(48)

"Oh, I see. No wonder. You have a deep bond, just like Li Bai's poem 'Changgan Xing'—" the teacher's wife praised with a smile.

Wen Yu blushed, but felt a sweet warmth in her heart. She knew Li Bai's "Changgan Xing": "When my hair first covered my forehead, I played with flowers in front of the door. My lover rode a bamboo horse and played with green plums around the bed. We lived together in Changgan, two little ones without suspicion." It was about a pair of childhood sweethearts, innocent and carefree. Yes, she was just like her and her brother Wen.

Cai Wenchuan smiled too, and when he looked at Wen Yu, his expression was particularly gentle, and his eyes shone like stars.

"Xiaoyu, this is a gift from your teacher's wife. Please take it." Your teacher's wife handed over a brocade box, but Ye Wenyu refused to accept it no matter what. However, Cai Wenchuan smiled and said, "My teacher and I are like family. Please take it. They will be happy." Ye Wenyu had no choice but to thank him and accept it.

Wen seemed very happy about the gift his teacher's wife gave him.

Professor Xun personally cooked a large and sumptuous meal. He has a son who has been living in the United States for many years, so he dotes on Cai Wenchuan and Ye Wenyu as if they were his own children. The four of them sat around the table, eating and drinking in a very harmonious atmosphere. The gathering did not end until 3 p.m., and everyone enjoyed themselves.

The two bid farewell to Professor Xun and his wife and went outside.

Walking on campus, Ye Wenyu opened the brocade box that her teacher's wife had given her and found a gold bracelet inside! It wasn't the kind of elaborately carved dragon and phoenix design that older people liked; it was a very simple band, somewhat like a Cartier piece, very fashionable and suitable for young people to wear.

Ye Wenyu was somewhat taken aback. He'd actually given her a gold ingot on their first meeting? This was far too precious! She couldn't accept it.

Seeing Ye Wenyu's reaction, Cai Wenchuan smiled, picked up the gold bracelet, and fastened it onto her slender, fair arm, saying to her, "Put it on. Professor Xun and I are like father and son. He was my mentor from my undergraduate years, and I was under his tutelage during my master's and doctoral studies. It was also he who recommended me to stay at the university. That's why his wife gave you this gold bracelet. It's usually a gift from a mother-in-law to her daughter-in-law. They really treat me like their son."

Brother Wen seems very happy.

Ye Wenyu looked at him and felt that something was not right. A big question mark rose in her heart.

Treating him like a son? That means treating her like a daughter-in-law?! So giving her an expensive gold bracelet as a meeting gift is indeed very much like a gift a mother-in-law would give to her future daughter-in-law.

Ye Wenyu blushed and looked up at Cai Wenchuan, who was also immersed in happiness, a smile on his face.

He seemed quite willing to be Professor Xun's son. Seeing Brother Wen like this, her doubts deepened. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she softly said, "But you have your own parents."

Cai Wenchuan paused for a moment, his smile vanished, and then he stammered, "If you have parents, you can also adopt another set of parents."

But--

Ye Wenyu said softly, "There are still a few days of holiday left for National Day. Don't stay with me. Go back and see your parents."

She hadn't originally planned to spend the entire National Day holiday playing around, thinking it wouldn't be right to have her brother Wen spend every day with her; it would be too much of a waste of his time. Tomorrow she'll start her tutoring lessons.

Cai Wenchuan paused for a moment before slowly saying, "I went back during the summer vacation, but I'm not going back." As if he didn't want to talk about this topic anymore, he pointed to the glittering bracelet and smiled at her, "Look, how beautiful it is."

Seeing Cai Wenchuan's strange expression, Ye Wenyu became even more confused. She gazed at him and asked softly, "I haven't seen your parents for many years either. How have they been all these years?"

Cai Wenchuan's expression stiffened, clearly affected by her words. He seemed to recall many unpleasant things because of her words, and fell silent. After a few minutes, he managed to say, "They're doing fine."

Ye Wenyu observed him, feeling that something was off. She said, "I wanted to contact you before, so I asked my mother for your home phone number. My mother said that your family had become rich and probably didn't want to contact us poor neighbors, so I... Your family has become rich, very wealthy?" She thought to herself, now that the Cai family is very wealthy, she probably has to work very hard to earn money and become outstanding in order to wake up her Wen-gege.

Cai Wenchuan suddenly raised his wrist to look at his watch and said to her, "Xiaoyu, I have something I want to take care of back in the office."

Ye Wenyu knew he wouldn't say much about his family situation, so she kept quiet and said to him, "Okay, I need to study too. I'm going to the library to read."

Cai Wenchuan seemed to feel a little guilty and said to her, "Then, I'll take you there. I'll come find you again when I'm done with my work."

Ye Wenyu nodded, and Cai Wenchuan escorted her to the library before turning and leaving.

Ye Wenyu watched his tall, slender figure gradually disappear. He seemed to be preoccupied with something, and the question in her heart rose again. In the many years since he left, what exactly happened to the Cai family that made Brother Wen repeatedly unwilling to mention his parents?

"Hello—" A boy's voice rang out behind her.

Ye Wenyu was stunned for a moment, then turned around. She felt an earthquake roll past her feet, and she was immediately terrified. Jiang Zhiming stood behind her with a smile on his face, a few books tucked under his arm.

He said happily, "What a coincidence, you're here to read books at the library too?"

Ye Wenyu stared at him blankly, as if she had seen a ghost in broad daylight. She never expected that they would meet again in less than a day!