The news from Li Yuan ca as a great shock to Li Aiguo as well.
’That helpless little girl, once so firmly in the Old Su Family’s grasp—how did she suddenly escape their control?’
’Just a few years ago, when he had people checking on her, Su Qing had absolutely no way of escaping the Old Su Family’s clutches. If she had, he wouldn’t have relaxed and stopped monitoring her for the past two years.’
’What on earth happened?’
Li Aiguo was completely baffled. ’Sothing big must have happened without my knowledge. Otherwise, how could Su Qing possibly escape the Old Su Family’s control and even have the money to buy a house in Beijing?’
"Brother, are you even listening to ?" Li Aiguo had been lost in thought and silent for a long while, prompting an exasperated question from Li Yuan on the other end of the line.
"I’m listening, I’m listening." Li Yuan’s voice snapped Li Aiguo back to reality. He quickly said, "Don’t panic, little sister. Even though Li Huan and Su Qing are close now, Su Qing probably won’t be eting any of the Li family anyti soon. Besides, even if they did et, they probably wouldn’t recognize her. When Su Qing was with the Old Su Family, her face was burned. She has a large scar on her left cheek—she’s disfigured. A disfigured girl is nothing to worry about. Don’t work yourself up over nothing."
"Disfigured?" This was the first Li Yuan was hearing of it. "Really?"
"Of course it’s true," Li Aiguo said quickly. "So, just wait for my foot to heal, and I’ll go deal with Su Qing imdiately. Even if she bought a house in Beijing, she can’t stay there forever. Her household registration is still in the Northeast. She’ll have to go back there eventually."
"Alright then, I’ll wait to hear from you." Hearing Li Aiguo’s words, Li Yuan’s anxiety lessened. ’It’s good that she’s disfigured. That damn girl is disfigured! Even if a Li Family mber t Su Qing, they wouldn’t be able to tell who she is. If I’d known earlier, I wouldn’t have gotten so worked up.’
As she thought this, Li Yuan felt a renewed sense of resentnt toward Li Aiguo for not telling her this sooner.
But ultimately, she wasn’t nearly as tense anymore.
Su Qing’s two-courtyard ho in Xilin Alley had electric lights installed. Since Su Qing had money now, she wasn’t worried about the small cost of electricity, so at night, the rooms were naturally brightly lit.
Li Huan was lounging on the chaise longue, happily enjoying herself with a cup of Su Qing’s homade fruit and vegetable juice in one hand and one of Su Qing’s little pastries in the other.
She looked at Su Qing’s now perfectly smooth left cheek and remarked with awe, "Su Qing, the doctor who treated your scar is incredible! If I ever get the chance, I have to et them. A Divine Doctor like that is a once-in-a-lifeti encounter."
When they’d first t up this ti, Li Huan had been stunned by Su Qing’s fully recovered face and learned that she had been cured by a traditional Chinese dicine practitioner. The joy of their reunion had overshadowed her curiosity, but now, a few days later, looking at Su Qing’s face again, Li Huan still couldn’t help but marvel at it.
"I was just lucky," Su Qing replied with a grin.
"It’s a reward for being a good person," Li Huan said quickly. "You’ve done so many good deeds, even heaven is on your side."
Su Qing couldn’t help but chuckle at that.
"Oh, right, I’ve been aning to ask—why did you turn down the job Uncle Dai found for you?" Li Huan asked. "With that job, you could transfer your household registration to Beijing. You have a house now, so you could live a really comfortable life here and not have to go back to working in the fields for work points."
In Li Huan’s eyes, working in the fields for work points was incredibly arduous. If she had to do it, she was sure she’d collapse from exhaustion.
"I didn’t even help them that much. Besides, the Dai Family already gave a thank-you gift. It wouldn’t be right to accept a second one," Su Qing said. She really disliked the idea of being tied down by a job. Getting her household registration moved to Beijing wasn’t only possible through employnt anymore. Besides, she felt a job was far too valuable a gift from the Dai Family.
A job these days was an ’iron rice bowl’ for life—sothing countless people would fight tooth and nail for and still never get.
"I really think you should have taken it," Li Huan said, feeling it was a sha. Not long after she’d gotten back this evening, a Dai Family mber had co over to say they had found a job for Su Qing—a clerical position in the office of a textile factory. It was an easy, high-paying, and all-around excellent job.
But Li Huan never imagined that Su Qing would actually turn it down.
"I’m lazy. I don’t like having a job. Isn’t it much better to be free? To go out and wander whenever I feel like it, to see the great mountains and rivers of our country... How relaxing." This was the kind of life Su Qing most wanted to live.
"Ah!" Hearing Su Qing’s words, Li Huan was incredibly envious. "Listening to you, now I want to live that kind of life too! It’s a sha I can’t."
Li Huan leaned her head back dejectedly and said in misery, "I still have to take the college entrance exam this year. My parents are dead set on getting into a university."
At the ntion of college, Li Huan perked up again. "Su Qing, why don’t you take the exam with ? We could get into the sa major at the sa school and be classmates! Wouldn’t that be great? And that way, your household registration could be transferred to Beijing, too."
"I’m not taking it." Su Qing had no interest in exams. She just wanted to travel and see the sights, improve her Wood Ability, and live the carefree life of a wealthy, idle person.
"Co on, take it! Please? Keep company, okay?" The more Li Huan thought about it, the better her idea seed. Going to university with a good friend would make school so much more interesting. Lord knows she didn’t like being stuck in a classroom either, but her parents were so set on her going to university. They doted on her so much, and she wanted to make their wish co true.
"You just focus on your exams. I can make you plenty of delicious food later. As for taking the exam with you, you can forget about it," Su Qing said, smiling as she flicked Li Huan on the forehead.
Li Huan flopped back onto the chaise longue. "Can you really bear to let go to university all alone?"
"Stop playing the victim," Su Qing said, not falling for her act. "If you’re really that bored, you can co back to the Northeast with in a few days. It’s spring now, and the flowers are blooming. We could go for a walk in the mountains."
"Ah!" Hearing this, Li Huan’s eyes lit up. ’A trip to the mountains would be great! I’ve been wanting to go!’ But then her expression fell. "I can’t. My mom hired a tutor to help prepare for the exams. My miserable life of studying begins next month."
With April just a few days away, even if Li Huan wanted to go to the Northeast with Su Qing, she couldn’t.
"You poor thing," Su Qing laughed. "Well, nothing to be done about it. You just focus on studying for now. I’ll take you into the mountains to have so fun when you get another chance."
"I guess that’s my only option," Li Huan said with a look of utter despair. Then she suddenly shot upright. "Wait, what? Su Qing, you’re going back to the Northeast?"
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