Chapter 440: Chapter 440

To be honest, Song Xi was genuinely startled by the abrupt 180-degree change in attitude from Mrs. Song over the phone, especially with Mrs. Song almost crying and pleading for her to visit Mr. Song in the hospital.

Song Qiao couldn’t figure out why Mrs. Song would have such a huge change in attitude. Even with Mr. Song’s hospitalization, there was no need to implore her .

She couldn’t forget the way Mrs. Song used to treat her. It seemed her heart was already full of resentment due to that past attitude, and this sudden change filled her mind with all sorts of thoughts.

Hearing her words, Mr. Song’s expression shifted slightly, but since his body was still somewhat weak, he fell silent for a while before continuing, "I have always been unkind to you. I apologize here. I don’t expect your forgiveness, I just..."

"The one you should apologize to isn’t me, it’s my mother." Song Qiao coldly cut him off before he could finish, her eyes suddenly seeming frosted over as she continued in a chilly tone, "From the very beginning, the person you’ve wronged the most was my mother, your wife. I always thought you and mother would live out your lives quietly together, but then you brought back Song Xi and her mother. Have you ever realized how disappointed my mom and I have been in you?"

Suddenly, Mr. Song’s face turned a pale shade of gray, and he looked at his daughter in front of him as if in a daze.

In his memories, his eldest daughter had always been well-behaved and sensible, never causing them any worry. But ever since his wife passed away and he married Song Xi’s mother into the Song Family, everything started to change.

Looking at the middle-aged man who seemed to have aged a decade or two in an instant, Song Qiao recalled that in her memory, this man had always been full of vigor. Although he was actually in his fifties, he looked more like a man in his forties, without a beer belly, and his skin was always well-maintained. Even though his daughters were in their twenties, there were still some twenty-something girls who liked such a man.

Perhaps that’s what they call "uncle fandom."

But perhaps because of the long-standing estrangement between father and daughter, after staying for a while, Song Qiao felt she could no longer bear it. The atmosphere was as silent and awkward as ever. She scanned the hospital room and figured the caregiver wouldn’t return so soon, but there was no need for her to worry too much—after all, there were doctors and nurses in the hospital.

Besides, the VIP wards in this hospital were for the rich who could afford to stay, and the patients there were almost considered benefactors of the hospital, so the hospital almost adopted a one-on-one nursing care for patients in the VIP wards.

Taking a deep breath and struggling to contain her burgeoning impatience, she spoke directly, "If there’s nothing else, I should go."

Her wedding with Lu Jingchen was just around the corner. Everyone in the villa was busy, and she also needed to start preparing some things for the wedding and learn about what to pay attention to at the ceremony.

After all, it was her first wedding. Although she had attended other people’s weddings before, it wasn’t the same.

Mr. Song pursed his lips, appearing distracted and said nothing.

Song Qiao gave him a blank look and then headed straight for the door. Just as she reached the door, his voice followed from behind, "Have you ever considered that Lu Jingchen might have ulterior motives for marrying you?"

Song Qiao paused in her steps, turned around and met his displeased eyes.

After a moment, she forced a smile and said, "All I know is that my marrying Lu Jingchen has ulterior motives."

Upon hearing her words, Mr. Song’s eyes widened in disbelief.

But Song Qiao didn’t bother with him any longer and simply walked out the door of the hospital room.

Undeniably, her marriage to Lu Jingchen did have an ulterior motive, and her target—was precisely the Song Family.

However, seeing Mr. Song’s current state seemed to make her hesitate. She wavered, not sure if she should proceed with her plans.

But if she didn’t continue, the Song Family would eventually fall into the hands of outsiders. Song Xi’s mother... was not simple at all.

A woman capable of exploiting even her biological daughter, Song Xi, is definitely not worthy of any mercy.

As the 15th, the wedding day, drew closer, newspapers and magazines went wild with their reporting, especially when CK Group’s PR department released the wedding photos of Lu Jingchen and Song Qiao. Instantly, it became the headline news in various publications, and in less than an hour, it skyrocketed to hot search topics on Weibo.

Because she was the wife of CK Group’s president, people in the company looked at her with something akin to reverence, but in fact, there were also many envious and jealous gazes. Song Qiao acted as if she didn’t see them at all.

After the photoshoot for the wedding dress, Song Qiao hadn’t looked at the pictures again. In the morning on her way to work, Lu An’an came over with her phone to show her, saying their wedding photos had become the Weibo topic with the most shares and comments in history, which was astonishing.

However, when she saw the various poses and outfits in the wedding photos on the phone, she couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim that Lu Jingchen was indeed photogenic, and even standing beside him, she seemed to bask in his glowing aura.

In short, there were only two words to describe their wedding photos—gorgeous!

This wasn’t self-flattery, but rather the photos were truly beautiful. It was uncertain whether it was because both their looks were superior, or if the photographer’s skills were just that good.

Lu An’an leaned her head directly in front of her, eyes seemingly sparkling with excitement as she gossiped, "According to my brother’s assistant just now, my brother has set his and your wedding photo as his phone wallpaper. Look how much he loves you..."

Upon hearing this, Song Qiao gave her a light look, yet smiled as she spoke, "Are you sure it’s not because your brother thinks he looks too good in it, so he set it as his wallpaper?"

Lu An’an, "..." I’m at a loss for words. But is this really the case?

Just as she was chatting with Lu An’an, Shen Yi’s secretary walked directly up to them. Seeing this, Lu An’an immediately returned to her seat and got down to work.

The female secretary stood in front of Song Qiao, smiling as she said, "Song Qiao, President Shen is looking for you."

Song Qiao was startled. It seemed Shen Yi hadn’t been in contact with her for some time. Even though they were in the same company, they hadn’t seen each other, unlike before, when sometimes they’d chat on WeChat after work.

Although most of the time, it was about work.

She looked up at the secretary, pulled a slight smile, and quickly said, "Alright, I got it. I’ll go up right now."

"Hmm, okay, I’ll go back to work then. You can go straight into the office to find President Shen later."

Song Qiao responded with a sound, indicating she understood.

... ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel fire.net

Five minutes later, Song Qiao appeared at the entrance to Shen Yi’s office. She knocked on the door, and soon a deep and pleasant voice came, "Please come in."

Song Qiao pushed the door and walked in, only to find, to her surprise, that the office wasn’t just occupied by Shen Yi. Even Lin Musen, who rarely appeared in the company and could be described as "keeping a low profile," was there, along with... Gu Xicheng!

Is this some sort of tribunal preparation?

Shen Yi, sitting at his desk after just signing a document, looked up to see Song Qiao standing at the door without entering. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Song Qiao, why don’t you come in? Is it cooler at the door?"

Song Qiao, "..." Senior, you’re joking again." She said, obediently walking in and closing the door behind her.

Shen Yi told her to sit in the sofa area, then picked up the internal phone and instructed, "Prepare three cups of coffee, one cup of milk to come in."

As soon as Shen Yi finished speaking, Lin Musen immediately grinned and said, "I want milk too, didn’t you know I’ve recently quit coffee? I heard drinking too much coffee can turn you into an idiot."

Shen Yi, "..." Prepare two cups of milk and two cups of tea."

As soon as Shen Yi finished, Lin Musen looked as though a light bulb turned on and said, "You have tea here? Then I don’t want coffee, I want tea."

Shen Yi, "..." Damn it, I really want to throw you out right now.

Eventually, Shen Yi still instructed the secretary to prepare a pot of tea and a cup of milk to bring in.

Throughout this, Song Qiao was sitting there, glancing at Shen Yi, then at Lin Musen, feeling somewhat baffled as if these two had some sort of drama going on between them...

Gu Xicheng’s gaze fell on Song Qiao, his smooth voice as soothing as the sound of flowing water, "Sister-in-law, long time no see. I’ve noticed you’ve become more mature in the past few months."

Does that mean he’s calling her old?

Song Qiao’s gaze fell on him, she tugged at the corner of her mouth, hummed a response, and sized him up. She then smiled and said, "Indeed, it’s been a long time. I heard from Jingchen that you were recently sent to Africa to discuss a case. It seems like you’ve got quite tanned."

Upon hearing Song Qiao’s words, Gu Xicheng’s face suddenly darkened, already tanned quite a bit, appearing even darker now.

Lin Musen burst out laughing next to them, almost doubling over holding his stomach, his eyes nearly squinting into slits as he said, "We were just discussing his tanning issue a moment ago, and I’ve just given him a nickname, Xiao Hei (Little Black)."

Listening to Lin Musen’s words, Gu Xicheng shot him a cold glance, coldly uttering a single word, "Scram!"

This group of people, seriously, they always hit me where it hurts. Although I’m not the type to fuss over looks, and think a wheatish complexion is quite healthy, this time I really got too tanned.