Chapter 84: Did your mom scold you? My mom wouldn't scold me like that...

Hearing Lou Lan's exclamation, Wen Min rushed in without thinking and asked, "What's wrong?"

Shen Yuqiu felt as if his heart was being torn apart by a thousand sharp blades, the pain unbearable. He clutched his chest, almost suffocating from the pain. Suddenly, Wen Min appeared before him. As if grasping at a lifeline, he wrapped his arms around Wen Min's waist and hugged her tightly, burying his face in her chest, trembling and sobbing.

Lou Lan suddenly realized something, sighed softly, and silently walked out of the tea room, closing the door behind her to leave the two of them alone.

When Shen Yuqiu first started asking Lou Lan about her life, Wen Min was already standing outside the tea room. To this day, Shen Yuqiu has not explained to her why he suddenly broke up with her back then. She really can't understand why Shen Yuqiu cares about her current life, or why he is so inexplicably heartbroken.

Wen Min let Shen Yuqiu hold her. As Shen Yuqiu's emotions gradually calmed down, Wen Min felt that her sweater was soaked with his tears. She gently patted the head of the person in her arms, "Why do you keep crying?"

Shen Yuqiu choked back tears, saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't know that was your father. I thought... It's all my fault, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have..."

Wen Min asked calmly, "You went to France to see me on my birthday?"

Shen Yuqiu: "Mm."

Wen Min: "Didn't you say you couldn't get a French visa slot?"

Shen Yuqiu: "Later I managed to snag it, and since your birthday is coming up, I thought I'd surprise you by going to France for your birthday, so I didn't tell you."

Wen Min: "Didn't I already celebrate my birthday with you in England?"

Shen Yuqiu said, "You always said the red roses I gave you when I confessed my feelings weren't pretty, so I decided to give you a prettier bouquet for your birthday. I asked female classmates from over a dozen countries to help me choose the most beautiful bouquet, and then I ordered it from a florist."

However, some flowers were too rare, and many shops didn't have them in stock. I finally convinced a florist to help me source the flowers. At that time, I didn't know you would be coming to England for your birthday early, so I booked the bouquet for that day. Although you arrived early, the flowers weren't available, so the bouquet couldn't be made in advance. I had no choice but to deliver it to you; that was my original plan anyway.

Wen Min hadn't expected this and asked, "Flowers are so rare, they must be very expensive, right?"

Shen Yuqiu: "Yes, it cost more than seven hundred pounds."

Wen Min: "Do you still have money for food?"

Although Shen Yuqiu was studying abroad on a government scholarship, Oxford tuition was not cheap. The government subsidy could only cover 80% of his expenses. The rest of the money was earned by Shen Yuqiu himself. Wen Min knew that every penny he had was for a specific purpose.

Shen Yuqiu said, "That's all..."

"It's such a shame I didn't receive such precious flowers!" Wen Min chuckled and asked, "So you saw me with my dad in France and mistook him for my boyfriend?"

Shen Yuqiu said, "He looks so young, and you two are so close, I..."

In fact, Wen Min is not completely without mixed-race features. Her features are indeed more prominent than the average person's, and her hair is slightly curly. However, Shen Yuqiu cannot distinguish between a girl wearing makeup and without makeup.

He had previously interned at a hospital and had seen girls with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and long eyelashes whose eyes suddenly became so small they were almost invisible after removing their makeup, and whose long eyelashes also disappeared out of thin air. He assumed that Wen Min was also wearing makeup, which was why her eyes were so dark and big. He also assumed that she had her curly hair permed on purpose.

In addition, after Shen Yuqiu got together with Wen Min, he always felt that he was poor and his family was poor, while Wen Min was obviously a girl raised in a wealthy family. He was ashamed to talk to Wen Min about his family and avoided asking about Wen Min's family situation. Therefore, he never thought that Wen Min was mixed-race, let alone that it would lead to such a misunderstanding.

Wen Min: "My father would be so happy if he knew you said he was young, but unfortunately he will never know."

Wen Min asked, "If I really were two-timing, shouldn't you just come out and expose me and question me directly?"

Shen Yuqiu paused for a long time before saying, "You're like a noble princess. When I saw you and him walk into that beautiful villa, I felt you should belong there..."

Wen Min: "That's my home, so of course I belong there. But Shen Yuqiu, I've never asked anything of you when I'm with you, nor have I ever been extravagant in front of you. I even think you're great, excellent, and thrifty. I'm happy to adapt to your life."

Shen Yuqiu: "But you are so wonderful, you deserve to have everything wonderful. What kind of life did you actually have with me?"

It was always you who traveled from France to Oxford to be with me, waiting for me through wind and rain so as not to disturb me, while I could only bring you to the cramped dormitory and let you sleep on his tiny bed that would fall off if he turned over.

I finally saved up enough money to take you to a hotel, and you wanted to eat instant noodles. I bought the noodles but didn't even ask the waiter for chopsticks. You ate the whole cup of instant noodles with the handle of a disposable toothbrush from the hotel. I picked a beautiful rose, but I didn't have a pretty crystal bottle to put it in.

My family wasn't well-off, but I was an excellent student from a young age, growing up surrounded by praise. I hardly knew what inferiority felt like until I met you, and seeing you living a frugal and difficult life with me, I suddenly fell into an abyss of inferiority and self-blame. I know it's dangerous, but no matter how hard I try, I can't climb out.

That day, when I saw you walking intimately into that beautiful villa with a charming Frenchman, I tortured myself by waiting outside all night. I was heartbroken beyond measure, yet it felt like a release. My most cherished rose should never have been exposed to the storm.

Wen Min: "That's nothing compared to the storms I faced when I returned to China. That was the real tempest."

My parents were on their way back from France when their plane crashed. I was caught off guard and lost my parents. I returned to China in great grief to handle their funeral arrangements, but my relatives were eyeing my parents' company.

Before my parents' funeral was even over, they couldn't contain their ambition and started plotting how to take the company from me.

I don't understand. When their parents were alive, they were content and even grateful to have a job at the company. They worked diligently every day. But as soon as their parents left, they suddenly wanted to be in charge and felt that the company should belong to them. They started trying to divide up the company.

I couldn't let my parents take over the company they worked so hard to build, but I don't know anything about running a business. I've lived a carefree life for 24 years under their protection. The only way I could think of to prevent them from taking over the company was to make it disappear, so I sold it.

I'm so useless. I couldn't keep my parents, I couldn't keep the company, and I couldn't keep you either...

But I didn't do anything wrong, so why are they treating me like this?

Wen Min's tears fell uncontrollably, one by one, landing on Shen Yuqiu's chest like a thousand-pound hammer, shattering Shen Yuqiu's heart. "How I wanted to throw myself into your arms and cry then, but you disappeared..."

Shen Yuqiu pulled Wen Min tightly into his arms, as if trying to make amends, but his attempt seemed weak and feeble. His voice trembled uncontrollably: "I'm sorry, I deserve to die..."

Now that things had come to this point, Wen Min wanted to get everything out of the way. After calming herself down for a while, Wen Min asked, "My parents passed away suddenly, and I rushed back to China. After returning, I immediately took care of my parents' funeral arrangements, company matters, and taking over the welfare home. Later, when I saw your message, I wanted to call you to ask why you broke up with me, but I couldn't get through."

Shen Yuqiu said, "When I returned from France, I was so depressed that I didn't put my phone away in time after sending you that message. Someone snatched it. I didn't have money to buy a new phone, so I borrowed money from a classmate to buy one. Now I can't get through to you."

Wen Min: "That should be a week later. There are too many things to deal with when I go back to China. I changed to a domestic SIM card for easier communication. I thought I would never have the chance to go back to France to study again, and maybe I also didn't want to contact you anymore, so I canceled that card."

After Wen Min finished speaking, Shen Yuqiu kept apologizing.

Shen Yuqiu has apologized many times today, but Wen Min doesn't feel that Shen Yuqiu has wronged her in any way. The difficulties she is facing are not caused by Shen Yuqiu. Shen Yuqiu has only broken up with her. Who can guarantee that a relationship will not end?

She was indeed very upset when Shen Yuqiu suddenly broke up with her without telling her why, but she was too busy at the time and had neither the time nor the energy to think about things that ended without a trace.

So many years have passed, she had long since let it go. The only thing she still regretted was not knowing why Shen Yuqiu broke up with her. Today she knows the reason, and she can finally let go of this relationship completely.

Wen Min broke free from Shen Yuqiu's embrace, looked up at Shen Yuqiu and said, "You're already thirty-five years old, stop crying so easily."

With red eyes, Shen Yuqiu asked almost pleadingly, "Minmin, could you... give me another chance?"

Wen Min said calmly, "Shen Yuqiu, I'm very busy with work and life right now, and I don't even have enough time to sleep. You must be very busy too, right? Why don't we just continue to live our own lives?"

It's been ten years. We've both been doing quite well apart, so why are we still entangled together?

Shen Yuqiu wanted to say, "No, not at all. I've had a terrible time every day since we broke up." But when he saw the indifference in Wen Min's eyes, he knew that Wen Min didn't want him anymore.

After a long silence, Shen Yuqiu said, "I understand. I'll be going now."

Wen Min said, "Okay."

Qi Zhao and his friends were having a great time playing with electric cars with a group of children. They were also asking An Fusheng with great anticipation what they would have for dinner that night, whether he had cooked too much food, and if they could have some of it.

An Fusheng was very happy to learn how to ride an electric bike. He said he would ask Wen's mother later, and if she agreed, he could cook a few more dishes for them.

Qi Zhao was feeling smug, thinking that he was the only one who could get this meal, when he saw their usually aloof and stern mentor walk out of the courtyard with red eyes. Qi Zhao asked, puzzled, "What's wrong with Lao Shen?"

Chen Changyu and Duan Jing shook their heads: "Aren't we here too? If you're asking us, who are we supposed to ask?"

Qi Zhaochao looked into the courtyard and saw Wen Min coming out of the tea room. He looked at An Fusheng and said, "Did your mother scold you?"

He always felt that something was off about Lao Shen when he saw Wen Min. Could it be because Wen Min was good-looking?

Wen Min is indeed quite beautiful.

So Lao Shen got scolded for being a scoundrel?

Qi Zhao shuddered. Impossible, absolutely impossible!

An Fusheng felt he might know a little about the inside story, but no matter what Wen's mother did, she must have her reasons. An Fusheng retorted, "My mother would never curse people randomly!"

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The author notes: Many paragraphs were too long, so I've broken them up. For the spoken content, don't look at the paragraphs, look at the quotation marks.

Also, I have a dinner party tomorrow night and I don't know if I'll have time to update. If I don't, I'll update on Saturday. Thank you!