Chapter 9 Unlucky

On the upper stairs, Li Jinghan stood on the steps, hands in his trouser pockets, his face dark as he listened to the words coming from the phone below.

"Qiqi, although I'm old, my mind isn't muddled," Li Su'e said emphatically on the phone: "Your brother said it himself, Mr. Li likes you very much. Sweetie, you're still in time, why would you think about divorcing? You shouldn't be deceiving your Aunt!"

Liked him very much? Su Jinqi chuckled. Where did her brother see that he cherished her?

"Aunt, I'm not lying to you, I and Mr. Li, we have no feelings. It's just a business relationship, we'll truly divorce after a year."

Li Su'e chuckled dryly twice on the other end, clearly displeased, "Qiqi, you just got married and you're already turning your elbow out. Your uncle and I have raised you siblings for twenty years, without credit, but with hard labor. Now it's time for you to repay us, and you're being evasive. How could you act like this and make your uncle and me very sad?"

Su Jinqi held her forehead and sighed. She had told the truth, yet it was not believed. Now, family sentiment was being used against her, leaving her even more defenseless.

Seeing that Su Jinqi wasn't speaking, Li Su'e continued: "According to custom, you need to visit your home in three days. You and Mr. Li must come back together. The new son-in-law always needs to meet his mother-in-law. By the way, I'll also have a good talk with the new son-in-law about the bride price."

Upon hearing this, Su Jinqi panicked and quickly said, "Aunt, he's busy at work, he won't be going back."

"You haven't even asked him yet, how do you know he can't come back?" Li Su'e's tone became sharp.

"Aunt, why don't you believe anything I say? He really won't come back with me," said Su Jinqi weakly.

Li Su'e sneered on the phone, "Qiqi, your Aunt knows what you're thinking. You've climbed up high and look down on us poor relatives, don't you? Being human requires conscience. Jincheng is still lying in the hospital; you must accumulate good deeds for him!"

Her words made Su Jinqi feel like she had done something terribly wrong. Aunt kept bringing up family love over and over, and if she continued to refuse, Aunt definitely would get angry.

"Aunt, don't say that. I mean no disrespect," Su Jinqi compromised, "I will speak to Mr. Li today, but I can't guarantee that he can go back with me."

"Just try and see, he's so busy that he certainly won't remember these things by himself. With your reminder, wouldn't he be happy to come back with you?" Upon hearing Su Jinqi agree, Li Su'e was happy again.

After hanging up the phone, Su Jinqi exhaled. She was worried about how to approach this topic after work. But before she could fully exhale her relief, suddenly the sound of leather shoes tapping on the marble floors came from upstairs, stunning her. Panicking, she looked up to see the person descending, which turned her face pale with fright.

"Mr. Li..." How unlucky she was to be caught by him even in the stairwell. She didn't know how much of the conversation he had heard.

Li Jinghan exuded an aura of chill, stepping closer to her, his words laced with ice, "Su Jinqi, are you planning to announce to the whole company that we are secretly married?"

"I didn't," Su Jinqi shook her head fearfully, like a rattle-drum, "Mr. Li, listen to me explain, this place isn't normally crowded, I thought Aunt called me surely to talk about my marriage, so I thought of speaking here. I never thought someone would come here, especially not you!"

"No one comes? Is that your excuse to freely talk with others? Now your family knows and even thinks about asking me for the bride price, who gave her the face?"

"But Mr. Li, didn't you say that it was okay for our families to know?" she asked meekly.

"I said my family could know. Did I say your family could know too?" Li Jinghan yelled at her: "Su Jinqi, are you brainless? You think just because you registered with me, you can do whatever you want? You think marrying me means you can elevate everyone around you? You really have a lot of ideas!"

"Mr. Li, I never thought about asking you for bride price, don't get me wrong," she explained for herself.

But her explanation was just a joke in Li Jinghan's eyes.

"You know best what you think!" he warned, "I'll tell you one last time, keep to yourself and do what you should do, don't play your pathetic tricks on me, it's disgusting!" After saying that, he gave her another cold stare and left through the emergency exit.

Su Jinqi leaned against the wall, feeling guilty: She had been rash about it. Anything could happen, and if others heard, wouldn't it just bring trouble to herself? From now on, she definitely shouldn't talk about their secret marriage in the company.

However, she could also see that Li Jinghan really disliked her a lot, and his misunderstanding of her was deep. Since that's the case, he might as well find someone else to have a secret marriage.

"Ha, with his kind of attitude, what girl could endure? Who would marry him!" She comforted herself, then left resentfully.

Near the end of the workday, Su Jinqi received a WeChat message from Ming Can: "Secretary Su, after work, please go to the garage, Mr. Li is waiting for you in the car."

Su Jinqi saw the message and couldn't help but wonder, waiting there for him? Does it mean he wants to go home together after work? Impossible, right?

She thought about it, but still held back from asking outright, just accepting whatever was said, following the arrangements obediently.

After work, she deliberately took her time and was the last to leave the General Secretarial Office, taking the elevator to the basement. Li Jinghan had a dedicated parking spot, toward which she walked.

Upon reaching the car, she cautiously looked around before hastily pulling open the door and getting into the car.

"Mr. Li, is there something you needed?" She wasn't naïve enough to believe that he really wanted to go home together after work.

Li Jinglie spoke solemnly: "My mother wants to meet you."

"Ah? Your mother?" Su Jinqi blurted out in surprise, then realizing she might have spoken out of turn, quickly corrected herself: "The Chairman's wife, why does she want to meet me?"

She had met Peirong before. Every time she came to the company looking for Li Jinghan, she always had a stern demeanor, and she had even reprimanded the General Secretarial Office a few times, making colleagues fear her, privately they even called her Buddha.

"What do you think?" Li Jinghan glanced at her, and added a warning, "When you meet my mother later, put away your silly demeanor, don't embarrass me!"

"The Chairman's wife knows about us?" Su Jinqi cautiously asked, "We registered, she wasn't angry?"

"Just don't talk nonsense later," Li Jinghan said.

Su Jinqi said "oh," realizing the situation might be quite bad, hoping everything would go smoothly tonight.