Zhang Zhijun stands to gain the most?
Most people really would not think along the lines that Wen Ying did.
How miserable Zhang Zhijun was!
First he drove his wife to suicide, then indirectly angered his father to death, got expelled by the Zhang family, and his reputation in the circle was completely ruined.
His relatives no longer accepted him, and his friends would also have reservations.
Even if Zhang Zhijun made his business bigger in the future and earned more money, what was the point of being a lonely man?
But if one followed Wen Ying’s line of thinking, Zhang Zhijun’s “misery” was only superficial.
“Old Master Zhang fell ill suddenly, and the Zhang family was in complete chaos. Has Lu Meishu’s inheritance truly been transferred to Zhang Hua? If Old Master Zhang were still alive, he could have supervised the matter. After Old Master Zhang passed away, the rest of the Zhang family probably would not be able to make Zhang Zhijun obey obediently. I think you feel this most deeply. With Uncle Xie pressing down from above, your father was willing to transfer the shares to you back then. If there had been no Uncle Xie…”
Before Wen Ying could finish, Xie Qian on the other end of the line picked up the thread: “Naturally, they would give as little as possible.”
Yes, things like face and reputation, people who care about them care very deeply. But once someone decides to stop caring, it is actually no big deal.
Just like Wen Ying—were there not plenty of people who cursed her?
Wen Ying herself did not care, and she could still eat and drink well, living quite comfortably!
Wen Ying continued to analyse for Xie Qian: “A good reputation used to be very useful to Zhang Zhijun. Everyone knew he was a great man, and no matter what bad things happened, no one would suspect him. Now it has become quite useless, because both you and Uncle Xie suspect him. A good reputation not only fails to help him, it actually restricts him in everything he does. Since that is the case, why not simply throw away the good reputation entirely?”
Old Master Zhang had once declared that if Zhang Zhijun wanted to marry Sara Zhuo into the family, he would have to step over Old Master Zhang’s corpse.
No one could have imagined it would actually come true.
Old Master Zhang was gone, the Zhang family had drawn a clear line with Zhang Zhijun, and now no one could stop Zhang Zhijun from marrying Sara Zhuo if he wanted to!
“Now he really is in a position where he can advance or retreat as he pleases. If he marries Sara Zhuo, no one will interfere. If he does not marry her, he has plenty of justification… He can even continue acting to lull you all into complacency, making the Xie family believe that he and Sara Zhuo have completely fallen out and there is no possibility of reconciliation, so that whatever Sara Zhuo does has nothing to do with him!”
These were the things Wen Ying said out loud.
There were also things she did not say.
That was Zhang Zhijun’s involvement in smuggling crimes.
Now that Zhang Zhijun had been expelled from the Zhang family, if his crimes were exposed in the future, they should not implicate the Zhang family.
Could it be possible that Zhang Zhijun deliberately took on the bad reputation himself, precisely to clear the Zhang family of suspicion?
Wen Ying also knew that her line of thinking was somewhat bizarre, but from a long-term perspective, this matter truly benefited Zhang Zhijun more than it harmed him: “People are complicated. He was extremely ruthless when targeting the Xie family, but he has never been that way with the Zhang family members. At least from the limited interactions I have had with him, his affection for Zhang Nan is genuine.”
Xie Qian basically agreed with Wen Ying’s analysis.
He had heard that when Zhang Nan beat Zhuo Yue severely, Zhang Zhijun had not blamed Zhang Nan at all.
“Indeed, he can advance or retreat as he pleases. I am very curious whether Zhang Zhijun will choose to advance or to retreat.”
Wen Ying murmured, “Hard to say. This person is very cunning. I can never guess his next move.”
Xie Qian did not want Wen Ying’s New Year to be too gloomy. He said he would pass her analysis on to his uncle Xie Yuping, then changed the subject and asked when Wen Ying planned to return to school.
Wen Ying gave a dry cough: “Editor-in-Chief Ding and Teacher Yuan have discussed it. The second book in the Nine Cauldrons series, ‘Exploring Jing’, will still be released on 15 February, just like ‘Searching Yong’. There will be a signing event in Shanghai on the first day of ‘Exploring Jing’s release, so I plan to return to Shanghai on 13 February.”
The signing was on 15 February, yet the hamster had chosen to return to Shanghai on 13 February. The day in between was 14 February.
Xie Qian thought to himself that although he and the hamster had established a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, they had barely had a few days before the final exam week arrived. Then the hamster got busy writing a film script for Director Zhang, and after that Wen Ying received a call from home and hurriedly returned to Chengdu to visit her seriously ill grandmother.
So this couple only had the title— their most intimate act had been holding hands.
Holding hands was exciting too.
But… which couple would only hold hands?
Xie Qian immediately realised that Valentine’s Day on 14 February would be a perfect opportunity!
“Alright then, I will also return to Shanghai on the 13th.”
Both choosing the 13th to return to Shanghai—this was a tacit understanding. Even after hanging up the phone, they were both thinking the same thing: What gift should I give him/her?
…
Wen Ying had to return to Shanghai a few days early for the signing event.
Wen Kai, on the other hand, was in no rush.
Every holiday since Wen Kai went to university in Beijing had been spent “interning”. He himself did not feel tired and even enjoyed it. But this winter break, when Grandmother Wen suddenly fell ill, Wen Kai reflected deeply on himself: it was very important to establish himself in Beijing, but it was also important to make time for family!
The greatest tragedy in life is when one wants to care for one’s parents but they are no longer there. Wen Kai did not want to leave himself with such regrets.
While Grandmother Wen was hospitalised, Wen Kai went to the ward every day to keep her company, going more diligently than anyone else in the family. Several times when Chen Ru went to the hospital, she saw Wen Kai carefully taking care of the elderly woman. Privately, she held Wen Kai in very high regard:
“The Wen family still has some good children.”
Wen Dongrong was very unconvinced: “Little Ying is also a child of the Wen family.”
It was one thing to belittle the Wen family, but there was no need to drag his own daughter into it, right?
Chen Ru laughed mockingly. “Touch your conscience and tell me—has Little Ying received much care from your Wen family? Do not take credit for everything.”
“You… you… I am too lazy to argue with you!”
Wen Dongrong said the harshest words in the most cowardly tone.
His career was clearly rising step by step, so how could his position in the family possibly decline? It was only because he, the head of the household, was magnanimous and did not bother to argue with Chen Ru!
Wen Dongrong stood at the door of the ward, straightening his clothes, about to go in and praise his nephew Wen Kai for his filial piety, when he saw Wen Kai step out to take a call.
“You and your cousin have already arrived at the airport?”
Wen Kai’s brows were tightly furrowed.
On the other end of the line came the voice of his rich second-generation friend: “Yes, we are already at the airport. Hey, I did not want to disturb you either, but I really am not familiar with Chengdu. Did not your grandmother get hospitalised before the New Year? I heard she has not been discharged yet. Since we have come to Chengdu, of course we have to visit the hospital. Send me the address! Alright, let us talk about other things when we meet. The signal here is not great, remember to send the address.”
Before Wen Kai could refuse, the other side had already hung up.
Wen Kai tried calling back, but only heard a busy tone, as if the signal really was bad.
This left him no room to refuse at all!
Wen Kai thought about it. Since the other party had already come, it would be unreasonable for him not to play the host. In the end, he resigned himself and sent the address.
While calls got a busy tone, text messages were unaffected. His friend quickly replied: We will be there soon!
Wen Kai was so angry at his friend that his head hurt.
After the last time he had asked his friend to pass on a message, his little cousin had indeed stopped openly showing affection. But Wen Kai did not dare to let his guard down in the slightest.
This was Chengdu.
Little Ying could come to the hospital to visit their grandmother at any moment.
If the two sides ran into each other… with his little cousin’s crazy fangirl attitude toward Little Ying, if she found out that Little Ying was his cousin, she might cause another commotion.
Wen Kai could only turn to his second uncle Wen Dongrong for help.
After briefly explaining how much his rich second-generation classmate had taken care of him, Wen Kai expressed his concern: “They do not know that Little Ying is my cousin. His cousin treats Little Ying like an idol. She was willing to fly to Chengdu and spend tens of thousands to buy a specially numbered copy of ‘Searching Yong’. If they run into each other at the hospital, she might go and disturb Little Ying in the future.”
At first Wen Dongrong did not take it seriously. Halfway through he even wanted to teach his nephew how to handle social situations.
Since this rich second-generation friend treated Wen Kai so well, and he had come all the way to Chengdu, Wen Kai as the host should entertain him properly!
Wen Kai spoke very highly of his rich second-generation friend, and Wen Dongrong also wanted to give his nephew face, so that the other party would not see Wen Kai as just a lackey.
But when he heard the second half—Wen Kai did not want Wen Ying and his friend’s cousin to meet, and mentioned that the little cousin had spent tens of thousands on a specially numbered copy of ‘Searching Yong’—Wen Dongrong was immediately struck by the memory of a dead incident!
“She spent tens of thousands on a copy of ‘Searching Yong’?”
“Yes, Second Uncle, you probably do not know—”
“No, I know!”
How could he not know? That copy of ‘Searching Yong’ was the one Wen Dongrong himself had sold!
Although he had used Lao Li as the go-between at the time, Wen Dongrong still felt a little guilty. He explained dryly, “I have seen the news about this. Your concern is very reasonable. Here is what we will do: your second aunt and I will go back first. You entertain your friend properly, and I will definitely stop Little Ying from coming over.”
Wen Kai felt relieved: “Thank you, Second Uncle!”
Chen Ru glanced at Wen Dongrong a couple of times. After many years of marriage, her intuition told her that Wen Dongrong was acting strangely.
“Just call Little Ying and explain the situation. Why do we need to hide? When we meet Wen Kai’s friend, we will just watch what we say. How could they possibly connect us with Little Ying?”
Since Grandmother Wen’s condition was stable, Zhu Meiqun and her husband had shifted their main focus to the fruit shop. During the Spring Festival period, all the citizens were visiting relatives and friends, and buying two crates of fruit to bring as gifts was very respectable. The fruit shop’s business was excellent, and they could not miss out on the money!
Since Zhu Meiqun and her husband were busy running the shop, Chen Ru thought she could help receive Wen Kai’s friend.
Wen Dongrong broke out in a cold sweat. After holding it in for a long time, he came up with an excuse: “We father and daughter look so much alike. The moment they see our appearance and that we all have the surname Wen, unless they are fools, they will make the connection!”
They did look quite alike.
Chen Ru waved her hand. “Fine then, you go back first. I will stay at the hospital.”
Wen Dongrong pretended to be relaxed: “What is the rush? I will go in and greet Mum first.”
…
In a taxi, Wen Kai’s rich second-generation friend and his little cousin were rushing toward the hospital.
When they were almost at the provincial hospital, the little cousin saw that the fruit shop by the roadside was doing very good business. She told the driver to brake: “I want to buy some fruit!”
Her rich second-generation brother pulled her back: “Buy what fruit? We brought gifts already. Do not make it too obvious. You cannot chase after someone like this—it is not how business works. Have you forgotten the key points I taught you?”
The little cousin nodded with great difficulty. “Alright, alright, I will listen to you… But are the things you taught me really useful? I see that you yourself are not particularly smart. When Wen Kai told you to sell stocks, you only sold half, and now you regret it to death!”
