him.” Huo Jinyao did not see that Su Chenghui had much love either for Xiang Caiping or for Li Qianxue.
“If he loves my mother, how has he been able to live under the same roof as Auntie for so many years? If he loves Auntie, then why is he entangling himself with my mother now?”
“Do you want to hear the truth?” Huo Jinyao gave her hand a squeeze, and an uninhibited smile appeared on his face.
“Go ahead and tell me.”
“If you ask me, your father doesn’t love anyone but himself.”
Su Qingsang gave his hand a squeeze in return. “If I were to comment about him, he is just being indecisive. He loves my mother, and at the same time, he can’t give Auntie up.”
“Are you trying to say that your father loves Su Peizhen’s mother?”
“I don’t know.” Su Qingsang halted in her tracks and gazed at the shadows of the trees around the neighborhood. “However, there is one thing which I have never told either my mother or anyone else before.”
“What is it?” What could she possibly hide from Xiang Caiping?
“It was approximately a few years ago when I was still attending university. Once, I went home to retrieve something and that day, Su Peizhen and Su Yuxin were not home. When I entered the house, I heard that Auntie had fallen ill. Since I was living with the Su Family and was studying to be a doctor, I thought of checking on her. Then I saw my father.”
Li Qianxue had always been robust. That time when she fell ill was one of the few times which Su Qingsang remembered her not feeling well.
When Su Qingsang headed up the stairs and was about to enter Li Qianxue’s room to check on her, she realized that Li Qianxue’s bedroom door was not shut. Li Qianxue was ill and her face burned red with fever. She had an agonized look as she lay in bed.
As Su Qingsang was about to enter the room, she saw Su Chenghui coming out of the bathroom. She did not know what she was thinking of at that time but she instinctively avoided him and hid beside the door.
However, her action was totally unnecessary. At that time, Su Chenghui did not even have the time to notice her.
He held a piece of towel in his hand and stood by the bed looking at Li Qianxue. He seemed to hesitate before finally placing the towel on Li Qianxue’s forehead.
“Honestly, I’ve only seen my father behave that way once. The expression on his face…I don’t really know how to describe it. Anyway, I found it really complex.”
At that time, she did not comprehend bonds between people and understood love even less. There was a faint idea in her heart, however, that Su Chenghui was not totally unfeeling towards Li Qianxue.
She could not forget the look in Su Chenghui’s eyes at that time. There was disdain, aversion, and frustration. However, there were also some emotions which she could not decipher.