Chapter 67

The next morning, Li Ye was still asleep when she heard the doorbell ring. It sounded abrupt and unfamiliar. She was still recovering from a serious illness, and the medicine prescribed by the doctor probably contained sleeping pills, so she had slept for several days and her head was still a little foggy.

She didn't even remember who was coming today, and she forgot that her brand-new doorbell was rarely rung except by Zhuang Ke.

When she opened the door with messy hair and a sleepy look on her face, she was so startled that she almost closed the door immediately when she found Xu Wanyi standing outside.

Just as she was about to slam the door, she saw a hint of anger in Xu Wanyi's eyes and quickly held back. "Mr. Xu, good morning. I thought you would have lunch before you came."

"Is this how lawyers should perceive time?" Xu Wanyi said coldly.

She spent half the night thinking about whether or not to invite Feng Jing along. She was afraid it would be awkward not to, but it would seem even stranger to invite him: why bring an assistant when you're going to someone's house? Thinking of this, she dismissed the idea. Because she was very worried about Li Ye's situation, she woke up very early this morning and appeared at Li Ye's door without even having breakfast.

Are you planning to make me stand here indefinitely?

"Ah, no, come in, come in quickly." He said, stepping aside to let Xu Wanyi in, and then closed the door.

Xu Wanyi made no attempt to stand on ceremony, acting as if she were in her own home. She took off her coat and scarf and hung them in the wardrobe in the entryway without a second thought. Li Ye had long since noticed that these rich kids had this ability to be completely at ease wherever they went, as if it were all their own little world.

When Xu Wanyi placed breakfast on the table, she realized that this young lady had actually bought breakfast for her herself. This was something she would never have imagined before. Why would she go to the trouble of buying breakfast when it could be solved with money? This was one of the young lady Xu's favorite sayings during her university days.

"Have a seat. I didn't know what you liked to eat these days, so I bought a little bit of both Western and Chinese food." Mr. Xu had only been in Li Ye's house for five minutes when he was already acting like the host.

Li Ye quickly wiped his face in the bathroom, and when he came out, Xu Wanyi had already set out the tableware and food and sat down at the table. Today, she was no longer wearing a high-heeled suit, but had changed into a loose and comfortable outfit, wearing jeans that just revealed her smooth neck, showing off her body lines while still being fully covered.

Li Ye seemed to be thinking of something, his throat moved, and he swallowed.

Xu Wanyi had no romantic thoughts. Li Ye's face was pale and bluish, his skin clinging to his flesh. He had become so thin in just a few days that his cheekbones were protruding. If it weren't for his eyes still darting around, one would really think he was about to die.

Xu Wanyi ladled a bowl of plain porridge and placed it in front of Li Ye. "What did the doctor say?"

"Huh? Doctor? Oh, the doctor said it's nothing, just need a few days of rest. I look like this because I've been sleeping too much, well, I'm all better now." Li Ye knew that in his current state, with glasses on, he could easily beg for sympathy.

"Yes, eat something. If you don't take care of your stomach bleeding, it can easily become a chronic disease," Xu Wanyi said quietly as she took a sip of porridge.

“Uh, that night…” Xu Wanyi seemed to have not thought of what words to use, and she could not finish a sentence for a long time.

Not wanting to put her in a difficult position, Li Ye said with a smile, "That night? I did alright, didn't I? I heard you've already signed the contract, so this matter is settled. I don't know your older brother very well, but based on my limited experience, if I were your older brother, I definitely wouldn't let this go easily. You should still be careful."

"Hmm." Xu Wanyi wanted to apologize to her, but for some reason, being alone with her in this environment made her feel a little embarrassed.

"I'll be careful. My older brother must have gone to cry to my dad." Thinking of the faces of the father and son, a trace of worry crept onto her brow.

"Don't think about it. There are so many troubles in this world. We'll deal with them when they come. When the time comes, we'll deal with them as they come. I'm here for you." Li Ye buried his head in his porridge, not forgetting to offer a word of comfort.

Xu Wanyi stared at Li Ye, her heart filled with warmth. Over the past ten years, she had made many allies and friends, but she knew in her heart that those people were all driven by self-interest. It had been a long time since anyone had stood in front of her simply because of her.

What's even more commendable is that Li Ye is no longer the naive young man she once was. Now she's a renowned lawyer, having witnessed the deceit, greed, and ugliness of the world, yet she's still willing to do anything for her. It's impossible for Xu Wanyi not to have other thoughts in her mind.

"By the way, what did your mom say?" Li Ye suddenly blurted out.

"My mom?" Xu Wanyi looked bewildered. Why was her mom suddenly brought up? "My mom is in Australia. She doesn't know such details, so she can't say anything about it."

"Didn't you tell her I'm your lawyer now? She should know by now."

"Well, I didn't specifically bring this up, but she definitely knows that there are so many people and so many mouths to feed in the company."

In Xu Wanyi's mind, her mother had known about Li Ye for ten years, but she always thought Li Ye was her good friend. Thinking about it this way, Li Ye's question was not entirely unreasonable.

"She didn't say anything?" Li Ye took a bite of his congee and continued to ask. "Uh, except for that good-looking person and what..."

Xu Wanyi blushed, recalling what she had said to Li Ye, "I didn't say anything. You don't know what happened afterward. She and my dad had a falling out and now they're like enemies. So anything that's bad for my dad is good for my mom."

"You feel sorry for your mother, don't you?"

“Yes. I told you last time that part of the reason I did this was for my mother.” This time, Xu Wanyi didn’t hesitate much and quickly replied to Li Ye.

Li Ye's expression remained unchanged. He wiped his mouth, put down his chopsticks, stared at Xu Wanyi, and said, "Yes, Auntie is a good person. Since you're already here, come with me to buy some groceries."

Xu Wanyi didn't react for a moment. What did her mother being a good person have to do with going to buy groceries? How could Li Ye say it so smoothly in one sentence?

"Can you go out looking like this?"

"So you can't even go out because you're not handsome enough? That's good, then all the young girls and boys won't be staring at my face when I go out."

Since learning about Xu Wanyi's feelings, Li Ye has stopped being in a hurry for the outcome and has become much more relaxed. Now he even dares to joke with Miss Xu like this.

"That's true. After all, Attorney Li is popular with men, women, young and old, and has the team of lawyers, interns and clients all smitten."

"No, no, no, Mr. Xu, I make a living through my profession, and of course, my technical skills are also quite good."

After saying this, Xu Wanyi, who had already gone to the kitchen to tidy up, blushed and couldn't help but throw a pair of disposable chopsticks at Li Ye.

"Shut up!"

Li Ye caught the chopsticks with one hand. While Xu Wanyi was tidying up, he swept away the gloom of the past few days and quickly ran to the bathroom to tidy himself up. Then he ran back to the bedroom and found a set of clothes that looked similar to Xu Wanyi's to put on.

After Xu Wanyi had almost finished cleaning up the food she hadn't eaten, she also finished cleaning herself up. She stood leisurely by the kitchen door, watching with a smile as Xu Wanyi tied a knot in the trash bag.

Haven't you ever seen anyone do housework?

“I’ve seen it, but I’ve never seen Chairman Xu do housework.” Li Ye’s eyes were overflowing with doting affection and tenderness.

Xu Wanyi wanted to retort, but when she turned her head and saw Li Ye's look, and thought back to when they were dating ten years ago, Li Ye was short-tempered and impulsive, but she did almost all the housework. In this respect, she really felt like a princess.

“Let’s go.” Li Ye stepped forward and picked up the trash bag. “We won’t go far. We’ll just go to the nearby supermarket to buy some groceries.”

She wanted to take Xu Wanyi's hand, but then thought better of it. She had finally agreed to go grocery shopping with her, and she didn't want to scare her away before they even left the house.

With the Chinese New Year approaching, the supermarket was a vibrant and festive place, decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers. As far as the eye could see, everything was a sea of ​​Chinese red. Li Ye and Xu Wanyi, both wearing sunglasses, stood amidst the bustling crowd.

“It’s almost Chinese New Year, let’s buy some New Year’s goods?” Li Ye said to Xu Wanyi when he saw that there were couplets and New Year pictures for sale.

"These are some of the New Year's gifts I brought you."

Xu Wanyi has rarely come to these places in recent years. She has even gone several years without spending the Lunar New Year with anyone. Feng Jing buys all the New Year's goods at once and sends them directly to her residence in Beijing by express delivery.

“Your items must all have the big logo of Leguang Group on them, right?” Li Ye said, picking through a variety of auspicious phrases while wearing an expression that said, “I knew it all along.”

“Here, this one, this one is the best.” Li Ye pulled out a piece of calligraphy and painting from the pile.

When Xu Wanyi looked at it, she saw four large gold-embossed characters that read "Peace and Joy". She stared at Li Ye for a long time without saying a word, thinking that Li Ye would give her something like "Prosperous Business" or "Perfect in Every Way". She didn't expect that Li Ye would just give her a "Peace and Joy" card. Such a simple wish, and something that she needed so much.

"Okay, this one." Xu Wanyi controlled her emotions.

"Hey, there's even a fridge magnet here. This is outrageous! They're even going after fridge magnets. Mr. Xu, I'll give you another one of these."

Xu Wanyi followed behind. She rarely did this kind of thing herself, and was overwhelmed by Li Ye's fast pace of picking and choosing. When Li Ye handed her a refrigerator magnet, she took it without thinking.

Upon closer inspection, a bright red sign appeared with the words "Reign Supreme" written in gleaming gold.

What is this?! It's a complete mess. Merchants really know how to find a way to piggyback on the New Year's celebrations with this kind of wording. She rolled her eyes at Li Ye.

“Chairwoman Xu is no longer a little princess. That’s a fitting description for you.” Li Ye narrowed his eyes and gave a wicked smile.

"Let's go check out the vegetable section." Before Xu Wanyi could react, Li Ye wanted to go to the vegetable section again. It was already 10:30, and it seemed like everyone living nearby had come out in droves. Suddenly, a large flow of people surged towards them, turning the already crowded passage into a shoulder-to-shoulder situation.

A person, seemingly searching for something, hurriedly pushed through the crowd, bumping straight into the two of them. Li Ye grabbed Xu Wanyi's hand and pulled her close, finally managing to let the person pass. Then, he simply protected her and followed the crowd towards the vegetable section.

Upon reaching the vegetable section, the number of people suddenly decreased significantly. Most of the vegetables here are imported, which are not only expensive but also not popular among most Chinese people. With the Lunar New Year approaching, this area has become the quietest corner of the supermarket.

"Attorney Li, is that enough?" Xu Wanyi looked at her hand, which was being held tightly by Li Ye, clearly indicating that he should let go.

Attorney Li, displaying her characteristic thick skin, pretended not to hear and continued to hold Xu Wanyi's hand as they lingered near the refrigerated display case. Although Xu Wanyi said something, she didn't pull away. Instead, she followed Li Ye's lead, listening to her slowly introduce the various foreign vegetables.

As she listened, she suddenly realized that this was the life she had been pursuing all those years ago.

Calm and serene, surrounded by people who love you and people you love.