Chapter 404: Confession
Chapter 404: Chapter 404: Confession
Old Mrs. An lowered her gaze. "This is none of your concern," she said. "It has nothing to do with you."
"How could it have nothing to do with me?" An Zhiqian said angrily. "Grandma, get this straight! If it weren’t for Su Qing, my little sister wouldn’t be in prison, and our An Family wouldn’t be getting ostracized in the business world. The main culprit behind all of this is Su Qing!"
An Zhiqian knew what An Zhiwei did to Cheng Beilin was wrong. However, in the upper-class circles of Xiangcheng, which family didn’t have a few dirty secrets? To achieve your goals, you sometimes had to use underhanded methods. It wasn’t as if the An Family was the only one. Even the Cheng Family’s rise to power wasn’t completely spotless.
’If you want to make it in these circles, you’re bound to use some tricks. If you lose a fight, it just means you weren’t skilled enough, and you have to be willing to accept defeat. But that Su Qing just had to show up, help the Cheng Family turn the tables, and even get my sister thrown in prison. By what right?’
"You be quiet," Old Mrs. An said, taking a deep breath. She looked at An Zhiqian with deep disappointment. ’She had to admit, the younger generation of the An Family had truly been led astray. They were unscrupulous, willing to do anything to achieve their goals, and didn’t have a shred of self-awareness.’
’Years ago, her eldest and second sons had ganged up to ruin the third son and his family. Now, her own granddaughter, out of selfish desire, had opposed the Cheng Family without a thought for the consequences. Even if Su Qing hadn’t rescued Cheng Beilin, the storm the An Family would have faced if the Chengs had discovered what An Zhiwei did would have been just as bad as the current situation, if not worse.’
’She should be grateful that Su Qing saved Cheng Beilin, preventing anything truly terrible from happening to her. Otherwise...’
Old Mrs. An couldn’t imagine the consequences.
’The An Family was no match for the Cheng Family.’
Old Mrs. An rubbed her temples wearily. "In any case," she said to An Zhiqian, "the matter with Zhiwei is in the past. You are not to bring it up again. What’s important now is the An Family’s business. You should go home. I’m tired and would like to rest."
An Zhiqian’s fists clenched tightly, then slowly relaxed. He did his best to keep his tone calm. "Alright, Grandma. You get some rest. I’ll head back now."
After An Zhiqian left the old residence, Mrs. Lin hurried to comfort Old Mrs. An. "Ma’am, Young Master Zhiqian and Miss Zhiwei are brother and sister, after all. It’s understandable that they have a deep bond."
"Sigh... children and grandchildren are a cross to bear," Old Mrs. An said weakly, closing her eyes in resignation.
Hearing this, Mrs. Lin couldn’t help but sigh softly as well.
Meanwhile, after leaving the old residence, An Zhiqian said to his assistant, "Go find out why Su Qing came to the house to see my grandmother. And while you’re at it, investigate that old man’s identity, too."
"Yes, sir," the assistant beside him quickly responded.
After Su Qing and Mr. Gong left the An Family’s estate, Su Qing first dropped Mr. Gong off at his residence, then headed straight for Hang Seng Bank. Two million dollars exchanged for a full 503 Big Yellow Fish was a considerable weight. For Su Qing, however, it was nothing. She withdrew the gold in several batches, found a secluded spot, and tossed five hundred of the Big Yellow Fish into her pocket dimension. She then exchanged the remaining three Big Yellow Fish for Xiangcheng currency and went to a famous gold shop in the city’s Central district.
At the gold shop, Su Qing bought an entire set of exquisitely crafted gold jewelry for Li Wan as a wedding gift. She also bought some gold accessories for the female elders in her family before hurrying back to the Cheng residence. Cheng Beilin and Du Haoran had already left for their honeymoon abroad that day. Since she and Li Huan were leaving Xiangcheng tomorrow, she had made plans to take Li Huan out shopping in the afternoon.
But as soon as she got back to the Cheng residence, before she even had a chance to say hello to Cheng Beize, Li Huan pulled her into her room.
Seeing Li Huan’s conflicted expression, Su Qing was baffled. "What’s wrong with you?"
"Qingqing," Li Huan began, looking at Su Qing. She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. Meanwhile, downstairs on the sofa, Cheng Beize was a bundle of nerves. His younger sister and brother-in-law had left for their honeymoon, and his parents and uncle had all gone to the office. The thought that Li Huan was leaving tomorrow had made him stay home on a sudden impulse. Now that he was sure of his feelings, he felt he had to confess to her before she left Xiangcheng. He wasn’t the type to beat around the bush; since he knew he liked Li Huan, he had no intention of hiding it.
’Cheng Beize had imagined many ways Li Huan might react to his confession, but he had never, ever expected that her first instinct would be to go ask Su Qing!’
’But when he asked if she liked him, she actually said she didn’t know!’
’So, does she like him or not?’
’If Su Qing disapproves, will Li Huan just do as she says?’
Watching Li Huan pull Su Qing into the room, Cheng Beize’s heart pounded with anxiety. He was terrified that Su Qing would disapprove of him and Li Huan, and that this budding romance would fizzle out before it even began.
Meanwhile, in Li Huan’s room, after listening to her cousin’s story, Su Qing asked the very same question: "Cousin, do you like Cheng Beize?"
"I don’t know!" Li Huan had never been in a relationship, or even had a crush. She was completely clueless when it came to romance. When she heard Cheng Beize’s confession just now, she was completely stunned, and her first instinct was to ask Su Qing.
Su Qing blinked. ’Truth be told, she was a complete novice in this department herself. In her previous life, she hadn’t even had time for a relationship before the apocalypse struck. During the end of the world, just surviving was a struggle. Who had the energy to think about things like love? It was a victory just to stay alive.’
’And in the year or so since she’d transmigrated to this era, she hadn’t had a chance to date, either.’
’Still, she’d at least watched plenty of TV shows and read enough novels in her past life. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have noticed Gu Xinsheng’s feelings for Li Wan, much less figured out that Cheng Beize had a thing for Li Huan.’
’But noticing it was one thing. When it came to actually experiencing those feelings herself, she was utterly clueless!’
After a moment’s thought, she asked tentatively, "Well, cousin, how do you feel when you see Cheng Beize?"
"Feel?" Li Huan blinked. "What kind of feeling?"
"Does your heart beat fast?" Su Qing asked.
"When he told me he liked me, my heart was beating a little fast," Li Huan said after a moment.
Before Su Qing could say anything, Li Huan added, "But that was just because he startled me! I mean, who expects someone to just walk up to them and suddenly say they like them? You’d be startled too!"
Su Qing couldn’t help but offer a silent moment of prayer for Cheng Beize. ’Her cousin was so dense.’
"Qingqing, what should I do? He asked me if I like him, but I really don’t know," Li Huan said, looking distressed. "How am I supposed to answer?"
"I don’t know either." Su Qing threw up her hands. ’She was a novice, too! She was afraid that if she gave bad advice and led Li Huan astray, it would be a total disaster.’