Chapter 104

Wen Ling lay by the pool, a strand of wet hair sticking to her pale cheek, the corners of her eyes slightly raised as she looked at the surprised Chu Yao.

"Yeah." She admitted openly.

Chu Yao, somewhat puzzled, frowned and asked, "Why?"

"What why?"

"That is, if you're being slandered outside by Ruan MiaoMiao, you could completely take another way to retaliate against her; why use your own body?"

Wen Ling chuckled lightly; she had thought Chu Yao would ask why she was scheming against Ruan MiaoMiao, but it seems she's still quite smart.

"Because——" Wen Ling slowly climbed ashore, pulled over a bathrobe and draped it over herself, smiling as she said, "To show weakness."

"Huh?" Chu Yao and the silently listening Fu Huahua were both somewhat bewildered.

"Zhou Yinhe was there that day."

"……"

All right, Chu Yao and Fu Huahua didn't know what to say, so they changed into the new swimsuits Wen Ling gave them, sat by the pool playing in the water, and enjoyed the exquisite fruit platter and wine brought by the servants.

Fu Huahua looked over and over, then praised, "This design is really great; you can even see the stars at night, and I'll do the same when I renovate my villa."

Chu Yao chimed in from the side, "When I go back, I'll also have my brother redo that part of our backyard."

Although the pool is on the basement level, its top is the backyard of Wen Ling's villa; the front ceiling is a single layer of one-way glass—at night you can admire the moon, on snowy days the snow scenery, on rainy days the rain—it's simply too enjoyable.

Wen Ling picked up her phone, directly recommended the designer team to them, and said softly, "Mentioning my name can get you moved up the queue, but they're usually running all over the world, so book early."

The two lowered their heads, picked up their phones, glanced at them, and found that the other party's profile belonged to a woman; the avatar should be her own photo, bright and glamorous with fiery red lips.

"What a beautiful big sister, Ah Ling, are you familiar with her?"

Wen Ling tilted her head, feigning thought, and laughed out loud under the two's gossipy expressions.

"I'm familiar; I basically grew up following behind her." Wen Ling placed her highball glass on the round table, "Her family is also an overseas Chinese family in M Country, a few years older than me. When I was little, I didn't like the looks of foreigners, so I often followed her around to play. At first she found me annoying, but later she had no choice but to bring me along."

"But now she's constantly traveling the world, making it hard to meet." Wen Ling felt a bit regretful, recalling that she hadn't called her in a long time, and decided she would definitely call her tomorrow.

Chu Yao propped her chin, sighed, "Why don't I have a childhood friend like that? Everyone around me is like Fu Huahua—aside from playing and chasing stars, they know nothing about anything else."

"Hey," Fu Huahua reached out to pinch her face, annoyed, "You still dislike me, and I still dislike you."

The two were horsing around and ended up falling into the water together; Wen Ling stood by the pool, reaching out her hand to them, as if to pull them ashore.

The two exchanged a secret glance, and the neural pathways formed since childhood connected once again; they both grabbed Wen Ling's hand and pulled her into the water.

Wen Ling fell into the water unexpectedly; fortunately she reacted quickly and held her breath, otherwise she would have really choked.

After surfacing, she coughed wildly; Chu Yao and Fu Huahua panicked, patting her back while apologizing guiltily.

"Ah Ling, are you okay? Sorry, sorry, it's all our fault for being clumsy."

"I'll go call a doctor."

Seeing both of their eyes red, Wen Ling stopped coughing, gave each a flick on the forehead, and said amusedly, "Just messing with you guys."

The two stared for a moment, then relaxed, flung themselves into Wen Ling's embrace, and murmured, "Thank goodness you're alright."

Wen Ling rubbed their heads, then Aunt Zhou came out of the elevator, saw the three playing in the water, and smiled, "Dinner's ready; go take a shower first, then come eat later."

The two had just been frightened badly, and at this point were still not fully recovered; obediently, they followed Aunt Zhou to take a shower.

After getting ashore, Wen Ling lay on the lounge chair, lowered her gaze to look at the messages on her phone.

Lu Zhaoye knew she had returned, but since she came back to M Country he had never called or messaged her.

It seemed to start from when Zhou Yinhe was injured; she hadn't gone to find him to have breakfast together.

Wen Ling frowned, scrolled through the chat log, and still called Lu Zhaoye; perhaps other things didn't matter, but Lu Zhaoye was her childhood friend who grew up with her, someone very important in her heart, and based on that she was willing to take the initiative to contact him and reconcile.

After Lu Zhaoye answered, Wen Ling heard a chaotic noise from the other end.

"Where did you go? Why is it so noisy?"

Unlike the previous bar or other entertainment venues, this time the noise was mixed with dialect, and Wen Ling really couldn't understand what the people there were saying.

Lu Zhaoye replied in a sarcastic tone, "What? You won't keep me company, so I can't find a place to play by myself?"

"No, Lu Zhaoye, are you a kid? Still throwing a tantrum." Wen Ling furrowed her brows and explained, "I've told you before, Zhou Yinhe is genuinely injured; after he recovers I'll go back to see my grandfather—how am I supposed to keep you company?"

"I know." Lu Zhaoye drawled, "I've also heard about the incident where you almost had an accident in M Country."

"Then you're still acting like a child." Even though Lu Zhaoye wasn't in front of her, Wen Ling still rolled her eyes.

"No, I'm in Mountain City right now; I've heard there's a lot of good food here, so I'll come try some, and we'll talk more when I get back." As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Zhaoye hung up.

Wen Ling helplessly tugged at the corner of her mouth, got up, and went to take a shower.

While the three were eating, Aunt Zhou returned to the next room; Wen Ling had wanted to keep her, but she insisted on the principle that servants and the host family cannot dine at the same table and refused.

The dedicated butler and dedicated nanny are also servants.

Thus, in the huge villa only the three of them and a cat remained—or rather, only the cat that Chu Yao and Fu Huahua had seen darting away.

Wen Ling didn't hide anything either; after asking if the two could drink alcohol, she directly opened a bottle of red wine for each of them, poured it into decanters, and told them not to stand on ceremony.

"???" The two looked astonished.

Wen Ling raised an eyebrow and said, "What's there to be surprised about? Don't tell me your alcohol tolerance is that poor."

"Even if it's not bad, you can't drink like this……"

But the two obediently dragged the decanters in front of themselves.

In the end, both were a bit drowsy from drinking, while Wen Ling remained somewhat sober, propping her chin as she watched the two nod their heads like chicks pecking at grain.

As Zhou Yinhe just entered the door, he caught a faint scent of wine.

He frowned as he walked into the living room, turned his head, and saw the three seated in the dining room.

His face instantly sank, he strode forward, and asked Wen Ling, "Why are they here? Have them leave."

He was rather disdainful; Wen Ling slowly rose, walked over to Zhou Yinhe, pressed herself into his embrace, and slurringly said, "I'm so sleepy, help me take them to the guest room to stay the night."

Zhou Yinhe held her tight, glanced at the time, called the neighboring building, and shortly afterward a few servants arrived, carefully helping them to the rooms.

Having Zhou Yinhe help them? Dream on.