Chapter 299: Make Her Fear
“You!” Lin Siqian was furious, but for a moment, she didn’t know what to say.
After a moment’s thought, she couldn’t help but sneer, “You have the nerve to talk about me? A teacher, trying to curry favor with students over something like this. How ridiculous!”
“I’m good to my students. I prepare my lessons diligently, I teach them well, and I do my best to answer any questions they have. I also take care of them in their daily lives as much as I can,” Lin Siqian said. “I’m not like you, using such underhanded tricks to suck up to people.”
“You’re just jealous of me. I know. But I’m magnanimous, so I won’t hold it against you,” Su Zhaozhao said with a grin. Her calm demeanor only made Lin Siqian even angrier.
“You! I see you’re completely unrepentant!”
She was furious. ‘How could Su Zhaozhao be like this? She’s clearly the one with the problem! And now she’s turning it around and saying she won’t hold it against me?’
‘This is utterly ridiculous!’
“By the way, Teacher Lin, did you know? I was the one who sent Zhou Chengguo to prison.”
Su Zhaozhao said this suddenly to Lin Siqian just as they were about to pass each other.
Lin Siqian’s eyes instantly widened. She stared at Su Zhaozhao as if looking at a monster.
“You… on what grounds did you do that? What right do you have?”
“Never mind what right I have. But, Lin Siqian, if you don’t want to die, you’d best not provoke me.” As Su Zhaozhao said this, a smile touched her lips, and she turned and walked away.
As she walked away, Su Zhaozhao could sense that Lin Siqian’s face was incredibly pale, like a sheet of paper.
‘Lin Siqian must be terrified right now that I’ll send her to prison, too, huh?’
She had deliberately been ambiguous, really just to make Lin Siqian feel a sense of panic.
In fact, this was exactly the effect she had been aiming for.
‘She won’t know how I got Zhou Chengguo sent to prison, but she’ll know he must have crossed me.’
‘That way, Lin Siqian won’t dare to provoke me again.’
‘If she keeps spreading rumors about me because of this, I can still get her kicked out of the school directly.’
Of course, so far, Lin Siqian’s provocations had been minor, so Su Zhaozhao wouldn’t be too ruthless.
‘But if Lin Siqian stubbornly refuses to change her ways, then she can’t blame me for being merciless…’
When Su Zhaozhao was leaving the school, she happened to see Xie Huaizheng standing at the gate, waiting for her.
In that instant, Su Zhaozhao’s eyes lit up.
She happily dashed forward and looped her arm through Xie Huaizheng’s.
Although she really wanted to hug him, with so many people watching, she restrained herself a little.
People were more conservative and restrained in this era, especially right at the entrance of an elementary school. She needed to be mindful of the impression she was making.
Xie Huaizheng’s originally stern face broke into a smile the moment he saw Su Zhaozhao.
The coldness on his face instantly melted away, as if winter had given way to spring.
He reached out, gently pulling her into an embrace with one arm, then said softly, “Come on, let’s not cook lunch. We’ll go eat out.”
Su Zhaozhao was a little surprised. “So suddenly?”
“Mhm. The New Year is coming up, and I was actually planning to visit Aunt Liu and her husband.”
In fact, this was something he did every year.
It was just like visiting other relatives during the holidays.
Although Xie Huaizheng couldn’t bring them back home for the New Year, he would always visit them with gifts.
It was the same this year.
“In past years, I always went to visit them by myself, and I just bought whatever for gifts. Since you’re done with your work, let’s go downtown this afternoon. What do you say you help me pick out what to buy?”
Xie Huaizheng’s gentle words rang in Su Zhaozhao’s ear, and she couldn’t help but smile. “Okay.”
‘Just helping him pick things out.’
Thinking of Liu Guiyan and her husband, Su Zhaozhao recalled that they were very good people.
Their son had passed away, and missing him dearly, they chose to settle here.
It couldn’t have been easy for them to leave their hometown, where they had lived for so many years, and come to a place like this.
“Then let’s buy them some extra things,” Su Zhaozhao said. “We can afford it.”
Although Liu Guiyan ran a restaurant and business was usually good, she probably wasn’t making a fortune in a place like this.
She had seen the prices written on their sign before; they weren’t high at all.
It was probably just enough to make a living and save a little on the side.
They went straight to the city center for lunch. After eating, Xie Huaizheng took Su Zhaozhao to a state-owned department store to shop.
The weather was cold now, and Su Zhaozhao thought about Liu Guiyan and her husband having to work in these conditions. It must be quite chilly for them.
“How about we buy them each a cotton-padded jacket? The New Year is coming, so they can have new clothes to wear.”
The clothes here weren’t cheap, but the styles were nice and the quality was good. People with a bit more money would all buy their clothes here.
Those without much money would choose to buy a bolt of fabric and make their own clothes at home.
Su Zhaozhao didn’t know how to make clothes herself. Of course, she had more than enough clothes in her ‘space’.
While Xie Huaizheng was away, she had taken the opportunity to add several new items to the wardrobe, and she had also taken out some clothes for him.
From thermal underwear and woolen sweaters to overcoats.
She had even taken out a simple cashmere overcoat and a trench coat because she felt Xie Huaizheng was a natural model—he would look incredibly handsome in long coats like those.
Xie Huaizheng nodded at Su Zhaozhao. “Sure. I think these clothes all look pretty good, but I don’t have an eye for style. Why don’t you take a look?”
Some of the clothes were brightly colored, while others came in darker shades.
Su Zhaozhao picked out two jackets. For Liu Guiyan’s husband, she chose a dark blue cotton-padded jacket. The darker color wouldn’t show dirt as easily when he was working.
For Liu Guiyan, she chose a floral print one.
It had a dark green floral pattern, so it also wouldn’t show dirt easily and was versatile. But the pattern made it look quite nice.
After they were done, they also bought some nourishing supplements and medicinal herbs.
Fortunately, while fresh goods were rare in West State right now, the prices for dried supplements and the like were actually lower than in other places.
This was because the region was a major producer of these medicinal herbs, and since the weather was dry, the cost of drying them wasn’t high.
They bought a few things, picked up some New Year’s goods, and then they were done and ready to head back.
Xie Huaizheng had originally wanted to buy something for Su Zhaozhao as well, but she firmly refused.
“Darling, I don’t need anything. I was bored while you were away and already bought a lot of things. Haven’t you seen that the wardrobe is already full of my clothes?”
“You have,” Xie Huaizheng agreed, holding Su Zhaozhao’s hand. “Alright, if you don’t want anything, then we won’t. I was just thinking that you could dress up beautifully for our return to Beijing.”
But he glanced at the clothes in the store and, to be honest, they really weren’t as nice as the ones Su Zhaozhao already owned.