Chapter 096: Honey, Am I Really That Stupid?

Chapter 096: Honey, Am I Really That Stupid?

Madam Su’s tone had gone soft in the space of a breath.

She didn’t know when her daughter had struck up a friendship with Li Ruobing, or why Li Ruobing had been willing to give up an entire day to persuading and counseling her. A friendship like that, taken on its own, was a good thing for the Su family. A very good thing.

And now it looked as though her daughter’s friendship with Li Ruobing might not survive, and on top of that she herself might have offended Li Ruobing, the eldest granddaughter of the Li family.

That could not be allowed to happen.

The situation had been cleared up. There truly was no need to offend her.

“Miss Li, do sit. You haven’t even had your tea. At least have a cup before you go.” Madam Su gestured again, then sat down first herself. She was giving Li Ruobing an out.

So Li Ruobing gave her one in return and sat, her expression easing somewhat.

“Miss Li, the truth is I know you meant well. There must have been misunderstandings between us.” Madam Su chose her words carefully as she went on. “But as for the Su family’s affairs—I don’t know whether you can understand how I think, how a mother thinks. I have never wanted to harm my daughter. I want her to be well. I want her to become better still.”

“Is Miss Qingying still not outstanding enough?” Li Ruobing asked.

“She is outstanding. She is the pride my husband and I share. But you know as well as I do that without our proper guidance she would not be this outstanding. And I hope she will go on being this outstanding.”

“She’s already twenty-seven,” Li Ruobing said.

“Miss Li, my daughter is mine to teach.” Madam Su cut her off. On the question of Su Qingying’s upbringing she would never yield. On that point she was exceedingly stubborn.

Which was one reason Wu Chen didn’t mind offending her. If she couldn’t be persuaded, he would use another method to make her bow her head.

“Though today, perhaps… I really do owe you thanks, Miss Li.” Madam Su picked up speed again, then slowed back to an even pace. “Perhaps Qingying truly has developed some problems, and I failed to notice. That was a failure of mine. Cooking, cleaning the room, washing clothes, even going out to buy medicine—none of it is anything I would have expected.”

As she spoke she glanced at Su Qingying.

Su Qingying sat there in a very low mood, not saying a word.

Naturally Madam Su didn’t want anything wrong with her daughter. If she genuinely developed psychological problems, she would be ruined.

Of course, what Madam Su was saying now wasn’t necessarily all that she thought. She was mainly smoothing over her relations with Li Ruobing.

She looked at her daughter, paused, then turned back to Li Ruobing. “I will consider it. I will allow Qingying to do certain things. She has reached the age when she ought to marry, after all. As for laundry and cooking, there are servants at home for that. But if she wants to understand these things herself, if she wants to do them herself, then from now on I won’t stop her. Ah—that’s right, Miss Li, you’re also twenty-seven this year, aren’t you?”

She changed the subject abruptly.

She had no wish to keep discussing her daughter’s upbringing with Li Ruobing.

“Mm. Yes, twenty-seven.” Li Ruobing nodded.

“The same age as our Qingying. No wonder the two of you became friends.” Madam Su actually smiled, then asked of her own accord, “Qingying is a little older, isn’t she?”

“Yes. Miss Qingying is three months older than me. Strictly speaking I ought to call her Sister Qingying,” Li Ruobing said.

“Oh, there’s no need for Sister this and Sister that. Our Su family can’t compare with your Li family. We’re a small household. You’re of an age, so just use each other’s names.” Madam Su paid the Li family a compliment or two, but the faint pleasure on her face was not feigned.

Nobody had ever heard of Li Ruobing calling an unrelated outsider sister.

That phrase, Sister Qingying, did more than tell…