-Song Jingmo
It took Song Qing ten years to return, and his heart is indeed ruthless and cold, and his wounds are deep.
Madam Song was gentle by nature, and she couldn't help but hold Song Qing and cry her heart out, wishing she could examine him closely with a magnifying glass before she could feel at ease.
In the end, it took Song Ning a lot of comforting to finally calm him down.
"Madam, the master is in the study." Wang Ma, with tears streaming down her face, reminded Song Ning as soon as it was time.
Madam Song wiped away her tears, stood up and held Song Qing's hand again, but her face was full of tension.
"Qing'er, your father is not in good health. It's rare for you to come back, so don't make him angry. You really need to change your temper. Over the years, your father has had so many regrets."
Song Qing looked up at the spiral staircase, which was completely silent. He nodded, but his steps were extremely heavy.
"Knock, knock, knock."
"Come in." Song Jingmo's deep, hoarse voice came from inside the thick mahogany door, barely concealing his age, followed by a few rapid coughs.
A puff of smoke rose, she coughed twice, waved her hand away, and quickly stepped forward to snatch the large cigar from her father's hand.
"dad!"
When the smoke cleared, Song Qing was shocked to see her father. In just ten years, she had only matured a little, and her appearance was still almost the same, but her father looked very old, with deep wrinkles covering his entire face.
In an instant, her eyes were already filled with tears, but Song Qing stubbornly held them back.
Over the years, she realized she had been too selfish, habitually thinking of her father as far too great. The impression he left on her was always one of fierce competitiveness and an indomitable spirit. Back then, he had roared, pointing at the door, "You get out of here today! And don't ever come back! Just pretend I, Song Jingmo, never raised such a useless daughter!"
"I'm not coming back either!" she shouted back defiantly.
"Fine! Our Song family doesn't welcome deserters!" With that, he ruthlessly threw his passport, academic notice, and all the documents he had prepared for attending higher education institutions at her feet.
Finally, she calmly picked up her passport and ran out of the house without looking back, ignoring her mother's crying and pleas for mercy and Song Ning's pale and miserable face.
Even as she brushed past Xu Nan, who was driving up, she didn't turn back; instead, it only strengthened her resolve to leave. She had decided to desert!
"What are you thinking about? Sit down!" Song Jingmo remained meticulous, her voice authoritative, as she pointed to the chair beside her.
She blinked away the mist and nodded.
This time, her father didn't call her back, and her return wasn't a gesture of goodwill. In this situation, the father and daughter remained silent.
Song Jingmo had arranged a welcome-back party for her, and she went home as soon as she got off the plane. What else is there to say?
"But she said you want to stay with her and take over the restaurant?"
Song Keren is Song Qing's aunt. In their early years, these two siblings, like the sisters Song Qing and Song Ning, were not close. This was understandable, as Song Jingmo's personality was not easy for ordinary people to get along with, not to mention that Song Keren also had an explosive temper.
"Dad, that's not just a restaurant! I studied hotel management, and I did my graduation internship there, so I'm sure there won't be any problems."
Song Qing disagreed with the restaurant analogy. In fact, her aunt's business was no smaller than her father's, and her aunt even had chain stores in Linchuan. However, since her aunt didn't publicize these things, Song Qing naturally kept quiet about them.
After getting off the plane, we were supposed to settle into a hotel owned by my aunt.
"But with the addition of accommodation, it's all just eating and sleeping. Why do you look down on my business so much?"
His daughter's temper was still the same as before, inherited from him, which greatly displeased Song Jingmo. The business empire he had painstakingly built deserved his daughter's attention. Moreover, his health was nearing a point where medicine was ineffective, and he had learned from his sister that Song Qing had no intention of returning to take over his business. This made him even more furious.
"Dad! You're being unreasonable. How can you view the business that Auntie worked so hard to build? Besides, I consider it a job I love!"
Over the years, her strained relationship with her aunt has led her to argue with her ailing father.
"You, you, you!" Song Jingmo coughed rapidly, clutching her chest. She stood up and pointed at Song Qing, but was too angry to speak.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and Wang Ma was the first to open the door. She saw the father and daughter's faces, neither willing to give in, sighed, and quickly and skillfully took the medicine from a drawer and went to feed it to Song Jingmo.
Madam Song glanced at her eldest daughter, whom she had never been able to control or persuade since childhood, with teary eyes and a hint of resentment. She then stepped forward and patted Song Jingmo's back, gently comforting her.
"Jingmo, you know Qing'er's temperament. Why did you start arguing as soon as you came back? Weren't you just agreeing to things before?"
Seeing this scene, Song Qing was filled with remorse. Knowing that her father was in poor health, she couldn't control her temper and insisted on arguing.
"Sis, let's go back to our room first. Come on, you haven't seen my room yet."
Just as they sat down in Song Ning's room, several car horns sounded outside the courtyard gate.
"Sister, I'm going downstairs to take a look."
Song Qing remained in the pink princess-like bedroom, got up, walked to the window, and drew back the floor-to-ceiling curtains. With a whoosh, blinding sunlight streamed in, illuminating a photograph of Song Ning and Xu Nan embracing each other above the large bed. A handsome man and a beautiful woman, perfectly matched. She quickly pulled the curtains back, but the sudden burst of sunlight brought tears to her eyes.
"Sister, it's Xu Nan."
Song Ning stood leaning against the door.
"See you tonight." Song Qing pointed to her tired face and smiled at her sister.
"Alright." Song Ning pursed her lips and nodded, then gently closed the door.
※
Song Ning closed the door, her expression enigmatic. She smiled, tossed her hair, and gracefully descended the stairs. Yan Xunan was sitting leisurely on the sofa, arms outstretched, looking completely relaxed, occupying most of the space. Seeing Song Ning come down, he familiarly raised an eyebrow at her, a smile playing on his lips.
"She doesn't want to come down?"
"Unfortunately, I just had a fight with my father, and it didn't go well for me."
"Really?" Yan Xunan smiled and stood up.