(ten)
Ye Wenyu vaguely recalled the scene of her first meeting with Lin Tingfeng in her previous life. At that time, she was in a bad mood. Lin Tingyue picked her up in a Porsche sports car and parked outside her residential area, attracting a crowd of onlookers. The sports car was ice blue, and Lin Tingfeng was wearing an ice blue dress, like the brightest star in the night sky.
Compared to the glamorous, celebrity-like heiress of the Lin family, Ye Wenyu, dressed in a white T-shirt and loose, ripped jeans, looked like a poor chimney sweep. When she was desperate, Lin Tingyue called to invite her to a family dinner. She agreed to go hoping to become close to Lin Tingyue enough to ask for money, thus securing her tuition and living expenses. It was with this pitiful thought that she got into Lin Tingyue's sports car to attend the dinner.
She never expected to meet Lin Tingfeng at the banquet. In her mind, the Lin Group was incredibly wealthy, and based on the bits and pieces of information she had seen in newspapers and magazines, she had always imagined Lin Tingfeng to be an old man, bald, pot-bellied, and greasy-faced, just like the greasy middle-aged men described online.
Those attending the Lin family banquet were all wealthy and powerful. Apart from Lin Tingyue, Ye Wenyu didn't know any of them. Moreover, because Lin Tingyue had too many friends, after bringing Ye Wenyu into the venue, she seemed to forget her existence, leaving her aside and busy socializing with her friends. She disappeared in no time.
Ye Wenyu realized that her idea of befriending a rich and beautiful woman to borrow money was utterly absurd and laughable. Her mood plummeted, but she forced herself to be optimistic, thinking she might as well make the best of it. She ate many delicacies she rarely had, especially various exquisite desserts. She also drank a lot of delicious wine and secretly took many glamorous photos with her old Huawei phone, posting them on her WeChat Moments with a forced smile and the caption, "Having a great time visiting a friend's house." In reality, Lin Tingyue didn't consider her a friend, and she wasn't happy either. But in her previous life, she had been just as vain and materialistic.
Feeling lonely and embarrassed, she could only eat and drink frantically at the banquet. Eventually, her stomach churned, and she staggered as if she was about to vomit on the spot. To avoid further embarrassment, she covered her mouth and ran out.
A gust of cold wind outside cleared her head considerably, and she realized she was in what seemed to be a garden. The surroundings were quiet, the lawn large and spacious, with a rockery and fountain at the end. She walked slowly and noticed a large piece of expensive rosewood on the ground. The kind of wood ordinary people buy in small quantities to make beads, but the owner of this house had casually placed such a large piece on the ground as decoration. Rosewood emits a delicate fragrance. Ye Wenyu squatted down, leaned in under the moonlight, and took a deep breath. After a while, she stood up and chuckled. She said, "Two thousand." Two thousand meant that this piece of rosewood, discarded by the wealthy man as decoration, could make at least two thousand strings of beads. A single string of rosewood beads costs two or three thousand. At two thousand each, that's four hundred thousand. Four hundred thousand just lying there on the ground, while she, pitifully, had come here hoping to borrow money for her tuition, which was less than twenty thousand. Hahaha, hahaha, this world is so ridiculous, so unfair.
Ye Wenyu burst into laughter. She stumbled to the fountain and discovered a huge swimming pool. She stumbled forward and saw a large fishpond filled with koi of various colors, each two or three meters long. She leaned on the railing, and a large red koi swam over. She stared at it, and it stared back at her. It seemed to be smiling at her, and she grinned back at it. Then she felt like vomiting. She covered her mouth and saw a trash can nearby. She immediately ran over and vomited violently until she felt better.
After vomiting, she straightened up and saw a swing set not far away. Near the swing set was a dense wisteria vine, with clusters of enchanting purple flowers blooming under the moonlight, their fragrance filling the air. She walked over with uneven steps and slowly sat down on the swing. At that moment, a crescent moon like an eyebrow was overhead. She thought of her past and couldn't help but shed tears.
Then she heard a cough, and she jumped up in fright. She saw a tall and strong man standing behind her. He was about 1.85 meters tall, dressed in all black, a black hoodie with black sweatpants and black running shoes. The hoodie was pulled up on his head. He was muscular and wore loose and comfortable sportswear, but standing there, he looked like a muscular beast.
This was the first time Ye Wenyu had seen a man dressed in black, so handsome, yet with such a frightening aura.
Standing in front of him, she had to look up, like a little rabbit standing in front of a lion. She wiped away her tears, her heart pounding with fear, and wanted to turn sideways and walk past him.
But just as she was making this plan, he suddenly spoke up and said softly to her, "We're all down on our luck, so why bother hiding—" He fell silent, looked at the brightly lit banquet hall, and slowly said sarcastically, "Inside this banquet, you'll find all the successful people."
Ye Wenyu paused for a moment, then turned around. He was right. At this moment, the banquet hall was filled with the sounds of music, elegant ladies, and laughter. It was full of powerful and successful people. She had just run out of there, so why should she run back in?
But is he a disappointed person?
She walked up to him and asked curiously, "Are you down?"
The man had already sat down on the bench next to the swing set, glanced at her discreetly, and said, "Look at my outfit—"
Ye Wenyu glanced at him; he was wearing sportswear, whereas the men and women at the banquet had all been dressed in fine suits or formal wear.
The man's lips curled into a smile as he gazed at her and slowly said, "So I am also a disappointed person."
Ye Wenyu laughed and sat down on the swing set, her wariness lessening considerably.
She said playfully, "So you ran out of the party in your tracksuit?"
Haha, the man in black laughed loudly, revealing neat, white teeth, making him look like a ferocious beast. His long eyes narrowed slightly in the moonlight, but when he looked at her, they shone like stars, making her heart flutter for a moment. Ye Wenyu didn't dare to look at him for long and lowered her head.
A voice above her said, "Tell me what's bothering you, maybe I can help."
Perhaps because she desperately needed someone to confide in and needed help, Ye Wenyu sat there and suddenly, in a hoarse voice, poured out all her pitiful stories, from her parents' divorce and her mother's remarriage, which led to her mother selling the house and leaving her homeless and unable to afford school.
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