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Chapter 13: Xie Yanli, are you trying to take advantage of me?

When Xu Qin heard Song Qiao speak to her like that, her face darkened and she snapped back fiercely, “Song Qiao, how dare you order me to stand in line? You haven’t even married into the Chen family yet, and you already think you can boss me around? What will you be like in the future?”

Xu Qin’s reaction was exactly what Song Qiao had expected — she knew reasoning with Xu Qin was pointless.

She had skipped breakfast earlier because she was busy arguing with Chen Yang, and now that lunch had passed, she was starving. Given her job, she often got so busy that she forgot to eat, so her stomach had always been sensitive. Whenever she got too hungry, she would have stomach pains.

At that moment, her stomach was already aching faintly, and she knew she needed to eat something immediately to ease the pain. She also knew Xu Qin wouldn’t care about that. Keeping her expression calm, she said, “Auntie, I still have a lot to do this afternoon. Since someone’s here to accompany you, I won’t stay and spoil the mood. I’ll head out first.”

Just as she was about to leave, Xu Qin barked, “Song Qiao, did I say you could go? Young people these days don’t know how to respect their elders. Is this how your parents raised you?”

When Song Qiao heard her dragging her parents into it, she couldn’t tolerate it anymore.

Turning around and suppressing her anger, she replied, “Of course my parents taught me to respect my elders. But respect is mutual. Perhaps you should reflect on how you’ve acted as an elder — maybe it’s something you did that made the younger generation lose respect for you.”

Xu Qin instantly flew into a rage. She furrowed her brows, pointed angrily at Song Qiao, and shouted, “Are you saying I’m not worthy of your respect? I know you city people look down on us folks from the countryside, but let me tell you — whether you like it or not, once you marry into the Chen family, you’ll have to obey and be filial to me!”

Song Qiao took a deep breath and was about to argue when Lin Shiyu quickly tried to smooth things over.

“Auntie, it’s not worth harming your health over such a trivial matter. Song Qiao didn’t mean what she said. If you’d like to eat here, I’ll stand in line for you.”

Upon hearing that, Xu Qin immediately softened her tone and expression. “Shiyu, you’re such a good child. It’s a pity my Chen Yang doesn’t have the fortune to appreciate you. He’s blind and can’t choose a proper wife.”

Her last sentence was dripping with sarcasm.

Song Qiao’s stomach pain was intensifying, and she didn’t want to argue with Xu Qin anymore. Just as she was about to leave, a sharply dressed man walked up to her and asked, “Excuse me, are you Miss Song Qiao?”

Song Qiao sized him up and confirmed she didn’t know him. She asked in confusion, “Yes, and you are?”

The man immediately smiled warmly. “Hello, Miss Song. I’m the general manager of the Qinghe Banquet restaurant. Our President Shen happened to see you waiting in line while dining upstairs with friends. He specially arranged a table for you and your family. Since he’s busy entertaining guests, he asked me to invite you on his behalf.”

“President Shen? Who’s that?”

“Shen Huaichuan — he’s the owner of this restaurant.”

Song Qiao suddenly understood. So it was Shen Huaichuan.

Shen Huaichuan was a friend of Xie Yanli, and she naturally didn’t want to get too entangled with him. But before she could refuse, Xu Qin rudely spoke up to the manager, “Well then, you lead the way. I’ve been hungry for a long time.”

The manager quickly bowed and said, “Auntie, please follow me.” He led them into the restaurant.

Xu Qin and Lin Shiyu followed the restaurant manager. Song Qiao thought to herself — since they’d already gone inside, and since she technically owed Shen Huaichuan a favor, plus she really needed to eat now, she might as well go too. With that in mind, she followed the crowd into the restaurant.

The restaurant manager arranged for them to sit in a private room on the sixth floor by the window — a prime spot known to all patrons of the restaurant.

Naturally, Xu Qin sat next to Lin Shiyu, while Song Qiao sat opposite them. After they settled in, the manager personally recommended some dishes. Yet Xu Qin pretended not to see Song Qiao and only asked Lin Shiyu’s opinion while ordering.

After she finished, she told the manager, “Alright, that’ll be all.”

The restaurant manager, ever shrewd, knew exactly whose favor they were dining on. He turned to Song Qiao with a polite smile and asked, “Miss Song, is there anything you’d like to eat?”

By now, Song Qiao was so hungry her chest felt like it was collapsing into her back. Without hesitation, she said, “Please bring me something quick, hot, and soothing for the stomach.”

The manager thought for a moment and replied, “Miss Song, would you like to try our Three Delicacies Soup? It’s warm, low in calories, nutritious, and perfect for ladies who like to maintain their figure.”

Song Qiao subtly rubbed her stomach under the table. “That’s fine. I’ll have that.”

The manager smiled politely and left after closing the door.

As soon as he left, Lin Shiyu smiled and struck up a conversation with Song Qiao. “Song Qiao, this restaurant is quite famous in Beijing. Their managers are usually pretty aloof — they don’t treat other customers this attentively. You got us a great private room and he even helped us order. You must be close with the owner?”

Lin Shiyu’s words instantly reminded Xu Qin. Xu Qin looked at Song Qiao, her eyes full of suspicion and caution. “Song Qiao, what exactly is your relationship with the owner of this restaurant?”

Song Qiao knew Xu Qin was overthinking again. On top of her stomachache, her abdomen was hurting badly now, and she felt completely drained. She didn’t want to explain too much or get entangled in this pointless conversation.

To keep things simple, she replied lightly, “He’s my high school classmate.”

Xu Qin’s gaze wavered, and she stared at Song Qiao again. “Is that all?”

Seeing her suspicious look again, Song Qiao blurted out, “Auntie, I know what you’re thinking. As a classmate and the owner of this restaurant, it’s not a big deal for him to offer me a private room. If I really had something going on with him, Chen Yang wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

Xu Qin pursed her lips in dissatisfaction and was about to speak when Song Qiao stood up and said, “I’m going to the restroom.”

Without waiting for a response, she left the room. As she walked, she suddenly felt a warm flow in her lower abdomen — she realized her period had come.

Because of her cold constitution, she always suffered from painful cramps during her period. The thought of that wrenching abdominal pain filled her with dread.

Unfortunately, no matter how many hospitals or traditional Chinese medicine doctors she had consulted before, nothing had helped. Thankfully, she had come prepared with sanitary pads in her bag, so she didn’t need to buy any.

Clutching her stomach, she endured the pain and went to the restroom. After she finished and came out, the cramps were still intensifying, and fine beads of sweat quickly appeared on her forehead. Her whole body felt weak, and every step felt like walking on cotton.

Now she just wanted to get back to the private room quickly, eat something warm, and sit down to rest.

But just as she rounded the corner by the stairs, clutching her stomach, she accidentally bumped straight into someone. Her bag fell to the floor.

She gritted her teeth through the pain and was about to bend down to pick it up when a pair of fair, slender hands quickly reached down and picked up her bag for her.

Song Qiao took the bag from the man with a smile and said, “Thank you.” Then she looked up — and her face froze in shock. It was Xie Yanli.

Right now, rumors about him were flying all over Beijing, yet here he was, leisurely eating out.

Song Qiao had originally wanted to express some concern — after all, she was somewhat involved in the rumors — but when the words reached her lips, she didn’t know how to say them.

Xie Yanli, usually cold and distant, showed a slight change of expression when he saw Song Qiao. He quickly noticed something was off with her.

He couldn’t help but think back to when they were dating — whenever Song Qiao had her period, she looked exactly like this.

His gaze inadvertently fell on the back of her skirt and noticed a faint stain. He remembered back when they were dating, she had once come to watch him play basketball, and the same thing had happened.

Back then, he had awkwardly pointed it out like a clueless guy, and Song Qiao, after glancing at the crowd, blushed furiously and stormed off in embarrassment.

He had to coax her for a long time before she forgave him. From then on, they had agreed that if it ever happened again, he’d just poke her lower back discreetly.

Snapping back to the present, Xie Yanli noticed people walking by around them. He leaned in closer to Song Qiao and gently poked her lower back with his finger.

Just as he was about to speak, Song Qiao, gritting her teeth through the pain, shoved him hard. Holding her stomach, she glared at him warily and asked, “Xie Yanli, what are you doing getting so close to me in broad daylight? Are you trying to take advantage of me?”

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