Chapter 32
Xie Yunli drove at breakneck speed all the way.
If this were normal circumstances it would be fine, but under the current situation, Wen Ran must be extremely anxious. Just imagining it, he could picture her alone at home, so worried she was about to cry.
When he reached the road leading to the villa complex, Xie Yunli saw three people by the roadside: Aunt Zhu with her son and a girl.
Aunt Zhu’s eyes were red, clearly from anger. Her son had dyed blond hair and a defiant expression. The girlfriend had dyed blue hair, wore oversized men’s clothing, and was crouching silently by the roadside.
Xie Yunli stopped the car and rolled down the window to call out to Aunt Zhu.
Only then did Aunt Zhu notice Xie Yunli had arrived. She was startled at first, then realized something and quickly wiped away her tears, saying: “Mr. Xie, you’re here. Is it because Ranran…”
“She was afraid something happened to you outside and called me. I’ll go check on her first. Come home when you’re done here.” Xie Yunli paused and said: “If you need help with anything, call me.”
Aunt Zhu quickly nodded. “Alright, Mr. Xie. Please go comfort Ranran. I’ll be back right away.”
Rolling up the window, Xie Yunli drove directly into the villa complex without glancing at Aunt Zhu’s son or the girl even once.
Qiao Ziheng wasn’t wealthy himself, but he had sharp eyes. At a glance, he could tell Xie Yunli was driving a top-of-the-line Mercedes business vehicle, and on the wrist of the hand gripping the steering wheel was a Vacheron Constantin worth over a million.
The girlfriend, who had been crouching by the roadside, also stood up to look into the car but couldn’t see anything.
Qiao Ziheng said: “Mom? That’s the Wen family daughter’s husband? He’s that rich?”
“Whether he has money or not has nothing to do with you.” Hearing this, Aunt Zhu’s anger flared up again. She reached out to hit him, but he dodged.
“Come on, what’s the big deal? I just came back to the country to rest a bit. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise you, didn’t I?”
Aunt Zhu was exasperated: “You think I don’t know you just started the new semester not long ago? You think I don’t care about you at all? How much money do I give you each month? Tell me, did you go abroad to study or to play around? Huh?”
“Enough, Mom. Can’t you give me some face in front of other people? You’ve been scolding me for over half an hour!”
Hearing this, Aunt Zhu was stunned and suddenly came to her senses. From the moment she discovered the person caught by security was her son, with all the pulling, tugging, and arguing until now, so much time had passed!
Wen Ran must have been scared at home alone, which was why she called Xie Yunli. Otherwise, with her personality, she absolutely wouldn’t have called Xie Yunli so easily. The last time she took the initiative to call was after much encouragement.
Aunt Zhu took a deep breath and said: “I’ll deal with your matter later. First, take this girl home, and you go back to your father’s house.”
Qiao Ziheng said: “Mom, can’t you take us in for a while? We’ve been dragging our luggage around, tired all day just to find this place. Do you have the heart to just send us away like this? At least take us in for a bit! Lina and I are still hungry.”
“Take you in? Are you kidding? Your mother is working in someone else’s house now…”
Qiao Ziheng said dissatisfied: “Isn’t it just the Wen family daughter living in that villa alone? Such a big villa here surely has guest rooms. You’ve been taking care of her for so many years. What’s wrong with taking in your son for a while? Is that too much to ask?”
“You! What are you saying!” Aunt Zhu couldn’t stand it anymore and hit him. “This is someone else’s home. You think you can just stay overnight? You think your mother has that kind of authority? I’m just a nanny!”
Qiao Ziheng pouted. “So what if you’re a nanny? You’ve been taking care of her for almost ten years! Besides, her parents aren’t around, haven’t you almost become like half a mother to her?”
His girlfriend suddenly laughed with a snort. “Then you’ve almost become like half a brother to her.”
Qiao Ziheng laughed: “Exactly!”
“Qiao Ziheng! Saying such things is going to anger me to death.” Aunt Zhu was absolutely furious: “I can see you haven’t been studying properly at all. If the Wen family hadn’t helped find connections and paid your tuition, do you think you could have gone abroad? Your father is a useless waste, and your mother is just an ordinary worker. You were blessed to get into such a good school through their help. Not only are you not grateful, you don’t study hard and you’re being so shameless here! Where did all your education go!”
The money for Qiao Ziheng to study abroad was forced on her by Wen Ran’s mother before she died. She had been saving it until the day she sent Qiao Ziheng overseas.
The person who helped send him abroad was also through connections Wen Ran’s father helped arrange. Both Wen Ran’s father and mother were very grateful to her for taking such dedicated care of Wen Ran.
Thinking of these things, Aunt Zhu’s blood pressure soared with anger, and she almost fainted. Seeing his mother so angry, Qiao Ziheng didn’t want to lose face in front of his girlfriend anymore.
“Alright, Mom, stop being angry. I just brought my girlfriend to see you. No need to get so worked up.”
“If you don’t want your mother to die of anger, then listen to me. Go take this girl home, then find a way to quickly go back abroad and continue your studies!”
Qiao Ziheng’s girlfriend said: “I’m not going back. I don’t have a home!”
Aunt Zhu was immediately speechless.
She could scold and hit her own son, but what could she do about someone else’s daughter?
Qiao Ziheng spread his hands to his mother, indicating he couldn’t do anything about it either.
Aunt Zhu pointed at him. “You’re really going to anger me to death.”
“I wouldn’t dare. I only have one mother, unlike the Wen family daughter who, even though her real mother is gone, still has you acting as both father and mother to take care of her.”
Aunt Zhu’s blood pressure immediately spiked again with anger. “What kind of talk is that? Since you were little, have I shortchanged you or abused you?”
Seeing his mother so angry, Qiao Ziheng didn’t dare say anything more. After all, his mother did have high blood pressure and couldn’t get too worked up.
“It’s just that these past few years, you really have put all your attention on her…”
“Haven’t I put effort into you?” Hearing him say this, Aunt Zhu felt both angry and aggrieved, and her eyes immediately reddened.
…
On the other side, Xie Yunli parked the car and hurried to the house, where he saw Wen Ran holding Kaka, sitting on the steps by the yard entrance.
In the late autumn weather, she was wearing thin pajamas and a light jacket, her shoelaces untied, just huddled on the steps holding the equally shivering Kaka.
Xie Yunli immediately walked over and took off his suit jacket to drape over her.
“Xie Yunli… you came? Did you see… did you see Aunt Zhu?”
Xie Yunli didn’t interrupt her but waited for her to finish speaking stutteringly before answering: “I saw her. She’s at the entrance with her son, and they’re talking. Her son also brought his girlfriend over. Don’t worry, Aunt Zhu is fine. She’ll be back soon.”
After hearing this, Wen Ran finally relaxed, and her tense nerves loosened somewhat.
“Come, let’s go inside quickly.” Xie Yunli extended his hand toward her.
Having been nervous for so long, she was obviously not in good condition. The weather was cold too, and she had been sitting on the cold steps for who knows how long. The key thing was, she clearly knew it was cold so she held Kaka in her arms to prevent it from freezing, but didn’t know to find herself a thicker piece of clothing to wear.
Wen Ran looked at the hand extended in front of her, reacted slowly for a moment, then realized Xie Yunli wanted her to give him her hand.
She rarely had physical contact with others. In recent years, aside from Aunt Zhu, it was only Xie Yunli in front of her.
Wen Ran extended her hand and carefully placed it in his palm.
Her touch was ice cold.
Xie Yunli paused for a moment, gripped her hand, and helped her up from the steps.
After they entered the room, Kaka followed them in. But compared to Xie Yunli, it was naturally closer to Wen Ran. As soon as Wen Ran sat on the sofa, it raised its front body and gently pawed at her knee with its claws, wanting her to hold it.
So Wen Ran picked it up and placed it beside her. Kaka turned two circles on the sofa and lay down next to her thigh, then raised its little head and rested its chin on her leg. Its soft, warm body pressed against her, and it even sighed, looking very comfortable and satisfied.
Xie Yunli went to the kitchen to get a cup of warm water. When he came out, he saw Wen Ran with her head lowered, stroking Kaka with her hand.
He suddenly also felt that keeping a small animal was quite a nice thing, because it was the only purely genuine emotion that money could buy. When he was studying abroad, he often saw homeless people on the streets with a dog by their side, and that dog would be kept clean and neat, never leaving its owner’s side, even if they slept rough, even if they didn’t have enough food. Dogs that had been petted by humans would never leave their owners.
And those abandoned ones, or those born to wander, whether disabled, disheveled, fierce, weak, or cruelly treated by humans, they constantly moved through the human world, either wagging their tails begging for mercy or baring their teeth at strangers. All these behaviors were just to get a meal of leftovers in this world that didn’t belong to them.
Compared to some humans, some animals were actually more loyal, more devoted creatures.
Wen Ran had never been able to establish relationships with strangers since childhood, but she got along very naturally with small animals. Perhaps in her world, small animals were easier to understand and communicate with.
Wen Ran noticed that Xie Yunli seemed to be watching her all along, or was he looking at Kaka in her arms?
It would be better if he was looking at Kaka. If he was looking at her… she didn’t quite know what to do.
So she spoke haltingly: “Did you… did your work… go well today? Didn’t I… delay you?”
“No.” Xie Yunli sat on the sofa next to her and said: “For me, your matters are more important than work.”
Wen Ran’s eyelashes fluttered and trembled, then lowered. “You said… if I want to… want to go out, I should tell you.”
“Mm, you did very well.” Xie Yunli nodded and said: “No matter what you want to do when you go out, remember to tell me.”
Wen Ran nodded. “I’ll remember.”
She looked really obedient like this.
Xie Yunli reached out his hand, then paused mid-air. The hand that had originally intended to touch her hair reached toward Kaka instead. “Kaka, come here.”
Before Kaka could react, Wen Ran looked down and said to Kaka: “Kaka, he’s calling you over… you go over.” She picked up Kaka’s little paw and shook it, pointing in Xie Yunli’s direction. “Go, Kaka, go.”
Kaka got up and shook its head, was lifted down from the sofa by Wen Ran, and walked toward Xie Yunli.
Although it was clear it didn’t want to leave Wen Ran’s embrace, it still gave some face.
Xie Yunli bent down to pick it up and put it on his lap, discovering that this originally skinny little thing had been fed until it had some meat on it, feeling soft to the touch.
Xie Yunli petted its head, and Kaka squinted its eyes, obediently lying on his lap and letting him pet it.
Wen Ran watched Kaka lying obediently in his arms and smiled slightly with her eyes. “Kaka… so good.”
Xie Yunli looked up at her and said: “Mm, just as good as you.”
Wen Ran bit her lip and said: “No… it’s Kaka who’s more… well-behaved.”
Xie Yunli looked at Kaka, and the corners of his lips curved up.
Kaka had originally been staying docilely in his arms, but suddenly hearing Wen Ran’s voice saying Kaka’s name, it immediately struggled to return to her side.
Xie Yunli put it on the ground, and Kaka jumped onto Wen Ran’s sofa with a whoosh.
Wen Ran giggled softly, as if happy that she had been right. Kaka really was very good, much better behaved than herself.