She still has a daughter

Once everything was settled, Su Yang got to his feet and walked into the living room.

Li Yuanying, Yoshie, and Qingxia were curled up on the sofa in their pajamas, each holding a bag of potato chips as they stared intently at the television.

Su Yang glanced over, then walked up and interrupted them. “Ladies, pause it for a moment.”

Qingxia picked up the remote and paused the movie. “What’s up, Su-san?”

“My friends will be arriving tomorrow morning. I’m heading out at three-thirty to pick them up.” Su Yang walked over and sat down across from the three women.

“Three-thirty? In the morning?” Li Yuanying asked.

“Yep. I just wanted to let you know, so you won’t mistake the noise for a burglar when you hear it later.”

“Oh, okay. Which city are your friends flying into?” Yoshie asked.

“Sulis. It’s a little over ninety kilometers from here.”

“That’s still pretty far. How are you planning to get there?”

“I asked the homeowner to help me arrange a car.”

“All right. Do you need us to come with you?” Li Yuanying asked.

Su Yang shook his head. “No, it’s fine. If it were during the day, that’d be one thing, but it’ll be the middle of the night. You three should get some rest. I can go by myself.”

Yoshie thought for a moment before saying, “Do your friends know that the three of us are staying with you?”

Su Yang nodded. “They do. I told them before.”

“Then I think we should go pick them up too. Otherwise, it might seem rude.”

“I agree~” Li Yuanying and Qingxia raised their hands at the same time.

Su Yang glanced at the three of them and smiled. “Really, it’s not necessary. My friends aren’t that formal. They even told me not to bother picking them up when I offered before. So just get a good night’s sleep. They won’t think anything of it.”

“But…” Yoshie was about to say something else.

Su Yang cut her off. “That’s settled. Once I pick them up and get back, it should be around eight in the morning.”

“Hmm… Oh, right. There is something I need your help with. Could the three of you get up a little early and prepare some breakfast? That way, when I bring them back, we can all have something to eat.”

“Sure! Leave it to me!” Yoshie sat up straight.

“We’ll help too,” Li Yuanying and Qingxia said as they looked at Su Yang.

“You two definitely need to help Yoshie. There are quite a few people—around ten of them. It’d be too much work for Yoshie to handle alone.”

“Got it. No problem. Leave it to us.” The three women nodded.

“Okay, then it’s settled.”

Yoshie suddenly asked, “By the way, Su-san, I only know how to cook Japanese food. Will your friends be able to eat it? If any of them have dietary restrictions, I can look up some Chinese recipes online and learn how to make them.”

Su Yang waved his hand with a smile. “No need. They’re not picky eaters. Besides, we just traveled to Japan together before.”

“Oh, right. I almost forgot. All right, then—I’ll just cook the way I normally do.”

“No problem.”

“Should we buy more groceries? When your friends arrive tomorrow, we’ll definitely all be eating together. The food we have now is only enough for the few of us,” Li Yuanying added.

“Oh, right. Good point. I’m planning to make everyone a huge feast tomorrow night, and what we have definitely won’t be enough.”

“Why don’t we go into town and stock up now?” Yoshie suggested, looking at the others.

Su Yang smiled. “Sure, but there’s no rush. We can go after you finish the movie.”

“Okay!”

Qingxia smiled happily and resumed the movie.

Su Yang had already seen it, so he didn’t stay to watch with them. Instead, he got up and returned to the balcony, where he lay down and burned incense.

At four ten in the afternoon, the movie ended.

Everyone went back to their rooms to change before walking together toward the small town one or two kilometers away.

They had just arrived in the pretty little town when Su Yang’s phone rang.

He took it out and glanced at the screen. It was an unfamiliar number.

“It’s probably Aleia’s daughter,” he guessed.

Su Yang answered the call.

A young woman’s voice came from the other end. “Hello. Am I speaking with Mr. Su Yang?”

“Yes, this is Su Yang. You’re Aleia’s daughter, right?”

“Yes, yes. My name is Bella. My mother told me that I’d be helping drive you to Sulis tomorrow morning to pick up your friends at the airport.”

“Great. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Su. What time exactly should we leave?”

“How about three-thirty in the morning? It should take us about two hours to get there from here.”

“It won’t take that long. There isn’t much traffic on the highway at night. It’ll take at most an hour and a half to drive from here to Sulis Airport.”

“Really? In that case, let’s leave at four.”

“Okay. I’ll come pick you up at four sharp.”

“Okay, sounds good. Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome. The two cars you asked my mother to arrange have also been booked. Once I pick you up and bring you back to town to meet your friends, we’ll head straight to the airport.”

“Perfect. I really appreciate all your help.”

“Haha, Mr. Su, you’re too polite. It’s no trouble at all. See you early tomorrow morning.”

“See you then. We’ll keep in touch.”

After hanging up, the three women beside him turned and asked, “Was that Aleia?”

“Her daughter.”

“She has a daughter?” Qingxia asked, stunned.

“What do you mean? Isn’t it perfectly normal for a woman in her forties to have a daughter?” Su Yang said with a laugh.

“Oh, right. I just assumed she wasn’t married.”

Su Yang shook his head with a smile. “It was nothing. I was just confirming the time with her. Come on, let’s go buy the groceries.”

“Okay.”

The four of them continued toward the busy center of town.

On the way, Su Yang called Aleia again. He asked about the price of the hired cars and then transferred the money to her.

After that, they split up and went around town purchasing ingredients.

At six in the evening, Su Yang and the other three had finished shopping and were preparing to head back when they ran into Aleia and her daughter, Bella.

Bella looked to be around twenty. She had long, light-brown hair falling over her shoulders and was about the same height as Li Yuanying, though she was slightly plumper. Most European women naturally had somewhat broader builds.

She was quite attractive, with large blue eyes, a high nose, and very fair skin. Most striking of all was her figure.

She had a distinctly curvy shape, with a full bust and shapely hips. She was wearing a cropped baseball jacket and a pair of tight-fitting jeans that perfectly outlined her hips and legs.

The group exchanged greetings after running into each other and chatted briefly. When Aleia noticed that the four of them were carrying a huge number of shopping bags, she offered to drive them home.

Ten minutes later, the car pulled up outside the cottage.

Su Yang got out and politely said to Aleia and Bella, “Sorry to trouble you. Why don’t you come inside and rest for a while? I’m about to make dinner, so you can eat with us.”

“No need. We’ve already eaten.”

“You have?”

“Yes. We finished dinner and were just walking around town when we happened to run into you,” Aleia said with a smile.

“Haha, all right, then. Since you’ve already eaten, I won’t insist.”

Bella looked at Su Yang and smiled. “Then I’ll see you tonight, Mr. Su~”

“All right.” Su Yang turned and exchanged a smile with Bella.