Chapter 59: Not a Single Person Truly Welcomed Her

Belowstairs.

Feng Jingxin ran over and told Feng Tingshen: “Dad, Mom’s already eating; she won’t come down.”

Qi Yuming raised an eyebrow.

Quite considerate.

He Zhangbai lowered his gaze and said nothing.

Lin Wu smiled faintly, unnoticed.

She knew Rong Ci wouldn’t dare come down.

After all, no one here truly welcomed her.

Even if she came down, all she’d get would be mockery and exclusion.

If that’s the case, she might as well stay upstairs and hide like a turtle.

Feng Tingshen replied, “Alright, I understand.” Then, without pressing further, he said to the others: “Don’t wait. Let’s eat.”

Hearing this, Lin Wu’s smile deepened as she sat elegantly beside Feng Tingshen.

Upstairs.

After eating, Rong Ci returned to her work.

At this moment, Yu Moxun had also arrived home.

At this point, Rong Ci had more new ideas; after explaining them to Yu Moxun, he reviewed what she sent and leapt to his feet in excitement: “Holy shit holy shit holy shit! Genius! This level of insight—you’re truly a genius in this field! I knew you could do it!”

Before Rong Ci could respond, he groaned and clutched his head: “Seven years! Seven whole years! If you hadn’t gone and gotten married, our company would’ve been world-famous by now!”

Rong Ci listened to his shouting, felt her ears ache, and pulled her phone farther away.

Yu Moxun knew this wasn’t the time to bring up unpleasant matters during such a joyful moment.

He cleared his throat and shifted to the main topic.

To accomplish something big, they couldn’t just be the two of them.

Yu Moxun immediately contacted Su Yuquan and others from the company, inviting them to join.

Su Yuquan and the others joined Changmo not to idle away their time, but to genuinely learn; after hearing Yu Moxun’s explanation, their abilities in AI still lagged far behind his and Rong Ci’s.

Though they couldn’t grasp the key insight immediately, after Yu Moxun clarified it for a while, they too became excited, didn’t mind working overtime, and joined them.

Under these circumstances, returning to the office for face-to-face discussions would’ve been ideal.

But it would take Rong Ci about two hours to get back to the office.

When inspiration strikes, you can’t stop—it might vanish forever if interrupted.

So in the end, they decided to continue with video calls.

Learning of Rong Ci’s whereabouts, Yu Moxun slipped in a question: “Are you alone in your room? Where are your husband and the others?”

“Dunno. Probably eating,” Rong Ci replied indifferently.

“Just him and his daughter?”

“Lin Wu, Qi Yuming—they’re all there.”

“They’re all there but left you alone in your room?”

“They did invite me downstairs to eat. I refused.”

“Well, at least Feng Tingshen still has some conscience.”

But Rong Ci didn’t see it that way.

She thought like Qi Yuming—that Feng Tingshen only wanted to avoid Grandma’s nagging.

Besides, even if she went down, everyone there sided with Lin Wu; they had zero reason to worry she’d “bully” her, so they had no problem letting her join them for dinner.

Rong Ci and Yu Moxun and the others worked continuously for four hours.

It was nearly dinnertime now, so they decided to take a break and resume in two hours.

Rong Ci organized today’s notes, shut down her computer, and planned to step outside for some fresh air, clear her mind, and pick two crates of apples from the hill to bring back tomorrow for Yu Moxun and the others to taste.

The hot spring shanzhuang was vast; she didn’t know where Feng Tingshen and the others were.

She hadn’t encountered them on her way down.

It wasn’t fully dark yet, so Rong Ci called two staff members to help her and headed up the hill.

The wind was chilly at this hour, but Rong Ci was bundled up and didn’t feel cold.

After walking up the hill, breathing the wind, and picking apples for a while, her mind relaxed.

Two or three crates of apples were picked quickly by so many people.

After finishing, she didn’t rush down; seeing the sunset was beautiful, she sat down to enjoy it.

At that moment, she heard footsteps and a child’s voice.

She turned her head and met He Zhangbai’s gaze.

He Zhangbai clearly hadn’t expected to see her and paused.

At that moment, the child on the video call cried out happily: “It’s Auntie!”

He Zhangbai had been video-calling Dan Dan, showing her the apple trees on the hill, promising to pick more for her tomorrow.

He hadn’t expected to run into Rong Ci climbing up.

Even though they’d met several times recently and He Zhangbai had helped her before,

Rong Ci still felt she couldn’t—and didn’t want to—grow close to He Zhangbai.

The moment she saw him, her expression turned cold.

But upon hearing Dan Dan’s voice, her expression softened slightly.

He Zhangbai noticed her expression.

He didn’t approach immediately, only asked: “Dan Dan wants to talk to you. Are you available?”

That day after leaving the sanatorium, her mood had been heavy, unbearable.

That day, though Dan Dan had wanted her to play with her, in Rong Ci’s view, it was Dan Dan who had comforted her, helping her slowly emerge from the suffocating emotion.

Thinking of this, she nodded.

He Zhangbai handed her his phone.

Knowing she disliked him, he didn’t move closer, only stood two or three meters away.

Rong Ci chatted with Dan Dan for a while, learning she’d been taken out to play by her grandmother, which was why she hadn’t come with He Zhangbai to the hot spring shanzhuang.

Rong Ci shared with Dan Dan the sunset she loved; they talked for over ten minutes before Rong Ci returned the phone to He Zhangbai.

After saying goodbye to Dan Dan, He Zhangbai said to Rong Ci: “Thank you.”

“No need.”

By now, the sky was nearly completely dark.

But there were streetlights on the hill; descending wouldn’t be difficult.

Saying that, she turned and walked down.

He Zhangbai followed her, walking down with her.

But along the way, they spoke not a word.

They reached the hot spring shanzhuang and were about to enter when they encountered Lin Wu.

Lin Wu saw them descending the hill one behind the other, froze, then pressed her lips tightly.

Rong Ci acted as if she hadn’t seen her, walking past her straight into the lobby.

Lin Wu watched her retreating back, then turned to He Zhangbai and frowned: “Zhangbai, you two…”

He Zhangbai replied coolly: “We met on the hill.”

Lin Wu knew He Zhangbai had been video-calling Dan Dan and climbed the hill to photograph the apple trees for her.

If Rong Ci was also on the hill, their encounter was perfectly normal.

Thinking this, Lin Wu relaxed and opened her mouth to say something, but He Zhangbai spoke first: “Where are they?”

“They’re by the pavilion. The barbecue ingredients are ready; they were just about to call you.”

“Mm.”

As they spoke, they walked side by side toward the pavilion.