After lunch, Aunt Zhu had to leave.
Since Wen Ran insisted on staying by herself for a while, Aunt Zhu couldn’t dissuade her and could only leave first.
“Don’t worry, this afternoon… I’ll be in my room, painting. I won’t go anywhere. Kaka, Kaka will keep me company.”
Wen Ran said to her very seriously: “Don’t want him to come. This afternoon, let him work. Don’t let him come.”
Only after countless reminders and instructions did Aunt Zhu reluctantly leave.
Wen Ran returned to her room and picked up Kaka, saying to the dog: “Kaka, don’t worry… I’ll take good care of you. We can do this.”
However, facing the empty villa, she still zoned out in bewilderment.
Kaka whimpered and circled around her a few times, then walked to the platform where the piano sat and lay down.
In a trance, Wen Ran seemed to see a gentle, beautiful woman sitting at the piano, with an elderly, fluffy golden retriever by her legs.
It was that golden retriever who had already left her, and her mother who had also already left her.
“Mom…”
Wen Ran murmured softly to the empty air: “Kaka…”
Puppy Kaka, hearing her call that name, immediately got up and walked toward her, wagging its tail.
“I have… another Kaka now. I love it very much, but…”
Wen Ran murmured: “I still… miss you both so much…”
Although Wen Ran had repeatedly assured she’d be fine, Aunt Zhu ultimately couldn’t feel at ease. Not long after leaving, she called Xie Yunli.
“This child is afraid you’ll neglect your work to care for her, so she insisted I wait before telling you.” Aunt Zhu sighed. “You know, she’s never worked. Except for when she was in school, she’s rarely been exposed to outside environments. Since childhood, Ranran has often heard her father say work was very busy, that he had no time to accompany her. So even though she has emotional needs from her father, she never speaks up. I always feel that she actually very much hopes you’ll come see her, but she’s also afraid of delaying your work, thinking you’re like her father, prioritizing work above all else, with no time to come over…”
In truth, what man spent twenty-four hours buried in work?
In the end, it was simply not loving enough.
If Wen Ran were an excellent and normal child, would her father always use this kind of excuse to avoid spending time with her?
Wen Ran’s father had once been an executive at a publicly traded company, supposedly a top student back in his day.
Such a father who’d been excellent since childhood should naturally have had an excellent daughter, but Wen Ran’s condition was obviously something this father, who prided himself on superior genes, couldn’t tolerate.
And this intense sense of disappointment only grew larger as Wen Ran grew up, until finally reaching the point of wanting to abandon her completely.
When she learned her father had completely left her, what did Wen Ran think?
Would she feel sad and hurt, or would she think her father was just, like before, busy with his own affairs?
But one thing was certain: Wen Ran definitely never hated her father.
Because hatred didn’t exist in her world.
Also, when she thought of her husband, what would she think?
Two years and three months. The number of times he’d come home to see her could be counted on one hand. She probably never blamed him, as if whether he came home or not was equally acceptable.
But in truth, during those two years he’d countless times driven alone to the villa district, stopping to gaze from afar at that window in her room.
Afraid of frightening her, afraid she’d feel uncomfortable, afraid she’d regret accepting his proposal, afraid of the increasingly panicked and uneasy look in her eyes when she saw him.
Only when she truly needed him did he have the right to step through that villa’s door.
…
Seeing it was already six o’clock, Zhou Wei knocked and entered to ask: “Mr. Xie, do you need me to order dinner for you?”
“I’m leaving early today. You can clock out too.”
Zhou Wei: “Are you going home?”
The words “going home” were actually quite a novel phrase for Xie Yunli.
His parents and relatives weren’t in this city, and he’d always lived alone in a nearby apartment.
But Zhou Wei clearly no longer found this strange. At this hour, where Xie Yunli was going had to be the villa where Miss Wen Ran lived.
Xie Yunli said flatly: “Aunt Zhu took leave. I’m going to stay there for a few days.”
Zhou Wei immediately grew excited: “Really?”
Xie Yunli paused in packing up his computer. “Why are you so excited?”
Zhou Wei coughed twice. “I’m happy, Mr. Xie.”
“And why are you so happy?”
Xie Yunli asked with a half-smile.
Because this meant their boss could finally have further contact and development with Ms. Wen Ran!
And he might also have another chance to see the gentle, lovely Ms. Wen Ran and adorable little Kaka!
Of course, Zhou Wei didn’t dare say these two reasons out loud, nor had he told anyone that he’d officially become a CP fan of Xie Yunli and Wen Ran’s couple, or rather, a fan of their marriage.
However, with these two living separately like this, he was very worried they’d grow increasingly distant, slowly returning to how things used to be when they wouldn’t see each other for months.
Zhou Wei said sincerely: “I just feel that your apartment is too cold and cheerless. It’s better to go home more often. I think Ms. Wen Ran needs your company too.”
He’d once helped Xie Yunli retrieve things from the apartment. Xie Yunli’s apartment, to be honest, he couldn’t bear to look at.
Not because it was messy, nor because it was too small.
In fact, the space was ample and clean. It was just too cold and cheerless. Aside from necessary household items, there were no extra decorations at all. It looked just like a showroom.
And Xie Yunli had lived there for many years, yet could still maintain it in that state.
This showed just how clean and monotonous his private life was.
Zhou Wei said eagerly: “Do you need me to drive you, Mr. Xie? You’ll probably need to bring some luggage. Let me drive you.”
He scratched his head, saying somewhat embarrassedly: “I’ve been missing Kaka too. Ever since we went to the rescue center to pick up Kaka last time, I’ve also wanted to raise a puppy. It would be so nice.”
That day when Liang Zeqi brought the little Labrador he’d bought to the company, it had also received love from all the employees. Those fluffy little animals were really adorable.
“Alright, you drive.”
Xie Yunli tossed him the car keys.
Six-thirty should be just when she finished painting. Would she be reading, or downstairs playing with Kaka?
Zhou Wei parked the car, got out and went to the trunk to get things. Xie Yunli had not only brought his suitcase, but also brought a gift for Wen Ran.
However, just as the two of them walked into the courtyard, Xie Yunli stopped and turned to Zhou Wei: “Wait in the courtyard for now. Don’t make any noise.”
Zhou Wei also heard the sounds from inside. He nodded and went to sit on a chair in the courtyard.
Xie Yunli entered the password lock and went in, gently closing the door behind him.
As the door opened, the piano music that had been enclosed inside the room poured out like a tide.
Zhou Wei thought Wen Ran was watching TV, which was why Xie Yunli didn’t want him to disturb her.
But actually, Xie Yunli knew she was playing the piano.
He’d always known Wen Ran could play piano, and knew that any sound might disturb her, but musical instruments were an exception.
That piano in the middle of the living room had been moved from her original home. She’d rarely touched it after her mother passed away, so he’d never heard her play.
So he also hadn’t expected that Wen Ran playing piano… would look like this.
She sat so quietly before the piano, her long hair draped gently over her, her back ramrod straight, her pale face serene and beautiful as always.
But the melody flowing from those slender hands was an almost frantically passionate piece.
Those wild notes flowing freely from her fingertips surrounded her, clashing and intertwining with the stable, tranquil aura about her person, yet miraculously merging together. It was as if even the air trembled with the melody from her fingertips.
That indescribable shock and profound emotion made Xie Yunli’s entire heart tighten. Even the skin on his body gradually went numb. His hands had at some point clenched into fists, his gaze fixed immovably on her, unable to look away for even a moment.
This was a Wen Ran he’d never seen before, and the most wondrous and shocking piano music he’d never heard.
Until beads of sweat began forming on her forehead, the melody from her fingertips gradually became gentler, as if after a wild revelry gradually fading into dreaminess. That tranquil, quiet atmosphere once again slowly flowed through the air.
Yet the expression on her face remained completely unchanged, as if no matter what kind of melody it was, for her it was simply something naturally pouring forth from her fingers, part of her soul.
Kaka had originally been somewhat alert to the visitor, but seeing it was Xie Yunli, lay back down not far from the piano, accompanying Wen Ran as she played.
He didn’t know how much time had passed. His entire body had gone completely numb, and she had also stopped playing, sitting dazedly by the piano.
Sweat slowly trickled down her cheeks. She seemed immersed in her own world, completely unaware of everything around her.
“…Wen Ran.”
As soon as Xie Yunli spoke, he realized his voice had become somewhat hoarse.
But Wen Ran still hadn’t noticed. He couldn’t help but step forward and call her name again. Even Kaka ran to her legs and gently nuzzled her before she finally started slightly and looked up to see Xie Yunli.
Her gaze was still dazed: “Xie… Yunli.”
Xie Yunli walked to her side, bent down and half-knelt before her, gently holding her hand.
He didn’t know if it was because she’d just finished playing, but her hand was still faintly trembling.
She lowered her eyes, as if wanting to avoid his gaze, but her pupils flickered slightly, and she still cautiously raised her eyes to look at him.
“I’m very sorry for disturbing you while you were playing.”
As if afraid of frightening her, even his voice was somewhat suppressed. “But I think you should rest now. Are you feeling very tired?”
Wen Ran sluggishly nodded. “A little… tired.”
Even piano pieces she hadn’t played in years came from her hands without the slightest error, just as she would never forget every detail of her mother playing, nor her father’s disappointed and embarrassed expression when he had her perform for strangers.
That was part of her memory. She wouldn’t forget it, and couldn’t forget it.
She felt very sad, but didn’t feel like crying.
Most of the time, she didn’t know how to express her sadness. Even playing the piano couldn’t offset the pain those memories brought her.
However, when she heard Xie Yunli ask in that hoarse voice if she was tired, she suddenly felt like crying.
She said she was a little tired, then cautiously looked into his eyes.
In his gaze, there was no blame, no disappointment, no expectation of any result, only a kind of… feeling as if he could encompass everything.
Just like how Aunt Zhu looked at her, and like how her mother had looked at her before she died.
The Xie Yunli before her seemed to never make any demands of her, as if no matter what she did or what mistakes she made, he wouldn’t feel anything was wrong, nor would he blame her.
“Go upstairs and rest for a bit. I’ll prepare dinner for you, okay?”
Wen Ran nodded and hummed in agreement. Then she hesitated, looking outside at the sky.
It had already grown dark. She’d once again lost track of time, breaking her established daily routine.
If Xie Yunli hadn’t come, she might have remained in a daze until very late without snapping out of it.
She stared blankly at Xie Yunli’s chin. Her eyes trembled, and she finally cautiously raised her head to meet his eyes.
It was Xie Yunli, not her imagination.
The person before her was Xie Yunli.
“Did you come… to keep me company?”