Aunt Zhou finished cooking the noodles. Seeing Wen Ling sitting in the living room, she brought the bowl over and set it down in front of her.
Wen Ling was still staring at that phone number, so absorbed she did not even notice Aunt Zhou sitting down beside her.
“Ah Ling, is he worth you doing all this?”
“Mm.” Wen Ling pressed her lips together, then lifted her eyes to look at Aunt Zhou, a faint shimmer of moisture in them. “He is.”
Back then, Zhou Yinhe had been a favored son of heaven. Apart from what his birth had given him, he was capable in his own right. Because of his unruly, arrogant nature, the first impression he gave others was that he looked down on everyone.
Yet someone like that, someone who had grown up being waited on and praised since childhood, had hand-washed her intimate clothes when they were together, peeled the fruit and seafood she wanted to eat but did not like peeling herself, and even learned from the chef how to make the dishes she loved.
Even when she had firmly proposed breaking up, he had humbly begged her not to.
So now, no matter how harshly he spoke to her, she would not take it to heart. And yet she still could not control the sorrow that surfaced from time to time.
Wen Ling steadied herself, curved her lips, and leaned closer to smell the noodles. She exclaimed in admiration, “Wow, it smells so good.”
Aunt Zhou was coaxed into beaming by Wen Ling. Covering her mouth, she said, “I wonder if the young ladies of other families are like this too, actually loving such a plain bowl of noodles.”
“Because it’s delicious.”
Meanwhile, at Fengqi Garden.
Ning Qing leaned against the sofa with her forehead propped up, rubbing it from time to time. She had just taken an afternoon nap and dreamed of what had happened to her youngest son three years ago. After being startled awake, her head had been heavy and dizzy in waves.
Housekeeper Yang looked at her with worry and concern. “Madam, should we call a doctor?”
“No need.” Ning Qing understood that this was a sickness of the heart. She murmured softly, “Tell me, did Wen Ling come to Hua Country to find Little Five?”
Housekeeper Yang had also been one of the people who knew what had happened back then. He sighed and advised her, “Madam, didn’t Second Young Master say so? Fifth Young Master’s attitude toward Miss Wen is very cold. I imagine he has already let go and won’t have anything more to do with Miss Wen. Please put your mind at ease.”
Let go? If he had truly let go, would he have asked someone to find out where Wen Ling was staying, and even whether there was a doctor taking care of her? Ning Qing felt both anger and disappointment at his lack of backbone and gritted her teeth. “That good-for-nothing Little Five. She dumped him once already, and he’s still worried about her!”
“How am I good-for-nothing?”
The voice came from the doorway. Ning Qing and Housekeeper Yang both turned around. Zhou Yinhe walked in slowly, his expression weary and indifferent.
The moment Ning Qing saw him like this, she knew he definitely had not slept well. She got up and walked over to him, scrutinizing his eyes carefully. Zhou Yinhe turned his head away unnaturally to avoid her gaze.
“Hmph. You are good-for-nothing.”
Zhou Yinhe kept both hands in his pockets, his posture languid. He said mildly, “I knew Housekeeper Xu would call you. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Second Brother started investigating me.”
He walked around Ning Qing and sat down on the sofa. His well-defined fingers pressed hard against his forehead as he rubbed it. Helplessly, he said, “Mom, don’t worry about me.”
“How can I not worry about you? Have you forgotten that you ended up in the hospital because of her three years ago? Is your stomach better now? And you still went to ask whether she had called a doctor. Has she ever cared about you?”
Ning Qing strode over, her finger poking Zhou Yinhe in the forehead, forcibly leaving a red mark there.
Zhou Yinhe leaned back to dodge and explained, “She called me when she had a fever. Of course I had to check. Otherwise, if something happened to her, wouldn’t that be me refusing to help someone in mortal danger?”
“Bullshit. You think I don’t damn well know you?” Ning Qing could not hold back and swore.
“Madam,” the housekeeper reminded her softly, and only then did Ning Qing react.
She patted her chest and sat down on the sofa beside Zhou Yinhe, glaring at him. Zhou Yinhe had already started laughing the moment Ning Qing cursed. Now he leaned his head back, one arm draped over his forehead, his muffled laughter continuously reaching Ning Qing’s ears.
Ning Qing flushed with embarrassment and anger. “What kind of son laughs at his own mother like that?”
Counting upward through Zhou Yinhe’s maternal family, they had all been nouveau riche landlords. It was only in Zhou Yinhe’s grandfather’s generation that they gradually changed. When Ning Qing was young, she had lived with her grandparents and had picked up a bit of that nouveau riche air as well; it was only after marriage that she changed.
Zhou Yinhe suppressed his smile, rubbed his neck, and said tiredly, “Mom, I didn’t sleep all night. I’m really exhausted. I’ll go upstairs and sleep for a while. Let’s talk tonight if there’s anything else.”
He had originally planned to catch up on sleep in the morning, but before he could even fall asleep, his assistant had called, saying that his second brother was investigating the intersections between Wen Ling and himself. He had guessed at once that it must have been his mother’s instruction, so he had his driver bring him back to Haining Bay.
In the end, Ning Qing still felt sorry for her youngest son. She could only swallow the scolding she had yet to finish and say, “Go, go. Mom will tell them not to disturb you.”
After Zhou Yinhe left, Ning Qing thought for a long time, then asked Housekeeper Yang,
“Do you think I should go meet that Wen Ling and warn her not to pester Little Five again?”
The moment Housekeeper Yang heard this, he hurriedly advised her, “Madam, you mustn’t act rashly. If Fifth Young Master still has old feelings for Miss Wen, getting involved will only make him angry.”
“But I can’t just watch Little Five get hurt by love again.” Ning Qing’s brows were tightly furrowed.
“In my opinion, Fifth Young Master probably hasn’t figured it out himself, which is why he’s so cold to Miss Wen. Why don’t we wait a little longer? Perhaps Fifth Young Master will come around on his own.”
“All right. That works too.”
As for Wen Ling, who had nearly had Ning Qing show up at her door, she was currently plotting how to get close to Zhou Yinhe.
She had someone buy a whiteboard and placed it in the room where she could see it the moment she opened her eyes. A photo of Zhou Yinhe was even pasted on it.
Wen Ling had written several strategies for pursuing Zhou Yinhe on it and was now sitting by the bed, looking at them.
The phone she had tossed aside popped up with a message. It was from the bodyguard she had arranged to follow Ruan Miaomiao.
She tapped it open and took a look. There was a photo of Ruan Miaomiao and Chu Yao walking arm in arm, along with a line of text: Ruan Miaomiao incited Miss Chu to target you.
Wen Ling’s brows knitted slightly. She tossed the phone aside and stared blankly at the photo of Zhou Yinhe on the whiteboard.
Chu Yao was notoriously domineering in Sijiu City, and she was also easily deceived by others. On top of that, with the female lead’s halo that Ruan Miaomiao carried, perhaps a few words really would be enough to make Chu Yao come after her.
The Wen family’s main branch was in M Country, and the Wen family’s roots in Sijiu City were still shallow. Although they were not to the point of fearing the Chu family, the person standing behind Chu Yao was Chu Lin, and that man was fiercely protective of his own. If she hurt Chu Yao, Chu Lin would definitely risk everything to retaliate against her. Forget about whether she could win Zhou Yinhe back; she might not even be able to carry out her plan to strike back at Ruan Miaomiao.
She could not become enemies with Chu Yao. At least, before she had officially begun implementing her plan, she could not fall out with her.
Wen Ling rubbed her aching brow.
So annoying. There were so many things to do.
In the past, she had always been the sort of person who would rely on others whenever she could and never use her own brain if she did not have to. Now that she had to depend on herself for everything, Wen Ling even wanted to call over that man who often contacted her and have him help her make plans. Maybe then things would be a little easier.