On Monday, Su Rou followed Su Yuze to work at Shengshi. But as soon as they reached the president's office, they saw a figure standing inside. Su Yuze and Su Rou both halted in their tracks.
"Grandpa," Su Yuze said, putting his arm around Su Rou. "Why are you here?"
Su Rongqi turned around and looked at them. His eyes especially lingered on the arm Su Yuze had around Su Rou. Then he looked at them again. "Yuze, have you grown up so much that you don't even listen to your grandpa's words?"
"I've always listened to your words, Grandpa," Su Yuze replied.
"Then why didn't you come to the family dinner yesterday?" Su Rongqi asked sternly, then motioned towards Su Rou with his chin. "Is it because of Xiaorou? Look at the two of you. In broad daylight..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but any adult could understand what he meant. Su Rou looked at Su Rongqi blankly. "We didn't... in the daytime."
"Xiaorou'er," Su Yuze called her softly. "Don't blurt out everything." How could she be so honest?
"Okay..." Su Rou realized that she had just wanted to explain that she and Su Yuze hadn't done anything improper. But then she suddenly thought that there was no need to explain this topic. They were in a relationship. Why couldn't they be together? It was just that Su Rongqi's expression had been so serious just now, as if she had done something wrong, which was why she had subconsciously tried to explain.
Su Rongqi looked at Su Rou. "Xiaorou, do you know that you're holding Yuze back?" Although they could be together now, to the outside world, she was still his younger sister. If this got out, it would sound really bad.
"Grandpa, you came here to see me today, right?" Su Yuze hid Su Rou behind him and said to Su Rongqi, taking all the blame on himself.
"Yuze, protecting her like this won't change the fact..."
Su Rou looked at the tall figure in front of her, the shelter that could protect her from the wind and rain, the reliable support that always stood up for her. She squeezed Su Yuze's hand and took a few steps to the side, coming out from behind him.
"Grandpa Su, I'm not a member of the Su family, but I won't do anything to harm him," she said. By calling him "Grandpa Su", she had clearly defined their relationship.
"Isn't this harming him? Do you believe that if the news of you and Yuze being together gets out, how much gossip Yuze will have to endure?" Su Rongqi said. Did they really think they could keep this a secret? "You're just holding Yuze back!"
Su Rou was about to say something when Su Yuze interrupted her. "Grandpa, whether she's holding me back or not is up to me. Why should I be afraid of gossip? As long as I clarify that Xiaorou'er isn't a member of the Su family, isn't that okay?" He never thought of Xiaorou'er as a burden.
"You..." Su Rongqi's face darkened completely. "Do you know what the consequence of this getting out will be? How will the outside world view our Su family? A little girl suddenly appears, is raised by the Su family for eighteen years, but in the end, she's not a member of the Su family. Do you think this 'green hat' is going to be a big one?" This was a scandal of a wealthy family. That was why he had been suppressing the news ever since he found out that Su Rou wasn't a member of the Su family!
"Embarrassing?" Su Yuze said calmly. "It's my mistake, and I'll take the responsibility."
"You?" Su Rongqi scoffed. "You may not care about the embarrassment, but I do!" He was more concerned about his reputation.
"I won't let the Su family be shamed."
"Do you think that's possible?"
"If I use a bit of my power, I think... I should be able to suppress it."
Su Rongqi's eyes were cold. "Yuze, don't make promises you can't keep." How far could the public opinion spread? Could they really silence everyone's mouths?
"Grandpa, just wait and see."
Su Rongqi looked at him for a long time, then suddenly twitched the corner of his mouth. "I'd like to see how you're going to make me wait and see!"
...
Su Rongqi's visit was actually expected by Su Yuze. After all, his grandpa thought so highly of him, so there was no reason for him not to come and persuade him in person. He just didn't expect that the first time he came, it wasn't to ask him to go home, but to have a thorough talk with him about Xiaorou'er's identity.
Actually, his original plan was to publicly announce Xiaorou'er's identity after returning to the country, so that they could be together openly.
Su Rongqi's words just served as a catalyst. That night, Su Rou leaned on Su Yuze's leg and asked softly, "Brother Ze, are you really going to make our relationship public?"
"Yeah. Or do you prefer the feeling of having a secret affair?" Su Yuze said with a smile.
"I don't mind, but as Grandpa Su said, a lot of people will gossip, right?"
"Are you scared?" Su Yuze raised his eyebrows and asked.
"I'm not scared... but I'm afraid that they'll say bad things about you." This was probably a big issue regarding reputation.
"I'll take precautions. Actually, this is for the sake of the Su family." Since Su Rongqi cared so much about his reputation, he might as well put his mind at ease. In fact, their relationship had nothing to do with others. Whether it was made public or not didn't really matter to him.
Su Rou smiled lightly. "Grandpa Su is just afraid that the media will point their fingers at him. If you do this, they'll point at you instead." There might be paparazzi following him around as soon as he stepped out of the house.
"So I'm doing him a favor. As long as you're no longer a member of the Su family, Grandpa won't have the right to say anything about us anymore."
"Okay." Su Rou thought for a while and suddenly laughed.
"What are you laughing at?"
"I'm thinking that if you do this, how many women in the whole city will be jealous of me?" Su Yuze was very popular. If he announced their relationship, how many women's hearts would be broken? As far as she knew, there were quite a few women in the company who had a crush on Su Yuze.
Su Yuze stroked his chin and thought for a while, then said, "Well, come to think of it, maybe I shouldn't make the announcement so soon."
Su Rou's face changed slightly. She reached out her small hand and patted his chest. "What do you mean?"
Su Yuze burst out laughing. He grabbed her hand and kissed it. "I'm just joking. Actually, I should be the one who's more worried." He was worried that Xiaorou'er was still so young and easily influenced by the outside world. One of the reasons he wanted to make the announcement was to hold on to her tightly and mark her as his own, so that no one else would dare to have any thoughts about her.
"What do you have to worry about?" Su Rou was confused.
"For the same reason that you're worried about me."
Su Rou raised her eyebrows. "That doesn't seem right."
Su Yuze looked at her. "There's nothing wrong with it. I'm just an ordinary man, so of course I'll worry."