Chapter 727: Chapter 260: Qin Shiqing’s Guilty Conscience
Winter vacation has arrived.
Su Zelin’s plans are pretty much the same as during the summer vacation.
He leaves immediately that afternoon, drives home overnight, stays for two nights, and then makes a trip to Lin’an.
The company won’t be on break that fast, there are year-end parties and dinners, and besides, he promised Yan Qiuwen he’d visit her parents.
He also needs to keep his girlfriend company, Nanaz will go home a bit later.
As for Qin Shiqing, it’s no big deal. After all, the two families are neighboring, and on long holidays, they see each other all the time.
The same five people, with the first-generation tool, Lu Haoran, knowingly sitting in the passenger seat.
He’s been in this position for years and is used to it.
Huang Panpan, as usual, buys a whole bunch of snacks.
The junior girl is a foodie, she loves snacking, and it’s her way to kill boredom during trips.
Fortunately, she seems to have a physique that doesn’t gain weight, her figure hasn’t changed over the years, still petite and delicate.
More importantly, she can use this as a way to feed Su Zelin and show off in front of her romantic rival.
"Senior, have some chips!"
"Senior, these raisins are quite sweet, give them a try."
"Senior, I peeled a macadamia nut for you!"
"Senior..."
The junior girl diligently hands snacks to Su Zelin, everything except plums.
She never buys or eats them.
Xiaoyanzi has seen this too often and can only shake her head.
Huang Panpan, no matter how much you try to get attention, what’s the use?
My bestie has long been secretly involved with Su Zelin!
But she didn’t use this to hit Huang Panpan.
After becoming an intern teacher, Xiaoyanzi’s temper isn’t as volatile, and even her words have softened a lot. She’s not like before, where she’d fire off like a machine gun.
Besides, even if she told Huang Panpan, it wouldn’t help; the junior girl is just an obsessively lovesick girl.
Even if she found out her friend was with Su Zelin, she’d still want to dig at the wall. You could see this even back in high school.
"Senior Lu, Xiaoyanzi, Shiqing, do you guys want some?"
Not just offering food to Su Zelin, Huang Panpan generously asks the others too.
After being in the student council for a few years, the junior girl learned some tact and composure.
If only she and Su Zelin ate snacks in the car, it’d seem stingy; she needed to appear open-minded to win others over.
"No, I’m dieting!"
Xiaoyanzi unhesitatingly declines.
Her temper improved, but her impression of the junior girl hasn’t changed. Moreover, standing by her bestie Qin Shiqing, she couldn’t accept Huang Panpan’s snacks.
"I get carsick easily, so I don’t eat anything in the car!"
Qin Shiqing also politely declined Huang Panpan’s goodwill.
Since Xiaoyanzi and Qin Shiqing didn’t take any, Lu Haoran dared not either. Despite Xiaoyanzi’s current gentleness, she’s still quite fierce when she raises her voice, so he found an excuse himself.
The others, however, are accepting. With a 300-kilometer journey, it takes a few hours to drive, and snacking helps stay awake.
Su Zelin discovered something.
Him eating snacks from Huang Panpan didn’t upset his childhood friend.
She genuinely wasn’t upset.
If Qin Shiqing hid her feelings, he would notice.
What’s the reason?
From high school to college, she’s long accustomed to Huang Panpan’s presence.
That’s why, when Huang Panpan once said on her birthday that she wanted to see him or she’d jump into the river, Qin Shiqing even encouraged him to meet her, worried that the junior girl might do something foolish.
If he had cheated with the junior girl, Qin Shiqing would be angry, but perhaps not as resolute.
So, Nanaz and Song Yuwei need to keep up appearances around her too.
By June, during his birthday, which coincides with graduation, it’d be an opportunity to introduce everyone. Besides, Qin Shiqing mentioned wanting to join New Era. By that time, she and Song Yuwei would be colleagues, and she’d gradually get used to a female assistant’s presence.
Contemplating strategies to win over his childhood friend, the trip seemed to fly by, and before they knew it, they reached Jianglan.
It was already nine o’clock in the evening.
Qin Shiqing’s parents and the Su family’s elders came out of the house as soon as they heard the engine.
"Shiqing, you’re back! Are you tired? Cold? You must be hungry; Auntie made lots of delicious food."
Zhao Lixia warmly asked when she saw the neighbor’s child.
"Mom, I’m the one driving, you know. Why aren’t you asking me?"
Su Zelin was dissatisfied.
As soon as he got home, the matriarch fussed over Qin Shiqing, leaving him feeling invisible.
For those not in the know, they might think you are her mom.
"What’s there to ask? You don’t get carsick!"
Granny Su was unfazed.
Her son had endless energy, had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when young, and probably didn’t know the meaning of "tiredness."
The matriarch thought if he admitted to exhaustion, there wouldn’t be so many girls around him. Wouldn’t it be less troublesome to deal with one at a time?
"Zelin has worked hard too!"
Liu Sufen was the one who kindly showed concern for her future son-in-law.
Su Jianjun and Qin Daqing weren’t as fussy as the women, and the two fathers were drawn to the newly changed Passat that Su Zelin drove this term, circling it with comments.
"This car is nice, more imposing than the Santana!"
"The interior is more luxurious too, after all, it’s a different price tier!"
"..."
This year, the Qin family also bought a car.
The shop premises they bought in the New District earlier had appreciated in value, and opening a New Era franchise also turned them a profit, so the couple decided to grit their teeth and got a Santana 2000.