allonlinenovel Chapter 145 Congratulations in Advance
Chapter 145 Congratulations in Advance
"Master Cui, Madam Sun is a guest. It's not right to ask a guest to prepare." Su's mother was supported by Master Cui. She glanced at Su Ze, ignored him, and walked straight to the main seat in the hall and sat down.
"Yes, yes... I'm sorry for being rude..." Master Cui responded with a grin. Su Ze was ignored by his mother and could only retract his hand in embarrassment.
Xiao Lan was lost in thought as she stared at Su's mother. Back then, Su's mother was called Ding Qiaoyun. After Xiao Lan married Su Ze, she bought a house in the city for his parents, and they lived a few blocks away.
Although Su Ze was ungrateful, his parents were grateful. They always sent Xiao Lan home-cooked dishes, pickled vegetables, and wine. Everyone praised Xiao Lan for her thoughtfulness and filial piety. Whenever Xiao Lan and Su Ze had a conflict, the Su parents would never favor their son and would always beat Su Ze up. It was precisely because of this that Xiao Lan was always easily appeased.
When she went to catch the adulterer, she also informed the Su family's parents in advance. The two elders only said that they felt guilty towards Xiao Lan, without a single complaint, and did not even plead for Su Ze. Xiao Lan had lived with them for so many years, and they also had a deep relationship.
It has been a long time since we last met, and as expected, Mrs. Su here looks exactly like Ding Qiaoyun. However, this old lady Su now seems to be arrogant and not easy to get along with.
Meeting in this capacity, Xiao Lan couldn't get close to him even if she wanted to, and her eyes turned slightly red from holding it in.
"Greetings to Madam Su. Nice to meet you, Xiao Lan." Xiao Lan put his thoughts aside and bowed respectfully, followed by Jasmine who also bowed in return.
Seeing her respectful look, Su's mother glanced at Su Ze with a complaining look.
"A married woman takes her husband's surname, so I'll just call you Madam Sun." Mother Su waved her hand impatiently, telling Master Cui to stop dangling the teacup in front of her. How could she not see Master Cui's subtle thoughts? She was just too lazy to point them out.
"Madam, Madam Sun's husband has passed away..." Master Cui put the teacup aside and said quietly.
Mother Su rolled her eyes at him again. She didn't want to come, but if she didn't come, that hot-tempered Master Su would come. And then the scene would be even more unsightly...
She roughly knew what Pan Yingqiu was planning, but even if it wasn't Yingqiu, it couldn't be this woman.
"You can call me anything you want." Xiao Lan smiled but did not sit down. She still had the same filter for Su's mother.
"My Yingqiu is young and naive. She didn't know your family just had a funeral. She was rude to invite you here so abruptly."
"Mother!" Su Ze understood his mother's indirect criticism.
"I'm just chatting with Madam Sun. What do you want me to do?" Mother Su glanced at Su Ze and said unhappily.
"The funeral is over, and the house we've moved into is new, undecorated. So Miss Pan invited me here, and I'm here. If there's anything taboo about this, I'll wait for Miss Pan to arrive, give her the gifts, and then leave." Xiao Lan spoke bluntly, her tone unchanged, still polite and respectful. She wasn't here to cause trouble, but simply to get some gossip about Su Ze and Pan Yingqiu. She hadn't expected Su's mother to get involved.
Mother Su frowned, paused, and continued, "Madam Sun is already here, and you're leaving right away. Doesn't that make others think that our Su family is inhospitable and ignorant of etiquette? Is she taking advantage of me?"
The more Su Ze listened, the more he felt something was wrong. Xiao Lan clearly hadn't meant that, and this was clearly just picking a fight. His mother wasn't usually like this. It must have been something Pan Yingqiu said yesterday that made her so aggressive.
"Mother, you are..."
"Madam..." Master Cui also wanted to say a few words. He was worried that Xiao Lan would be embarrassed and would immediately turn hostile.
"Madam is right. I won't leave then. Now that I'm here, I might as well wait here and try Miss Pan's specialty." Xiao Lan smiled and interrupted the two of them.
"You..." Mother Su punched the cotton and looked unhappy. She felt that this woman only looked dignified and generous, but in fact she was not well-educated.
Seeing that Su's mother was really about to get angry, Xiao Lan took a deep breath, put away his indifferent attitude, bowed respectfully, and spoke again.
"However, I thought it was just a small gathering among the younger generation, and I didn't prepare any gifts for the lady... It was really rude..." Xiao Lan pretended to be embarrassed, feeling torn.
"Are you dissatisfied with me for not coming here now?"
It's always easy to find a pretext to accuse someone of something. This saying is absolutely true. Xiao Lan smiled helplessly and said nothing more. She only coaxed him gently, "Madam, you misunderstood..."
Su Ze didn't expect Xiao Lan to be so tolerant of his mother's unreasonable behavior. Even Master Cui found it a little unbelievable and looked at her secretly.
Xiao Lan's constant respectful attitude made Su's mother feel uncomfortable. She felt that she had been causing trouble for no reason, and yet the other person was not angry at all. She was also forced to do this, because she was usually very easy to get along with.
Thinking of this, I feel that it is all Su Ze's fault. He provoked a married woman and asked me to be the bad guy. The look in Xiao Lan's eyes was not so cold, but the look in Su Ze's eyes was full of resentment.
Just when I didn't know what to say, a familiar soft voice came from the door.
"Sister Xiao is here?" Pan Yingqiu had arrived at the doorway without her noticing, interrupting Xiao Lan. She was dressed pretty and charmingly today, her bright yellow dress making her look more lively than usual, but the flickering look in her eyes still revealed her gentle charm.
"Aunt, I've almost finished preparing the dishes. Why don't you take your seat first?" Pan Yingqiu stepped forward and saluted Su's mother, then looked at Su Ze, "My cousin's clothes today are very nice."
Su Ze was still wearing the blue dress that Xiao Lan had made for him. Xiao Lan saw it the moment she entered the room and wondered if she should get him a different style. It would get fuzzy if he wore it any more, and it wouldn't be suitable for the weather. Thinking of this, Xiao Lan wanted to slap herself in the face. She was so used to giving him away!
"Miss Pan, this is a gift for you, just to show my appreciation." Seeing someone coming, Xiao Lan felt relieved and asked Jasmine to bring the gift over. Jasmine stepped forward, opened the brocade box, and presented it with both hands.
Inside was a pair of gold-inlaid jade hairpins, exquisitely crafted from the finest materials. They were among a collection of jewelry Xiao Zongshan had ordered from the capital. Mother Xu thought it was a dowry, and it would be a shame to give it to a stranger. Xiao Lan didn't mind; it was just an object, and she didn't really like it. The pattern was too elaborate, Fang Qingqing said it looked tacky, and Jasmine and the others wouldn't wear it, so she gave it away.
When Mother Su saw the hairpin, she was surprised. Even for a wealthy businessman, this was a lavish gift. The Xiao family did business in the capital, as did their Sun family. However, the Xiao family's business in the capital was managed by others, not by the Xiao family themselves. Moreover, the Xiao family's business was mostly with officials and wealthy families. Their Su family was really not as good as them.
At first, his family also admired the Xiao family and thought that the Xiao family was extraordinary. They could do business in the officialdom without having to manage it themselves, and many merchants could not get involved.
But even so, the Su family would not want a woman whose husband had died and who had children to raise to be the mistress of the family.
Pan Yingqiu didn't expect Xiao Lan to be so generous. She was stunned for a moment when she looked at the hairpin. Compared with the two bottles she sent yesterday, it was a world of difference.
"This... how can I collect it..."
Pan Yingqiu asked in embarrassment.
Xiao Lan reached out to take the brocade box and put it into Pan Yingqiu's hand.
"Didn't you say your marriage is already on the agenda? Consider this my congratulations to you. Your wedding banquet with Lord Su may not be held in South City, so I congratulate you in advance. Please accept it and don't be shy."