Hear this life

The person who came was not Lu Shicheng. The one standing in the front was Kuang Zhilin, followed by Huang Yuanshan and a group of girls.

"Yes, yes, you win." Yan Zhenzhen and Gao Xiaowen pushed Wen Tingli onto the bed without further ado. "You're not being honest even though you're injured. Why don't you get on the bed and lie down."

Wen Tingli burst out laughing: "Why are you here? Don't worry, I'm fine. The doctor said I can be discharged from the hospital after taking good care of myself for two days."

"Gao Xiaowen is the most well-informed. When she heard that you had a successful audition, she immediately called and gathered all the classmates to go and congratulate you. Unexpectedly, she failed to find you, and instead saw Sister Huang busy dealing with those reporters. Later, Sister Huang successfully shook off the reporters and came to find you, so we followed her."

The girls chattered non-stop, and Wen Tingli was delighted: "Can you sit down and have a drink of water first? There are fruits over here and tea over there. I can't move because of my arms hanging, so please treat yourselves."

Kuang Zhilin smiled and told the nurse: "Cut the fruit and bring it over, and make some tea for the ladies."

Everyone then noticed that the ward was filled with fresh fruits and nutritional supplements, and even teapots and tea sets were prepared in both Chinese and Western styles. Although they were spoiled at home, they couldn't help but admire this scene: "This pile of food and drinks is enough to open an import company, right? This is all from Mr. Lu——"

Wen Tingli hurriedly used a toothpick to pick up a piece of melon and stuffed it into Yan Zhenzhen's mouth.

Huang Yuanshan waved at the side: "I say, this melon is really sweet, don't you want to try it?"

"Sister Huang, don't take sides. The filming hasn't even started yet, and you're already acting as Wen Tingli's manager?"

Amidst the laughter, Kuang Zhilin said goodbye with a smile, and Wen Tingli got out of bed and chased after him.

"Mr. Kuang."

Kuang Zhilin stopped outside the door and said, "I haven't congratulated Miss Wen yet. I heard that the competition in today's audition was extremely fierce. It's really amazing that Miss Wen stood out."

Wen Tingli asked: "Mr. Lu...didn't he come?"

"Oh, Master Cheng is in the office discussing cooperation with the people from Golden Pictures on "Sands of Time". Since this is the first time the Lu family has invested in the film industry, Master Cheng has specially ordered several lawyers familiar to the Lu family to handle contract matters. In addition, there are several important matters at Rixin Shipyard that are waiting for Master Cheng's instructions. These matters need to be dealt with urgently. Master Cheng will come to see Miss Wen as soon as he is done."

Wen Tingli didn't know what to say, so she could only smile and nod.

Kuang Zhilin looked at Wen Tingli's injured shoulder and his smile faded slightly.

"Forgive me for saying this: no matter how important the game is, it is not as important as your own health. Don't try so hard next time. Not only Master Cheng is worried about what happened today, but we are also quite shocked."

Wen Tingli nodded shyly.

"I've sent someone to pick up Mrs. Zhou and Xiao Taozi. Miss Wen, just focus on recovering from your injuries. If you need anything, just let them know."

Wen Tingli watched Kuang Zhilin leave. As soon as she returned to her room, she heard Huang Yuanshan say, "They ordered a cake and a table. What if they have other plans? Let's hear what Wen Tingli has to say first."

"She's back. Wen Tingli, your birthday is the day after tomorrow. How are you going to celebrate it?" Yan Zhenzhen asked.

Wen Tingli was stunned.

"You forgot about it yourself, didn't you?" Zhao Qingluo stepped forward to support her. "Last time in front of the Carlton Cinema, you said in person that you would celebrate your birthday with us. You're not going to change your mind, are you?"

"Why did you change your mind? Of course I want to spend the day with you. We didn't get to spend a lot of time together during the summer vacation. Let's take this opportunity to have a good time for the day. Let's go to the Kangle Restaurant for a big meal and then go to the movies. I'll pay for all the expenses."

Huang Yuanshan waved his hand and said, "I'll treat you this time. I'll have someone go to Cirrus and reserve a large private room, and order some wine, food, and pastries. We can all dance and play finger-guessing games all day long. Wouldn't that be more lively and relaxing than watching a movie? Wen Tingli really made me proud during today's audition. It's only right that I treat you as the host. I'll just wish you a smooth filming of 'Southern Beauty'."

Gao Xiaowen said, "No, you're tired of eating at the same restaurants all the time. My brother has just opened a Cantonese restaurant and is planning to officially open it on Sunday. The chefs are masters from Guangzhou and Chaozhou. I'm sure you haven't eaten any of those dishes. On the opening day, each table will be cheaper by one to five dollars. Isn't it much more cost-effective than going to Kangle Restaurant?"

Yan Zhenzhen asked curiously, "You are willing to patronize your brother's business?"

Gao Xiaowen said in annoyance: "He has too many businesses to manage. A few days ago, he used half of the restaurant's dividends to lure me to become one of the owners. Otherwise, I would not bother to help him attract business."

Wen Tingli happily applauded: "Then it's settled."

Just at this moment, Mrs. Zhou and Xiao Taozi came. The girls gathered around Xiao Taozi like bees seeing sugar.

Huang Yuanshan glanced outside the door and saw that it was the Lu family's followers who helped to send Mrs. Zhou and Xiao Taozi in. He couldn't help but smile knowingly and winked at Wen Tingli: "Don't worry, we will play until the evening that day and then disperse. We won't bother you all day."

Wen Tingli just pretended to be confused.

Huang Yuanshan did not expose her: "Recover from your injuries these few days. Next week, the filming of "Southern Beauty" will officially start. This time, we are serious. Take the time to arrange your school and family affairs in the next few days, so as not to be overwhelmed by the time."

Everyone stayed until four o'clock before leaving.

When Mrs. Zhou heard from the nurse that Wen Tingli dislocated her joint during the competition, she was so scared that she kept chanting "Amitabha". She also blamed Wen Tingli for not taking her body seriously and said what if she suffered any sequelae.

Wen Tingli sighed helplessly. Today, everyone who saw her couldn't help but scold her. She wanted to explain, but it didn't seem to make much sense. After all, they really cared about her. So she could only nod and say "um" and "ah" while helping Xiao Taozi recognize the word cards.

After waiting for more than an hour without seeing Lu Shicheng coming, Wen Tingli felt a little restless and asked Mrs. Zhou to go outside to help buy some newspapers to help pass the time.

Not long after, I heard Mrs. Zhou say outside the door: "Mr. Lu."

Wen Tingli quickly slipped on her shoes and got out of bed.

The person who came in this time was Lu Shicheng, and behind him was Director Liu, who was explaining Lu Shicheng's condition.

"Don't run around or move around for the next two days. Also avoid lifting heavy objects on the affected side for two months after you are discharged from the hospital. Don't worry. Miss Wen is young and healthy, so there won't be any sequelae."

Wen Tingli stopped moving, but she looked at Lu Shicheng and couldn't hide her smile.

Director Liu said goodbye with a smile, and Mrs. Zhou handed the newspaper to Wen Tingli: "Look, the Hujiang Morning Post and Film Weekly are all sold out. Only the Shenjiang News is left."

Without waiting for Wen Tingli to reach out, Lu Shicheng took the newspaper from Zhou Sao's hand, held Wen Tingli's elbow with his other hand, and led her to the bed steadily. Seeing this, Zhou Sao pulled Xiao Taozi out without saying a word.

Wen Tingli was led all the way to the bed by him. Lu Shicheng put the newspaper aside and pressed her uninjured shoulder to make her sit down on the bed.

Wen Tingli looked up at Lu Shicheng. She knew that it was Lu Shicheng's turn to teach her a lesson.

Among these people, Lu Shicheng had the most right to be angry. After all, he was the first one to rush to her side on the day she was injured, and he took care of her meticulously during her hospitalization.

However, she had aggravated her injury again because of a competition. She could not refute this, and Lu Shicheng was also there during the audition, and he saw how cruel she was to herself.

She was a little unsure about how he would react, so she stole a glance and saw that he was still dressed neatly and impeccably, but there was sweat on his forehead, which showed that he had rushed over after finishing his work.

She suddenly had an idea and said, "Let me get you a glass of water."

But he pushed her down on the bed again, leaned over to look at her injured shoulder, was silent for a while, then raised his head and asked her with his eyes.

【Does it hurt? 】

Wen Tingli hurriedly shook her head.

Lu Shicheng squatted down without saying a word to look at the scratches on her legs. Then he stood up again and looked at her face. After a while, his expression eased a little. He took out the small notebook that he never left behind from his pocket, quickly wrote a few lines on it and handed it to her.

Wen Tingli was sure that he would scold her harshly. For example, the time she angered Lu Shicheng at the charity sale, his few casual words made her so embarrassed that she wanted to crawl into the ground.

He is just always rational and polite, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have sharp words when he is angry.

She wanted to squint her eyes into a slit to read the words in the notebook.

Lu Shicheng looked at her and smiled.

[I haven't eaten properly all day. Are you hungry? What do you want to eat in the evening? ]

Wen Tingli was stunned for a moment, then she felt relieved: "I'm not hungry. I don't have an appetite to eat now. I've been waiting for you!"

She stood up excitedly and put her face close to his as she spoke.

"I won! I really won, I'm so happy!"

He nodded, yes, she won, he was very happy for her.

"But you don't look very happy. Are you blaming me a little?"

Lu Shicheng glared at her.

Victory and glory made her whole body glow.

Who can blame her?
No one is qualified, including him.

She is an orphan and has to make her own decisions. A role may not mean much to others, but it is everything to her at the moment. Even if there is only a glimmer of hope, she will do everything she can to fight for it.

No matter how much he felt heartbroken, he had no choice but to sympathize and understand her desire and ambition for success.

Under Lu Shicheng's long and silent gaze, Wen Tingli gradually became uneasy. His eyes were always calm and gentle, making it impossible for her to guess his emotions at the moment.

This was probably the first time that the two of them had a disagreement on something since they confirmed their relationship. He had his own stand, but she - she didn't want to give in on a matter of principle.

Would he conclude that she didn't care about his thoughts? She thought about it and gently grabbed his hand: "Listen to me--"

Lu Shicheng shook his head.

[I don't blame you, because you didn't do anything wrong. This time I was too careless, which allowed the bad guys to hurt you. Next time I will protect you better.]

The deeper and more complex the emotions, the more difficult it is to express them in a calm way. He wrote very quickly, so his handwriting appeared a little sloppy, but the characters seemed to have vitality, jumping on the paper one by one. Wen Tingli unconsciously touched a few lines of words on the paper, and it was as if she had touched his heart, hot and soft.

After writing, he touched her head with a gesture full of care.

Wen Tingli felt as if her throat was blocked by a ball of cotton.

Without accusation or admonition, he left it to himself to "pay attention next time". She looked at the words and called him softly: "Lu Shicheng——"

Lu Shicheng immediately showed a serious look and listened to her. He didn't know how much he was attracted to her with his gentle and focused look. She couldn't help but hug his neck and whispered something in his ear.

【What?】 He smiled and looked sideways at her.

“I said—” She closed her eyes and kissed his lips, whispering against his lips, “Lu Shicheng, I really like you.”

***
In the next few days, Lu Shicheng spent most of his time in the hospital taking care of Wen Tingli.

Wen Tingli hasn't lived so comfortably for a long time since her mother passed away. Apart from eating and sleeping, she doesn't have to worry about anything. After a few days, not only did her wounds heal smoothly, but her complexion was also better than before she was hospitalized.

During this period, an old acquaintance came to visit her. She was Ms. Liu Yaqiao, an assistant lawyer for Lawyer Bao.

It just so happened that Lu Shicheng and Mrs. Zhou were not at home at that time. Wen Tingli had just woken up from her nap when she heard Liu Yaqiao carrying a bag of nutritional supplements and asking in the corridor: "Which ward is Miss Wen Tingli staying in?"

Wen Tingli was overjoyed and hurriedly said to the nurse, "That's my senior, please invite her in."

Liu Yaqiao breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he entered the house.

"I thought I had found the wrong ward. I called your home yesterday, but no one answered. I was worried that something had happened to you, so I called Qingluo and the others. They told me that you were in the hospital. What happened? Are you okay?"

Wen Tingli smiled and said, "It's nothing serious. I accidentally broke my arm last week, and it's almost healed now. Sister Yaqiao, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Liu Yaqiao smiled and glanced at the nurse, who picked up the kettle after realizing it. Liu Yaqiao waited until the nurse closed the door and left before speaking, "Lawyer Bao is back from America. He heard that you had come to him several times but all failed. He is very sorry for you. He will stay in Shanghai recently. Please take the contract to exchange the money with him as soon as possible."

Wen Tingli paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "Tomorrow -"

No, it's her birthday tomorrow.

"How about the day after tomorrow?"

"No problem. By the way, when will the filming of your play start? Hujiang University will hold a conference in mid-September. By then you will have to attend classes and film at the same time. Are you sure you can handle it?"

Wen Tingli smiled and said, "Sister Yaqiao, you know I am full of energy. Besides, Sister Huang will make adjustments according to my courses at any time, so it won't affect my studies."

***
That night, Wen Tingli told Lu Shicheng about her plan to go out the next day, but she did not say it was to celebrate her birthday, she only said that some good friends wanted to get together.

She wasn't sure whether Lu Shicheng still remembered her birthday. Rather than telling him on her own, she hoped that he would remember it himself.

When she said this, Lu Shicheng was helping her peel an apple. He looked surprised and raised his head to look at her. He asked her when she would play tomorrow and whether she needed him to pick her up.

"No need to pick me up. I'll probably play until six or seven before going home."

Lu Shicheng didn't ask any more questions. He didn't take the initiative to mention her birthday the whole night. Wen Tingli was a little disappointed.

The next morning, when Wen Tingli was discharged from the hospital and returned home, the first thing she did when she entered the house was to open the window to get some fresh air. Mrs. Zhou heard a folk remedy from some fellow patient, so as soon as she got home, she cooked a pot of mugwort soup and forced Wen Tingli to take a bath again, saying that this would help drive away the disease and bad luck.

After washing up, Wen Tingli found the lily-colored dress she had worn last time and put it on. This soft color was quite suitable for her mood at the moment. She then put on the pink diamond necklace that Lu Shicheng had given her, looked in the mirror, and was quite satisfied. She dressed herself up happily, and then took Xiao Taozi to her side to dress her up.

Suddenly, she heard a horn outside the window. It turned out that Gao Xiaowen and others drove to pick her up.

Wen Tingli acted coquettishly to Mrs. Zhou: "Why don't you come with us, please."

Mrs. Zhou shook her head like a rattle: "I'm not going. You guys are a bunch of young girls, why would a middle-aged lady like me join in the fun?"

Wen Tingli had no choice but to lead Xiao Taozi out. Mrs. Zhou hurriedly chased to the door and said, "Are you guys going to dance this afternoon? There are so many people in places like that. It would be terrible if we can't take care of her. How about I pick Xiao Taozi up after you finish lunch? I told you last time that her shoes are a bit tight. Why don't you buy her a few pairs of shoes and socks?"

Wen Tingli thought for a moment and said, "You go to Gao's restaurant to pick up Xiao Taozi around 1:30. I want to pack a few dishes for you to take home and try. The address of the restaurant is..."

At this time, someone knocked on the door. When the door opened, a big gift box appeared in front of him.

"Happy birthday!" Zhao Qingluo and others shouted happily at the door, "Open it and take a look."

Wen Tingli untied the ribbon on the gift box without saying a word, revealing a small beige smooth leather handbag inside.

"I ordered it from Le Long's department store in Paris. Gao Xiaowen said it was a limited edition and all handmade. How is it? Do you like it?"

Wen Tingli was so moved that she didn't know what to say. Gao Xiaowen and Yan Zhenzhen smiled and pulled the backpack off Wen Tingli's shoulders, "You are now a public figure, don't carry this old school bag around all day, and today is your birthday, change into this new bag and let us see it."

Wen Tingli happily took the old book bag and the new leather bag into her arms. "I'll go in and tidy up and come out soon. You wait for me in the living room, Mrs. Zhou, make some tea quickly.

After entering the house and closing the door, Wen Tingli excitedly took out the money and gun from her schoolbag and put them into her new handbag. Unfortunately, the new handbag was too small and she couldn't fit a wallet in it.

Wen Tingli was in a dilemma. In order to treat her friends to a good meal, she stuffed a lot of silver dollars into her wallet. After thinking about it, she had to drag her "treasure box" out from under the bed, put her wallet in it, and took out another silver note, preparing to go to the bank on the street to exchange it when she didn't have enough silver dollars.

He carefully stuffed the contract back into the box.

After finishing all this, she straightened up beside the bed and suddenly saw Xiao Taozi standing beside her.

She was startled: "When did you come in?"

"Money, treasure box." Xiao Taozi squatted down and touched the suitcase under the bed.

Wen Tingli felt relieved. Fortunately, Xiao Taozi didn't notice her pistol. She quickly locked the box and picked up Xiao Taozi. "Yes, the box is full of my sister's savings. It's a lot of money. I can buy a lot of things. But Xiao Taozi can't touch this box. Let's go out."

***
Several people got into Gao Xiaowen's car. Yan Zhenzhen and Zhao Qingluo held Xiao Taozi on both sides and refused to let go. Wen Tingli was forced to sit in the front passenger seat. Seeing a stack of newspapers on the seat, she started flipping through them.

All the film-related newspapers were filled with news about the Golden Films audition competition. At the end of every article, there was always a sentence saying, "Ms. Wen is so mysterious that the author deeply regrets not being able to interview her in person."

"You see, you became famous after your audition this time." Gao Xiaowen said, "Everyone is curious about what kind of movie talent can surpass big stars like Yu Peiling and Zhou Manru. There are also rumors that the actors have been selected long ago, and Yu Peiling and the others are just sacrifices made by the Golden Company to create hype. Now most fans are standing up for them. Most fans don't have a good impression of you and Golden Pictures."

Zhao Qingluo answered from behind: "Wen Tingli, I advise you not to read the newspaper these days. I'm afraid you will be upset after reading those ugly words."

Wen Tingli, however, took it very easy.

"It's up to others to say whatever they want. The movie will be released anyway. Whether I, a newcomer, was selected through backdoors or not, they will know for themselves after they watch the movie."

Yan Zhenzhen clapped her hands: "Listen, I really like her arrogant style."

Gao Xiaowen snorted and laughed: "Others are flowers, but she is a cactus. She can't die from thirst, sun exposure, wind or lightning—"

Wen Tingli laughed as she heard this, but her attention was soon caught by another piece of news in "Huahua Movie".

The report was accompanied by a photo, with Yu Peiling in the center and a young man's silhouette next to her. The two were very close to each other, and it was obviously a candid photo because the man's outline in the photo was a little blurry.

But Wen Tingli recognized it as Lu Shicheng at a glance. She also figured out the location, which was the corridor where the audition competition took place that day.

The title is [Recently, another rich young man fell in love with the movie queen Yu Peiling. ]

The article reads: "It was a hot day, and the rich young man went to the audition venue to pursue Miss Yu, and waited until the afternoon. This man has received higher education, is wealthy, is low-key and modest, and has always been favored by Shanghai socialites... I wonder if this infatuated move can capture Miss Yu's heart."

The full text does not mention Lu Shicheng's name, but the main text vaguely mentions several parts of the Lu family's background, making it easy to guess that the text is talking about Lu Shicheng.

There is no need to guess, this manuscript must have been released by the manager named Chen Maoqing beside Yu Peiling.

With this scandal, even if the winner of the audition that day was Xiao Diejun or Zhou Manru, all the attention would be drawn to Yu Peiling. Being pursued by someone did not harm her personal image, but was helpful in getting her some scripts and roles that matched her own charm.

Unfortunately, she was an unexpected winner in the competition that day, and Chen Maoqing's wishful thinking ultimately failed. Otherwise, the film newspapers these days would probably be full of gossip about Yu Peiling and Lu Shicheng.

Gao Xiaowen couldn't help asking, "Isn't it written on here that Mr. Lu? I've dealt with Yu Peiling a few times, and she's not a bad person. The worst person is Chen Maoqing, who is by her side. He's a veteran in the film industry, and he always likes to use this kind of despicable method to help his female stars steal the limelight. By the way, does Mr. Lu know about this? Does he just let them write whatever they want?"

Yan Zhenzhen sneered: "They are eager for the Lu family to respond. Once the Lu family comes out to argue with them, it will be seen by the outside world as confessing their guilt. This matter will never be resolved. The smartest thing to do is to be like Lu Shicheng and ignore it."

As they were talking, there was a burst of loud firecrackers coming from the front, and it turned out that they had arrived at the hotel.

The hotel newly opened by Gao Tingxin brother and sister was named "Dingxin Hotel", which means "reform and innovation".

When it comes to business, the new son of the Gao family is getting more and more courageous. After the failure of his last investment in Yifeilin Department Store, this time he decided to start with a small business. Compared with the Gao family's other businesses, a Cantonese restaurant is certainly inconspicuous, but compared with similar restaurants, it is also extraordinary. Today is the first day of opening, and the Gao family has invited many guests to show their support, who are either high-ranking officials or business tycoons.

When you go in, you will be amazed by the luxurious decoration. The hall is covered with teak floors shipped from Sumatra, and even the wall lamps in the bathroom are said to be handmade crystal lamps custom-made from Italy.

When Gao Tingxin heard that his sister had brought a group of friends to show her support, he came downstairs to greet them personally. When he saw Wen Tingli, a smile appeared on his handsome face.

"It's amazing, the big star is here." He ordered the servants to lead the group to the VIP box on the second floor to sit down. He stood by the table and rested his arm behind Wen Tingli's chair. "I heard that Miss Wen is the birthday girl today? It just happened to coincide with the grand opening of our restaurant, isn't it a double joy? Order whatever you want, I'll pay for this table."

Wen Tingli had a smile on her face, but she leaned forward uncomfortably. Gao Xiaowen slapped away her brother's arm that was around Wen Tingli's shoulders.

"Just talk, can you please take your stinky hands away?"

Gao Tingxin raised his hands high with an innocent look on his face.

"Gao Xiaowen, ask yourself, when have I ever thought of hitting on your classmates? I was always polite to them. Besides, Miss Wen already has..." He smiled, "You guys eat slowly, I'll go and entertain other guests."

Everyone had no choice but to see him off with a smile. After sitting down again, Zhao Qingluo asked while looking through the menu.

"Why hasn't Sister Huang come yet?"

"Is that Sister Huang's voice outside?"

Huang Yuanshan seemed to have met someone he knew. He talked outside the door for a long time before coming in. As soon as he entered the door, he said, "Xiao Wen, your Gao family is very prestigious. Just going up the stairs, I ran into the director of the Public Concession Municipal Council, the chief of the French Concession Police Station, and people from the Wang, Bai, and Meng families. I was so busy greeting them along the way that my face was almost frozen with laughter."

"Who were you talking to outside just now? The voice sounded familiar."

Huang Yuanshan glanced at Wen Tingli: "Oh. An acquaintance, a bit old, you wouldn't recognize him even if I told you. How is it, have you ordered the dishes?"

"How dare we order food when the boss who invited us hasn't arrived yet?" everyone laughed.

They were having a lively meal. Halfway through the meal, Xiao Taozi wanted to go to the toilet. Yan Zhenzhen also had to go to the bathroom after drinking too much. Wen Tingli and her sister then went out with Yan Zhenzhen.

The design of this restaurant is quite Western-style. There is a secret door next to each of the two adjacent private rooms, which leads to an exquisite public washroom and a makeup salon for ladies. There are several pink sofas for people to rest.

After Wen Tingli took her sister to the bathroom, she heard someone talking in the lounge next door: "Why is this all the news recently? This Miss Wen's name sounds familiar. Oh, I remember, is she the female student who dated the eldest young master of the Qiao family?"

"It's her. That night they only said she was Baoxin's classmate, but I remember Xingchu kept this girl with him the whole night."

Another person couldn't help but sneered, "What nonsense! When did our Xingchu bring this Miss Wen with her? It was clearly her attempt to get close to Xingchu by using Baoxin's identity but failed. Have you forgotten? That night, the Qiao family drove her away because they saw what kind of person she was. A lowly creature is a lowly creature. Look, she's going to be an actress soon."

"Don't underestimate her. I heard that she has been dating the young master of the Lu family recently. One time, my daughter went to Carlton to watch a movie and happened to see Lu Shicheng and Miss Wen entering the theater. My daughter said that Mr. Lu took Miss Wen very seriously and picked her up and dropped her off by car."

"Then - why does this news say that Lu Shicheng is pursuing Yu Peiling? Well, this is about Lu Shicheng, right? Which girlfriend is the real one?"

Mrs. Qiao smiled, "Regardless of whether Yu Peiling is real or not, Lu Shicheng and Wen Tingli can't be real anyway. Don't think that all men are lustful. They are all very shrewd. Although Lu Shicheng is the head of the Lu family now, Old Master Lu is still alive. How could Old Master Lu agree to his grandson marrying a poor girl? She has no money, no family background, and no future. Which man would be serious with her? It's just for fun."

Wen Tingli was so angry that she wanted to rush out, but as soon as she moved, she found that her right hand was tightly grasped by someone. She looked down and saw her sister listening with eyes wide open, with a look of fear and confusion on her face.

Wen Tingli had no choice but to suppress her anger and said to Xiao Taozi in a gentle voice, "Let's go to the toilet first."

Yan Zhenzhen couldn't swallow this anger no matter what, and said to Wen Tingli angrily: "If we don't teach her a lesson, she will only go further and further."

After saying that, she rolled up her sleeves and stepped out, laughing coldly, "Who was the lady who was so talkative? It turned out to be Mrs. Qiao. Wen Tingli and I were classmates, how come I didn't know she was like what you said? You're a bitch if you open your mouth, and no one wants you if you close your mouth! I can't believe these words came from the mouth of a respectable lady. Have you forgotten that you have a daughter? Are you worthy of being a woman and a mother?!"

Mrs. Qiao was stunned for a moment, then she said with a dark face: "Where did you come from? You hid in the back and eavesdropped. You have no manners at all."

The other ladies quickly chimed in: "Little girl, don't be so harsh. Mrs. Qiao is the elder after all. How can you speak like that?!"

"An elder should behave like an elder. Mrs. Qiao has bullied Miss Wen more than once or twice. Last time at the entrance of Cirrus, I'm sure Sister Qiao has already told you the consequences of spreading rumors and causing trouble. It's only been a short time, and you've forgotten the lesson you learned last time. Do you want us to invite Lawyer Liu to teach you a lesson again?"

The thing Mrs. Qiao hated most in her life was that time at Xianlesi, she was suppressed by Wen Tingli in public and could not fight back. Now that Yan Zhenzhen brought up the old matter again, she was so angry that she trembled all over.

"You still dare to bring up what happened last time? It was just your accomplices who helped you to take sides. It just so happens that I have two lawyer friends here today, so why not ask them to help judge the matter again?" She grabbed Yan Zhenzhen's hand and tried to drag her out, but was unexpectedly pushed away by Wen Tingli.

"Mrs. Qiao." Wen Tingli looked at him fiercely and said coldly, "Let's stop while we're ahead!"

Mrs. Qiao felt a chill at the back of her neck. After just two months of not seeing her, Wen Tingli seemed to have gained something more. In those eyes that were looking at her level, there was clearly a cold knife hidden, with the blade pointing outward, waiting for an opportunity to strike. She did not seem impatient when she spoke, but rather calm and measured. She was no longer the fragile sapling that could be easily broken when they first met her, but had the shadow of a towering tree with roots under its feet that could not be shaken.

Mrs. Qiao had only seen this kind of dangerous aura in those desperate criminals. She felt inexplicably frightened and more confused. During the confrontation, her arrogance could not help but be reduced by three points.

***
"you--"

At this time, people in the boxes on both sides heard the noise in the bathroom and stuck their heads out to see what was going on.

Wen Tingli pulled Yan Zhenzhen away from Mrs. Qiao without changing her expression.

Huang Yuanshan guessed what happened at once, and angrily dragged Mrs. Wen aside: "Aunt Jiang, why do you always make trouble for Wen Tingli?"

Mrs. Qiao pretended to be calm and raised her hand to tidy up her hair. "I want to cause trouble for her? I don't have the time. Just now, several of us ladies were chatting in the lounge, and this little girl suddenly rushed out to lecture me. If you don't believe me, ask Mrs. Zhao and the others."

"Alright, alright, it's alright." Several ladies came out to smooth things over. "Yuanshan, you and Miss Wen are so close? Miss Wen, I heard that you will be starring in the major drama of the Gold Company? Congratulations, it was really a misunderstanding...Mrs. Qiao, don't we still have to go to the Cartier Jewelry Store across the street to pick up the jewelry? Anyway, we've finished our meal, why don't we go and help digest the food."

***
Wen Tingli and Yan Zhenzhen were surrounded and escorted back to the box.

After sitting down, Wen Tingli looked at Xiao Taozi worriedly. Xiao Taozi didn't cry or make a fuss, but she looked a little dazed. She didn't know if she was frightened by Mrs. Qiao's words or if she was a little sleepy.

Wen Tingli only regretted bringing her sister out, and hurriedly poured juice for Xiao Taozi to drink.

"Aunt Jiang, she..." Huang Yuanshan rubbed his face tiredly, "Forget it, it won't make sense. Tingli, today is your birthday, don't get angry over such a boring person or thing."

"That's right. We don't want to be spoiled by that kind of person. Yan Zhenzhen, you were so brave and invincible in the battle just now. Here, I'll reward you with a piece of pork chop."

"Pfft, do you think I'm Zhang Fei?"

Everyone laughed, and Wen Tingli also smiled again and raised her glass enthusiastically.

After eating a portion of dessert, Little Taozi regained her spirits. She tilted her little head back and chattered about wanting to eat this and that. Only then did Wen Tingli secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

The meal lasted until two o'clock, and when it was almost over, Mrs. Zhou finally showed up.

"Why are you here so late?"

Mrs. Zhou greeted everyone at the door with a smile, then mysteriously dragged Wen Tingli outside.

"Tell you something."

It turned out that Mrs. Zhou didn't arrive too late, but too early.

In fact, she had been downstairs since about 12 o'clock. But she thought that before going upstairs to pick up Xiao Taozi, she might as well buy shoes and socks for the child first, so that after picking up Xiao Taozi, she could take the child home directly by car.

After this stroll, she realized that the prices in the department store near the racecourse were outrageous. The children's shoes and socks in the store were even more expensive than those for adults. Someone like her who was used to being frugal would never be willing to spend so much money on a pair of children's shoes, even though Wen Tingli gave her enough money.

Finally, she decided to go to the fabric store to cut some cloth and make it herself at home. However, she didn't expect that the fabrics in the fabric store were much more expensive than those elsewhere.

She wandered around the street for an hour but found nothing. Then, without knowing how, she arrived in front of the door of a very imposing and splendid foreign company.

At a glance, she could tell that this store was different. A crabapple red ribbon hung over the door, the lights in the windows were as bright as stars, and she didn't know what material the floor of the foyer was made of, but it was as shiny as a mirror. She was really worried that she would slip if she walked on it.

There was a string of foreign characters on the sign. Mrs. Zhou didn't understand what this foreign company was selling. Driven by curiosity, she put her forehead against the glass window and looked inside. She saw that the people in the store seemed to be covered with a layer of strange golden light.

Just as she was staring blankly, a waiter in the store rushed out and drove her away.

"Go, go, go, don't look around at the door."

Mrs. Zhou was about to leave when she heard someone ask in surprise, "Mrs. Zhou?! Why are you here?"

When I turned around, I saw Lu Shicheng and Kuang Zhilin getting out of a car, and it was Kuang Zhilin who was talking.

Lu Shicheng glanced at Xizai, who immediately changed his expression. "Mr. Lu, I didn't know you knew each other. Madam, I apologize for any offense just now."

Lu Shicheng looked around and then curiously looked behind Mrs. Zhou.

Mrs. Zhou was still in a daze, but Kuang Zhilin knew what Lu Shicheng wanted to ask, and asked with a smile: "Mrs. Zhou, did you come out alone? Where are Miss Wen and Xiao Taozi?"

Mrs. Zhou woke up as if from a dream, and hurriedly told Wen Tingli about the plans she and Wen Tingli had made for today.

"I just kept walking around... I didn't know how I ended up at the door of this store. Who knew I'd run into Mr. Lu and Mr. Kuang here? What a coincidence."

At this moment, a middle-aged manager pushed the door open and said to Lu Shicheng enthusiastically, "Mr. Lu, you are so punctual. Everything is ready and waiting for your personal inspection."

Just like that, Mrs. Zhou followed Lu Shicheng into the jewelry store that looked like a crystal palace in confusion.

There were only a few customers in the store, all dressed in extraordinary clothes. Lu Shicheng led Mrs. Zhou inside as if no one was around, and Mrs. Zhou did not dare to look around. Soon, she was arranged to sit in a dark purple VIP room like a VIP. Behind her was an inner room where a group of managers and foreigners were busy serving Lu Shicheng.

Kuang Zhilin was on the phone at the other end. After a while, he walked over to Mrs. Zhou, apologized with a smile, and went inside to talk to Lu Shicheng.

Hence, Mrs. Zhou was the only one left in the small hall. From time to time, people would bring her fruits and snacks, and everyone was extremely polite to her.

Mrs. Zhou didn't dare to say a word or move. She just sat there upright, and occasionally pricked up her ears to listen to the noise inside. The servant in the inner room kept speaking a foreign language to Lu Shicheng, and she couldn't figure out whether Mr. Lu came to discuss business or to buy things.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of high heels coming up the stairs.

Several ladies dressed in jewels came downstairs. The lady leading the way said, "Mrs. Qiao, congratulations on getting such a beautiful pair of earrings. If I were you, I would calm down even if I was so angry."

The other lady snorted as if she was laughing.

"Mrs. Qiao is not an angry person. It's just that the two little girls jumped out to cause trouble today. We were just chatting about our own things, but they took it seriously. I don't know where these wild girls came from. They really have no manners at all."

"With her background, it's strange that she knows the rules." Someone laughed sarcastically, "I finally figured it out. This little bitch suddenly became so arrogant, it's nothing more than she wants to be a movie star, or she just found Lu Shicheng as her boyfriend. She thinks she can ignore the Qiao family now that she has a backer. She's really dreaming."

At this point, Mrs. Zhou finally figured out what was going on, and her expression changed immediately. It turned out to be the extremely difficult Mrs. Qiao.

The ladies laughed and said, "The girl is still too young. She doesn't know that men are the most unreliable in this world. If you really want to use men's favor as capital, you will end up with nothing. It was clearly written in the news just now that Lu Shicheng is pursuing Miss Yu Peiling again recently——"

Before he could finish his words, a female clerk walked up to the stairs and interrupted several people in a low voice.

"Mrs. Qiao, Mrs. Zhou, Mrs. Liu!" The female clerk pointed nervously towards the VIP room.

A few people looked down in confusion, but they only saw a middle-aged lady dressed simply. They were about to ask the female clerk what was going on when they suddenly saw a young man coming out of the VIP room.

The store suddenly became quiet.

The man walked straight to the light and stood still, looking up at the people on the stairs. His eyes were such beautiful, but they were like awls that could pierce one's heart.

Mrs. Qiao's legs felt weak, but she pretended to be calm and said to the people around her, "Let's go."

At this time, a foreigner in the VIP room chased after Lu Shicheng and asked in broken Chinese: "Mr. Lu, let me confirm with you again, is it written in Chinese characters on it, 'Happy Birthday, Miss Wen'?"

The foreigner was holding a heavy red brocade box, which contained precious jewelry. Mrs. Qiao looked back and her face became even uglier.

Lu Shicheng did not respond to the foreigner's words, but signaled Kuang Zhilin to stop Mrs. Qiao.

"Mrs. Qiao." Kuang Zhilin's usual sophisticated smile disappeared, and his tone was quite cold. "We don't know what exactly happened between you and Miss Wen, but we have heard you slander Miss Wen in public more than once. This behavior is quite disgraceful. It not only insults Miss Wen, but also lowers your own personality! As Miss Wen's friend, we hope that Mrs. Qiao will be more respectful to Miss Wen in the future. This is not an advice, but a solemn warning! Just this once, I hope Mrs. Wen will not do anything that will make you regret it."

He spoke slowly and leisurely, without any anger in his voice. However, every time he spoke, Mrs. Qiao's heart trembled.

She didn't have to be hard on Wen Tingli, but there were too many troubles at home during this period. The master was frustrated everywhere, and his son and daughter-in-law were also worried. It turned out that Liyun was not pregnant, but had irregular menstruation, and she was busy taking medicine to regulate her body recently. Although Xingchu went home on time every night, she didn't know where her heart was.

The most infuriating thing is that Baoxin has become disobedient recently. Not only does he refuse to accept the blind date arranged by his family, he also keeps shouting that he wants to go to Peking to study.

Faced with this out-of-control situation, Mrs. Qiao felt deeply powerless. As a mother, could she still harm her own children? She had done so much for the family over the years, but in the end, her children only complained about her.

If her husband could be more capable, why would she have to be so stubborn? No, Xingchu and Baoxin were not like this before. After all, these changes started when the brother and sister met Wen Tingli, so she got angry as soon as she saw Wen Tingli.

But - Lu Shicheng's eyes as calm as a cold pond let her know that there was no joking in his words just now.

The warning was serious, and it seemed to be serious to Wen Tingli as well.

She couldn't help but grit her teeth secretly.

But no matter how unwilling she was in her heart, she had to give in outwardly. In order to solve the financial difficulties, her husband had recently been asking Gao Tingxin to help with the Lu family's bank loan. As the head of the eldest house, she had to run around without giving up her face, otherwise she would not have come to Mr. Gao's new store today to show her support.

The Qiao family had never taken nouveau riche like the Gao family seriously before.

She didn't mention these. She only knew that if she offended Lu Shicheng, the Qiao family would definitely have a ten-fold hardship in the future.

She could only laugh, but her laughter was dry and unpleasant, as if she had swallowed a handful of sand.

"Come to think of it, it was me who helped Miss Wen transfer to Shiwu Middle School. How could I deliberately embarrass her? It was just a misunderstanding. Miss Wen, please help convey my apologies to Mr. Lu."

***
Although Mrs. Zhou had not received much education, she was very good at telling stories and she described the scene at that time vividly.

"So many employees, so many friends, they just watched Mrs. Qiao apologize to Mr. Lu. Mrs. Qiao's face looked no better than a dead person. I saw how angry she was at first, and how relieved she was afterwards! She has been bullying people all day long, and now she has finally met a tough opponent."

Wen Tingli listened silently. She didn't feel relieved because Mrs. Qiao gave in. In other words, she never hated Mrs. Qiao. Ever since she heard what Dean Deng said, she deeply understood a truth: in a feudal family like the Qiao family, Mrs. Qiao was just a puppet trapped in a cage.

What made her happy was Lu Shicheng's attitude. He would always stand up to protect her openly. Moreover, he pretended to be nothing last night. It turned out that he had not forgotten that today was her birthday.

I really wanted to ask Mrs. Zhou if she had seen what was in the brocade box, but I finally decided to keep it a little mysterious, so I held back and just took Xiao Taozi out and handed her to Mrs. Zhou.

Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen helped to call a rickshaw on the street. Everyone watched Zhou Sao and Xiao Taozi leave, and then they went to Xianlesi together with smiles.

Wen Tingli had a great time at the Cirrus for the whole afternoon, during which time she met many female students from Wushi, Xiude and even Huizhen Girls' Middle School on the dance floor.

Everyone had nothing to do during the summer vacation so they decided to come out and dance. When they heard that today was Wen Tingli's birthday, the girls decided to join in the celebration. Some danced, some played bridge, and they had a great time.

By half past five, Wen Tingli finally couldn't sit still anymore.

They had agreed to leave at this time, but her friends didn't seem to want to leave. She didn't want to spoil her friends' fun, so she had to pretend nothing happened and danced and chatted with everyone, laughing.

In the end, it was Huang Yuanshan, the most experienced among the crowd, who noticed that Wen Tingli was absent-minded.

She raised her wrist to check the time, smiled and clapped her hands, saying, "Yesterday I only booked the afternoon show, and the time is almost up. If you are still interested in continuing to dance, I will immediately ask the boss to renew the reservation for an evening show. If you want to change the program, such as going to a movie, eating ice cream, etc., then you don't need to renew the reservation."

"Let's go, let's eat first and then watch the movie."

The girls responded immediately, and Wen Tingli took the opportunity to sneak into the accounting office to pay the bill, but was told that Huang Yuanshan had paid the bill yesterday.

She had no choice but to take out a handful of tips and give them to the foreign supervisor, asking him to quickly go to the Grand Cinema across the street to buy twenty-one first-class tickets. She had just counted and there were a total of twenty-one girls present.

"When they get to the cinema, you take out these movie tickets and give them to them, and tell them that they have already paid for them."

This was overheard by a classmate passing by: "What's going on? You specially invited everyone to watch a movie, but you are in a hurry to leave?"

Wen Tingli kept emphasizing that she was not in a hurry to leave, but had to go back home because of something urgent.

Zhao Qingluo burst out laughing. "Yes, yes, if you're not in a hurry, then please stay a little longer. Hey, why are you running away again?"

Huang Yuanshan even mischievously helped Wen Tingli call a rickshaw, pushed her in, and then pretended to tell the driver: "She said she is not in a hurry, not at all, just go slowly on the road."

Wen Tingli said nothing, just smiled and waved to her friends.

Looking at the time, she was still half an hour late. Lu Shicheng was always punctual, so he might have been waiting at her house for an hour.

Now she was eager to go home and wanted to fly back home in a flash. However, after she had walked for a while, it started to rain heavily. The driver was so wet that he could not open his eyes. He had to stop and look for a cloak in the back seat.

Just at this moment, a car came speeding down the street. Fortunately, Wen Tingli was sharp-eyed and reminded the driver in time, otherwise both of them would have been hit by the car that was not looking at the road.

Even though he dodged in time, the driver still fell in the rain, and his knee seemed to be broken. He sat in the rain and said dejectedly: "Little girl, please call another car. I, I can't walk anymore."

The pitiful situation of the driver reminded Wen Tingli of her father. How could she bear to blame him? She paid him the fare as usual and hurried to the telephone office to hire a new car from the car dealership.

What’s annoying is that there were so many people calling for taxis during the rainstorm that I made four calls in a row but didn’t get a single taxi. I spent more than half an hour at the telephone office before a taxi finally came.

***
Lu Shicheng knocked on the Wen family's door, and footsteps were soon heard from inside.

Mrs. Zhou opened the door and saw that it was him. She smiled and said, "Mr. Lu! Please come in!"

Lu Shicheng nodded politely and subconsciously looked around after entering the room.

"Our young lady hasn't come back yet." Mrs. Zhou said enthusiastically, "But she should be here soon. Please sit down first and I'll make you some tea."

Lu Shicheng watched Mrs. Zhou go into the kitchen and sit down on the sofa.

This was his second formal visit to the Wen family. The furnishings in the living room were exactly the same as before, except that the coffee table was piled with pills prescribed by the hospital this time. Wen Tingli's own English book was also placed on it. There was a library borrowing label on the pages. It was Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

She has always liked reading dramas. Lu Shicheng leaned over to pick it up and flipped through it, then looked at the chest of drawers on the left side of the living room, where there was a photo of Wen Tingli performing "Journey to the West" on stage when she was in elementary school. He walked to the chest of drawers and looked at her in the photo with interest. Wen Tingli was childish at that time, but she even played Zhu Bajie so well.

It was dusk at this time, and the bedroom doors were open. Looking towards the side orange light, he suddenly remembered the time when he was recuperating in her house. He couldn't help but feel a little absent-minded. He took out a jewelry box and a letter from his arms and gently placed them on the coffee table.

He hoped that she would see the birthday present he gave her as soon as she entered the house.

"Mr. Lu, please have some tea." Mrs. Zhou's words interrupted Lu Shicheng's thoughts.

Mrs. Zhou felt a little embarrassed. After putting down the teacup, she did not dare to pull Lu Shicheng aside to talk. She still retreated to the kitchen with a timid smile.

Lu Shicheng sat there alone drinking tea, but he felt a little bored after sitting for a long time, so he picked up a stack of literacy cards on the coffee table and took them out one by one to read.

In this slightly simple home, children's items can be seen everywhere, literacy cards, small toys, snacks... Each one is full of childish fun, and each one reflects Wen Tingli's love and patience for her sister.

She loved her family so much, he knew it the first time he came to her house.

By the way, why didn’t I see Xiao Taozi? Suddenly, I heard a baby mumbling in his sleep in a room. It seemed that the baby was still taking a nap.

Before they knew it, it was dark, but Wen Tingli had not returned yet.

I looked at the clock and it was already half past seven.

Mrs. Zhou came out and turned on the lights in the living room. Lu Shicheng stood up and realized later that the family was supported by Wen Tingli alone, so she was frugal in everything, even the electricity consumption had to be calculated.

"The young lady is probably on her way." Mrs. Zhou rubbed her hands, "How about I call some of her classmates and ask them?"

[No need, I'll just wait for her. ]

Suddenly, there was a crackling sound and it started to rain heavily outside.

Lu Shicheng looked at the white rain curtain on the terrace and began to worry that something had happened to Wen Tingli. He went to the kitchen and asked Mrs. Zhou to come out and call Kuang Zhilin.

Kuang Zhilin replied quickly.

"The foreman of Cinnamon said that Miss Wen and her classmates broke up in front of Cinnamon around 6 o'clock. The girls went to watch a movie across the street, and Miss Wen left on her own in a rickshaw. It's raining so hard and there are so many people using rickshaws. I'm afraid she's stuck in traffic? Do you need me to send someone to pick her up immediately?"

Lu Shicheng nodded to Mrs. Zhou, and Mrs. Zhou said to the other side: "Then I'll trouble Mr. Kuang."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Shicheng gave Mrs. Zhou a look that said "don't worry" and sat back on the sofa.

Mrs. Zhou was a little overwhelmed. In order to ease the atmosphere, she smiled and said, "Mr. Lu, how about——"

As soon as the words came out, a small figure jumped out of the room. Xiao Taozi woke up. She was too excited to play today, and after coming back, she insisted on playing until almost five o'clock before falling asleep on the bed. She just woke up and her expression was still a little dazed. Suddenly she saw Lu Shicheng in the living room and was stunned. After a while, she rushed towards him in a daze.

Lu Shicheng smiled silently, half squatted down and caught the little peach that was rushing towards him like a locomotive.

"Xiao Taozi, why don't you say hello to Mr. Lu?" Mrs. Zhou tried to pick Xiao Taozi up from Lu Shicheng's arms, "Dear girl, let's go wash our faces first, and be careful not to rub our saliva on Mr. Lu's collar."

Lu Shicheng didn't care at all. Xiao Taozi pulled him up and followed her around the living room.

As they passed by the coffee table, Xiao Taozi pointed at the jewelry box.

Mrs. Zhou was so scared that she said hurriedly, "That was brought by Mr. Lu, Xiao Taozi is not allowed to touch it."

Little Taozi was very sensible and pointed to her new chessboard instead.

Lu Shicheng pointed and asked, "Do you want to play?"

Xiao Taozi nodded happily.

Mrs. Zhou felt relieved, went back to the kitchen to refill Lu Shicheng's tea, and came out and said with a smile: "I have never seen a young man as patient as Mr. Lu. By the way, it was thanks to Mr. Lu that we helped the young lady in that foreign company today, otherwise Mrs. Qiao would have gone even further. I really don't know what to say, this woman is really——"

Xiao Taozi was busy playing chess with Lu Shicheng. When she heard the words "Mrs. Qiao", she seemed to be greatly stimulated and shouted angrily, "Bad guy! Big bad guy!"

Lu Shicheng touched Xiao Taozi's head with understanding. Xiao Taozi's face was tense and she dragged Lu Shicheng inside.

"Go beat up the bad guys!"

Mrs. Zhou came to her senses and hurried after him: "No, that's your sister's room."

Xiao Taozi refused to let go, and soon dragged Lu Shicheng and pushed open Wen Tingli's bedroom.

Lu Shicheng stopped at the door and refused to go in. He pointed into the room and shook his head at Xiao Taozi.

[Without your sister's consent, Xiao Taozi cannot bring anyone into your sister's room, understand? ]

Xiao Taozi was very agitated and uneasy. Seeing that she could not drag Lu Shicheng anymore, she ran to Wen Tingli's bed on her own.

As soon as he entered, he dragged out a small suitcase from under the bed with great effort, and then took out Wen Tingli's schoolbag.

Lu Shicheng walked into the room decisively and prepared to take Xiao Taozi out.

Xiao Taozi had already taken out a wallet from her suitcase and showed it to Lu Shicheng: "Money, I have a lot of money. I am not a bastard. Bad people are not allowed to bully me."

Lu Shicheng was stunned at first, then fell silent. Even Mrs. Zhou understood something vaguely. She thought that the child must have heard all the dirty words Mrs. Qiao said about the young lady.

The child couldn't tell the difference between human words and nonsense, and just thought what Mrs. Qiao said was true. The child was probably worried that Mr. Lu would not take his sister seriously because he despised the Wen family's poverty, as Mrs. Qiao said.

After thinking it through, Mrs. Zhou instantly understood Xiao Taozi's series of strange behaviors. This child was supporting her sister in this way.

As expected, Lu Shicheng not only did not laugh at Xiao Taozi, but also cooperated with her quite well.

Xiao Taozi tilted her head and patted the suitcase: "Who has more money, Mr. Ru or my sister?"

Lu Shicheng pointed at Wen Tingli's suitcase without hesitation.

Xiao Taozi was satisfied and placed several checks and contracts in the box in front of Lu Shicheng.

The biggest thing was the contract. She believed that it was a large sum of money, so she showed it to Lu Shicheng.

"Sister has a lot of money."

Lu Shicheng smiled helplessly and was about to close it and put it back into the box. He glanced inadvertently and seemed to see the three words "Lu Shicheng" on the title page of the contract.

He thought he was seeing things, but when he looked carefully, the smile froze on his face.

***
Wen Tingli kept looking out the car window. The rain delayed her for more than an hour. She finally got home, but the rain suddenly stopped. It was really annoying. After paying the fare and getting off the car, she saw Lu Shicheng's car parked downstairs. She was delighted and took two steps at a time up the stairs.

When she reached the door, she wiped the raindrops off her face with a handkerchief while taking out the key from her new bag to open the door. Strangely, the room was unusually quiet.

When I opened the door, there was no one in the living room.

Wen Tingli was changing her shoes at the shoe rack, calling out, "Mrs. Zhou, Mrs. Zhou. Where's Mr. Lu? Did he come to the alley to pick me up?"

Suddenly, I saw a crabapple red jewelry box and a letter on the coffee table. Puzzled, I hurried forward to pick them up.

Written on the envelope were: From Ms. Wen Tingli.

That is Lu Shicheng's handwriting.

A smile suddenly appeared on Wen Tingli's cheeks. She happily picked up the jewelry box and the letter, but did not rush to open the box. She looked around and saw someone on the terrace at the end of the corridor.

Although there was a floor-to-ceiling glass door between them, she could tell at a glance that it was Lu Shicheng. No wonder he didn't hear the noise in the living room.

At this time, Mrs. Zhou came out of the bathroom with Xiao Taozi. Seeing Wen Tingli, she stamped her feet anxiously: "Why did you come back just now? Mr. Lu has been waiting for you for several hours."

Wen Tingli tiptoed to open the door and placed the jewelry box on the rattan table on the balcony.

She walked slowly behind Lu Shicheng, and unexpectedly, she stood on tiptoe and covered his eyes.

"Guess who I am?"

Lu Shicheng did not respond.

"Meow, meow." Wen Tingli called out twice mischievously and continued to cover his eyes. She walked around in front of him with a smile. At this time, Lu Shicheng very slowly and stiffly pulled her hands off his face.

Wen Tingli felt a strange feeling in her heart: "What's wrong - you've waited too long, are you unhappy?"

Lu Shicheng turned around and looked at her.

Wen Tingli's heart skipped a beat. Lu Shicheng's gaze was like a thousand feet of ice, freezing her smile on her face.

She was a little dazed and was about to hold his hand when she saw that he was holding something in his hand.

A chill ran from the soles of her feet to her entire body.

That contract!

The contract she signed with lawyer Bao Yaming offered her a salary of two thousand dollars.

Cold sweat began to break out on her back. This thing had clearly been locked in her suitcase, so how did it suddenly end up in Lu Shicheng's hands?

She was a little panicked. Lu Shicheng's expression was so wrong. It was as if he was meeting her for the first time. He stared at her with a strange and cold look.

She opened her mouth to explain, but all the words in her heart were suddenly stuck in her throat.

He must have seen clearly that this contract was exactly the reason why she approached him again and again.

It had her name clearly signed on it and her fingerprints clearly on it. It was hidden under her bed, so no one could frame her.

She suddenly felt like crying but had no tears.

"I..." After saying only this, Lu Shicheng waved his hand and threw the contract in her face.

With a rustling sound, the thin paper fluttered to the ground in the night breeze. The place where the wind blew away was the page with "two thousand oceans" written on it, which was extremely ironic.

Wen Tingli stared at the contract under their feet absentmindedly. Lu Shicheng walked away.

Wen Tingli woke up as if from a dream, chased after him and hugged his waist from behind.

"I admit it! I signed the contract!" Her tears fell. "But that was all in the past. My father was hospitalized during that time, and my life was very difficult. If someone hadn't helped me, I would have died. In order to repay the other party's kindness, I agreed to help investigate you. But the mission was over soon. After that, every time I dealt with you, I no longer had any purpose. I fell in love with you! You know all these things."

The lines of Lu Shicheng's profile were faintly visible, showing that he was gritting his teeth.

She was such a good actor, no one could guess which words were true and which were false. He only knew that she had signed the contract herself. What Weiying Gang? She had been full of lies from the beginning! From the beginning, she had come with a mission.

It was ridiculous that he was so obsessed with her! He felt his heart bleeding, and every time he breathed, there was an unbearable pain in that place. When he saw the jewelry box on the rattan table, he felt even more stinging pain in his eyes.

In this dimly lit terrace, the bright red of the crabapple blossoms seemed to have turned into a dirty black!

He suddenly picked up the jewelry box and opened the lid in front of her.

Wen Tingli's tearful black eyes were illuminated by the precious light in the box.

It was a necklace of pigeon blood red rubies.

Each one is the size of a thumb, full in shape and bright red in color, just like a beating heart. Under the lid of the box is white satin with a line of gold letters embossed on it.

【Happy birthday to Miss Wen Tingli】

Wen Tingli felt as if her heart was being cut by a knife, but unfortunately, a thick layer of tears formed in front of her eyes, so she couldn't see his expression clearly at the moment.

He grabbed the necklace from the box with an expressionless face, pretending to throw it out of the terrace. Wen Tingli's pupils shrank, and she stood on tiptoe to hug his arms: "Please! Please don't hurt your feelings like this, calm down and listen to me first--"

Lu Shicheng's chest heaved violently, and there seemed to be two small flames burning in his eyes. Without waiting for her to speak again, he loosened his hand and let the necklace fall in front of her.

The flowing red light swayed in front of her eyes.

With tears in her eyes, she watched his every move in astonishment. He calmly tied the necklace around her neck, looked at her for a while, then slowly raised his eyes and looked at her with an extremely sarcastic look.

【This is probably what you want. 】

Without mercy, he turned around, opened the balcony door and walked out.

Wen Tingli cried and hugged his waist again: "You should at least listen to my true feelings before you lose your temper! I have never deceived your feelings from the beginning to the end. Since we have been together, I have never concealed a word from you about what I can tell you, just this one thing, just this one thing! Because it involves too many things, I can't explain it to you clearly, but you can definitely feel whether I am sincere to you-"

But he was thrown away.

She fell into the rattan chair, grabbed the letter on the table in panic, and ran after him desperately.

It was still raining outside. When she reached the front of the building, Lu Shicheng had already driven away.

She decisively ran to the group of guards that the Lu family had originally arranged.

"Please take me to the Lu Mansion as soon as possible."

Even she herself did not expect that the first time she asked the Lu family for help was to pursue Lu Shicheng.

***
Halfway through the journey, the rain outside the car window turned into a downpour again.

Wen Tingli was indifferent to the sound of rain outside the window. She read the letter in her hand and bit her fingers hard to stop herself from crying.

【Tingli:
Today is your nineteenth birthday.

I prepared a birthday present for you, I wonder if you will like it.

I want to make it as grand as possible, after all, this is the first birthday we celebrate for you since we met.

It is a pity to say that I had hoped that after a period of careful treatment, my muteness would improve, but unfortunately, several doctors tried many methods, but none of them worked in the end. They said that there was nothing wrong with my voice and throat, and that my inability to speak might just be a lack of an opportunity.

Anyway, until the day of your birthday, I still haven't been able to communicate with you as I wished, so some of the things I wanted to say to you had to be written down on paper again.

I guess you will laugh when you see this. I am not good at saying sweet words. Just like one time you asked me when I fell in love with you, I had no idea how to answer. But I am sure that I was deeply impressed by you the first time I saw you.

That night in the backstage room of the Golden Theater, due to your sudden intrusion, the bullet that was supposed to be shot at me happened to grazed your arm.

You were so scared that you cried on the spot because you were worried that you would die. When you found out that it was just a superficial wound, you smiled with tears in your eyes.

I therefore mistakenly thought that you were a rich lady who had never experienced the hardships of life, but later I learned that you were supporting your family alone at that time. You cried because you were worried that if something happened to you, your young sister and your seriously ill father would be left without anyone to take care of them.

After that, whenever I see you, you always have a smile on your face. You may not know how much I like to see you smile, it seems that everything can be solved with a smile, no big deal.

To make a living, you film movies, deliver newspapers, take care of your father, participate in various competitions, go through wind and rain, and never complain even when you are tired or sick.

As Principal Zou said, you are a person with strong vitality.

The only time I saw you angry was that night at Cirrus when you had a fight with Mrs. Joe. You fought so ferociously, like a little beast with spikes erected. I was worried that this matter would not end well, so I wanted to help you secretly. As a result, you not only solved the problem successfully by yourself, but also solved it so beautifully.

When I get home at night, I can't help thinking of what you said to Mrs. Qiao. You said she was pitiful, and you said your character was a hundred times nobler than hers. Thinking of the way you said these words, I can't help laughing.

My sympathy and admiration for you probably started from those days.

It's just that I didn't notice it.

I guess you're going to laugh again. I admit that all this started long before I was admitted to your house because of my serious injury. Even without that accident, I would have quickly figured out how much I liked you. The experience of recuperating in your house only made me fall in love with you even more.

To this day, my love for you has grown so deep that it even surprises myself.

If love cannot be expressed in words, let actions speak for themselves.

I considered it for a long time and finally chose this necklace as your birthday gift. Since ancient times, rubies have been artificially given the meanings of bravery, enthusiasm, and vitality, and these qualities are exactly the same as the various advantages in you.

Yes, in my heart, you are like a unique ruby ​​- bright, brave, strong, beautiful and dazzling.

Even if you are occasionally in the dark, you still shine brightly, illuminating every corner around you.

There will never be a better person for this necklace than you, I hope you enjoy this birthday gift.

Do you remember that Russian sentence? My most sincere, beautiful and lovely Miss Wen Tingli, I wish you a happy birthday.

your
Lu Shicheng."

By the end of the story, Wen Tingli was in tears. She touched the necklace around her neck, her heart ached so much that she couldn't breathe. She looked up in a daze and realized that she had arrived at the gate of Lu Mansion.

She quickly wiped away her tears, and carefully put the letter into her arms as if she was holding her own heart.

There was a flickering street light next to the Lu family's iron gate. She went forward in the heavy rain and knocked on the door.

Soon, the side door opened and someone came out holding a big black umbrella. He was a familiar-looking servant of the Lu family.

The other party really recognized her: "Miss Wen."

Wen Tingli forced a smile and said, "Hello, I'm looking for Mr. Lu. Please help pass the message on."

But Manager Liu showed an awkward expression: "I'm sorry, Master Cheng has ordered that we not see anyone tonight."

(End of this chapter)