Chapter 53 Heart-to-Heart Talk "Wen Hong, the 'handsome man' trick didn't work."...
After not seeing him for several days, Qiao Yunzheng hadn't even had a chance to properly look at Wen Hong before he lifted her up in his arms.
He was tall and had long legs. He walked a few steps to the bedside and gently laid her down.
"It's only been a few days, and you've gotten yourself into this state." He knelt down beside her and carefully untied her shoelaces.
Her ankle was already swollen high, and even though he was being gentle enough, Qiao Yunzheng still gasped in pain, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
The tear fell onto Wen Hong's hand, and he felt as if he had been burned, his whole body stiffening.
After a while, he lowered his knees and simply knelt on one knee, lowering the height, before tentatively placing her foot slowly on his lap.
He pursed his lips, staring at his swollen ankle, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
“It’s my fault,” his voice was low and somewhat hoarse, “I shouldn’t have let you not find me, I shouldn’t have let you walk such a long way through the mountains alone.”
His wispy hair fell across his forehead, obscuring his deep, dark eyes.
Qiao Yunzheng couldn't see his face clearly, but upon hearing these words, her tears, which had been flowing unconsciously, began to fall more and more fiercely, large drops of them cascading down her face.
But she forced a smile, trying to make her voice sound less shaky: "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt at all... I was just too anxious, I was too anxious to see you... It was just a slight twist, not a broken bone..."
She spoke incoherently, her words broken and fragmented: "I really don't feel any pain at all. If you don't believe me, I can walk and show you..."
As if eager to prove herself, she stubbornly pulled her foot back and stood up unsteadily.
Wen Hong wanted to stop him, but was afraid of hurting him if she acted rashly. He was at a loss because of her tears, and could only stretch his hand out in mid-air to protect her.
The moment her foot touched the ground, an even heavier pain struck, making it difficult for Qiao Yunzheng to maintain her smile.
The moment she lost her balance, Wen Hong reached out and grabbed her waist. Then, the two of them fell onto the bamboo bed.
The house is built in an antique style, inside and out, and the gauze curtains hanging on the bamboo bed sway gently with the movement.
He dared not put all his weight on her alone, and at the moment of falling, he reached out a hand to support himself.
He didn't move immediately, looking down at her reddened eyes: "It doesn't hurt? Then why are you crying?"
Qiao Yunzheng lay there, watching the face she had longed for suddenly magnify before her eyes.
The first thing you see is the lower half of his face; there's a light blue stubble on his chin, hard and rough, which stings slightly when it brushes against her face.
She sniffed: "I watched the Wen family's press conference."
Wen Hong was taken aback, then realized that she knew everything.
He patted her head: "Is this what you're crying about?"
Qiao Yunzheng nodded, not daring to look him in the eye: "Wen Hong, does it hurt?"
She thought he must be in pain.
Despite his constant claims of indifference and his repeated assertions of his detachment from the Wen family, even the most rational person would not remain unmoved if he were to sever ties with the Wen family in front of everyone.
But he never mentioned those vulnerabilities that he never showed to others.
Even if she travels a long way to find him and stands in front of him, the first person he sees in his eyes is still her.
It was her disheveled appearance, her injured foot, and even her heartfelt concern as she asked if it hurt.
Wen Hong reached out and gently wiped away her tears, then ruffled her hair haphazardly, as if scolding her, or perhaps sighing: "Silly girl."
Without thinking, he pinched her cheek again: "Okay, sit up, I'll give you a cold compress and some medicine."
Her gaze followed the instant his head lifted, and a red mark on one side of his cheek stung her eyes.
Qiao Yunzheng felt her breath catch in her throat: "What happened to your face?"
Wen Hong, still looking nonchalant, was about to stand up: "Nothing's wrong..."
Qiao Yunzheng reacted quickly, grabbing his collar and pulling him back down from where he was about to stand up.
The sudden loss of weight caught Wen Hong off guard, causing her to fall back to her original position.
His lips landed perfectly on hers.
A smile spread across Wen Hong's eyes as she deepened her kiss, but the other person was uncooperative, their eyes wide open in protest.
A sly glint flashed in his eyes, and almost effortlessly, he pinned her restless, wildly waving hands behind her head.
He took those crimson eyes, as if soaked in sugar water, into his mouth, twisted them, and sucked on them.
Only when her muffled groans of resistance turned into soft moans of half-hearted resistance did he slightly loosen his grip on her.
He was concerned about her feet and coaxed her, "Let's apply the medicine first, they're still swollen."
The dazed look in Qiao Yunzheng's eyes lasted only a moment before turning into a disgruntled glare: "Wen Hong, your charm tactic didn't work."
Wen Hong, feeling somewhat annoyed at being exposed, rubbed his nose and said, "Tsk, the little girl has grown up and is not so easy to fool anymore."
Qiao Yunzheng shook off his restraints, cupped his face again, and forced him to turn his head away.
Under the warm yellow light, the wound wasn't very noticeable at first glance.
A thin, long cut, as if slashed by a sharp blade, extended from the cheek to behind the ear.
The wound had clearly been treated promptly; it was no longer bleeding, and there were no remaining scabs, though it was still somewhat red.
She stared intently, her eyes blazing: "Who did this?"
Wen Hong sighed and shook his head helplessly: "I was planning to see you in a few days, but you still found out."
"Wen Jinliang?"
Qiao Yunzheng had her answer. When she heard those chaotic background noises during her phone call with Wen Miao, she had roughly guessed the current situation of the Wen family. There was no other possibility but him.
Wen Hong was restrained by those soft little hands and was unusually obedient: "Yes, when I got home he was smashing things and accidentally got hurt, but it's okay, I disinfected and applied medicine beforehand."
Seeing the fire in her eyes that seemed to want to devour someone, Wen Hong slowly stood up.
He turned and went to the side room. After a short while, he returned with a medicine box in one hand and an ice pack wrapped in a towel in the other.
He moved a small stool to sit down beside her feet, carefully placed her feet on his lap, and applied an ice pack to the swollen area.
"About three years ago, I started investigating the Wen family. I don't think I told you about Wen Jinliang and my mother, did I?"
Qiao Yunzheng was taken aback, not expecting him to bring this up so suddenly. After a moment, she slowly nodded.
She knew some things about Wen Hong's mother from the investigation document Yao Jing had given her before, and from the few words her grandmother had spoken, so she could guess some things, but she had never actually heard Wen Hong mention it to her in person.
He kept his eyes down, busy with his work, speaking casually as if it were someone else's business: "When I met my mother, Wen Jinliang was just a poor student working away from home. He met my mother at an alumni reunion. In his own words, he didn't know my mother's true identity at the time. It was only because my mother didn't look down on him like others did, and gave him the respect of a man, that he developed feelings for her. Later, after they had known each other for a long time, he learned that my mother was the daughter of the Yan family in Jiangcheng, and that my maternal grandfather was a well-known local entrepreneur."
Qiao Yunzheng listened, a mocking smile playing on her lips: "Perhaps only your aunt would believe his nonsense?"
Wen Hong looked at her approvingly: "Yes, my mother believed it." He paused, then said, "If she had been as clever and quick-witted as our A-Zheng, there probably wouldn't have been a series of tragedies that followed."
He meant it sincerely, but Qiao Yunzheng felt a pang of sadness in her heart.
"Wen Hong, I'm sorry, I let you down back then." She had always owed him a formal apology for what happened back then.
Unexpectedly, Wen Hong shook his head: "You did the right thing. After all, five years ago, Wen Jinliang really had this idea in mind, wanting to use the same methods he used on the Yan family on the Qiao family."
“My mother pitied him for being alone and helpless, and felt sorry for his unfulfilled talents. She persuaded my grandfather to bring him into the Yan family. My grandfather only had my mother as his precious daughter. Since he agreed to let him into the family, he sincerely treated him as a confidant and nurtured him, sparing no effort and using all his connections and resources to help him gain a foothold in Jiangcheng.”
Even on a summer night, the mountain breeze is still cool, seeping in through the cracks in the window.
Wen Hong tossed the ice pack aside, took out some medicine for sprains and bruises from the medicine box, shook it well, and sprayed it on her swollen ankle. The strong smell of Chinese medicine instantly filled the small room; just smelling it made one feel bitter.
"After my mother married him, they did enjoy a blissful two years together. But then, the Yan family seemed to lose its luck, constantly being outmaneuvered by their rivals, and slowly declined. My grandfather always thought it was just bad luck that caused this, and never considered anything else. It was by chance that Wen Jinliang accidentally told my mother the truth after drinking with his friends, and she realized that it was all his doing."
The room was eerily quiet, with only Wen Hong's lonely voice: "It turns out that the rival that gradually devoured the Yan family was Wen Jinliang and his friend's company. He approached my mother with a purpose from the very beginning; it was never some casual encounter as he claimed. At that time, my mother was already five months pregnant. She hated herself for misjudging people and for letting a wolf into her house, and her mood worsened day by day."
“Later, after I was born and my grandfather passed away, Wen Jinliang finally stopped acting and revealed his true colors,” Wen Hong’s expression changed when she talked about her childhood. “When I was little, I thought my mother was very strange. When she loved me, she wanted to give me the whole world, but most of the time, her eyes were filled with hatred. When I was little, I didn’t understand her mood swings. Later, when I grew up, I realized what courage and price she paid to love such a child, to love me like this.”
Qiao Yunzheng stood frozen, her every breath seemingly controlled, her emotions shifting between sorrow and regret. There was something she didn't understand, so she asked, "But Wen Jinliang could have waited..."
She stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence; there were some things she shouldn't say.
Wen Hong understood her meaning. He smiled sadly: "He can't wait. He can't wait for his grandfather to pass away, and he can't wait for the Yan family to fall into his hands legitimately. He wants a name, a name of self-made success and extraordinary talent. His ambition cannot tolerate his success being mixed with words like 'relying on women' or 'living off women'."
He chuckled coldly a few times, looked up at her, and said with a dark undercurrent in his eyes, "Ah Zheng, isn't it funny? My mother and my entire life are no match for a hollow reputation."
On such a quiet night, far from the hustle and bustle, he bent down and sat in front of her, tearing open his past wounds with his own hands, showing them his raw, bloody flesh.
Qiao Yunzheng could no longer resist and slid down the edge of the bed, pressing herself tightly against him. She gripped his hand tightly, her throat tightening, and could only keep saying, "You still have me. I've always been here for you."
Wen Hong grasped her hand in return: "So, Azheng, I did those things not entirely because of you. I did them for my mother, for my grandfather, and for my grandmother. You don't need to feel guilty, you don't need to blame yourself, and you shouldn't feel indebted."
He pulled her into his arms: "I came here just to keep my mother company and tell her that her son has avenged everything that happened in the past."
That evening, Qiao Yunzheng refused Wen Hong's offer to take her back to the city and squeezed into the small bamboo bed with him.
She nestled in his arms, looking out the window.
Without the hustle and bustle of the city, the mountain breeze is cool, and even the moonlight is as bright as if it were scooped from the water.
Wen Hong's words were still swirling in her mind, leaving her unable to calm down for a long time.
"Can't sleep?" Wen Hong's voice suddenly rang out above him.
Qiao Yunzheng nodded, knowing that he had been awake all along, and said, "Wen Hong, we agreed that no matter what happens in the future, we will face it together, okay? Actually, I'm not as weak as you think, and I don't need you to rush ahead of me in everything."
Wen Hong gently brushed her chin against the top of her head: "Of course our A-Zheng is not weak."
“I’m serious,” Qiao Yunzheng raised her head slightly, “You can rely on me for a little while now and then.”
“Hmm,” Wen Hong said with a smile in his eyes, “Okay, I’ve got it.”
"Is there anything else you're hiding from me?"
Wen Hong paused, his hand around her waist, and after a long while, he said softly, "There is one."
Qiao Yunzheng sat up abruptly: "What else?"
Wen Hong quickly reached out and pulled her back to lie down, gently patting her back to soothe her: "Actually, I was also tricked by Wen Jinliang before."
She was taken aback; even someone as cunning as Wen Hong could have her moments of weakness.
Author's Note: Thank you so much "Sunshine" for the amazing amount of nutrient solution! *spins around* *mua*
Another day of hiccups. I'll probably need to do some minor repairs tomorrow. Goodnight~
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