Episode 65 Reopening Banquet
"So, you're really going to live in Europe permanently? Great! Don't forget to buy me some designer bags. Then I'll apply for a Schengen visa and come visit you when I have time. That way, I can save on accommodations, right?!"
Upon hearing the news, Cheng Xinran naturally congratulated Lin Ying repeatedly. After all, this would be a highlight in her future career and life resume.
As a good friend, it's hard not to be proud of her, but after the excitement, there's also reluctance and worry.
"But are you really at ease leaving Ruxing with someone else?"
Ruxing should be drawing in her room right now, and the two of them were chatting on the balcony, but Cheng Xinran still lowered her voice. Lin Ying had specifically told her that Ruxing was a smart little girl, and before everything was settled, she didn't want her daughter to be exposed to ambiguous answers, so as to avoid her from overthinking. Although Ruxing was bolder than her mother, she was still thoughtful. Otherwise, she wouldn't have bought Spider-Man peripherals for Jiaze earlier...
She whispered, "My trip to Europe is a done deal, but how to accommodate Ruxing is still a mystery. Wang Duo has gone back to Hong Kong on a business trip these past couple of days. When he comes back, I'll have one last discussion with him and we'll be able to decide how to accommodate her."
"It sounds like the problem is between you and Wang Duo."
Lin Ying smiled, as a sign of agreement.
Since being discharged from the hospital, she has only had sporadic contact with Wang Duo via WeChat. Although she has submitted her resignation, the last day and handover matters have not yet been determined. She still goes to work as usual to handle the work of the gallery. At the same time, she also has to take care of the materials sent by Pierre's studio. Pierre has set up a personal studio in Avignon, which is currently small. After Lin Ying goes there, she will have to learn the matters she handles, which are not as simple as attracting resources, negotiating cooperation, and doing publicity and promotion. The change of environment will bring about a lot of trivial matters.
But now, trivial matters have become the norm in her life, and she has long been accustomed to them. However, her life obviously requires her to get used to more situations.
Now that she has the opportunity, perhaps she should explore more life experiences.
After all, "mother" is just a life experience and should not be the only identity that binds her.
"If he really doesn't want to get married, then I can only take Ruxing with me to live in Europe. But to be honest, I don't want that. I'm going there just to work, not to settle down.
Although the studio is in Avignon, Pierre's personality means I have to travel a lot with him. From what he says, we have to go on business trips to other cities every now and then. Ru Xing is young and doesn't speak the language, so I don't feel comfortable leaving her with strangers for a long time. It won't be good for her growth."
There are many holidays in Europe. Lin Ying has calculated that she can take a long vacation almost every three months. She can use this time to go back to China to accompany her daughter, or take her to Europe for a trip. However, the only way to achieve this ideal situation is to hand her daughter over to a trustworthy person in China.
That's why she thought of Wang Duo - although he was a thoughtful person, he was always patient with children. Ruxing and Jiaze got along well. If the two of them could take care of the child in the name of husband and wife, it would be a win-win situation.
But Cheng Xinran heard this and reminded him seriously:
"Wang Duo cares about you, but he doesn't necessarily care about the child. Otherwise, he would have raised our son on his own long ago. Why would he keep him with his ex-wife for so long? I guess... he originally wanted to marry you because of your 'maternal brilliance'. If he really married you, he could get custody of the child without having to raise him himself. But you turned the tables on him and even wanted to hand the child over to him."
"Of course I understand. That's why I've been making plans for both scenarios recently and helping Ruxing prepare visa documents."
"I think... there's someone who is more qualified for this role than Wang Duo."
Cheng Xinran chuckled and hinted shamelessly, "How can a stepfather be as honest as a biological father? If we leave this matter to our biological father, he might be happy to do it."
Lin Ying naturally understood who she was hinting at. She had touched upon this idea while in the hospital, but after she was released, she saw the overwhelming public opinion storm. The confession she made with Jiang Shu in the car that day was still vivid in her mind. Although she had revealed her true feelings, she did not respond to this feeling.
Perhaps, no response is the best outcome between them.
"Don't be ridiculous. He has such a bad reputation now. If the child follows him, he will be nameless and have no status. If people gossip about him, it's better for him to follow me and live a carefree life."
"You're such a stubborn fool! You showed your true feelings when you had a fever, but now you're trying to care about your reputation..."
Hearing her teasing, Lin Ying couldn't help but feel a burning sensation in his ears. "What is that?"
"I saw it the other day. You bit his neck all over. When I was helping Ruxing clean up, I saw the mess on your sofa..."
"Hey, the kids are at home, watch your words!"
Lin Ying's face hadn't felt this hot in a long time. She had always been willing to do things but not to talk about them, and she had never discussed the details even with her good friends. Although a week had passed, when it was mentioned again, she still felt that what happened that day was like a dream - a wet dream at that.
But Cheng Xinran's words are still too authoritative.
"You still remember you have a child? The child is already this old, and you're still talking about sex in front of me?!"
Lin Ying shook her head, looking helpless. She returned to the kitchen, took out the pork belly from the refrigerator, and prepared to cut it into pieces for dinner. Cheng Xinran followed her with considerable tact, washing her hands and preparing to help her, while still teasing her -
"Hey, hey, are you physically attracted to him? Otherwise, you wouldn't be so irrational..."
"Besides, you don't have to eat dinner tonight."
She cut with the knife, her face redder than the veins of the pork belly.
Lin Ying thought that with Lin Jidong's methods, this hype would definitely make Jiang Lin fall flat on his face, but recently the hot searches related to Jiang Lin Group have been removed one after another. Although there are still debates and noises online, the topic has gradually shifted from targeting Jiang Lin as an individual to focusing on the health of the workers themselves.
Jiang Lin’s legal department issued a statement, not only fully covering the worker’s medical and hospitalization expenses, but also voluntarily halting the project and approving a relatively reasonable severance pay for the workers who worked with the same period.
This approach isn't particularly clever, but it's what the public wants. After all, no matter how good gossip and rumors sound, they're not as satisfying as admitting mistakes and paying compensation.
Seeing that this matter went so smoothly, Lin Ying also breathed a sigh of relief. She knew very well that this was Jiang Yueling's work. She had promised herself that she would not let any public opinion affect herself and her daughter. She did it, so Lin Ying had no reason to break her promise.
She must cut off ties with Jiang Shu.
Even though they all knew Ruxing's identity.
For Jiang's mother and son and Lin Jidong, Ruxing's existence is a time bomb, an emotional sustenance, and a trump card to seize power. But in Lin Ying's eyes, Ruxing is her real relative who needs her love and care, not any means or sustenance.
In the days ahead, she has chosen physical freedom, so it seems that she should also make concessions in her emotional choices.
After all, one can't have it all.
Just like that, she finally agreed to Ruxing's last request before school started - to allow her and Jiaze to go to the suburbs to attend a week-long summer camp for children.
She was the youngest child in the group, but also the most outgoing. It was her first time traveling far away from home, and it was also her first time being away from her mother for more than two weeks, so Lin Ying couldn't help but give her repeated instructions.
The night before the trip, Lin Ying confirmed the signal connection of the watch with her, brought her clothes, snacks and drinking water, and told her to report her location as soon as she was free, and to video chat with her once every night before going to bed, no matter how early or late it was.
Just like that, the next morning, Lin Ying watched her and Jiaze chatting and laughing as they boarded the minibus, and she didn't forget to remind Jiaze——
"Have fun, Jiaze! As soon as your trip is over, your dad will come back from Hong Kong to pick you up."
The two little ones sat in the front row by the window and waved goodbye to Lin Ying through the window...
Watching the minibus go farther and farther away, Lin Ying carefully wrote down the license plate number and drove back to the gallery to work.
As soon as I sat down in the office, someone knocked on the door and asked to come in.
When she looked up, Xu Yiwei's head was tentatively sticking in, his face was nervous, and so were his eyes——
"Boss Lin, can I have a few words with you?"
Lin Ying agreed and led her in to sit down, but she just stood in front of her table and didn't sit down. She hesitated for a long time before speaking.
"I might...quit my job."
Hearing this, Lin Ying's fingers slowed down as she typed the password. She wasn't quite surprised, but it was as if she had known this was going to happen.
"Resigning means resigning. There's no need to be ambiguous."
After recovering from her illness, Lin Ying heard about her story from Jiang Shu, including how she chose to be used to get close to Jiang Shu in order to pay off her debts.
When she first joined the company, Lin Ying had some doubts about her identity, but she always thought it was Wang Duo's work. Unexpectedly, the real person behind her was Lin Jidong.
When she thought of Lin Jitong, she couldn't help feeling sad.
He'd been scheming for so many years, and there was no guarantee he had any more tricks up his sleeve. She planned to see her father in person after she'd arranged Ruxing's fate, before leaving Shanghai. First, to say goodbye, and second, to warn him—tell him to quit while he was ahead. At his age, why was he still clinging to such a small amount of money and power?
Compared with most men of that era, he had a very successful life.
Although he was incompetent as a husband and father, he was considered the top of the industry in terms of scheming. He didn't expect to meet Xu Yiwei, who turned against him midway, which was his Waterloo in scheming.
"You just decided to resign. Haven't you thought about the troubles that might come later?"
Xu Yiwei smiled bitterly and shook his head - "Staying here will only cause more trouble. Not only will it bring trouble to myself, but it will also cause trouble for you and President Jiang."
She took a long breath, pursed her lips and confessed:
"Sister Lin Ying, thank you for your unbiased care for me during this period of time."
This was the first time she called Lin Ying's name, and it was also the name she should have called her.
Seeing that she had made up her mind and that he was about to resign, Lin Ying naturally did not try to persuade her to stay.
"So what are your plans for the future?"
"I plan to... get back together with my first love and slowly work hard together."
On the night Jiang Shu exposed him, Xu Yiwei rushed out of the bar, completely ignoring the Aston Martin with its headlights flashing parked on the side of the road. He hailed a taxi parked on the side of the road and got in...
At this moment, her consciousness was already confused. Although she had not consumed any alcohol, she looked like she was completely drunk.
Although he was clearly tricked, he felt extremely happy inside. He cried out in a panic and hysterically, gasping for breath. The driver was frightened and kept trying to persuade him.
"Little girl, if you want to vomit, tell me. My car has just been serviced, so it's not good to vomit on it."
She hadn't even drunk any alcohol, so how could she have vomited? She'd just cried herself to the point of feeling dizzy. She couldn't go home like this. She couldn't let Cen Shuo see her in such a state of disarray...
So she asked the driver to drop her off at the door of a convenience store. When she got off the car, she felt a little short of breath. The rain was still pouring down. She didn't bring an umbrella and rushed into the store. The cold wind from the air conditioner made her shiver, and her half-wet clothes made her feel cold.
So she bought the cheapest and smallest bottle of liquor.
Sitting at the bar, facing the rain pouring down through the glass door, I kept pouring it into my mouth...
What on earth was she so upset about? Why had she gotten herself into this state? What on earth was she doing?
Being used, being ordered around, being exposed, being despised... Is this what her life will be like?
She felt like her life was a joke. She had nothing, yet she wanted to get something for nothing, but in the end, it was all in vain.
So tired.
She felt she could not go on any further.
It would be nice if it could end here.
The rain continued until late that night, but she finished her wine early. Her consciousness was so groggy that her body was drooping, and it seemed that she would fall off the cliff in the next second. But the moment she woke up, she realized that she had just fallen asleep in the convenience store.
The aftertaste of alcohol seemed to paralyze her vision, and she actually saw a figure holding an umbrella coming towards her from outside the glass door - as familiar as before.
That was how Cen Shuo looked in her memory.
This is also her original appearance.
At this moment, when she pushed open the glass door, the person standing in front of her was the same person in her memory, but she herself could never be the same again.
She sobbed loudly, and his tears were silently collected in her arms.
I thought I was dreaming, and the dream was so real, even the smell of the boy's damp clothes on his chest was so real.
But what he said was not true at all——
"Xiao Wei, let's get back together."
He held her in his arms until her bones ached and she couldn't breathe.
"I'll pay your debt, and we can start over?"
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