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Shao Cixin sent a message to let Wen Zhihan know where she was.
After she put down her phone, she held her chin and gazed out the window. In her thoughts, she replayed the scene she had just witnessed over and over again.
Wen Yu and Tian Jiahe were fighting.
Although Shao Cixin always had the impression that the two of them weren’t without their flaws, she had never seen Wen Yu show disgust towards Tian Jiahe, let alone violently reject her touch.
Even if Tian Jiahe made a scene, she was still Wen Yu’s precious treasure.
Seeing this incident today, Shao Cixin couldn’t help but feel strange—so strange.
She still vividly remembered the moment in her previous life when Wen Yu and Tian Jiahe stood in front of her holding hands, sincerely proclaiming that they were each other’s true love. Why had it changed now?
She thought of the day she got Wen Yu drunk and endured her clichés.
What did Wen Yu say at the time?
Oh, she said that Tian Jiahe was not good and that she was not happy when she was together with Tian Jiahe.
So what kind of “bad” was it, and why had Wen Yu been unhappy?
Shao Cixin suddenly felt curious, but not that curious.
It was impossible to ask Wen Yu, and Shao Cixin couldn’t get the answer by asking others. In any case, what was there to be curious about?
Besides, she saw with her own eyes that Wen Yu, this scumbag, was not doing well, so that was enough.
The car drove towards Guanglan, indifferent to the scenery it left behind.
Tian Jiahe tightly held Wen Yu’s hand and stared at her closely, eyes full of confusion.
She couldn’t understand her lover anymore.
She knew it was wrong of her to break up with Wen Yu, but Wen Yu had also gotten together with Shao Cixin, the person who was pursuing her, in a fit of anger.
Neither of them handled the situation well, but Wen Yu, who had gotten mixed up with others, was even worse than her.
And Tian Jiahe already expressed her forgiveness. She was willing to start over. So why was Wen Yu saying that she didn’t love her anymore?
Could it be that…Wen Yu was still mad at her for breaking up?
Tian Jiahe helplessly explained, “It’s not that I don’t like you, Wen Yu…I was just angry for a while—”
“Let go.” Wen Yu mercilessly interrupted her as if she was giving an order and looked at her with a cold expression. There was no emotion in her voice.
“I won’t let go.”
Tian Jiahe bit her lips tightly and tracked Wen Yu with her eyes, looking extremely pitiful.
“Are you still angry with me?”
She suddenly teared up. “It was my fault for breaking up, but weren’t you also with Shao Cixin?”
Wen Yu frowned and habitually threw Shao Cixin to the side. “I don’t care about Cixin.”
Tian Jiahe was displeased. “Cixin? That’s your sister-in-law. Why are you referring to her so intimately[1]!”
Wen Yu was stunned.
Tian Jiahe’s words penetrated her heart, making Wen Yu feel both heartbroken and furious.
Sister-in-law, sister-in-law—Now people all over the world were reminding her that Shao Cixin had become her sister-in-law!
She just returned a step late, so why did it have to end like this!
Wen Yu pulled her hand back angrily and glared at Tian Jiahe. “That’s enough!
“Tian Jiahe, I don’t have feelings for you anymore. We are over, completely over!
“Don’t ever come near me again!”
After spitting out such harsh words, Wen Yu turned around and left without a second glance. She would never have any sympathy for Tian Jiahe like she did in the past.
She no longer had the reason or strength to love Tian Jiahe.
What was there about Tian Jiahe that deserved her love?
Did she love the way she loved Tian Jiahe more than how Tian Jiahe loved her?
Or did she love the way that Tian Jiahe always had to argue with her over trivial matters?
This kind of love, and this type of marriage, was not worth staying in at all. It only makes people tired.
The two of them were not suitable for each other, and there was no need to waste one another’s time anymore.
Wen Yu had made her words clear to Tian Jiahe, and she hoped that Tian Jiahe would understand and be sensible. This way, she would stop bothering her.
Tian Jiahe blankly stood where she was.
She couldn’t believe what she heard.
Wen Yu said she didn’t like her anymore?
How was this possible? How could Wen Yu not like her?
They had so many fights, but each time they fought, their love only grew deeper.
No, Wen Yu must be saying nonsense out of anger. Wen Yu still liked her.
Ever since she was a child, everyone Tian Jiahe had ever liked also liked her back.
Wen Yu was no different.
Tian Jiahe stared at Wen Yu’s back, and her obsession turned into balls of fire in her eyes which were impossible to extinguish.
“Bye, Uncle Ming.”
Shao Cixin waved goodbye to Uncle Ming. Then she turned and took Wen Zhihan’s hand with a brilliant smile.
“I haven’t disturbed President Wen by coming this time, right?”
Wen Zhihan’s eyes were gentle. Her fingers passed through Shao Cixin’s and interlocked their digits together.
“No. I’m getting off work soon, so you’re just in time.”
Shao Cixin curved her peach blossom eyes and smiled as brightly as a flower.
As long as Wen Zhihan was around, she wouldn’t wear a mask or a hat.
Under the curious gaze of the employees, the two of them calmly walked into the elevator.
No one dared to disturb the boss and her wife, so everyone else took the initiative to take another elevator.
Shao Cixin and Wen Zhihan were the only two people in their car.
It was perfect.
Shao Cixin used the smooth surface of the elevator’s walls as a mirror to touch up her lipstick.
While applying her lipstick, she said, “I saw Wen Yu and her ex-girlfriend when I was coming over.”
She paused. “Or maybe I’m the ex-girlfriend? I don’t know if the two reconciled yet.”
“Not important,” Wen Zhihan said calmly. “You saw it. Then what happened?”
Shao Cixin stopped doing what she was doing, and her expression shifted to one of surprise as she said, “They were actually fighting.”
Wen Zhihan raised her eyebrows.
Shao Cixin explained, “Ah, you probably don’t know, but Wen Yu’s heart and eyes have always belonged to this girlfriend. No matter how difficult their relationship becomes, Wen Yu held her like a treasure she can’t let go. She believes the two of them are the type of true love that moves the world. That’s why I thought it was strange for them to fight.”
Wen Zhihan softly said “hm” with no emotion.
She really didn’t care for Wen Yu’s affairs.
But Wen Yu was also Shao Cixin’s ex, and she was someone Shao Cixin loved for a long time.
So when Wen Zhihan suddenly heard the person she liked talking about her ex while their own relationship was making little to no progress, she inevitably felt a little sour in her heart.
How great it would be if Shao Cixin gave a little of the love she once gave Wen Yu to her…
Shao Cixin saw that Wen Zhihan had no interest in hearing about Wen Yu, so she stopped talking.
“Ding.”
The elevator had arrived.
The atmosphere was inexplicably silent.
Sensing this, Shao Cixin finished applying her lipstick and put it in her bag. Then she raised her hand to her ear, pretending that there was a Bluetooth headset there.
She said seriously, “Copy that.”
Shao Cixin solemnly moved in front of Wen Zhihan and scanned the hallway before announcing, “President Wen, you can leave.”
Wen Zhihan was confused. “What are you doing?”
Shao Cixin said, “Being your bodyguard.”
Wen Zhihan: “?”
Shao Cixin took her role seriously. She scanned her left and right up and down. “Don’t worry, President Wen. Although it’s my first day on the job, I will definitely protect you. If there is danger, I will never leave you alone and run away by myself.”
When Wen Zhihan saw Shao Cixin’s stoic face and serious expression, she suddenly felt amused and couldn’t help but chuckle.
Her soft laughter instantly dissolved the silence.
Wen Zhihan took Shao Cixin’s hand, suppressed Shao Cixin’s addiction to drama, and followed her out of the elevator.
Seeing that she had successfully coaxed Wen Zhihan back to normal, Shao Cixin stopped and grazed the corner of her own lips. “Wen Zhihan, how is my lipstick doing?”
Wen Zhihan commented, “It’s very well applied.”
Shao Cixin said happily, “Let’s move.”
Unbeknownst to them, their every action was caught by two incoming employees.
After Shao Cixin and Wen Zhihan walked away, the two employees even dared to whisper to each other, “Put on lipstick? Can’t help but kiss in the elevator? Wow, this is so hot!”
“What’s the matter? How many times have they kissed on the variety show? It’s a routine operation for them.”
“Oh, I’m so envious. When will it be my turn to have sweet love…”
“Hey, let’s one day go worship a Bodhisattva together and see if we can change our luck.”
“Alright…”
Shao Cixin sat on the black sofa in Wen Zhihan’s office, her fingertips swiping across the screen of her phone.
She didn’t have any ideas where they should go for dinner, but Wen Zhihan said she’d listen to her suggestions, so she was looking through food recommendations online to make her decision.
Shao Cixin also didn’t neglect to quietly pay attention to Wen Zhihan at work as she swiped through her phone.
Finding a place to eat was secondary. Observing whether Wen Zhihan treated everyone the same was her main purpose for coming here.
Fortunately, Wen Zhihan didn’t mind if Shao Cixin watched her work in her office.
After observing for a long time, Shao Cixin found nothing.
It was true that Wen Zhihan treated the people under her employee with gentleness, but this type of “gentleness” was neither the kind that seemed too familiar nor too unfamiliar. At most, it would not scare people away at first glance.
Shao Cixin felt that it was better to call it a “disguise.” Its purpose was to make the other party unable to guess what the user was thinking, and it was so perfect that no one could find fault with it—Shao Heng also did the same at his work.
Making no discovery, Shao Cixin silently sighed and instead took a look at Wen Zhihan’s appearance and attire.
The sleeves of her white designer shirt were half-rolled, and her exposed forearms were fair and slender with effortless arches.
Her eyes were slightly lowered and hidden behind golden-rimmed glasses, and her eyelashes were curled like butterfly wings.
Wen Zhihan pinched a black pen between her long, slender fingers, which made her skin look as white as jade.
Shao Cixin’s eyes couldn’t help but follow Wen Zhihan’s fingers.
Wen Zhihan was born to be perfect, with no flaws from head to toe—especially in her hands, which were so beautiful they looked like they were carefully carved by God.
At this moment, those hands were capable of making people wish they were being held as tightly by Wen Zhihan as her pen.
Shao Cixin saw Wen Zhihan slowly put down her pen. Then she supported the table with her palm and gently brushed over the open document pages as she stood up, showing off her slender and beautiful figure.
Wen Zhihan came over to Shao Cixin, bent down, and laid a hand on the back of the sofa.
She tilted her head in Shao Cixin’s direction. “Is there something on my face? Then Cixin can help me wipe it.”
Shao Cixin had been silently staring at Wen Zhihan for almost half a day, making it difficult for Wen Zhihan to ignore it.
Because Shao Cixin’s eyes were fixed on her face for so long, Wen Zhihan couldn’t help but begin wondering if there really was something there.
If so, then she should just take this opportunity to get close.
Shao Cixin came back to her senses and focused on the beauty before her. She said softly, “There’s nothing on your face.”
Wen Zhihan tilted her head in Shao Cixin’s direction.
Shao Cixin said honestly, “I was just looking at a beautiful jiejie and her hands.”
Wen Zhihan lowered her eyes and glanced at her own hands.
Shao Cixin gave a thumbs up and praised without hesitation, “They’re really too beautiful. People won’t get tired of watching them for a whole day.”
Wen Zhihan was slightly startled by Shao Cixin’s proclamation. She couldn’t help but chuckle and reach out to pat Shao Cixin’s head.
Shao Cixin’s “as long as it’s beautiful, I’ll like it” persona was really well maintained.
Shao Cixin was mesmerized by Wen Zhihan’s tenderness. When she saw Wen Zhihan turn to go back to her desk, she suddenly stretched out her hand to grab her fingers and blurted, “Wen Zhihan, I have a question to ask you.”
She wanted to ask Wen Zhihan directly if she was really so kind to everyone, if she was as gentle to other people as she was to her.
She didn’t know where she got the courage to ask, but now that the bow had already been drawn, it was too late to turn back.
Her hand was already outstretched, and she couldn’t retract it.
It didn’t matter. It was okay to ask as a friend.
Shao Cixin comforted herself like this.
When Wen Zhihan head Shao Cixin, she immediately sat back down next to her, looked into her eyes with a calm expression, and said, “Ask me.”
Seeing Wen Zhihan give her full attention, Shao Cixin boldly ask, “Are you…also so good to others?”
Wen Zhihan didn’t understand what Shao Cixin meant. “Excuse me?”
Shao Cixin tried hard to explain, “You have such a good personality, you are gentle and kind, and you treat everyone the same, so I’m curious—I’m curious whether you’re so good to everyone…”
“No other meaning?”
“No other meaning.”
It was a pity. Wen Zhihan could almost believe that Shao Cixin had different intentions.
Shao Cixin was waiting for Wen Zhihan’s answer when she suddenly saw Wen Zhihan smile, get up, and leave for her office desk.
At this moment, a sentence fell on her ears. “Not everyone is worth my kindness.”
Shao Cixin’s eyes lit up slightly.
—She said I’m worth it!
Shao Cixin and Wen Zhihan agreed to return to the Wen residence on Thursday.
Wen Zhihan had something to discuss with her parents, so she went back a day in advance.
On this trip back, she found out that Wen Yu had changed rooms.
After Wen Yu moved from the second floor to the first floor, the residence’s rooms were also rearranged.
The housekeeper, Auntie Dong, told Wen Zhihan that Wen Yu had been living with their parents at the Wen residence for a while and that it was during this period of time the rooms had been changed.
Wen Zhihan glanced towards Wen Yu’s room and, while tying up her long hair, asked casually, “Okay, why did she change rooms?”
It wasn’t like she just changed her room on a whim, right?
Auntie Dong thought for a while and said, “It seemed to be because of the stairs.”
Wen Zhihan raised her gaze, and Auntie Dong’s reflection danced in her blue eyes.
Auntie Dong showed a look of realization as she suddenly remembered something. “Yes, it’s the stairs. The second lady said she didn’t want to take the stairs. She thought it was too troublesome to climb up and down, so she simply moved to the first floor.”
After she wove her long hair through a black hairband, Wen Zhihan turned to look at the stairs as she began calmly untying her watch.
The white staircase was clearly partitioned, one step after another, connecting the first floor to the second floor.
After thoughtfully gazing at it for a while, Wen Zhihan turned back with a calm expression and said softly, “Is that so?”
She placed her watch in the palm of her hand, a gentle smile appearing on her face.
“Auntie Dong, I won’t be eating at home today, so there’s no need to cook for me. I’m going to go talk to my parents first.”
“Okay, Director Wen and the others are in the backyard.”
“Thank you for letting me know.”
Wen Zhihan turned and walked towards the backyard, prepared to have a long talk with her parents.
The author (热到昏厥) has something to say:
I feel everyone’s love, and I even accidentally caught a few daughters of the sea.
Little cuties who are about to take the exam[2], you got this! You will all get 100%!
Bodhisattva, Tathagata Buddha, and all the top scholars bless you OvO!
[1] I guess I should give this some context since it’s come up many times now. If it wasn’t obvious already, in Chinese culture, you typically refer to someone you aren’t too familiar with using their full name, last name included (e.g. “Shao Cixin”). You only drop the family name when you’ve gotten to the point of friendship/significant other (in this case, Wen Yu’s “Cixin”).
[2] I believe 热到昏厥 is referring to the Gaokao here. It seems like she realized she’s “caught” a few young readers who are about to go through the gauntlet of China’s national exam, so she’s wishing them luck here in her author’s notes.
Frick just get married already! Wait they already are. Bro man what the heck
Ty for translating!