Chapter 6: Concern

When Fan Xia returned home from work, as soon as she opened the door, she smelled a strong scent of smoke. The shoes at the entrance were in disarray, and the living room was crowded with people, including Wen Lan Sheng’s parents and her former neighbors from before she moved to the orphanage. A group of women nearing retirement age sat casually in the living room, chatting animatedly, with sunflower seed shells and peanut shells scattered all over the carpet.

Fan Xia frowned imperceptibly.

“Xia Xia, you’re back.” Wen Lan Sheng emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron. Seeing Fan Xia, his eyes showed both joy and unease. “My mother insisted on being discharged early when she heard you had a day off today. These neighbors found out that mom was injured, so they all came to visit.”

Wen Lan Sheng clutched his apron, afraid that she might be angry because he hadn’t informed her in advance. In truth, he didn’t like this noisy environment either, but he couldn’t refuse his parents and the enthusiastic old neighbors.

“Fan Xia, you should recognize all these people. This is your Aunt Zhang, who even held you when you were little. This is Aunt Zou, who lived in the building next to yours,” Xie Cen came out with a spatula, introducing them familiarly.

They were all old employees of the same state-owned factory. Once they reached a certain number of years of service, they could be allocated company housing. Thus, they were both neighbors and colleagues. However, Fan Xia’s mother held a higher position than them, so the house allocated to her wasn’t like the tube-shaped apartments of Wen Lan Sheng’s family, but more similar to current commercial housing.

Ordinary employees had a separate courtyard, while those at the director level and above had another courtyard. That’s why Xie Cen said Aunt Zou was from the neighboring building.

Fan Xia nodded with a smile: “Of course I remember. Aunt Zou was a key technician at the factory back then.”

“After so many years, I’m flattered that you still remember me, haha!” Being called a key technician made Aunt Zou beam with joy. She joked, “You look so much like your mother. Director Fan was the belle of the factory when she was young. When she married your father, it broke the hearts of many young men.”

“I heard from Ming Yue that Fan Xia now works at Shanhai Group? As an executive assistant? That’s a listed company, isn’t it? With many hospitals and sanatoriums under its umbrella. The salary and benefits must be much better than our old crumbling factory, right?” another aunt asked.

Xie Cen waved his hand proudly: “Well, it’s not that great. The benefits are all there, and the salary is just about this much.”

Xie Cen made a gesture, pretending to be modest.

Everyone’s eyes widened, and they almost said in unison: “That much?”

A moment later, Aunt Zou took a puff of her cigarette and sighed, “Truly, the student has surpassed the master. I remember Director Fan was one of the few college graduates in our factory. I knew her daughter would definitely not be inferior… If only Director Fan could see this with her own eyes.”

With those words, everyone present was taken back to more than a decade ago.

Director Fan’s excellence was well-known. Just a year after getting married, her husband Xie Ying gave birth to their lovely little daughter, Fan Xia.

Fan Xia was smart and well-behaved from a young age, unlike most girls who were mischievous. Her grades were consistently excellent. Because of her good looks and pleasant personality, all the little boys and girls in the family quarters liked to play with her.

Everyone knew in their hearts that if it weren’t for that incident, how could Director Fan’s child possibly settle for Wen Lan Sheng, the son of the ordinary little cashier Wen Ming Yue?

He could only be described as somewhat handsome, but his family background and education were nothing to boast about. How could he be worthy of Fan Xia?

“Back then, Director Fan was about to be promoted to deputy factory director, wasn’t she? I remember the documents had already been submitted. Who would have thought she’d be hit by a damned driver who then fled the scene? By the time she was found, there wasn’t even a chance to save her. Xie Ying was a devoted man, he followed Director Fan… It’s such a tragedy,” Aunt Zhang said with some sadness.

Wen Lan Sheng’s hand suddenly tightened, his gaze becoming rigid.

“Oh yes, Ming Yue, you remember, don’t you? At that time, everyone from our factory mobilized to help find that hit-and-run driver for Director Fan. But there were no surveillance cameras, and that road was heading out of the city. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, impossible to find,” Aunt Zou said, patting Wen Ming Yue’s hand.

Wen Lan Sheng listened with a pounding heart, his face turning pale.

Aunt Zhang said, “Old Zou, you forgot, Ming Yue was in her hometown celebrating Jing Jing’s birthday at that time, not at the factory.”

“Oh, I forgot, look at my memory,” Aunt Zou laughed, tapping her forehead.

Wen Ming Yue laughed heartily: “Old Zou, you’re getting senile too.”

“Lan Sheng, what’s wrong?” Fan Xia walked behind Wen Lan Sheng and whispered softly.

Wen Lan Sheng startled, almost dropping the cold dishes in his hands. He stammered, “No-nothing.”

He hurriedly covered up his emotions, not daring to look into Fan Xia’s eyes, afraid she might see through him. He put the cold dishes on the table and said, “Aunties, Mom, come and eat. Let’s not talk about those sad things from the past.”

“Yes, yes, you’re right.” Everyone suddenly remembered that Fan Xia was still there, and it was inappropriate to talk about her deceased parents in front of her. They could only use smiles to cover their embarrassment.

Although Wen Lan Sheng wasn’t a match for Fan Xia either in the past or now, during the time Fan Xia was in the orphanage, it was Wen Lan Sheng who secretly brought her food, stationery, and other things.

In the past, Fan Xia was so pampered. Xie Ying would make different dishes for her every day. But in the orphanage, forget about meat dishes, she couldn’t even eat her fill. At that time, the orphanage was poorly managed, many children not only couldn’t eat enough but also got beaten. Many couldn’t bear it and secretly ran away, preferring to wander and beg rather than return to the orphanage.

Wen Lan Sheng’s actions could be considered as showing true feelings in times of adversity, so it wasn’t hard to understand why Fan Xia chose him.

Better to tear down ten temples than to ruin one marriage. Moreover, this marriage was mutually agreeable, so they had no reason to say anything. They just felt it was a bit of a pity. If only Director Fan hadn’t met with that accident.

As the group sat at the table, looking at the delicious dishes, Aunt Zou smiled and said, “These dishes were all made by Lan Sheng and your father, right? Lan Sheng is really skilled. Fan Xia is lucky!”

Wen Lan Sheng smiled along, nervously pulling Fan Xia to sit down. He whispered in her ear, “I didn’t know the aunties would suddenly bring up Director Fan’s matter. Don’t be too sad.”

“It’s alright, I’ve let it go after so many years,” Fan Xia smiled, her deep eyes unreadable.

Hearing Fan Xia say this, Wen Lan Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, “I learned a few new dishes today. Try them and see how I did?”

“Whatever you cook is delicious,” Fan Xia said softly.

“Don’t tease me, you haven’t even tasted it yet,” Wen Lan Sheng said in a slightly coquettish tone. Fan Xia’s gentle words undoubtedly eased his tense heart, and he even had the mood to take a photo of the food and post it on his social media.

Amidst the clinking of wine glasses, someone suddenly asked, “Fan Xia, now that you’re an executive assistant, working alongside the CEO of Shanhai Group, you must be meeting with high-level executives every day, right?”

Fan Xia took a small sip of fruit juice and said, “Yes, what about it?”

The person gave a knowing look and asked mysteriously, “Then you must know a lot of inside information about the group, right?”

“Aunt Zhang, what exactly do you want to ask?” Fan Xia said.

Aunt Zhang made a sound and said, “I mean insider information about your group’s stocks, investments, and such! We ordinary small investors don’t know, but your group’s high-level executives must be clear about it. Just give us a little hint, let us small investors make a hundred thousand or so.”

Fan Xia feigned slight surprise: “Aunt Zhang, you’re into stock trading?”

Aunt Zhang smiled and said, “A few of us, including your future mother-in-law, are all trading. We’re about to retire and have nothing to do, and we have some small savings. Rather than letting it rot in the bank, we might as well use it to earn some money for our granddaughters’ tuition fees, to lighten our daughters’ burden.”

Fan Xia casually glanced at Wen Ming Yue, hesitated for a moment, and said, “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you all, but I’ve only been with the company for a few days, and I really don’t know any insider information. Even if I did know, I couldn’t say anything. The company is strict, and if I leaked anything, I’d lose my job.”

Hearing this, Wen Lan Sheng quickly defended Fan Xia, saying, “Aunties, let’s eat, let’s eat. We’re all old neighbors who haven’t seen each other for a long time. Let’s just catch up and not discuss those things.”

The others also understood that Fan Xia had no intention of revealing insider information, so they had to let it go.

But throughout the process, Wen Ming Yue just quietly drank white wine, rarely speaking.

Wen Lan Sheng was putting food on Fan Xia’s plate while refreshing his social media feed, checking for new comments and likes. In the past, he didn’t like posting on social media, but since getting together with Fan Xia, he became just like those house husbands immersed in family happiness, wanting to record their beautiful life at every moment.

Looking at the comments section, where everyone was saying that he, Wen Lan Sheng, was flaunting his love and happiness, Wen Lan Sheng smiled silently, pursing his lips.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. A familiar, eye-catching ID that quickly liked and then unliked his post caught his attention.

Rong Xiu put down his phone. Smoke curled around his fingertips, the strong tobacco smell wafting over the dark bar counter. The dim light couldn’t brighten his gloomy brows and eyes.

Chen Yu Ze laughed without restraint: “Stalking the social media of someone else’s legitimate partner, got caught, didn’t you?”

Rong Xiu took a drag of his cigarette, his gaze cold and thin. He repeated the same words as yesterday: “They’re not married yet, just boyfriend and girlfriend. Not a legitimate partner.”

Chen Yu Ze shook his head helplessly: “Does self-deception make you feel better? Even if they’re not married now, they’ll still get married in a few months. You can’t just butt in, can you? Didn’t we test it out last night? Miss Fan Xia is a proper person, and she’s devoted to her partner.”

Rong Xiu tapped off some ash, his narrow, cold eyes showing displeasure: “She’s unhappy.”

Chen Yu Ze was slightly stunned, confused by his irrelevant answer: “What are you talking about?”

Rong Xiu glanced at the photo on his phone: “She’s not happy in the photo.”

“Huh? Is that so?” Chen Yu Ze picked up the phone to look at the photo and blurted out, “Fan Xia isn’t even in the photo. They’re just showing off the food…”

Chen Yu Ze zoomed in on the photo to look carefully, and finally discovered a pair of slender, jade-like hands in the corner of the photo. Chen Yu Ze could almost immediately recognize them as Fan Xia’s hands.

A fleeting glance last night had been enough to be dazzling. He had inadvertently passed over Fan Xia’s hands, those smooth and delicate hands, as white and clean as if they had been pulled out of water, in stark contrast to the hands of the other, visibly older people in the photo.

But based on just a pair of hands, without seeing her expression, how could one tell Fan Xia’s mood at that moment?

Rong Xiu’s fingertip touched Fan Xia’s hands on the screen, his tone low: “She only makes this gesture when she’s very, very unhappy.”

It was a gesture of using the thumb’s nail to press against the pad of the index finger, very subtle, even somewhat childish. But Rong Xiu knew that it was a rare emotional leak from the usually gentle and composed Fan Xia.

Rong Xiu didn’t know what the Wen family had done to make the usually good-tempered Fan Xia so angry.

He was even more unaware that Wen Lan Sheng, as Fan Xia’s childhood sweetheart and lover, hadn’t noticed her small gesture, and was contentedly posting on social media, flaunting his so-called happiness, satisfying his contemptible self-esteem.

Rong Xiu wanted to call her, but Chen Yu Ze stopped him, shaking his head and saying seriously: “Rong Xiu, you really can’t go on like this. If Fan Xia were a fickle and promiscuous person, I wouldn’t say anything. But she’s truly devoted to her fiancé. You can’t ruin her fiancé’s happiness!”

“…But she’s unhappy,” Rong Xiu said bitterly.

“If she’s unhappy, it’s her fiancé’s job to comfort her. It’s not your place. Rong Xiu, remember your position!” Chen Yu Ze advised earnestly.

Rong Xiu extinguished his cigarette, his narrow eyes locking directly with him, sharp and intimidating: “If Wen Lan Sheng knew, he wouldn’t be shamelessly posting on social media… Since he can’t care for Fan Xia, I’ll care for her in his place. He should be thanking me instead.”

Chen Yu Ze opened his mouth, but was left speechless.