Chapter 96: I Would Have Been Better Off Without You
Zhou Fu looked at Jiang Su, then at Huo Qingyan whose expression had changed. He had heard everything.
But he didn’t understand what made Huo Qingyan change his expression.
Were these married people?
Their words were automatically encrypted, completely incomprehensible to a single dog like him.
“Jiang Su?”
Zhou Fu looked up and saw Shen Xiume and his group walking over.
“Mr. Shen.” Jiang Su turned and greeted Shen Xiume, his expression calm.
Bai Mu followed Shen Xiume, happily waving at Jiang Su, “Teacher Jiang.”
Shen Xiume walked to Huo Qingyan, his gaze falling on Huo Qingyan’s plated arm, “How’s your arm?”
Huo Qingyan said expressionlessly, “I would have been better off without you.”
“Hey, you…”
Shen Xiumo glanced back, then leaned closer to Huo Qingyan, lowering his voice: “I’m here on behalf of the program team to offer our regards. Can’t you be a little nicer? You’re making me lose face…”
Huo Qingyan hummed in acknowledgement.
Then, he smiled. “Thank you.”
His forced smile was even more chilling than a blank expression.
Everyone who had come with Shen Xiumo to visit Huo Qingyan was too scared to breathe.
Zhou Fu spoke up timely, “Everyone, let’s not stand at the door. Let’s go inside and talk.”
Huo Qingyan and Shen Xiumo walked ahead, Jiang Su closely behind.
A very small female voice called out his name from behind.
“Jiang Su.”
Jiang Su turned around and saw Tang Juanzi.
Several people had come with Shen Xiumo, and Tang Juanzi had been standing at the back.
Tang Juanzi was wearing a white dress, her makeup lighter than usual, making her look much more refined.
“You came too,” Jiang Su hadn’t really noticed Tang Juanzi earlier.
Tang Juanzi tightened her grip on her bag. “Mm.”
They weren’t close enough for casual conversation; a greeting would suffice.
Jiang Su turned to go inside, but Tang Juanzi stopped him again. “Jiang Su, I…”
Jiang Su turned back, his eyes already showing impatience.
Tang Juanzi pursed her lips and said softly, “About last time… I haven’t thanked you yet. I wanted…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence, stammering for a long time.
Jiang Su’s patience ran out. “Stuttering is a disease. Since you’re at the hospital, you might as well see a doctor.”
Tang Juanzi: “…”
She was taken aback by his words, then she actually laughed. “I want to treat you to dinner.”
In the past, she would have found Jiang Su arrogant and gotten angry.
But now, she found his attitude strangely cute.
Jiang Su directly refused. “No, I don’t want to eat with you.”
Tang Juanzi didn’t get angry, and instead leaned closer. “Then how about drinks?”
Jiang Su: “No drinks.”
Tang Juanzi still didn’t give up, putting her hand to her lips and whispering, “Then how about I hire online trolls to attack Lin Siyue?”
Jiang Su: “…”
Tang Juanzi… was definitely not normal.
Would a normal person think of this way to express gratitude?
Jiang Su stopped, and explained seriously to Tang Juanzi: “You don’t need to do anything. Don’t feel like you owe me anything. Even for a cat or a dog, a normal person wouldn’t ignore it.”
Tang Juanzi “oh”-ed blankly, seemingly unable to understand Jiang Su’s words.
The entertainment industry is a place of fame and fortune, where the pursuit of fame and wealth causes people to lose their hearts, lose the most precious things in their humanity, and thus magnify the darkest desires in human nature.
Indulgent people are slowly eroded until they become unrecognizable.
They may even forget that many people in this world don’t always seek fame and fortune.
Jiang Su felt he had overestimated Tang Juanzi.
So he decided to be more direct: “If you really want to thank me, do some good deeds in the future.”
Tang Juanzi was about to nod when she heard Jiang Su say: “Or forget it.”
Doing good deeds was too much to ask of Tang Juanzi; she probably didn’t even know what a good deed was.
Jiang Su pondered for a moment: “Not pursuing married men would count as a good deed.”
Tang Juanzi immediately nodded: “Okay!”
She understood this.
Jiang Su sighed. He really had to use different methods when communicating with different people.
After all, no one could guarantee that the other person was normal.
…
Jiang Su and Tang Juanzi were at the back, and they didn’t talk much, so it didn’t attract much attention.
But Bai Mu, who had been paying attention to Jiang Su, still noticed.
As soon as Jiang Su went inside, Bai Mu asked him: “Teacher Jiang, what were you talking about with Tang Juanzi?”
Jiang Su looked profound: “Discussing life.”
Bai Mu: “…” Couldn’t he make up a believable excuse?
As if he didn’t know what kind of person Tang Juanzi was.
Jiang Su knew Bai Mu didn’t believe him, so he added emphasis: “Really.”
He felt he was telling the truth; it was a discussion about life, wasn’t it?
Even though Tang Juanzi didn’t understand.
Bai Mu smiled and nodded.
Jiang Su recalled the information he’d looked up earlier, and asked Bai Mu with a complicated expression: “Why did you suddenly cancel your appearance at the game competition?”
The smile on Bai Mu’s face disappeared: “Because of Xu Ce.”
Jiang Su thought for a moment and understood.
When he had dealt with Xu Ce before, Bai Mu also posted on Weibo saying that Xu Ce had harassed him.
So that’s how it was.
That made sense.
If it was just a simple scheduling conflict, he wouldn’t have canceled on the game organizers.
…
Shen Xiumo said he was representing the program team to offer regards to Huo Qingyan, but there was a component of wanting to see a good show. Huo Qingyan didn’t give him a good reception, so he happily left with his entourage.
Jiang Su was the last one left.
Huo Qingyan knew Jiang Su had something else to say.
Jiang Su said slowly: “About what happened on the show, you won’t hold it against Bai Mu, right?”
Huo Qingyan lowered his eyes: “No.”
Jiang Su said this, naturally meaning he didn’t want him to hold it against Bai Mu.
He wouldn’t have held it against Bai Mu anyway; he just found Bai Mu a bit strange.
So, when Jiang Su was about to leave, he spoke up: “Bai Mu’s background is unclear, you…”
“Do you really want to be my dad?” As soon as he opened his mouth, Jiang Su knew what he was going to say.
Bothering him all the time with this and that.
Huo Qingyan’s expression was calm: “No.”
As long as Jiang Su understood his meaning, how Jiang Su retorted didn’t matter.
Jiang Su: “…”
Was Huo Qingyan crazy?!
He answered such a question so seriously.
Even Tang Juanzi was easier to communicate with.
Jiang Su coldly snorted and left.
Zhou Fu saw Jiang Su out, and after he returned, he took out another file and handed it to Huo Qingyan.
“Records from that era aren’t well-preserved. We didn’t find anything useful about Bai Mu’s life before he entered the orphanage.”
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