16 – Your Miss Xia
Wen Man was taken aback, turning to look at Wen Yanchuan with a hint of surprise in her eyes.
“Were those gifts from you?”
Wen Yanchuan didn’t answer, merely glancing at Wen Man’s eyes—his silence spoke volumes.
Wen Man’s previously stern expression suddenly tightened, her brows furrowing low, carrying a tone of reproach instead.
“Why send so many? I told you not to waste money.”
Wen Yanchuan relaxed his posture, leaning back against the car seat. “It wasn’t wasted.”
Wen Man clicked her tongue, mentally calculating the total cost of those gifts. In the next moment, her expression turned sour, her lips pressed tightly together.
“Watching one livestream cost Mr. Wen millions. You certainly are generous.”
The backend account would later settle and cash out those gifts for her, but she might receive less than fifty percent of the amount. If she wanted to return the money to Wen Yanchuan, she’d have to cover half of it herself.
In this back-and-forth, she’d lose millions again.
Wen Man let out a long sigh, looking earnestly at Wen Yanchuan.
“Mr. Wen, please don’t spend money on me in the future. I’m just a small actress—I can’t handle this kind of exchange.”
Wen Yanchuan frowned slightly, displeased by her words.
“Do you think I expect you to return it?”
The car fell into dead silence.
Only the soft sound of their breathing filled the space. Wen Man’s face remained stern, her hands gripping the hem of her skirt on her knees so tightly that the veins on the back of her hands stood out faintly.
Wen Yanchuan glanced briefly at Wen Man’s posture. Perhaps the car’s air conditioning was set too low, as she gave a small shiver.
Wen Yanchuan raised his hand, adjusting the temperature on the central console. As the warmth rose, Wen Man relaxed slightly.
Neither of them spoke. Wen Yanchuan was in no hurry, leaning quietly against the seat with a laptop on his knees. His fingers glided across the screen, seemingly busy with something. His head was slightly lowered as he waited for Wen Man to speak.
After a long while, Wen Man finally exhaled, her tone heavy.
“What did Mr. Wen mean by sending those gifts today?”
Wen Yanchuan didn’t move, continuing to read the content on his email. Wen Man glanced briefly—it was entirely in English, filled mostly with business terminology, which she found difficult to understand.
“No particular meaning.”
Wen Man turned away, no longer looking at Wen Yanchuan, her voice growing somewhat distant. “If Mr. Wen truly meant nothing by it, you wouldn’t have had someone bring me here.”
Wen Yanchuan paused his movements, turning to look at Wen Man as if realizing something. “Are you upset about this?”
Wen Man didn’t answer directly, instead asking him, “No matter who Mr. Wen wants to see, no matter whether they agree or not, does Mr. Wen always have the time to wait?”
Wen Yanchuan gave a slight nod, reaching out to press the window switch.
Outside the car window, the driver and the man in the suit stood at a distance. Wen Yanchuan spoke, his tone devoid of any emotion.
“I don’t need people around me who disrespect Miss Wen. You know what to do.”
The man paused, then simply nodded and turned to leave.
Wen Man was stunned. Wen Yanchuan had already closed the car window again.
“Mr. Wen, are you firing him? That’s not what I meant…”
As she spoke, Wen Man even reached for the window switch, intending to call the man back.
She hadn’t expected her words to cost someone their job, and she felt a sense of dread.
Wen Yanchuan’s voice was cool and detached: “I said, I don’t need people around me who don’t respect Miss Wen.”
Watching the man leave, Wen Man turned to Wen Yanchuan and explained, “He didn’t disrespect me.”
Wen Yanchuan lifted his eyes slightly. Tall and imposing, he sat beside Wen Man, towering over her. He looked down at her and asked in return, “Then what is Miss Wen angry about?”
Wen Man pressed her lips together, unwilling to answer, and only said, “Call him back. You can’t let someone lose their job just because of something I said.”
Wen Yanchuan didn’t move, maintaining his posture as he gazed down at Wen Man. “Tell me, what are you angry about?”
The two remained locked in a stalemate for a long time.
Wen Man was stubborn as a mule. When she didn’t want to talk about something, even Chen Yue couldn’t pry it out of her.
But Wen Yanchuan wasn’t Chen Yue.
He wasn’t prying; he was simply sitting beside her, exerting an invisible pressure. Because of her words, Wen Yanchuan could easily dismiss someone from his side. Just as she feared, she felt uneasy.
Wen Man bit her lip, her hands clutching her skirt even tighter. Her voice carried a slight rasp. “I just want to know what kind of person Mr. Wen thinks I am.”
Wen Yanchuan paused, turning to look at Wen Man, finding her words inexplicable.
But he genuinely began to think it over.
What kind of person did he think Wen Man was? He didn’t know.
He had met Wen Man four times in total. Twice, she had been pitiful, and once she was drunk and barely conscious. The last time was here, where she wore a stern expression and refused to give him a pleasant look since getting into the car.
Before that, she had inexplicably blocked him.
As for what kind of person he thought Wen Man was, he truly didn’t know. Even now, he couldn’t quite grasp her temperament. His understanding of her was limited to the information he had gathered.
But it seemed that if he wasn’t careful, Wen Man’s little thorns would bristle, ready to prick him at any moment.
Wen Yanchuan closed the laptop on his knees and answered Wen Man’s question seriously. “What kind of person does Miss Wen think she is in my eyes?”
He tossed the question back to her.
Wen Man, still fuming, spoke with brutal honesty.
“An insignificant actress, poor, miserable, and disheveled. A canary that can be lured with just a bit of money.”
After saying this, Wen Man took a deep breath, her words growing more forceful. “Oh, and Mr. Wen has spent far more than just a bit of money on me.”
Wen Yanchuan frowned slightly, unsure where Wen Man had gotten these ideas. But his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he responded softly.
“I don’t agree with the last part,” Wen Yanchuan continued. “But if we use Miss Wen’s analogy of setting off firecrackers, the money spent would indeed be deafening.”
Wen Man bit her lip, her eyes tinged with bitterness.
So, this was how Wen Yanchuan saw her.
Wen Man stiffened her neck, her voice turning colder. “Which part doesn’t Mr. Wen agree with?”
“Miss Wen is not a canary that can be lured with just a bit of money.”
Wen Man clenched her hands and added, “Not even with a lot of money.”
Wen Yanchuan paused, a hint of helplessness flickering in his eyes. He rubbed the bridge of his nose before interrupting Wen Man. “Wait.”
“Miss Wen, I don’t see you as a canary.”
Wen Man paused, her lips parted for a moment, feeling somewhat bewildered. The words in her heart slipped out without thinking.
“What about Xia Yao? Mr. Wen, you’ve come to find me again and again. Aren’t you afraid that Miss Xia will get jealous and cause a scene with you once she finds out?”
Wen Yanchuan’s expression shifted.
“What Miss Xia?”
Wen Man seemed a little indignant. At this point, Wen Yanchuan was still playing dumb.
“The one everyone in the circle says you’re keeping—your little canary. Could it be that Mr. Wen doesn’t even remember his own… his own lover?”
Wen Man realized she had spoken too rashly and quickly rephrased her words.
Wen Yanchuan stiffened, his brows furrowing deeper. But after a moment, he seemed to understand. Leaning back in his chair, he let out a helpless chuckle.
“So it’s because of this that Miss Wen deliberately avoided me, blocked me, and even made a fuss all night?”
Wen Man remained silent, but her hand tightened on the car door handle, ready to open it and step out at any moment.
Wen Yanchuan tilted his head back slightly, his voice low.
“One Miss Wen is already more than enough for me to handle. How could I dare take on another Miss Xia?”