Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Little Youjin was confined to his seat in the cafe. Nevertheless, he was very excited about a change in the environment. Everything was new to him.
He peered around the cafe which had a different interior set up from his home. It was refreshing.
When he was tired of the view inside the cafe, he turned his head around to take in the sight on the other side of the window. The hustle and bustle of pedestrians and cars outside the cafe had caught his interest unexpectedly.
Ruan Danchen ordered a slice of chocolate cake for Qi Youxuan. As he was enjoying the dessert, Little Youjin stared at him with large round eyes. The intensity of his gaze had even caused a foodie like Qi Youxuan to feel awkward.
Thus, Qi Youxuan plucked out the tiny chocolate garnish on the cake and asked shyly, “Little brother, do you want some?”
Little Youjin responded with a delighted babble. He grabbed the chocolate garnish and licked it in content.
The chocolate garnish was only the size of a thumb, so Song Yu was not in the least worried about letting her son have one. Soon, his soft little fingers were coated with melted chocolate.
When Song Yu noticed that he had had enough, she finished the remaining chocolate in his hands and wiped them clean.
Just then, Qi Chengzhi called her to let them know that they were done for the day.
After hanging up, Song Yu and the others brought the children over to the office. Qi Chengzhi and Cheng Dongge had not arrived at the lobby when they walked into the office building. Only Qi Chenglin and a woman could be seen standing in the lobby.
Qi Chenglin seemed to be giving that woman a cold shoulder. His face was solemn and he only returned her a few cold responses occasionally. Nonetheless, that woman appeared poised and dignified; she was neither conceited nor rash. She did not cower from Qi Chenglin’s indifference nor did she look impatient.
“Hey, isn’t that Shen Man?” Qi Chengyue turned around to look at Song Yu. “Hadn’t she seduced Brother Chengzhi before? Is she trying to lay her hands on Brother Chenglin after her failure with Brother Chengzhi?”
Ruan Danchen had seen Shen Man many times on the television yet she was unfamiliar with that woman. She also did not really fancy Shen Man even if she considered only her hosting skills. Ruan Danchen had once watched the opening ceremony of a film festival at home with Song Yu who was still single then, and Shen Man was the female host on the red carpet of the festival.
Although it was a locally organized international film festival, numerous Hollywood celebrities still turned up on the red carpet. Some famous celebrities would have an interview with the host after walking the red carpet and signing autographs. The more famed a celebrity was, the longer was the interview.
Besides, interviews with international celebrities should naturally be conducted in English.
At that time, Ruan Danchen had complained to Song Yu, “Say, what do you think is Shen Man’s background? What benefits did she promise the organizers? She’s always selected to host big events such as the film festival and the award presentation ceremony, but her hosting skills were merely average and her English was below par. She speaks standard Chinglish. At any rate, it just doesn’t make sense for a female host of such standard to appear in important events on our nation’s best television station.”
“Didn’t you see the news earlier? It seems that their circle is also very corrupt.” That was Song Yu’s response to her complaint.
Just like how the audience would be quickly attracted to some celebrities with good characters, they did not have as much affinity for others despite scanning those celebrities inside out or even if they did not know who those celebrities were.
Furthermore, there were reports of Shen Man dating a wealthy businessman after that event. A beautiful female news anchor and host with a relatively high social status like Shen Man was a grab for many rich businessmen.
Due to her work nature, Shen Man might not openly date or seduce a married man. Even if she had wanted to, it must be done behind closed doors. There used to be a famous female news anchor from the same agency who was rumored to be dating a married man. The news anchor had denied the rumor profusely but after the man was divorced, the two of them finally got together openly in public.
Despite looking at Qi Chenglin standing alongside Shen Man and listening to Qi Chengyue’s words, Ruan Danchen was not in the least concerned.
The little one, on the other hand, was worried that Ruan Danchen could take Qi Chenglin wrong. So, he muttered softly, “This man is really undependable. I’ve only taken my eyes off him for a short while and he already managed to flirt with another woman.”
His voice was not loud but he could still be heard by Ruan Danchen, Song Yu and Qi Chengyue.
The three of them were dumbfounded.
“Dad!” the child shouted all of a sudden. He let go of Ruan Danchen’s hand and ran off toward Qi Chenglin.
Little Youjin who was sitting in Song Yu’s arms began to babble anxiously as he saw his brother running further away from him. He stretched out his two little hands toward Qi Youxuan and called out, “Ya… Ya…”
Ruan Danchen followed Qi Youxuan ahead of the others. Song Yu trailed behind her with Little Youjin in her arms. Little Youjin finally stopped his cries when he noticed his mother’s swift strides.
Before Ruan Danchen could stop in front of Qi Chenglin, she saw Qi Youxuan hugging Qi Chenglin’s arm. His small face was serious as he said, “Dad, you need to keep at least one meter’s distance with any woman who’s interested in you. How can it be only half a meter?”
Not sure if it was intentional, but it seemed as though Qi Chenglin was pulled a few steps backward by Qi Youxuan until he was about a meter away from Shen Man.
Shen Man felt awkward instantly. She did have a slight intention to flirt with Qi Chenglin but she did not mean to snatch him away; she knew that such a thought was unrealistic.
She was used to interacting with many rich individuals in her field of work. Those individuals with money, status, and power would flirt with her regardless of whether they were still single or already married.
They liked women who had self-awareness and would not badger them constantly. Both parties would just take what they needed from each other. Those wealthy individuals were willing to shower their women with love and pamper when they were together. They did not even mind helping their women to achieve success. In return for the many things that they could give, those women should not be greedy for more. The women must never challenge the status of their wives at home or request them to divorce their wives.
What Shen Man wanted was what those men were willing to give; that alone was sufficient for her. She knew that she would not get anything if she became too greedy.
It was like those celebrities who failed to become famous; no matter how much support they had, there were still sugar daddies willing to invest for her to become a lead actress.
Shen Man climbed her way up the industry in that manner. Despite being reported to having an intimate relationship with a married man, there was no proof and she had denied the accusations. Even if they were caught on the camera, she insisted that it was merely a normal outing with a friend. Therefore, even her agency could do nothing against her.
In fact, the television station was turning a blind eye to her actions. They had a clear idea of the interchange within their industry.
The television station did not earn much but it was very well-known. Just being engaged under the C station had already placed her among the top in the nation. She was not only famous, but her reputation was also much better than any other common female celebrities. Any man would be proud to take her out with them.
Her nature of work also allowed Shen Man to be acquainted with elites from various fields of work. That had provided her with further convenience to hook up with them.
She had been with a few older men and even some younger men from prestigious families. Her relationship with the older men lasted longer. The younger ones were just seeking new experiences and would break it off with her after the excitement was over.
Besides, as her age grew, the choices presented to her had also become narrow.
After hitting the wall with Qi Chengzhi in the previous year, she had stopped her pursuit in him. Nonetheless, she would like to try her luck with Qi Chenglin as she chanced upon him for work purposes.
A senior in her television station was going to further her studies in the United Kingdom, and that senior in question was in a relationship with a very famous businessman who already had a family. The man was trying to file a divorce for the sake of that senior. Hence, it was obvious that Shen Man’s senior traveled overseas to escape the commotion. When she finally came back after the commotion, she could then be in an open relationship with that man.
Shen Man was targeting a program left by that senior. That program had a good reputation and its rating was among the top in their television station. It did not matter who took over the program, the audience still might not be used to it at first. Nevertheless, with its solid foundation, the one who took over the program could easily reach a new high.
Shen Man wanted to fight for a place in that program. She thus tried to use Qi Chenglin with whom she had an acquaintance from work to achieve her goal.
If Qi Chenglin could lend her a hand, she would be able to get through with many things easily aside from that program.
She was nothing like the other women; she would not ask Qi Chenglin to make her his wife nor would she destroy his marriage or pester him endlessly. She only wanted to use the opportunity to win his good grace and let him know that she was a woman with self-awareness and capability. In return, she hoped that he would not mind helping her occasionally.
After all, she was also a famous person in the industry. Bringing her along to some gatherings would definitely let him yield twice the result with half the effort.
In Shen Man’s opinion, a woman like Chang Jingqiu had too many ideas above her own station. Chang Jingqiu liked Qi Chenglin but refused to stay low as his mistress. To Shen Man, a woman with that mindset would never succeed in life.
Shen Man lowered her head to look at the watchful little boy. She carried herself gracefully and was careful to not reveal her ideas, so it was as though she was being misunderstood by Qi Youxuan.
“You must be Youxuan, right?” greeted Shen Man with a sweet smile. “How adorable you are.”
“Of course! I’m my dad and mom’s child after all!” The little one puffed up his chest and said with pride. “Auntie, even though you look slightly uglier than my mom, you’ll still have hope if you go for plastic surgery. Don’t worry.”
Shen Man noticed his placating expression as if he was sincerely worried that she would feel inferior. Despite knowing that he was only a young child and reminding herself to not take what that little chubby boy said to heart, her smile was still uncontrollably twisted.
“Youxuan, you’re mistaken. I only have a business relationship with Mr. Qi here,” Shen Man explained with a gentle smile.
“Of course it’s only a business relationship.” Qi Youxuan looked at her with a what-other-relationship-do-you-want expression. That caused a lump of anger to be caught up in Shen Man’s throat with no means for release.
Then, Qi Youxuan ignored her to turn around and beckon to Ruan Danchen. “Mom! Come here quickly. Even though dad isn’t interested in any other woman apart from you, you shouldn’t be so trusting as well!”
Ruan Danchen was stunned.
Although it was a public holiday, there were still people in the office albeit the number!
Where could she hide in embarrassment from the little one’s yell?
Qi Chenglin gave the little one’s head a flick in faint amusement. Then, he turned to apologize to Shen Man calmly, “Ms. Shen, I’m sorry. The child is still young, so he’s frank and outspoken.”
Shen Man was speechless.
‘What do you mean by frank and outspoken? Shouldn’t you say that it was nonsense instead?’
Labelling Qi Youxuan as being frank and outspoken implied that what the little one said was true.
Even if she had the intention to flirt with him, it was not very presentable for the man whom she was pursuing to agree with a child so shamelessly.
“Naughty.” Ruan Danchen finally arrived next to them. She placed her hand on the little one’s shoulder and squeezed it lightly.
“Ms. Shen, I’m sorry. My son’s a little mischievous,” Ruan Danchen chuckled softly.
“Mrs. Qi, do you know who I am?” Pride flashed through Shen Man’s eyes.
“Um, yes. I often see you in the entertainment news,” said Ruan Danchen with a smile.
Shen Man fell silent.
She knew exactly when she would appear in the entertainment news. It was always reporting about Shen Man having a dinner date with a married wealthy businessman.
Glancing at Ruan Danchen, Shen Man felt that the woman was not as pure and soft as she seemed.
Shen Man sneered in her heart, ‘Yes, if that woman is really harmless, how can she win Qi Chenglin over from his countless admirers?’
Although Ruan Danchen trusted Qi Chenglin and would not be mad at him, that did not mean that she could stay courteous with a woman who harbored ill intentions.
“Here to pick me up?” Qi Chenglin lowered his head and looked at Ruan Danchen in amusement.
“…” Ruan Danchen stole a glance at Qi Chengyue. She did not dare to divulge in front of outsiders that they were here because her sister-in-law missed her husband, so she could only go along with it and let out an awkward ‘Um’.
Her response had let Qi Chengyue felt that both her sisters-in-law were rather righteous. She was so happy that her dimples showed on her face.
Just then, Qi Chengzhi and Cheng Dongge walked out of the escalator with Jiang Yuan tailing them.
Shen Man was still ashamed to meet Qi Chengzhi, thus she told Qi Chenglin, “Mr. Qi, I won’t keep you occupied any longer. If you have any queries on this job, please don’t hesitate to contact me.”
However, Qi Chenglin said, “I’ve considered this through. I feel that this job isn’t really suitable for Ms. Shen.”
Then, he told Jiang Yuan, “Contact Jiang Ronglan on Monday. We’ll be inviting Contilook’s founder and Teck Asia’s President this time. It’s better to get someone with a good command of English, technical knowledge, and seemed more sedate.”
Jiang Yuan nodded in acknowledgment as Shen Man paled at that statement. Her poor English fluency and accuracy was always a subject of public denunciation. Even some individuals in the station who were not satisfied with her would often castigate her with that subject. She felt even more ashamed that the subject was pointed out bluntly by Qi Chenglin.
“Ms. Shen, let me see you out,” Jiang Yuan stepped up and said politely.
Shen Man had wanted to fight on initially but Qi Chenglin’s blunt response had left her with no chance to make up for it. In the end, she could only let Jiang Yuan see her out of the office.
When she saw Cheng Dongge, Qi Chengyue instantly went to hold his arm.
Qi Chengzhi and Cheng Dongge would be sending Song Yu and Qi Chengyue back to the Qi family mansion as Little Youjin was already asleep, and Cheng Dongge was worried about Qi Chengyue’s safety in the supermarket. Hence, only Qi Chenglin’s family of three would proceed to the supermarket as planned.
In the supermarket, Ruan Danchen was considering to prepare a home-cooked meal herself to serve Ruan Zeer and Li Yiming on the next day. However, they did not have all the ingredients at home. Fortunately, she knew what they were lacking in and bought the ingredients back home.
Chen Minxia went to the supermarket to buy a gift for Ruan Zeer to bring along to the Prestige Residences. She had bought a box of cherries and was going to get some snacks package for the child. Just as she was passing by Ruan Danchen’s side, she heard the little boy sitting in the shopping trolley saying, “Mom, a woman flirted with dad today. Let him kneel on the instant noodles when we’re back home! If he crushes the noodles even just a bit, don’t let him into the bedroom.”
“…” Chen Minxia could not help but look toward the child. Were that child’s thoughts not a little too vicious?
“Don’t frame your dad just because you want to eat the instant noodles.” Ruan Danchen gazed at him with mirth. “That food isn’t healthy for you. No can do.”
The little one puffed up his cheeks and was about to say something when he felt a sudden chill along the back of his neck. He turned his head around to find Qi Chenglin’s cold stare. Even his curled lips seemed shady to Qi Youxuan.
“The air conditioner in this supermarket is pretty cold.” The little one twisted his body dully in the shopping trolley and became more well-behaved.
Chen Minxia let out a chuckle. The child was just too smart and adorable. Her sight fell onto Ruan Danchen unconsciously and she felt a sense of familiarity and affinity toward that young lady. Nonetheless, she did not think much of it and continued passed them.
…
That Sunday, immediately after Ruan Zeer left home to meet Li Yiming before heading together to the Prestige Residences, Ruan Keshan and Chen Minxia also went out to visit Liu Ronghua at the address given by the journalist.
As Liu Ronghua was living in a slightly high-end condominium, Ruan Keshan and Chen Minxia were stopped by the security guard at the community entrance for not having an access card.
“We’re here to look for Liu Ronghua who lives on the twelfth floor. Her unit number is 401,” said Chen Minxia. She seemed as though she was familiar with Liu Ronghua.
“Please wait a moment,” the security guard responded before returning to the security room.
Chen Minxia followed the security guard while pulling Ruan Keshan with her. The security guard called Liu Ronghua to inquire about her guests. Liu Ronghua was at home but claimed to not have any visitors that day.
When Chen Minxia heard that, she asked the security guard, “May I speak with Madam Liu for a short while?”
The security guard nodded his head and made some space for her near the phone.
Chen Minxia took the receiver and said, “Madam Liu, let me introduce myself. I am Chen Minxia. Perhaps you can’t remember who I am but I believe that you’ll remember Ruan Keyu, don’t you?”
Liu Ronghua’s hands trembled and she almost dropped her phone. “Who are you?”
“Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Chen Minxia, Ruan Keyu’s sister-in-law. I’m here today with my husband, Ruan Keshan. We’d like to have a word with you about Ruan Keyu,” Chen Minxia explained politely. However, it was not as courteous as it sounded.
“I’m so sorry for your loss but there’s nothing much that I can say,” said Liu Ronghua. Her voice was tensed as she gripped her phone tightly.
“But there are some things that we’d like to ask you. At that time, we failed to meet Keyu one last time before his death and we had lost contact with you. We come here uninvited after managing to get ahold of your information on the Internet. We hope that you could meet us once,” Chen Minxia persuaded politely but there was an obvious firmness in her voice.
Liu Ronghua knew that they would not give up easily even if she were to reject their request.
“Alright, I know. Are you still in the security room?” Liu Ronghua took in a deep breath to claim her voice down. “Please wait a moment, I’ll come down shortly.”
“Sure, thank you,” replied Chen Minxia courteously. She then hung up and got the security guard’s permission to wait for Liu Ronghua in that room.
Liu Ronghua hung up the phone. Her heart was beating strongly against her ribcage and she was rendered speechless from her nerves.
She did not expect Ruan Keyu’s family to find her thirty years after that incident.
Her heart constricted in indescribable pain when she heard someone else uttered Ruan Keyu’s name. She began to recall that refreshing handsome man from her memories and could not help but gripped her chest.
Liu Ronghua paled as her eyes reddened.
After some time, she breathed in deeply and went to change her clothes. Even when she stayed at home with no one to see her, she still put on an exquisite makeup. Looking at her own reflection in the mirror, her mood was lifted when she noticed that she was still her beautiful self.
She studied her face carefully and touched up her makeup. Only when she was sure that there was no imperfection on her face—her wrinkles would remain concealed if she controlled her facial expression—did she grabbed her bag and left her house.
Ruan Keshan and Chen MInxia could immediately see Liu Ronghua walking toward them through the window of the security room. Ruan Keshan could wait no longer; he walked out instantly with Chen Minxia tailing him.
