Chapter 51: I

When she heard Lin Wu answered the call, Rong Ci wasn’t surprised.

After all, Feng Tingshen and she were already so intimate, as if one.

What was wrong with her answering his call?

She spoke calmly: “I’m looking for Feng Tingshen.”

Lin Wu also knew the caller was Rong Ci.

She coldly said: “He’s showering. You can tell me if it’s urgent.”

Tell her?

This matter does concern her.

The man her uncle saw in the neighborhood was indeed Lin Wu’s aunt, but the buyer of that villa might be Lin Lihai.

He bought the villa likely to honor Lin Wu’s grandmother—his current mother-in-law.

So if she told Lin Wu, would she prevent her grandmother and uncle’s family from moving into that villa?

No, she wouldn’t.

Moreover, she didn’t believe Lin Wu didn’t know her uncle’s family planned to move into the house opposite her uncle’s.

So if she told Lin Wu, it would be useless—and backfire.

Rong Ci said nothing. She hung up directly.

More than an hour passed, yet she still hadn’t received Feng Tingshen’s call.

She didn’t know whether Lin Wu had failed to tell him she’d called, or whether he simply didn’t want to call her back.

To her, it made no difference anymore.

She calmly dialed him again.

But this time, Feng Tingshen’s phone was switched off—unreachable.

Rong Ci gripped her phone tighter.

After a moment, she calmed herself and called Feng Tingshen’s butler: “Are they home?”

The butler: “No. Why?”

“Nothing.”

That night, Rong Ci didn’t sleep well.

The next morning, after nine, she called Feng Tingshen again.

This time, it connected.

But was immediately hung up.

Rong Ci didn’t know whether Lin Wu or Feng Tingshen had ended the call.

She didn’t want to investigate.

She picked up her phone and bag and left.

Soon after, she returned to Feng Tingshen’s villa.

The butler smiled: “Madam’s back?”

Rong Ci: “Mm.”

“Will Madam have lunch here? I’ll have someone prepare it.”

“Thank you.”

Rong Ci went upstairs. When she reached the second floor, she paused, then entered the master bedroom.

She set down her bag and sat on the edge of the bed.

The master bedroom remained unchanged—everything as before—but all the skincare products she’d left behind for Feng Jingxin had been returned here.

Not only that, the clothes she’d changed out of were also returned to the walk-in closet, hung right beside Feng Tingshen’s.

It all looked as if she’d never left.

She didn’t call Feng Tingshen again.

Feng Tingshen never called her back.

She ate dinner alone.

She had considered asking Feng Lao Tai for help.

But if she stirred the old lady, matters might spiral out of control.

Besides, although Feng Tingshen respected the old lady, whether he listened was entirely up to him.

After dinner, she turned on her computer and returned to her work.

Night deepened.

Just as she thought Feng Tingshen and Feng Jingxin wouldn’t return tonight, the sound of a car outside finally broke the silence.

Feng Jingxin got out and spotted Rong Ci’s car: “Oh? It’s Mama’s car, Papa—Mama’s home!”

“Mm.”

Feng Tingshen glanced at Rong Ci’s car, then entered with Feng Jingxin.

Feng Jingxin asked the butler who greeted them: “Where’s my mother?”

“Madam is upstairs.”

“Great!”

Feng Jingxin ran upstairs, her footsteps light and quick.

Rong Ci had just shut down her computer and gathered her things. As she stepped out of the master bedroom, Feng Jingxin flung herself into her arms: “Mama!”

“Mm.” Rong Ci merely touched the top of her hair, not embracing her.

Feng Jingxin didn’t notice. She chattered happily, when Feng Tingshen arrived upstairs. Rong Ci heard footsteps, looked up—and their eyes met.

Feng Tingshen’s face was expressionless; Rong Ci’s was calm. She told Feng Jingxin: “Let Liu Shen wash you. Mama needs to talk to Papa.”

Feng Tingshen stopped walking.

Feng Jingxin had been out for two days and was in high spirits. Though reluctant, she said nothing and returned to her room for Liu Shen to bathe her.

Rong Ci looked at Feng Tingshen, leaning against the wall, absorbed in his phone, and said: “Shall we talk in the room?”

“Mm.”

Rong Ci entered first. As Feng Tingshen stepped in, she said: “Close the door.”

She feared if they argued, it might wake Feng Jingxin.

Though they’d been married for years and their relationship was strained, they’d never quarreled.

Feng Tingshen had never even bothered to speak to her, let alone argue.

As for her—

She treasured every moment with him.

She couldn’t bear to fight with him.

Feng Tingshen shut the door casually, then looked at her: “What do you want to discuss?”

Rong Ci spoke plainly: “Lin Wu’s uncle’s family bought the villa across from my uncle’s. They’ve been renovating for a while—they’ll move in soon.”

Lin Wu’s mother’s surname was Sun, Sun Yueqing.

But the feud between the Rong and Sun families didn’t begin with Sun Yueqing and Rong Yingsheng.

It began when their mothers—Rong Ci’s grandmother and Lin Wu’s grandmother—were young.

They were close friends.

But Lin Wu’s grandmother married poorly and lived in hardship.

Rong Ci’s grandmother often helped her. Later, their daughters—Sun Yueqing and Rong Yingsheng—became close friends too.

The Lin and Rong families were well-matched.

Lin Lihai and Rong Yingsheng fell in love freely and were happy at first—but after Sun Yueqing returned from university, everything slowly changed…

To elevate Sun Yueqing, Lin Wu’s grandmother’s family had long since broken ties with Rong Ci’s grandmother.

Over the years, whenever they met, the Sun family treated her uncle and grandmother with condescension, utterly devoid of the humility and sincerity they’d shown when begging Rong Ci’s grandmother for shelter.

Rong, Lin, and Sun families’ entanglements—even if I don’t detail them now, I believe Feng Tingshen knows them well.

So I believe, once I say this much, he should—

Feng Tingshen did know.

He understood Rong Ci’s meaning.

He took out a cigarette, paused before lighting it, and asked: “Do you mind?”

Rong Ci shook her head.

As he lit the cigarette, he said: “You want me to make them move out?”

“Yes.”

Feng Tingshen took a drag, then remained silent.

This mattered deeply to her.

For other matters, she could ignore them—but not this one.

She clenched her fist, eyes reddening, and looked at him: “I’m begging you. If you agree, I’ll accept any condition—”

Before she finished, she suddenly heard him say:

“Fine.”

She froze.

She hadn’t expected him to agree so readily.