Wen Ying had dealt with plenty of cunning folks in Shanghai, so while Lili thought herself slick, Wen Ying found her amateurish.
She couldn’t even hide the greed in her eyes, this vixen wasn’t exactly high-tier.
Maybe she’d spent all her wits on snaring men and didn’t bother masking herself in front of Wen Ying?
Wen Ying nibbled on her milk tea straw, listening as Lili fished for information.
Lili asked what grade she was in, Wen Ying said she’d just finished her high school entrance exams, Lili praised her, saying her grades must be great.
Wen Ying admitted she hadn’t done well, Lili comforted her, saying the entrance exam wasn’t a big deal, there was still time to catch up in high school.
“You’re so cute, you could go for an arts program, art schools don’t demand high academic scores!”
Lili tossed out casually, she might not have meant much by it, but Wen Ying caught the hint, Lili was likely an arts student herself.
People naturally comment on what they know.
It took some nerve for Lili to call Wen Ying “cute” with a straight face, luckily, Wen Ying’s mental age was thirty-one, she’d checked the mirror that morning, her round face, pimples glaring on her chin, she knew exactly how “cute” she was, thinking about it, swallowing the milk tea felt like choking down poison, the cheap milky taste and artificial flavor, she’d loved this stuff as a teen, no wonder she’d packed on the pounds, every bite had built this body.
Wen Ying put on a shy face and eagerly asked Lili about art school exams.
Lili was warm, chatting for a few minutes, but guarded her personal details, she didn’t confirm if she was an art student or give her full name, just told Wen Ying to call her “Sister Lili.”
Wen Ying pressed for which “Lili” it was, learning it was the “Li” from jasmine, she felt a wave of disgust.
Looking like her aunt Chen Li was bad enough, but even the name danced on the edge, teasingly close, a feather tickling Deng Shangwei’s heart.
If this was a setup, it had to be someone close to Deng Shangwei!
Only an insider would know how much he cared for Chen Li and pick this creature to lower his guard.
A man out socializing, spotting a woman who resembles his wife but younger by a decade, would naturally steal a few extra glances, you look once, she looks back, innocent at first, but with enough exchanged glances, something else might spark.
While Wen Ying probed Lili’s background, Lili treated her like a fool, slipping in her own questions.
A kid working a summer job, how did Deng Shangwei agree to that?
With Wen Ying so cute, Deng Shangwei’s wife must be gorgeous too, right?
Wen Ying watched the vixen perform.
Most mistresses chasing bosses were after money, not the man himself.
Lili was different, she brushed past Chen Li with a sentence or two but dug deep into Deng Shangwei, his personal hobbies, his life.
This vixen was greedy, she didn’t just want money, she wanted the man too, the whole package?
Fair enough, Deng Shangwei was still young, not like those potbellied, greasy bosses, he wasn’t a stunner, but he was decent-looking, and not some useless trust-fund kid, a self-made man, if she snagged him, would she ever worry about money?
Wen Ying smiled and played along, but her mind settled.
Lili didn’t really know Deng Shangwei yet!
If Lili were already with him, she wouldn’t need to fish for his habits from Wen Ying, she could observe him herself during their rendezvous.
Realizing this, Wen Ying’s interest in Lili waned, she dropped the conversation-ender:
“Sister Lili, you’re so pretty! My uncle’s always so stiff and preachy, every time he sees me, he lectures me, how could he know someone as young and beautiful as you? What do you even talk about?”
Lili faltered, a bit embarrassed.
She’d met Deng Shangwei at a nightclub, how could she admit that to Wen Ying?
But Wen Ying, clueless and stubborn, kept digging, Lili endured it for a moment, then glanced at her watch and said she had to go.
Wen Ying pouted, reluctant to let her leave, Lili coaxed her, “You’ll be at your uncle’s company all summer, right? I’ll drop by again in a few days to hang out.”
Wen Ying waved goodbye with a wistful look.
A refined beauty like Lili wouldn’t take the bus, a taxi pulled up, dropping off a woman and a little girl, Lili hopped in.
Wen Ying waved harder, memorizing the license plate, as the car rolled away, she dashed to a nearby newsstand and dialed 114.
What for? To get the taxi company’s number, of course.
114 gave her the info, after waiting six or seven minutes, she called the company, claiming she’d left something in a cab.
The operator, a gentle woman, asked what she’d lost, Wen Ying’s voice cracked with sobs:
“Auntie, I left my summer homework in the car! I can’t find it, I’m too scared to go home, my dad’ll kill me if I do! Please, Auntie, can you ask the driver?”
The operator asked if she remembered the license plate and where she’d gotten off, Wen Ying skipped the second question, recited the plate number, and said she was calling from a newsstand: “Auntie, can you check where the driver is? My mom can take me there to get it now.”
Her act was so convincing that within two minutes of hanging up, the operator called back, soothing her: “Don’t panic, little one, tell me where you got off, the driver’s taking a passenger to the music college, once they’re dropped off, he’ll bring your stuff back.”
“…Hello? Kid, you listening? Look around where you got off, any street signs? If not, ask the newsstand boss, oh, just put your mom on.”
“Auntie, sorry, I got it wrong, we’re not on summer break yet, so no homework, bye, Auntie!”
“…”
Wen Ying’s little-kid act left the newsstand boss dumbfounded.
She didn’t care about stares, she paid for the call, then ordered a few milk teas, asking the shop to deliver them to the company.
It was Deng Shangwei’s money anyway!
If she didn’t spend his cash to vent, she’d lose her nerve.
Fresh off her spending spree, Wen Ying returned to the company and was nabbed by Sister Fang, “Why’d it take you so long? I was worried you’d been kidnapped! Don’t chat with strangers that long again!”
Wen Ying blinked innocently, “Sister Lili’s not a stranger, she said she’s my uncle’s friend.”
Sister Fang choked.
Little fool, she says “friend,” but she might be aiming to be your “auntie”!
“She’s called Lili? Do you know what she does? What’d you two talk about that clicked so well?”
Wen Ying didn’t storm home in a huff but came back smiling.
It seemed the woman hadn’t spilled anything reckless to the girl.
Sister Fang tried to pry some details from Wen Ying, who shook her head, “Dunno, Sister Lili didn’t say, Sister Fang, she called me cute, and I think she’s so pretty!”
Before calling the taxi company, Wen Ying truly didn’t know, now she did, Lili was from the music college.
But she couldn’t tell Sister Fang, as Deng Shangwei’s trusted aide, Sister Fang wasn’t someone Wen Ying could trust yet!
