Volume One, Chapter Four: Unwelcome in the Wen Household
The next day, at seven in the morning, Wen Li woke up punctually.
Compared to the chaotic effects of jet lag, the breakfast culture she had grown up with in the Wen family was far more deeply ingrained.
The Wen family’s biological clock was akin to prison discipline: meals were served at fixed times, with an hour’s buffer between each. If you were late, you missed out.
Since they lived in the mountains where transportation was inconvenient, all supplies were uniformly purchased by the housemaids, and if anything was needed, the driver was sent down the mountain to buy it.
When Wen Li was little, she liked to sleep in and was neither favored nor allowed to go out freely, so she often went hungry.
At first, she would stubbornly cry, then it dwindled to a few tears, and eventually, she became numb to it.
She grew accustomed to early to bed, early to rise, and a regular three meals a day, in a strict routine.
Except for Wen Yang, no one paid her any attention, but even Wen Yang was not omnipotent.
“Second Miss.”
Wen Li went downstairs and arrived at the round dining table. As expected, she was the last to arrive again.
Grandpa Wen sat at the head of the table; to his left and right sat Wen Huaimin and Wen Yang in order, with Shen Jingshu next to Wen Huaimin.
Wen Li’s seat was next to Wen Yang.
“Grandpa, Father, Brother.”
Wen Li greeted them one by one. As her gaze passed over Shen Jingshu, she timidly called out, “Mom.”
Very hesitant.
The other party didn’t look up, only flicked her eyelids and responded softly and gracefully, “Hmm.”
Wen Li had just sat down beside Wen Yang when Shen Jingshu said, “Your brother told me you’re going to stay home for a while.”
She added, “I asked the maids to clear out some of the clutter in your old room. When you have time, take a look; if anything’s missing, we can get more.”
Her tone was casual, as if chatting between mother and daughter.
Wen Li nodded obediently, “Mm, okay.”
The “clearing out” Shen Jingshu mentioned was hardly the same as what ordinary people would think.
Yesterday, Wen Li had discovered that except for a bed and a cabinet affixed to the wall, everything else in her room was gone.
Not even the corner of a desk remained.
As for the bed, Shen Jingshu probably couldn’t bear to throw it away, since their family beds were antiques.
The one Wen Li slept on, though more modern in style, was not cheap—maybe it could last until the next century if she managed to hold on.
“Was it Jiang Chen who gave you a ride back yesterday?”
Wen Li’s hand trembled as she held the spoon. Shen Jingshu’s usual tactic of “first polite, then forceful” meant she was about to get to the point.
The Wen family’s greatest fear was that Wen Li and Jiang Chen might be involved, and Shen Jingshu was probably the most opposed to it.
“Mm.” Wen Li had no intention of lying.
Jiang Chen’s license plate was unique in South City, and he was not one to keep a low profile, so it was hard not to be noticed.
Shen Jingshu asked, “Do you still keep in touch with him?”
Wen Li flatly denied it: “No. We just happened to run into each other at the wedding, and he kindly gave me a ride since it was on the way.”
She swore she never had any private contact with Jiang Chen, not even sending holiday greetings in group messages, which she deliberately tagged to ignore.
Much less any activity on social media.
Yesterday, the century wedding of the Shen and Ling families had stirred up a swarm of dried husks and many mysterious guests.
Including Zhou Huaqing, said to have come back specially from abroad to join the festivities.
But Shen Jingshu was unconvinced. “One lives on the eastern city coast, the other on the southern city mountain. Which road did you happen to take?”
She suspected Wen Li of secretly maintaining ties with Jiang Chen, unable to let go of lingering feelings.
Seeing Wen Li kept her head lowered in silence, Shen Jingshu no longer bothered to play the role of a caring mother.
She said, “The Jiang family and ours have a complicated history and will have dealings in the future. Since the worst has already happened and the disgrace borne, don’t think about anything else.”
“Don’t cause the family embarrassment just because you can’t be clear-headed, making me lose face in front of Minzhi.”
Her words were a clear reprimand.
Shen Jingshu and Zhou Minzhi were close friends, and their years-long friendship almost ended because of the broken engagement.
Wen Li stirred the porridge in her bowl, afraid to look at Shen Jingshu sitting across from her, her heart a turmoil of emotions.
Seeing Wen Yang made no move to defend her, she understood this matter was non-negotiable in the eyes of the Wen family.
After the New Year, she would still be sent away.
So she nodded weakly, “Mm, I understand.”
Grandpa Wen interjected at the right moment, steering the conversation away, “That Ling girl acts erratically, crazy even. Her scandal with the Shen family’s young master is well known. From now on, don’t associate with her much to avoid giving anyone ammunition.”
Wen Li still nodded, “Mm.”
In the Wen family, she never had a voice, and she had learned to adapt, no longer harboring any expectations.
She ate breakfast in a sweat.
Finally back in her room, Wen Li saw several missed calls flashing on the screen of the phone charging on her bedside table.
She called back.
It was Ling Dan.
Wen Li thought it might be news about her and Shen Ningyuan, but it turned out to be about Jiang Chen.
He had been in a car accident.
According to Ling Dan’s account, after dropping Wen Li off yesterday, Jiang Chen crashed into the roadside guardrail on the mountain switchback road and was still lying in the hospital.
He had been boastful yesterday about his flawless driving skills and said something about “a one-way trip,” which now seemed like a curse.
Wen Li asked, “Is it serious?”
“Looks bad. They say after surgery, he might be missing an arm or a leg.”
“...” That joke was hardly funny.
“Wen Li, you wouldn’t have the heart to not visit him, right?”
Wen Li said nothing. After hanging up, she stared at the chat window with the address and ward number Ling Dan sent, silently wrestling with herself.
If she hadn’t accepted the ride, maybe the accident wouldn’t have happened.
But...
The hospital was full of people and eyes everywhere. If she was seen, Shen Jingshu might truly team up with Zhou Minzhi to arrange a private plane that very night and send her abroad—never to return.
Around noon, after confirming Shen Jingshu’s car was gone, Wen Li threw on a coat, geared up, and hurried downstairs. Passing through the hall garden, she ran into a housemaid pruning the flowers.
“Second Miss, if you’re going out, remember to have the driver take you.”
Wen Li blurted out, “Just a walk nearby, to get some fresh air.”
As Jiang Chen said, it was indeed difficult to get a taxi on the mountain.
Even offering 2.5 times the fare, she walked a long way along the winding mountain road, yet no driver accepted the order.
Finally, Zhou Huaqing happened to drive by in his black Bentley.
“Where are you headed?”
Wen Li hesitated for a long time.
She wanted to call him “Brother Huaqing,” but knowing he disliked familiarities, and calling him by name would be rude, she chose to skip titles altogether and asked, “Can you take me to the hospital?”