SWG Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Xiao Wenyu felt a little dazed after hanging up the phone.

She thought of something and rushed to the window to look out, but the street outside had returned to the cold and quiet of winter. The person who had been standing at the door had indeed left. In the biting cold wind, there wasn’t even a car on the street.

Xiao Wenyu sat back down as if all her strength had been drained. After a long while, she gently hooked her finger, and the phone screen flickered, leaving only a somewhat dazed face and tears gently sliding from the corner of her eye.

How did they end up arguing again?

It seemed that some things shouldn’t be started. Once started, they would trigger an indefinite period of calculation and argument, like right now. The question on the phone, devoid of any temper, made her feel dazed, as if she had questioned Ruan Shengyi in the same way just a few days ago.

Thinking about it now, just like she only wanted her little boss to avoid some terrible things, her little boss only hoped that she would get better soon.

They were both just loving in the way they understood, but they didn’t think to discuss it with each other, so everything turned out like this.

It was better if she had told Ruan Shengyi about the things she was hiding proactively, rather than having her find out passively.

No, that’s not right. It seems that telling her proactively wouldn’t have had a good result either. In short, this was a dead end.

It’s true that love often feels like a debt, but looking at it now, once you start calculating, it’s an endless vicious cycle, with no end in sight and no resolution.

This was probably what Zhao Wen wanted to tell her that night but hesitated to say.

Xiao Wenyu sighed deeply. It was ridiculous that she had lived for thirty years and this was the first time she was thinking about how to love someone and how to apologize. It was both absurd and funny.

But business still had to be done. She dawdled for a while, changed into the clothes she wore in the studio, and went downstairs. Li Wan was already cleaning, and smiled at her when she came down, “Sister, I knew you were here when I saw how the door was locked. How is it? Am I quiet?”

Xiao Wenyu smiled and gently patted the girl’s head, “Quiet, very good.”

“And there’s more! Sister, do you want to hear some good news?”

“What good news?”

“The photography exhibition in Beishi, I got selected! They called early in the morning to tell me, hehe, my mom heard the call too.”

Xiao Wenyu leaned against the bar, looking at her gently, “And then?”

“She said incredulously—”

Li Wan pinched her throat, cleared her throat, lowered her voice and imitated her family’s words, saying: “Your stuff can win an award? Don’t lie to me, did your boss give you the award? What! Really won an award? You’re not lying to me, let me see! Okay, go to work, go to work, I’ll make you something delicious when you come back in the afternoon, work hard, work hard for your boss!”

Xiao Wenyu laughed even more, “No wonder you came so early today. But it’s been too cold these past two days, even if you come, there probably won’t be many people. Did you bring a charger?”

“Hehe, I brought it!”

“That’s good. I feel like if I give you a vacation, your family will probably suspect something, right?”

“A little bit… I’ve been so idle lately that my mom suspects I’m loafing around.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be busy when the New Year comes. While you’re not busy yet, hurry up and replace that hard drive of yours.”

Li Wan looked at her and blinked.

Xiao Wenyu smiled knowingly and casually opened a drawer, “I’ll sell it to you at half price.”

“Thank you, boss~ I love you, boss!”

Xiao, the boss, shook her head helplessly, but her heart gradually calmed down a bit.

Before long, Li Wan came over to chat with her again, like a puppy, with her ears perked up and a sneaky look on her face, whispering, “Teacher, hasn’t Ruan Shengyi seen the painting you posted yet?”

“She saw it, she already went out.”

Li Wan took a breath and slumped back on the table, muttering, “Then why isn’t Ruan Shengyi rushing over to cheer?

“…Huh?”

“Teacher, your painting is so beautiful! If my girlfriend was willing to put so much effort into painting something for me, wow, I’d want to run to her right away. Ruan Shengyi can really hold back.”

These words made Xiao Wenyu’s heart ache again. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and said, “It’s not her fault, I was actually the one who started the argument, I…”

“No, boss, it’s definitely not your fault.”

Xiao, the boss, looked at her questioningly.

Li Wan smiled hehe and said, “I believe you, boss, it’s definitely not your fault, hehe.”

“…You! Go handle the follow-up matters of the photography exhibition, I guess you’ll still need to submit some things, right? Go get busy, I’ll make a call.”

Xiao Wenyu sat for a while, picked up her phone and dialed a number. She lowered her head and said in a level voice: “A-Ma, I think I know what you were talking about?”

Zhao Wen felt inexplicable and asked her what was wrong.

Xiao Wenyu stared at her fingers, and after a long while, slowly exhaled: “Actually, the problem isn’t about owing or not owing, the problem is that this thing can’t be calculated. Emotions don’t have equivalent references. It can’t be said that I put in so much and must get so much in return, nor can it be said that she put in so much and I must give so much.”

Zhao Wen smiled softly and said calmly: “What else?”

Xiao Wenyu: “If you want it to last, then just make sure you have a clear conscience and try your best to love. That’s the right thing to do, right?”

“Mhmm. Don’t always think about how much the little boss has done for you. When you start to measure, you’re actually putting yourself on the scales. It’s hard to balance that kind of scale. You’ll find that it’s either not enough or not worth it. Even so, do you still like her?”

Xiao Wenyu said dissatisfied: “But she was the one who wanted to start the fight in the first place.”

“Then you can tell her that conclusion. Someone has to speak up first, and besides, the reasons for your quarrel are so fresh and refined. It’s also good. I was worried that you were planning to spend the rest of your life alone after keeping this child. It’s good that you can slowly get out of it.”

“…” It’s better not to tell her dear A-Ma how they first met.

Xiao Wenyu thought, lowered her head and poked her stomach, as if complaining about this little one, but couldn’t help but smile, and said softly: “Teacher Zhao, you are indeed more suitable to be a homeroom teacher than Ms. Da Mao.”

Zhao Wen laughed loudly, but the person who had been listening to the phone all along was unhappy and said in a sharp voice, demanding an explanation from Xiao Wenyu, “Explain clearly, what’s wrong with me? Xiao Wenyu, I really gave birth to a… Aiyo, you’re making me angry, Teacher Zhao, control your daughter, aiyo…”

Ms. Da Mao quickly switched to a coquettish mode, and everyone on both ends of the phone could only laugh. Xiao Wenyu smiled, pulled up her clothes, and thought about how she should start when Ruan Shengyi came back tonight.

Someone has to speak up, so let her be the one to do it today.

Or rather, Ruan, the boss’s slightly softened attitude this morning, couldn’t it be considered a kind of opening?

Another call came in, and Xiao Wenyu hurriedly said, “I’ll take a call, you guys can quarrel slowly~”

“Xiao Wenyu! How can you talk to your mother like that! What do you mean ‘quarrel’! Heh, Teacher Zhao, control her!”

Xiao Wenyu smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, hung up the phone, and answered the strange call. Honestly, if Zhuge Jing’s call hadn’t come first, she wouldn’t have dared to answer this call.

It was a Beishi number. After confirming her name, the person asked very politely, “Hello, Ms. Xiao. I’m calling to confirm which set of photos you want to keep for the photography exhibition.”

Xiao Wenyu suspected she had misheard and asked back, “What photography exhibition?”

“Oh, it’s the photography exhibition in Beishi. It’s like this, our regulations this year state that each person can only submit one set of works, but you’ve sent two sets, and they’re both of very high quality, so I wanted to ask which one you want to keep?”

“I didn’t submit any entries to this year’s photography exhibition.”

“Eh? Then can we confirm your identity again? Xiao Wenyu, the ‘Wen’ of warmth, the ‘Yu’ of giving plus the female radical, the last six digits of your ID are… Is this you?”

Xiao Wenyu pursed her lips and said, “It’s me.”

She felt even stranger, raised her eyes to look at a certain clerk squatting at the door and playing on her phone, still diligently playing on her phone, not casting a single glance in this direction.

There was no way she couldn’t hear this conversation.

Xiao Wenyu said in a low voice: “Sorry, can you wait a moment?”

“Of course.”

Xiao Wenyu covered the microphone, looking slightly annoyed: “Xiao Wan, is there something you want to say?”

Li Wan didn’t dare to look up, even less to look at her, and only dared to raise one hand tremblingly and wave it wildly, “It’s not me, Teacher, this matter has nothing to do with me.”

“…” Of course it has nothing to do with you, and it’s not like just anyone can ask for her ID number.

Heh… She was still worried that the two at home would dislike Ruan Shengyi. They had already contacted her without her knowing, hehe.

She spoke to the person on the phone again: “It’s like this, it’s been a little long since I submitted these two sets of photos, I’ve forgotten a bit. Can you send them to me so I can take a look?”

“Of course, should I send them back to the original email address?”

“No, I’ll give you a new address.”

Two sets of photos, one set was some landscape photos she had taken some time ago, and the other set was photos they had taken when they went to the desert.

They were able to get the parameters of the photos from the desert, edit them, and submit them?

She clicked on the registration form, and the desert set had even been submitted when they were still in the desert. They were fresh photos that had been taken, edited, and submitted right away.

Ruan Shengyi wasn’t answering the phone, so she could only call home again, accurately speaking, she called Ms. Da Mao.

Xiao Yanyue said fiercely: “I won’t accept your apology!”

Xiao Wenyu said calmly: “Did you register me for the photography exhibition?”

Xiao Yanyue was stunned, “How did you know? Did the little boss tell you?”

Xiao Wenyu looked through the photos, “No, she submitted two sets, and the committee called to ask me which one I wanted to keep.”

Xiao Yanyue was angry, “Aiyo, that clumsy boss! I said you shouldn’t work in the middle of the night, see, this really went wrong, the rewards were leaked in advance, really…”

“You guys…” Xiao Wenyu wanted to ask, you’re sure I can win an award? But the photos that caught her eye made her freeze in place, and her hand trembled.

Those were the group photos that Ruan Shengyi had pestered her to take together at that time, using her camera, setting a timer, sitting in the back seat of the off-road vehicle, their heads leaning together, both smiling sincerely and warmly.

How could she send her own full-face photos out?

Xiao Wenyu’s hand trembled, and she enlarged the photo, and a smile bloomed in the photo, even more obvious.

This person, this person…

Her eyes heated up, and tears fell.

Xiao Yanyue didn’t know what she had seen, and could only say with a forced smile: “I can’t recognize a person after seeing them just once. But, these photos were edited by her in the middle of the night when you guys went out to play, so…”

So, Mom was relieved to watch you venture out into the realm of love again.

Xiao Wenyu smiled with tears in her eyes, and said in a hoarse voice: “I… I know everything.”

She understood everything.

Xiao Yanyue sighed, “Then what are you planning to do?”

“She went out to get busy today, and I can’t get through to her phone. I’ll wait for her to come back.” Xiao Wenyu wiped away her tears and repeated in a low voice, “I’ll wait for her to come back.”

When you have expectations, waiting is always long. It was until the sky turned dark and the snow covered the ground that the person she was waiting for still hadn’t returned.

The road was quiet, and the lively bar was unusually deserted today. Only when students left school did this road become a little lively, and that was only for a short half hour.

The snow that started the cold winter was too heavy, covering all the warmth.

Xiao Wenyu stood at the door with her arms crossed, looking outside worriedly.

It’s been too long. What could take so long, and she hasn’t answered the phone all day… Even Xie Yu didn’t know where she had gone. What on earth was this guy doing?

The phone rang urgently, breaking the silence. Xiao Wenyu quickly swiped to answer, but the voice that came out made her want to hang up instinctively.

Lin Siyu stopped her with a sob, “I won’t call you sister-in-law anymore, I beg you, help me.”

“I got into a fight with someone, I’m at the police station now, I don’t dare let my family know, I’m finished if they find out.”

“Sister, can you bail me out? Sister, please.”

…