Hear this life

The carriage is much more cramped than the hall.

In this small space, even the hair of Wen Tingli became obedient.

She could hear every breath Lu Shicheng took, and the gentle sound was infinitely amplified within a very short distance.

There seemed to be an invisible sticky liquid flowing in the air, tightly sticking to the lively little joints of Wen Tingli's body.

She dared not move.

But her mind never stopped.

She was defeated this time, but she had to create an opportunity to get close to the Lu family next time.

Unfortunately, she was at her wit's end. What good idea could she come up with in such a short time? Fortunately, her brain didn't make a "clicking" sound when it was working, otherwise Lu Shicheng would have been disturbed by the sound in Wen Tingli's head and couldn't concentrate on driving.

Although there was no light in the carriage, the street lights of Lu Mansion were lit up one by one. The dim light and shadow passed by the car body quickly, and the vision was flickering. Suddenly, something flashed very brightly in the corner of her eye. Wen Tingli looked over and found that it was Lu Shicheng's cufflinks. The thing was as small as a silver ball and was shining brightly under the street light.

Wen Tingli immediately had an idea in her mind.

She coughed softly, and then a second time, as if she was choked by the evening breeze.

Lu Shicheng looked at Wen Tingli in the mirror.

Wen Tingli said "sorry" apologetically, and continued to cough while lowering her head to look for a handkerchief in her school bag. She knew that her coughing and crying were her special skills, and no one could tell that she was pretending.

After searching for a while without finding it, Wen Tingli had to lift her school bag a little higher so that she could continue looking towards the street light. As a result, she accidentally dropped the school bag at the feet of two people.

Wen Tingli leaned over to look for it, and Lu Shicheng stopped the car with a brake. Just then, the handkerchief was found. Wen Tingli covered her mouth with the handkerchief, picked up the school bag and put it on her knees. Then she just sat there very quietly, as if she had tried hard to hold back her cough.

Lu Shicheng waited for a few seconds, and seeing that she was no longer looking for anything, he started the car again and drove straight to the entrance of the mansion.

The concierge came over to help open the door. Wen Tingli said, "Thank you, Mr. Lu."

After getting off the car, he bowed again, turned around and left Lu Mansion without stopping.

As soon as she went out, she heard the sound of accelerator from inside the door. Lu Shicheng was indeed in a hurry. He nodded slightly to her, turned the steering wheel and drove back along the original route.

Didn't stay for a moment longer.

Wen Tingli seemed to be frozen, just staring at her own shadow under the street light. After a while, she shrugged her shoulders and went back to school to take the tram in the opposite direction.

After returning to Ci Xin Hospital, Wen Tingli was not in a hurry to go in, but went to a public telephone booth to call Li Chengying first.

The phone rang several times before it was connected. While waiting, Wen Tingli looked sadly at the gate of Cixin Hospital across the street. Usually at this time, Director Deng would either be working on the fourth floor or making rounds in the ward, but now...

Li Chengying picked up the phone.

Wen Tingli held the microphone tightly and whispered, "I just came out of Lu Mansion... um, it's a customs declaration form. The name of the foreign company responsible for the customs declaration is 'Dunpuer' Warehouse... I didn't see the others."

It was her first time doing this, and she was so nervous that she was sweating a little. When she returned to the ward, she showed the shining golden medal to Xiao Taozi.

Little Taozi pointed at the words on the medal one by one with her chubby fingers, babbling something.

Wen Tingli laughed when she heard this, and she grabbed her sister's hand and taught her: "Silly little peach, this word is pronounced yu."

Mrs. Zhou was even happier than when Wen Tingli won the drama competition last time: "Look at this medal, sir. It was given by the school. If she hadn't studied very hard, she wouldn't have won this first prize. It's worth it for her to study until late at night every day."

That night, Wen Tingli switched shifts with Zhou Sao. Zhou Sao stayed in the hospital with Wen Desheng, while Wen Tingli took Xiao Taozi back to their newly rented house.

After the two sisters finished washing up, Wen Tingli found a small ball for Xiao Taozi to play with, while she sat under the lamp and carefully sewed small pockets on the inside of each piece of underwear.

The pocket was just big enough to hold the check and the small roll of silver bills, and it was almost invisible from the outside. After sewing it, Wen Tingli sighed with satisfaction at the pile of bills. With the new check, she now had a total of three thousand oceans in assets.

She pointed to the number signed by Lu Shicheng and showed it to Xiao Taozi: "Do you recognize it? This is eight hundred dollars. My sister won it. Isn't it great?"

Xiao Taozi held the ball high in her hand and said, "Sister, great." Her voice was clear and loud, as if there was a small whistle hidden in her mouth.

"Shh, shh." Wen Tingli was so scared that she put her index finger on her lips. The house rented by Mrs. Qiao was shabby and crowded, and the door panels were particularly thin. At night, a neighbor's cough could be heard clearly. It was for this reason that Wen Tingli was worried about leaving her money at home.

After hiding the money, Wen Tingli reached into the inner pocket of her schoolbag and took out a small package. This was a relic left by her mother. She had kept this package in her schoolbag and carried it with her since the last time she moved.

When I opened it, I saw a few pieces of jewelry inside, small jade earrings, gold rings, gold bracelets...

Little Taozi imitated her sister and touched here and there, counting under her breath. When she found that there were only four pieces of jewelry, her expression became a little confused.

"Do you want to ask where mom's necklace is?" Wen Tingli asked in a low voice into Xiao Taozi's chubby cheeks.

Xiao Taozi clapped her hands: "Where's the necklace?"

Although the diamond was only the size of a little fingernail, it was the most expensive piece of jewelry her mother had worn when she was alive. A heart-shaped pendant was also made under the diamond, with a small photo of her mother embedded inside. Whenever Wen Tingli missed her mother, she would lie on the bed and look at the photo in the necklace, so Xiao Taozi was most impressed by that necklace.

"Don't worry, it will be back soon." Wen Tingli tapped Xiao Taozi's forehead mysteriously, yawned, turned over on the bed, spread her arms and said confidently to the ceiling.

The next day at school, Wen Tingli was waiting for news with confidence.

As a result, she miscalculated, and no one from the Lu family came to see her.

The third day was still the same.

Wen Tingli was getting a little impatient. As the saying goes, one should take risky moves. If she didn't deliberately leave the necklace in Lu Shicheng's car, how would she have a chance to talk to Lu Shicheng again? But it was so dark that night. If the necklace rolled from the seat to some corner, it would not be surprising that Lu Shicheng didn't find it.

The more Wen Tingli thought about it, the more painful she felt. Just when she was wondering whether she should take the initiative to go to Lu Mansion to ask for it, someone came to find her.

After school in the evening, Wen Tingli went to squeeze into the tram as usual, when she suddenly saw someone waving at her from the opposite side of the street.

"Mr. Kuang?"

Kuang Zhilin stood beside the car, watching Wen Tingli approach him with a smile.

"Miss Wen, how are you?"

"Thanks to you, everything is fine. Are you... just passing by?"

"There is a board meeting this afternoon. I am here on behalf of Mr. Lu. By the way, Miss Wen..." Kuang Zhilin's smile remained unchanged, but his eyes suddenly became sharp. "Have you lost anything recently?"

Wen Tingli was surprised and subconsciously touched her neck: "Hey, how did you know that?"

Kuang Zhilin looked at Wen Tingli without any expression. No matter how he looked, there was no flaw in the surprise on Wen Tingli's face.

Wen Tingli had secretly already used all her acting skills and energy that she usually had on stage to fight against him.

After a while of confrontation, Kuang Zhilin suddenly smiled and said, "Excuse me, what did Miss Wen lose?"

Wen Tingli suddenly realized: "Could it be that it was left at Lu Mansion that night? It's a necklace with a photo of my mother in it. Did you pick it up at Lu Mansion?"

Kuang Zhilin took out a small red velvet bag from his suit pocket.

"Look, is this the one?"

"Oh, it really fell into the Lu Mansion!" Wen Tingli was surprised and happy, "Please trouble Mr. Kuang to make a special trip."

"It's okay." Kuang Zhilin's smile was impeccable. "I'm just a little confused as to how this necklace ended up in Mr. Lu's car. I heard that Miss Wen was clearly there to receive the award that night."

Wen Tingli broke out in a cold sweat on her back, but she didn't show it on her face. "Oh, I came out in Mr. Lu's car. I was looking for a handkerchief in the car, and I might have accidentally taken the thing out of my schoolbag."

In front of Kuang Zhilin, she kissed the necklace with infinite cherishment. The ecstasy of getting it back was absolutely from the bottom of her heart.

Kuang Zhilin didn't say anything for a long time. Wen Tingli knew that he was examining her, but the more shrewd a person like Kuang Zhilin was, the more he could understand one thing: if she wanted to find an excuse to get close to Lu Shicheng, she would have come up to him the last time she was shot.

That's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But she did nothing last time.

Whether during her hospitalization or after her discharge, whether in front of Mr. Kuang or the nurse, she never asked about Lu Shicheng. Even though she later borrowed Mr. Kuang's power, it was because she was almost fired by Michelle and had to do so.

Kuang Zhilin must be very clear about all of this.

In order to further dispel Kuang Zhilin's suspicion, she simply added: "These are my mother's relics. I always carry them with me in my school bag."

"Put the jewelry in your school bag?"

Wen Tingli took out a small velvet bag from her schoolbag and put the necklace into it in front of Kuang Zhilin.

The suspicion in Kuang Zhilin's eyes was immediately replaced by surprise.

"My father is still in hospital, and I'm worried about leaving these valuables in the rented house." Wen Tingli said it as lightly as possible.

Kuang Zhilin's expression was slightly relaxed, but his tone was still very formal.

"It's hard for Miss Wen to be so sensible, but you must be extra careful next time."

"Thank you so much." She took the opportunity to pull out the tickets from her pocket. "The Golden Theater is going to hold an opening anniversary celebration on Sunday night. We have invited Golden Film's big stars Duan Miaoqing and Shen Yingying to perform on stage. There are many people out there trying to get tickets. I finally managed to get two first-class box tickets. These two tickets are for you."

"Thank you Miss Wen for your kindness, but it's not necessary." Wen Tingli could not hide her disappointment. "Last time, I won the championship on behalf of Shishi Girls' Middle School, so the theater also arranged a performance for me. Unfortunately, Vice Principal Michelle had to go to Hangzhou, so she was not available that night. If Mr. Kuang and a certain school director could come to support us, the students would feel very honored."

Perhaps it was the "pragmatic student representative" in the words that touched Kuang Zhilin. This time, Kuang Zhilin thought for a while and said, "It's really unfortunate. I have to help prepare for an auction benefit performance this Saturday. For this matter, Kuang has a lot of things to do all weekend. How about this, I will talk to other school directors and send representatives to watch Miss Wen's performance?"

After saying this, Kuang Zhilin smiled to himself, nodded, and got into the car.

Wen Tingli wiped the sweat from her head and went to a phone booth to call Li Chengying, but the call was not connected, so she called Shuguang Law Firm.

"Lawyer Bao." Wen Tingli went straight to the point, "Please check where there is an auction benefit performance in Shanghai on Saturday night."

Two minutes later, Bao Yaming's voice came from the other end of the phone again: "The Nanyang Business Association Shanghai Branch held a small party to prepare supplies. The address is at Garden Square, Jinshenfu Road. I heard that many dignitaries and beauties were invited. The Lu family is the chairman of the Nanyang Business Association. I guess they are one of the organizers of this party. What's going on? Is there any movement from Lu Shicheng?"

Wen Tingli hummed, "Lu Shicheng and Kuang Zhilin will both show up that night. Should we prepare early?"

"I have other things to do on Saturday." Bao Yaming mused, "How about this, I'll find out who's invited that night. If there's anyone from the arts community attending, I'll try to get you a ticket, how about that?"

"I'm afraid that's not possible... Usually poor students are not invited to charity parties like this. If you force me to help you get the tickets, it will only expose my close relationship with Shuguang Law Firm. How about this? You should have read my filming contract by now. Tomorrow I will take the contract to Manager Huang and take this opportunity to ask for a ticket."

"Okay." Bao Yaming said, "There's just one thing. Charity auctions often require guests to bring some valuables as donations. Before you go, I'll have someone prepare some auction items for you that are appropriate for your student status. I'll have someone meet you outside the door that night, and if anything goes wrong, they'll immediately protect you and evacuate you."

Wen Tingli said, "Don't worry about that. I have something ready to auction."

After hanging up the phone, Wen Tingli asked Huang Yuanshan to meet her under the pretext of discussing the contract.

After the two phone calls, Wen Tingli almost took out her handkerchief to wipe her sweat again. She and Lu Shicheng were almost from two different worlds, and it was too difficult to find an opportunity to get close to each other.

Saturday afternoon is a great time to review lessons, but Wen Tingli reluctantly took out two hours to dress up. She tried on all the clothes in her closet and picked out a light yellow French silk dress to wear. It was her most expensive dress, which her father had made for her using imported fabrics from a tailor shop. This kind of dress was too formal for everyday wear, but it was just right for attending a party.

After changing her clothes, she combed her thick curly hair in front of the mirror.

Half of her hair was tied on the top of her head and held in place with a large ivory silk bow, while the remaining half was draped over her shoulders. After completing the look, she looked like a bunch of gorgeous light yellow tulips.

Dressed like this, it was inconvenient to squeeze into the third-class tram, so she hailed a car from Xiangsheng Car Company in advance. When she arrived at Huayuanfang, she could see from a distance that the lights of the mansion in front of her were as bright as day. The gate was filled with young men and beautiful women who came to the banquet, and soft music flowed from the garden.
Wen Tingli adjusted her breathing in the car, pushed the door open and got out. As soon as she stood outside the door, she heard someone behind her calling, "Wen Tingli."

Looking back, it was Qiao Baoxin. Qiao Baoxin walked closer and held Wen Tingli's hand in surprise: "Why are you here too? By the way, what happened last time? Michelle hasn't come to our house for a long time."

"It's hard to explain right now. Anyway, she won't dare to bother me again. I'll explain it to you when I have a chance."

Qiao Baoxin breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, as long as Michelle doesn't play tricks with my mother, my mother can't do anything to you."

Her expression relaxed, and she began to hold Wen Tingli's hand and looked at her: "This skirt is really beautiful. No, you, Wen Tingli, would look good even if you were wearing rags."

She pointed over there: "I came here with my little cousin. He was talking to someone over there and asked me to wait for him here."

Wen Tingli was silent for a moment, then whispered, "I'll go to the bathroom first, and I'll come back to you."

But there was a commotion at the door: "Someone from the Lu family is coming."

Wen Tingli saw Lu Shicheng, who was like the moon surrounded by stars, at a glance.

Without waiting for him to come over here, she quietly took a step back into the darkness.

Her bright yellow dress was already conspicuous in the crowd, and this step was a bit deliberate, so Lu Shicheng almost subconsciously looked in the direction of Wen Tingli. When he saw Wen Tingli, his eyes were obviously fixed for a moment.

On the surface, Wen Tingli was busy talking to Qiao Baoxin, but her eyes were following Lu Shicheng's every move. After a glance, she couldn't help feeling a little regretful. She should have known not to move.

But she reacted quickly, turned around immediately and gave Lu Shicheng an extremely lovely smile.

Lu Shicheng withdrew his gaze thoughtfully and walked forward.

Wen Tingli was a little nervous. Would he suddenly realize that she had been appearing around him all the time recently?
Qiao Baoxin turned her head and looked around: "Why hasn't my little cousin come yet? It's so hot here. Tingli, do you think my makeup is going to be ruined? Why don't we go in?"

The two handed their tickets to the servant at the door, and a plump lady waved at Qiao Baoxin: "Baoxin, aren't your mother and sister-in-law here?"

Qiao Baoxin had no choice but to go over and say hello. Wen Tingli took the things and went to the registration office to register the things to be auctioned. The clerk looked at the big box in her hand and asked with a smile: "I wonder what Miss Wen wants to auction?"

"The box above is donated on behalf of someone else. Please be sure to write Mr. Lu Shicheng's name in the donor column. The box below is my own donation."

The two Nanyang clerks looked at each other in surprise, as if they were a little confused about her relationship with Lu Shicheng. Wen Tingli responded calmly, completed the registration, and went to the garden to get some fresh air.

Looking around, there were unfamiliar faces everywhere. She was good at socializing, but she also enjoyed the feeling of occasionally wandering on the edge of the crowd, turning left and right, and when she encountered a kind look from a stranger, she would not forget to respond with a smile.

No matter where Wen Tingli went, there were always a few curious eyes following her. The girl smiled before she spoke, and her face and figure were so beautiful that people could not take their eyes off her. Once she smiled, her smile seemed to be sweet enough to touch people's hearts. A group of young men in the garden were ready to make a move, but they did not dare to approach her because they were not sure about Wen Tingli's background.

The weather was hot, and she was sweating after just a few turns. Wen Tingli went to the drinks table, picked up a glass of iced orange juice, and sipped it. Suddenly, she heard the host say in a loud voice, "Mr. Lu Shicheng has donated ten sets of Chanel dresses for women. Please prepare to bid."

People showed surprised and amused expressions, and whispered to each other: "Mr. Lu? Donating women's dresses?"

"Could it be a mistake? Didn't they just say that the Lu family donated 500,000 yuan directly?"

Then, the name of the next donor was read out: "Ms. Wen Tingli donated a brand new German Bonnawa camera."

The Bonava is the most advanced camera in the world. It can be sold for about two thousand dollars in a foreign company. This figure is insignificant among all the donations tonight, but the young man's donation of this item is both respectable and not too extravagant.

Wen Tingli calmly accepted the looks from all directions, this was the trophy she won from the last drama competition. She had long wanted to exchange the camera for money, but she was worried that the old scholars from the Film Association would find out and say that she was so money-minded at such a young age, so when she encountered such a good opportunity, she might as well donate it to raise some money for charity.

Comparing the two, Lu Shicheng's "ten sets of women's dresses" seemed even more ridiculous.

No matter where she went, she could always hear people jokingly discussing this matter: "Hasn't the young master of the Lu family been engaged yet? Then where did he get all those women's dresses? Could he have collected them for fun?"

Joking aside, the dress donated by Lu Shicheng was unprecedentedly popular. As soon as it was put on the bidding table, more than a dozen ladies and wives rushed to bid.

After a fierce competition, the ten dresses were finally sold at high prices to Yu Zhenhua, the daughter of a jewelry tycoon, and Miss Yuan, a famous lady from Tianjin.

During the auction, Lu Shicheng, as the boss of the Nanyang Business Association, sat downstairs the entire time.

Wen Tingli was standing at the back and couldn't see Lu Shicheng's expression for a moment, but from his back, he seemed calm on the surface.

When signing the check, Yu Zhenhua and Miss Yuan made a request with great smiles on their faces: they wanted to take a photo with Lu Shicheng, the donor of the women's clothing.

This time Lu Shicheng was not so cooperative and just sat there without moving.

Several directors of the Nanyang Business Federation appealed to Lu Shicheng's emotions and reason with him, and finally managed to get him to the stage.

The first joy was that the ten dresses were sold at such a high price. The second joy was that as the organizer of the auction, we received strong support from the guests on the scene. With two joys coming together, Lu Shicheng really had no reason not to cooperate.

The shooting location is set at the auction table.

Yu Zhenhua stood on Lu Shicheng's left with a smile on his face, while Miss Yuan stood on Lu Shicheng's right with a flushed face. After the first photo was taken, both ladies were not satisfied and asked Lu Shicheng to move a little, saying that this would make their faces look smaller.

Hearing this, Lu Shicheng looked calm, put his hands in his trouser pockets and took a step back. Yu Zhenhua laughed and said, "You're going the wrong way." Lu Shicheng patiently took another step forward.

Wen Tingli was almost laughing her belly off. Lu Shicheng looked like a "young master" who was being taken care of by two rich ladies in a romantic place.

The two lovely rich ladies were smiling like flowers. I guess even they themselves didn't expect that they would have the opportunity to tease Lu Shicheng.

After a while, the camera donated by Wen Tingli was sold at a good price. The bidder was a young man named Wang from George Trading Company. When signing the check, the man also asked to take a photo with the donor Wen Tingli.

As Wen Tingli stepped onto the stage, she felt as if a pair of eyes were staring at her. When she lowered her eyes, she saw Lu Shicheng looking at her calmly.

That look was so calm, yet meaningful.

He must have known that it was her doing. Wen Tingli tried her best not to appear guilty, but she couldn't resist the intimidation in Lu Shicheng's eyes. Although he looked away soon, Wen Tingli still felt a chill on the back of her neck from time to time. After taking the photo, Master Wang took the opportunity to ask Wen Tingli where she was studying and invited her to go to the movies the next day.

As soon as Master Wang started talking, the young master of a department store and the manager of a bank came over one after another to chat with Wen Tingli.

Wen Tingli was annoyed and found an excuse to go downstairs to look for Qiao Baoxin.

It was strange that the corridor was originally very lively, but as she walked down it was deserted with only a few people. Just as she was feeling strange, she suddenly saw a person standing at the bottom of the stairs.

This person seemed to be waiting here specially.

It seemed that he had come to settle accounts with her. Wen Tingli twisted her foot and hurriedly grabbed the handrail of the stairs, but failed to retract her strength in time. She slid down countless steps and fell straight to the bottom of the stairs.

In desperation, she closed her eyes tightly. It was over now. Her tailbone would be broken into at least eight pieces.

Unexpectedly, someone reached out and supported her in time.

When I opened my eyes, it was Lu Shicheng.

She said with lingering fear: "Thank you."

Lu Shicheng closed his eyes, and after she stood firm, he pulled his arm back. Wen Tingli then realized that she was still holding Lu Shicheng tightly. She quickly let go of her hand and raised her eyes quietly. Lu Shicheng was staring at her with an expression that showed no joy or anger. He made a "follow me" gesture to her and turned around and left.

Wen Tingli pretended to be calm and followed.

(End of this chapter)