Chen Die returned to her room while the three men were still chatting.

Lin Qingye shook the can on his wrist and looked up, “Want a drink?”

Chen Die let out a gentle sigh, patted her still-warm face, and walked over to pick up a glass, holding it out to him, “I’ll have a little.”

Ran Liming looked at Chen Die for a moment, asking curiously, “G? Why is your face so red?”

Chen Die paused, making up an excuse, “I’m hot.”

Ran Liming was even more puzzled, “It’s hot in this weather?”

“…”

It was just a hug. They had done much more intimate things before, but now such a trivial matter was making her head unclear.

Chen Die didn’t know how to explain, but fortunately, Lin Qingye had already poured a glass of drink, placing it in front of her with a lazy tap, “Drink up.”

And so they changed the subject.

Because of what had just happened outside, Chen Die couldn’t fully engage in the conversation, frequently getting distracted.

After sitting in the living room for another half hour, everyone went back to their rooms to sleep.

Chen Die removed her makeup, applied a face mask, and leaned against the bed, lost in thought.

She wanted to send Wen Liang a message to ask about the situation, but then realized he was probably still on the plane and hadn’t landed yet. Besides, he likely had many matters to handle and probably wouldn’t have time to check messages.

All along, Chen Die had considered herself to understand Wen Liang very well.

But now with Wen Huaiyuan ill and in emergency care, Chen Die found it difficult to put herself in Wen Liang’s shoes and imagine what his state of mind might be.

In the end, she didn’t send a message and finally fell asleep after several hours of insomnia.

The next day, sunlight streamed into the bedroom, warming her eyelids. Chen Die slowly woke up.

There was one unread message on her phone from Ran Liming, asking if she was awake yet, as they were already preparing breakfast.

Chen Die realized she had slept until almost ten o’clock.

She quickly got up, applying just a light layer of lipstick before going out.

“Hey, finally awake,” Li Cong smiled, raising his hand. “We were just discussing who would have to break into the girl’s room to wake you up.”

“I never thought I could sleep this long,” Chen Die said, rubbing her face as she walked out and sat down on a cushion by the low table. Ran Liming brought over the breakfast they had prepared earlier.

Chen Die thanked him.

While eating, she sent a message to Zhu Qicong asking about Wen Huaiyuan’s condition. At the same time, Ye Chuqing sent her a picture.

Since the two had attended the fashion show together last time, their relationship had inexplicably grown closer.

The picture showed two young boys standing outside a classroom with a sign that read “Class 3(4).”

They appeared to be standing in punishment.

The boy on the right had wet black hair and was leaning lazily against the wall, hands in his pockets. The boy on the left held his chin up, his expression cold, looking aloof and impatient.

Both of their school uniforms were dirty.

[Ye Chuqing: Can you tell who they are?]

Chen Die stared at the boy on the left for quite a while, somewhat stunned.

[Chen Die: Wen Liang?]

She could naturally recognize that it was Wen Liang.

Wen Liang’s gaze was very distinctive; even then, one could see glimpses of his character.

He had double eyelids, but they were narrow, so when he looked up, they would be squeezed into a very shallow crease, only forking at the corners of his eyes.

His gaze was always cold, without warmth, always making people feel arrogant and unorthodox.

[Ye Chuqing: Bingo, and who’s on the right?]

Chen Die then noticed the boy on the right. After enlarging the picture, she vaguely felt there was something familiar about him. She frowned, considering carefully.

[Chen Die: Is it Chen Shao?]

[Ye Chuqing: Hahaha, you can recognize him!? My friend sent this to me. It’s killing me. Chen Shao, that idiot, was just as stupid when he was young.]

Chen Die had heard from Fang Ruan that recently, due to a film that would start shooting this year, Ye Chuqing and Chen Shao had to maintain contact. At first, Ye Chuqing was infuriated by Chen Shao, but since Ye Chuqing was no pushover either, by now it was Chen Shao who suffered at every meeting.

[Chen Die: I heard from Chen Shao before that they were together from kindergarten through elementary, middle, high school, and even university.]

[Ye Chuqing: Such a coincidence. They don’t seem like they know each other.]

[Chen Die: Their auras don’t match. With these two personalities, they don’t seem like they could get along.]

Ye Chuqing sent her a thumbs-up.

[Ye Chuqing: You’re right. One mountain cannot contain two idiots.]

The second two-day-one-night recording of “Three Meals a Day” had ended, and Chen Die changed her flight to leave early, hurrying to the airport.

Zhu Qicong was probably very busy too, as he still hadn’t replied to her.

At eight in the evening, she arrived at Yan City Airport.

Chen Die walked quickly out of the airport, and just as she was about to hail a taxi, she received a call from Chen Shao.

“Hello?” Chen Die answered.

Chen Shao: “Are you at the airport?”

“Yes, what’s up?”

“I just got back too. I can give you a ride on my way.” Chen Shao’s voice suddenly became distant, probably talking to his driver, and then said, “Hey, hey, I see you. Wait there, I’ll have my driver come over.”

He hung up right after finishing.

Soon the driver drove around, and Chen Shao rolled down the window, looking at her, “Get in.”

Chen Die paused, leaning forward to the window, “I have somewhere else to go.”

“The hospital, right?” Chen Shao raised an eyebrow, guessing correctly.

“…”

Chen Die pressed her lips together, but before she could speak, Chen Shao glanced at her and said, “Going to the hospital like this now, what’s that supposed to be? His stepmother and brother are there.”

“But…”

Chen Shao directly opened the door and pulled her into the car, “But what? Have some backbone, little sister. At a time like this, if you go alone, who knows what kind of passive-aggressive things his stepmother might say.”

Chen Die naturally knew that everything he said made sense. After all, she was still a Chen by blood, and the relationship between their two families was too complicated, especially now that she and Wen Liang weren’t officially together yet.

She lowered her head, knowing she lacked the confidence, and said softly, “But I just don’t want to leave him alone there.”

Chen Shao paused, turning his head to look at her deeply, saying casually, “Don’t spoil him too much. The young lady is the one who should be spoiled.”

Chen Die looked up at him.

Before she could say anything, her phone rang. It was Zhu Qicong calling. Chen Die immediately answered.

“Miss Chen, I’m sorry. I just saw your message,” Zhu Qicong said.

Chen Die: “How are Wen Huaiyuan and Wen Liang?”

“The surgery just ended. He’s safe for now, but we need to monitor his subsequent physical reactions.” Zhu Qicong spoke quickly. “Mr. Wen doesn’t have time to check his phone at the moment. There are many company and family matters to handle.”

In all their years together, Chen Die had never met Wen Huaiyuan, but at this moment, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Relieved now?” Chen Shao had also heard the phone call and said, “They don’t have time for you now. I’ll take you home first.”

“Mm.”

As the car drove onto the elevated highway, Chen Die’s tense emotions finally eased.

After a while, she had the leisure to ponder Chen Shao’s actions just now, which were actually for her benefit, from the perspective of a more rational outsider.

“By the way,” Chen Die took out her phone, opening the photo Ye Chuqing had sent her during the day, “Look at this.”

Chen Shao, who had been lazily lounging, lowered his eyes, was stunned for two seconds, and suddenly burst out with a curse, “Fuck, who sent you this?”

“Ye Chuqing.”

“That crazy woman, where did she get it?”

Chen Die shrugged, “I didn’t realize you and Wen Liang had a history of being punished together.”

Chen Shao grunted a couple of times.

Initially, the relationship between the Chen and Wen families wasn’t as awkward as it is now. Although they were never close as prominent families, they couldn’t avoid business connections and were considered partners.

Back then, there were only a few elite private schools in Yan City. Chen Shao and Wen Liang were the same age, so it wasn’t too coincidental that they had always been schoolmates.

Wen Liang had a unique personality from a young age.

While other children were playing simple games, Wen Liang was already very different from them.

Chen Shao had always had one flaw – he disliked following the crowd. Even if he liked something, if everyone else liked it too, he would abandon it.

At that time, he truly liked his classmate, Wen Liang.

Young Chen Shao wasn’t as individualistic as the current Chen Shao. Back then, he followed his preferences, trailing behind Wen Liang every day like a little tail, not caring that Wen Liang never considered him a friend, happily following him around.

Although Wen Liang’s personality didn’t make him many friends among his peers, he was well-liked by his teachers.

Firstly, the Wen family was developing rapidly under Wen Huaiyuan during those years, and teachers at such elite private schools naturally wouldn’t dare to neglect him. Secondly, Wen Liang was naturally intelligent and always had good grades.

Chen Die hadn’t expected Chen Shao to tell her these things and asked, “What about that photo? Your clothes are so dirty. Did you get into a fight?”

“More or less. That was the first time we fought.”

“Who did you fight with?”

Chen Shao didn’t immediately answer her question but said, “You don’t know. In third grade of elementary school, we were both ten years old, but at that time, Wen Liang’s mother had just died.”

Chen Die was stunned, opening her mouth but making no sound.

She knew that Wen Liang’s mother had died when she was quite young and that it had something to do with his father, but she had never asked about it.

When she was first brought home by Wen Liang, she felt for a while like she was living under someone else’s roof. Even if she had heard about these things, she didn’t feel she had the right to ask Wen Liang what exactly had happened.

Later, as time passed, whether because she thought bringing it up would be unpleasant or because her curiosity had faded, she had never actively asked Wen Liang about it.

“That was quite a big event in Yan City at the time. The Wen family had risen under Wen Huaiyuan’s leadership, and during that period, they were gaining prominence due to an international project, with many people paying attention. His mother died then – a suicide by medication, right in their home. Such an event shocked the entire city.” Chen Shao turned his head to glance at her, “You can probably imagine what kind of strange looks Wen Liang received from everyone.”

Chen Die suddenly felt her palms grow cold.

She couldn’t imagine how the proud Wen Liang could accept the gazes of others, whether sympathetic or gloating. Nor could she imagine how young Wen Liang could accept that his mother had died in their own home.

“You know, in elite private schools, the children all come from good families. Some are spoiled by their parents, and some have parents who compete with or are hostile to the Wen family. Under such influence, some children naturally harbor enmity toward Wen Liang.”

“In that photo you saw, that morning someone came up to Wen Liang to mock him. You know how direct children can be – laughing at him for not having a mother. Wen Liang didn’t say anything, he just started hitting the kid.”

Chen Shao paused, seemingly embarrassed, his Adam’s apple moving as he said, “Then I joined him in beating the kid up.”

“…”

Chen Die couldn’t immediately process this information.

She had never thought deeply about how Wen Liang, as a child, might have suffered additional harm because of his mother’s death.

After a while, she asked quietly, “So, in that photo, you were being punished for beating someone up together?”

“Yes, that crazy guy fought like he didn’t care about his life. He knocked out that bastard’s tooth. Fortunately, it hadn’t been replaced yet by an adult tooth, otherwise he’d have needed a fake tooth in elementary school.”

Chen Die wasn’t in the mood for his joke, her brows tightly knit, her heartbeat inexplicably accelerating, as if she were witnessing those events from over a decade ago.

“At the time, many people wondered if he would collapse because of this. It’s not uncommon to see someone become decadent and indulgent due to such things, then drop out of school and hang out with hooligans and idlers.”

“Then what happened?”

“Nothing happened. He remained the same, except his aura and sharpness became more intense. He actually wouldn’t actively provoke others, but he got into a few passive fights at school. Later, gradually, everyone became afraid of him.”

Chen Die suddenly noticed the scar on Chen Shao’s neck.

When they first met, Chen Shao had pointed to the scar on his neck and told her it was Wen Liang’s doing.

But from what she heard now, they should have become friends, which they weren’t.

She raised her hand to point, “What about your scar?”

Chen Shao paused, letting out a light snort, “That was later after we graduated from university.”

As he spoke, he glanced leisurely at Chen Die, “Because of you.”

Chen Die was startled, “What?”

“Your ex-boyfriend slashed your brother’s neck open for you,” Chen Shao said flatly.

Chen Shao never became friends with Wen Liang. Initially, he was genuinely curious about Wen Liang, followed him around like a little tail, and even fought for him, but Wen Liang still showed no response.

After all, Chen Shao was also a young master raised with privilege, without the patience to deal with someone like this. Later, gradually, they had no extra connection.

As for the scar, it was just bad luck.

After Chen Shao and Wen Liang grew up, they each had different circles of friends. But Wen Liang was truly a remarkable person – even bringing an unknown girl home would become a topic of discussion among them.

It happened at an archery range. One of Chen Shao’s friends happened to see what Chen Die looked like, and everyone started making crude jokes.

There was no real malice; they wouldn’t and didn’t dare to do anything. Chen Shao knew Chen Die’s true identity by then but stood by casually listening to his friends talk.

They didn’t notice when Wen Liang walked in.

Hearing what they were saying, he appeared emotionless, simply raising his hand to lift the bow, taking aim, drawing the string.

Later, Chen Shao was the first to notice that Wen Liang wasn’t aiming at him but at another friend who was speaking. Chen Shao instinctively pulled the person away.

But in doing so, he was cut by the arrow on his neck.

The arrows at the archery range had been specially treated – not lethal, but at that distance, they could certainly injure someone. Chen Shao’s neck was immediately cut open.

But Chen Shao didn’t plan to tell such an embarrassing story.

The driver pulled up to the entrance of the residential area.

Before getting out of the car, Chen Die asked him, “Why did you tell me all this?”

Chen Shao said, “Because your brother is beautiful and kind-hearted.”

“…”

Chen Die had no interest in dealing with him anymore.

After saying a faint thank you, she got out. Just as she slammed the car door shut, Zhu Qicong called again.

He would never call Chen Die proactively without reason.

She suddenly felt a very bad premonition rise in her heart.

She answered the phone but couldn’t make a sound.

Zhu Qicong said, “Miss Chen, old Director Wen just passed away. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.”

The early spring night was still filled with a cold chill. The cold wind climbed up her pant legs, and the last early spring plum blossom was blown onto the muddy soil.

Chen Die’s hand holding the phone slowly dropped.

For the first few seconds, her mind was completely blank. She didn’t know what to do, especially after hearing about Wen Liang’s childhood from Chen Shao’s mouth.

Finally, Chen Shao noticed that her expression was off, rolled down the window, and leaned out to ask, “What’s wrong?”

Chen Die didn’t know how to explain, just staring blankly as she turned to look at Chen Shao.

Her eyelashes trembled, and suddenly tears fell.

This crying was so strange and sudden that even Chen Shao was startled. He finally opened the car door and pulled her back in, telling the driver, “Go to Yan City Hospital.”

Chen Die was startled by her tears, hastily wiping them away.

Chen Shao clicked his tongue, looking very impatient as he pulled out a tissue and handed it to her, “What the hell are you crying about?”

“Thank you,” Chen Die took the tissue and gently pressed it against her eyes.

“The way you’re crying, I thought something happened to Wen Liang.”

Chen Die immediately raised her hand and punched his arm with a “pah” sound, glaring at him, “Do you know how to talk?”

Chen Shao snorted a laugh, “I don’t understand. What does Wen Huaiyuan’s death have to do with you? Wen Liang probably won’t shed a single tear, yet here you are crying.”

Chen Die couldn’t understand why she had suddenly burst into tears herself.

She had no energy to try to understand anymore. The driver sped along and finally reached Yan City Hospital ten minutes later.

Chen Die thanked Chen Shao again and hurriedly ran into the hospital, putting on her mask and hat as she ran.

She didn’t dare take the elevator, opening the stairwell door and running up.

She couldn’t clearly explain why, but she just wanted to see Wen Liang quickly.

Now she had confidence in herself, thinking that perhaps seeing her might make Wen Liang feel a little better.

Running up to the sixth floor all at once, Chen Die was out of breath. Despite the weather, she had broken into a sweat, her palms also sweaty but cold.

As soon as she pushed open the stairwell door and ran out, she bumped into someone.

Zhu Qicong hurriedly steadied her, and after recognizing Chen Die’s face, he was also stunned, “Miss Chen?”

At the same time, Fu Wanmei and Wen Qian, who were standing ahead, turned to look at the sound, along with several other Wen family relatives and company shareholders.

All of them looked at her in unison.

Fu Wanmei frowned. She also had tears on her face, but her attire was too lavish and luxurious, which gave her a kind of inexplicable harshness.

She looked at Chen Die for a moment and was about to speak to chase her away when the elevator behind her opened with a “ding.”

Chen Shao walked out, going straight to Chen Die’s side, raising his hand to lightly support her back.

Chen Die unconsciously straightened her back.

Chen Shao nodded with a smile, looking at Fu Wanmei, “Mrs. Wen, my condolences.”

Those five words stopped Fu Wanmei from speaking.