On the night the gaokao ended, Xie Jinghu ate the most expensive dinner of his life.
In Rongcheng, the Wen family dinner was lively and warm.
It wasn’t held in a restaurant or at Wen Ying’s own home, but at her eldest uncle’s new place.
The moment Wen Ying stepped through the door, she looked left and right, then toured the whole flat and sighed sincerely, “Auntie, your house is so big!”
Unlike Deng Juan who bought property quickly and decisively, Zhu Meiqun and her husband had viewed place after place, nearly wearing the estate agent’s legs thin before finally settling on this older flat.
Though called old, it was only about ten years old, built in 1991 as staff housing for a work unit. Back then elevators weren’t common, so compared to modern lifts in buildings it felt less competitive.
But the location was excellent, the layout spacious: over 130 square metres with almost no shared area, and all four rooms were generously sized!
The floor was perfect too, second storey. Grandma Wen’s legs were still strong, so stairs were no great hardship.
The down payment had emptied Zhu Meiqun and her husband’s entire savings, and now they had monthly repayments, but Zhu Meiqun wasn’t worried at all.
Once the flat was bought and they had no spare cash left, Wen Ying’s uncle bought two buckets of paint and repainted every wall himself, while Zhu Meiqun washed and cleaned everything. They spent over a month making the old place shine like new!
To Wen Ying it looked great. The furniture left by the previous owner was a bit dated, but Zhu Meiqun had scrubbed everything spotless.
Honestly, she had even crouched down and cleaned the grout between the floor tiles bit by bit. The whole flat felt neat, tidy, and full of warmth.
If you really wanted to nitpick, the only downsides were the low-quality property management and the mature trees in the old estate that blocked some light on the second floor. But for value for money, those hardly counted as flaws. For an ordinary small-county family settling in the provincial capital, nothing comes perfect in one step.
More importantly, this neighbourhood was in the area Wen Ying remembered would later be demolished. Live here now, then collect compensation when demolition comes. Couldn’t be a better deal.
Hearing Wen Ying praise the size, Zhu Meiqun’s smile was unstoppable. “We still have to thank you! Your mum said it was you who first suggested buying property, then reminded us. You even recommended the right area. Without your help, your uncle and I would never have dared to buy.”
Wen Ying waved her hands repeatedly. “I didn’t put up any money!”
And indeed she hadn’t.
She had actually been prepared to lend them some, but her uncle and aunt were too proud and chose the mortgage route instead.
Zhu Meiqun didn’t care what Wen Ying said; she was certain Wen Ying deserved the credit.
First they confirmed Wen Ying had done well in the gaokao, then talk turned to her son Wen Kai. “I wonder if your brother Kai will like the flat…”
Wen Ying grinned. “He’ll definitely love it. Even I do! When he comes home for summer break he’ll get this huge surprise.”
Yes, Wen Kai still had no idea.
In July, when university summer holidays started, Wen Kai would come back and find out.
That evening Zhu Meiqun cooked loads of dishes. The dinner was both a celebration of Wen Ying finishing the gaokao and a house-warming for the couple.
The whole family gathered round the table, and Wen Dongrong drank quite a lot.
Relatives kept praising Wen Ying non-stop. Wen Dongrong, already tipsy, still clung to a shred of sobriety. “Hey, it’s too early to say all this. We have to wait for the results before we know how she really did!”
“Second brother, you’re being far too modest. Little Ying is always in the top dozens at the provincial key school. She herself says she did well. Her scores definitely won’t be bad!”
Wen Changlin had full confidence in his niece. Wen Ying just smiled without speaking, while everyone else chimed in agreement.
They all genuinely believed Wen Ying had done very well.
Wen Dongrong’s heart was bitter.
Of course he wanted to show off, but that black-hearted little cotton ball’s wildly overinflated post-exam confidence stopped him from being too loud about it!
Because Wen Dongrong was unusually quiet instead of bragging, even Chen Ru shot several surprised glances at the man.
On the way home after dinner, Wen Dongrong couldn’t help asking again, “So how did you really do?”
Wen Ying told the truth. “I already said, I did very well.”
In the afternoon she had only said “pretty well”. By evening it had become “very well”. The speed of the black-hearted cotton’s inflation exceeded Wen Dongrong’s worst fears.
Wen Dongrong closed his eyes in despair.
That night after the gaokao, Wen Ying slept beautifully.
Yet the next morning she still woke early.
She had thought she would feel totally relaxed once exams were over, but mostly she felt lost.
After all, she was used to the Year 13 rhythm. Suddenly free, she didn’t know what to do with herself.
Yuan Fenghui didn’t let Wen Ying stay lost for long. At exactly 9 a.m. she rang. “I hear you’re going to the Magnolia Awards ceremony?”
“Yep!”
Wen Ying admitted it cheerfully. No need to keep that secret from anyone.
Yuan Fenghui chuckled. “Since you’re going anyway, why not do two signing sessions while you’re there? Save wasting the plane ticket!”
A capitalist who never missed a chance to squeeze value.
Wen Ying neither agreed nor refused, but countered, “Will you reimburse the flight?”
“Of course! Not only round-trip tickets, I’ll cover three nights’ accommodation too!”
The money was coming from the publisher anyway, so Yuan Fenghui had nothing to lose.
Wen Ying instantly agreed.
She was going to Shanghai anyway. Two signing sessions were no big trouble, and they were for promoting her novels. In the end she herself benefited most.
Besides, saying she was going to Shanghai for signings sounded far better than saying she was going for an awards ceremony.
If she mentioned the awards, Manager Chen would definitely ask who she was going with and why. Signings were a perfectly legitimate reason and would save her loads of explaining.
Before Wen Ying could tell Xie Qian the news, Xie Qian shared some “good news” first.
When she learned Xie Qian had gained another 6% of Jinhu shares, Wen Ying was so happy she jumped on the spot.
“Why was your dad suddenly so generous this time?”
“He had no choice but to be generous.”
Xie Qian summarised yesterday’s events in a few sentences. Wen Ying was so angry she wanted to grab a knife.
“Your dad is consistently scum; I’m used to it by now. But that Zhang Zhijun isn’t any good either. Everyone supposedly likes him, so his EQ and IQ can’t be low. Why did he choose yesterday of all days to kick up a fuss at Jinhu?”
With Zhang Zhijun’s emotional and intellectual intelligence, he should have foreseen the chain reaction before confronting Xie Jinghu.
Was it really just to upset Xie Qian’s gaokao?
Wen Ying’s instinct told her it wasn’t that simple.
Xie Qian felt the same.
But whatever the case, Zhang Zhijun’s outburst had not only failed to affect Xie Qian, it had actually benefited him. Had Zhang Zhijun predicted that?
Xie Qian’s opinion of Zhang Zhijun remained unchanged. The previous DNA test had surprised him, and while Zhang Zhijun was still in the country, Xie Qian planned to take another DNA sample and test again.
Although the custom watch Zhang Zhijun had given Xie Qian showed no issues, out of caution Xie Qian didn’t mention the re-test plan over the phone. He simply said he would meet Wen Ying in Shanghai. “You head to Shanghai first and do what you need to do. I’ll join you later.”
