SWG Chapter 63

Chapter 63

“Xiao Wan.” Xiao Wenyu’s tone became subtly heavier, silently reprimanding and stopping her from saying more.

She looked apologetically at the family, saying with remorse, “I might not be feeling well these past two days. I’ll retouch this set of photos and give them to you two for free, along with another package, how does that sound?”

The woman laughed heartily and waved her hand. “That makes us look like we’re trying to get a bargain. No need, no need. You’re so nice, boss! How are you going to make a profit like that? We’ll come back to pick them up later, see you!”

Xiao Wenyu saw the family off, gently smoothed out her skirt, turned her head to look at Li Wan, her gaze filled with reproach. “Li Wan, you can’t do that again, understand?”

Li Wan came over to support her, worriedly saying, “Teacher, you were clearly in great shape today. It was after that phone call that… what’s wrong with you?”

“That’s not important, what’s important is you.” Xiao Wenyu sat down, skillfully opening the software, but her tone still held a chill, “A piece of work has to pass your own judgment first. If you can see the flaws yourself, then it’s irresponsible to the customer, and also irresponsible to yourself, understand?”

“Every compromise is a heavy blow to your photography skills, remember that.”

Li Wan moved her lips.

She wanted to say that those people wouldn’t be able to tell anyway. After all, they were outsiders who didn’t know anything, so it wouldn’t matter, and wouldn’t be considered lying.

She wanted to say that it was just an accident, the photos were still perfect, and that small flaw didn’t overshadow the good. There was no need to feel guilty.

But looking at Xiao Wenyu’s wall of albums, having watched and learned for so long, it was impossible for her not to understand anything. Xiao Wenyu’s years of effort, her years of persistence, and the resilience and growth within them, if she could fully grasp it, would be enough for her to use for another ten years.

So she calmed herself and said, “I understand, thank you, Teacher.”

Xiao Wenyu gave a soft “hmm,” unable to stop herself from bending over slightly. “Help me get my phone, please.”

Li Wan pursed her lips and trotted over to grab the phone that was tossed on the counter. The lock screen showed a missed call.

“Teacher, there’s a call, labeled Zhuge Jing.”

Xiao Wenyu was stunned, her hand trembled, and the mouse in her hand flew straight off the mouse pad, leaving an extremely ugly mark on the screen, pulling her face into an almost alien-like contortion.

Li Wan’s breath hitched, unsure of what to do with the phone in her hand.

She only knew that her boss’s scumbag ex-wife was Lin Simu, but who was this Zhuge Jing? Why would they cause such a big emotional swing? Had she done something wrong again?

Xiao Wenyu took the phone and tilted her head to ask, “Are there any more appointments today?”

“No more appointments.”

“Then you can go home.”

She ignored Li Wan’s deep worry, held the phone and slowly exhaled, then trembled as she dialed the number back.

This mess with the Lin family, which had started at the end of September, was finally unable to resist dragging her, who had finally escaped, back into the water to sink together?

It didn’t matter. She had everything and nothing now. She wasn’t afraid.

*

Ruan Shengyi, after receiving Li Wan’s message, bid farewell to the teacher she had painstakingly found to learn how to run a pastry shop, and drove back to the commercial street.

These past two days, she had also been so busy that her feet barely touched the ground.

Aunt Zhang seemed sincere about selling the house, but she was deliberately stalling on the contract, and fighting with such a shrewd and capable old woman was too tiring.

Therefore, she had been juggling Aunt Zhang’s contract and learning pastry shop management strategies these past two days, so busy that their lunches had been takeout that they ordered together, and more often than not, she simply called Xiao Wenyu to tell her to eat, making her send a photo to prove she had eaten before giving up. When she came home at night, the other person was already asleep, but there was always a warm meal left for her on the table, and a warm spot left on the bed.

So when Li Wan called, she was a little dazed, and after repeatedly confirming that Li Wan wasn’t joking, she ran back as fast as she could.

But from Beishi back, it would take at least half an hour.

Ruan Shengyi pushed open the door, panting slightly. The other person was already slumped in a chair, silently closing her eyes, looking lost in thought, not even knowing if she was asleep or awake.

She slowly walked over, pulled up a chair and sat down, gently holding Xiao Wenyu’s slightly cold fingertips, and said in a low voice, “Xiao Wan said you were acting strange. What’s wrong? What happened?”

Long eyelashes twitched slightly, and Ruan Shengyi then noticed that the base of the eyelashes was full of moisture, as if she had just cried, but it was also possible that she had just woken up.

She just sat there, quietly accompanying her, waiting for her to speak.

Her hand was gently held in return. Xiao Wenyu opened her eyelids and looked at her with a smile. “Why did you come back? Aren’t you in Beishi learning advanced techniques?”

She wanted to avoid the topic again.

Ruan Shengyi’s heart sank slightly. She leaned over and gently cupped the other person’s face, rubbed the corners of her eyes, gently pushed away the moisture at the corners of her eyes with her fingertips, and softly said, “You can tell me, tell me, okay?”

Xiao Wenyu looked straight at her, her eyes flickering, then gently leaned into her arms and said in a muffled voice, “It’s nothing big, I can handle it.”

“I believe you can handle it, Xiao Wenyu, but you can also rely on me a little. I…”

A finger was pressed against her lips, little by little, touching the red lips of the chattering person, two fingers together, pinching her lips.

Xiao Wenyu said calmly, “Sit with me for a while, sit quietly for a while.”

Ruan Shengyi’s breathing quickened for a moment, then gradually calmed down. She helped the person leaning on her to sit up straight, and met her questioning gaze. “Don’t sit like that, it’s not good for your back.”

As she spoke, she scooted into the chair, pulling Xiao Wenyu entirely into her arms, leaning to the side like a cushion, her chin just resting on Xiao Wenyu’s shoulder, gently rubbing against it.

“Sit like this, lean in my arms, let’s rest together for a while.”

Xiao Wenyu gradually relaxed, softly leaning on her, truly leaning in her arms as she had said, her fingers stroking the other person’s fingers, quiet and peaceful.

Before long, Xiao Wenyu hadn’t even spoken yet, but the breathing of the person behind her gradually evened out. She turned her head to look, Ruan Shengyi leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes, already asleep.

The distinct jawline shone softly in the light, and the long eyelashes, closed together, trembled slightly, telling of the vague anxiety and bone-deep exhaustion in her dreams.

She was the same last night, falling asleep after only saying a few words. She had been so tired these past two days that she could fall asleep as soon as she lay down, after all, she had been running around all day, and now she had to spare energy to deal with her affairs.

Xiao Wenyu looked at her, her nose slightly sore, and said in a low voice, “I’m sorry, little boss…”

Breaking your original peaceful life, and making you so, so tired, even falling asleep like this, really… I’m sorry, little boss.

They had only just started dating, and no matter how you looked at it, she couldn’t let this person continue to work so hard for her, otherwise she would collapse one day, and another person would end up in the hospital.

She also wanted to share some of the burden, at least not add any more burden.

Xiao Wenyu leaned gently into this embrace that opened for her even when she was asleep, closed her eyes, and whispered, “Just like this, quietly stay with me, that’s all, okay?”

As for Zhuge Jing’s phone call and the Lin family’s affairs, she could handle them, and didn’t even need to handle them much. It was just that a bloody mark had been stabbed in her heart, cruelly digging up some old things.

She would wait for Zhuge Jing to handle it, because Zhuge Jing definitely hoped to recover her family’s assets completely and undamaged, rather than letting the Lin family lie and dig out part of the assets, suffering this loss for nothing.

Heh.

*Just Now*

While waiting for the call to connect, Xiao Wenyu calmed her breathing and calmed down for a moment, then the call connected.

Zhuge Jing: “I’m very glad, Ms. Xiao, that you didn’t reject me as a harassing call.”

Xiao Wenyu’s heart sank slightly. Combining it with the phone calls from the past two days, she calmly asked, “You knew Lin Simu was going to call, didn’t you?”

Zhuge Jing said: “Unfortunately, my warning didn’t have much effect. Please allow me to introduce you to the recent situation.”

“The asset investigation of the branch company has reached the final stage, but there is a sum of money that has not yet been found. It is a very core equity, and the last clue currently ends with Lin Simu.”

“And when I first came to Chuncheng, Lin Simu had already begun to pave the way for this money. Want to guess what she said?”

Xiao Wenyu: “…” This was not funny at all, and there was absolutely no value in guessing.

Seeming to read her speechlessness, Zhuge Jing laughed, rustling as she probably flicked her hair, and said leisurely, “She said that this money was a betrothal gift, verbally given to you.”

“It wasn’t.” Xiao Wenyu calmly retorted, but the hand hidden under the table was about to break the skin.

She couldn’t get excited. Since Zhuge Jing was still joking with her, it meant that this matter wasn’t that serious yet. She couldn’t be too excited and expose everything, and even more so, she couldn’t cause more trouble.

As for Lin Simu’s lie…

She had heard even more ridiculous things, what did this count for?

Zhuge Jing: “I believe it wasn’t, after all, she doesn’t even know about the child yet. Don’t worry, Ms. Xiao, I said I wouldn’t use things I wouldn’t use.”

“Of course, useful friends should be used to their fullest.”

Xiao Wenyu sneered, “Your call is very urgent.”

Zhuge Jing: “Because my team is monitoring Lin Simu. Of course, we can’t break the law, so we can only monitor who she calls, and don’t know what she said.”

Xiao Wenyu’s breathing finally trembled, and she said, “You can get straight to the point, what do you need me to do?”

Zhuge Jing: “Ms. Xiao, you are too smart, that’s very good. I need you to tell me what she said.”

Xiao Wenyu repeated the conversation just now.

Zhuge Jing: “Does your phone have a recording?”

“…No.”

Zhuge Jing sighed, “That’s a pity, I still need to investigate to determine the truth. Ms. Xiao, I trust you, but I am only a member of the team, so…”

“I’m sorry, before clarifying this sum of money and finding the evidence of Lin Simu’s conversation with you, you may have a small trouble. I hope you can keep a good mood, and don’t affect your body and your precious baby.”

“I will contact you if there are any problems. Um… remember to reject all unknown calls this time, but keep my number.”

The phone hung up, and Xiao Wenyu was silent for a long time, then suddenly couldn’t help but laugh.

Ridiculous, she was only soft-hearted once, and actually brought such a big trouble to herself…

She lost all her strength, slumped in the chair, and the phone fell onto the chair surface with a snap, just right, covering up a tear.

Lin Simu.

She now hated her past self so much, why did she choose Lin Simu among so many people as if she was completely blind, making her ten years of life terrible and disgusting.

Xiao Wenyu, you’re so stupid.

*Present*

The faint, cool fragrance behind her was like a breeze passing through the pine forest, the snow on the leaves was slightly cool, permeating her heart and spleen, making her restless heart inexplicably calm down a little.

Xiao Wenyu exhaled, turned her face and gently rubbed against the person behind her, craving that bit of plainness and tranquility.

She thought: Please, little boss, stay with me… stay with me.

…