When Fang Shiqing returned, she was carrying a bunch of snacks. Guoguo spotted them and was overjoyed, running toward her on her little short legs.
"Godmother, I missed you so much."
Clutching Fang Shiqing's leg, Guoguo called out "godmother" sweetly, each word dripping with affection.
Su Hao rubbed his forehead, standing off to the side with his arms crossed, looking like a little adult, utterly resigned.
Su Banxia smiled as she stepped forward to take the snacks from Fang Shiqing's hands. "You bought so many snacks—are you sure you're not just bribing these two kids?"
Fang Shiqing shrugged, shaking out her sore hands as she scooped up Guoguo. "I'm bribing three kids," she said.
Carrying Guoguo over to the sofa, she sat down. Guoguo, eager to get to the snacks, crawled out of her arms. Su Banxia poured her a glass of water. "Next time, we go out together. You ran off on your own—you sure have the nerve!"
"It's not like you were there!"
Taking the water glass, Fang Shiqing took a sip, then suddenly remembered something. She turned to Su Banxia. "Oh, by the way, in a few days, there's the triennial industry exchange conference. Elites from both domestic and international circles will attend. President Pei will be there too. As his secretary, he'll take you along. If you have time recently, try to look up what topics the elites usually discuss at past conferences. Otherwise, it'll be awkward."
"Industry exchange conference?"
Su Banxia hadn't received any news about it yet. She paused before asking, "Will Pei Shaoze take me?"
Conferences like this—Lin Tongze should probably be returning to the country too.
Fang Shiqing nodded. "Of course. If he doesn't take you, who else would he take?"
Guoguo had eaten quite a few snacks. Worried it might be bad for her health, Su Banxia looked over at Su Hao, who was back to staring at his computer. "Xiao Hao, it's getting late. Take Guoguo to her room, tell her a story, and get her to sleep, okay?"
Su Hao glanced back at Guoguo, whose mouth was full of snacks. With a resigned sigh, he got up and led her to the bedroom.
Once the two kids were gone, Su Banxia turned to Fang Shiqing. "Shiqing, I'm in trouble."
"What is it?"
Fang Shiqing froze, frowning as she asked.
"Xiao Hao and Guoguo's father—I never mentioned him to you. I thought that after that night six years ago, I woke up and left, then went straight abroad. I assumed I'd never run into that person again—after all, the world isn't that small. But after I came back this time, I met him."
Su Banxia hadn't meant to hide this from Fang Shiqing, but some things are just hard to bring up all at once.
Fang Shiqing didn't seem overly surprised by her words. Instead, she said, "Xiao Hao and Guoguo's father is Pei Shaoze?"
It was phrased as a question, but her tone was already certain.
Su Banxia nodded and continued, "I thought that as long as I kept Pei Shaoze from seeing the kids, working at Dingsheng would be fine. But I didn't expect him to recognize me and demand that I be with him, or else he'd make me quit!"
"Damn!"
Fang Shiqing cursed. "What do you mean 'be with him'? Does he know Xiao Hao and Guoguo are his?"
"No!"
Fang Shiqing frowned. "That's strange. How could he make such a shameless request? You've only known each other for a few days—has he fallen for you?"
"No!"
Su Banxia shook her head. "He doesn't like me. He wants to keep an eye on me. Last time, when Dingsheng's system was hacked, he must have traced the IP address. So keeping me on is a way to monitor me. If I quit, he wouldn't have to bother investigating what my purpose is for joining Dingsheng."
Fang Shiqing frowned. "The company system got hacked—you did that?"
"Xiao Hao did."
Su Banxia looked a bit helpless. "I've been too busy lately to spend time with the kids, so..."
At that, Fang Shiqing gave Su Banxia a thumbs-up. "I salute your son. That's impressive!"
Su Banxia: "..."
Is this really the time for that?