To My Dear Mr. Huo

How many more years will Su Peizhen be in prison? When Su Qingsang thought of this possibility, her first thought was Xiang Caiping. When Su Peizhen was released, how old would Xiang Caiping be?

“Don’t touch her for the time being.”

“Honey, I don’t like you being so soft-hearted.”

“It’s not me being soft-hearted. I want to see her.”

Ever since Su Peizhen got sent to prison, Su Qingsang hadn’t seen Su Peizhen. They were sisters after all.

She thought that she might need to visit her once. It could also be considered as a way to end things.

“I don’t think there’s anything to see.” Huo Jinyao had an unspeakable loathing for Su Peizhen. “If you want, it’s easy to keep her locked up in there for the rest of her life.”

It was even easier to make Su Peizhen’s life a living hell.

“It’s fine. She’s already locked up. What else can she do to me? I’ll go see her.”

She and Su Peizhen were sisters after all. Moreover, she was with Xiang Caiping, and Su Peizhen was also tied to Li Qianxue.

“Okay.” Huo Jinyao squeezed her hand. “No matter what, don’t be soft-hearted. Meet just once and let things go.”

“Okay.”

..

Su Peizhen was wearing an orange prison uniform. There was her number on her top right breast. Her long hair had long been cut short to her ears. Her face was still alluring, but it was more pale and haggard.

In her pale and haggard state, there was still some unwillingness and resentment. She hadn’t been here long enough for all the hostility in her to disappear.

However, it was enough. Su Peizhen was a completely different person. This was the first time Su Qingsang had seen Su Peizhen like this.

–

“Hehe.” Su Peizhen laughed when she saw Su Qingsang. “I didn’t expect you to be one of the people who came to visit me on prison visit day. I’m really flattered.”

She deliberately paused when she said the last words.

Su Qingsang didn’t like Su Peizhen like this. She was harsh and mean.

“I thought that the two months you spent in prison was enough for you to reflect on your mistakes.”

“Mistakes? What mistakes did I make?” Su Peizhen said, and the hatred in her eyes deepened. “That woman gave me that proposal. What’s wrong with me using it? Huo Yifan is also a descendant of the Huo family. What’s the difference between him developing this case and Huo Jinyao developing this case? What mistake did I make?”

“You’re a thief if you appropriate things without asking.”

Huo Jinyao only told her a little about that case after that. She could roughly guess the situation.

Su Peizhen indeed didn’t steal it. She was given it, but he gave it to her to pass it to Huo Jinyao, not to use it for herself.

“Hehehehe.” Su Peizhen laughed. “Alright. You came today to see me make a fool of myself? If that’s the case, then I won’t accompany you.”

She stood up and was about to leave when Su Qingsang suddenly said, “On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, you drugged Huo Jinyao’s Uncle, right?”

Su Peizhen stopped in her tracks. She suddenly approached Su Qingsang with a look of anticipation in her eyes. “Looks like you’ve found out? What? Huo Jinyao suspected you? Does he not want you anymore?”

“We’re fine.” Su Qingsang didn’t want to explain. Her relationship with Huo Jinyao wasn’t something Su Qingsang could understand. “I came here just to ask you why?”

“Why?” Su Peizhen laughed maniacally. “Things have come to this, and you’re asking me why?”

She slammed her hands hard on the table in front of her. The loud noise even attracted the scolding of the prison guard next to her.

“7587, behave yourself.”

“Su Qingsang, it’s all your fault that I’m here today. Why are you asking me why?”

“If it weren’t for you, would I be as miserable as I am today? All of this is your fault. It’s all your fault, Su Qingsang.”

Su Peizhen’s actions once again caused the prison guard to scold her. She restrained the hatred on her face and her voice was extremely cold.

“Su Qingsang, you wanted to see me make a fool of myself. You’ve seen it already. Please forgive me for not being able to accompany you any longer.”

Su Qingsang didn’t want to say anything more to Su Peizhen, but when she saw Su Peizhen and thought about her past twelve years of loftiness, she couldn’t tell how she herself felt either.

“It’s your own fault that you got to where you are today.”

She took a deep breath to calm herself down. She looked at Su Peizhen, who had already stood up, and looked into her eyes.

Through a glass window, her expression was calm and her gaze was clear. When she met the hatred in Su Peizhen’s eyes, she was unexpectedly calm.

“Su Peizhen, you have come this far and sent yourself to such a place because of your own actions.”

“Yes. You feel that you’ve lost the protection of the Su family. You feel that you’re no longer the daughter of the Li family. You can’t stand such a difference in status. You feel that I’ve taken everything away from you. But have you ever thought that it’s because you’re selfish?”

“Su Peizhen, because you’re selfish, you only want to monopolize everything and you’re not willing to share anything. Because you don’t want me to be the person who gets everything. That’s why you’re so aggressive and so extreme.”

Su Peizhen couldn’t help but sneer. “Yes, I’m unwilling to. Why should I be willing to? To let you lord over me?”

“Have I ever lorded over you? Su Peizhen, after the matter of us swapping identities was revealed, if you were willing to take a step back, even if it was just a step, as long as you were willing to share, as long as you were willing to accept me, we could still be a family. Whether it was Grandpa or mom, they had raised you for so many years. They wouldn’t really abandon you. But what did you do? Do you need me to remind you of what you did?”

“Okay. Even if Mom and Grandpa didn’t want you anymore, what about Auntie?”

The person who Su Qingsang pitied the most was Xiang Caiping. “She brought you to Rong City and let you start over. She gave you a chance to start over. She was so good to you. What did you do to her?”

“You looked down on her, and you broke her heart again and again. Su Peizhen, who did you let down?”

“You looked down on Auntie, and you resented Grandpa and Mom. You drugged me, and you even tried to get Chou Yanbo to rape me?”

“You even drugged Uncle? You wanted to ruin me and Jinyao.”

“Su Peizhen, you’ve done so many things. Do you seriously think you don’t deserve to go to jail?”

Su Qingsang was rarely this agitated. However, upon seeing the obstinate Su Peizhen, she was truly infuriated.

“Did you know that Auntie came to look for me after you got in trouble?”

Su Peizhen froze for a moment. She raised her head and looked at Su Qingsang.

“Auntie came to beg me, and then she went to beg Jinyao. Initially, if you only took that proposal, Jinyao wouldn’t have done anything to you, but you came up with such a vicious method to set me up in Lin City. It’s impossible for Jinyao to do nothing, and it’s impossible for me to be such a saint as to pretend that nothing happened. But do you know that Auntie is innocent?”

“She’s so old, yet she still came out to beg for you. You probably didn’t notice that more than half of Auntie’s hair had already turned grey, right?”

Su Peizhen’s face was a little stiff. That woman’s hair was already white? She didn’t know.

Xiang Caiping came to visit her in prison, but she refused to see her. If it weren’t for the fact that Su Qingsang was the young madam of the Huo family and the prison guards brought her out, she wouldn’t have wanted to see Su Qingsang either.

She didn’t want to see anyone.

“You act like you hate everyone in this world, but haven’t you ever thought about how many people in this world love you?”

“If you weren’t so extreme, you might have married Huo Yifan by now. No matter how bad Huo Yifan was, he was still the vice president of Tianyu Group. If you were willing to take a step back and get along well with me, even if we couldn’t be close like sisters, at least we wouldn’t act as if we’re enemies like now.”

“You ignore the good intentions of others, you don’t use the advantages you have, and you only think about hatred and revenge. Is that my fault?”

“Did you know that before you drugged me, grandfather told mother that if you were willing to come back, the Su family’s door would always be open for you? Yuxin came to look for me and said that he wanted to help you. Su Peizhen, you were also someone who had many advantages. Why did you have to throw them all away with your own hands?”

Su Peizhen sat down. She sat there without moving, and her expression was a little stiff.

“Do you know that there are some people in this world who are a thousand or ten thousand times worse than you? But none of them wanted to take revenge, did they?”

She thought of Qi Xiwei. For example, Qi Xiwei was much worse off than Su Peizhen. She shook her head. There were some words that could only be said to a certain point. Everyone was smart, so there was no point in saying more.

“Su Peizhen. Your sentence isn’t long. It’s only five years. If you behave well, you might be released in less than three years. Are you sure that you want to continue spending your future life in hatred, envy, and endless revenge against others?”

“You should know that if you’re released after serving five years in prison, you will still only be 30 years old.”

“Su Peizhen, I’ve said what I wanted to say. I won’t come to see you again after today. If you come out in a few years and are willing to change, I believe that no matter if it’s Father or Auntie, they will still acknowledge you as their daughter. If you’re not willing, I’ll still say the same thing. No matter what you want to do, I’m not afraid of you. I’ll accompany you to the end.”

Su Qingsang rarely said so much. She felt a little thirsty. She stood up and took one last look at Su Peizhen.

“Su Peizhen, take care of yourself.”

After picking up her bag, Su Qingsang turned around and left. After getting into her car, she had completely calmed down.

Thinking about Su Peizhen’s appearance just now, she thought about it for a while and took out her phone to call Su Chenghui.

“Qingsang?”

Ever since Su Chenghui and Su Qingsang had a conflict last time because of Su Peizhen, Su Chenghui hadn’t contacted Su Qingsang again.

He called Su Qingsang several times, but she didn’t pick up. He knew that she was still blaming him in her heart, and blaming him for being biased towards Su Peizhen without any reason.

However, some things had already become a habit for him after more than twelve years of ignorance. He tried to change slowly in the future, but Su Qingsang seemed to be the same as Li Qianxue and didn’t want to give him this opportunity.

Su Chenghui was inexplicably excited when he unexpectedly received a call from Su Qingsang.

“Qingsang, you called me?”

Su Qingsang heard his excitement and felt a little bitter in her heart. She shook her head and her voice was very soft.

“Dad, I called to tell you that something has happened to Su Peizhen and she is now in Rong City Prison.”

“What?”

“If you’re free, come and see her.”

“No, how did that happen to her? Isn’t she in Lin City? No, I haven’t seen her for a long time. You, she –”

“If there’s anything, wait until you come to Rong City. I can’t explain it over the phone, but I think you’ll want to see her and talk to her.”

Perhaps the care and companionship of her family could make Su Peizhen less hostile and more at peace.

“Qingsang, can you… can you say something first?”

“Dad, you’ll know when you get here. There’s something else I need to do. I’ll hang up first.”

After saying this, Su Qingsang hung up the phone. She didn’t hate Su Chenghui, but she really couldn’t help but resent that he thought she was the bad person the moment something happened to her.

She also knew that she couldn’t ignore Su Chenghui for the rest of her life. However, she had to give her some time to slowly process the fact that she would never be able to be close to Su Chenghui like father and daughter.

She put down her phone and was about to start the car to leave, but she found a person getting out of a taxi on the opposite road. It was an old woman with a slightly haggard face. It was Xiang Caiping.

She saw Xiang Caiping and Xiang Caiping also saw her.

Xiang Caiping looked at the prison gate behind her. She didn’t expect Su Qingsang to come to see Su Peizhen. That really surprised her.

Today was the monthly prison visit. She came very early. The last time she came to see Su Peizhen, Su Peizhen didn’t want to see her. If she missed today, it would be next month.

Out of the blue, she saw Su Qingsang. She stood there without moving. Their eyes met. Even across the road, Su Qingsang could see Xiang Caiping’s face, which had aged more than ten years.

Her heart skipped a beat. Su Qingsang quickly got out of the car and ran in Xiang Caiping’s direction.

“Auntie? You’re here to see Peizhen?”

She was a little lacking in confidence. After all, her daughter was sent in by Huo Jinyao.

“Mhm.” Xiang Caiping’s gaze didn’t show any resentment or dissatisfaction. “Today is visiting day.”

Su Qingsang looked at the taxi that was already far away. “Auntie, you should go. I’ll wait for you here. I’ll send you back later.”

Xiang Caiping’s lips moved. She wanted to refuse, but in the end, she didn’t. She was old and didn’t understand the things that young people did.

The last time she took a taxi, after driver left, she had to walk for more than half an hour before she found the bus stop.

“Sorry to trouble you.”

Su Qingsang shook her head. “Auntie, you don’t have to be so polite. You should go in now.”

Xiang Caiping turned around and went to the prison gate. Thinking of the last time she came, she turned around and glanced at Su Qingsang.

“You, you came to see her. Have you seen her?”

“Yes.”

“She saw you?”

“Yes.” At first, she didn’t want to see her, but since Su Qingsang was here, she was prepared. The Huo family had a good relationship with various people in Rong City.

If there was any trouble, it would only be a phone call.

Upon hearing this, Xiang Caiping relaxed a little. If Su Peizhen was willing to see Su Qingsang, did that mean she would be willing to see her as well?

Su Qingsang waited for Xiang Caiping in the car for half an hour before she finally came out. She looked better than when she went in earlier.

She quickly started the car and parked it beside Xiang Caiping.

“Auntie, get in the car.”

Xiang Caiping’s eyes were red, as if she had cried before. Su Qingsang wanted to ask, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

After she fastened her seat belt and started the car, Xiang Caiping wiped her tears away.

“She’s thinner and haggard.”

Su Qingsang knew that she was talking about Su Peizhen.

“It’s okay. If she nurses her health after she comes out, she’ll get better.”

“Yeah.” Xiang caiping smiled bitterly. “I don’t know if I have the fortune to live until she comes out.”

“Auntie, don’t say that. You’ll live to be a hundred years old.”

“I don’t expect to live to be a hundred years old. If I can live until she comes out, I will persuade her to lead a good life, be well-behaved, find another man and have a child. If I can see that day, I will die in peace.”

Su Qingsang couldn’t respond. She had said everything today, but she didn’t know whether Su Peizhen would change or be well-behaved after five years.

She didn’t speak, and Xiang Caiping didn’t want her to speak either. The prison was far away in the suburbs. It would take more than two hours to drive back from here.

She looked out of the window and muttered to herself, “She’s a good child. It’s just that she lost her mind for a moment. I regret it. It’s all my fault.”

“Of course, I shouldn’t have abandoned her. I shouldn’t have thought that Su Chenghui would raise her well. It’s all my fault.”

Xiang Caiping nagged on and on. Sometimes, Su Qingsang would respond to her, and sometimes, she would only listen to Xiang Caiping.

Just like that, they arrived at the small villa where Xiang Caiping lived. The car stopped. After sitting for more than two hours, Xiang Caiping was obviously tired.

She wasn’t in a hurry to get out of the car. Instead, she glanced at Su Qingsang.

“Qingsang, thank you.”

“You’re too kind, Auntie.”

“You’re a good child. Jinyao is lucky to have married you.” Xiang Caiping’s eyes were a little red

“Auntie?”

“It’s okay, you can go. I’m going back.”

Xiang Caiping got out of the car. She was in a much better mood after she saw her daughter. However, her figure still looked lonely, old, and fragile.

..

“What’s wrong?” Huo Jinyao looked at Su Qingsang, who had been silent since she returned home. He reached out and pulled her into his arms to let her sit on his lap. “You’re not in a good mood? What happened? What happened at the hospital?”

Su Qingsang shook her head.

“Su Peizhen? You went to see her? What did she say?”

Huo Jinyao loathed Su Peizhen to the extreme.

“Nothing much.” Su Qingsang wrapped her arms around his waist and said in a low voice, “I just met Auntie.”

“Jinyao, did you know? I saw Auntie today and realized that she’s aged ten years. She’s the same age as my mother, but –”

Su Qingsang didn’t finish her sentence, but Huo Jinyao understood what she meant.

“Don’t tell me you want me to get Su Peizhen out?” It was impossible.

“No.” Su Qingsang shook her head. She sat up straight and looked at Huo Jinyao. She had been thinking about this matter all day. In fact, she wasn’t sure if Huo Jinyao would agree to it.

“Jinyao. No matter what happens to Su Peizhen, she brought this upon herself. I won’t sympathize with her. But Auntie, she’s innocent. I really feel sorry for her. Jinyao. I’ve thought about it for a long time today. Why don’t we ask Auntie to come and live with us?”