Su Rou thought she would be harassed by Wen Haotian's phone calls all night, but unexpectedly, he stopped calling later.
"Could he have silently sent someone to look for me?" Su Rou asked worriedly.
Su Yuze put his arm around her shoulder. "No one followed us when I took you out."
"He has really changed." Su Rou found it unbelievable. After all, Wen Haotian was very angry the first time she went on a date with Su Yuze.
"Hehe... Do you want to go back then?" Su Yuze asked.
"Of course not." Su Rou definitely didn't want to go home.
Su Yuze took Su Rou out for a stroll until after eleven o'clock before they got home. Wen Haotian still didn't call, and no one came to track her down. It seemed that Wen Haotian was going to loosen his control over her this time.
...
Su Rou was half a class late when she went to school the next day. Jiang Ling was auditing a finance course. When he saw Su Rou coming, he was a bit worried. "Xiaorou, why are you late? Are you not feeling well again?"
"Ah... No, I didn't sleep well." Su Rou explained, then covered her mouth and yawned. Su Yuze didn't let her sleep much last night. He just kept teasing her.
"Didn't sleep well?" Jiang Ling was a bit puzzled. What did she mean by not sleeping well?
But soon, after Su Rou sat down, she subconsciously brushed her long hair. Jiang Ling, sitting beside her, caught a glimpse of a red dot on her neck, a very ambiguous mark.
"Well, I went to bed late." Su Rou said.
"... Oh." Jiang Ling's eyes were fixed on the part of Su Rou's neck that was blocked by her long hair. He hadn't experienced such things, but it didn't mean he didn't understand. That ambiguous mark... should be a hickey! Xiaorou was with her boyfriend last night, wasn't she!
After school in the afternoon, Wen Haotian came to pick up Su Rou in person. When Su Rou saw him, she raised her eyebrows slightly. In fact, she was a bit disgusted with Wen Haotian's behavior that was like surveillance. Wasn't she the daughter Wen Haotian had been trying to recognize? Then why did he treat her like this?
"Xiaorou, get in the car quickly. Let's go home." Wen Haotian was sitting in the driver's seat. When he saw Su Rou coming out, he even opened the passenger door for her.
Su Rou walked over, put her hand on the car door, looked at Wen Haotian's smiling face, then closed the passenger door and walked towards the back seat instead. She opened the door and got in.
"..." Wen Haotian saw through the rear - view mirror that Su Rou had sat down. He was silent for a while, then started the engine and drove away without saying a word.
"Xiaorou, where did you go to play yesterday?" Wen Haotian asked.
Su Rou was propping her chin and looking out of the window at the scenery that was quickly receding. She said casually, "Restaurant, cinema, central square..."
Su Rou's answer was concise, but at least she had replied. Wen Haotian listened and nodded silently. "Do you have enough money?" He suddenly remembered that since Su Rou came, he had been restricting her pocket money. The pocket money he gave her was not even one - tenth of Wen Tong's.
In fact, Wen Haotian was subconsciously worried that Su Rou would run away! So after giving her a little pocket money when he first sent her to school, he never gave her any more. It was really strange... Why didn't she ever ask him for money?
"Yeah." Su Rou answered, then continued to look out of the window.
Wen Haotian was actually a bit nervous when he asked that question. What if Su Rou asked him for a large sum of money and then ran away? Fortunately... Su Rou didn't ask for money.
Wen Haotian was relieved, then continued to drive without saying anything more.
When they got back to the Wen family, Aunt Yue brought the decocted medicine to Su Rou. "Miss, come on. Drink it while it's hot."
"Thank you."
Su Rou took the bowl. Since Su Yuze wasn't waiting for her this time, she could drink it slowly.
Wen Haotian saw her sitting obediently on the sofa and starting to drink the traditional Chinese medicine. He smiled in satisfaction and then went upstairs.
At this time, Yao Yu came back. As soon as she entered the house, she smelled the strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine. She waved her hand in front of her nose. "Xiaorou, you're back."
"Yeah."
"Did you have fun... yesterday?" Yao Yu asked gently.
"Yeah." Su Rou finished the medicine with a bitter face, then put a piece of chocolate into her mouth.
Yao Yu smiled. Talking to Su Rou like this gave her a long - lost sense of warmth. If... it weren't for Wen Haotian, she thought she should be able to have a good talk with Xiaorou about mother - daughter feelings.
"Then you..." Yao Yu wanted to ask something else, but when Su Rou leaned back, Yao Yu accidentally caught a glimpse of the faint and ambiguous mark on her neck. Her words suddenly stopped.
She was an experienced person and of course knew what it was. But... how could Xiaorou have a boyfriend so soon? Was it that guy named Jiang Ling? But leaving a hickey in that place, was their relationship developing too fast?
Moreover, this was the United States, where the customs were open. But Su Rou was a Chinese after all. "Xiaorou, have you got a boyfriend?"
"What?"
"Mom doesn't object to you having a boyfriend. You just need to pay attention to safety." Yao Yu reminded gently. "I won't tell your dad."
"..." Su Rou reached out and touched her neck. Yao Yu must have seen something and misunderstood. "Oh, I see."
"Yeah, in the future..."
Yao Yu's words were only half - said when Wen Haotian's voice came from the stairs. "Xiaoyu, come here for a moment."
"..."
Yao Yu looked at Wen Haotian, then smiled at Su Rou and got up to go over.
Su Rou silently observed Yao Yu's back. She wondered if it was just her illusion, but it always seemed that every time Yao Yu wanted to talk to her, Wen Haotian would come and call her away. What was going on?
Yao Yu was pulled into the room by Wen Haotian. "What did you say to Xiaorou?"
"I didn't say anything. I just asked her where she went to play last night... Haotian, are you being too paranoid!" Yao Yu frowned and said.
"How do I know if you'll tell Xiaorou everything? Didn't I tell you? You'd better talk to Xiaorou less!" Wen Haotian turned a deaf ear to Yao Yu's accusation.
"You... are unreasonable!"
"Say whatever you want."
...
When Su Yuze went to the company the next day, Ian came in with a document in his arms. His face was a bit excited. "President! President!"
Su Yuze was looking at the stock market trend. When he saw Ian coming in, he asked, "What's up?"
"We've got news!" Ian said. "There's news about Wen Haotian!"
Su Yuze became interested. "Tell me."