To My Dear Mr. Huo

“Huo Jinyao?”

Su Qingsang blinked hard. It wasn’t an illusion. It was Huo Jinyao.

He was holding a winter coat and wearing gloves and a scarf. Rong City was located in the north. It was cold out there after a fresh snowfall.

Su Qingsang couldn’t hide the joy on her face. Her body reacted before her mind as she took a step forward and hugged Huo Jinyao tight.

With a smile, Huo Jinyao held Su Qingsang in his arms and lowered his head to kiss her lips.

Su Qingsang kissed him back. Her eyes were filled with happiness at this delightful surprise.

“Why are you here?” she asked. “No—I mean, how did you know I would be here? How did you know I would be staying at the hotel?”

“I knew once you got off the plane.”

Coincidentally, Su Qingsang had run into Li Junsheng on her way out of the airport. Li Junsheng was heading back to Lin City.

He, of course, knew Su Qingsang. He was surprised when he found her and her family calling a taxi, as no one was there to pick them up.

So he called Huo Jinyao and asked him why he hadn’t sent someone to pick Su Qingsang up.

That was how Huo Jinyao learned that Su Qingsang had come to Rong City. The hotel that she would be staying in was run by Wan Xianyang’s family. Once she checked in, he knew about it.

On learning that his wife had come to his city, the first thing he had done was go to see her as soon as possible. His company wasn’t very far away from the hotel anyway.

Su Qingsang looked at Huo Jinyao and couldn’t help but give him a few more kisses.

Huo Jinyao was pleased with that, but still, it was far from enough.

With his arms around her slim waist, he kissed her deeply. Su Qingsang put her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She let her husband lift her from the ground.

Absence made the heart grow fonder. They hadn’t seen each other for days, and they had missed each other intensely.

Huo Jinyao was immersed in that kiss. Holding his wife, he took two steps forward and closed the door gently with his heel.

As he turned around, prepared to press Su Qingsang against the wall and deepen that kiss further, they heard a series of coughs from behind them.

Huo Jinyao and Su Qingsang hurriedly moved away from each other. Su Qingsang even bit her lip and shot a glare at Huo Jinyao.

Li Qianxue hadn’t expected to see a scene like that when she came out of her room. She felt a little awkward.

She cleared her throat, looked at Huo Jinyao, and said, “Why are you here?”

Huo Jinyao answered her question. He then looked at Li Qianxue and Su Qingsang and said, “Mom, why didn’t you let me know that you were coming here? I’d have sent someone to pick you up at the airport.”

“I wanted to surprise you.” Su Qingsang held his arm and asked, “Are you surprised?”

“You tell me.” Huo Jinyao mussed her hair affectionately. They were the picture of a happy young couple.

Hearing Huo Jinyao call her “Mom” and feeling how much he cared for her daughter, Li Qianxue felt less uncomfortable.

Huo Jinyao put an arm around Su Qingsang’s waist and said, “You guys can stay in the family house.”

There was no reason for them to stay in the hotel.

“We plan to visit your family tomorrow.” Li Qianxue looked at Huo Jinyao and said, “I heard that your family didn’t want you two to get married before. That’s why her grandfather and I decided to come here and visit your family together.”

On the one hand, Li Qianxue wanted the two families to be connected formally by Su Qingsang’s marriage. On the other hand, she intended to show the Huo family her attitude and let them know that Su Qingsang’s own family would always support her.

“I’ll take Qingsang home with me, then. Mom and Grandfather can stay here.”

“No. I’ll stay here with Mom. We’ll go together tomorrow anyway. It’ll be the same.”

“All right,” Huo Jinyao agreed.

Li Qianxue thought for a moment and found this unsuitable. “Never mind, Qingsang,” she said. “I don’t need you here. You should just follow Jinyao home.”

“Mom?” Su Qingsang was surprised to hear that.

“We’ll be here for quite a while. You should go home. You two are already married. It’ll be inappropriate if you don’t go home with him.”

It was after noon already. Had it been earlier, Li Qianxue and Old Master Li would have visited the Huo family once they had arrived in the city.

According to Lin City’s tradition, the first meeting with the in-laws should not happen after noon.

“Alright. I’ll have dinner with you and Grandpa and then go,” Su Qingsang said to Li Qianxue. She turned to Huo Jinyao. “What do you think?”

“You can make decisions about small things like that.”

As he said that, lunch was served.

Li Qianxue told Old Master Li that lunch was ready. He wasn’t surprised to see Huo Jinyao.

Huo Jinyao greeted Old Master Li. He hadn’t had lunch either, so he joined Su Qingsang and her family for it.

“Mom, I can take you and Grandfather to look around the city this afternoon, if you are not tired.”

“Will that be inconvenient? Don’t you have to work?”

“It’s okay. The company won’t go bankrupt if I skip work for half a day.”

“All right.” Old Master Li had always liked Huo Jinyao as his grandson-in-law. Now, he liked him even more.

“You guys are lucky. It was snowing the day before yesterday, and yesterday was cloudy. But today, the sun came out.” After Su Qingsang and her family packed their things, Huo Jinyao walked out of the suite with them. “There’s a square nearby. The snow-covered view there is nice. I’ll take you there.”

This had been the first snowfall in Rong City after the new year. The snow was abundant. Li Qianxue and her family had been stunned by the snow-covered landscape in the morning when they got off the plane.

After all, it hardly snowed in Lin City. There was only sleet there occasionally.

“I wanted to go there this morning.” Su Qingsang had wanted to take a few pictures of the snow-covered view when she got off the plane. However, because Old Master Li needed to rest, she and her family had chosen to head to the hotel first.

“It’s cold!” After stepping out of the hotel and getting in the car, Su Qingsang rubbed her hands together.

“Is it cold?” The wind had been frosty when they had left the hotel. The heat in the car was on, but Su Qingsang still felt a little cold. Huo Jinyao held her hands, put them into his coat, and said, “Let me warm your hands up.”

“No need.” Su Qingsang felt a little shy. She glanced at Old Master Li and Li Qianxue, who were sitting on the other side.

“I really need to ask Ms. Wang to make you some wholesome food when we got home. Your hands are always cold during the winter.”

“I agree.” Li Qianxue was happy to see her son-in-law treat her daughter well. “Qingsang is skinny. She’s grown up now. I can’t tell her what to do anymore. You should try to convince her to eat more food.”

“Mom, I’m not skinny,” Su Qingsang argued. “I’m a normal size.”

“Mom, don’t worry,” Huo Jinyao said, holding Su Qingsang’s hands. “I’ll make sure that she is better-nourished.”

Su Qingsang glared at him. Holding her hands, Huo Jinyao continued in a soft voice, “Don’t worry. Ms. Wang makes fabulous herbal cuisine. You’ll gain some weight.”

“Go to hell.” Su Qingsang couldn’t bear listening to him. “You make it sound like you’re feeding a pig.”

“I didn’t say that. You did.”

“Huo Jinyao, maybe I should teach you a lesson!”

Su Qingsang gritted her teeth, wanting to hit him. That irritated look on her face made Huo Jinyao smile even more broadly.

Li Qianxue watched them with a smile, but deep down, she felt bitter.

Su Qingsang seemed so relaxed when she was with Huo Jinyao. But Li Qianxue, her mother, had never seen her like that.

She didn’t remember noticing Su Qingsang’s existence often in the Su family. She had hidden in her room whenever they had guests.

When things happened in the family, she rarely shared her opinion. When the family had meals together, she always sat in the corner farthest away from Su Chenghui and Old Master Li. She tried her best to make herself invisible.

Li Qianxue had used to think that Su Qingsang had been born like that. Now, she understood that she was wrong.

That girl could be lively and cheerful too. However, though she was her mother, Li Qianxue had not seen that side of her until her son-in-law had showed up.

With that thought, she hated Su Chenghui even more.

If it hadn’t been for him, her daughter would never have needed to hide her true nature and live such a careful life.

But in fact, she had been wrong about that, even when it came to Su Chenghui. Su Qingsang was indeed an aloof person.

She had changed gradually after she got together with Huo Jinyao.

Su Qingsang raised her hand, intending to pinch Huo Jinyao. Realizing that Li Qianxue and Old Master Li were both on the scene, she had no choice but to drop that hand.

She sat up straight, but at last, she couldn’t help but glare fiercely at Huo Jinyao.

In Li Qianxue’s eyes, Su Qingsang had done that because she was still afraid of her.

The bitterness in her heart grew stronger, and she told herself that she needed to be nice to the girl.

Rong City was a prosperous city, close to the capital. There had used to be settlements in the city that were leased by foreign countries. The square that Huo Jinyao had mentioned earlier was a part of a foreign settlement.

Settlements leased by two different countries sat across the street from each other. Therefore, the buildings on either side of the street had been built in thoroughly different styles. That kind of street view didn’t exist in any other city in the country.

In the middle of the square was a large fountain, which was now covered in thick snow.

The car was parked a short distance away from the square. Su Qingsang and her family walked there. The sanitation workers had removed the snow on the street, but the roofs and roadsides were still blanketed in snow.

Su Qingsang shuddered in the cold wind. Huo Jinyao hurriedly put his arm around her shoulders.

Su Qingsang smiled at him, then stopped walking, waiting for Old Master Li and Li Qianxue. Li Qianxue wasn’t fazed by the cold. She had traveled to a northern city before.

Old Master Li was energetic, though the wind slowed him down a little.

“Grandpa, are you okay?”

“I’m good.” Old Master Li waved a hand. Seeing the nervous look in the young people’s eyes, he said to them, “I’m fine. I have my cane. I don’t need your help.”

The area didn’t allow parking. The buildings on each side of the street, which the legations of foreign countries had once used, were now shops. Currently, this street was one of the busiest in the city.

Su Qingsang had been there once, but it hadn’t been snowy back then. The snow made the street view completely different from what she had seen last time.

As a southerner, she was excited to see the snow.

In a wide-open area, she saw many kids building snowmen and having snowball fights.

With excitement, she picked up a handful of snow from the roadside and threw it at Huo Jinyao.

Huo Jinyao gave a little start when the snow landed on his coat. He quickly gathered some snow from the flowerbed nearby, made a snowball, and threw it at Su Qingsang.