Chapter 49: Will you forgive me?

"Hmm… pretty good-looking." Wen Ling narrowed her eyes, trying not to let the pink assault her eyes.

Chu Yao giggled, picked up the box on the vanity table, and shoved it to Wen Ling.

"This is something I custom-ordered from a designer earlier; I only received it yesterday, and I think it suits you well."

Wen Ling opened it and glanced; it was a pair of earrings inlaid with red diamonds, the red diamonds still flashing tiny specks of light even without illumination, and anyone with a bit of discernment could see they were valuable.

"Thanks, but no need." Wen Ling closed the box and handed it back.

"Although the Wen family isn't in Hua Guo, I know that if we really compare, the Chu family can't match the Wen family; you definitely don't lack these, but I just want to give them to you, so please accept them as my thanks for you saving me that day."

Chu Yao, without being so arrogant, is much cuter than before.

Wen Ling smiled slightly, took it, and softly said, "Okay, then I'll accept it."

Chu Yao happily said, "Then let me put them on you; they match your outfit today perfectly."

Wen Ling deliberately had Ya Lun style her in a more low-key fashion—a denim blue strapless gown, no earrings—and Chu Yao pressed her onto the sofa to sit, bending down to help her put them on.

This combination is quite eye-catching; Chu Yao praised, "It looks really good, indeed it suits you well."

Wen Ling chuckled lightly: "You see now I'm not angry?"

Chu Yao froze for a moment before understanding Wen Ling's meaning, then embarrassedly said, "Earlier I was just narrow-minded, plus Ruan MiaoMiao kept telling me bad things about you, so I believed it; but now I know, those thugs who bullied me had contact with Ruan MiaoMiao, although they turned out not to be her, my brother said it's definitely related to her."

Wen Ling slowly nodded, and Chu Yao cautiously asked, "Will you forgive me?"

"Why should I forgive you?" Wen Ling wondered, "You didn't do anything to me, what's up? Could it be that those rumors about me were spread by you?"

"Of course not!" Chu Yao shook her head vigorously, giggling beside Wen Ling, "Then you're willing to be good friends with me."

Wen Ling didn't know where she got that conclusion, but being friends with Chu Yao seemed not bad either.

They returned to the garden; Chu Lin doted on his sister Chu Yao, having decorated the entire garden luxuriously.

Ji Wanruo and Li WanZhen stood together; they arrived later, unaware that Chu Yao and Wen Ling were together, and whispered, "Why didn't Miss Chu invite MiaoMiao?"

"Maybe MiaoMiao's been busy lately—isn't she about to start a new drama?"

"Probably, but I always have a bad feeling."

"Me too."

Afterwards, the two realized where their bad feeling came from.

Chu Yao and Wen Ling walked over together, speaking softly, and Chu Yao even intimately linked arms with Wen Ling.

Li WanZhen frowned, "What's going on? How did Wen Ling come here?"

Ji Wanruo bit her lip, "How could Miss Chu invite her? Quickly send a message to MiaoMiao."

Li WanZhen nodded, took out her phone from her bag, and sent a message to Ruan MiaoMiao.

【MiaoMiao, today is Miss Chu's birthday—why didn't you come?】

At that moment, Ruan MiaoMiao was having dinner with Qin Lao at the Qin family residence, and she was dazed upon receiving the message.

But she couldn't tell the two she hadn't actually been invited, so she forced a reply: 【YaoYao sent me an invitation earlier, but I've been busy these days and can't go.】

Li WanZhen believed it, secretly snapped a photo of Chu Yao and Wen Ling, and sent it to Ruan MiaoMiao.

【Miss Chu also invited Wen Ling; I see they seem to be on good terms—what happened?】

Upon seeing the message, Ruan MiaoMiao sprang up, eyes wide, staring fiercely at the photo on her phone.

Qin Lao lifted his head to look at her, furrowed his brows, and asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Ruan MiaoMiao came to her senses, pulled at the corner of her mouth to force a smile, and said, "Grandpa, I might not be able to keep you company for dinner; I have something to attend to."

Qin Lao nodded and said, "Go ahead."

Ruan MiaoMiao gave Qin Lao an apologetic smile, could no longer maintain her usual composure, and strode out purposefully.

Getting into the nanny car, she urged urgently, "To the Chu family estate, quick."

The driver floored the accelerator, the car sped down the road, and Ruan MiaoMiao's heart was in turmoil.

Yesterday she rushed to the hospital to find Chu Yao, but Chu Yao gave her a cold face; this morning she sent Chu Yao many messages, yet Chu Yao didn't reply with even a punctuation mark. She had thought to go back and properly soothe her, but she hadn't expected Chu Yao not to invite her to her birthday—though that could be forgiven, as one needs a cooling-off period—but she actually invited Wen Ling.

Ruan MiaoMiao recalled meeting Wen Ling at the hospital entrance yesterday, clenched her lower lip, thought it was fine that her plan was disrupted by Wen Ling, but even Chu Yao's benefactor had become Wen Ling—how could she not hate her?

Outside the Chu family estate, countless guards stood watch; seeing Ruan MiaoMiao approach, they put on cold faces and stepped forward to block her.

"Miss, please show your invitation or leave immediately."

Ruan MiaoMiao pressed her lips and explained, "I'm a friend of your miss; you should have seen me before—I've come here before."

The guard looked her up and down; indeed she looked familiar.

"Then miss, please let me look at your invitation."

"I'm not wearing it, but I really am close with your miss." Ruan MiaoMiao's face flushed slightly.

The guard's expression turned cold, and he said flatly, "Then there's nothing we can do; you could also call our miss and have her send someone to pick you up, otherwise we wouldn't dare let you in."

Ruan MiaoMiao opened her mouth, but the guard had already turned back to his post; she had no choice but to walk back to the nanny car, pull out her phone, and call Chu Yao.

After ringing for a long time, Chu Yao finally answered with a cold "wei."

Ruan MiaoMiao complained, aggrieved, "YaoYao, why didn't you invite me for your birthday? I'm at the estate gate—can you send someone to pick me up?"

Chu Yao fell silent for a moment before saying, "Wait a bit."

Upon hearing that, Ruan MiaoMiao let out a sigh of relief.

Not long after, Chu Yao herself came out; seeing her, Ruan MiaoMiao hurried over, reaching out to take Chu Yao's hand.

Chu Yao dodged her hand, lifted her chin, and coldly said, "What are you here for?"

Ruan MiaoMiao bit her lip and said, "YaoYao, are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong? Tell me, I can explain anything."

Chu Yao glanced at her, curled her lips in mockery, and said, "I just don't want to play with fake people."

Ruan MiaoMiao froze for a moment, then stepped forward and said, "No, YaoYao, did someone tell you something? Those are lies; I truly want to be friends with you."

"Is that so? Then tell me, do you actually know those people from last night?"

"I really don't know them." Ruan MiaoMiao shook her head in denial.

Chu Yao coldly looked at her, turned and was about to go back, but Ruan MiaoMiao grabbed her hand from behind.