Chapter 126
“You’re about my age. You dare to say I need to improve my upbringing?” He sneered and taunted.
“A three-year-old from our village have better manners when dealing with guests who come to visit,” Jiang Yexun retorted directly.
Zhang Hanyu took a deep breath, unwilling to argue with them further. He snorted and sat on a nearby single sofa.
At this moment, Aunt Lin returned with two cups of tea, emitting a rich aroma.
She bent down, intending to place a cup in front of Su Xiaoxiao. However, Su Xiaoxiao calmly said, “I’m sorry, I don’t like coffee. Could you get us two cups of tea instead?”
“Heh, a country bumpkin,” Zhang Hanyu scoffed from the side. He didn’t expect this girl to know about coffee. But they couldn’t appreciate something as good as coffee; they must be unaccustomed to it.
“A cup of coffee only costs a few yuan. If you want to define yourself by one or two yuan per cup of coffee, go ahead. Anyway, my partner and I are worth more than this coffee,” Su Xiaoxiao said with a disdainful expression.
Zhang Hanyu was taken aback by her remark and didn’t want to say another word, fearing that he might get too angry and end up hurting a woman.
The three of them sat in silence for about fifteen minutes until they heard cheerful voices outside the door.
Su Xiaoxiao and Jiang Yexun stood up slowly.
The mother and daughter, who were carrying bags full of items, were startled when they saw the two of them. Peng Huijing, in particular, turned pale and even dropped the items she was carrying.
She kept glancing around, appearing somewhat relieved. She thought she was concealing her emotions well, but Su Xiaoxiao saw right through her.
This only deepened Su Xiaoxiao’s suspicion. It was normal for Peng Huijing to be worried, but her appearance was far from resembling anyone from Su Xiaoxiao’s family. How could she have given birth to a son who bore a resemblance to Su Xiaoxiao’s own brother?
Was it really such a coincidence? Nonetheless, Su Xiaoxiao was glad she had taken the risk to visit this woman. She might have a chance to unearth her abnormality.
Su Xiaoxiao tilted her head and looked at Peng Huijing, who pretended to be nonchalant as she bent over to pick up the fallen items and handed them to Aunt Lin.
“Why are you here?” Peng Huijing asked with a contemptuous tone.
“Didn’t I say I would come to confirm your identity?” Su Xiaoxiao replied with a faint smile. Although she had a sweet and soft appearance, her words carried an oppressive undertone.
Thinking about what Su Xiaoxiao had said before, Peng Huijing’s face darkened.
“So, what do you want?” she asked, her voice trembling with suppressed anger.
“First, I want your son to sincerely apologize to us,” Su Xiaoxiao’s smile grew sweeter.
Zhang Hanyu widened his eyes, about to make a sarcastic remark, but then he heard his mother command him, “Yu, apologize!”
“Mom!” Zhang Hanyu looked at her in shock.
He couldn’t understand why his mother, who had always protected him, would make him lower his head to these two outsiders who hadn’t done anything.
“I told you to apologize!” Peng Huijing emphasized.
Her voice carried a restrained anger that sounded threatening.
Though Zhang Hanyu was still indignant, he wasn’t a fool. He had realized that something was wrong by now. He could only grit his teeth and reluctantly say, “I’m sorry! My words and attitude earlier were bad. I hope you won’t take it personally.”
“Alright, considering your young age, we won’t hold it against you this time. But you must be more careful in the future. Not everyone is as forgiving as we are, understand?” Su Xiaoxiao blinked at Zhang Hanyu and spoke with a provoking tone.
Zhang Hanyu took a deep breath and could only nod with a forced smile.
“Yes!”
Hell no!
This brat appeared even younger than himself, yet she had the audacity to speak with the tone of an elder? What was she thinking?!
Su Xiaoxiao, with her hands behind her back, walked over to the television and gazed at the portrait of the high-ranking leader hanging on the wall behind it. Then, she shifted her gaze to a low cabinet with several picture frames on it.
The largest one in the middle was a family portrait, depicting a large, lively family.
When Peng Huijing saw that Su Xiaoxiao was looking at this, she rushed over, intending to stop her.
“What are you looking at?” Her voice had become two octaves higher.
“I’m just looking to see who you people really are and why you act so arrogantly, blocking others’ way,” Su Xiaoxiao said, sounding slightly wronged.
Peng Huijing took a deep breath and spoke in a low voice with her anger barely concealed, “Can’t we leave each other alone?”
“How can we leave each other alone? I told you that if anything happens to us, I will definitely blame you. So, I need to come and check beforehand to see how powerful the people protecting us really are. I know about all the stupid things you’ve done. You don’t want your family to know about them, right? As long as you confirm this for me, I’m sure I can keep my mouth shut tight even if something happens,” Su Xiaoxiao made a sincere promise with her bright, shining eyes.
Peng Huijing was so angry that her teeth trembled, but she couldn’t think of any solution other than to allow Su Xiaoxiao to look around. She regretted making the trip to Dai City City, not only because she had failed to acquire the wild ginseng for her father-in-law but also because she had attracted such a loathsome person who was hard to shake off.
She should have never risked going there in the first place.
“Aren’t you going to move?” Su Xiaoxiao asked, puzzled, as she stared with wide almond-shaped eyes.
Peng Huijing had no choice but to back away, revealing a row of photo frames behind her.
Su Xiaoxiao’s gaze continued to wander. She was taken aback by a photo that depicted a middle-aged man in his forties alongside the high-ranking leader, and her pupils dilated in surprise.
Standing right next to them in another photo was an elderly man, clearly the patriarch of the family. As for the middle-aged man, who had been standing with this woman in the family portrait, he was evidently Peng Huijing’s husband. Yet the elderly man seemed somewhat familiar to Su Xiaoxiao.
She bent down and examined the photos closely, her eyes fixated on the elderly man. Jiang Yexun reminded her from the side, “That’s General Zhang. He often appears in newspapers and on the radio with the high-ranking leader.”
While she had anticipated that this family had a significant background, this revelation still made her slightly relieved. These high-ranking officials were usually reasonable and just in their actions. Su Xiaoxiao reassured herself that there was nothing to fear.
With that thought in mind, she continued to examine the other photos. Her gaze landed on a picture of a young man in his early twenties, cradling a newborn baby. In the background, golden calligraphy read, “Beloved Grandson’s Hundredth Day Celebration.”