Chapter 26 Waiting "I just didn't expect Wen Lu to be so... casual..."

The Qiao residence is a three-story detached villa in the suburbs of Kunming. Qiao Yunzheng's room is on the second floor, with the window facing the road in front of the gate.

The fierce argument with Yao Jing had almost exhausted Qiao Yunzheng's emotions. She collapsed on the bed, exhausted, her mind preoccupied with what her mother had said about the Wen family's visit to the Qiao family. Her temples throbbed with pain.

Within her field of vision, the black SUV was still parked in the same spot.

Over the course of a day, the sharp silhouettes of sunlight gradually soften, and by dusk, they shatter into a clear, pale blue hue.

Only a small patch of lukewarm light remained on the windshield of that car.

Qiao Yunzheng was unsure whether Wen Hong had temporarily parked the car there or was still inside.

Once the dull pain in her temples subsided, she picked up her phone, opened WeChat, and started sending messages to Wen Hong.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed: "Uncle Wen came to my house, did you know that? If you did, I think you should have let me know beforehand. Or, do you have any other plans you'd like to tell me?"

Just as her finger was about to press the send button, a sudden thought flashed through her mind: the deep, dark eyes of Wen Hong staring at her last night.

He immediately felt that his questioning tone was inappropriate, especially since he had driven all night to take her back to Kunming.

Qiao Yunzheng turned over in frustration and deleted the text she had typed one by one.

After spending this time together, Qiao Yunzheng roughly understood that Wen Hong's relationship with his family was not very good.

This reason effectively convinced her of her conflicted feelings, and after several revisions, the message was finally sent:

I have some things to take care of recently and may need to stay in Kunming for a few days. If you have something urgent, you can return to the law firm first.

After sending the message, she tossed her phone back next to her pillow, closed her eyes, and waited quietly.

I waited a long time but didn't receive a reply from him.

Qiao Yunzheng rolled over, climbed off the bed, shuffled to the window, opened it, and peered out.

The air was thick with the unbearable heat of summer, and the incessant chirping of cicadas made the quiet night seem even more desolate.

She thought he was probably no longer in the car, otherwise, how could that young master bear such a dull atmosphere?

As night deepened and the living room fell silent, even the lights in the aunt's room were turned off.

Qiao Yunzheng kept looking out the window, even though the view outside the window, apart from the changes in light and shadow, was really like a stereotypical and uninteresting painting.

After tossing and turning countless times, she finally sat up, put on a light coat, and quietly went out the door.

She carefully went downstairs, reached the front yard, and pressed the keypad lock on the front door.

The villa area was eerily deserted late at night, except for the streetlights that stood guard.

I peeked into the driver's seat of the car, but there wasn't a trace of him.

After a moment of strange feeling, Qiao Yunzheng laughed at her somewhat silly behavior, shook her head, and turned to leave.

But then a familiar voice rang out from not far away: "Hey, Qiao Yunzheng."

The sudden sound startled her. She turned around and saw a tall figure emerge from the shadow of the pillar at the entrance.

That spot was completely obscured by the concave shape of the pillar, so Qiao Yunzheng didn't see it.

Wen Hong slowly approached her, smiling and playfully scolding her, "How could you be so heartless? Making me wait so long?"

Qiao Yunzheng looked up at him. Even though he smiled easily, the weariness in his eyes was undeniable.

She felt a little guilty, and her voice lacked confidence: "I did send you a message, didn't you see it?"

Wen Hong raised an eyebrow, reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, tapped a few times, then shrugged helplessly: "It's out of battery."

A sudden surge of guilt left Qiao Yunzheng no time to dwell on the details. She lowered her head and said, "I'm sorry..."

Wen Hong curled her lips into a smile, reached out, and ruffled her hair haphazardly a few times: "Since you sincerely apologized, will you treat me to a meal?"

He met Qiao Yunzheng's astonished gaze, then added, sounding aggrieved, "I haven't eaten all day."

Qiao Yunzheng was puzzled: "You've been here all day?"

Wen Hong nodded: "Otherwise what?"

The commercial street in the villa area is quite a distance away, so the two of them had to drive there.

She hadn't noticed anything amiss while standing outside, but once the car door was closed, Qiao Yunzheng could smell the strong odor of cigarette smoke emanating from Wen Hong.

Then it dawned on me that he was probably hiding in that corner smoking.

Qiao Yunzheng's nose is very sensitive, and she frowned almost subconsciously.

Before she even realized it, Wen Hong had already rolled up the car window and turned on the car's air conditioning with the external air circulation mode.

The white shirt he was wearing was from yesterday, and the front was already slightly wrinkled.

The top button of his collar was undone, his sleeves were half-rolled up to his forearms, and his left hand was still resting on the steering wheel.

Wen Hong glanced at Qiao Yunzheng indifferently, then casually reached her right hand towards her collar.

Qiao Yunzheng didn't think anything was wrong, assuming that his neck was a little uncomfortable from all the exertion he had been doing for a day and a night. But when she glanced over casually, she suddenly realized something was amiss.

The neckline is not open enough.

By the time she realized what was happening, Wen Hong had already unbuttoned the third button, and the outline of the man's taut and powerful muscles was vaguely visible under the half-covered front.

"Wen Hong!" Qiao Yunzheng abruptly turned her head away. "What...what are you doing?"

Wen Hong didn't care about her fuss at all, and replied as if it were a matter of course, "I'm changing clothes." He seemed to treat her as if she were a family member. "I've been wearing this all day, it's uncomfortable."

The second half of her sentence, which sounded a little aggrieved, stirred up Qiao Yunzheng's guilt once again.

"Oh, by the way, could you help me get my clothes?" Wen Hong pointed to the area behind the passenger seat. "They're hanging right behind you."

Qiao Yunzheng didn't dare turn her face away at all, and protested in a low voice, "Can't you take it yourself?"

Wen Hong could barely contain her smile, but after a moment, she said quietly, "That works too."

However, he turned his body slightly to the side, instantly closing the distance, making the barely visible scene even more clearly visible to Qiao Yunzheng.

Qiao Yunzheng could only turn her head more forcefully, her entire face almost pressed against the passenger side window.

They waited anxiously for a long time, but there was no movement beside them.

Qiao Yunzheng turned her head back slowly and suspiciously.

He met a pair of smiling eyes.

Wen Hong rested one hand on the center console, casually propping up his head, a malicious smile playing on his lips.

"Qiao Yunzheng, what are you ashamed of?"

Qiao Yunzheng was speechless for a moment.

Wen Hong continued lazily, "Haven't we met before? Why are you so..."

Qiao Yunzheng felt her cheeks burning. She tried to remain calm, but dared not look around. She could only stare at his face and said, "It's not that. I just didn't expect Wen Lu to be so... casual."

After saying that, Qiao Yunzheng reached behind her, quickly grabbed the hanging garment, and poured it over Wen Hong's malicious face. Then, she opened the car door at lightning speed, jumped out of the car as if fleeing, and slammed the door shut behind her.

Just before she closed the car door, she heard Wen Hong burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Qiao Yunzheng closed her eyes and silently stomped her foot.

How embarrassing, so incredibly embarrassing.

The two randomly chose a 24-hour fast food restaurant and simply ordered two bowls of noodles.

During dinner, Qiao Yunzheng told Wen Hong that she would be staying at home for a few days, and then tentatively asked him, "Do you want to go back to the law firm first?"

Wen Hong looked up: "Are you in such a hurry to get rid of me?"

“No, not exactly,” Qiao Yunzheng didn’t know how to bring up Wen Jinliang’s matter, so she could only give a vague answer, “There are some things to take care of.”

She wasn't lying. Although Qiao's specialists would report on some company matters to Qiao Yunzheng every day, there were many things that she still needed to handle herself.

After dinner last night, Wen Hong drove her back to the Qiao residence before dawn and then drove away, probably back to Shencheng.

When Yao Jing woke up, she felt much better than yesterday.

She quietly approached Qiao Yunzheng's door, opened it, and seeing that she was still asleep, quietly withdrew.

Qiao Yunzheng woke up at noon and had lunch with Yao Jing.

Yao Jing was still thinking about yesterday's events and asked Qiao Yunzheng, "Xiao Zheng, are you going out later?"

“Hmm,” Qiao Yunzheng slowly finished the last bite of her food. “I need to go to the company later; there are some things I need to take care of.”

Yao Jing glanced at her, clearly doubting the veracity of her words: "Go yourself?"

Qiao Yunzheng nodded.

"How about you have your Uncle Zhang take you?" Yao Jing suggested tentatively.

Qiao Yunzheng lowered her eyes. Of course she knew what Ms. Yao Jing was worried about, and she didn't have the mood to argue with her for the time being, so she went along with her wishes: "Okay."

Half an hour later, Uncle Zhang's car stopped at the gate. But he didn't get out to open the car door for her as usual.

Qiao Yunzheng didn't think much of it and opened the back door and got in.

Yao Jing watched her daughter get into the car before turning around and going upstairs.

Qiao Yunzheng's agitated mood hadn't subsided yet. Just as she leaned back in her chair, a hand suddenly reached out from behind and patted her shoulder.

She was startled and turned around abruptly, only to be met with a familiar face in the back row.

The person who should have left suddenly appeared in her car, greeting her with a bright smile:

Good afternoon, my Miss Qiao.

Author's Note: Thank you "Sunshine" for the nutrient solution! Mwah! (My familiarity with this word is now no less than my familiarity with "abandon," hahaha)