As expected, Ren Lina was smiling when she walked out, but her face darkened as soon as she saw Song Xi standing at the door. Ren Lina’s smile disappeared so quickly that Song Xi didn’t even know whether she should take back her own smile or not.

Qiao Zhisheng called out, “Mom.”

Song Xi had to bow and say, “Auntie.”

Although she and Qiao Zhisheng had registered their marriage, Ren Lina had said in front of her that she would not acknowledge it, so Song Xi could never call her “mother.”

They left the gifts at the door and were about to enter when they heard another female voice, “Aunt Ren, I just made sweet and sour fish, please have a taste.”

Song Xi, and even Qiao Zhisheng, felt surprised.

A woman wearing an apron came out of the kitchen with a plate of sweet and sour carp in her hands.

Seeing that Ren Lina had been joined by Qiao Zhisheng and Song Xi in the corridor, the woman paused before staring pointedly at Song Xi.

Seeing this, Ren Lina subtly rolled her eyes before immediately smiling and saying, “Zhisheng didn’t tell me that he would bring his friend.”

She then turned and told Qiao Zhisheng, “I asked Jiayi to come over for dinner. Jiayi bought a lot of things you like to eat and she insisted on cooking personally. She is such a nice person.”

Smiling sweetly at Qiao Zhisheng, Jiang Jiayi said, “You came just in time. Sweet and sour fish—your favorite food. Come and taste.”

Qiao Zhisheng’s handsome face remained cold as he replied. “I only want the food made by nanny.”

Ren Lina hurriedly said, “Jiayi cooked it herself. You’re very lucky! Don’t be picky.”

Maintaining the smile on her face, Jiang Jiayi responded calmly. “Zhisheng has been a picky eater from an early age, but your nanny praised my sweet and sour fish.”

“Jiayi is clever and skillful. Whoever gets you as a daughter-in-law is really blessed,” Ren Lina said.

Song Xi was like a bystander who had nothing to do with the happy family scene. Even though she was standing side by side with Qiao Zhisheng, at this moment, she felt excluded.

She kept standing there like a tree. Ren Lina could not keep ignoring her, so she pretended she had never seen Song Xi before and hypocritically said, “Zhisheng, introduce your friend to Jiayi.”

As if afraid that Qiao Zhisheng would say too much, she intentionally emphasized the word “friend.”

Before Qiao Zhisheng could even speak, Jiang Jiayi, who was standing in front of Song Xi, acted like the daughter-in-law of the Qiao family and opened her mouth. With a smile on her face, she said, “Song Xi, long time no see. How has Uncle Qiao been lately?”

Song Xi felt that the world was indeed small. She never expected to meet Jiang Jiayi in the Qiao family.

She and Jiang Jiayi were both children of government officials. They shared almost the same social circle. Every year, they attended private parties. Of course, some people were active while others, such as her, did not want to go and were just forced by their parents.

Song Yuanqing had not wanted her to spend all day in the hospital. He wanted her to make more friends. However, instead of making friends, she made an enemy.

It was during an auction. There was a set of plum blossom pots made by Gu Jingzhou. Song Xi wanted to give it to Song Yuanqing as a gift, but Jiang Jiayi also liked them. They raised their paddles more than five times respectively. Suddenly, for some reason, Jiang Jiayi gave up. This thing was forgotten, and it was a long time before someone told Song Xi what happened. She learned that someone told Jiang Jiayi that Song Yuanqing was superior to her father, and even she could not offend Song Xi. Therefore, Jiang Jiayi felt that Song Xi had deliberately gone against her. That was the whole story.

Song Xi was naive enough to think that the auction should be fair—whoever bid the most money would win. Moreover, she hadn’t tied Jiang Jiayi’s hands.

Two years ago, Jiang Jiayi’s father was promoted to deputy mayor of Haicheng, which was the same level as Song Yuanqing. Thereafter, in the auctions over the past two years, Jiang Jiayi competed against Song Xi as long as Song Xi raised her paddle. Sometimes Song Xi felt embarrassed because they barely even spoke to each other.

At this moment, hearing Jiang Jiayi’s words, Song Xi suppressed her anger and calmly replied, “He is fine.”

Jiang Jiayi would definitely not miss such an excellent chance to humiliate her, so she bluntly said, “I heard from the news that something happened to him a few months ago. What have you been doing?”

Ren Lina shot Song Xi a meaningful look. Qiao Zhisheng did not speak, as if waiting for Song Xi to respond.

Song Xi’s expression did not change as she answered in a natural tone. “My father is cooperating with the investigation, and there is no final result yet. Why do you look more worried than I am?”

On the surface, she was mocking Jiang Jiayi, but in fact, she was explaining to Qiao Zhisheng and Ren Lina.

As long as Song Yuanqing had not had a trial, he still had a chance to turn things over.

Jiang Jiayi was stunned, but she did not dare to speak recklessly. She had to smile and answer, “That is very good. I’m just worried about you.”

Song Xi smiled and remained silent.