Chapter 71: Reputation
Standing opposite Su Zhang were Qin Huai and Zhou Chongwen, both looking dusty.
Su Luo was surprised at first, then overjoyed, and said to Qin Huai: "Why didn't you go back to Nanjing? Today is your 28th birthday."
Qin Huai smiled and said, "I'm doing some work in Luoyang. I can't go back anyway, so I came to you."
Su Luo was really pleasantly surprised, but she snorted and pretended to complain: "You said you would wait for me in Nanjing, but I ended up waiting for you."
"I thought I could go back. But things got busy here and I didn't have time to go back."
The two of them were chatting animatedly and inevitably neglected Zhou Chongwen. Su Luo caught a glimpse of his thin cheeks and weather-beaten face, and felt a little distressed. She quickly took their arms, one on each side, and prepared to go back to the west wing.
Second Auntie immediately stood up and burst into anger towards Su Luo. She pointed at Su Luo's nose and said, "Is this your friend? How can you be so blind? Can you afford to pay for hurting my Jiang'er?"
Qin Huai apologized again in a hurry. Su Jiang reluctantly stepped forward and held her mother. "My daughter lost consciousness on the street and didn't have time to dodge. It was thanks to Master Zhou who helped her. Otherwise, it would have been unimaginable."
Actually, it was a coincidence that Zhou Chongwen found Su Luo by chance after he returned to Zhuxian Town. He could not find her anywhere, so he wandered on the street. He was thinking about asking at Land Rover or BMW, when he saw pedestrians on the street running away. A horse had already rushed to his front. He was about to run away, but he saw another person beside him, so he pulled him and became a hero who saved a beauty. The rider was Qin Huai, who had met at the opening ceremony of Qiangui. Qin Huai asked Zhou Chongwen about Su Luo's whereabouts. Zhou Chongwen said, "I am looking for her too." Su Jiang, who was rescued, heard this and said, "You all follow me. The person you are looking for is at my house."
There is no coincidence in the world, that's probably what it means.
After hearing the rescue process, the second aunt's eyes were almost burning with anger. "Help you? Where?" She pointed at Zhou Chongwen and shouted, "You look like a scholar, how come you don't know etiquette? You touched my daughter and ruined her reputation..."
Seeing that the words were getting more and more outrageous, Su Jiang covered her mother's mouth with a headache, signaled with her eyes that Su Luo should take the person away quickly, and asked Su Hong to help her get her mother back.
Zhou Chongwen's face flushed red, and he looked like he wanted to explain but couldn't. He left the hall and hurriedly said to Su Luo: "I didn't do anything to her. I, I just helped her because I was in a hurry. Besides, she was wearing men's clothes, I..."
After listening to his explanation, Su Luo's head also started to hurt. Was it that serious? Did he not save her even though he knew she was a woman? Qin Huai smiled and patted Zhou Chongwen's shoulder, "Don't worry, she won't misunderstand."
Su Luo turned around and rolled her eyes at Qin Huai. Qin Huai winked at her ambiguously. Su Luo snorted and said that Second Aunt was not angry with you, but with me. Who made Su Jing treat Su Luo differently as soon as she came, making him feel threatened?
Qin Huai now had the opportunity to ask Su Luo why he came to live here. He said that when he asked Su Jiang just now, Su Jiang only said that they were lost relatives and did not explain in detail.
Su Luo smiled. This Su Jiang was really considerate, fearing that an inappropriate word outside would hurt her young heart. If Su Luo's real body was here, she might feel a little sentimental, but now she was an upgraded version of Su Luo, so naturally she didn't have too many feelings about these people and things, except that she still didn't understand why Su was willing to stay.
Su Luo briefly told Zhou Chongwen what had happened, and he was unexpectedly angry. It seemed that he understood how hard life had been for the first generation of Su Luo over the years. In Zhou Si's relatively pure heart, the Su family was willing to take them back simply because of Su Luo's small assets, so he felt it wasn't worth it for her.
Qin Huai didn't say anything, but just thought about it, smiled, and said to Su Luo, "Isn't it the right time for me to come back this time?"
"You're really smart." Su Luo rolled her eyes and told Qin Huai about the task that the steamed bread lady had assigned to her, and then told Qin Huai to make sure Su Xuanlu showed up, so that she could finish the task earlier and leave this "home" earlier. Qin Huai agreed with a smile, and Su Luo asked Zhou Chongwen about the situation along the way. Knowing that Gan Lin arrived at her aunt's house safely, she felt relieved.
When entering the Yellow Garden, I happened to run into Su Qi. Su Qi looked at the three people arm in arm with disdain in her eyes, "You only bring back these questionable men. You really have no sense of shame."
Hearing Su Qi say this, Zhou Chongwen quickly pulled his hand away, fearing that it would ruin Su Luo's reputation. However, Qin Huai looked at Su Luo with a smile, waiting for her move. Su Luo had never bothered to pay attention to Su Qi. She was just a girl spoiled by her family. Once she suffered a loss one day, she would learn her lesson.
The three of them came to the west courtyard. Qin Huai was very interested in the sign at the door that said "Su Tong and dogs are not allowed to enter". Zhou Chongwen asked who Su Tong was and frowned. Although he was very disgusted with Su Tong's behavior, he was Su Luo's father after all, so it was a bit too much.
Su Luo understood Zhou Si's code of conduct of "benevolence, wisdom, propriety, righteousness, trustworthiness, loyalty, filial piety and courage", so in order to stop him from nagging, he reached out and turned the sign in another direction.
Back in the house, everyone was naturally very friendly when they saw Zhou Chongwen, especially Yun Lang, who fell into deep thought after seeing Qin Huai, and finally hooked his arm around Zhou Si's neck and went into the inner room. Everyone was puzzled, except Su Luo, who probably guessed what he was going to say. It was nothing more than a solemn entrustment and warning to his rival before leaving. Men all like to do this, and don't think about whether the woman is willing.
Su Luo was too lazy to pay attention to them, and introduced Qin Huai to Su and Bao Zixing. When Bao Zixing learned that the elegant gentleman in front of him was the owner of Qin's Company, he was very impressed and repeatedly asked Qin Huai for advice on business . Qin Huai was a humble person and did not hide anything. The two sat together and talked endlessly. Su Luo listened, all about marketing. The experience Qin Huai introduced sounded familiar to her, but it was not completely like a marketing lecture in the future. It should be Qin Huai's empirical theory that combined the future with the present reality, which benefited Bao Zixing a lot.
It was the first time that Su Shi met such an important person, so she felt a little awkward. Su Luo sat over and chatted with her. Su Shi glanced at Qin Huai and asked in a low voice: "Master Qin has a family, right?"
Su Luo was embarrassed for a moment. Her mother was really afraid that she would not be able to get married, so she would always ask her whenever she saw her with a young man. She had asked all the BMW and Land Rover owners in the store who had been to her house and seen Su.
However, Su Luo had never asked about Qin Huai's wife. Maybe he had one, but maybe not. After all, modern people don't have the concept of early marriage. People like her are not in a hurry at all.
"Mom, didn't you like Zhou Si? Why did you change your candidate again?"
"No, mother still likes Mr. Zhou." Su's face was serious, not noticing that she had been tricked by Su Luo into calling Zhou Chongwen a different name. "Mr. Zhou is a good man, and he treats you well. You have traveled all over the country for such a long time, and mother is relieved to leave you to him. Before you left for Nanjing, mother proposed marriage to him, and he did not object."
Su Luo was just listening perfunctorily when she heard this sentence unexpectedly. She choked for a long time, "Mom, it's not like I can't get married..."
Yes, she had a certain affection for Zhou Chongwen, but it was too early to get married. As early as when Yun Lang made his choice, Su Luo had taken the time to think about her future. As for Zhou Chongwen, she could only give him and herself a chance. The final result would depend on their fate.
Qin Huai and Bao Zixing, who were standing by, heard the noise and stopped talking. Su said with a look of disapproval, "You are not young anymore, and you are doing business. It's rare that Mr. Zhou doesn't despise you. If you miss this opportunity, there will be no other good man like Mr. Zhou. Do you want to be his concubine like your mother?"
Su's words were quite sad, and Su Luo also felt sad. She grabbed her mother's hand and said, "You don't have to be a concubine. You have been away from this family for so long. I don't understand why you have to come back. Back then, Su Tong let you be kicked out by the aunt and left you alone. How much have you suffered over the years? Why are you still so devoted? Live your own life, and find someone else if you meet the right one in the future, isn't it better?"
"Luo'er! Don't talk nonsense!"
These words seemed a bit shocking to Su, but Su Luo continued, "What nonsense? You are only 38 this year, and you still have a long life ahead of you. What's wrong with finding another one?" Su Luo happened to see Bao Zixing and pointed at him, "Old Bao is not bad. He is 40 today, widower and childless, owns a bun shop and a house, and gets along well with Xiao Yi and me..."
"Luo'er!" Su raised her voice and shouted at Su Luo, her face flushed red. She raised her hand as if to hit Su Luo, but after raising it, she could not bear to put it down. She just said, "Stop talking nonsense!" After that, she turned and went into the inner room. When she passed by Bao Zixing, she did not dare to raise her head. Bao Zixing was in a similar situation, but probably because he was thick-skinned, his face did not look red.
Not long after Mrs. Su entered the inner room, Yunlang and Zhou Chongwen came out for no apparent reason. Yunlang asked, "What happened? Mrs. Su is crying."
Su Luo was suddenly surrounded by a strong feeling of powerlessness. People say that you should not make decisions for others on your own, but Su's decision was wrong no matter from which angle you looked at it. What's so good about Su Tong, that big white steamed bun?
"What's going on?" Zhou Chongwen said to Su Luo worriedly, "Why don't we go in and persuade them?"
"No need." Su Luo waved her hand. "I asked her to remarry. Maybe I scared her."
Zhou Chongwen was also frightened, and looked at Su Luo with an unspeakable expression, "You asked your mother to...remarry?"
Su Luo covered her face with her hands and sighed, then said to Yun Lang: "The differences between the old and new viewpoints are too great, and it is difficult to communicate. Divorce? What's new after hundreds of years!"
Qin Huai's eyes flickered, and Yun Lang asked curiously, "What is divorce?"
Su Luo gave a brief explanation, and now Lian Yunlang disagreed. He pointed at Su Luo and said, "You should be more reliable, and be faithful to your partner when you get married, and stop thinking about divorce."
"Only a fool would want a divorce if the marriage is happy," Su Luo kicked him, "I haven't even talked about you yet, have you finished your last words?"
Yunlang was unhappy again and said that that was my advice to Lao Zhou before I left, asking him to be nicer to you.
Su Luo nodded perfunctorily, "Yes, if he treats me badly, I will divorce him and remarry."
Zhou Chongwen said seriously: "I won't let you have such an idea."
The conversation was getting more and more lively. Su Luo frantically picked up Qin Huai, who was watching the fun, and wanted to find a quiet place to talk to him about the Compendium of Materia Medica. As soon as he walked out of the main room, he saw Su Tong standing at the door with a sullen face, and he looked quite dignified.
Su Luo also frowned and pointed at the gate and said, "Don't you see the sign?"
Su Tong didn't say anything. Qin Huai leaned over to Su Luo's ear and whispered that you were asked to turn the sign over.
Su Luo pursed her lips, "What are you doing here?"
Su Tong came to see the men, or more precisely, to see the "shady" men that Su Luo brought back. Su Qi said just now that he didn't believe it, but after coming here and taking a look, he saw that there were quite a lot of men, so he discussed with Su Luo to clear out the men in the room first, saying that it would not sound good if it got out. Su Luo didn't listen to him at all, and she contradicted Su Tong's words, because she didn't like this old man. Su Tong must have taken the Great Huan Dan today , and he was very confident, and challenged him with a red face - Su Luo later realized that he was angry.
After the two of them were shouting like that, everyone in the room came out to try to stop the fight. However, Yun Lang's way of trying to stop the fight was a bit strange. He twisted Su Tong's arm and kept saying, "Stop arguing, stop arguing. I told you to stop arguing, but you still kept arguing!"
Su Tong cried and said, "I don't want to quarrel, but it hurts so much."
Su Luo almost laughed out loud. Su came out of the house and was shocked to see this scene. She quickly rescued Su Tong from Yun Lang, asked the reason, and turned to Su Luo and said, "Your father is also thinking about your reputation."
Su Luo didn't want to see Su's pitiful appearance, and just as she was about to go into the house, Auntie Mantou came into the west courtyard. She must have heard the excitement here, and when she came over and saw Su and Su Tong hugging each other, her face turned black. Su Luo pointed at Qin Huai and said, "Auntie, this is the boss of Qin Ji. I asked him to come to our house to meet Su Xuan, but who would have thought that my father wanted to drive him away."
The face of the mantou lady turned even darker. She stepped forward, twisted Su Tong's ear, and dragged him out of the Su family's reach. "You are more likely to cause trouble than to help. I think you don't want Xuan'er to have a chance to succeed!"
Su Tong started to sweat on his forehead the moment he saw the steamed bun lady, and he kept waving his hands and saying, "I don't know."
Su Luo glanced at Su's slightly disappointed face, then glanced at Qin Huai beside him, and coughed, "Dad."
This was the second time she called him "Dad", the first time was when she first met Su Tong. Su Tong was startled, but then responded with great joy. Su Luo sighed and said, "But Boss Qin said that he can help Su Xuan, but he wants his daughter to accompany him for one night, just as a deal. Dad, what do you think my daughter should do?"
Su's face turned pale immediately. She took a few steps forward to protect Su Luo behind her, and looked at Qin Huai warily. Qin Huai was stunned for a moment. He swore that he had never been stunned in his life, but he was stunned today. His reputation... was ruined.
Su Tong's expression changed dramatically. He looked at Qin Huai with shock and anger, but there was also a hint of hesitation. No one is immune to the hope that their son will become successful.
Aunt Mantou was smart enough to shut up and just stare at Su Tong. You didn't need to guess what she thought. Su Tong was probably a little nervous because he rarely became the center of attention. He looked at Su Luo and felt complicated. He looked at Su Shi and felt complicated. He looked at Qin Huai and felt complicated again. He looked back at his first wife and felt complicated again. Finally, he thought about his son who was looked down upon by his brothers...
Su Tong was thrown out of the west wing by Yun Lang because he had a weak neck.
Su Luo supported the pale Su and spat at the door, "Why did I raise a father like you!"
