Ch 37: Wen Li: “Country S is having an auction?”; Wen Ming returned to the Country, secretly holding a Welcome Banquet without Wen Li’s knowledge.
The fresh air, the gentle breeze; Wen Li lay in a rocking chair under a tree in the courtyard, a large palm-leaf fan covering her face.
The cicadas had already begun to chirp.
Hei Junjiang chased chickens and ducks around the courtyard, the golden bell around his neck jingling merrily.
Seeing someone approaching, Hei Junjiang immediately turned and barked at the person outside the courtyard.
“Is that Wen Li?”
A middle-aged woman passed by the courtyard gate and stopped.
Wen Li, hearing the loud voice, removed the palm-leaf fan from her face, briefly showing it to the other person before covering it again.
“It’s really Wen Li? Didn’t you go back to the big city to live a good life with your rich father?”
Wen Li replied, “I’m back for summer vacation.”
The middle-aged woman took out some melon seeds, skillfully leaning against the low wall: “Tell Auntie, did you move into a villa? How is your rich father treating you? Was the person who picked you up last time your father’s new wife? Is your stepmother not very nice to you? I saw it when she came to pick you up last time, she looked down on people, so arrogant. Little Li, you’re so honest, she didn’t bully you, did she? If she did, tell Auntie, Auntie will reason with her.”
Wen Li didn’t open her eyes, lazily saying, “Dongshan Villa area, east bank of Chaoyang Park, East Fourth Ring Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing. Go see for yourself, Auntie.”
The middle-aged woman laughed: “Auntie doesn’t know the way, I’ll come by next time. Hey, how many brothers and sisters did your rich father give you? I don’t see you wearing gold or silver, is that clothes a brand name? It looks no different from what you used to wear, did he skimp on your clothes and food?”
The middle-aged woman continued talking to herself, after a long time, she asked Wen Li with a smile: “Little Li? Did you find a boyfriend in Beijing?”
Wen Li: “No.”
“Listen to Auntie, there are more opportunities in big cities. Find a rich second-generation in Beijing to marry. With your looks and figure, becoming a rich wife is easy.”
Wen Li’s small face under the palm-leaf fan was expressionless, but her reply was obedient: “Okay, I’ll bring him back to you next time.”
Dealing with these neighbors was a piece of cake for Wen Li.
“Don’t forget Auntie’s contribution when you become a rich wife,” the middle-aged woman said happily.
“Lili, come in for dinner,” the Old Lady called from inside.
“Little Li, your grandmother is calling you for dinner, come in quickly,” the middle-aged woman said with a chuckle.
Wen Li opened her eyes, got up from the recliner with her palm-leaf fan, and looked at the middle-aged woman leaning on the wall.
Wen Li wore a simple short sleeve top, her fair arms exposed, glowing in the sunlight, and a pair of printed ice silk trousers her grandmother bought for ten yuan on the street.
This simple outfit looked even better on Wen Li than designer clothes.
She looked at the middle-aged woman, slightly moved her facial features, and slowly gave the woman a faint smile.
“So well-behaved, so pretty, you’re destined to be a rich wife. Go eat, Auntie is going home for dinner too,” the middle-aged woman smiled and turned to leave.
Wen Li went into the house, served two bowls of rice and sat down.
The Old Lady brought out the last dish, placed it in front of Wen Li, sat down, and then pushed several dishes towards Wen Li.
“Eat quickly, these are your favorites.”
The Old Lady kept serving Wen Li dishes, forgetting to eat herself, her loving eyes never leaving Wen Li’s face.
When Wen Li had almost finished eating, the Old Lady finally voiced her worry: “Lili, your complexion looks worse than before, tell Grandma honestly, is your illness serious?”
Wen Li: “I stayed up late before, just a little headache. I’ll take medicine for a while, pay attention to my rest, and I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
The Old Lady felt relieved: “That’s good. You can’t stay up late anymore, you’re still so young, your body can’t take it. You don’t know how scared Grandma was when you came back with a pale face that day, and then you had headaches from time to time, and almost fainted a few times. Grandma didn’t sleep well during that time.”
“Every summer vacation you would run out, and you wouldn’t come back until school started. This summer vacation, stay home and take care of your health.”
The Old Lady nagged, not forgetting to serve Wen Li dishes: “Eat more, you’ve lost weight, Grandma will kill a chicken for you tomorrow.”
Spending more than two months of vacation at home as a hands-off manager was impossible. Not to mention other things, she couldn’t miss the annual Boxing King Tournament in S Province.
Wen Li planned to go to S Province to participate in the boxing match three weeks later, putting other things on hold.
However, a phone call from Jiang Yingbai forced her to bring forward her schedule.
Wen Li: “You said S Province is going to be auctioned?”
“The Governor died in a riot last week, less than three weeks in office, it’s already the… let me count.” Jiang Yingbai couldn’t count them.
“The local government has given up, and announced two days ago that they will auction off the province. It’s wild now, how about it, any ideas to play with another province? Although S Province is chaotic, it has many mines.”
Wen Li smiled: “I like the chaos.”
Wen Li was enjoying herself at home,
while the Wen family was preparing a grand banquet.
Wen Ming, the eldest Master of the Wen family, was returning to the country. He was old enough to enter the company and familiarize himself with the business. Wen Baixiang was waiting to let Wen Ming take over the company after his retirement.
So they prepared a welcome banquet for Wen Ming, allowing him to meet people in the business circle, as they would all be working together in the future.
“Since Little Li is back in Mingcheng, we don’t need to notify her, right?” Lin Yun said with a mischievous thought.
Wen Baixiang hesitated.
He initially arranged for Wen Li to go to No.6 Middle School instead of No.1 Middle School, precisely because he didn’t want people to know that he had a daughter, Wen Li.
If Wen Li attended, there would inevitably be gossip.
But this banquet was for Wen Ming, and Wen Li, as his younger sister, had never met this older brother, and had never attended such an occasion. Excluding her made him, as her father, feel uneasy.
Lin Yun: “Don’t think I’m being nosy, with Wen Li’s temperament, she might cause trouble at the banquet. The people attending are all influential figures. She’s always been impulsive. If she makes a fool of herself, people might just laugh it off, but if it affects the company, it’s no small matter.”
Wen Baixiang thought about Wen Li’s temperament and recent actions, and finally agreed to Lin Yun’s suggestion.
After Wen Baixiang went upstairs,
Wen Xin said to her mother: “Mom, why didn’t you let her participate? Wouldn’t it be better if she embarrassed herself at the banquet? Maybe Dad will kick her out this time?”
Lin Yun: “If she’s really that stupid and makes a scene at the banquet and gets kicked out by your father, that’s naturally good. But what if she doesn’t? With her looks, do you think you’ll have a chance to shine at the banquet? Besides, I don’t want people to know that the Wen family has a second Miss who’s not presentable. That would embarrass our entire Wen family.”
A few days later,
Wen Li, who was at home, received a phone call from Song Baiyan.
“Wen, you’re in Mingcheng, right? Are you attending your family’s welcome banquet tomorrow? If you are, I’ll bring Zhi Xian along.”
Wen Li lay on the recliner, her eyebrows slightly raised, her tone lazy: “Welcome banquet?”
Song Baiyan asked in confusion: “Don’t you know? Wen Ming, the eldest son of the Wen family, your older brother, has returned to the country.”
After hanging up the phone, Wen Li sat up, looked at Hei Junjiang gnawing on a large bone on the ground, and said while fanning herself with her palm-leaf fan: “Tomorrow, I’ll take you to a big feast~”
