Chapter 20
Chen Huanong sat in the gallery with Chen's parents, yawning several times. Chen's mother glared at her, feeling that she was lacking dignity in such an occasion and disrespectful to Qin Huai. Chen Huanong really didn't want to tell them that Qin Huai's handling of this case was clearly a waste of talent. If it weren't for Chen Huanong's connections, he wouldn't have been able to intervene. He could have just submitted the materials and evidence prepared by his intern and the outcome would have been a foregone conclusion. She wasn't sitting here today to observe the trial. Watching this kind of family ethics farce wouldn't teach her much, it would only deepen her psychological scars. Chen Huanong simply hoped that Chen's parents weren't in court the first time because of her case. In the first trial, she didn't alert either parent, because she was well aware of the flaws in Chinese marriage trials, so she easily achieved the result she wanted. The second trial was the opposite, and she couldn't guarantee a victory without the help of both parents. If that day ever came, she hoped Chen's parents wouldn't feel unfamiliar and would accept it with ease.
After the trial, Chen Huanong was about to send her parents off, but just as she was leaving, she received a call from her senior, asking if she could arrive early. He had to temporarily replace a colleague to attend an academic exchange meeting in Singapore and would not be back for a week. He was afraid of delaying Chen Huanong's work, so he wanted to learn about the cooperation project in advance. If he really didn't have time to go to Kenya to meet up with them later, at least they could contact each other via video conference. She glanced at her parents and said, "You have to go back by yourselves. I'll ask Qin Huai to drop you off at my neighborhood."
Mother Chen waved her hand and said, "No need. Let's just take a taxi back. We can't bother Xiao Qin anymore. If you have time on the weekend, bring your colleagues back to play. The grapes are ready to eat now."
"I'm afraid I'll have to wait for half a month. I'm going to City S tonight. If nothing goes wrong, I'll take a flight to Kenya the night after tomorrow."
"You're going abroad? How come I didn't know?"
"It's a business trip, a last-minute decision. Ask me when I get back. I have to leave quickly." Mother Chen watched her daughter leave with a look of disdain on her face. She turned and told Father Chen that if she didn't bring me a souvenir, she'd make all the grapes into wine, leaving not a single one behind. The intern finally understood: Chen Lu's tsundere nature was hereditary.
Chen Huanong asked her assistant to book the plane ticket, and she went to Zhao Group to get all the information, and then immediately went home to pack her luggage. Fortunately, she knew that she would be on a business trip this week, so she packed her clothes and shoes. When she finished all the things and went through security at the airport, she remembered that she had not notified Tang Chengting yet.
The intern was traveling with Chen Huanong for the first time, and she was a little excited but also a little nervous. When she saw Chen Huanong at the airport check-in counter, he smiled at her and said, "I'm sorry, I have to inform you that the business trip date has been moved up at short notice. Are you a little flustered?"
"It's okay, it's okay. With Chen Lu here, I don't have to panic anymore."
Since joining Shensong, although the intern was registered under Chen Huanong's name, she actually spent more time with Qin Huai. Chen Huanong was too busy. Most of her cases were complex and urgent, making it difficult for the intern to keep up. In addition, Chi Buyu had just returned, and Chen Huanong was too busy to handle everything. When the assistant asked who to take with her, Chen Huanong thought for a moment and finally decided on the intern. The assistant was a little doubtful of her ears. With such a rare opportunity, she thought Chen Huanong would definitely take Chi Buyu. In public, Chi Buyu had been with Chen Huanong for a long time, and in private, Chi Buyu was family. She asked just for the sake of formality, but she didn't expect Chen Huanong to take the intern.
Facing her assistant's probing gaze, she offered a rare explanation, "I know what you're thinking. Buyu has been following me for too long, and his work style and temperament are almost identical to mine. This is progress, but it can also become a constraint. He can't always stand in my shadow. He needs to learn to face the world independently."
"He will definitely be unhappy."
"When you're busy, you don't have time for petty emotions. Have you sorted out all the companies in the South District? Give them to him to negotiate with. If he fails at one, have him write a letter of apology. That way, he won't have time to bother me." Chen Huanong praised his own cleverness every day. "Besides, it takes a few drinks to negotiate cooperation with those company CEOs. Chi Buyu is good in all other aspects except not visiting prostitutes, so of course he's sent. But you never know. Now that he's grown up, some impulsiveness is understandable. Anyway, it's right to let him go."
The assistant was stunned. She used to feel bad for Chen Huanong constantly being annoyed by that naughty kid, Chi Buyu. But now, it seemed her sympathy was unnecessary. With Chen Huanong's penny-pinching nature, he'd abused his position for personal gain, like he was doing now, to exploit Chi Buyu as many times as Chi Buyu had irritated her. The assistant seriously suspected they were long-lost siblings; they were both incredibly irritating.
Just as Chen Huanong sent the WeChat message, Tang Chengting called and asked, "Didn't you say you were leaving the day after tomorrow?"
"Well, Senior has something urgent to do, so I have to go there early."
"Why haven't I heard about going abroad?"
"You didn't ask!" Chen Huanong believed that there was nothing wrong with this answer, so the one who was wrong was Tang Chengting who said "OK" and hung up the phone.
Zhang Xingyan was very surprised that he could make an appointment with Tang Chengting on a non-weekend night. At first, he thought it was because he was too proud. But after drinking half of the wine, he suddenly realized that the reason he could make an appointment with Tang Chengting today was entirely because Tang Chengting was in a bad mood and wanted to find someone to complain to. What a coincidence that his call came in when Tang Chengting was looking through the address book. Isn't it a tacit understanding?
"Tell me, does this woman have no idea at all? That matter has only been over for a few days, and she's already gone on a business trip with him. She doesn't even know how to avoid suspicion?" Tang Chengting had been inexplicably furious since he received the WeChat message. "Does she know what I've done for her? She's so ungrateful!"
"What did you do for her?"
Tang Chengting glared at him. Zhang Xingyan silently put away his gossipy face and returned to his pretentious appearance. "I think it's precisely because there's nothing that there's no need to avoid suspicion, right? You didn't ask Chen Huanong what's going on between her and Zhao Liangqi?"
"She didn't say."
The time we have missed will never see each other again. This is the reality.
That day he asked about the past, including the grievances of Chen Huanong that he had deliberately ignored, and Chen Huanong answered like this.
"I always thought she meant the four years we rarely contacted each other. Now I think she must have been talking about the past five years. During the five years of our marriage, I could clearly see how many times she hesitated to speak, but I never asked. On the surface, I thought she would say it when she wanted to, and she wouldn't say anything when she didn't want to, no matter how much I asked. Secretly, I was afraid of taking on another person's pain. I couldn't even bear it myself, let alone others."
"Then have you ever thought about whether Chen Huanong can really bear your part?"
"What's the meaning?"
Zhang Xingyan heard too many accusations from Mo Yiyan, most of which were that you two are indeed brothers, equally shameless and ruthless, but at least Tang Chengting has a fool to back him up, and you look at yourself, what else do you have left except a dog skin?
The fool was naturally referring to Chen Huanong. Chen Huanong had deliberately buried the old story. Mo Yiyan was the first eyewitness, Zhang Xingyan was the second hearsay, and Tang Chengting was the most familiar stranger.
Everyone knew that Tang Chengting and Yu Sihua had been together. In the naive days of youth, a three-point affection could be mistaken for a five-point crush, but once they were together, the illusion was shattered. Their abrupt breakup after less than a hundred days together wasn't a big deal. The only inconvenience was that Yu Sihua was still Chen Huanong's best friend, and even more so when Cheng Jinshu confronted Chen Huanong over the phone, asking, "You're so obsessed with protecting Yu Sihua, haven't you ever considered that she was with Tang Chengting?"
Chen Huanong sat on the noisy bus, the wind whistled past her ears, and the female voice on the phone was particularly clear. It was already early spring and the weather was getting warmer, but she felt a chill when she got off the bus. With trembling hands, she dialed Yu Sihua's number and got a positive answer. She said in a trembling voice, it doesn't matter, matters of the heart are consensual, he likes you, you like him, and you are together naturally. You don't have to explain to anyone, and don't feel guilty about me. For two whole months, she didn't leave the dormitory. She slept more than she was awake, and she would fall asleep again within five minutes of waking up. No one dared to ask her what was wrong. They heard her crying in the middle of the night, and when she didn't respond after calling her for a long time, they realized that she was sleeping. Her roommates were frightened every day, and they would wake her up to feed her, fearing that she would be gone when they got home from class one day.
Finally, Mo Yiyan pulled back Chen Huanong's blanket and said coldly, "Chen Huanong, get up! If you keep looking like this, I'll pretend I never made friends with you." The sun was shining brightly outside the window. Chen Huanong looked at himself in the mirror. Well, it was really unbearable to look at. Chen Huanong slowly forgot those people and events in the endless time, and it was a long time before he mentioned them to Mo Yiyan again.
The news of Tang Chengting and Chen Huanong's relationship spread quickly to everyone. Cheng Jinshu was the last to know and specifically went to ask Tang Chengting. After Tang Chengting gave a definite answer, the other party stopped replying. Tang Chengting jokingly asked Chen Huanong, "Did you offend Cheng Jinshu? He ignored me when he heard I was with you?" Even though he knew it was just a joke, Chen Huanong's heart couldn't help but crack.
"What did I do to offend her? At that time, I really wanted to ask Cheng Jinshu, Yu Sihua, and Tang Chengting, who did I offend in this whole thing? I didn't hurt anyone, and I had no involvement in their complicated little schemes. Why was I the one who was sad in the end? Was it just because I happened to value Tang Chengting?"
That was the saddest day Mo Yiyan had ever witnessed Chen Huanong. She thought Chen Huanong would have a sudden realization, and when they met again the next day, she would still stand shoulder to shoulder with Tang Chengting as if nothing had happened.
"Because you've experienced so much more than just this one. Has she ever told you about it? Have you ever thought about why she can't speak? Mo Yiyan said that Chen Huanong never wanted you to share her burdens because she knows you too well, and you always seem to think that she has a smooth life."
In the prime of life, you are ignorant and naive, full of beautiful expectations for everything, but in the end, your expectations are shattered by your close ones. Haven’t you ever felt wronged?
I have suffered so much injustice, never said a word, and hid all my past from you, only to have it eventually discovered by someone with ulterior motives. Didn't you ever expect it?
The time difference between Kenya and China is five hours. Chen Huanong received a WeChat call from Tang Chengting at nine o'clock in the evening in Kenya. She had just finished everything and returned to the hotel. She hadn't even had time to change her shoes when she heard her phone ring. "It's two o'clock in the morning in China now. Are you not sleeping to cultivate immortality?"
"I sent you a WeChat message but you didn't reply." The voice on the other end sounded aggrieved. Chen Huanong thought he was too tired and had hallucinations.
"Why, are you worried that I'll be taken away by cannibals? This is exactly what you want. You can live alone without getting a divorce, and save a lot of lawyer fees."
"Chen Huanong, I want to divorce you, but I never wanted you to get hurt. If you were captured by cannibals, I would definitely go to save you."
Tang Chengting spoke sincerely, but Chen Huanong remained unmoved. She firmly believed in the saying, "If you believe a man, even a sow can climb a tree." "By the time you come to save me, I'll probably be nothing but bones."
"No, the scourge will last for a thousand years, but Chen Huanong, you will live a long, long life."
"Tang Chengting, have you drunk too much?"
As Chen Huanong's voice suddenly rose, a laugh came from the other end of the phone, "No, I'm still very conscious. If I really drank too much, I would be asleep by now."
Chen Huanong understood. This was a serious case of being drunk. Only when drunk would one become a chatterbox. Sleeping? Don't even think about it. Every time Tang Chengting got drunk, he would drag her aside to chat for most of the night, starting with how a rooster pecked his butt as a child and ending with "Qingqing, your flesh is so soft." Chen Huanong was always furious. Your flesh is soft, your whole family's flesh is soft. If you want to say someone is fat, just say it directly. What kind of man am I to make such a subtle criticism with such a veiled praise! Did I eat your rice because I was fat? (Tang Chengting: It was indeed me who bought the rice)
Chen Huanong silently cursed Zhang Xingyan eight hundred times. As soon as she left, these two men secretly opened four bottles of her wine. She wasn't allowed to drink, so she was the one chatting. Why was she the one who suffered the consequences? It was a shame that Zhang Xingyan was a law student. He didn't know the principle of "developers should manage"? Since he had gotten Tang Chengting drunk, he should be responsible for chatting with her until dawn. What was wrong with making cross-border calls to harass her in the middle of the night?
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