Song Qi'an left with Zhou Sui, and He Xiaoqing looked at Song Yuan in disbelief.
"Brother Yuan, is what Song Qi'an said true?" She left the printing factory because Song Yuan wanted to protect her, but Song Yuan clearly said it was to prevent her from suffering and to allow her to have a healthy pregnancy.
However, her job was not tiring at all; on the contrary, it was quite easy. Moreover, her supervisor at the time had even hinted, intentionally or unintentionally, that he would have her take over after he retired.
Song Yuan's eyes darted away. "He's talking nonsense. I just don't want to see you suffer too much during your pregnancy. My salary is enough to support our whole family."
His expression had already told He Xiaoqing the real answer: disappointment, disbelief, and distress—these emotions kept appearing on He Xiaoqing's face.
"You're still lying to me!" He Xiaoqing shouted angrily, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Xiao Qing." Seeing that she was serious, Song Yuan quickly explained, "I had no choice about what happened back then. Our ranks and salary levels are what they are. If I left the printing factory, what could you do with your salary?"
“Now I’m the deputy factory director, and my salary is several times higher than before, plus bonuses, which is why my family is doing well. If I had left back then, wouldn’t all the hard work of the past few years have been for nothing?”
Song Yuan is a selfish person at heart. He will consider his own interests first in many things and put himself first. It is absolutely impossible for him to give up the job he has worked hard for for several years.
Even if He Xiaoqing had known about this at the time, he would have tried to persuade her to leave.
"Think about it carefully. Did the money you used to buy a house for your parents and to open a shop for them in the past two years all come from my dividends? Without these dividends, even if I wanted to help, I wouldn't be able to."
"Don't be angry. What happened back then was my fault. I was too eager to make money. I was afraid that without money, I wouldn't be able to give you and the children a good life."
As Song Yuan spoke, he observed He Xiaoqing's expression. Seeing that she was slowly softening, he continued, "To apologize to you, how about we go to the most famous Western restaurant in the city for dinner today, and then we'll go to the mall to buy a set of jewelry? I'll buy you anything you like, okay?"
He knew He Xiaoqing too well; he knew how to coax her effectively. Seeing He Xiaoqing wiping away tears and remaining silent, Song Yuan knew that there was a 70-80% chance that he could win her over.
"How about this, if you still want to go to work, we can hire a nanny to do housework and take care of the children, so you can still go to work, okay?"
He Xiaoqing finally spoke, "We'll find a nanny tomorrow."
"Okay, don't worry, I will find a suitable nanny as quickly as possible." Song Yuan put his arm around He Xiaoqing and said a few more sweet and flattering words, which made He Xiaoqing laugh, and then he laughed along with her.
In reality, Song Yuan had already cursed Song Qi'an to the core. If it weren't for him, he wouldn't have needed to spend so much money.
"Achoo!" At that moment, Song Qi'an sneezed. Zhou Sui looked at him with concern, "Did you catch a cold?"
Song Qi'an shook his head. "No, it was just a sneeze."
There are a lot of people catching colds lately, and Zhou Sui was a little worried, so she poured a cup of hot water for Song Qi'an, saying, "Drink some hot water first."
After Zhou Sui finished doing all this, she turned around and found Zhao Wenxiu and Uncle Qi looking at them with smiles in their eyes. Zhou Sui was so embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole in the ground again. How could she have forgotten that there were other people around?
"That's good, that's good." Uncle Qi smiled as he looked at the two of them. "Qi An now has someone who cares about him."
No, Zhou Sui wanted to argue a bit, but Uncle Qi didn't give her a chance at all. "Come on, Qi An, Sui Sui, let me have a drink with you. I wish you a happy new year, good health and peace, and all the best."
"Uncle Qi, I'll drink with Sui Sui. We drove here, and if we both drink, we won't be able to drive back." As soon as Zhou Sui's hand touched the wine glass, Song Qi'an took it from her.
"Alright, it's only right that you drink it for her." Uncle Qi didn't make things difficult for them. He clinked glasses with Song Qi'an, and the two of them drank it all in one gulp.
Zhou Sui didn't dare to look up. She always felt that Zhao Wenxiu and Uncle Qi seemed to know about their relationship, but neither of them had said it outright.
She originally only wanted to pretend to be an ordinary friend, but Song Qi'an took such good care of her that it was hard for anyone standing nearby not to notice.
Of the three people at the table, Zhao Wenxiu was the only one who spoke a little less. The other three were able to quickly get into conversation. Zhou Sui noticed that whenever a new topic was brought up, Uncle Qi would intentionally or unintentionally pull Zhao Wenxiu into the conversation so that she wouldn't be left out.
In addition, Zhou Sui also noticed that Uncle Qi took very good care of Zhao Wenxiu. There were many dishes on the table, but Uncle Qi only picked out the ones that Zhao Wenxiu liked to eat.
Take that steamed fish for example. Zhao Wenxiu picked up the fish twice with her chopsticks, and for the third bite, she didn't even have to lift a finger. Uncle Qi picked it up for her and even removed all the fish bones.
Zhao Wenxiu didn't find this thoughtful behavior offensive. Zhou Sui ate her meal, but every now and then she would glance at the two of them. Her woman's intuition told her that there was definitely something going on between them.
The meal lasted until 9 p.m., and both Song Qi'an and Uncle Qi drank quite a bit, but their minds remained clear.
“Aunt Wenxiu, I have a spare room. Why don’t you come and stay at my place?”
Song Qi'an has other houses in the city, so Zhao Wenxiu doesn't have to worry about finding a place to live, but Zhou Sui still politely extended an invitation.
"Auntie won't go with you, so as not to trouble you," Zhao Wenxiu said, waving her hand. She always felt that the older generation and the younger generation had different lifestyles, so it was better not to disturb them.
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