The next day, 6:30 a.m., Capital International Airport, Imperial City of K Country.
Wen Yuan emerged from the airport exit, dragging her suitcase. From a distance, a young man waved at her, standing beside a young woman in a floral maxi dress.
“Yuan Yuan! Over here!” Qiu Lening smiled as she stepped forward. When Wen Yuan approached, she opened her arms and hugged her tightly before letting go. “Let me see, wow! You’ve gotten even prettier!”
“Don’t tease me, I haven’t gotten prettier at all,” Wen Yuan replied with a somewhat shy smile.
The incident of catching Shao Feng cheating in bed still left Wen Yuan feeling uneasy. Her mood had been low these past few days, and it was only in front of her best friend Qiu Lening and her older brother Wen You that she finally managed to smile.
Wen You stepped forward to take Wen Yuan’s luggage, saying warmly, “Alright, let’s go, ladies. Get in the car and head home.”
The Qiu and Wen families were old friends, one specializing in the hotel industry and the other in tourism. They had been business partners for many years, and their relationship had always been good, especially between Wen Yuan’s parents and Qiu Lening’s parents.
Their bond was so strong that they even became neighbors, with their villas right next to each other.
Qiu Lening studied music at a school next to Wen Yuan’s. For this graduation, Wen Yuan had originally planned to return to the country with Qiu Lening, but because of the marks left from that night, she had to lie and say she still had some unfinished business and needed to stay at her apartment for a few more days.
Qiu Lening was a foodie, and U Country’s cuisine was either extremely sour or overly sweet, making her want to vomit. Out of 365 days a year, she longed to return to the embrace of K Country for 300 of them.
So when Wen Yuan said that, Qiu Lening returned to the country first.
As the two chatted, Wen You spoke up, “Xiao Yuan, do you want to go to a brand store later to look at clothes?”
Wen Yuan’s face stiffened slightly, knowing what Wen You was referring to. She was going to meet Huo Shengye, and she didn’t know if other elders from the Huo family would come to “supervise.” She needed to pay attention to her appearance.
Most of the clothes she usually wore were cute, pretty, and somewhat childish dresses with small designs. In the current weather of over 30 degrees Celsius in the Imperial City, she mostly wore short, strappy tops with high skin exposure.
As much as she liked them, if someone with conservative views saw her, they might think she was indecent.
This matter concerned the survival of the Wen family’s business, so she couldn’t afford to be careless.
“Mm, okay, Brother. Just drive straight there to save time. Once I’m home, I won’t want to go out again.”
Qiu Lening looked confused beside her. “Wait, are you two speaking in riddles? Why suddenly buy clothes? Does it have to be now?”
It wasn’t even 7 a.m. yet!
Qiu Lening had an older brother and sister above her and, like Wen Yuan, was pampered. Undoubtedly, Qiu Lening probably didn’t know about the current situation of the Wen and Qiu families.
Wen Yuan shook her head and patted Qiu Lening’s shoulder, unsure how to explain it to her, especially since Qiu Lening knew Shao Feng.
If Qiu Lening found out about Shao Feng’s infidelity, given her temper, she might just take off her high heels and smash them on Shao Feng’s head.
Wen Yuan sighed softly and shook her head. “It’s nothing, the problem… well, it’s not too big.”
In any case, as long as she handled Huo Shengye, everything would be fine. If the Wen family was okay, the Qiu family would likely be fine too, and vice versa.
Qiu Lening raised an eyebrow, looking unconvinced. “There’s something going on! Definitely something! You two are hiding something from me. If you won’t tell me, I’ll find out myself!”
Twenty minutes later, the car stopped in the CBD of the Imperial City, and Qiu Lening hadn’t found out anything.
During her time studying abroad, Wen Yuan avoided going out whenever possible for safety reasons, so she hadn’t been to places like this for a long time.
She really enjoyed shopping. “Alright, stop thinking about it. Come shopping with me.”
Wen Yuan playfully shook Qiu Lening’s hand, looking like a goddess of first love. Qiu Lening couldn’t resist and immediately followed her out of the car.
Wen You smiled at the two. “I’ll park the car and come over. Don’t go to crowded areas yet; it’ll be hard for me to find you. Let’s have breakfast together before shopping. Ah, it’s still early.”
Wen Yuan sweetly agreed. She was always good at being playful with familiar people, but agreeing was one thing—after not shopping for so long, Wen Yuan quickly pulled Qiu Lening away and disappeared.
Being back home made Wen Yuan feel relaxed. She looked around left and right, feeling quite happy. Unfortunately, at that moment, she ran into familiar faces.
Shao Feng and Huo Lei!
Wen Yuan’s pupils contracted slightly. She tilted her head slightly—Qiu Lening was inside a store picking out clothes.
The woman who said she didn’t want to shop before entering was now examining items more carefully than Wen Yuan.
Wen Yuan moved closer to Qiu Lening. Qiu Lening laughed loudly. “What’s up? I told you, this one is beautiful. Do you like it? I’ll buy it for you, Yuan Yuan? Look at this—18888, so auspicious! Good luck!”
Wen Yuan blocked Qiu Lening’s view and didn’t reply for a moment. After blocking a few times, Qiu Lening sensed something was wrong. She peeked over and raised her eyebrows. “Holy… crap?”
As she spoke, she put down the clothes, widened her eyes, and quickly stepped around Wen Yuan.
Almost simultaneously, a charming female voice accompanied by the tapping of high heels approached. “Oh! Isn’t this Wen Yuan? What a coincidence, bumping into you here! So lucky! Are you also buying clothes?”
Qiu Lening glanced at the woman before her, then at the young man following behind Huo Lei. After a moment, she understood.
Her precious darling had been cheated on!!
Across from them, Huo Lei, with her lipstick-coated lips slightly curved, crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the ground.
She wore a pair of limited edition high heels from a luxury brand, priced in tens of thousands.
Qiu Lening twitched her lips. Huo Lei laughed even more arrogantly. “What’s the matter? If you’re not capable yourself, can’t you let your boyfriend leave?”
Huo Lei then brushed her wine-red waves, freshly dyed before returning to the country. “Besides, being better than me in school doesn’t count as real skill. In K Country, our Huo family is the most powerful. Your ordinary wealthy foundations can’t compare to our conglomerate.”
After speaking, Huo Lei linked arms with the young man who had followed her and smiled at the two. “Let me formally introduce—this is my boyfriend, Shao Feng!”
Wen Yuan remained expressionless. Qiu Lening laughed angrily—Crash!!
In a blink, a steel clothing rack flew in a perfect parabolic arc, aimed at their linked arms.
Clearly not expecting Qiu Lening to actually grab something and attack, neither of them dodged.
Qiu Lening used great force. With this hit, Huo Lei’s face twisted in pain, and she immediately screamed loudly, disregarding her image.
She then cursed loudly. “Are you fucking crazy!!”
Beside Huo Lei, Shao Feng also frowned, but when Huo Lei tried to pick up the rack to retaliate, he pulled her back. “Alright, don’t bother with her.”
Qiu Lening crossed her arms and began her verbal assault on Huo Lei: “A mistress is a mistress! What kind of bag are you, more shameless than a trash bag?! Talking so pompously, who doesn’t know that you, Huo Lei, are inferior to our Yuan Yuan in every way at school?! Oh, no!”
Qiu Lening pretended to be surprised and covered her mouth, “You do have one thing better than our Yuan Yuan—you’re quite skilled at seducing men! And you specifically target those with girlfriends! I never realized, Huo Lei, that you’re into this! Your taste is so, heavy, huh!!”
The noise was too loud, and passersby around them turned to look. Given the dangerous situation now—after all, Huo Lei was from a wealthy conglomerate family—Wen Yuan didn’t want Qiu Lening to get into trouble, so she quickly stepped forward to pull Qiu Lening away.
“Alright, Ning Ning, stop talking. Let’s go over there.”
“Go where?! Hit someone and then just walk away?!?” Huo Lei’s face flushed red and pale from the insults, and in a fit of rage, she disregarded her image, grabbed a clothes rack from the ground, and rushed forward to chase after Qiu Lening, who was being pulled away by Wen Yuan.
At that moment, the doors of two glass elevator shafts beside them opened simultaneously, and two rows of black-suited bodyguards rushed out like lightning, blocking Huo Lei, who was chasing toward Wen Yuan and Qiu Lening.
The familiar attire made Huo Lei, who was now blocked, slightly change her expression. She turned back in panic, and upon clearly seeing the man standing inside the other elevator who hadn’t stepped out, Huo Lei shuddered violently. Clang—!
The clothes rack fell to the ground.
“Little… little uncle, good morning… good… ah…”