Chapter 543: Man Proposes, Heaven Disposes
Chapter 543: Chapter 543: Man Proposes, Heaven Disposes
"Second Aunt..." Su Mei faltered.
Li Wan frowned. "I told you, don’t call me Second Aunt anymore. I have nothing to do with your Old Su Family."
Then, her tone shifted. "And don’t tell me your family never hurt Qingqing. How do you think your father got his job? You don’t know? And what was the result? Not only did your father not look out for Qingqing in the slightest, but he even greedily took the things her Aunt Fu sent back. My Qingqing never got to use a single one of them. Tell me, how much did you and your brother benefit from all that?"
Li Wan’s words left Su Mei unable to retort. After all, she was speaking the truth. Back then, not a single thing Fu Yuzhen sent to Su Qing had ever reached her. It had all been divided up by the members of the Old Su Family. Su Mei knew this was especially true of her own family, because her father, Su Shengguo, was the one who picked up the packages. Every time he brought them back, he would keep at least half of the contents for themselves.
The more Li Wan spoke, the angrier she became. "And another thing! What about your attitude toward Qingqing? You think I don’t know? When Qingqing’s face was injured, your Old Su Family didn’t help with her treatment at all. You just ignored it! And you, how many times did you mock Qingqing? Don’t you have any idea? And after all that, you have the nerve to come to me and ask me to help you get medicine? Ptooey! In your dreams. If you ask me, this is your retribution. You deserve it."
"I... I was young back then. I didn’t know any better. Second Aunt, please don’t blame me, okay?" Su Mei couldn’t refute Li Wan’s words. She knew that Li Wan must have heard all this from Su Qing. With Su Qing as an ironclad witness, nothing she said would matter. Li Wan would never believe her. So, her only option now was to play the victim.
Su Mei choked back sobs. "Second Aunt, I know I was wrong. I was little then, but I’m grown up now. I know what I did was wrong. I can go apologize to Qingqing. Just please help me, okay? Otherwise, my whole life will be ruined."
"Hmph. Keep dreaming." Li Wan didn’t yield in the slightest. ’They hurt my daughter. It’s already generous of me not to have completely crushed everyone in the Old Su Family. And she wants me to help one of them?’
’In her dreams!’
"Second Aunt..." Su Mei started to say more.
Just then, Su Qing walked over. "Mom."
Li Wan turned to see Su Qing, her face instantly breaking into a wide smile. "Qingqing, I thought you went shopping with your classmates. What brings you here?"
"I saw someone was bothering you, so I came over." Su Qing smiled and looked at Su Mei. She had already overheard their conversation. She could have come over sooner, but she knew that ever since Li Wan had learned about her suffering at the hands of the Old Su Family, a fire had been burning inside her. With Su Mei running right into her, it was a good chance for Li Wan to vent some of that anger. So, she only strolled over after her mother had given Su Mei a thorough tongue-lashing.
"Su... Su Qing." Seeing Su Qing, Su Mei was instinctively afraid. Su Qing was just too formidable; she couldn’t win a fight against her. Su Mei couldn’t help but take two steps back.
Su Qing scoffed. "Su Mei, don’t even think about getting to me through my mom. No matter what, I’m not going to help you. If you’re so capable, go get the scar-removing medicine yourself. But if you think I’m going to help you? Not a chance."
"Su Qing, can’t you help me for the sake of us being sisters?" Su Qing’s words made Su Mei’s heart sink. She knew that trying to go through Li Wan was impossible now. That meant her plan to get the scar-removing powder from Mr. Gong through Su Qing was a complete dead end.
Still, she couldn’t resist trying one last time.
"Su Mei, I’m warning you one last time: don’t come looking for trouble with me again. If I find out you’re pestering my mom and bothering her, I won’t let you off easy. You remember what your dad and brother looked like after they were beaten up, don’t you?" Su Qing sneered at Su Mei. "If you’d like to add another injury on top of your old one, I don’t mind helping you with that."
Hearing Su Qing’s words, Su Mei instinctively took another step back and said in a trembling voice, "Su Qing, all I want is to heal my scar. Why do you have to be like this to me?"
Su Qing didn’t speak, just stared coldly at Su Mei.
Su Mei opened her mouth, about to say something more, but seeing the cold expressions on both Su Qing’s and her mother’s faces, she swallowed her words. She turned to leave, knowing now that her trip to Beijing would not achieve its purpose.
However, before Su Mei could leave, Su Qing said, "Wait. Stop."
Su Mei quickly looked at Su Qing. ’Could it be? Is she willing to help me?’
Su Qing asked in a flat voice, "How did you know my mom works at the department store?"
"I... I just ran into her by chance." Su Mei’s eyes darted away. She hadn’t expected Su Qing to ask this question and was caught off guard.
Su Qing sneered. "Since you’re not going to tell the truth, you’d better watch your step from now on. If you happen to trip and fall, you’ll only have your own bad luck to blame."
At these words, a shiver went down Su Mei’s spine. She hurriedly said, "It was, it was a child who told me."
Then she quickly added, "I’m telling the truth! It really was a child who told me. That’s how I knew Second Aunt worked here."
Su Qing narrowed her eyes. "Why would a child go out of their way to tell you where my mom works for no reason? Tell me the truth, and I won’t make things difficult for you. Otherwise..."
Su Qing didn’t finish her sentence, but the chill in her voice was enough to make Su Mei not dare to lie. She quickly explained everything from start to finish: how she had gotten Su Qing’s address, how she came to Beijing, how she had waited outside Xilin Alley for days without seeing anyone, and how she eventually found out where Li Wan worked.
"Heh, you’re quite resourceful." Su Qing sneered. But no matter what schemes Su Mei came up with, it was useless. Her efforts were doomed to be a waste of time.
Watching Su Mei scurry away, Su Qing said to Li Wan, "Mom, for the next few days, you should have Uncle Gu come pick you up. It’ll prevent Su Mei from coming back to pester you again. She’s so annoying."
Li Wan smiled. "It’s fine. I doubt she’ll dare to come back. Your Uncle Gu has been very busy lately, getting home late every night. I think he has a lot on his plate right now."
Su Qing nodded. She had given the addresses of those plantations to her eldest maternal uncle and Uncle Gu. On top of that, there was the matter with Qiutian. Uncle Gu was probably going to be swamped for a while.
While Su Qing and her mother were talking, Zhang Xiaozhen, who was hiding in the distance, stomped her foot in anger. ’I worked so hard to create this opportunity! How could Su Qing just show up and ruin everything?’
Zhang Xiaozhen was filled with regret. If she had known this would happen, she would have waited a few more days before having the child tell Su Mei where Li Wan worked.
’Man proposes, God disposes!’