On the 25th, Jiaren Wu dressed up beautifully early in the morning. She carried a small bag and took a few coins. She planned to take the bus to find Wei Shuyi for a date.

  Just as she reached the entrance of the district, her phone rang. Thinking that it was Wei Shuyi, she happily took out her phone and turned it on. However, the call was from Dongli Shenghua.

  She wanted to hang up the phone.

  However, she had already answered the call. If she were to turn off her phone now, she would probably lose her job.

  Jiaren Wu answered the call with a dark expression. “Mr. Dongli.”


  “Miss Wu, I’m sorry. Something cropped up at the last minute, and I need to go on a business trip. It looks like your vacation this month will be ruined.” Although Dongli Shenghua was apologizing, he did not sound sorry.

  Jiaren Wu gripped her phone tightly, wanting to curse him.

  She patiently asked, “Why didn’t you tell me that you were going on a business trip yesterday?”


  “As I said, something came up at the last minute.”


  “Isn’t Brother Pan available?”


  “Ah Jie’s mother fell at home. He has to go to the hospital to take care of her.”


  Everything was too much of a coincidence. Jiaren Wu didn’t believe that Dongli Shenghua didn’t do this on purpose.

  “Why? Is Miss Wu busy today?”


  “No.”


  “Then let’s meet at the airport.”


  After hanging up the phone, Jiaren Wu lifted her heels and kicked a tree at the entrance of the neighborhood. “F*ck you!”


  ***

  Wei Shuyi threw the iced green bean soup into the thermos and left home with his car keys and gift bag.

  He opened the car door and placed the gift bags and green bean soup in the back seat. Wei Shuyi walked to the front seat and sat down. He drove the car out of the neighborhood. Just when he was about to reach the meeting place, he received a call from Jiaren Wu.

  He put on his Bluetooth headset and answered the call. Before Jiaren Wu could speak, Wei Shuyi spoke first. “Jiaren, are you here? I’m almost there. I’m at the road intersection.”


  “Wei Shuyi…”


  “Why are you calling me by my name all of a sudden?” Wei Shuyi smiled gently, and he sounded warm.

  Jiaren Wu looked across the street and saw a young man buying roses at the entrance of a flower shop. Seeing the expectant smile on the young man’s face, she thought of Wei Shuyi. Her heart ached. “I’m sorry! I can’t spend Valentine’s Day with you anymore.”


  The smile on Wei Shuyi’s face disappeared.

  “Did something happen?”


  His voice was as gentle as ever. It had the lightness of the spring rain.

  She felt even worse.

  “Mr. Dongli needs to go on a business trip. I—”


  “Got it.”


  Wei Shuyi tried his best to control his emotions so that his voice didn’t sound so stiff. He chuckled and said to Jiaren Wu, “Work is important. You can go.”


  “Wei Shuyi, when I come back, I’ll make up for Valentine’s Day.”


  “Okay.”


  After hanging up, Wei Shuyi stopped the car by the roadside.

  He had already arrived at the agreed location, but there was no one he wanted to see there.

  Wei Shuyi turned his head and stared at the gift box in the back seat. He thought for a while, reached out for the thermos, and got out of the car. Then, he sat down on the cement pit by the roadside. A person wearing a white T-shirt and black pants was sitting by the roadside. Wei Shuyi looked like a celebrity.

  Some girls passed by and couldn’t help but steal glances at him.

  An old beggar carrying a black sack on his left shoulder walked in front of him at this moment. He held a thermos in his left hand and a wooden staff in his right. The beggar walked over slowly. When he passed Wei Shuyi, he reached out his hand to Wei Shuyi and made a sound.

  He probably wanted money.

  Wei Shuyi touched his pocket and realized that he had not brought his wallet with him.

  He thought for a moment and handed the thermos to the beggar.

  He said, “I woke up at five in the morning to cook the green bean soup. It has already been frozen, and it’s still cold now. Do you want some?”


  The beggar was stunned.

  Then, he took the thermos from Wei Shuyi and sat down on the cement pavement two meters away from him. The beggar unscrewed the lid of the thermos and took a sip. He immediately revealed an intoxicated and happy smile. Wei Shuyi tilted his head to look at him and asked, “Does it taste good?”


  The beggar nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

  “Of course, it’ll be delicious. I cooked it for someone I like.”


  Wei Shuyi’s face fell.

  It was Chinese Valentine’s Day on the seventh day of the seventh month. Wei Shuyi should be celebrating with his lover, but he had ended up spending time with a beggar who was asking for food…


  After sitting with the beggar for more than ten minutes, Wei Shuyi finally stood up and left.

  He sat in the car and opened his WeChat Moments. He saw that Qiao Jiusheng had posted a pot of crayfish.

  He commented: [Where are you? Are you preparing to eat crayfish?]

  Qiao Jiusheng replied to him very quickly. [Today is the 58th birthday of Yusheng’s father, and we are all going to the Fang family house to wash the crayfish. What about you?]

  Wei Shuyi: [On the streets! Someone stood me up.]

  Soon, Qiao Jiusheng made a video call to him.

  Wei Shuyi accepted the video call.

  In the video, Qiao Jiusheng’s face was covered in collagen, and she was unbelievably beautiful. Her gaze shifted, and she saw the scene on Wei Shuyi’s side. She said, “You’re in the car?”


  “Yeah.”


  “Didn’t Sister Jiaren accompany you?”


  “Something cropped up at the last minute, so she went on a business trip.”


  Qiao Jiusheng saw that Wei Shuyi did not look too good, so she tactfully said, “Come to the Fang family.”


  Wei Shuyi was in a bad mood. If there was no one to accompany him, he was afraid that his thoughts would run wild. “Will it be inconvenient?” Just as he finished asking, he saw a beautiful woman walk behind Qiao Jiusheng.

  Wei Shuyi recognized that it was Fang Pingjue’s second wife. He nodded at her and called out to Aunt Xu.

  Unexpectedly, Xu Pingfei remembered him. She had also heard Qiao Jiusheng’s words just now and hurriedly said, “Ah Wei, what are you doing? If you have nothing to do, come over to our house. It’s very lively here. Ah Sheng and her two children are here…”


  In the end, Wei Shuyi decided to go to the Fang family house.

  He bought a set of Chinese chess pieces with rain flower stones as Fang Pingjue’s birthday present and went to his house. This Chinese chess wasn’t too precious. It cost a few hundred yuan, so it was fine as long as he was sincere. Moreover, Fang Pingjue wasn’t someone who lacked money and things.

  Fang Pingjue was quite happy to receive this gift. Ever since he had lost a leg, he could no longer play sports like in the past. Since he had nothing to do, he played chess to pass time.

  A few juniors and servants of the Fang family gathered together to wash the crayfish. There was quite a lot of crayfish in the house, and they were quite big. Washing them was especially troublesome.

  Wei Shuyi wanted to help, but they treated him as a guest and forbade him from interfering. Hence, he squatted at the side and talked to Fang Yusheng and the rest.

  Qiao Jiusheng saw that Wei Shuyi had nothing to do and that he was bored. She said, “I haven’t eaten your dumplings in a long time. Brother Wei, why don’t you make some dumplings for us?”


  Upon hearing that Wei Shuyi knew how to make dumplings, Fang Yuqing and Fang Yu’an expectantly looked at him.

  “Sure.”


  Fang Yuqing helped in cutting the chives, cabbage, and garlic. Fang Yu’an was in charge of chopping the meat while Wei Shuyi rolled the skin.

  On this day, Wei Shuyi spent time with the Fang family.

  At seven in the evening, Wei Shuyi left the Fang family home. When he returned to his home, he turned on all the lights in the house, but he still felt that it was too cold. He stared at the gift bag on the coffee table and thought for a moment. Then, he took out his phone and called the delivery company.

  Half an hour later, someone from the express delivery company came to take over the delivery. Wei Shuyi personally took the things out of the gift bag and put them into the delivery box. He sent the gift directly to Jiaren Wu’s mailbox.

  After the courier left, Wei Shuyi went to take a shower.

  When he came out of the shower, he realized that Jiaren Wu had called him. He quickly dialed her number but realized that he couldn’t get through.

  ***

  At this moment, Jiaren Wu, who was far away in another city, had just fished out her phone from the sink.

  She held her wet phone and glared at the little one beside her.

  “Did you do it on purpose?!”


  Jiaren Wu’s face turned red with anger.

  Dongli Ao pursed his lips. He looked at the phone in Jiaren Wu’s hand and said, “Why are you so fierce? I’ll get my daddy to replace it with a better one tomorrow. You can get a 10th generation X, alright?”


  “This isn’t about compensating for the cell phone.” Jiaren Wu’s face was cold as she told Dongli Ao, “If you don’t apologize to me, I’ll leave you alone in your room and go back to my room to sleep.”


  “Daddy asked you to protect me…” Dongli Ao’s voice was small.

  Jiaren Wu sneered. “My contract states that I only have to protect the safety of Dongli Shenghua. It doesn’t have the name Dongli Ao.”


  Dongli Ao was scared.

  “I-I didn’t mean that.”


  “Liar! You did it on purpose!” She had just dialed Wei Shuyi’s number when Dongli Ao had entered the toilet and seen it. He had stood on his tiptoes and pinched her arm, causing her to accidentally drop her phone.

  If Dongli Ao said that he did not do it on purpose, who would believe him!

  “Apologize!”


  When Jiaren Wu was really fierce, Dongli Ao was quite afraid of her.

  He quietly took hold of Jiaren Wu’s clothes and hung his head low. Stammering, he apologized, “I’m… I’m sorry. I won’t make trouble anymore.”


  Jiaren Wu took a deep breath and told herself not to lower herself to his level before walking out of the bathroom.

  She was about to call Wei Shuyi when Dongli Shenghua returned.

  Jiaren Wu put down the phone and said to him, “Mr. Dongli, it’s good that you’re back. I’ve returned the young master to you unharmed. I’m going back to my room to rest.”


  With that said, Jiaren Wu walked past Dongli Shenghua and was about to leave.

  Dongli Shenghua suddenly grabbed her hand.

  Jiaren Wu wanted to shake him off, but after giving it a try, she realized that Dongli Shenghua was quite strong.

  If it weren’t for the fact that he was her employer, she would have hit him.

  Dongli Shenghua glanced at her and only let go of her hand when he saw her stop in her tracks. “I’ve already cut ties with them.” His words came so suddenly that Jiaren Wu could not understand what he meant.

  “What?” She was confused.

  Dongli Shenghua had no choice but to explain. “I’ve already severed ties with those lovers.”


  Jiaren Wu recalled what she had said to the Dongli Shenghua in the Maldives.

  That was just an excuse for her to reject him. He actually took it seriously.

  “Mr. Dongli, I think you’ve misunderstood. I wasn’t complaining about your messy private life. I just don’t have any feelings for you.”


  She opened the door and was about to leave when Dongli Shenghua spoke again. “I’ll chase after you.”


  Without turning her head, Jiaren Wu replied, “I’m sorry, but my heart belongs to someone else. I don’t accept other suitors.”


  She strode out the door, slammed it shut, and left.

  Dongli Shenghua turned around and saw Dongli Ao looking up at him with an aggrieved expression. His gaze softened and he asked, “What’s wrong?”


  “She scolded me just now.”


  “What bad things have you done?” Dongli Shenghua knew his son very well.

  Jiaren Wu was strict when separating public from private interests. She would not scold his son unless she had no choice.

  Dongli Ao told his father what he had done.

  After hearing what he said, Dongli Shenghua also said, “You’re wrong. She taught you the right lesson.”


  “But I just don’t like her contacting that man in front of me.” Dongli Ao tugged Dongli Shenghua’s hand and asked him, “When are you going to marry her?”


  After thinking about it, Dongli Shenghua said, “Let’s wait a little longer.”


  Dongli Ao’s small face fell. He said, “I’ve been waiting for days.”


  “Be patient.”


  Dongli Ao stopped talking.

  Dongli Shenghua recalled how Jiaren Wu had shamelessly rejected him.

  Not only did her rejection not extinguish his interest in her, but it also ignited his fighting spirit.

  He was determined to get her!

  After returning to her room, Jiaren Wu quickly called Wei Shuyi.

  Surprisingly, Wei Shuyi did not answer it.

  Jiaren Wu refused to believe it. She called again, but he still did not pick up.

  After she put down the phone, her shoulders slumped and her face was filled with frustration.

  She rubbed her forehead and collapsed onto the bed with a sigh.

  When she had arrived at the airport this morning, she had found out that Dongli Shenghua had brought Dongli Ao along with him on this business trip. When they arrived at the other City, Dongli Shenghua went to meet his partner but asked her to help him take care of his son. Dongli Ao was a domineering wolf. He did not allow her to call Wei Shuyi and kept a close eye on her.

  She finally found an excuse to use the washroom and hid in the washroom to call Wei Shuyi, but the kid had found out again.

  Jiaren Wu felt extremely stifled.

  She knew that Wei Shuyi must be furious. She wanted to fly to his side without caring about anything else.

  “I’m sorry!”


  She shouldn’t have provoked him.

  But she couldn’t control herself.

  Jiaren Wu did not take drugs, but she was intoxicated by Wei Shuyi.