Chapter 38 Chapter 38 Wen Yu, Come Out

Wen Yu fled back to her room, the door slamming shut behind her. She rushed to the bathroom, and saw herself in the mirror, looking truly disheveled. Her eye makeup was smudged from crying, her nose was red, and her lipstick had been bitten off, leaving a smear on her cheek.

She looked like a pathetic clown.

Wen Yu was still shaking as she stood at the sink. She was stunned, disappointed, and deeply saddened. Pan Xianchen had clearly said he wouldn't get involved in a threesome. He had clearly mocked and insulted her when they broke up, fully expressing his disgust and hatred for her. So what had he done just then? Knowing she had a fiancé, and while she was on the phone with him, he had torn her hypocritical facade like that? Humiliating her with physical pressure?

If this is the case, Pan Xianchen's goal has been achieved.

Although Wen Yu has now escaped from the scene where she was clamped and unable to move, the shame of being stripped naked and exposing her body and heart to others still surrounds her.

That's what male power can do when it unleashes. Wen Yu didn't even dare to think about it. If Pan Xianchen had completely lost his mind, would she have been stripped naked and crawled at his feet? Now she was hiding in the bathroom of her room, clearly safe, but her heart was still beating wildly, as if it would burst out of her body and shatter to the ground at any moment.

Unease, panic, and dread still raged through her body. Before, she might have harbored some unspoken fantasies about Pan Xianchen—admiration for his work ethic, yearning for his personal charm, even the cruder, more direct sexual attraction between men and women. But now, she dared not think of anything else. The powerlessness she felt when being coerced, the weakness of being unable to resist despite her best efforts, made her realize the gap between her and him.

An elephant can easily crush an ant to death. Wasn't she just like an ant that could be crushed to death by Pan Xianchen at any time?

The faucet in the sink gurgled, the rushing sound the only noise in the room, seemingly calming Wen Yu's inner turmoil. She undressed and showered again. She definitely wouldn't go to the banquet hall tonight. The hot water bathed her trembling body, and afterward, she calmed down a bit. A single bedside lamp remained on, its dim glow giving her a sense of security. She lay down on the bed, wrapped in the quilt.

The doorbell rang at this time, followed by Pan Xianchen's voice: "Wen Yu, come out."

Why is he still here?

Wen Yu covered his head with a quilt and pretended to be dead.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Pan Xianchen's voice was not as scary as it was in her ear just now, separated by a door.

Wen Yu didn't reply. A moment later, her phone rang. She saw Pan Xianchen's name on the screen and, without a second thought, hung up. Pan Xianchen knew she was in the room; he'd heard the ringing. Fearing he'd persist in blocking the door, Wen Yu replied on WeChat: "I don't want to see you right now."

There was no movement outside the door.

Wen Yu pricked up her ears and listened carefully. Pan Xianchen seemed to have left. She breathed a sigh of relief and sat up in bed, her messy hair draped over her shoulders. Her stomach rumbled. Soon, the doorbell rang again, and an unfamiliar voice rang from outside: "Ms. Wen Yu, Room 301, a gentleman has ordered food for you. Please come out and take it."

At the same time, Pan Xianchen also sent a WeChat message: Eat your meal, otherwise I will come to find you.

Wen Yu climbed out of bed and opened the door to receive the meal. Dinner was packed tightly in an insulated box, the packaging bearing the Garden Restaurant's logo. Wen Yu laid out the dishes on the table: Dongpo pork, grilled lamb ribs, beef short ribs with onions, chopped pepper fish head... At the bottom of each box, a note was attached. Pan Xianchen had written on it: "I'm sorry."

Wen Yu was very hungry now, and she quickly finished her dinner. She sat in the chair for a while, lost in thought, then picked up the note and looked at it for a while.

They should have finished their meal in the banquet hall by now, as it was past seven in the evening. Many people had eaten and drunk their fill and headed to the beach, while others strolled along the coastal path to digest their food. Now was the perfect time to enjoy the night breeze. Wen Yu stood up and opened the window in front of her a crack, letting in a breeze. She sank back into her chair, enjoying the breeze and letting her mind wander.

Ye Yinuo sent her a WeChat message and took a photo of himself walking by the lake. In the photo, Ye Yinuo was wearing headphones and smiling with his big white teeth.

Qianjin: You are at the seaside, I am at the lake. Cheers to our friendship.jpg

Qianjin: Walking by the lake is nice too! I can still hear my brother's beautiful singing.

Qianjin: What about you? Did you go fishing today?

Wen Xiaoyu: It’s down.

Qianjin: How was it? Did you have fun?

Wen Xiaoyu: Not very happy...

Ye Yinuo didn't reply to the WeChat message, but called her directly: "What's wrong, my Yubao?"

Wen Yu didn't know why, but at this moment, hearing Ye Yinuo's familiar voice, she suddenly felt like crying. She had just rushed back, washed herself in the shower, hidden under the quilt, and eaten alone... During all these moments, she hadn't cried. Wen Yu was considering whether to tell Ye Yinuo what was in her heart.

She had been holding back her thoughts for too long, and she had never told anyone her stories.

Ye Yinuo began to urge her: "Hello, hello, hello? Is the signal bad at the beach? Call Yubao, call Yubao!"

Wen Yu said: "I'm here, I'm just thinking about something..."

"What are you thinking about? Tell me!"

“…”

Wen Yu hesitated for a moment. In this special place, on this special night, she briefly recounted to Ye Yinuo what had happened in the past few days. This undoubtedly involved exposing some of her own private matters, such as Wen Yu's. But she deliberately ignored the issues surrounding her parents. Her mother was sensitive and stressed about this, and Wen Yu didn't want to expose her mother's wounds to others.

After hearing this, Ye Yinuo was silent for a long time, so long that Wen Yu began to worry that Ye Yinuo would conclude that she was a bad woman with questionable moral character and thus distance herself from her.

Wen Yu spoke cautiously: "Hello, hello? Is the signal bad near the lake?"

Ye Yinuo said: "No... I just suddenly ate a big melon and now I have a little indigestion..."

Wen Yu didn't interrupt her, quietly waiting by the phone. After a while, Ye Yinuo digested the situation and began to summarize, "The current situation is: you and Mr. Pan have already broken up, but now Mr. Pan seems to have changed his mind and wants to rekindle his relationship with you, and you are caught between Mr. Pan and your fiancé, feeling very awkward."

Wen Yu: "...I didn't say anything about rekindling our past relationship, and I'm not really embarrassed..."

How can the class representative be so good at summarizing things? You've been in the fan circle for too long. No wonder there are so many true and false gossips in the entertainment industry. It's all because of you people making random summaries.

Ye Yinuo would not allow others to question her reasoning about the relationship between the male and female protagonists, and angrily said: "Boss Pan pressed you against the wall and forcefully kissed you. Isn't this trying to rekindle the past relationship?!"

Wen Yu: “…”

"You're acting in an idol drama at the beach! I'm at the lake and can only listen to my brother's voice through headphones!"

“…”

What's going on? The sentimental atmosphere is gone...

Ye Yinuo continued, "It's actually very simple. You can choose one of the two men. Do you like your fiancé?"

"dislike."

"Why get engaged or married if you don't like each other?" Ye Yinuo said angrily, "Just go tell your parents you want to cancel the engagement now!"

“…”

Wen Yu didn't know how to respond. Since she hadn't mentioned her parents, she couldn't explain her own difficulties to Ye Yinuo. It's easy to make suggestions, but implementing them requires considering various practical factors. Sometimes, complex situations and relationships can make good suggestions difficult to implement.

"For some reasons, I may not be able to ask my parents to cancel the engagement."

"What about Mr. Pan? You don't want the male lead anymore?"

"...I don't know." Wen Yu said, "Do you think I'm a very indecisive person?"

Ye Yinuo sighed and said, "You can't jump to conclusions like that. I think I understand you. Everyone has their own difficulties. You may have thought about the suggestions I'm giving you a long time ago, but it's not that easy to do. Just like my brother, he's been exploited by the agency for so long, he must have thought about terminating the contract a long time ago, but now he has no choice but to work like a slave for the capital."

Wen Yu said: "Thank you for your understanding."

Although the matter was not resolved at all, her mood was not so bad anymore.

Ye Yinuo said regretfully: "Ah, actually I hope you and Mr. Pan are together. I have even thought of a couple name for you two."

Wen Yu: “…”

"But if you fail, I will just stay in my own area and never disturb the real owner." Ye Yinuo said tolerantly.

“…”

"No matter what the result is, I'm on your side." Ye Yinuo said, "Wen Xiaoyu, I'm your family."

After the call ended, Wen Yu fell asleep quickly. Ye Yinuo later said sternly, "Wen Xiaoyu, I've known you for so long. Besides my parents, you're the one I spend the most time with. Don't I know who you are?! Don't overthink it. What's moral or immoral? Xiao Zheng is so immoral, but he's still alive and well! Don't be upset!" Ye Yinuo was Wen Yu's best comfort tonight.

A dreamless night. Waking up to another sunny day. The next few days were much the same as the first. Wen Yu, laptop in hand, shuttled between the lecture hall and her room. Except during lectures, she studiously avoided Pan Xianchen. During the last two days, she didn't even see him at the resort. By eavesdropping on her colleagues, Wen Yu learned that some instructors who weren't scheduled to give lectures had returned to the group, including Pan Xianchen.

The training is finally over.

Wen Yu took the bus back to the unit. She first reported her learning results to Peng Yan. Peng Yan gave her a few pointers and she returned to her workstation. Then Ye Yinuo came to find her in the tea area. The two hadn't seen each other for many days, and because they told each other private things on the phone, they seemed to be closer.

Wen Yu took out some specialties from the seaside and gave them to Ye Yinuo, saying, "I bought them especially for you."

Ye Yinuo took it without hesitation and said, "You bought too little. Remember to buy more next time. This, this, and this, I love them all."

Wen Yu smiled and said, "Next time I'll send it back to you by Huolala."

They each made coffee in the tea area and leaned against each other. Wen Yu stirred the coffee with a small spoon and asked, "How have you been lately? Without me, do you have anyone to eat lunch with?"

Ye Yinuo said, "Tsk, it's different eating with different people every day. But, I'm really bored without you in the office. I'm getting less and less interested in this job. The salary is so little, it's barely enough to fill my stomach."

Wen Yu advised her: "Why don't you take the exam to get a formal job? Temporary workers have been doing this all the time, wasting your time."

Ye Yinuo shook her hands, not wanting to talk about this topic. She had always been afraid of exams. She took a sip of coffee and accidentally got burned. She slurred her lips and said to Wen Yu, "Hey, after that forced kiss last time, have you and Mr. Pan had any follow-up? Mr. Pan seemed to have come back two days earlier than you. I feel like he's in a bad mood. He scolds people in the office every day. It's obviously just a small mistake, is it worth him getting so angry? I don't even dare to go near his office. I feel like he would call a passing dog in and yell at him."

Wen Yu said: "No, didn't I just come back? I haven't seen him for several days."

"Where's WeChat?" Ye Yinuo pointed at his phone.

Wen Yu shook his head: "I haven't talked about it."

"You haven't said a word yet, have you?"

"Um."

Ye Yinuo suddenly realized: "Is he so irritable every day..."

Someone came over to the tea area, and Ye Yinuo immediately shut up. Wen Yu and she walked out one after another.

It was almost time to get off work in the afternoon, and Wen Yu, as usual, packed up her things and prepared to leave as soon as her time came. There was a knock on the office door, and Wen Yu looked over, surprised to see it was her mother. In all her years at Wen Yu's office, Yu Xianyun had only visited her once: she and a friend had picked a large batch of bayberries that morning, and then she came to Wen Yu's office that afternoon to distribute them. Her colleagues were delighted and ate with gusto.

But later, her boss gently reminded her not to let family members into the office to offer warmth, as it ruined the work atmosphere. Eating, drinking, chatting, and laughing in the office was inappropriate. At the time, the supervisor in charge wasn't Pan Xianchen yet, so Wen Yu nodded in agreement. She told her mother about it when she got home, and she never came to her office again.

Why did she come here suddenly today? Wen Yu looked at her mother. She came empty-handed, carrying only a handbag.

Wen Yu went up to her mother and asked why she was there. She said she was there to pick her up from work. Wen Yu didn't believe it. She had been going to and from school independently since third grade, and had lived on campus throughout middle and high school. Her mother hadn't picked her up in centuries.

Wen Yu said, "I drove my own car. Are you coming with another one?"

Mom said, "Of course not. I took a taxi here just to pick you up."

Wen Yu:?

Listen, does this make sense?

It was time to get off work. Wen Yu took her mother out of the office to wait for the elevator. Wen Yu said jokingly, "How are you going to pick me up if you don't have a car? You still have to take my car back."

Mom said, "You should take your car. I'm here to pick you up and take you to the bridal shop. Wen Yu said he called to discuss it with you, and you didn't have any ideas. So let Mom decide for you! I've already screened a few bridal shops for you, so just go and try them on."

Wen Yu's face, which had just been smiling, suddenly turned gloomy. She didn't expect that Wen Yu would collude with her mother to force the issue.

There were other people waiting for the elevator next to him. Wen Yu lowered his voice and said, "Why didn't you tell me in advance? You always act first and ask for permission later."

My mother didn't care: "Don't say anything more. Wen Yu is already waiting for you in the bridal shop. Hurry up. The elevator is here."

Yu Xianyun walked into the elevator first, and Wen Yu followed behind her. As soon as she turned around, she met two other people outside the elevator.

Wen Yu recognized Pan Xianchen's assistant, Xiaobai, as the person standing next to him. They were waiting for the elevator to go up.

Wen Yu's heart skipped a beat when she met Pan Xianchen's ambiguous gaze.

Did he hear it?