Li Man was silent for a few seconds before replying to Qin Mu.
Li Man: Worry about yourself. Did you go to yoga class?
Qin Mu quickly replied: Getting ready.
Li Man then pressed her phone onto the kitchen island. Cheng Yanyu came out adjusting his tie, heading to the sofa to get his laptop bag. Li Man looked at him, checked the time, and said, “The bidding starts in an hour, can you still make it?”
Cheng Yanyu placed the laptop bag on the island, poured a glass of water, took a stomach pill, and drank the water. “Yu Zhan is already downstairs. We’ll make it.”
Li Man nodded, thought for a moment, and said, “This Yu Zhan—last night I messaged him and he didn’t reply. That’s just rude.”
Cheng Yanyu put down the glass, glanced at her, and said, “He was busy until after three last night. Probably just forgot to reply.”
Li Man responded lightly, “Is that so.”
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Tl oldv esodpvykap.
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Ubldt Zyduw vssj kv. Mbl oyax calyjqypv alxkdele bkx sq vbl sze eyup—lhlau vkxl bl zlqv vbl cleassx, bl’e pll y qktwal cu vbl jkvnbld kpzyde okvb y pxkzkdt, tldvzl qynl.
Tl srldle vbl cyt yde ypjle Zw Hbyd, “Pke Nk Yyd xlppytl usw zypv dktbv?”
Zw Hbyd oyp eakhkdt. Ebld bl blyae vbl iwlpvksd, bl pxkzle qykdvzu yde alrzkle, “Fbl eke. Gpjle obld usw’e cl esdl. El olal kd y VS xllvkdt yv vbl vkxl. R vbswtbv R’e alrzu yqvla, cwv ldele wr qsatlvvkdt.”
Cheng Yanyu responded with a soft “Mm.”
Yu Zhan glanced at him. “President Li tattled on me this morning?”
Cheng Yanyu sipped his warm soy milk and said, “She was just asking.”
Yu Zhan gave an “Oh,” chuckled, and drove toward the bidding center.
—
Wen Yang and Yu Qing were in the office the next day, keeping an eye on the situation with Yiyan. Seeing that public opinion was under control, both breathed a sigh of relief. Yu Qing leaned back in her chair, tugged on Wen Yang’s hair, and said, “Since things calmed down so fast, maybe your boyfriend helped out.”
Wen Yang turned to her and asked, “How do you know?”
Yu Qing smiled. “Just guessing. You’re a shareholder of Yiyan, after all, and a co-founder. Fu Xingzhou would probably lend a hand to protect you.”
Yu Qing didn’t know that Fu Xingzhou’s KaiXin had invested in Yiyan—she was simply making a logical guess. Like her, she disliked Cheng Yanyu, the scumbag, but Yiyan was innocent, and so were the students who participated in the convention. Besides, Wen Yang was both a shareholder and founder of Yiyan, so she sincerely hoped the company would be okay.
Of course, if Cheng Yanyu got trampled and ended up in the hospital, she’d be thrilled and happily kick him while he was down.
Wen Yang sipped water from her thermos cup and smiled.
She also believed Fu Xingzhou had likely helped. He cared about the injured students too.
The whole storm gradually settled.
Yiyan’s official Weibo continued posting updates on the injured, showing sincerity. Plus, some models came forward to share the effort put into the convention, which helped regain some goodwill.
Still, the next day, Yiyan lost the bid for the winter fashion show.
But ups and downs are part of doing business.
Wen Yang didn’t pay much attention to Yiyan news after that. She went to Huafu to check the renovation progress and started sketching for two clients. Both had duplexes—one was an apartment, the other a true duplex with a 70-year property right.
A week was about to pass.
On the fifth day, a Friday, Fu Xingzhou messaged her saying he had to go to France and would be back in a week.
Wen Yang, wearing glasses and chewing on a pen while sketching, paused when she saw the message. She rested her chin on her knees and replied:
Wen Yang: Alright. Be safe.
Fu Xingzhou: I will.
Wen Yang: Leaving now?
Fu Xingzhou: Flight’s in an hour.
Wen Yang: Got it.
Fu Xingzhou: I’ll be back as soon as I can.
Wen Yang: Mm, no worries. You take care.
Fu Xingzhou: I miss you.
Wen Yang hesitated, then typed with her fingertips:
Wen Yang: I miss you too.
Even though they were both mature and had agreed from the beginning that this wasn’t a reckless, youthful love, deep feelings still led to longing. Five days had passed, and now he said he couldn’t come back—of course, she felt a little disappointed.
Her repeated “Got it” messages showed her helplessness.
Wen Yang looked at the time—it was 9:30 PM. He still had to catch a flight, so it must’ve been something urgent and decided at the last minute. She thought about it, turned on the camera, and sent him a selfie.
Wen Yang: I used a new shampoo tonight. Freesia scent.
She was good at photography—capturing landscapes and plants—but her selfies were often rough. This one was taken with her chin resting on her knee, slightly wavy hair draped over her shoulders, eyes curved like crescent moons, lips pressed into a half-smile. The lighting was dim and moody, but her eyes were beautiful—misty and soft.
Fu Xingzhou thought the photo was carelessly taken, but he still liked her casualness.
He saved the photo and replied:
Fu Xingzhou: What brand? I’ll have Aunt Zhong buy some later.
Wen Yang: I’ll order two more bottles and bring them to the club tomorrow.
Fu Xingzhou: Mm.
And it made him miss her even more.
Wen Yang: Where are you now? On the road or at the airport?
Fu Xingzhou raised his phone and took a photo, sending it to Wen Yang.
It was at the security checkpoint. He snapped it casually, but the composition and mood came through naturally. The shot only showed the sign, yet you could feel the rush of a night flight.
Fu Xingzhou: Security checkpoint.
Wen Yang: Oh oh.
Wen Yang: Text me when you arrive.
Fu Xingzhou: Okay. If you’re sleepy, go to bed early. I’ll message you once I land.
Wen Yang: Mm-hmm.
A while later, he boarded the plane. Wen Yang resumed her sketching. Yu Qing was getting sleepy, came in hugging her laptop, and curled up next to her, yawning:
“I can’t sketch anymore.”
Wen Yang let her lean over, saying:
“Then go to sleep.”
Yu Qing thought about it.
“Alright, I’ll sleep first. Don’t stay up too late.”
“Okay.”
Yu Qing set aside her laptop and went right to sleep.
Wen Yang kept working until about two in the morning before packing up and going to bed.
The next day at noon.
Fu Xingzhou arrived in Paris and sent her a message.
In the following days, he was quite busy and slow to reply to messages. Wen Yang understood.
That day—
Lu Zhan contacted Wen Yang. His house was under renovation. Acting a bit cheeky, he sent Wen Yang a picture of the site and said:
Lu Zhan: Look at the framework—pretty nice, huh?
Wen Yang (smiling as she typed): I designed it. Of course it’s good.
Lu Zhan: Yo, confident much?
Wen Yang: Hehe.
Lu Zhan: But it’s true, the design is great. You have good taste.
Wen Yang: Thanks for the compliment, Mr. Lu.
Lu Zhan: Getting all formal now. Oh, by the way—did you know Fu Xingzhou is in Paris?
Wen Yang: Yeah, I know.
Lu Zhan: You two are apart for quite a while this time, huh?
Wen Yang: It’s okay.
Lu Zhan: Tsk, but he had to go. His mom’s surgery couldn’t be delayed anymore—it had to be done.
Wen Yang froze.
She quickly typed:
Wen Yang: What’s wrong with his mom?
Lu Zhan (pausing): Huh? He didn’t tell you?
Wen Yang: Nope.
Lu Zhan: He probably didn’t want to worry you. It’s actually breast cancer surgery. His mom kept it from him too—only told him last week.
Wen Yang stared at Lu Zhan’s messages.
She remembered Fu Xingzhou once said that after his father passed away, his mother couldn’t cope and stayed abroad most of the time, rarely coming back. Now that she was sick and didn’t say anything at first… no wonder he rushed off to Paris in such a hurry.
Wen Yang pressed her lips together.
She opened Fu Xingzhou’s chat and spaced out for a while before typing:
Wen Yang: You kept this from me.
Fu Xingzhou (a few minutes later): Hm?
Wen Yang: About your mom.
Fu Xingzhou paused, guessing that Lu Zhan had told her. He typed back:
Fu Xingzhou: I didn’t want you to worry. It’s not a huge deal. The medical care here is good. She just wasn’t willing to do the surgery at first—needed some convincing.
Wen Yang: Oh (pouting)
Fu Xingzhou: Be good.
Wen Yang (immediately): How is Auntie now? Is she willing to do the surgery?
Fu Xingzhou: Soon.
Wen Yang: Okay, take good care of her.
Fu Xingzhou: I will. Don’t worry.
Wen Yang: Mm.
She held her phone, staring at the messages in a daze. Yu Qing, who had just washed her hands and sat down, looked at her.
“What are you spacing out for?”
Wen Yang came back to her senses. She looked at Yu Qing and sighed.
“Fu Xingzhou’s mom is going to have breast cancer surgery. He went to Paris.”
“Breast cancer surgery?”
Yu Qing was stunned. “That’s pretty serious.”
Wen Yang nodded.
Yu Qing leaned on her hand.
“Who would’ve thought? Even President Fu’s family deals with this kind of pain.”
Wen Yang replied helplessly,
“Of course they do.”
Yu Qing looked at her.
“You just found out?”
Wen Yang gave a small nod.
She glanced at her draft on the computer, kept drawing, but her mouse absentmindedly opened the flight ticket booking page. Staring at tickets to Paris, she leaned on her hand. Maybe Fu Xingzhou was mature enough to handle everything on his own, and she could just stay in Nancheng and wait for him to come back… but for some reason, as his girlfriend, she still wanted to do something.
By the time she realized it—
She had already bought a plane ticket to Paris.
Looking at the confirmation, Wen Yang finally felt grounded. She stood up and started packing.
Yu Qing glanced at her and blinked. Then, seeing the confirmation on her screen, she let out a sound of realization.
“I knew it.”
Wen Yang smiled slightly.
“Can you drive me to the airport later?”
Yu Qing nodded:
“Sure, no problem. Luckily we got our visas this year—this is perfect.”
Wen Yang: Yeah.
It really was perfect. After New Year, Yu Qing had planned to go to France at the end of March to visit a senior from her architecture program, and she had Wen Yang apply for a visa too, wanting them to travel together.
She never expected Wen Yang’s visa would be used now—to go see her boyfriend. Totally worth it.
The two of them went downstairs and headed to Yage. Wen Yang went to pack some luggage while Yu Qing sat on the edge of the bed watching her. Sometimes, she really admired Wen Yang’s courage—Wen Yang always dared to follow her heart and rarely regretted her decisions.
If it were her in the same situation, and her boyfriend hadn’t asked her to come, she definitely wouldn’t dare go. Just like now, with how she felt about Xu Xu—she clearly knew she liked him, but was too afraid of changing the current situation to start anything.
The weather in Paris was similar to Nancheng’s, just a bit colder. Wen Yang packed more warm clothes and brought her laptop. Yu Qing drove her little Mini to Nancheng’s airport.
She said, “Stay safe, and remember to text me a lot.”
Wen Yang had purchased international data and nodded. “I will.”
Yu Qing pinched her cheek, then floored the gas pedal, quickly arriving at the airport. She accompanied Wen Yang inside.
After waiting for more than an hour—
Wen Yang boarded the plane and took a window seat.
Looking at the plane ticket in her hand, Wen Yang thought that this was actually her first time going to France. She and Yu Qing had previously gone to Singapore once to meet a professor and had stayed to explore the city for two weeks.
The plane cut through the sky. On the long flight of over ten hours, Wen Yang sketched while occasionally glancing out the window. Surrounded by a mix of Mandarin, French, and English, the plane eventually landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
It was nighttime.
And quite cold. Wen Yang pulled her scarf tighter and called Fu Xingzhou.
Ring, ring—
He picked up quickly.
Fu Xingzhou’s clear, cool voice came through:
“Mm?”
Wen Yang softly said:
“I’m at Charles de Gaulle Airport. How long will it take to get to where you are?”
Fu Xingzhou was momentarily stunned.
He stood up from the bench and walked toward the window.
“Where are you? Say that again.”
Wen Yang’s eyes curved in a smile:
“Charles de Gaulle Airport. That is the international airport in Paris, right?”
Fu Xingzhou went quiet for a few seconds, gripping his phone tightly.
“Stay right there—I’m coming to get you.”
Wen Yang replied gently:
“Okay.”
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They are so cute, I love their love ( ˘ ³˘)♥
She is a good girl