Chapter 4: Self-Deprecation

Countless grievances welled up at the tip of his nose. These dishes were prepared by him after waking up at five in the morning, spending nearly two hours to make them, yet she threw them in the trash like garbage. Wen Lan Sheng suddenly felt an indescribable discomfort.

He returned to the bedroom, where the thin, soft white gauze curtains swayed gently with the cool night breeze. A light drizzle drifted in through the open window.

Wen Lan Sheng sat sideways on the edge of the bed, raising his fair hand to gently caress Fan Xia’s delicate sleeping profile with his fingertips. The subtle movement seemed to disturb her sleep, and she shifted slightly, causing the collar of her nightgown to stretch, revealing smooth, jade-like skin.

Wen Lan Sheng pursed his lips and gently bit Fan Xia’s shoulder, filled with grievance.

‘Hiss—’ Fan Xia frowned, waking up in a daze. The bitten shoulder didn’t hurt, but it made Fan Xia feel strange. Looking at the fluffy little head resting on her shoulder, Fan Xia’s voice was slightly hoarse: “You’re back. What’s wrong?”

Wen Lan Sheng raised his head, his eyes filled with both grievance and anger: “You still ask what’s wrong? The lunch I prepared for you, why didn’t you eat it? You even threw it away. Do you think the food I made is not good enough?”

“It’s not what you think. I’ve been eating your cooking for so many years, how could I dislike it? I originally planned to eat it, but I had to go out for something urgent and forgot to put it back in the fridge. By the time I remembered, it had already gone bad.”

Fan Xia smiled and pinched Wen Lan Sheng’s puffed cheeks, coaxing gently: “Don’t be angry, okay?”

Wen Lan Sheng’s arms were wrapped around Fan Xia’s neck, and hearing her explanation, his anger subsided a bit.

“Oh right, when I was getting off work, designer Miss Shen told me that the diamond ring was ready, so I picked it up on the way back,” Fan Xia changed the subject, taking out the ring box from the bedside drawer.

The iris flower design, Wen Lan Sheng’s favorite, was beautifully and dynamically crafted, surrounded by countless small diamonds embracing the perfectly cut central diamond like stars around the moon.

Wen Lan Sheng’s eyes brightened slightly, quickly forgetting the earlier unpleasantness. His heart was filled only with the brilliantly sparkling iris flower ring. This was the wedding ring they would wear for a lifetime, proof of their intimate relationship.

“Do you like it?” Fan Xia turned on the ceiling light, and the diamond sparkled with even more radiant brilliance under the ample lighting.

“I love it so much.” Wen Lan Sheng nodded excitedly, extending his hand to Fan Xia with utmost expectation: “Xia Xia, can you put it on for me?”

Fan Xia smiled indulgently: “Of course.”

The diamond ring, custom-made specifically for Wen Lan Sheng, fit his hand perfectly. The beautiful but not ostentatious iris flower seemed to bloom from his finger bone. Wen Lan Sheng was overjoyed, sitting on Fan Xia’s lap, arms around her neck, disregarding all propriety as he kissed her frantically like a puppy: “Xia Xia, I want to marry you so badly. I stare at the calendar every day, complaining about how slowly time passes.”

Fan Xia laughed at his kisses: “It will be soon, don’t rush.”

Wen Lan Sheng rested on her shoulder, looking at the wedding ring on his hand with a face full of happiness. Suddenly, he put the women’s wedding ring on Fan Xia’s hand, intertwining their fingers tightly, and took a photo with his phone, posting it on his Moments.

At eleven o’clock at night, it wasn’t considered late for the night owls of the imperial capital. Wen Lan Sheng’s Moments post quickly received many likes, all voices of congratulations.

Wen Lan Sheng clung to Fan Xia’s arm, pleading: “Xia Xia, can you post on your Moments too?”

“……”

Wen Lan Sheng persistently wheedled: “Please, I want everyone to know we’re getting married soon, and how beautiful our wedding rings are.”

Immersed in happiness, Wen Lan Sheng couldn’t wait to share his joy with the whole world.

“……Alright.” Fan Xia sighed lightly, unable to resist Wen Lan Sheng’s insistence, and posted the same photo on her Moments, with the same text as Wen Lan Sheng’s ‘Only one person in a lifetime’.

“Satisfied now?” Fan Xia smiled, helpless yet indulgent.

“Yes, yes.” Wen Lan Sheng smiled happily, his fingertips lightly caressing the spot he had just gently bitten, leaning down to kiss it, his legs also restlessly wrapping around her waist.

The night rain pattered softly, intimate and nourishing.

“What would you like to drink? Whiskey again?” At the Lan Club, Chen Yu Ze asked lazily, leaning against the bar. This private club was his, and as the son of the powerful and wealthy, doing business was just a small venture that didn’t matter if it lost money, so this private club only served men in their circle.

Rong Xiu shook his head slightly, his voice faint: “No need.”

Chen Yu Ze was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing: “This is rare, you actually have times when you don’t drink? What’s wrong, is your Rong family going bankrupt?”

“I promised someone I’d try not to drink.” Rong Xiu’s slender fingertips played with the empty wine glass, swirling it gently. The transparent glass rotated under his long, elegant finger bones, his narrow, cool eyes flickering with a smile that outsiders had never seen before.

Chen Yu Ze narrowed his eyes, and with his years of friendship with Rong Xiu, he realized things were not simple: “Oh ho, what status does the great CEO Rong have, needing to quit drinking for someone? I think I smell the sour stench of love.” Rong Xiu’s expression changed slightly, his eyes filled with a lonely coldness as he explained: “It’s not what you think.”

“Come on!” Chen Yu Ze teased: “Look at your face when you mentioned that person just now, you couldn’t even hide your smile. Who are you trying to fool?”

Rong Xiu lowered his head, his eyes powerless and dejected: “She’s getting married soon.”

“……” Chen Yu Ze was silent for three seconds, then blurted out: “F—, Rong Xiu, you actually fell for a married woman!”

The sensitive phrase ‘married woman’ caused an inexplicably strong and crazy emotion to surge in Rong Xiu’s heart. Just imagining Fan Xia standing side by side with that little bastard Wen Lan Sheng was unbearable.

“They’re not married yet, so she’s not a married woman.” Rong Xiu said forcefully, restraining himself, his hand gripping the glass tightly, his long elegant fingers distorted.

Chen Yu Ze was extremely surprised, having never seen him lose composure like this before.

The Rong family’s upbringing certainly wouldn’t produce a young master who took pleasure in being a homewrecker and destroying others’ families, but in Rong Xiu’s eyes, he clearly saw intense unwillingness and jealousy.

This made Chen Yu Ze extremely curious about what kind of person could make the aloof flower Rong Xiu become so full of resentment.

“Do you have a photo of her? Let me see.” Chen Yu Ze asked.

Rong Xiu’s voice was hoarse, dejected as he said: “I only have a group photo with her and others from many years ago.”

Chen Yu Ze could hardly believe it, the amount of information was too much.

Many years ago, meaning they had known each other for a long time, yet there wasn’t a single photo of just the two of them.

What did this mean? It was clearly unrequited love.

Chen Yu Ze thought of many possibilities that could bring this aloof flower down from its pedestal.

An equally outstanding and excellent noble lady, an older woman who would be caring and capable of protecting him, a political figure… but he never thought that Rong Xiu would have a day of actively admiring and secretly loving someone.

And he had been secretly in love for so many years, unwilling to give up even when she was about to get married, deluding himself.

Chen Yu Ze rubbed his hands together, damn, he was even more curious now.

“No photo, but you must have WeChat, right? Let me see!” Chen Yu Ze said.

Rong Xiu’s phone screen hadn’t gone dark, and it remained on a fixed WeChat page, his eyes occasionally glancing at it, as if waiting for a sudden message from the other person.

Chen Yu Ze’s sharp eyes caught that the contact was saved as ‘Fan Xia’, clearly a woman’s name.

“Is this her?” Chen Yu Ze randomly tapped on the page, accidentally clicking on her profile picture and entering her homepage.

Fan Xia rarely posted Moments, so in that section, a single photo stood out starkly, catching the eye.

Chen Yu Ze glanced at the content of the image, his heart sinking, and quickly averted his gaze, lowering his head to wipe glasses.

It was the photo of Fan Xia and Wen Lan Sheng’s intertwined fingers, the iris flower ring emitting a dazzling, glass-like brilliance. That brilliance was like a knife blade carving into Rong Xiu’s eyes, the bone-deep pain unable to alleviate the jealousy that was about to devour him at this moment. His rationality crumbled like shattered mountains and rivers, unable to hold together.

He picked up his phone, about to dial Fan Xia’s number.

“Rong Xiu, what are you doing?” Chen Yu Ze grabbed his wrist: “Call Fan Xia, and then what? What are you going to say to her?”

Rong Xiu’s eyes trembled, yes, what should he say?

Should he say he’s jealous of Wen Lan Sheng? That he hates Wen Lan Sheng? But what right does he have to be jealous? They are clearly a couple.

The fine rain was damp, the night deepening. Wen Lan Sheng lay on Fan Xia’s shoulder, his arms tightly wrapped around her waist, his gaze hazy, continuously seeking and demanding.

Ring ring ring——

The phone suddenly rang, and Fan Xia stopped her movements, glancing at the phone.

Wen Lan Sheng bit his lip, unable to bear it: “Xia Xia, don’t stop at this moment, I—”

Fan Xia, seeing the caller ID, had eyes calm and unaffected by desire. Her finger pressed against Wen Lan Sheng’s lips: “Be good, it’s the boss calling, don’t make a sound for now.”

Wen Lan Sheng uncomfortably twisted his body, leaning into her embrace, his eyes filled with dissatisfaction.

“Is this Miss Fan Xia?”

Fan Xia answered the phone and heard an unfamiliar man’s voice.

“Yes, may I ask how you got this number?”

The man on the other end of the phone said: “It’s like this, Mr. Rong had a drinking party at our club tonight. The other guests have all left, but Mr. Rong is drunk. We don’t know where his home is, and we can’t contact anyone else. Can you come and pick him up?”

“Alright, please tell me the address, I’ll come right away,” Fan Xia said.

Wen Lan Sheng raised his head, shaking it anxiously.

“Good, the address is 1388 Jingyang Road.” After saying this, the other party hung up.

“Xia Xia, don’t go.” Wen Lan Sheng hugged her, refusing to let go.

“The CEO needs me to pick him up, can you wait for me to come back?” Fan Xia said as she got out of bed.

Wen Lan Sheng gripped her hand tightly, unwilling to let go, sad and resentful: “I heard it all, does it have to be at this moment? Doesn’t Senior Rong Xiu know you’re off work? Why does he have to disturb you? Can’t he just call a designated driver?”

“Being on call 24/7 is common for an assistant. My senior sister, a year above me, still has to tutor her boss’s children part-time. We’re paid so well, we have to do something in return.” Fan Xia said while getting dressed.

“Then what about, what about me?” Wen Lan Sheng’s face flushed red, embarrassedly covering his body with the blanket: “What should I do?”

Fan Xia sat on the edge of the bed, kissing his lips lightly with an apologetic face: “Wait for me to come back.”

The door slammed shut, and Wen Lan Sheng bit his teeth, grabbing a pillow and throwing it against the wall, venting his dissatisfaction.

“Alright, she’ll be here soon.” After hanging up the phone, Chen Yu Ze returned the phone to Rong Xiu.

Rong Xiu silently downed two glasses of strong, spicy whiskey, the fiery sensation burning his throat and empty stomach.

Chen Yu Ze saw this and, although they were good friends of many years, still wanted to advise Rong Xiu not to fall in too deep.

Watching Rong Xiu continue to drink to maintain the lie, forcing himself to keep drinking even though the strong alcohol was choking him, Chen Yu Ze pressed down on his hand.

“Rong Xiu, she’s getting married. Don’t degrade yourself.”