Chapter 120 — Family Meeting

Shocked, it was Mother Su's turn to freeze. It took her quite a few seconds to regain her calm.

"So I'm now a meddler just because I want my daughter to be treated right? It's fine. Since you're now so grown up and can take care of yourself, do what you like. As I'm not needed here, I'm leaving!"

She then stormed out. Jiang Philip took a moment to settle Su Qianhua on the sofa before running after Mother Su to apologize and smooth things over.

Because he came back alone a few minutes later, Su Qianhua could guess that her mother was still angry. Hot tears clouded her vision.

She regretted speaking to her mother like that. Despite their frequent bickering, they really loved each other, and this was the first time in many years that they were having a major fight.

Why is it that the easiest people to hurt are those you claim to love very much?

Jiang Philip sat by her and comforted her. He was unsurprisingly skillful— Su Qianhua's many breakdowns since the news of the pregnancy had given him ample experience.

After he cleaned her face, he stood up to put the remaining things Mother Su brought away. When he turned, Su Qianhua had gotten ice from the refrigerator and a napkin. She beckoned to him.

"Take off your shirt."

Jiang Philip stared at her.

"Hurry, I need to check your back. My mother is heavy handed. Don't underestimate her attack power." Su Qianhua explained.

Ohhhhh, so that was it, Jiang Philip thought as he unbuttoned his shirt.

True to her words, his back was a mass of red palm prints. He didn't feel it before, but when Su Qianhua began to touch it gently, he almost shouted.

"I'm so sorry. Does it hurt badly?" Su Qianhua sounded tearful again.

"It's alright, not that bad. Her hands were quite painful though, does she lift weights?" He joked in an attempt to lighten up the atmosphere.

"She doesn't need to. She's already as strong as an ox. I inherited it from her." Su Qianhua said, carefully holding the cold compress to his back.

"I should thank you for going easy on me then, not beating me up the day we found out about the pregnancy." He meant it as a joke, but after he touched on the topic, he realized it was a sore spot, so he kept quiet.

"It's something we did together. It's not like you forced me or anything. You don't need to tiptoe around me." She finally responded quietly.

Both of them fell silent. For a few seconds, only the ticking of the clock in the living room could be heard. Then Jiang Philip said.

"You know, I doubt you are that strong. Your touches feel like butterflies —ahhhhh!"

Su Qianhua applied just a bit of force on his back and he ended up groaning in pain. She smirked. "What do you think?"

Jiang Philip was in too much pain to speak, but he still smiled.

Because for the first time since her mother left, Su Qianhua had a smile on her face.

*****

Family meetings for most people meant a gathering of family members to chat, discuss or generally spend time together.

But for aristocratic families in the Capital, they were only held to announce important events, therefore the scale was usually quite grand.

Tonight, the Han family had gathered for a meeting called by the patriarch. It was held at the Old Villa, where the patriarch lived. The atmosphere was very sombre. The first house were all in mourning clothes, though they had to be low-key since the news of Han Zhi's death had not been announced yet.

His mother, Liu Zhizhen was very quiet, occasionally wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. She was the only one fully dressed for mourning, while her husband only wore black pants and her daughter had a black hat and dark sunglasses on.

Nevertheless, the way they sat together with identical looks on their faces made them stand out differently.

Han Jingse and her mother had already given their condolences earlier. Now, they sat down opposite the first house, waiting for the patriarch to speak.

Pan Yinli was already begin to fidget due to the long silence. She was sure that the meeting was going to be favorable for them, so she could not understand the Old Man's need for suspense.

This Han family and their disgustingly pretentious behavior!

Han Jingse, who sat beside her mother put a hand on her lap, trying to silently warn her to stay still and stop attracting attention. Her father had his head bent, not paying attention to either of them. He looked timid, as always.

Finally, the patriarch — Han Jianfeng spoke. Though old, his voice still carried power and reverberated across the room.

"We all know what has happened to this family in the past few days."

"Yes Father." It was Pan Yinli, and her voice was overly eager. Han Jingse sighed. This mother of hers was just too silly.

Han Jianfeng only gave her a look, before he continued speaking unhurriedly.

"The reason I called this meeting is to determine the way forward. My condolences to the First House. It was a terrible event for all of us. But we cannot stay in the past. We have to move forward.

We are all here to discuss the direction our Han family should take now."

Han Jingse sneered secretly. He was using the word "discuss", but everyone knew that they were just here to listen to him announce his decision. Whenever he decided on something, there would be no room for any discussion.

Sure enough, he continued, "Han Zhi has gone to the great beyond, but Likang is still my first son, so for the time being, the First House will still have the leadership rights to the company."

It was as if someone poured gasoline on an already existing fire. Before Han Jingse could process things, her mother had already jumped up.

"No!"

Everyone looked at her, while Han Jingse facepalmed.

"Father, you're being too biased. This is not fair! There's no reason to leave the company to Brother-in-law when we are the same now. Let's share the leadership rights equally for now, and the first granddaughter to give you a male great-grandchild can inherit it. Doesn't that sound good?"

Han Jianfeng looked at her as if she was retarded. "Sit down."

"Father, you have not answered—"

"I said SIT DOWN NOW!" The sudden roar frightened Pan Yinli, and her earlier bravado evaporated. She sat down like a wilted celery stalk.

"Lixian, when will you learn to control your wife! How can she be shouting however she likes in front of me?" Han Jianfeng shouted at his second son, who only responded timidly "I'm sorry Father."

Han Jingse looked at her father in anger.

She sometimes felt irritated with her mother for never thinking things through, but the person she really hated was her father.