Private club.
On the European-style dining table were placed exquisitely delicious snacks, the small macarons’ color soft pink, the small cakes on the side delicate and enticing, on the table also placed two cups of coffee with steam floating.
Xu Chuwei slightly curved her lips, talking to Wen Xian about interesting things from England.
Wen Xian, same as before, patiently listened to Xu Chuwei speak; her expression was as usual, even her smile carried the same ease and attachment as in the past.
Xu Chuwei imperceptibly furrowed her brows, but it disappeared in just a moment. She carefully looked at Wen Xian’s expression, as if guessing whether Wen Xian had understood her hint.
Seeing Wen Xian had no reaction for a long time, Xu Chuwei simply changed the topic.
She brushed the stray hair by her ear, the ruby earring dangling below her earlobe dazzling and bright. She asked with concern: “Xian Xian, how about you come work at my company?”
She slightly pouted, her tone carrying complaint, “I just returned to the country and my dad immediately threw the subsidiary company to me, not even giving me time to rest. Xian Xian, if you could come accompany me, that would be great.”
Xu Chuwei looked at Wen Xian with expectant eyes.
Wen Xian pulled up the corner of her lips and shook her head, “For now I have things I want to do myself, I won’t go accompany you. My uncle’s side I also refused, after some time I’ll consider the matter of work again.”
Xu Chuwei’s gaze lightly flickered, she curiously asked: “Xian Xian wants to do what?”
Wen Xian lifted her eyes and met Xu Chuwei’s gaze; she steadily looked at Xu Chuwei for a few seconds, then suddenly lightly laughed: “Did you forget? I’m going to marry Song-gege.”
“Right now what I want to do, is to marry into the Qin family.”
Xu Chuwei’s fingertips lightly trembled; she put down the coffee cup in her hand, then with a worried face looked at Wen Xian once, “Xian Xian, if Uncle Wen were still here, he definitely wouldn’t want to see you like this.”
“If you want to live like before, I can also support you.”
“If you marry into the Qin family, Qin Song’s mother, she…”
“Xian Xian, I don’t want to see you suffer grievance.”
Wen Xian lowered her gaze, softly said: “It’s okay, Grandpa Qin will protect me.”
Xu Chuwei’s hand placed below subconsciously clenched; she had finally seen Wen Xian fall from the altar, she could not possibly just watch her return to the circle.
That kind of life, she’d had enough.
She no longer wanted to look up at Wen Xian.
Xu Chuwei clenched her teeth, she absolutely would not let Wen Xian marry into the Qin family.
Wen Xian picked up a tissue and wiped the corner of her lips, her tone carrying a smile: “Chuwei, at that time you must come be my bridesmaid, you are my only friend now.”
Xu Chuwei’s expression slightly stiffened, then she gently responded: “That is certain, of course I will accompany by your side.”
—
Airport.
At this moment, Shen Lingge’s private plane was parked at Licheng Airport, the butler was standing below waiting for his arrival.
Seeing Shen Lingge stepping down from the expensive car wearing a pair of light blue slippers, the corner of the butler’s mouth slightly twitched, but then a sense of pride rose in his heart.
Even if their young master dressed like this, it still could not cover up the nobility all over his body.
The butler followed behind Shen Lingge walking toward the plane: “Young master, your clothes have already been prepared.”
Shen Lingge lowered his head and looked at his current outfit; just as he was about to respond, he suddenly thought of something, his gaze paused slightly, then he refused: “Change after going back.”
As a considerate butler, of course he would not ask why. “Yes, Young Master.”
While speaking, Shen Lingge added again: “Give me one of my cards.”
Butler: “…Understood, Young Master.”
Over ten black cards for you to choose from.
After Shen Lingge sat down in the seat, he casually handed the documents to the butler. His slender fingertips lightly tapped on the armrest: “I saw written in the materials that there are 300 million renminbi in the trust fund Wen Tianlin left for Wen Xian.”
He lifted his eyes to look at the butler, asking: “Where is the money?”
The butler opened the documents and glanced once. He recalled for a moment, then explained: “After the Wen family went bankrupt, Miss Wen bought back the Wen family villa that was auctioned. Perhaps because they pitied this little girl, the people present at the time did not raise the price against her. Miss Wen bought the villa for 270 million.”
“And every year she pays high maintenance fees.”
“After buying the Licheng Garden apartment, Miss Wen has not touched the money inside. Her current living expenses all come from the translation work she takes. This year Miss Wen graduated but has not yet found a job.”
After the butler finished speaking, he quietly waited for Shen Lingge to coolly say a sentence of “fool.”
He knew that Shen Lingge had always disliked people who act based on emotion. He was a man who regarded rationality as supreme.
But contrary to his expectations, Shen Lingge said nothing and instead asked about the Qin family.
In his view, that old fox Qin Huai did not seem like someone who valued sentiment. It was impossible that after the Wen family went bankrupt, he would still let his most valued grandson marry Wen Xian. People in the business field would never have compassion.
In their eyes, only profit was first.
The butler hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and said: “Young Master, regarding the Wen family, there is a secret rumor. The Wen family did not rise up from their ancestors’ foundation. It’s said that in the last century, after the Wen family went to sea, they accidentally obtained a treasure. From then on, the Wen family’s shipping business gradually grew. If Wen Tianlin had not passed away four years ago, by now he might already be the shipping king.”
“On the day of the Wen family auction, almost all of Licheng’s distinguished people went. It seems they were also doubting whether this rumor was true or false. But in the end, they found nothing, and only then did this rumor stop circulating.”
“I suspect it is the Qin family that suspects Wen Tianlin left the thing to Miss Wen.”
If it had been Shen Lingge hearing this sentence one day ago, he definitely wouldn’t have cared. But since what happened last night, he had started to believe that this rumor might actually be true.
Fiancé?
Shen Lingge thought of Wen Xian’s crying face last night, and then thought of the cake and gift that had been thrown into the trash can by her at noon.
Thinking about it, Wen Xian herself probably did not have a good relationship with her fiancé, or perhaps it was even worse.
Shen Lingge waved his hand, signaling the butler to step down, then idly thought: this little girl is still considered smart, not as stupid as he imagined.
At least her taste in men was not that bad.
Although buying back the Wen family villa seemed completely unnecessary to him, he could understand. Because now she had not let herself starve, her life could only be counted as ordinary.
For someone like Wen Xian, as long as she had hope and something to rely on in her heart, she could live on.
To her, that villa was her hope and reliance.
—
Wen Xian refused Xu Chuwei’s request to have dinner together.
Xu Chuwei was still a little unhappy. She held Wen Xian’s arm and softly complained: “Dad asked me to bring you home for dinner today. He said he hasn’t seen you in a long time.”
Wen Xian thought of the Qiuqiu and Gege at home and wanted to go back earlier. After all, these two children were still waiting for her to feed them.
She comforted: “Next time then, Qiuqiu is still waiting for me to go back. When I went out, I only put out one meal’s portion for it.”
Seeing Wen Xian insisting on going back, Xu Chuwei also did not keep pestering. She took out the prepared gift and handed it to Wen Xian: “Xian Xian, the birthday present I bought for you. I remember you used to like her jewelry the most.”
“It’s a pair with my earrings. You will definitely like it.”
Wen Xian, with an unchanged expression, received the box from Xu Chuwei’s hand. She softly thanked: “Thank you, Chuwei, thank you for your gift, and… also thank you for accompanying me these years.”
Wen Xian curved her lips, in her eyes looking at Xu Chuwei there rose a faint glimmer of water: “What I am most grateful for is still that period four years ago, you made that road not so hard to walk.”
Xu Chuwei was stunned for a moment. Then she stepped forward and gently hugged Wen Xian once.
These years, she gradually couldn’t tell whether she was deceiving Wen Xian or deceiving herself.
At the instant of turning around, the tears contained in Wen Xian’s eyes finally fell. She messily closed her eyes, then took a deep breath, raised her hand to wipe away the tears at the corner of her eyes.
This was her last time shedding tears for Xu Chuwei.
Wen Xian understood, the road after this, she had to walk alone again.
—
Before going home, Wen Xian went to the men’s clothing store to buy Shen Lingge a few sets of summer clothes. Only when she went to the underwear store did she feel a little embarrassed. When the shop assistant asked her the size, she blushed and roughly gestured with her hands.
Fortunately, the shop assistant’s reaction was very professional, making her not feel so awkward.
After buying these, Wen Xian wandered to the supermarket again to buy new cups and toothbrushes. She always couldn’t draw good lines, but compared with a few years ago, she was already much better.
Thinking of Shen Lingge’s faint stubble on his chin, Wen Xian also brought a razor for him.
Only after buying these things did Wen Xian return home fully satisfied.
When she opened the door, Wen Xian paused for a moment, because inside the house was completely dark, only the afterglow of the setting sun faintly shining into the living room, leaving behind a room full of coldness and loneliness.
Where was there still Shen Lingge’s figure in the house?
Only she and Qiuqiu standing in this darkness.
…
Mingcheng Airport.
After Shen Lingge got off the plane, he immediately got into the car. He lowered his eyes to look at the time on his phone. It was now 4:30 p.m. He remembered Wen Xian said she would come back before 5:00.
If she came back and found he was gone, what would she do? Would he appear again in her house?
Shen Lingge tightly gripped the phone Wen Xian bought for him, wearing the clothes Wen Xian gave him, quietly waiting.
But until he returned to the villa, nothing unexpected happened. He suddenly let out a breath. But just as he was about to enter the room, a strange feeling suddenly rose in his heart.
Shen Lingge immediately slipped into the room and closed the door. He closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he saw Wen Xian holding that chubby cat sitting on the carpet, looking at him, her eyes still red.
The corner of Shen Lingge’s mouth slightly twitched.
As expected, he had come back again.
Wen Xian, seeing that the one appearing in front of her was still Shen Lingge and not some brand-new potato person, also let out a breath.
Then she puffed up her cheeks angrily and put her hands on her waist, starting to scold: “Mama said—no, what did I say to you? Didn’t I tell you to stay at home obediently? What if you got lost?”
“You don’t even have identification, what if you got caught?”
“What if you got hungry?”
Shen Lingge silently sighed in his heart. Although he wanted to figure out the secret on Wen Xian’s body, he also could not always stay here. Half of the Shen Corporation was relying on him to keep running.
So Shen Lingge sat cross-legged in front of Wen Xian. Those long, narrow, indifferent eyes under the illumination of the light actually looked a little softer. He looked at Wen Xian and seriously said: “I want to go travel.”
Wen Xian: “……”
Wen Xian: ?
What exactly did she draw out? Traveling Frog?
[Traveling Frog refers to a popular Japanese mobile game, in which a frog character is sent on trips while the player waits for it to return.]