Goodbye, Scumbag! The Powerful CEO Is My New Devoted Lover - Chapter 13

Su Xiao paused, her lips twitching almost imperceptibly. Setting up a connection was no issue; after all, whether the cooperation actually succeeded in the end was not up to her.

“That is enough.”

The main hall fell silent in an instant. Old Madam Yan’s hand, which had been moving over her prayer beads, paused. She lifted her eyes to Su Xiao. “We will go tomorrow. But Xiao Su, the most important thing for you right now is still to give Mingshen a child. In the future, when I go down to meet the ancestors, I need to be able to give them an account.”

“Thank you, Grandma.”

Su Xiao thanked her. She bowed very low, her hair falling forward to hide both her face and her embarrassment. Fortunately, she still had value; it was enough to make the Yan family leave her this final shred of dignity.

When she walked out of the Yan estate, the sunlight was blinding. Su Xiao hailed a taxi and gave the address of the studio. It was only after the car had driven a long way that she leaned against the back of the seat and slowly curled her body up.

Yan Mingshen never showed up in the end. She should have expected it. Her phone vibrated; it was a message from Qin Yu.

Qin Yu: Senior Sister, I have sent the spreadsheet to your email. When are you coming to the studio?

Su Xiao sniffled and replied, “Arriving shortly.”

She could not cry for too long. She had paintings to restore, collectors to compensate, and her father’s funeral to arrange.

When Su Xiao arrived at the studio, Qin Yu was crouching by the workbench, using tweezers to carefully peel the backing paper from a painting. He looked up at the sound, and seeing the dark circles under her eyes, his brow furrowed. “Senior Sister, did you look at the sheet? If it is too much, I can have Xiao Li help you cross-reference it.”

“No need.” Su Xiao placed her laptop on an empty desk and plugged it in to boot it up. “Focus on your work.”

The process of making calls went more smoothly than expected; most of the responses were sighs and words of comfort. However, a portion of the collectors still scoffed at her apologies and refused to withdraw their lawsuits. Su Xiao sighed; she could understand. The money from the house sale had not arrived yet, and she had no proof to offer. It was only natural that the collectors did not trust her.

By the time she finished the last call, the sky outside was pitch black. Only Qin Yu and his two apprentices were still busy in the studio, the lamplight falling on their focused faces, carrying a pleasant sense of youthful energy. Seeing her rubbing her eyes, Qin Yu hesitated before standing up and handing her a blanket.

“Senior Sister, there is a lounge upstairs. Go lie down for a bit; I will leave a light on for you.”

Su Xiao did not refuse. She took the blanket and went upstairs. Her energy was at its limit; if she did not rest, her body would go on strike. The lounge had only a narrow sofa. She curled up on it, wrapping the blanket tightly, yet she still felt cold. She tossed and turned until the latter half of the night before finally drifting into a muddled sleep.

The alarm went off before five in the morning. Su Xiao sat up, rubbing her head as the blanket slid to the floor. The sky was just beginning to turn gray. She picked up the blanket and folded it, then walked downstairs quietly. She said goodbye to Qin Yu, who was still downstairs, and hailed a car to the Su estate.

The funeral hall at the old estate was already set up. Her father’s portrait was placed in the center; the man in the black frame was smiling gently, exactly as she remembered him. Old Madam Su sat in a chair in the corner. When she saw Su Xiao enter, she still did not give her a kind look, but she did not make things difficult for her either.

Su Xiao walked to the front of the altar, knelt, and kowtowed three times to her father. Too many things had piled up lately, and she had not been able to keep a proper vigil for him. She only hoped that she could smoothly send him off on this final journey today.

“Old Madam,” the butler whispered, coming over. “The Yan family’s car has arrived at the gate.”

“I suppose you are of some use after all,” Old Madam Su scoffed, glancing sideways at Su Xiao before getting up to receive the guests.

Old Madam Yan, supported by Zhou Manyun, walked in slowly. Both were dressed in somber colors with expressionless faces. Old Madam Yan shook hands with Old Madam Su and exchanged pleasantries. Seeing that Yan Mingshen was not there, Zhou Manyun shot a glance at Su Xiao but said nothing.

The atmosphere was silent and oppressive. The Yan family had always looked down on the Sus. In the past, with her father there, both sides could maintain a facade of warmth. Now that he was gone, the fact that the Yans had even shown up was only because she had exhausted her own face.

Before long, mourners began to arrive in succession: regular customers of the gallery, her father’s old friends, and some distant relatives whose names she could not recall. The Tang family also sent someone—Tang Yi, the youngest grandson of the Tangs. He held an envelope. “My grandfather asked me to give this to you. He said he could not help much with Uncle Su’s matter, so please accept this small token.”

Su Xiao gripped the envelope, her fingertips trembling as she thanked him repeatedly.

Halfway through the proceedings, Yan Mingshen finally arrived. He was wearing a black suit and his hair was neatly combed, but there was a trace of fatigue between his brows. Xia Zhi followed beside him, also having changed into a somber dress, holding a bouquet of white chrysanthemums. Her face was pale, and she leaned closer to Yan Mingshen with a timid appearance.

Seeing the two of them standing side by side at the door, the nausea Su Xiao had managed to suppress surged back up. She looked away, ignored him, and turned to continue attending to the guests. However, Zhou Manyun’s expression shifted slightly, and she exchanged a look with Old Madam Yan.

As the funeral drew to a close, most of the guests had dispersed. Only a few servants remained in the hall, tidying up the wreaths. Old Madam Su was standing under the eaves talking to the Yan family members, their voices very low. Up until the moment Su Xiao sent off the last elder, she and Yan Mingshen had not spoken a single word.

Regarding what happened yesterday, he had not offered a single word of explanation. Why agree to something if he could not do it? It was like this every time. Su Xiao sighed and turned toward the back corridor to pack things up.

But she happened upon Xia Zhi and Yan Mingshen in a corner. The two were pressed tightly together, their bodies mostly hidden by a pillar. The half of Xia Zhi’s face that was visible was filled with desire. Her shoulders were partially exposed, and her eyes were slightly narrowed. One of Yan Mingshen’s hands was still clamped around her waist.

They were entangled. The man’s low, heavy breathing reached her ears.

Were they really this impatient? Did they have to embarrass her at her father’s funeral? Su Xiao was livid. She turned and went around to the back of the house, grabbing a cat from the Old Madam’s room.

Under the eaves of the corridor, just a wall away from her, Yan Mingshen was lowering his head to fix Xia Zhi’s partially exposed shoulder strap, his movements intimate. Su Xiao flicked her wrist, and the orange cat in her arms was thrown forcefully along the arc of the eaves.

The fat cat, caught off guard, flew through the air in a curve. With a startled “meow” and bristling fur, it landed right on the bluestone slab at Xia Zhi’s feet.

“Ah!”

Xia Zhi’s scream shattered the final solemnity of the funeral hall. Her face went deathly pale instantly, and she shook like a leaf. She desperately tried to shrink into Yan Mingshen’s arms, her high heel twisting and nearly causing Yan Mingshen to stumble as well.

“A cat! There’s a cat!” she cried out incoherently, her nails digging hard into Yan Mingshen’s arm. “Mingshen! Get it away! Quick, get it away!”

The orange cat, startled by her scream, arched its back and hissed at her, its fluffy tail standing straight up. The people talking under the eaves turned in shock at the noise. Old Madam Su’s brow snapped together. “This is a funeral; why are you screaming like you’ve seen a ghost?”

Old Madam Yan saw the chaos and her face turned dark enough to drip water. “What is going on?” she asked sternly, her cane thumping the ground.

Xia Zhi could no longer speak; she could only focus on burrowing into Yan Mingshen’s embrace. That panicked and frantic look was a world away from the seductive poise she had shown in the corner moments ago. In the eyes of the elders, it added a layer of unrefined, petty behavior.

Old Madam Su scoffed and shot Xia Zhi a displeased look. “You’re a grown woman; are you really that afraid of a cat? Aren’t you afraid of being a laughingstock?”

Old Madam Yan’s expression grew even worse. She had already harbored some disapproval over Xia Zhi’s intimate behavior with Yan Mingshen at the funeral. Seeing her like this now, she merely shook her head and said nothing more.

Su Xiao watched the group in a mess, especially Xia Zhi looking like she wanted to sink into the ground. She felt a surge of righteous satisfaction.

Once the funeral was over, Su Xiao went to Xu An’s house. Xu An had gone to a film set, so the house was empty. Su Xiao sent her a message, skillfully entered the code, and turned on the lights. The living room was empty. Su Xiao curled up on the sofa and opened the envelope Tang Yi had given her.

Inside the envelope was a bank card and a note.