Chapter 20 Chapter 20
Shen Li walked into the gate of Tongxi Temple and saw Wen Ying standing under a wall covered with wooden prayer signs.
The wall was an old blue brick wall with a huge red grid hung on it, and all the wooden prayer signs were densely packed and tied on it.
When the wind blew, the wooden signs squeezed together and swayed, creating a red wave in Shen Li's eyes.
Wen Ying didn't notice Shen Li approaching. She lowered her head and quietly looked at the words on each wooden sign.
"May grandpa and grandma always be healthy"
"I hope the little baby can come to us soon."
"You have to get well soon, and we'll go to the sea together next year."
…
But just a few words contain the most sincere wishes.
Wen Ying looked up at the endless wooden plaques, feeling a surge of emotion. She wondered if the people who had written their wishes had finally gotten what they had hoped for.
Shen Li's voice sounded from behind her: "There's an empty wooden sign and pen next to it. Do you want to write one too?"
Wen Ying smiled and shook her head, but said nothing.
Chen Li stood shoulder to shoulder with her under the surging wooden sign: "It's funny to say that two atheists are standing together under the temple's prayer wall right now."
Wen Ying looked up and said, "Perhaps the gods are in my heart. If I dare to write it down and hang it up, the gods will definitely see it. The most helpless thing is those wishes that I dare not even express out loud. Even if the gods have the will, they are powerless."
"That sounds profound," Shen Li turned his head to look at her. "Is Wen Lu expressing this from a personal experience?"
Wen Ying took two steps back and patted Chen Li on the back, signaling him to leave. "But I just made up a few words, and they really can scare you. Let's go, I'm a little cold."
The two of them walked down the mountain along the way they came. Shen Li said, "I didn't expect Zheng Di to be here. I'm sorry."
Wen Ying shook her head: "It doesn't matter whether she's here or not. Grandpa has never liked me very much. I'm mentally prepared. Is she still here now?"
Shen Li nodded: "I heard her on the phone. Director Zheng should be here soon. Grandpa invited them to come over for lunch."
"Why didn't I let you stay?"
"I said I had something to do at the hospital and needed to hurry back," Shen Li said, feeling a bit of a headache. "Grandpa is a stubborn person. Even I can't change many of his ideas. Don't come here from now on. It will only make you feel upset."
Wen Ying said it was okay: "If you don't have any expectations, there won't be a big gap. I'm already used to it. I even have expectations of what I'll hear and what expressions I'll see after we meet."
The two went down the mountain, and in the car, Wen Ying took out a peach wood amulet and handed it to Chen Li.
Shen Li was a little surprised: "You really asked for one? I was just looking for an excuse so that you can leave there."
Wen Ying put the amulet into Shen Li's hand: "Although it's an excuse, I really want to ask for one for you. You are a criminal investigator, and the risk factor is not small. I feel more at ease with such a amulet by your side."
"The amulet an atheist asks for might be more effective," Chen Li smiled, putting it neatly into the inner pocket of his coat. "I'll keep it with me, so you can rest assured."
------
Since the court re-accepted Zhou Boyu's appeal, Wen Ying basically never left the law firm in the first half of the night.
Zhou Boyu seemed to be feeling sorry for his mistake and called Wen Ying to ask to meet her in the evening.
Wen Ying rubbed her sore eyes and said, "Mr. Zhou, thank you for your kindness, but I really don't have time to go to a concert with you for several hours."
Zhou Boyu disagreed. "There's always work to do, and some relaxation is more conducive to improving work efficiency. This concert is a limited-time ticket sale, so you can't buy tickets outside. You'll really regret not seeing it. After the concert, I'll treat you to dinner on the rooftop of the Platinum Hyatt Hotel. It's a reward for all your hard work for me lately. How about that?"
Seeing that she couldn't refuse, Wen Ying could only take a step back: "No need to eat. The concert shouldn't be over too soon. I'd rather go home and get some sleep."
Seeing that she agreed, Zhou Boyu was very happy and asked her considerately, "Do you have any suitable clothes? If not, I'll ask my assistant to bring you some."
Wen Ying glanced down at her professional attire, frowned, and asked Zhou Boyu, "Do I have to wear an evening gown?"
Zhou Boyu could hear Wen Ying's hesitation, and he said, "Of course not. You're not that old-fashioned. Your clothes are decent too. I'll pick you up at your law firm at 7 o'clock tonight," Zhou Boyu emphasized. "Let me pick you up, Lawyer Wen. Don't refuse."
Wen Ying was helpless: "Okay, see you tonight."
------
It is no exaggeration to say that the opera house was magnificent at night. Wen Ying tilted her head and before she could see the whole picture, the driver had already quickly driven the car into the underground.
Zhou Boyu and Wen Ying explained, "The musician performing tonight is a renowned French pianist. This is his first time performing outside of France, and tickets are not available. If we go through the main entrance, we'll likely run into a lot of reporters. Since the first trial of my divorce case, Bosheng's Publicity Department has been flooded with interview requests daily, so we have to ask Wen Lu to accompany me through the underground passage."
"Of course I agree," Wen Ying laughed back. "At this crucial juncture in the divorce case, Mr. Zhou's public appearance with a strange woman isn't exactly good news for Bosheng." She shrugged. "I don't intend to be the focus of the news."
"The security standards tonight are the highest, and our seats are in a private room, so Wen Lu can rest assured."
Wen Ying had been to the opera house many times, but this was the first time he knew there was a row of boxes on the second floor.
It's not quite accurate to call it a private room. It's just a few independent spaces separated by privacy glass on the second-floor platform, blocking the view on both sides. The entire front and top are still wide open, and the resonance of the piano's echo can be clearly heard.
Zhou Boyu and she sat on opposite ends of the sofa. Soft music played as he tilted his head to look at her. "You seem much more haggard lately."
Wen Ying raised her hand and touched her face. "Really? I'm so busy I don't even have time to look in the mirror." She sighed again, "I'll be thirty soon. I used to think thirty was so far away, but now it's right before my eyes."
Zhou Boyu said, "If you calculate it that way, I'm almost fifty." He laughed even harder. "God, if you put it that way, I feel like I won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow. I'll just lie there waiting for someone to take care of me."
Wen Ying raised her hand and pointed at his tall figure: "Buddha has a golden body, so he is immortal."
Zhou Boyu looked at her approvingly: "I just like listening to you talk."
Wen Ying sneered, "I make a living by showing off my mouth, so of course I can be even more eloquent to my God of Wealth."
After a while of laughing, the music became passionate.
Zhou Boyu moved closer to her. "Today is a private gathering. You don't have to treat me as your client," he explained. "I always keep my public and private life very separate. If I didn't feel that we were compatible, I wouldn't have invited you to a private event."
Wen Ying nodded: "You are so busy that you certainly don't have the time to bring your attorney out to broaden his horizons."
Zhou Boyu laughed again: "Talking to you is always so interesting."
He then asked, "As the person involved, I shouldn't ask you personal questions. But today is a gathering of friends. Do you mind if we talk about something else?"
Wen Ying was not stupid and could sense that Zhou Boyu treated her differently.
She smiled softly, propped up the armrest of the sofa with her elbows without leaving any trace, and naturally distanced herself from him. "What can I talk about? I'm just a married woman, so boring and dull."
Zhou Boyu curled his lips and said, "This is a new era. No one wants to be tied down by a marriage that exists in name only."
Wen Ying nodded: "Yes, but..." She looked at Zhou Boyu with a sly smile in the corner of her eyes, "But my marriage is happy, and it's still a long way from me to be in name only."
Zhou Boyu stared at her for a few seconds, then frowned slightly, seemingly smiling. "Are you kidding me or are you serious?"
"Of course I'm serious," Wen Ying said confidently, "My husband and I met when we were young, and it was natural for us to get married when we grew up. We can't say we love each other very much, but I think we're no less in love than any other couple."
Zhou Boyu's eyes were filled with complex emotions. "Although this may be impolite, I once heard you talking on the phone—on the night we first met, I heard you discussing divorce with your husband."
Wen Ying thought for a long time before she remembered that she was standing in the pavilion making a phone call and someone had indeed walked by. However, her mind was so focused on the phone that she didn't notice who it was.
She spread her hands and shrugged, "Friction and bumps are inevitable. There's nothing to be ashamed of."
Zhou Boyu sat back in his seat, arms folded across his chest, his face calm, as if everything was under control. "You're still young. If a relationship encounters increasingly frequent setbacks, then there are only two possible outcomes. One is that you compromise, getting hurt all over, only to end up with a barely viable marriage. The other is that you cut the Gordian knot, endure the pain for a while, and then embrace a new and free life." He looked at Wen Ying, his eyes full of temptation. "You're so smart, which path will you choose?"
Wen Ying chuckled and shook her head. "I won't choose either path, because your premise of 'the frequency of friction and stumbling is constantly increasing' doesn't hold true for me."
Zhou Boyu smiled faintly: "Then we can wait and see."
Wen Ying didn't say anything else. The quiet air was instantly filled with the passionate sound of the piano. Like waves, like a dream, like a violent storm, people sat on a small boat following the rhythm of the music, rising and falling, surging and surging.
When the song ended, the concert hall was first silent, and then burst into thunderous applause.
The blond pianist stood up to express his gratitude, and the curtain fell, signaling intermission.
Wen Ying stood up and said goodbye: "Sorry, Mr. Zhou, I'm very tired and probably won't be able to finish the second half."
Zhou Boyu also stood up and pointed at the dark circles under her eyes: "It's time to go back and have a good night's rest. Come on, I'll take you home."
Wen Ying politely declined, "It would be a shame to have such a wonderful concert come to an abrupt end. It's still early, I can call a taxi."
Zhou Boyu didn't give her a chance to refuse. He helped her take the coat, put it on himself and straightened his collar: "I'll give it to you."
Going down from the second-floor box required walking up a spiral staircase and then crossing the edge of the first-floor seating area to reach the elevator lobby. Wen Ying intentionally distanced herself from Zhou Boyu on the stairs, but at the turn, Zhou Boyu naturally stopped and waited for her to catch up.
Wen Ying followed quickly, and Zhou Boyu personally helped her open the door of the elevator hall, and the two of them entered the elevator together.
They chatted quietly along the way, just a few words. Zhou Boyu's reaction was the same as before, which made Wen Ying wonder if she was overthinking it.
It was already past nine o'clock when I entered the house. The lights were still on, but there was no one in the living room. Shen Li should be taking a shower.
She was very tired and hungry, so she changed her clothes and planned to secretly cook some noodles for herself.
Chen Li has a slight obsession with cleanliness. He can't stand Wen Ying messing up the kitchen, and he can't tolerate Wen Ying not eating at night and then clamoring for a midnight snack.
Wen Ying thought to herself that Chen Li would probably go to bed straight after taking a shower, so as long as she moved quietly and cleaned the kitchen thoroughly, she wouldn't be discovered.
Just as she was tiptoeing carefully to look for the instant noodles in the closet, a man's voice suddenly rang out from behind her: "What are you doing?"
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