The two Su children sat by the pond. Su Qingtang staring into the distance while Su Rui stared absentmindedly at her.
"Is there something on my face?" Su Qingtang asks. Kid you've been staring at me for five minutes now. Your making this aunt uncomfortable.
"Ah?!" He jolts back into reality before blushing and scratching his head. "Its just that you seem different somehow."
'Different?' Of course I'm different. Im not the Su Qingtang that you knew. "How so?"
He pauses to think while picking up a rock and skipping it over the water. It makes two skips before ultimately sinking. "Your eyes. They seem different." And your nicer to me than you were before.
Su Qingtang is startled. My eyes? She reaches up to touch her eyes before sighing dejectedly. No matter how well she acts she could never truly fool everyone could she?
"Is it a bad change?"
Su Rui shakes his head. Of course it wasn't. His older sis was the best how could she be bad? "No. Its just different, somehow."
Time floats by as they sit in the morning sun. Nothing much to do, except do nothing and enjoy the moment.
Footsteps lightly make their way towards them and they turn around to see Father Su. Su Qingtang stared at the older man who seemed to have aged another ten years in just a week. Somehow she felt like she was missing something.
"Father." Su Rui stand to his feet. Father Su smiles as he sits down beside Su Qingtang and bids Su Rui to sit with them as well.
He pauses a while before he begins speaking. "Rui and Qing-er, my children. Your father is getting old."
Su Qingtang glances at his hair which seemed to have tripled in white hairs since she last saw him and sighed discreetly before she turns back to look into the distance, lost in her thoughts for a moment before he begins speaking.
"The company is stable now, but with competitors out there with newer and fresher ideas pumping out different merchandise I cant say it'll stay that way for many more years." He sighed. A bit of a lost look in his eye.
"Don't say that father…" Su Rui weakly attempts to lighten the mood but it doesn't work and the atmosphere remains heavy and somber. Gravely serious.
Father Su reaches out and pats Su Rui on his shoulder comfortingly before he proceeds. "Qing-er, I know you have aspirations outside of the company. Aspirations you want to achieve by yourself and without the help of others-"
Filming. Su Qingtang looks over at father Su a strange expression on her face. It seemed he had known for a while but just hadn't said anything while silently accepting her choice. It hadn't been too long since she'd chosen filming but he knew anyway.
"-so I wont ask you to come to the company. Rui… you are my only son and it'd make this old man happy if you could take my place after I retire. That would make this old man very happy."
Su Rui freezes a bit, looking over at Su Qingtang for any type of rejection on her face.
Su Qingtang inwardly sighed once more. This younger brother of hers was really truly sensitive to the world around him.
"Your young and sharp. The company needs someone like you to take my place."
Su Rui sees no rejection on Su Qingtang's face and sighs. He truly hadn't seen this coming. Sure, he had always wanted to work at the company but with his relationship with his older sister he thought it was only fair if she was the one to inherit the business. Su company was cofounded by her mother after all.
"Dad, I need time."
Father Su laughs brightening the mood. "Of course. Take all the time you need. This old man isn't retiring anytime soon and your only sixteen. How irresponsible would I be to lead you into the wolves den so early for them to eat you up alive."
They laugh for a bit, finally all the tension is relied.
Su Qingtang sighed contentedly before she excuses herself to go to the bathroom.
"Speak now." Su Qingtang instructs the system. She could sense that it was itching to say something for a while now.
The system sighed in the corner. "It seems that there was a development we were unaware of."
"Unaware of a vital part of the plot!" Su Qingtang interjected. She was quickly forgetting to tell her key information and for conveniently not knowing anything.
The system was being blamed unjustly! "Host, a majority of the information I'm given about this plane is what the author had written in the novel version, which is highly biased and ridden with plot hosts. You can't blame me for this, can you?"
Su Qingtang rolled her eyes as she changes the subject. The system is a lot smarted than it seems she noted quietly. "The Su Family business. What's going on there?"
The system scratched his head. "It seems the data I have on this is incorrect… Originally, the novel itself implied that it was the female lead that had sunk the Su family business but now I'm not sure at all. It seems I'll have to consult the world-consciousness again."
Su Qingtang nodded. From the exchange earlier she could infer certain things.
Su Rui was an extremely sensitive boy, he must have felt the original Su Qingtang's dislike towards him. With this in mind he would have definitely rejected Father Su's offering of a place in the company as he would have thought he would be 'stealing' Su Qingtang' s spot which could probably worsen their already wobbly relationship. By some stroke of luck Su Qingtang had gone home and stopped this from happening. Father Su would definitely not force Su Qingtang to join the company so would keep wordlessly carrying the load, which was a key reason for the Su families eventual downfall in the hands of the female lead. It was the domino with the female lead setting off a chain reaction of misfortune.
The female lead, huh? Su Qingtang's smile widened. I'll patiently wait for your arrival Miss Feng.