MMCD - 14

The next day, the weather turned rainy. The rain fell incessantly, getting heavier and heavier, like fine silver-grey threads, netting the space outside.

Inside, the lights were off, and the bed was warm, creating a tranquil contrast to the outside world.

Sheng Wenyan woke up in the cozy warmth. She stretched a hand out from under the covers, fumbled around, and pulled the phone from the bedside table into the blanket.

The phone screen lit up under the covers. Sheng Wenyan squinted and opened WeChat, seeing messages from Lou Ning and Yang Sheng.

Lou Ning: [Are you awake? Are you okay?]

Lou Ning: [Sigh! There are plenty of fish in the sea. What’s Shen Shuyi even?]

Lou Ning: [I think Bai Nianlei is just so-so, you’re better!]

Yang Sheng: [I heard Shen Shuyi has a girlfriend? Don’t cry, sis! I’ll introduce you to some handsome guys. Don’t worry, I’ll find someone who catches your eye this time]

Yang Sheng: [Handsome and cultured, right? I know your type. Just wait]

Sheng Wenyan: “...”

She turned off her phone and pushed the covers aside.

Her thoughts gradually returned. She remembered running into Shen Shuyi at the bar last night and him coming to pick up that little beauty named Bai Nianlei.

So, he had a crush.

It seemed that his words about not dating in college weren’t just a lie to her. Now, almost at graduation, he was about to get a girlfriend.

It just wasn’t her.

Sheng Wenyan rubbed her hair, feeling a little dejected. Why didn’t he like her? Was she that bad?

A flash of lightning and a clap of thunder startled her, and she suddenly felt... that sentence was a little familiar.

Wait a minute, didn’t she say that in the car yesterday?

“I’m so pretty, so why doesn’t anyone like me... The people I like don’t like me.”

That must be what she said.

In the car, and in Shen Zai’s car, no less.

Sheng Wenyan blinked, got out of bed, and rushed into the bathroom. In the mirror, her face was clean, and she was in her pajamas.

“Aunt Chen—” Sheng Wenyan ran downstairs.

“What’s wrong, miss?” Aunt Chen came out of the kitchen when she heard the noise.

“Did someone bring me back yesterday?”

Aunt Chen: “Yes, Mr. Shen brought you back. Miss, you were so drunk last night, crying and making a fuss... Mr. Shen is such a good person. He even helped me get you into the room before he left. I tried to take off your makeup and change your clothes, but you wouldn’t cooperate, so I...”

Aunt Chen was still chattering about how difficult it was to get her “cleaned up” last night, but Sheng Wenyan wasn’t listening at all. Her mind was filled with the crazy things she had done with him last night.

She hadn’t blacked out; she remembered everything clearly.

She rarely lost control like that when she was drunk. It was probably because she drank too much yesterday and was then triggered by the phone call Shen Shuyi and Shen Zai made to Sheng Tianhe.

So she cried like a baby in his car.

Sheng Wenyan touched her cheek. It was clean, without a single trace of tears. However, she could still feel the lingering sensation of the sticky tears and her cheek rubbing against Shen Zai’s pants last night...

“Miss, miss?”

“Hmm? What did you say?”

“I said, Mr. and Mrs. Sheng will be back this afternoon. They asked me to tell you that you’ll be having dinner at your grandparents’ house tonight.”

Sheng Wenyan frowned. “Do I have to go?”

“They said you must go.”

“Okay.”

Sheng Wenyan’s mood soured. She had always disliked going to her grandparents’ house.

But if she didn’t go, she would probably be lectured.

So at 4 p.m., she still got in her car and drove to the Sheng family’s old residence.

When she thought about it, the trip would be nothing more than dinner, followed by criticism and listening to her grandparents urge her stepmother to work hard to get pregnant. She was already used to it.

________________________________________

Compared to the Shen family, the Sheng family was much smaller. Her grandparents only had her father, and her father currently only had her as a daughter.

At the dinner table, the five of them already made up the entire family.

“Tian Jiao, this soup is good. Drink more of it. You’re too thin, which is why you can’t get pregnant,” Grandma Sun Peiping began to push her nourishing tonics again, tirelessly.

Tian Jiao had gained a lot of weight recently and was secretly on a diet because she was a beautiful woman. But she didn’t dare to disobey her elder’s orders, so she took the bowl and took a sip. As soon as the thick soup touched her tongue, Tian Jiao’s face turned grim from the taste.

Seeing this, Sun Peiping said, “This soup is a little bitter. Just chug it down, and it won’t be so bad.”

Tian Jiao gave a stiff smile. “Okay.”

Sheng Wenyan glanced at her, feeling a little speechless.

“What are you shaking your head for, child?” Probably because Sheng Wenyan’s expression was too obvious, Sun Peiping suddenly looked at her.

Sheng Wenyan said lazily, “Nothing, Grandma. Having a baby should be a natural process. Why are you forcing her like this? And Stepmom isn’t skinny. What’s the point of making her so fat?”

Sun Peiping put down her chopsticks. “She’s not skinny? Yes, compared to you, she’s not skinny. Look at yourself, you’re as thin as a stick. If you keep this up, you’ll ruin your body.”

Sheng Wenyan: “...”

Who’s as thin as a stick? I’m curvy and have meat in all the right places, okay?

Sun Peiping: “And what do you mean ‘forcing’? Our family needs a child, and your dad needs one too. Otherwise, what will happen to the Sheng family in the future? Will we be left without an heir?”

Sheng Wenyan had heard these words since she was a child, but even so, hearing them again made her angry and annoyed. She couldn’t help herself. “Am I just a decoration? Am I not a Sheng family child? Am I not my dad’s child?!”

“Who are you talking to, Wenyan?” Grandpa said in a deep voice.

Sheng Wenyan let out a cold laugh. “I’m just saying that in your eyes, I don’t exist.”

Sun Peiping: “Why are you so angry, child? You’re exactly like your mother. Did Grandma say you’re not your dad’s child? I’m saying that our Sheng family needs a male heir. How old are you? And you’re still jealous of your unborn brother.”

Sheng Wenyan: “Jealous? I’m just saying I—”

“The Sheng Corporation needs someone to manage it in the future. You’re a girl and will eventually get married. What good are you?”

It was the same old thing. It was impossible to communicate with them, and arguing was meaningless.

Sheng Wenyan took a deep breath, pushed her chair back, and stood up. “I’m full. You guys can eat.”

Sheng Tianhe: “Sheng Wenyan, sit down.”

“I said I’m full!” Sheng Wenyan said coldly. “You guys can stay here and ‘incubate’ your little grandson! I’m not playing along.”

Before she came, she had planned to just let the stubborn old couple’s words go in one ear and out the other, but she still couldn’t help but get angry.

Sheng Wenyan drove away after leaving the house, speeding down the road.

But no matter how loud the music was or how fast the car went, the anger in her heart wouldn’t dissipate. The rain got heavier, hitting the windshield, and the wipers couldn’t keep up with a clear view.

Sheng Wenyan pulled the car over to the side of the road. The thunder rumbled in her ears, and she slammed her hands on the steering wheel. “Damn it.”

Ding—

Just then, a message popped up on her phone.

She emotionlessly opened WeChat and saw a message from Shen Zai.

Shen Zai: [Which drawer did you put the documents I needed from last week in my house?]

Sheng Wenyan looked at the name and remembered how she had “cried sadly in his lap, and he comforted her” in the car last night.

She also remembered him saying: “Someone loves you.”

That was the first time she had ever cried so uncontrollably in front of someone, and it was also the first time someone had seriously told her that she was loved.

The frustration in her heart inexplicably dissipated.

Sheng Wenyan pursed her lips and replied: [In the second drawer of the study]

Shen Zai: [Okay, thank you]

Sheng Wenyan was silent for a moment. She lowered her head and sent him a message: [Did I get your pants dirty last night? I’ll buy you a new pair]

Shen Zai: [No need]

Sheng Wenyan: [I’m very sorry about what happened last night]

Shen Zai: [As long as you know. Drink less alcohol in the future]

Even though he wasn’t in front of her, she could imagine the expression on his face when he said those words. His eyebrows were probably furrowed, and his eyes were probably filled with displeasure. But even with all the displeasure, there would be a sense of helplessness, like he was too lazy to argue with a child.

He wasn’t always so cold and strict that he was scary. He also had a warm side, a warmth that gave her a sense of... security.

Just like last night.

Sheng Wenyan’s lips curled into a slight smile. Her mood finally improved a little: [Okay, boss]

After a while, she remembered the topic from yesterday and said: [Did my mom really talk about me to you back then?]

Shen Zai: [Often. She liked to boast about her daughter in front of other people]

Sheng Wenyan: [She only praised me?]

Shen Zai: [What else do you think she’d talk about?]

Sheng Wenyan’s mother passed away from an illness when she was twelve. Too much time had passed, and she could barely remember many of her childhood memories.

But she did remember that her mom wasn’t a person who would praise her to her face.

In one memory, her parents were always arguing because of their relationship and because of the elders in the family. She didn’t really understand back then; she just felt that her mom wasn’t very happy when she was around, so she thought her mom didn’t like her that much.

But it turned out that she was always praising her to other people.

She actually loved her very much.

Sheng Wenyan looked at Shen Zai’s message, and her eyes inexplicably welled up again.

Suddenly, she didn’t want to stay home anymore.

She wanted to go to IZ, and she wanted to see Shen Zai. This intense feeling was as if only he could see her worth and her goodness.

Sheng Wenyan: [Mr. Shen, I don’t want to take my leave anymore. I’ll come to the company tomorrow. Can I write my thesis there when I have free time?]

A few minutes later, Shen Zai replied—

[Okay]

________________________________________

Perhaps knowing that she had to work on her thesis, Sheng Wenyan’s workload was very light for the next few days. Most of the time, she could be found at her desk, looking up information and outlining her thesis.

During her lunch break, her phone rang. Sheng Wenyan looked at it and saw that Yang Sheng had sent her a picture.

This guy had been acting like a matchmaker these past few days, sending her a steady stream of men, seemingly to comfort her “broken heart.”

Sheng Wenyan walked to a secluded area and sent a voice message to scold him. After she finished, she tapped on the picture to look at it.

The person in the photo was fair-skinned and wore glasses, looking like a well-behaved student. Yang Sheng probably found him based on her preference.

Sheng Wenyan was speechless. What’s with this guy... Just because he wears glasses, he’s a top student?

And he was just average-looking. He was no match for Shen Zai.

Yang Sheng, on the other end of the phone, listened to her barrage of insults and, not giving up, sent her a voice message, asking her to hang out tomorrow night.

Yang Sheng: [Come out and have some fun on Saturday. I won’t introduce you to handsome guys, is that okay? I just have some good wine to share~]

Sheng Wenyan coldly refused: [I’m not going. I’m working overtime tomorrow]

Yang Sheng: [What kind of work are you still doing at IZ? Are you still not over Shen Shuyi? He’s already interning at his dad’s company and isn’t going to IZ anymore]

Sheng Wenyan: [So?]

Yang Sheng: [Don’t ‘so’ me. I know you’re sad. Don’t hold it in. Cry if you want to]

Sheng Wenyan: “...”

In the end, she still didn’t accept Yang Sheng’s invitation. She stayed at home for the two days of the weekend.

In fact, besides Yang Sheng, many people had asked her to hang out, but she didn’t go to any of them. She just didn’t feel like it.

The people who couldn’t get Sheng Wenyan to go out guessed that she was truly sad this time. After all, not long ago, she was confidently saying that she was going to win over Shen Shuyi, but who knew that someone else would be by Shen Shuyi’s side so soon.

Sheng Wenyan had originally thought that she would be sad and upset about this. It was a breakup, after all, so she should at least drown her sorrows in alcohol.

But for some reason, these past two days at home, besides feeling a little depressed, she didn’t feel any other ripples. She even occasionally got so into watching a TV show that she completely forgot about it.

In the end, she thought that maybe she was just too tough.

A breakup was not something that could easily defeat her.