Putting away the agreement, Xia Wantang left the Shen family without a second thought, her schoolbag on her back.
Outside the community, she stood at the entrance, feeling lost.
Where should she go now?
It was the height of summer, the sun blazing, making one feel like they were melting.
Taking out her phone, she hesitated for a moment before dialing Wen Xuanyuan’s number.
After two rings, the call was answered.
“Hello, Tangtang.”
Xia Wantang asked directly, “Xuanyuan, where are you?”
“At home, why?”
Xia Wantang sighed helplessly and said, “It’s a long story. Can I come over to your place now?”
Wen Xuanyuan replied without hesitation, “Then come over and we’ll talk.”
She hailed a taxi and gave Wen Xuanyuan’s address.
***
After Xia Wantang left, the Xia family instantly resumed their harmonious atmosphere. No one paid any mind to Xia Wantang, as if she were insignificant.
They likely assumed she wouldn’t survive on her own and would eventually beg to return.
Xia Wanfu swayed Xia Linfeng’s arm and cooed, “Dad, I want to buy a new bag and some clothes.”
“There’s fifty thousand in the card.”
Xia Linfeng casually handed the card he had just given to Xia Wantang to Xia Wanfu.
Xia Wanfu’s eyes lit up with joy. She planted a kiss on Xia Linfeng’s cheek.
“Thank you, Daddy. I love you to death.”
“Dad, you can’t be biased,” Xia Yichen said. “I have my eye on a pair of sneakers, only a few tens of thousands.”
Xia Linfeng frowned and scolded, “Look at how many pairs of shoes you have already. Are you a centipede? So many feet.”
Xia Yichen pouted and grumbled, “So biased, humph.”
“Chenchen, your father is right. Our family is going through a difficult time. You’re grown up now, you should share some of the burden with your father.”
Looking at her son, who only knew how to play games and sell shoes, Han Wenjuan’s eyes were filled with helplessness.
Xia Yichen impatiently said, “If you don’t give it, you don’t give it. So much nonsense. Besides, what’s so difficult about this? Didn’t Uncle Du promise to help us?”
These words infuriated Xia Linfeng. He pointed at him and scolded, “This is all you’re capable of. Without me, you wouldn’t even be able to support yourself after entering society.”
Being belittled to worthlessness, Xia Yichen’s temper flared instantly. He blurted out without regard for consequence:
“I’m your son, aren’t you proud that I’m useless? If you had the capability, would you need to let your daughter sleep with an old man to save the company?”
Xia Linfeng’s face turned ashen. He pointed at him, too enraged to speak.
“How can you say that about your father?”
Han Wenjuan glared at her son, but secretly signaled him with her eyes, urging him not to stir up any more trouble.
While signaling, she pretended to be angry and scolded him.
“You child, you’re so thoughtless. Your father works so hard to provide for all your food, drink, and necessities…”
Xia Yichen, looking extremely impatient, stood up and went upstairs on his own.
Just as Han Wenjuan was about to appease Xia Linfeng and tell him not to be angry, a sudden ringing interrupted them.
It was Xia Linfeng’s phone, lying on the coffee table. The caller ID showed Boss Du.
Xia Linfeng’s expression instantly changed, and his smile widened.
He figured Old Du had just woken up and was calling to help him.
Han Wenjuan and Xia Wanfu wisely fell silent.
He pressed the answer button, and before Xia Linfeng could say anything, he heard a sarcastic voice from the other end of the line.
“Tsk tsk tsk, it seems President Xia is planning to give up on the company. You can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing a cub. Since President Xia cherishes his daughter, I wish you a smooth passage through this difficult time.”
Xia Linfeng’s expression changed. His smile slowly vanished, and he asked coldly, “What does President Du mean by that? Are you backing out of our deal?”
“What do I mean? I waited all night and didn’t see Xia Wantang. How dare you ask, Xia Linfeng? Are you playing me?”
Han Wenjuan frowned deeply and quickly snatched the phone, speaking in a gentle tone, “President Du, is there perhaps some misunderstanding? We clearly sent her to Zhong Sheng Hotel, room two zero six yesterday.”
“Misunderstanding?”
A cold laugh echoed from the other end of the line. “Although I, Du Jiasheng, am no gentleman, my word is my bond. If she slept with you, she slept with you. If she didn’t, she didn’t. If you don’t believe me, go check the hotel surveillance.”
With that, the call was hung up.
Han Wenjuan was dumbfounded. Then, her brows furrowed in confusion. “What happened? Could that wicked girl, Xia Wantang, have woken up midway and escaped?”
“Impossible.”
Xia Linfeng stated with certainty, “The dosage of that medicine should have kept her asleep for at least ten hours.”
His face gradually darkened, his fists clenched, and his eyes filled with malice.
They had personally taken her to the hotel. The door to room 206 was ajar at the time, and there was the sound of running water from the bathroom.
After placing her on the bed, they had quietly left.
Therefore, there should have been no possibility of an accident. However, there was another possibility.
The person bathing in the bathroom at that time was not Du Jiasheng.
If it wasn’t him, then who could it be?
He thought they would successfully overcome this difficulty, only to have an accident at the last moment.
Xia Linfeng gritted his teeth in anger. “I, Xia Linfeng, will never let anyone take advantage of me so easily. If I find out who that bastard was who beat me to it, I will absolutely not let him off.”
This person had indirectly cut off his financial lifeline, and he couldn’t possibly tolerate it.
But the most important thing right now was to find a way for the company to overcome this crisis.
Han Wenjuan’s face was grim. She said indifferently, “Let’s discuss it with President Du again. See if he can give us another chance.”
Xia Linfeng narrowed his eyes and asked, “You mean…”
They exchanged a glance, understanding the calculation in each other’s eyes.
***
International Building.
Top floor.
President’s office.
Ling Yuchen’s face was gloomy. His long fingers tapped on the desk, his cold eyes steadily fixed on the computer screen.
His thin lips were pursed, his gaze indifferent, and he exuded an aura that warned people to keep their distance.
The overwhelming pressure made his secretary, Han Xiao, afraid to even lift his head.
Last night, his usually abstinent president had lost his virginity in room 209 of Zhong Sheng Hotel.
The woman was the daughter of an insignificant family, not even ranking in the top circles of Kyoto.
The computer screen was playing the scene from the hotel corridor that night.
A man and a woman were struggling to drag a昏迷 (hūnmí - unconscious) woman down the corridor.
They reached the door of room 206 and pushed it open directly.
Moments later, they emerged, appearing relaxed and chatting happily.
What they hadn’t noticed was that although the room they entered was marked as 206, the adjacent rooms were 208 and 210.
The actual room 206 was across the hall.
The room number on that floor was faulty. The ‘9’ in 209 was broken and had been inverted to look like a ‘6’.
Ling Yuchen had been at a gathering with some of his close friends last night and had been maliciously given a drink laced with an aphrodisiac.
Although it didn’t have much effect on his body, a burning sensation persisted within him.
He would have been fine if he had just taken a cold shower and slept it off.
But as he emerged from the shower, there was a woman on the bed.