Chapter 44 Deviating from the Course "I have no regrets."
When Qiao Yunzheng opened her eyes, her mind went blank for a moment.
All was dark except for a thin ray of light that slipped in through the gap in the curtains, casting a light shadow on a corner of the bed, where dust motes danced and swayed.
She stared at the beam of light for a long time before habitually reaching for her pillow.
Unsurprisingly, I found my phone.
I turned on the screen and glanced at it; it was already noon.
Up to this point, Qiao Yunzheng did not notice anything amiss.
She slowly got up, put on her shoes, and walked out of the bedroom.
His eyes squinted slightly at the sudden change in light. Looking at everything familiar before him, his gaze instinctively searched for Ms. Yao Jing.
Qiao Yunzheng was stunned when she saw the thin blanket draped over the sofa armrest.
As her memories slowly returned, she realized that she was in Wen Hong's house, and that last night she had been sitting on the carpet next to the sofa, and had somehow drifted off to sleep.
It was clearly him who took her back to her bedroom.
The house was empty; Wen Hong was nowhere to be seen.
There was a note on the restaurant table. Qiao Yunzheng glanced down and immediately recognized Wen Hong's handwriting. It was as unrestrained and flamboyant as he was, yet exceptionally beautiful: "Porridge is keeping warm in the kitchen. Remember to eat it when you wake up."
Qiao Yunzheng stared at the words for a long time before turning around and going to the kitchen.
The keep-warm function on the thermos was lit, and as soon as the lid was opened, a sweet aroma wafted out.
She couldn't help but smile and turned to get a bowl. The moment she opened the cupboard, her gaze fell on a blue and white porcelain bowl.
She remembered that the hangover soup she cooked for him last night was served in this very bowl.
Thinking of something, Qiao Yunzheng smiled, took out the bowl, filled it halfway with porridge, and then grabbed a spoon before walking out of the kitchen.
She ate her bowl of porridge slowly for half an hour, and just as she put the bowl down, the doorbell rang.
She ran to open the door and was almost dazzled by the beautiful "scenery" outside.
Seven or eight pretty girls stood neatly outside the door, their faces beaming with smiles.
Seeing her open the door, Chen Ce, who was standing at the front, grinned and showed off his neat white teeth: "Good morning, Miss Qiao."
Qiao Yunzheng squinted at the blazing sun high in the sky, and tactfully accepted his kindness: "Good morning," then turned her gaze to the group of girls behind him, "And who are these?"
Chen Ce straightened up and explained, "These five are specially invited to be your bridesmaids tomorrow."
"Companion..." Qiao Yunzheng was dumbfounded. "You can do that?"
Chen Ce nodded: "Everyone has their own expertise!"
He then pointed to two other girls carrying oversized black sliding suitcases: "These two are makeup artists and stylists, responsible for your makeup and styling tomorrow, and..."
Chen Ce showed significantly more respect, even a hint of reverence, to the mature woman standing at the very back: "This is Alice, a very famous fashion designer. She designed your dress specifically for you." As he spoke, he bowed respectfully to the woman again. "If there are any issues with the size or anything later, I'll have to trouble Ms. Alice..."
Qiao Yunzheng greeted everyone one by one.
She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she always felt that Alice, who seemed aloof, kept glancing at her with a scrutinizing look.
It wasn't until a group of people rushed into the house that Qiao Yunzheng began to feel a little more real about the upcoming wedding.
Although there were many people, everyone was busy with their own tasks in an orderly manner, and it did not seem noisy.
In stark contrast to the busy crowd was Qiao Yunzheng, who seemed somewhat awkward with nothing to do. Feeling a bit bored, she greeted everyone and went back to her room.
After the main character left, the busy people in the main hall slowly started to talk.
Qiao Yunzheng didn't care what they were talking about, but as she walked through the corridor to get water at the tea bar, she unexpectedly overheard Alice's words:
"Why did I choose to cooperate with Junyu back then? Because Wen Hong is quite an interesting person."
Qiao Yunzheng stopped in her tracks. It was the first time she had heard someone use the word "interesting" to describe Wen Hong, so she couldn't help but listen for a few more minutes.
Another girl asked, "How so?"
Alice: "The law firm's quote is secondary. The only thing is that he wants me to design five exclusive dresses for his girlfriend," she said, pointing to the clothing section behind her, "those ones."
The girl who asked the question was even more puzzled: "But I remember, Alice, you've been working with Junyu for several years, right? He didn't even have a girlfriend back then, did he? How come..."
Alice chuckled softly, "Isn't that interesting?"
"I understand!" the girl exclaimed in a low voice. "Wen Hong and this Miss Qiao, they probably knew each other a long time ago, didn't they?"
"Tsk, I can't believe it. Someone like Attorney Wen seems completely out of place when it comes to the word 'romantic'..."
Qiao Yunzheng stood still for a while before slowly moving her feet.
It wasn't until the door closed, shutting out their conversation, that she realized the glass in her hand was still empty.
She checked the time on her phone; before she knew it, the afternoon had passed in a flash.
She hasn't seen Wen Hong or received any WeChat messages or phone calls from him since she fell asleep in the early hours of the morning.
She suddenly stood up, walked out of the room, and found Chen Ce, who was looking down at the pictures: "Assistant Chen, where is Wen Hong?"
Chen Ce looked up from the computer screen and pushed up his glasses: "He should be at the law firm, right? Attorney Wen went there very early this morning, saying he was going to take a long vacation after finishing the last bit of work."
Qiao Yunzheng nodded, looked at the Bentley parked in the yard, and asked, "Can I drive that car for a bit?"
"Huh?" Chen Ce didn't understand what she was going to do, but he still obediently took out his car keys and handed them to her. "Of course, please do as you please."
Qiao Yunzheng took the car keys, thanked him, and walked towards the car parked outside.
Chen Ce kept his eyes fixed on Qiao Yunzheng until the Bentley he had driven drove out of the courtyard gate. Only then did he suddenly realize what was happening and hurriedly dialed Wen Hong's number.
Qiao Yunzheng connected her phone to the car's Bluetooth, opened the navigation, entered the location of Junyu Law Firm, started the car, and drove onto the main road.
I hadn't gone halfway when the screen switched to the incoming call screen.
Yao Jing called at this time, probably to ask if they had arrived safely in the city where they were on their business trip.
Qiao Yunzheng was also planning to talk to Yao Jing about tomorrow's plans, so she answered the call.
After Yao Jing finished speaking her words of concern, she finally said, "Mom, actually I'm in Shencheng."
Yao Jing paused for a moment, then tentatively asked after a few seconds, "I remember Wen Hong's law firm is there, right? Weren't you guys on a business trip? Why did you go to Shencheng?"
Unable to explain to Yao Jing the reason for Wen Hong's behavior that day, Qiao Yunzheng could only say, "Well, there were indeed some business matters to deal with."
Now, recalling the anxious look on Wen Hong's face when he took her away from the Qiao residence that day, she inexplicably smiled.
Recalling that moment, Qiao Yunzheng's ears burned. After a few seconds of pause, she continued to say to Yao Jing, "By the way, let's get married when we have some free time."
Upon hearing this, Yao Jing fell completely silent.
The silence made Qiao Yunzheng nervous. She gripped the steering wheel tightly and gently reassured her, "Mom, we didn't mean to hide it from you. We didn't mean any disrespect. I didn't act on impulse; it was a well-thought-out plan. Anyway, it's a bit complicated. I'll bring him home in a few days and explain everything to you properly..."
After another period of silence, Yao Jing ultimately couldn't bring herself to say anything in objection.
After a long sigh, Yao Jing's voice came through: "I remember when you were very young, you said you wanted a puppy, but Mom was afraid you'd have allergies, so I didn't buy it for you. Later, you never mentioned it again. Much later, Mom saw a neighbor's kid with a beautiful puppy and casually asked him where he bought it. He said it was a gift from you, on the condition that you could pet it a few times occasionally..."
"You like to travel around, and your parents are afraid you'll get hurt or have a relapse, so they always keep you at home. Later they found out that you asked Su Chen to casually say that you'd take them out to play so as not to upset your mother..."
Yao Jing's voice suddenly became a little hoarse: "Xiao Zheng, lately I've often been thinking about whether the things I thought were for your own good are really for your own good."
As if she had finished talking to herself, Yao Jing sniffed and said with a smile, "Xiao Zheng, as long as you've thought it through and you're happy, Mom has no objections. Mom will be waiting for you at home, waiting for you to come back together."
Qiao Yunzheng listened, her eyes crinkling into a smile, and sweetly replied, "Mmm."
After hanging up the phone, the car stopped at an empty red light intersection.
Qiao Yunzheng pulled herself out of her emotions, glanced casually at the street scene outside the window, and then froze.
I didn't realize when I had driven out of the city.
The navigation's voice prompts resumed, repeatedly reminding her that she had "gone off course."
She glanced at the location marked by the small green marker on the map, and realized that it was completely opposite to the route to Junyu.
The phone rang again after a quiet day.
The red light countdown has ended.
Qiao Yunzheng ignored it for the time being, drove through the intersection, made a U-turn ahead, and parked the car on the side of the road where she could park.
The phone call ended and then came back three times.
Qiao Yunzheng finally answered: "Wen Hong."
Wen Hong's tone wasn't friendly: "Where are you?"
Qiao Yunzheng was not familiar with the area. Looking up, she saw the huge logo of "Shencheng East Station" towering in the distance and blurted out, "I'm at Shencheng East Station."
The call ended abruptly, leaving only a busy tone.
Qiao Yunzheng was completely confused. She opened the navigation and hesitated whether to return the way she came or re-navigate to Junyu's route. A car sped past her car and then braked suddenly in front of her car.
The front door opened, and Wen Hong, still wearing her work clothes, stepped out.
Although it was already evening, the air was still hot and dry.
Wen Hong, radiating coldness, opened the passenger door and crouched down to sit inside.
He said nothing, but the emotions surging in his eyes were on the verge of collapse.
He hugged her tightly, his arms gripping her shoulders so tightly they ached.
"Qiao Yunzheng, have I not told you that you have no chance to regret this?"
Holding her like this, Qiao Yunzheng didn't know where to put her hands. Knowing that he had misunderstood again, she quickly explained, "I don't regret it."
This explanation didn't seem very convincing, so Wen Hong continued, "Then what are you doing at the high-speed rail station? Hmm?"
She suddenly felt like laughing. She gently patted his back, signaling him to let go.
Then, he stammered, "I just... got lost."
Wen Hong stiffened, slowly releasing her, his eyes fixed on her face, seemingly trying to discern the truth or falsehood in her words.
Qiao Yunzheng awkwardly brushed a stray hair behind her ear and explained earnestly, "I wanted to go to Junyu to find you, but..." She pointed to the off-route page that was still stuck on the car navigation system, "...I took the wrong road."
Author's Note: Thank you to "Sunshine" for the nutrient solution! *glug glug* [calico cat emoji]
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