Chapter 12: My Wife Told Me to Do This!
Boom!
Jiang Hao’s words instantly caused an uproar.
No one had expected this young man to admit it so openly and unabashedly.
After all, today was Old Madam Su’s seventieth birthday.
Ever since her husband had passed away more than a decade ago, Old Madam Su had become the supreme authority in the Su family, the true holder of power.
Within this family, who dared to go against her will?
Who would risk upsetting her?
What shocked everyone even more was Su Tianqing’s reaction.
He only froze for a moment before regaining his composure and began berating Jiang Hao furiously:
“Well, Jiang Hao! This is Grandmother’s seventieth birthday, and you didn’t even prepare a single gift? You must think nothing of her at all!”
“Our Su family has supported you for two years, and this is how you repay us? Where is your conscience? Did a dog eat it?”
“I think you didn’t come to celebrate Grandmother’s birthday at all—you just came to make her upset!”
With that, he turned and bowed deeply to Old Madam Su, indignantly adding,
“Grandmother, this Jiang Hao is nothing but an ungrateful wolf in sheep’s clothing. Who knows when he’ll turn on us? He’s a traitor waiting to happen!”
“Grandmother, I recommend you drive him out of the Su family, lest you leave a dangerous ticking time bomb in our midst!”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone except Jiang Hao showed a subtle change in their expression.
Su Qingli hurried to Jiang Hao’s side, holding a small gift box in both hands, her face anxious as she explained,
“Grandmother, Jiang Hao was only joking with everyone. He did prepare a gift—it’s just that he left it with me!”
“Grandmother, look, this… this is the gift he prepared. Although… although it’s not particularly valuable, it truly comes from his heart!”
With a flushed, shame-filled face, she opened the box.
Inside lay another wild ginseng root.
However, this ginseng was only as thick as a pinky finger—thin, shriveled, and clearly malnourished.
Compared to Su Tianming’s ginseng, it was a disgraceful sight.
Everyone paused in surprise, then burst out laughing.
Su Tianming’s face twisted with mockery as he jeered,
“Su Qingli, don’t tell me that shriveled little thing is supposed to be wild ginseng too?”
Thinking of the thousand-year-old wild ginseng he had presented, and then glancing at the one in her hand, Su Qingli wished she could disappear into the floor. But for Jiang Hao’s sake, she steeled herself and nodded, “Yes… it’s wild ginseng…”
Su Tianming laughed until tears streamed down his face, then sneered with utter contempt,
“Su Qingli, just because something looks a little like ginseng doesn’t make it wild ginseng!”
“That pathetic thing in your hand—you could buy a whole bundle of them at the pharmacy for a hundred yuan!”
“This stuff might not kill you, but it certainly won’t do you any good. Are you trying to honor Grandmother with this, or poison her?”
“You… you’re spouting nonsense!” Su Qingli was both anxious and humiliated, tears welling in her eyes as she desperately explained, “It really is wild ginseng. We went through a lot of trouble to find it ourselves in the virgin forests of Changbai Mountain!”
But who would listen to her plea?
Su Tianming gave her a contemptuous look, then turned to Old Madam Su and said,
“Grandmother, before this, I thought Jiang Hao was the only ingrate who didn’t respect you. But now I see he’s not alone—Su Qingli is the same!”
“They didn’t come to celebrate your birthday, but to make you miserable!”
Old Madam Su narrowed her eyes, gazing at the two of them with icy coldness for a long moment. Finally, she fixed her gaze on Jiang Hao and said indifferently,
“Since you didn’t come with sincere intentions, then leave the banquet. From now on, you have nothing to do with the Su family.”
“Our family can tolerate the useless, but we will never keep a thankless wolf in our midst!”
“As for Su Qingli, she’s just been blinded by a man. She is, after all, our blood. I’ll let her off this once.”
Her meaning was clear: Jiang Hao was to be expelled from the family.
The others, with varying expressions, remained unconcerned—it didn’t involve them, after all.
Only Su Qingli went pale as death.
With a heavy thud, she fell to her knees before Old Madam Su, weeping as she pleaded,
“Grandmother, I know the gift we gave isn’t worthy, but we truly did our best!”
“Please, if nothing else, consider the effort we put in—spare Jiang Hao this once.”
“I promise that from now on, I’ll work with him, giving everything for the family, no matter the cost…”
“I’m sorry, but I will no longer break my back for the Su family, nor will I devote myself to it any longer!” Jiang Hao interrupted her, arms folded across his chest, his face cold and indifferent.
He glanced at Su Qingli with a look of mockery, and said calmly,
“Today, it’s true—I didn’t come to wish Old Madam Su a happy birthday. I came to make trouble for you all!”
“Because that’s exactly what my wife, Su Qingli, asked me to do!”
“I love my wife so much, of course I’ll listen to her. Isn’t that right?”
At these words, Su Qingli was instantly stunned.
She had risked her dignity and pleaded for Jiang Hao without regard for herself.
And what did he do?
He deliberately framed her!
Su Qingli collapsed to the floor, raising her tear-streaked face in utter disbelief, her voice breaking with anguish,
“Why?”