SWG Chapter 31
by VolareRuan Shengyi paused, suddenly feeling that everything was lovable. Even Yecheng, filled with car exhaust, felt a little fresher at that moment. Her voice became lighter, and she said, “Good evening.”
Listening to the breathing on the other end of the phone, Ruan Shengyi asked softly, “What are you doing?”
Xiao Wenyu seemed to be replying in snatched moments, saying, “Rejecting interviews.”
“What?”
“Someone contacted me, saying they were from some entertainment account, asking if I could accept an interview. And the city TV station also came to ask, but I’m refusing them all.”
“Oh~” Ruan Shengyi laughed in a strange tone, saying, “I forgot, Boss Xiao is a celebrity now.”
The breathing on the other end of the phone suddenly stopped.
Ruan Shengyi’s heart skipped a beat.
What was she going to do? Why was there suddenly no sound? Xiao Wenyu wouldn’t block her because of this one sentence, would she??
She hurriedly lit up the screen to take a look. It was still in the call interface.
Soon, the breathing returned, bringing with it a somewhat coquettish voice, chiding, “User 778625361, your video has over three thousand likes, can I interview you to ask how you did it?”
Ruan Shengyi couldn’t help but smile, “Did you just go look up my username?”
“Please answer my question!” The other person avoided answering, with a resolute attitude.
Ruan Shengyi said helplessly, “Because I rode a wave of popularity, and I rode it pretty successfully.”
“Oh, okay, I’ll make a note of that.”
Ruan Shengyi subconsciously raised her hand and rested it under her head, listening to the voice on the other end, gradually relaxing a little.
After a moment, Ruan Shengyi said, “Isn’t the popularity declining a bit today? Why aren’t you making videos to keep up with the trend?”
“I don’t really want the popularity.”
Boss Ruan didn’t press her to ask why. She gave a soft “En,” and said, “So, you’re waiting for it to cool down?”
Xiao Wenyu was silent for a moment, then said, “I’m not deliberately trying to cool it down, but I definitely hope to make my life quieter.”
“Besides…” She paused, then said, “This wave of popularity really can’t be considered long-lasting.”
“The majority of people attracted to this topic are young people. They need to rush here from neighboring cities, so there aren’t many who are really moved to make a reservation, and it’s mostly on weekends.”
“Two days off and five days on, if this traffic doesn’t decline, then it would really be tenacious and dedicated.”
Ruan Shengyi laughed, twirling her hair casually with her fingers, picking it up and letting it fall gently, and then said, “It’s not the photography that’s popular, it’s you that’s popular.”
“…Then I need to calm down even more. I’m not worth it.”
The air was silent for a moment.
Xiao Wenyu seemed to realize that this sentence was a bit difficult to follow up on. She adjusted the hair on her shoulder, the rustling sound transmitting through the phone, and then said gently, “Interviews are tiring, and unnecessary.”
At the same time, Ruan Shengyi said in a low voice, “You are worth it.”
The voices collided, stirring up a burst of static noise.
Xiao Wenyu was silent for a moment, “What did you say?”
She couldn’t see Ruan Shengyi’s hand clenched into a fist against her brow, sighing that those words were too ambiguous, and sighing at how reckless she was. Turning back, hearing this question, she could only say, “Nothing, I said you’re working hard.”
But that wasn’t what she meant. Why couldn’t the words spoken be the ones in her heart?
Ah…
Xiao Wenyu smiled slightly, saying, “It’s okay, it’s not hard.”
Ruan Shengyi sighed in her heart, saying, “It’s eleven o’clock, go to sleep soon.”
Xiao Wenyu wanted to say she was reluctant.
But just now, Boss Ruan had restrained those words so much, she couldn’t say them again, couldn’t break this rare balance. She paused, and said, “Good night.”
“Good night.”
Hanging up the phone, Xiao Wenyu turned over, thinking—
When Boss Ruan came back, she should drag her upstairs to take a look. If she was willing, many things…
Would become much more natural.
*
As Xiao Wenyu thought, the popularity was slowly declining with the punctual nightly phone calls. Without new content, and with the central figure of the matter maintaining an attitude of avoiding the topic, marketing accounts would continue to clip old videos, but with half the holiday over, new social hotspots appeared, and people’s attention was naturally diverted, and the popularity slowly waned.
Only a portion of people were still chasing after Xiao Wenyu, calling her “wife.” Of course, Boss Xiao was a boss who didn’t really like to look at the comment section, but a certain boss with a newly registered account seemed to be secretly living in the comment section.
Secretly resenting everyone who was calling her “wife.”
But Xiao Wenyu didn’t know any of this at the moment.
She was preparing to take photos for a mother and daughter who had booked a family photo shoot long ago. Li Wan was responsible for doing the mother’s makeup, while she was doing the makeup for the little girl.
The little girl sat on a small round stool, supporting herself with her hands in front of her, raising her little head and closing her eyes for Xiao Wenyu to apply makeup.
Suddenly, she sniffled.
Xiao Wenyu hurriedly pulled out a tissue from the side, “What’s wrong? Is your nose uncomfortable?”
The little girl shook her head, saying, “No, it’s that Auntie has a very familiar and pleasant smell.”
Xiao Wenyu was slightly startled, but she still gently wiped her nose for her, softly asking, “What?”
The little girl deliberately lowered her voice, saying, “Auntie, I’ll tell you a secret…”
“What?”
“I’m going to be a big sister!”
“…Huh? Did Mommy tell you?”
The little girl giggled, saying, “No, I smelled it from Mommy! I secretly heard Mommy and Mama talking, but they haven’t officially told me yet!”
Children these days are already so perceptive?
Xiao Wenyu was slightly surprised, and her understanding of the little one in her belly rose another level at that moment.
So the familiar and pleasant smell that the little girl was talking about was also referring to the little one in her belly? She had heard that children could sense the existence of even smaller children, but she didn’t expect it to be true.
How amazing.
The little girl pouted, softly saying, “Auntie, you’re an adult, I want to ask you something.”
Xiao Wenyu flipped her hair back and smiled, “What do you want to ask?”
“Do you think Mama and Mommy will still like me when the time comes?”
This was really a very difficult question.
Xiao Wenyu’s breath stagnated for a moment, then she smiled again, “Why wouldn’t they?”
She gently placed one of her remaining hands on her lower abdomen, softly saying, “Every baby is a treasure to Mama and Mommy, always. Why wouldn’t they like you?”
“Boss Xiao is really as gentle as they say online!” The mother, who had finished her makeup, walked over, and happened to hear this part, and couldn’t help but praise from afar.
Xiao Wenyu raised her eyes to look, but saw another person who surprised her but wasn’t that surprised.
The mother said in surprise, “Who is this?”
Xiao Wenyu lowered her gaze, saying, “Another customer who made a reservation.”
Zhuge Jing, leaning against the wall, smiled and nodded gently, “Yes, please continue with your work, my time hasn’t arrived yet.”
*
“You’re not surprised at all by my arrival?” Zhuge Jing looked at the person who was still organizing her workbench.
Xiao Wenyu’s only hospitality was to pour her a glass of water, and then treat her like an ordinary customer, asking her to look at photo albums and art collections, while she organized the tools she had just used, cleaning up the workbench piece by piece, making it neat and tidy.
Although there was a hint of doubt in her words, the praise in her eyes couldn’t be hidden.
She was a very self-possessed girl.
She didn’t know whether to feel sorry or fortunate.
After Xiao Wenyu finished tidying up and sat back down, she poured a cup of warm tea for each of them in a gentle and refined manner, softly saying, “I have an outdoor shoot later, can we keep it short?”
“You recognized me a long time ago? Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
Xiao Wenyu smiled softly, “If it weren’t for this unexpected wave of traffic, I probably would never have wanted to contact you, let alone let you know who I am.”
This was the negative effect brought by the traffic, and this negative effect would only increase. Today it was Zhuge Jing who came, and who knows who will come another day.
Zhuge Jing was stunned for a moment, then smiled helplessly, “You should be glad that you were completely detached from the core of the Lin family at that time.”
Xiao Wenyu raised her eyes to look at her, and suddenly, smiled sadly, “Is that so?”
Was that something to be thankful for?
The life she had led, which could be described as despairing, was now, in this person’s mouth, something to be thankful for?
The woman also realized her slip of the tongue, and bowed her head in silence for a moment, softly saying, “…I’m sorry. Let me introduce myself again, I am Zhuge Jing, the Financial Risk Manager of Shengshi Headquarters.”
“Xiao Wenyu.”
Not an appendage of anyone, without any additional identity, she was just her, she was just Xiao Wenyu.
Zhuge Jing smiled knowingly, but her gaze slowly went downward, “Then this child?”
Xiao Wenyu raised her hand to block her view, saying, “My own, and only my own. I don’t plan to reveal her yet, nor do I plan to use her to exchange for anything, so, if possible, please remain silent about her, thank you.”
“How forceful.” The woman propped her chin up, suddenly getting closer to her, “What capital do you have to demand anything from me? And I, having this handle, will be better able to handle this matter.”
“I have no capital.” Xiao Wenyu said in a deep voice.
Just at that moment, the phone rang, which shouldn’t have been ringing at this time. She tilted her head to look, raised her hand to interrupt Zhuge Jing’s words, and chose to answer.
On the other end, the voice of a certain boss sounded a little anxious, “Xiao Wenyu, I…”
“Boss Ruan, I have something to do right now, can I call you back in a little while, okay?”
The other end was silent for a moment, saying, “Okay, I’ll wait for you.”
Zhuge Jing raised her eyebrows, “Who is this?”
But Xiao Wenyu avoided her words, and simply tidied up her clothes, saying, “I have no capital to stop you, nor will I do anything to run away. If you had come here a few days earlier, even if it was less than half a month earlier, I would probably be terrified, and cowardly.”
“But now, I won’t stop you, but I’m not afraid of you either. You won’t get any benefits from me.”
This was a meaningless emphasis, but the woman’s slightly raised head added a lot of credibility to these words.
Zhuge Jing smiled gently and gracefully, “I have no intention of handling matters for outsiders either. Boss Xiao, please keep my business card. You should have a use for it before I leave in December.”
“Maybe it was a pain, but you should indeed be glad now that you escaped a catastrophe.”
Xiao Wenyu saw her to the door. There was no pretense of tenderness between them, not even a nod of farewell. They were as cold as strangers.
After the person walked three or five meters away, Xiao Wenyu pulled the door closed and returned to the room, taking back her phone.
She wanted to tell Ruan Shengyi how she was feeling at this moment, and also wanted to share how ridiculous this absurd matter was, but after dialing the phone, before she had a chance to speak, the other person asked in a trembling voice, “Can you, delete that group photo in your comment section?”