Chapter 45 Visiting as a Guest

Fan Xia called ahead to inform her family that Rong Xiu would be coming to their home as a guest in the evening.

Wen Lan Sheng dared not express his anger. Ever since that night when Fan Xia had given him the cold shoulder because of Rong Xiu, even though Fan Xia had apologized to her afterwards, he no longer dared to act rashly, fearing that their newly repaired marital relationship would crack again due to Rong Xiu’s arrival.

Therefore, even though Wen Lan Sheng hated Rong Xiu, at this moment he dared not say no, and even had to put on a forced smile, pretending to be happy to welcome Rong Xiu’s arrival.

“By the way, Lan Sheng, Rong Xiu is picky about food. He’s not used to many home-cooked dishes, so make something more refined,” Fan Xia specially instructed. As she spoke, Rong Xiu was beside her, the fabric of his crisp suit touching her arm, and beneath his thin gold-rimmed glasses flowed gentle emotions.

“…Alright,” Wen Lan Sheng replied in a calm voice, but his fingers were almost tearing the table apart, anger surging in his beautiful eyes.

“No need to go to so much trouble, accommodating me in everything. Actually, I’m not that picky about food. Just let Lan Sheng make whatever is convenient,” Rong Xiu said into the phone, his voice deliberately gentle, completely different from his usual cold and aloof tone that made people tremble. At this moment, his voice was like that of a man in love, intentionally soft and sticky to please the woman he liked.

Women would be enchanted by such a voice, while men would only curse, ‘Damn green tea, pretending to be a trap!’

“It’s your first time coming to my home for dinner, of course we can’t let you down. Just tell Lan Sheng what you want to eat, his cooking skills are quite good,” Fan Xia’s voice came through the phone, the warm and gentle tone was once used only with Wen Lan Sheng, but now used on another man.

“Yes, Senior Rong Xiu, it’s not troublesome at all. Just tell me what you want to eat,” A surging fire was stuck in Wen Lan Sheng’s throat, almost unable to hold back from cursing out loud.

Even though he was deliberately suppressing his anger, Rong Xiu could hear the repressed irritation in Wen Lan Sheng’s voice.

He looked up, his long, rippling eyes carrying a hint of amusement as he looked at Fan Xia. Fan Xia naturally heard it too, and her lips curled silently.

“Then I’ll trouble Lan Sheng to make me a dish of West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce. I can’t think of anything else at the moment, so just use your discretion for the rest,” Rong Xiu’s perfectly long hands gently gripped Fan Xia’s wrist. As she was sitting sideways on the armrest of the office chair, her position was higher than his, so he straightened his waist, almost pressing half of his body against Fan Xia, to get close to the phone.

His exquisitely beautiful chin rested on her fair, warm arm, his slender jade-like finger bones like dodder vines clinging to a towering tree, growing along the veins of her skin.

Fan Xia lowered her head, looking at Rong Xiu who was almost pressed against her. From her angle, she could even see his thick, distinct eyelashes. His fair, delicate skin was like freshly extracted white jade, so transparent it seemed it would break at a touch. Yet such a person had a pair of long, cold eyes that made people dare not to profane. But if one were to remove his glasses, they would find that beneath those seemingly aloof, cold eyes grew a bewitching wine-red mole, alluring like an unselfconscious sprite.

It was as if the extreme coldness of crystalline snow on high mountains and the extreme heat of red roses had collided, creating a dazzling beauty.

Fan Xia was stunned for a moment, then shifted her gaze to focus on the phone: “Lan Sheng, did you remember everything Rong Xiu said? He likes to eat West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce.”

On the other end of the phone, Wen Lan Sheng’s heart was almost twisted with pain, his lips bitten almost to the point of bleeding: “Alright.”

He hung up the phone in a daze and collapsed into the chair.

He had once thought that as long as he became Fan Xia’s husband, no matter how many men she kept outside, as long as she was willing to come home, he could accept those coquettish troublemakers.

But now he found he was completely wrong. He simply couldn’t tolerate Fan Xia being with other men, let alone imagine her showing the gentleness that was only for him to other men. It was as if something that belonged to him had been snatched away, more painful than having his bones extracted from his body while alive.

“What’s wrong with Lan Sheng? Why the long face?” Xie Cen asked, seeing his appearance.

It was almost noon, and Wen Jing had also gotten up. Seeing Wen Lan Sheng’s listless appearance, she gloated: “He must have been disliked by sister-in-law again.”

“What nonsense are you talking! How could Xia Xia dislike me!” Wen Lan Sheng grabbed a nearby rag and threw it at Wen Jing’s face.

Wen Jing disgustedly removed the dirty cloth from her face and snorted, thinking to herself: “A man without a job, without looks, and with a jealous and possessive personality, it would be strange if women liked him. Wen Lan Sheng marrying Fan Xia is just relying on their childhood affection, what’s there to be proud of.”

Wen Jing had been living abroad for many years, and her sibling relationship with Wen Lan Sheng had long since faded. Moreover, when she needed help the most, Wen Lan Sheng stood by and did nothing, forcing their parents to sell their house. She had no good feelings towards Wen Lan Sheng.

“Alright, stop arguing. What exactly happened?” Xie Cen asked, looking at Wen Lan Sheng.

Wen Lan Sheng lowered his head, his brow furrowed with worry: “Rong Xiu is coming to our house for dinner tonight.”

“Really?”

“Really!” Xie Cen and Wen Ming Yue asked almost simultaneously.

Contrary to Wen Lan Sheng’s obvious dejection, Wen Ming Yue’s expression was noticeably more excited, even standing up from the sofa: “For a leader to take the initiative to visit a subordinate’s home shows how much he values Fan Xia. She’s sure to get a promotion and raise in the future.”

“Didn’t Rong Xiu come last time too?” Xie Cen said.

Wen Ming Yue didn’t know about the ambiguous relationship between Rong Xiu and Fan Xia, but Xie Cen did, so he looked at Wen Ming Yue’s excited reaction with a complicated expression.

Coming once was fine, but coming a second time was really slapping the Wen family’s face.

“What do you know!” Wen Ming Yue said: “Last time he came because Fan Xia got drunk helping him avoid drinking, and he sent her back. That was unavoidable. But this time is completely different. He’s giving us advance notice, which shows he genuinely wants to come to our home. People of Rong Xiu’s level have access to resources and first-hand information that ordinary people can’t imagine. If he happens to mention some favorable news at the dinner table, our family could strike it rich.”

Hearing this, Xie Cen’s wrinkled face broke into a smile: “That’s right, that’s right. Jing Jing wasn’t here last time Rong Xiu came. If we build a good relationship with him, helping our Jing Jing find a good job would just be a matter of saying a word!”

“Lan Sheng, hurry up and prepare well. Rong Xiu is the CEO of a major corporation, we can’t neglect him. Prepare more dishes,” Xie Cen urged, while picking up a cloth bag himself, ready to go out and buy groceries.

“Dad?!” Wen Lan Sheng looked at Xie Cen in disbelief at his change of attitude.

He could understand Wen Ming Yue not knowing anything. But Xie Cen knew full well that that bastard Rong Xiu was the third wheel Fan Xia was keeping outside. Not only did Xie Cen not speak up for him, but he was even telling him to prepare good food and wine to welcome this third wheel.

“Enough,” Xie Cen tugged at Wen Lan Sheng’s sleeve and said in a low voice: “Your sister doesn’t even have a job right now. Although I can’t stand that Rong Xiu, if he can really help our Jing Jing find a good job, then that third wheel would be worth something, wouldn’t he?”

“And Fan Xia, seeing her sister-in-law unemployed at home and not helping, in the end it’s us old folks who have to run around.”

“She’s so close to Rong Xiu, getting him to help would just take a word. Her words would certainly be more effective than ours. Maybe she could even get Jing Jing into the oil company, that’s a real plum job.”

“But Rong Xiu seems to be the CEO of a pharmaceutical group, not related to oil… but if she could get Jing Jing into the pharmaceutical bureau, that would be good too, relaxed and comfortable with good salary and benefits.”

Wen Lan Sheng covered his head, feeling like he was going crazy! About to be driven mad by his family!

Why had it become like this? Why was that bastard Rong Xiu allowed to enter their home and humiliate him, the rightful husband, while his parents not only didn’t side with him or support him, but wanted to curry favor with that third wheel!

Uncontrollable hatred churned in Wen Lan Sheng’s heart. He must make that bastard lose everything.

As the end of the workday arrived, Zhuang Nian packed up his things, preparing to leave. Before leaving, he looked towards Rong Xiu’s office door which had been tightly closed all day, and shook his head with a smile, thinking young people really had good stamina.

Inside the office, Fan Xia sat on the black leather sofa, with a mountain of documents piled to her left. After reviewing each document, she would hand it to Rong Xiu for signing.

The office was quiet, with an unidentified woody fragrance burning silently. The pen tip scratched lightly on the paper, Rong Xiu’s handwriting elegant and forceful. His profile was softened by the dim light, sharp contours mellowed, and Fan Xia inexplicably found herself staring.

Rong Xiu’s knuckles tightened, fingertips gripping the cold pen shaft, his body unnaturally stiff. He could feel Fan Xia’s gaze lingering on him, that gentle and delicate gaze ethereal yet seeming to materialize on his body, flowing over him like warm water, making his whole body tingle. By the last document, the final stroke of his signature became weak, dragging out a long, soft tail unlike his usually crisp strokes.

His face instantly flushed red, pretending to be calm as he adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. His beautiful, unknowingly alluring eyes carefully glanced at Fan Xia, meeting her smiling eyes.

Rong Xiu’s breathing suddenly quickened, his body temperature seeming to surge several degrees in an instant, like boiling water with steam rising from his delicate, slender porcelain-white nape, beads of sweat forming densely.

“Why are you suddenly blushing?” Fan Xia smiled as she took the document from his hand, placing it on the mountain of papers.

Rong Xiu shook his head, tugging at the tie tightly binding his neck, exhaling the heat of his flushed face and racing heart, and said, “It’s already off work, let’s go.”