He guessed that this little girl wouldn’t get up before nine o’clock.
Shen Lingge in the end couldn’t bear to wake her up.
But what he didn’t know was that at this moment, Wen Xian was chatting with his assistant. She knew he went to attend a business gathering tonight, would definitely be forced to drink a lot of alcohol, so she had gotten up early.
[Wen Xian: Xiao Song, has Shen Lingge come back yet?]
[Xiao Song: Miss Wen, Sir just came back. Today Sir drank a lot, now I’m afraid he’s not feeling too well.]
[Wen Xian: Has it been like this these days?]
[Xiao Song: Probably will continue for another week. Once the project gets settled, Sir won’t be so busy anymore.]
[Wen Xian: I know.]
After finishing chatting with Xiao Song, Wen Xian immediately turned around and made a video call to Shen Lingge. She waited for quite a while before it was picked up on that side. He seemed not quite clear-headed, hoarsely calling once: “Xian Xian?”
Wen Xian looked worriedly at Shen Lingge on the screen, his brows furrowed: “Gege, are you not feeling well?”
Shen Lingge had not heard her voice for two days. He sighed. He missed her too much.
Shen Lingge tapped her face through the screen, his black eyes greedily looking at her. He answered in a low voice: “Not unwell, just a little tired. I’ll talk with you for a bit then go rest.”
Wen Xian pressed her lips: “Did you eat dinner tonight? Or only drank alcohol?”
Where would Shen Lingge have had time to eat? The moment the meeting ended, he was dragged into the drinking round. But he wouldn’t tell Wen Xian these words: “I ate already. I promised Xian Xian I would eat properly.”
Shen Lingge’s condition looked bad. Wen Xian didn’t say much, just urged him to go to sleep.
Outside the window, rain pattered down. Tonight, there was no moon.
—
At this time, it had already been nearly a month since Shen Lingge left.
Because she was worried about Shen Lingge, these days Wen Xian often zoned out even while attending class. Several times in a row she picked up the wrong pencil. Gong Yan sitting beside her couldn’t bear to watch and pulled out the pen in her hand, asking: “What’s wrong with you these past two days?”
Wen Xian sighed worriedly: “I’m just a bit worried about my cub… the person you saw at the manor that day.”
Gong Yan glanced at her: “Isn’t that your boyfriend?”
Wen Xian lightly coughed: “That…can be considered so, he’s not in the country right now.”
Gong Yan put the pen on the desk and asked: “Since you’re worried about him, why don’t you go see him? When my dad is abroad, my mom sometimes can’t sleep well because she’s worried, but flying over to see him once is fine.”
Wen Xian froze. Go see Shen Lingge?
Shen Lingge was so busy. If she went, she would probably only cause trouble for him.
But Gong Yan didn’t care what she was hesitating about: “My mom said, being together with the person you love, you can do nothing at all, just being together in the moment is enough.”
Wen Xian hesitantly asked: “…Your mom already says these kinds of things to you now?”
Gong Yan kept her little face taut with no expression and said: “My dad is often not home. My mom tells me everything.”
Wen Xian: “……”
So Gong Yan being so precocious wasn’t without reason. She took back the pen and started taking notes: “I’ll think about it. Going over rashly might also bring him quite a lot of trouble.”
Gong Yan: “My mom says, time does not wait for me, only striving day and night.”
Wen Xian: “…What your mom says isn’t wrong either.”
Wen Xian kept feeling conflicted all the way until the first class break. During break time, the children would be led by the teacher to go eat snacks. Wen Xian usually didn’t go because Duoduo had set a limit on how much sugar she could take in every day.
Wen Xian, feeling irritated, simply got up and went to the bathroom. When she arrived, the cleaning auntie was cleaning the stalls. Seeing Wen Xian, she smiled and greeted her: “Miss Wen.”
Ever since Wen Xian started learning painting, every day when Duoduo sent her over, she would bring some small snacks or some little refreshments for the teachers, classmates, security guards, and aunties.
Because of this, the children now all got along with her very well, all calling her “Xian Xian-jiejie” one after another. These aunties also knew that a grown-up had come to the kindergarten class. When Wen Xian saw them, she would obediently call them auntie, such an obedient little girl—they all liked her when they saw her.
Wen Xian greeted the auntie as usual. She splashed her face with cold water before she felt a bit calmer.
The cleaning auntie casually mentioned: “Oh right, Miss Wen, these days don’t leave valuable things in the classroom. Two days ago, the back door of the studio was pried open, and several cameras were also broken. Today, the police just came by.”
Wen Xian curved her lips: “I know, thank you, auntie.”
The auntie waved her hand: “Hurry back, class is about to start soon.”
After the second class ended, Wen Xian jogged out of the studio. Duoduo and the driver were waiting for her at the entrance as usual. In the places where she couldn’t see, there were also bodyguards in three cars secretly protecting her.
This private art studio wasn’t in a busy area. The surroundings were all some residential buildings. At night it was very quiet.
Right in the residential area in front of the studio, there was someone in a room on the seventh floor holding a camera, continuously taking pictures of Wen Xian. Her every movement and every expression were clearly recorded.
On the ground, cigarette butts were scattered everywhere.
The man looked at Wen Xian inside the camera lens and let out a heavy laugh.
The Wen family’s eldest miss? The Wen family already went bankrupt long ago.
…
Wen Xian took leave before getting off work on Wednesday. She greeted Zhuo Xiangshuang saying she wouldn’t come to work for the next two days, but she wouldn’t fall behind on her work content. Zhuo Xiangshuang was still worried, asking if something happened to her, but Wen Xian didn’t explain too much.
Zhuo Xiangshuang figured she might be going to handle some personal matters and didn’t ask further.
She lowered her eyes, looking at Wen Xianxian who was waiting for her, and waved her hand.
Wen Xianxian immediately came over, sticking out its tongue.
Wen Xian squatted down and patted its little head: “These two days, you have to listen to Duoduo-jiejie, when going for walks you’re not allowed to sneak off to bully Zanzan, understand? If Qiuqiu bullies you, just run.”
The three little ones of the Wen family were like this: Qiuqiu bullied Wen Xianxian, Wen Xianxian bullied Zanzan, and Zanzan could only bully vegetable leaves.
Wen Xianxian raised its little head and responded: “Woof!”
One hour later, Duoduo reluctantly sent Wen Xian to the boarding gate. Wen Xian waved her hand toward her, while Duoduo, full of worry, instructed: “Miss, once you arrive you must give us a call.”
Wen Xian obediently nodded: “Got it.”
During the more than ten hours of flight, Wen Xian almost did not sleep. After finishing handling the past two days’ work content, she started dazing off. The unfamiliar environment made her feel no sense of security; she simply could not fall asleep.
The flight attendants brought milk over several times, but Wen Xian refused all of them. For lunch, she only ate a few bites then put it aside.
When she arrived in London, it was twelve midnight. The long flight made her somewhat fatigued. The ones who came to pick her up were a man and a woman, both Chinese. As soon as they saw her, they greeted her warmly.
Wen Xian gathered her spirits and greeted them properly.
After getting in the car, the man drove to send her to the hotel. The girl sitting beside Wen Xian, seeing Wen Xian’s weary appearance, did not disturb her too much. This made Wen Xian relax quite a bit.
At this time.
Shen Lingge was just coming out from a drinking engagement. Today they had finalized the project contract’s details. The terms and results left both sides very satisfied.
The person in charge shook hands with Shen Lingge with a smile on his face: “President Shen, I believe our cooperation this time will be very pleasant. We especially prepared a gift for you inside the hotel, we hope you’ll like it.”
Shen Lingge wore a dark blue suit. The neat and exquisite suit made his figure look upright and tall. His expression was calm as he listened to the person in charge speaking. Upon hearing that, he only slightly nodded: “Tomorrow I will send someone to negotiate the follow-up cooperation details.”
After finishing the farewell words, Shen Lingge turned around and got in the car. He leaned back against the seat and exhaled a heavy breath. Xiao Song also sighed: “Sir, these people really are troublesome.”
The lights outside the car window flashed past, illuminating half of Shen Lingge’s cold and stern side profile. He spoke in a low voice: “After this is over, give the project team a long vacation.”
Xiao Song smiled: “Yes.”
The moment Shen Lingge entered the room, he noticed something felt a little off. He instinctively frowned. Xiao Song behind him also paused: “Sir, there seems to be some kind of smell in the room.”
A rich and passionate perfume scent.
Xiao Song stepped in front of Shen Lingge: “Sir, I’ll go take a look.”
Shen Lingge reached out to stop him. He turned on the living room light and walked in. He had not yet reached the living room when someone suddenly flashed out from a side room, a stretch of fair white arm directly about to wrap around Shen Lingge’s neck.
A woman’s sweet, sticky, and alluring voice followed along: “Mr. Shen.”
Shen Lingge: “……”
Xiao Song: “……”
At the same time, they both thought of the so-called surprise mentioned by the person in charge. They did not expect it was waiting for them here. Shen Lingge’s face sank, his black eyes full of cold indifference. He spoke in a cold voice: “Get out.”
The woman did not believe there existed a man in the world who could sit still with a beauty in his arms. She glanced over this man who looked ascetic and cold, lightly laughed, and suddenly threw herself at him, hooking her arms around his neck trying to kiss him.
The alcohol made Shen Lingge’s movements slow. He frowned, just about to pull her aside, when he heard movement at the door. The three people in the room all froze at the same time and turned their heads to look.
The person he hadn’t seen for a month was standing outside the door looking at him. Her face still carried a hint of confusion, as if not understanding what they were about to do. She softly asked: “What are you all doing?”
Wen Xian’s brows slightly knitted, her small face slightly tensed. At a glance, it was clear she was angry.
Shen Lingge: “……”
He was dead.
Assistant Xiao Song: “……”
The boss was finished.