∴
Wen Ying squeezed three thousand yuan of pocket money from Old Wen but didn’t immediately hand it over to Chen Ru.
It was better to give it to her on the way to Shanghai. Otherwise, Old Wen’s three thousand yuan might not earn Chen Ru’s gratitude but instead spark a soul-searching interrogation about why he was hiding money.
Sigh, she was too soft-hearted, too kind to Old Wen.
Maybe because Old Wen had been behaving well lately?
Wen Ying didn’t lack spending money for the Shanghai competition.
The organizers covered contestants’ travel expenses up to five hundred yuan. If Wen Ying went alone, a train ticket would suffice, but she and Chen Ru were flying, and five hundred yuan was far from enough.
“No worries about the travel costs,” Chen Ru said.
Chen Ru wanted to renovate the house and buy a car. Despite her higher income, she was thriftier now, avoiding the reckless spending of someone like Wen Hongyan, who splurged on clothes and accessories when newly rich.
But Wen Ying’s Shanghai competition, with its potential for score reductions, was an educational investment in Chen Ru’s eyes.
Every penny spent on education was worthwhile.
Some investments showed no immediate returns, or even returns for a long time, but without steady accumulation, how could one achieve a qualitative leap?
So, Wen Ying’s travel and accommodation costs for Shanghai, like Chen Ru and Wen Dongrong’s English tutoring classes, were expenses Chen Ru deemed necessary.
Take the train?
It would save money but waste time.
Being exhausted from a long journey could affect Wen Ying’s performance, which Chen Ru considered not worth the trade-off.
Without Wen Ying saying a word, Chen Ru booked two flight tickets to Shanghai.
When Deng Shangwei heard Wen Ying was competing in Shanghai, he quickly gave her a red envelope, urging her not to be too frugal.
“Uncle, I have money…”
“Your money is yours to keep. This is for you to spend!” Deng Shangwei said, delighted. Once Wen Ying got the hang of things, she seemed to excel at everything.
He stuffed five thousand yuan into her hands.
In the past, Chen Ru would’ve forbidden Wen Ying from accepting it. After the Pan Li incident, she’d softened. “If you feel bad spending it, buy some gifts for your aunt and cousins in Shanghai.”
The money would ultimately benefit Chen Li and her sons. Deng Shangwei’s wallet couldn’t be too flush, lest it attract more “vixens.”
Fine, Wen Ying accepted it.
Before even leaving for Shanghai, she had eight thousand yuan in hand.
To her surprise, just before departure, Xie Qian gave her a workbook, suggesting she do it in Shanghai if she had time. While flipping through it at the airport, a small card fell out.
Wen Ying blinked.
A bank card in a workbook?
Before Chen Ru noticed, Wen Ying swiftly picked it up and pocketed it.
A bank card falling from Xie Qian’s workbook didn’t prove anything. Maybe he’d accidentally left it there. Yet, Wen Ying felt inexplicably guilty.
“What did you drop?” Chen Ru asked, seeing Wen Ying bend down but not what she picked up.
In the spirit of sacrificing a friend to save herself, Wen Ying betrayed Old Wen before boarding. She pulled out the three thousand yuan from her bag. “Mum, Dad gave me this, saying we should eat well and stay somewhere nice in Shanghai.”
Chen Ru’s eyes widened.
After agreeing to save for renovations and a car, Wen Dongrong had surrendered all his income. He’d even claimed to quit smoking, and Chen Ru noticed he no longer smelled of cigarettes.
Yet he still had hidden money.
Chen Ru wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or annoyed. She took the three thousand yuan, forgetting about Wen Ying picking something up. “As if he needs to tell me? I wouldn’t let you go without even without his money!”
Still, the extra three thousand made their Shanghai budget more comfortable.
About to board, Chen Ru decided to settle accounts with Wen Dongrong after returning.
Wen Ying touched the card in her pocket and secretly texted Xie Qian. “Why was your bank card in the book? I’ll return it when I’m back in Rongcheng!”
Xie Qian, likely in class, didn’t reply, leaving Wen Ying a bit uneasy.
Chen Ru frowned. “It’s not your first time flying. Why so nervous?”
Wen Ying fastened her seatbelt and said softly, “Mum, this is our first time flying out of the province together. After the competition, can we stay an extra day in Shanghai, like a short trip?”
Her words surprised not just Chen Ru but Wen Ying herself, who felt a pang of nostalgia.
In her past life, whether on business or traveling with He Zhen, Wen Ying had visited many places, both in China and abroad.
But traveling out of the province with her parents?
That had never happened.
It wasn’t the Wen family’s vibe.
When Wen Ying wasn’t financially independent, she couldn’t make such requests. By the time she was, her relationship with her parents had worsened year by year. Chen Ru and Wen Dongrong only wanted her back home, pushing for civil service exams and blind dates. They dismissed her six years of striving in Shanghai.
Other parents, as long as they were mobile, would visit their child’s workplace or life in a top-tier city like Shanghai or Beijing. For Chen Ru and Wen Dongrong, that was unthinkable.
Visiting Wen Ying in Shanghai would signal approval of her staying there, which was absolutely unacceptable.
Wen Ying remembered the day she paid the down payment for her Shanghai apartment in her past life. She’d called Chen Ru to share the news.
Chen Ru didn’t believe it at first, then grilled her about the apartment. Learning Wen Ying had paid over four million yuan, Chen Ru didn’t congratulate her but felt she was showing off. “Buy it if you want, but don’t expect me or your dad to bail you out if you can’t pay the mortgage. It’s your house, your responsibility. We have plenty of properties in Rongcheng and won’t live in yours!”
Chen Ru’s tone had been resolute.
Thinking back, Wen Ying wasn’t clinging to past hurts but found it baffling. In her past life, she could handle tough clients but not her parents. How had their relationship deteriorated so badly? Her so-called “successful life” clearly wasn’t that successful.
Even more surreal was that Chen Ru, who had sworn never to set foot in Shanghai, was now sitting beside her, accompanying her to the New Concept Composition Contest semifinals.
This was even less likely than Wen Ying making it to the semifinals.
Chen Ru had taken leave, as had Wen Ying from school. They’d fly to Shanghai today (Monday), compete tomorrow, attend the awards on Wednesday, and return to Rongcheng that evening, a three-day trip.
Yet, on the plane, Wen Ying made an audacious request to stay an extra day in Shanghai for a mini-vacation.
Wishful thinking.
Chen Ru’s first instinct was to refuse, but she noticed Wen Ying’s eyes darting away, avoiding her gaze.
Was she embarrassed by her own bold request?
For some reason, Chen Ru couldn’t say no.
They hadn’t taken Wen Ying on many trips.
When Wen Ying was young, Chen Ru and Wen Dongrong weren’t as busy. Though money was tight, they’d occasionally take her to parks.
Chen Ru recalled the summer before Wen Ying’s fourth grade. She’d done well on her finals, so they planned a trip to Hangzhou. They arranged leave, and Wen Ying was thrilled, packing her clothes without help.
But just before booking tickets, Wen Hongyan and Shu Guobing visited, asking to transfer Shu Lu to a city elementary school. The Hangzhou trip was postponed.
Chen Ru pulled strings to get Shu Lu into a good city school, despite her rural household registration. Wen Dongrong’s position wasn’t as high then, so it took a lot of favors. By the time it was settled, their leave was nearly used up, and Wen Dongrong had given money to the Shu family, dipping into the travel budget.
Chen Ru couldn’t recall how she’d comforted Wen Ying.
Maybe she’d said there’d be other chances?
Kids could be easily brushed off. They wouldn’t seriously hold a grudge, right?
But every summer and winter break after that, something came up—either Wen family issues or work obligations. By the time Wen Ying was in her first year of high school, the Hangzhou trip had never been rescheduled.
Chen Ru felt a tinge of regret.
A few days ago, Wen Dongrong had asked if he should take leave to join them in Shanghai. Chen Ru, thinking of the extra flight and hotel costs, had declined.
Had she known Wen Ying still remembered that trip from six or seven years ago, she would’ve agreed to let Wen Dongrong come.
Back then, it didn’t seem like a big deal, but now that Wen Ying was growing independent, Chen Ru didn’t want her to have leverage to question their parental authority.
The refusal was on the tip of her tongue but took a turn. “Just one extra day?”
“Of course. We’ve got school and work to get back to,” Wen Ying said.
Today was Monday, with a planned return on Wednesday. One extra day meant Thursday.
If Wen Ying pushed further to Friday, Chen Ru figured they might as well stay until Sunday for a proper trip.
Fearing Wen Ying might push her luck, Chen Ru agreed to the request.
Now Wen Ying felt odd.
Was Manager Chen being too agreeable?
How high were her expectations for a first-place win?
If Wen Ying didn’t win, she suspected Chen Ru would perform a Sichuan opera face-change on the spot.
When the plane landed in Shanghai, Wen Ying turned on her phone and saw a reply from Xie Qian—a string of six digits.
What did that mean? The bank card’s PIN?
System: * Today’s date and time is 07:51 AM WAT on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.
