Sheng Li had originally intended to leave right after helping out. She took off her coat and handed it to Wen Qi, gesturing for him to drape it over Wen Xi.
“Take her away with you,” Sheng Li said. “I have some matters to attend to at the company, so I won’t stay any longer.”
Wen Qi accepted the coat and said solemnly, “Thank you for stepping in to help Xi.”
“We are both women, yet women make things difficult for women.” Sheng Li didn’t understand it. With a wave of her hand, she had only taken two steps forward when a soft, sweet voice called out from behind her: “Thank you.”
Without stopping, Sheng Li walked back into the banquet hall.
“Stay at my place tonight,” Duan Linrang said.
Wen Xi was still processing the aftermath of the recent chaos; apart from enduring Wen Jiangwu’s verbal abuse, she had never experienced such severe grievance and humiliation in her entire life.
If it hadn’t been for Wen Qi, Duan Linrang, and… Sheng Li,
Wen Xi would have found it hard to walk out of that banquet hall today. She shook her head. “Older Brother and President Duan have already helped me a lot, I’ll just hail a cab…”
Wen Qi comforted her, “Since President Duan has already offered, you might as well stay for the night before making a decision.”
“No need, Older Brother. I need to go to the hospital later to take care of my mom.”
“Her? What happened to her?” Wen Qi asked, puzzled.
She forced out a weak smile. “My mom was in a car accident, and so far there are no signs of her waking up.”
Regarding Lu Ning, Wen Qi had nothing more to say.
And the mastermind behind all of this was standing right beside him.
“I won’t say more, I’m going to grab a cab now, Older Brother, you should head back too.” Wen Xi nervously gripped the coat draped over her shoulders. “As for this coat… I’ll return it to that person in person.”
“Ding Tong, escort Miss Wen safely home,” Duan Linrang ordered.
Nodding in acknowledgment, Ding Tong said, “Miss Wen, please come this way.”
Wen Xi said, “Thank you, President Duan.”
Watching the vehicle drive off into the distance, Wen Qi took a deep breath and said with utmost sincerity, “Thank you for helping me.”
“Didn’t I already tell you? I’ve got your back,” Duan Linrang said, pulling Wen Qi into a gentle embrace around the shoulders. “Qiqi looks weighed down with worries.”
“Clearly Wen Jiangwu and Wen Wenyan were right there in the crowd, so why…” Not even willing to help his own family member.
“They couldn’t afford to provoke them,” Duan Linrang stated succinctly. “You might not know much about the Sun family, but don’t you know Wen Jiangwu?”
“Yet Wen Xi is Lu Ning’s daughter, and also Wen Jiangwu’s… Never mind, I should have expected this long ago.”
“Don’t think too much about it. If you’re worried about Wen Xi not doing well in the future, I’ll have Ding Tong keep an eye on her. Once she turns eighteen, you won’t need to worry about her anymore.”
Having witnessed this entire ordeal, Wen Qi saw the reality of the situation clearly.
Those who stand at the very peak hold the power to blot out the sky.
Just like Duan Linrang.
“Let’s go home, Duan Linrang.”
With his head lowered, Wen Qi murmured, “I want to spend some time alone with you, and by the way, help me analyze my college entrance exam applications.”
A smile touched Duan Linrang’s eyes, and his heart blossomed with joy. Even though the youth standing half a head shorter than him possessed the responsibility of an older brother stepping up to defend his younger sister, in his eyes, Wen Qi was still just a green, fledgling child.
“Mhm, let’s go home,” Duan Linrang said. “Tell me the schools Qiqi wants to attend first, and we can look at both domestic and international options.”
“There isn’t any particular school I’ve set my heart on.”
“Then would Qiqi be willing to let me choose for you?”
“Yes.”
“Mhm… Looks like I’ll have to consider this very carefully.”
After safely delivering Duan Linrang and Wen Qi home, Jin Yin returned to the car and immediately carried out Duan Linrang’s instructions. Pressing his hand against the car window, the phone call he dialed was answered almost instantly:
“Assistant Jin, do you have any instructions?”
“Within twenty-four hours, make the Sun family completely vanish from the industry.”
Meanwhile, Wen Xi first changed out of that plain, unadorned long dress, dropped off Sheng Li’s coat at the dry cleaners, and then hurried anxiously to the hospital to visit Lu Ning.
Lu Ning had been transferred to a regular ward just a few days ago.
Leaning forward with her head resting against the edge of the bed, Wen Xi let the tears she had held back at the banquet soak the hospital bedsheets. Her longing for warmth was scarce.
Aside from Wen Qi, the only person left was Lu Ning.
Clutching Lu Ning’s increasingly frail hand, she chose to keep her innermost thoughts silent.
This brief visit and stay offered a modicum of comfort to her restless mind, and she muttered to herself, “Mom, I kept thinking today—everyone says Older Brother is bad, but when I angered others, he was the one who stood up for me. Second Brother and Dad hid in the crowd and ignored me; I’m starting to lose the ability to tell what’s good and what’s bad.”
“Mom, the death of Older Brother’s biological mother… Was it really, like that person said, inextricably linked to you?”
When Wen Qi’s biological mother passed away, Wen Xi hadn’t even been born yet.
She lacked much concept regarding Wen Qi’s mother’s death. Perhaps because no one truly important to her had passed away in her own life, she couldn’t untangle what had happened.
Yet Lu Ning’s sudden hospitalization had pushed Wen Xi to the verge of heartbreak.
A love tied together by broken threads twisted and branched out in such a distorted way.
She said, “Get some rest, I’ll come see you again tomorrow.”
The moment Wen Xi left, Lu Ning snapped her eyes open in fury.
Wen Xi returned to that freezing, lifeless house.
Waiting for her was not just anyone.
It was none other than Wen Jiangwu.
Wen Jiangwu had already prepared the family discipline whip.
Halting in her tracks with her hair shadowing her eyes, Wen Xi lowered her head, walked step by step right up to Wen Jiangwu’s feet, and dropped heavily to her knees. With a voice no louder than a mosquito’s buzz, she whispered, “Father.”
Clutching a thick whip in his hand, Wen Jiangwu interrogated her, “Didn’t I tell you not to go out and cause any trouble?”
“I’m sorry,” Wen Xi said.
As soon as the words left her mouth, the whip lashed straight down across Wen Xi’s back.
“If your younger brother had gone instead, he wouldn’t have brought me this kind of trouble! Your brain is truly stupid!” Coldly, Wen Jiangwu lashed her with the whip strike after strike.
Without uttering a single sound, Wen Xi arched her back and explained herself: “It was Ms. Sun who insisted on making trouble for me. I don’t know what I did wrong; I apologized the moment the incident happened, what was my fault?”
“Still dare to argue back!”
Slap,
Another heavy blow to the face.
The side of Wen Xi’s face burned with a stinging, fiery pain.
With shallow breathing and tear-filled eyes, Wen Xi didn’t dare talk back to Wen Jiangwu anymore.
Yet this brought no hint of pity in return.
Until a cold voice drifted down from upstairs: “This is seriously enough, beat someone to death and see who cooks your meals.”
Only then did Wen Jiangwu stop his hand. Watching from the side, Wen Wenyan looked up toward the boy upstairs and smiled faintly. “When it comes to this kind of moment, you’re suddenly willing to stand up for someone else, yet when you attend banquets, your sister manages to pull off such low-level mistakes.”
The boy cast a sidelong glance. “If we’re going by Second Brother’s logic, I certainly don’t see Second Brother stepping up to defend his own sister; instead, you’re here lecturing an outsider like me.”
Pointing a finger at the boy upstairs, Wen Jiangwu barked, “Is that any way to talk to your brother!”
Amidst their quarreling, a servant’s sudden cry echoed from outside the doorway:
“Madam! Madam is back!”
Wen Xi’s pupils dilated in shock; joy and pain collided and burst inside her mind. Enduring her injuries, she watched as a servant supported Lu Ning as she slowly walked inside.
The moment mother and daughter locked eyes, Lu Ning’s expression turned gloomy.
Hurriedly dropping the whip, Wen Jiangwu strode toward Lu Ning. “My dear, when did you wake up? Why didn’t you call me to come pick you up! Didn’t this ungrateful wretch Wen Xi just go visit you at the hospital? Why didn’t she come back together with you?”
“…” Lu Ning sneered. “Indeed.”
Weeping, Wen Xi said, “Mom, you weren’t awake when I left.”
Which only continually drew Wen Jiangwu’s hatred.
Wen Wenyan stepped in to support Lu Ning’s other arm.
Picking up the whip, Wen Jiangwu viciously lashed the lower back of Wen Xi.
Unable to stop her whole body from trembling, Wen Xi desperately grabbed onto Lu Ning’s leg, crying out to her for rescue.
“I’m sorry, it was my negligence, Mom, I was wrong. I will definitely correct my mistakes.”
Hatred welled up even stronger inside Lu Ning. “Usually, I cherished you so much, everything you ate and wore was better than what your older brother and younger brother had, yet you ended up colluding with Wen Qi to speak ill of me behind my back. You really are a wolf with a different heart.”
Furious, Wen Jiangwu demanded, “What? What did she say about you?”
For a moment, Lu Ning was at a loss for words. Naturally, she couldn’t make her secrets public.
She scoffed, “Let her tell you herself.” Knowing Wen Xi wasn’t bold enough to expose her own mother’s bottom line in front of the entire family—and besides, whether those words were true or false, Wen Xi wouldn’t dare utter them aloud.
Shaking her head with pale lips, Wen Xi desperately tried to defend herself: “I didn’t… I never spoke ill of you. I just… listened to a few rumors, Mom, it was your daughter’s fault… Please forgive me.”
Wen Jiangwu stated, “You just got back, go upstairs and rest first. I’ll handle her affairs.”
Forcing a couple of coughs, Lu Ning needed her identity card and remaining paperwork processed to finalize things back at the hospital.
She said, “I’ll give you a chance to turn over a new leaf. Go to the hospital and get the paperwork sorted out.”
Nodding repeatedly, Wen Xi watched as Wen Jiangwu tossed a wad of cash across the floor; she picked them up one by one.
Brushing her messy hair behind her neck with a trembling hand, she walked toward the front door with unsteady, heavy footsteps.
None of their gazes focused on her, save for Lu Ning, whose expression turned vicious:
“Tell the servants to bring the mortgaged ID card inside. As for this idiot, leave her outside to reflect on herself properly. Without my permission, no one is allowed to let her in until she learns how to speak nicely.”
“…” Trembling, the servants answered, “Yes… Madam.”
The rain began to patter down in a drizzle, the falling water washing over Wen Xi’s injury-ridden body. Had she chosen to stay at Wen Qi’s place tonight, she probably would have escaped a round of family discipline anyway.
Yet if she had stayed there, she wouldn’t have blurted out those words while Lu Ning was unconscious…
Returning from the hospital, the servants had only taken Lu Ning’s items from her hands. Hesitantly, the servant said, “Madam gave instructions for you to reflect deeply, Miss. Once you learn how to speak properly… I’ll let you in.”
Lowering her head, Wen Xi remembered how the doctor at the hospital had insisted on bandaging her wounds, yet she had abandoned taking care of herself for the sake of her mother’s matters.
And what had she received in return?
For a brief moment, she doubted whether Lu Ning truly loved her.
Whether she was ever viewed as a daughter.
The rain poured down in sheets as Wen Xi stood unmoving in the heavy downpour.
Clenching her fists tightly, every breath pulled at her aching, agonized body. There was only one reason for Lu Ning’s drastic change in temperament.
The death of Wen Qi’s mother was genuinely, without a doubt, intimately tied to Lu Ning.
The shreds of dignity that had been trampled into dust by her family could no longer be pieced back together. Through all the days and nights she spent praying for Lu Ning to wake up, she had always hoped for one more person to love her.
Gradually, she no longer understood what the definition of love was.
What was the definition of death?
And how should murder be explained?
Dragging her half-crippled body, she stepped out of the courtyard.
Outside the courtyard gates, a black umbrella caught her eye.
The youth’s dark, gloomy eyes fell upon her as she stood looking like a drowned chicken. He extended the umbrella to shelter Wen Xi’s head.
“I’m leaving the country past midnight tonight.”
With obscure, dim pupils, Wen Xi asked, “Why are you telling me this now?”
“Wen Xi, learn to please yourself.”
The chilling wind pierced through her body, and tears tracked down her cheeks, feeling both scorching hot and freezing cold.
That umbrella was thrust into her hands for no reason, and right before leaving, the youth said, “After I go abroad, I won’t contact anyone in the Wen family anymore. Including you. But apart from him, the person in this house I find hardest to let go of is you.”
Wen Xi stood rooted to the spot as the youth boarded a ride-hailing car.
So, taking advantage of everyone being distracted by the banquet, the youth had already packed his luggage to travel far away.
Gripping the handle of the umbrella tightly, she could still feel the lingering warmth of the youth on it.
Walking persistently in the exact opposite direction of the youth’s departure, Wen Xi kept walking until the lights of the Wen household disappeared entirely from sight.
Overnight, both the eldest young miss and the third young master of the Wen family vanished without a trace.
As expected, due to Sun Qingyang’s self-destructive actions, the company’s stock crashed, plunging it into massive debt. The next day, citing poor management and mounting pressure, the company announced bankruptcy and liquidation.
The Sun family was completely erased from Beijing’s rankings.