He did not coax Wen Quhua. Since she did not want him to accompany her, he would have his own things to do. The person he wanted to pursue had such excellent conditions, so he also had to put in effort. Yang Qin walked out of the station, and his figure disappeared into the sea of people.
Wen Quhua naturally did not care whether he stayed or left. She had to deal with Sheng Cheng. Along the way, Sheng Cheng kept chattering, and in the end, he brought up the one topic he should not have and asked, “After I left, did anyone come to pester you?”
Sheng Cheng thought of the man he had encountered last time at the entrance of a hotel in Langcheng. That man had a strong presence, cold and hard, not someone to be trifled with. The way he looked at his little cousin was far from innocent. “No,” Wen Quhua brushed him off.
Fine. If she did not want to say it, then she would not say it. However, Sheng Cheng smiled a little mischievously, and Wen Quhua looked at him in confusion.
When they arrived at her maternal grandparents’ home, Wen Quhua first went to see her grandmother. Her grandmother was tending to flowers and plants in the small garden. The delicate little old lady, who had been refined all her life, was wearing a dark blue qipao and a pearl necklace, with a gentle and composed expression between her brows.
Wen Quhua let out a sigh of relief. Her grandmother indeed had a very good mindset. Tomorrow, she will be hospitalized to prepare for surgery. None of these matters required Wen Quhua, as a junior, to worry. Her uncle and aunt had already arranged everything, and even the doctor was a specially invited tumor specialist.
The surgery was scheduled for three in the afternoon. Sheng Ruzhen arrived at noon. Her eldest cousin personally went to pick her up and brought her straight to the hospital. Seeing her mother, whom she had not seen for more than two months, Wen Quhua stood up and walked over to her, opened her arms, hugged her, and called out, “Mom.”
Sheng Ruzhen gently stroked her daughter’s soft hair, smiled at her, and then went to ask her elder brother and sister-in-law about their mother’s condition.
“Quhua.”
Only then did she notice the man who had come together with her mother. It was actually Liang Heng.
Seeing her raise her eyebrows, Liang Heng explained gently, “It just so happens that I have been working on a case with Aunt Sheng. Uncle Wen really could not spare the time, so I accompanied Aunt Sheng here.”
Their parents held sensitive positions, so it was indeed not possible for one person to travel alone. Wen Quhua understood this, but she had not expected Liang Heng to be the one accompanying her.
“Elder Brother, Sister-in-law, Old Wen really cannot come at this critical time…” She happened to hear Sheng Ruzhen explaining to her uncle and aunt.
Her uncle and aunt were also people working in official units. How could they not understand how crucial her brother-in-law’s current situation was? They expressed their understanding. Sheng Ruzhen then said, “This year we will definitely come together to celebrate the New Year at home.”
Wen Quhua stood quietly and listened. Sheng Cheng took a few more glances at Liang Heng. He had already heard from his older brother a day earlier that his aunt would be bringing a young man along. It was said that he was the son of his uncle-in-law’s good friend.
Their family backgrounds matched, and their ages were not far apart. He could sense a bit of meaning behind it. At this moment, looking at Liang Heng standing beside his little cousin, gentle and refined, the two of them really looked like a match made in heaven. He roughly guessed that Liang Heng was the future son-in-law candidate chosen by his aunt and uncle.
Wen Quhua did not think that much. She kept staring at the operating room.
Finally, when the doctor came out of the operating room, the Sheng family all rushed forward anxiously.
The doctor said with a smile, “The surgery was very successful.”
Her eldest cousin quickly went to inform their grandfather, who was waiting at home. They had not let the old man come. Even the grandmother had said, “I am just going to have a small surgery. You stay at home and wait at ease. Watch my flowers and do not let the birds peck at them.”
Now that her grandmother’s surgery was successful, Wen Quhua finally let out a complete sigh of relief. She pressed her lips together and revealed a reassured smile, feeling that at least after she returned, she had still changed the course of fate.
Her grandmother would remain healthy, and her mother would not suffer consecutive blows due to her grandmother’s sudden death afterward.
As for the other changes… she would have to plan them slowly. When her father had been reported and taken away, she had been in a sanatorium, so she did not know the details clearly. However, based on her understanding of her father, there was no way he would do such things. The Wen family and the Sheng family were not short of money.
After thinking about it, she said to Liang Heng, “Has Uncle Liang been busy lately?”
Liang Heng had not expected her to ask about his father. He smiled and said, “When are our parents ever not busy?”
That was true. If it were not for her grandmother’s surgery, Sheng Ruzhen would also be extremely busy.
“Do you want to have dinner together tonight?” Liang Heng asked her.
Her grandmother would not be discharged so soon, and Liang Heng did not want to impose on the Sheng family. Moreover, he sensed that Wen Quhua had something she wanted to ask him.
Hearing this, Wen Quhua nodded. Since Liang Heng had come to Beijing, as an old acquaintance, she should host him.
After telling Sheng Ruzhen about it, Sheng Ruzhen instead smiled at her. “Huahua has become sensible.”
After being praised, Wen Quhua’s lips curved slightly upward.
Sheng Cheng arranged for a driver to take the two of them and even thoughtfully booked a private room at Jinglaishun Restaurant.
Wen Quhua and Liang Heng got into the Sheng family’s car to go for the meal. Liang Heng was gentle and polite, very easy to get along with. Wen Quhua also felt at ease and asked him some things about Hong Kong City.
Liang Heng said to her, “Uncle Wen is steady. Besides, this matter is almost a foregone conclusion. You do not need to worry.”
Wen Quhua frowned. Her father indeed conducted himself steadily and was never radical, but it was hard to guard against petty people.
However, that was something that would happen a year later, so it was not convenient for her to say much now.
After dining with Liang Heng, he suggested going for a walk. Wen Quhua could not just abandon him after using him for a meal, so she agreed.
It was a little past seven. After walking for more than half an hour, she could settle Liang Heng at the Friendship Hotel.
As the two of them strolled, quite a few people glanced at them from time to time. They were truly pleasing to the eye, with a handsome man and a beautiful woman.
“You are still going back to Langcheng?” Liang Heng asked her.
Wen Quhua nodded. She would definitely return to Langcheng.
“Uncle Wen and Aunt Sheng still do not know that you opened a dessert shop in Langcheng.”
If they knew that the daughter they had carefully raised had actually taken a leave from school to do business in a backward small county town, who knew what they would think?
“Then I really have to thank you for keeping it a secret for me,” Wen Quhua said with a faint smile.
“Consider tonight’s hospitality as your thanks. When you want to return to Hong Kong City, tell me. I can come pick you up.”
Liang Heng stopped walking and looked at her. The Friendship Hotel was almost in sight. The moment he asked this, his intentions were no longer that simple.
Picking her up was too intimate a gesture. Behind his lenses, his eyes flashed with a rare trace of probing assertiveness.
Wen Quhua was very surprised. It was the first time she realized that Liang Heng actually had such thoughts about her.
To be honest, although their parents were close friends, she and Liang Heng were not that familiar. Each had their own studies, and Liang Heng had also gone abroad for several years. In her impression, their relationship was merely one where they nodded when they met.
But now, Liang Heng’s attitude toward her clearly carried a hint of advance. If it were her in her previous life, she might have been a step slower to realize it. However, having lived a few more years and experienced Yang Qin’s straightforward pursuit, she could now clearly see that Liang Heng had other intentions toward her.
But the question was, why had he suddenly developed such thoughts about her? She could not help but think that it was related to her parents. Her father was about to be promoted, and her mother also had social status. Indeed, that would make others consider the value of marrying her.
Seeing her remain silent, Liang Heng thought of the man he had seen in prison.
The smile on his face faded, and he asked her, “If I remember correctly, the type you like is the gentle and refined type.”
But the man in prison did not fit that at all. He was fierce, cold, and hard, definitely not someone to be trifled with.
The reason her ideal type was someone gentle and refined was because her father was exactly that kind of person. Daughters naturally feel admiration and attachment toward their fathers, so wanting to find someone similar to him was perfectly normal. But when she looked at Liang Heng more carefully, she felt nothing. Truly nothing.
“I’m not sure when I’ll return to Langcheng. Let’s talk about it another time.” This was a tactful refusal.
The smile on Liang Heng’s face completely disappeared, and the Friendship Hotel was already right in front of them.
“Have a good rest. I’ll head off first,” she said, turning around. The Sheng family’s car drove toward her, and she left without the slightest hesitation.
Liang Heng watched the car drive away, his gaze darkening slightly.
However, since Sheng Ruzhen would be staying in Beijing for a few days, Wen Quhua could not avoid the task of accompanying Liang Heng to tour the city. That night, she even deliberately acted spoiled with Sheng Ruzhen and said, “Mom, I don’t have any thoughts about marriage right now.”
“Oh? Huahua has grown up?” She could already tell that this was a disguised matchmaking.
Wen Quhua hugged her mother’s shoulders and leaned her head over. “It’s already so obvious.” He had even come all the way to Beijing!
Sheng Ruzhen patted her hand and spoke rationally and calmly, “It hasn’t reached the stage of discussing marriage. Liang Heng is the only son of Uncle Liang. His family background is clean and simple, and he himself is outstanding. Your father and I do think he’s quite good. This time, he also proposed to come along himself, and I couldn’t refuse the Liang family’s goodwill.”
“Just treat it as hosting a friend. As for anything else, we can talk about it in a couple of years. There’s no rush.”
Sheng Ruzhen also understood the situation. With Old Wen in a critical period of promotion, there was indeed no need for her daughter to settle down so early. No matter how good Liang Heng was, it still depended on whether her daughter liked him.
“Mm, Mom is the best,” Wen Quhua said, clinging to Sheng Ruzhen and acting spoiled again. This feeling of having her back was something she had regained after losing it, and she cherished it immensely. Just thinking about how, a year later, her mother would be so worried that her hair turned gray, becoming haggard and depressed, made her feel unbearably distressed.
“Are you really not coming back with Mom to Hong Kong?”
“I’m not. I have things I want to do this year.”
Sheng Ruzhen did not ask further. It was a good thing that her daughter, now an adult, had her own ideas. Their family did not have a rigid approach to education. However, she still gave a reminder, “It’s fine if you don’t come back, but next year you must return to complete your studies. Also, don’t start dating so soon.”
At this age, it was easy for feelings of young love to stir, but as a mother, Sheng Ruzhen spoke with sincere concern and reminded her again. After all, girls were not the same as boys and were more easily hurt.
Wen Quhua obediently agreed. Compared to her mature and beautiful appearance, she was actually a well-behaved child who listened to her parents deep down.
The next day, after accompanying Liang Heng to climb the Great Wall and then going to the International Hotel for a meal, everything had been going smoothly. She never expected that, in such a vast world, she would coincidentally run into Yang Qin.
Yang Qin was not alone. He was chatting with the people he was with when he lifted his head and saw a well-matched pair walking in through the hotel entrance.
His gaze sharpened, his eyes turning piercing.
That gaze was too intense to ignore. When Wen Quhua looked over, she froze instantly.
Yang Qin had changed into a suit, and his hair was cut even shorter, which made him look even colder and sharper. Besides looking at her, he also looked at the man beside her.
With just one glance, he recognized that this man had once appeared in the prison, standing in front of him and telling him to know his place.
Liang Heng also followed Wen Quhua’s gaze and looked over, meeting his eyes. Immediately, he curved his lips into a subtle smile, carrying a hint of mockery and sarcasm.
The two men’s gazes met just like that, one gentle and indifferent, the other deep and obscure.
Wen Quhua instantly felt her scalp go numb. “Liang Heng, stop looking. Let’s go.”
She did not want to stay in this strange atmosphere any longer. Liang Heng gave a soft acknowledgement, withdrew his gaze, and very gentlemanly positioned himself at her side as they went in to dine.
On Yang Qin’s side, he also withdrew his cold gaze and continued speaking with the distinguished guest he had finally managed to invite.
When Wen Quhua and Liang Heng left, they did not encounter him again. She suddenly let out a sigh of relief, unable to bear the way Yang Qin looked at her.
Moreover, she could not understand why she felt guilty.
Her grandmother’s recovery after the surgery was good. Sheng Ruzhen and Liang Heng returned to Hong Kong City the next day, and Wen Quhua personally went to see them off.
Liang Heng found a moment and said softly to her, “You can choose not to consider me for now, but that man is not suitable for you.”
Liang Heng could sense the threat coming from that person. Even if his background was ordinary, Liang Heng trusted his judgment of people. That was a very dangerous man.
Wen Quhua brushed it off casually, unwilling to say much about her situation with Yang Qin.
After seeing her mother and Liang Heng off, she turned back and saw a man with a lazy expression.
She instantly frowned. “Are you following me?”
To be precise, he was not following her. Yang Qin had followed Liang Heng the previous night, saw him check into the Friendship Hotel, and woke up early the next morning to wait there. He saw her throw herself into the arms of a woman who looked elegant and distinguished.
When she went to send them to the airport, he did follow along the entire way.
Seeing him remain silent, Wen Quhua became angry. She shot him a fierce glare and walked out.
He followed after her and explained in a steady voice, “I didn’t know where you were staying, and I couldn’t contact you. I followed him because I wanted to confirm whether you would leave.”
If she left Beijing and did not return to Langcheng, then he would truly have no news of her at all.
That sense of panic had been spreading from the moment he ran into her at the International Hotel yesterday until just now. Only when she did not board the plane did his heart finally settle.
“Don’t you think what you’re doing is scary? I’m not your…” She suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at him with anger.
It was indeed quite frightening. Yang Qin did not refute it. He simply lowered his eyes and looked at her seriously.