To My Dear Mr. Huo

Su Qingsang screamed and dodged nimbly.

Huo Jinyao would not let her get away so easily. As a northerner, he was much swifter than Su Qingsang was.

He threw three snowballs in a row. Su Qingsang only managed to dodge one of them. The other two both hit her.

She refused to admit defeat. Hiding behind the fountain, she made another snowball and launched a counterstrike. However, the snowball missed Huo Jinyao and hit Li Qianxue.

Su Qingsang immediately felt embarrassed. She stood frozen, not knowing where to put her hands.

“It’s okay.” Li Qianxue was happy to see her daughter acting like a carefree child.

To make Su Qingsang feel less awkward, she even made a snowball herself and threw it at Su Qingsang.

That made Su Qingsang feel relieved. But as she paused, Huo Jinyao threw a few more snowballs at her.

She was irritated. She grabbed a handful of snow and rushed at Huo Jinyao.

On the other side, Li Qianxue clapped her hands and brushed the snow off her body. After that, she turned and found Old Master Li looking at her. That made her feel slightly embarrassed.

“Dad.” Old Master Li had always wanted her to be a fair lady. Throwing a snowball at someone was not something that a fair lady would do.

“This is good.” Old Master Li patted her hand and said, “Don’t look at me like that. I now understand that you can cultivate a good relationship. Qingsang is a good girl, but she hasn’t opened her heart to you yet. You should spend more time with her. In time, she’ll know how much you care for her.”

“Hmm.” Li Qianxue nodded. That was what she had been thinking about.

Old Master Li was certainly aware that Su Qingsang had never become close enough with him and Li Qianxue. He didn’t say that out loud, though.

That was also the reason why he had agreed to come to Rong City with Li Qianxue. He intended to build a better relationship with his granddaughter by spending more time with her.

“Don’t worry. Qingsang is a good girl. She will grow close with you slowly.”

“I know, Dad,” Li Qianxue said, looking at Su Qingsang. Huo Jinyao had hit her a few times, but all her snowballs had missed their target. Su Qingsang was so annoyed that her face reddened.

Huo Jinyao stopped to comfort her, but he didn’t know that Su Qingsang was only pretending to be angry. When he came closer to her, she threw a snowball right at his face.

Watching the snowball hit Huo Jinyao, she chuckled happily.

The wind sent her chuckle to Li Qianxue’s ears. Li Qianxue chuckled too. She was still young. There would be time. She had endless patience.

Li Qianxue wasn’t the only one who saw Su Qingsang having a snowball fight with Huo Jinyao. Someone else saw them, too.

“Stop the car.”

Liu Lexian put a hand on his chin, signaled to the driver to stop the car, and rolled down the car window.

The driver was his friend Shen Zhishang. The weather was cold. The wind blew into the car, and Shen Zhishang tensed.

“What are you doing? Close the window.”

“That’s Huo Jinyao, isn’t it?”

Shen Zhishang glanced at that person and said, “I think that’s him. What is he doing here? Doesn’t he need to work today?”

“Who knows? Who’s that woman? Isn’t he married?”

Huo Jinyao had almost gotten married secretly. Earlier, he had taken Su Qingsang back to Rong City, stayed only a few days, and left again. Therefore, Liu Lexian hadn’t met Su Qingsang yet.

“Let’s go take a look.” After spending a short while staring at Huo Jinyao, he abruptly glanced at Shen Zhishang.

“What are you gonna do?” Shen Zhishang watched him open the door. “Oi, this area doesn’t allow parking.”

Liu Lexian walked quickly toward Huo Jinyao as if he couldn’t hear his friend at all.

Su Qingsang had played with Huo Jinyao for quite a while and was tired. At the moment, she was resting in Huo Jinyao’s arms, trying to catch her breath. The cold air made her cheeks red.

“You are such a liar,” Su Qingsang complained. “You’re awful.”

She only pretended to be angry. Unlike her, Huo Jinyao had pretended to be injured. As a result, she had walked over to him with concern and gotten hit by several snowballs in a row.

“Darling, I’m touched that you care so much about me.”

“Who cares about you?” Su Qingsang gave him a gentle slap, still feeling unhappy about losing the fight. “I’m not talking to you anymore. I’m going to find my mom.”

Li Qianxue and Old Master Li weren’t as active as the two young people. They found a cafe and went in to get some rest.

“All right.”

“Cousin?”

Hearing that voice, Huo Jinyao erased the smile on his face and turned to look at Liu Lexian.

“Hey, cousin, what a coincidence. What are you doing here?”

Liu Lexian had a big grin on his face. Su Qingsang found his expression weird for some reason. The first thought that popped into her mind was that she did not like this man.

Huo Jinyao didn’t answer Liu Lexian’s question. He responded to him with a bland, “Eh.”

Liu Lexian didn’t mind his cold attitude. His eyes landed on Su Qingsang in a meaningful way.

“This is…”

Since Huo Jinyao was already married, he assumed that Su Qingsang was his mistress. She was pretty.

“She is your cousin-in-law,” Huo Jinyao said coldly, putting on a slightly displeased look.

“C-cousin-in-law?”

Liu Lexian was surprised. “Wasn’t my cousin-in-law in Lin City? Is she back now?”

“Yes.” Huo Jinyao now had no other choice but to introduce Su Qingsang to Liu Lexian. “Qingsang, this is Liu Lexian, my uncle’s son.

“This is Su Qingsang, your cousin-in-law. Next time, show her some respect.”

“Sure, sure. My cousin-in-law wasn’t with us during the New Year, so I didn’t get a chance to meet her. I thought she was your…”

Liu Lexian coughed slightly and didn’t finish his sentence. However, both Su Qingsang and Huo Jinyao knew what he was trying to say.

Huo Jinyao looked a little unhappy. He glared at Liu Lexian and said, “Stop talking nonsense. Not everyone is like you.”

Liu Lexian was the son of Huo Jinyao’s uncle on his mother’s side. He had been spoiled since he was a boy. He had grown up and became a loafer. The only thing he liked to do was spend his family’s money for fun.

Huo Jinyao had never liked Liu Lexian, and the latter had never liked him, either.

Liu Lexian didn’t like Huo Jinyao because Huo Jinyao had made his way into the Tianyu Group at a young age. He was so capable that people from less wealthy families always complimented him when his name was mentioned, especially his uncle, Liu Chengren. Every time Liu Chengren saw his son messing around, he criticized him and drew a comparison between him and Huo Jinyao.

“Look at Huo Jinyao.” That was what he always said to his son.

Over time, Huo Jinyao and Liu Lexian grew to dislike each other.

“Yeah, a playboy like me certainly can’t compare with a gracious, ambitious man like you.”

Liu Lexian wasn’t displeased by Huo Jinyao’s words. He made a self-deprecating joke and looked at Su Qingsang again.

“I wonder when we can have my cousin-in-law as a guest. My father has always seen my cousin as his own son,” he said to Su Qingsang. He turned to Huo Jinyao and continued. “Cousin, you’ll take her to see my father, won’t you?”

“I’ll visit Uncle in a few days.” Huo Jinyao didn’t like Liu Lexian, but he had always respected Liu Chengren.

Liu Lexian stopped talking, detecting the dislike in Huo Jinyao’s eyes.

Earlier, he had thought Su Qingsang was Huo Jinyao’s mistress.

If that were true, he would be telling his father to let him know that Huo Jinyao was not exactly a decent man either. Knowing that, his father would probably stop comparing him to Huo Jinyao all the time.

However, as it had turned out that he was wrong, Liu Lexian lost interest in the girl, said goodbye, and prepared to leave.

On his way back, he ran into Shen Zhishang, who had just parked the car. Though he was feeling disappointed, he suddenly had an idea.

That woman wasn’t Huo Jinyao’s mistress, but so what? He was supposed to be at work. He had left his work behind to spend time hanging out with his wife. That was not a good thing, was it?

Thinking about that, Liu Lexian was thrilled. He patted Shen Zhishang heavily on the shoulder and said, “Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“To see my aunt.”

He had caught Huo Jinyao making a mistake, which was a very rare thing. Of course, he would take the opportunity to tell his aunt in detail.

“I’m not going.” Shen Zhishang was afraid of Liu Tongjia. All of Rong City knew that in the Huo family, Liu Tongjia was the scariest, besides Old Master Huo.

The way she snapped coldly at people was a nightmare even for Liu Lexian.

Shen Zhishang had been having a lot of fun with Liu Lexian, so Liu Tongjia often criticized him.

Liu Tongjia was the chairwoman of the Women’s Chamber of Commerce in Rong City. His mother and many of his friends’ mothers knew her. Every time Liu Tongjia caught them doing something bad, she told their mothers about it.

Over time, almost all of the rich young people in Rong City grew to fear Liu Tongjia.

“Relax. I assure you that this time, my aunt won’t give you a hard time.” Liu Lexian winked at Shen Zhishang with a wicked look in his eyes.

…

“What did you say?” Hearing what the person on the other end of the phone line said, Su Peizhen pulled a face.

“Su Qingsang isn’t in Lin City? Where did she go?

“Oh, I see.” After ending the call, a sullen expression flashed across Su Peizhen’s pretty face.

Su Qingsang had gone to Rong City. Had she known that Su Peizhen was going to do something to her? That shouldn’t have been possible.

Luo Haonan and the others weren’t stupid enough to leak the content of the conversation they’d had with Su Peizhen that night.

Huo Jinyao was from Rong City. Thinking about that, Su Peizhen figured that Su Qingsang had probably moved there to live with her husband.

Su Peizhen wasn’t familiar with Rong City. She didn’t have friends there either. It would be difficult for her to cause Su Qingsang trouble in that city.

She thought for a moment, then picked up her phone and called home.

Yuu answered the call.

“Yuu, where’s my mom?”

Yuu was surprised to hear Su Peizhen’s voice. “She’s not home. She went to Rong City.”

Yuu told Su Peizhen this without thinking. After all, Li Qianxue hadn’t forbidden her from telling people her whereabouts. Besides, Su Peizhen was still a member of the Su family.

“What about my grandpa?”

“Old Master Li isn’t home either.” Xiao Yuu thought for a moment and added, “He went to Rong City too.”

“They went with Su Qingsang, didn’t they?”

Su Peizhen’s voice grew cold. Realizing that she had said something she shouldn’t have, Xiao Yuu hurriedly apologized and ended the call, using the kitchen work as an excuse.

Su Peizhen thought Yuu’s attitude was disrespectful. She was angry about it. Before she tossed away her phone, the device started ringing. It was a call from Su Chenghui.