Chapter 1
The scorching sun burned the earth and the leaves curled up on the branches.
A black car drove out of the downtown area, heading for the suburban forests. Massive trees, blocking out the sun, stretched freely on both sides of the road. Through the car window glass, the distant and faint chirping of cicadas lulled me into a dream...
The small brown ball fell into the soil. He bent down to pick it up, and a voice of dissuasion sounded beside his ear:
"Don't eat anything that has fallen on the ground."
He refused to accept it. Why couldn't he eat something that fell on the ground? Not only did he want to eat it, he wanted to eat it in front of him...
Children from rich families are spoiled and don’t know how to cherish things. This is chocolate, chocolate!
The gleaming car turned into the residential gate. The young man in the back seat suddenly woke up, his long eyelashes fluttering, his dark pupils filled with gloom. Song Youran smacked his lips, as if he could really taste the bitter-sweet taste of mud again.
How many years has it been since you last had chocolate?
Can't think too much.
The car slowed to a snail's pace. Song Youran gathered herself together, the fog in her eyes clearing as she asked the driver in confusion, "What's wrong, Uncle Zhong?"
Uncle Zhong looked up at the rearview mirror and replied, "The gate is blocked."
Song Youran straightened up and saw through the front windshield a small box truck parked across the yard gate.
The front of the car faced outward, the cab empty. Song Youran recognized the license plate as coming from Rongcheng. He unbuckled his seatbelt and said, "The Wen family is here to deliver something. It won't be over soon. Let me down and I'll get in by myself."
Uncle Zhong turned his head and looked at him: "I'll go in with you."
The air conditioning in the car was too low, and Song Youran's pale fingers tucked into her sleeves curled up and tightened in an instant.
"We're already at the door. Would I run away?" Song Youran said, half-smiling. She picked up a canvas bag full of test papers from the seat next to her, pushed open the car door, and said, "If you're worried, watch me go in before you leave."
Uncle Zhong nodded: "That's fine."
The car door was slammed shut. Song Youran took two steps and suddenly turned back, tapping on the car window glass with her fingers.
Uncle Zhong rolled down the car window. Song Youran said with a cold expression, "See you tomorrow."
Uncle Zhong smiled and said, "See you tomorrow, You Ran."
There was a busy scene at the entrance of the villa. At the rear of the truck, a man in a gray suit was directing workers to move boxes down from the truck. The boxes were heavy and it took two workers to lift one.
Song Youran walked behind the man in the suit:
"Assistant He?"
He Yuan had just sent a message to Song Mei when he heard someone calling him. He turned around and saw a tall and handsome young man with a loose coat covering him like a sackcloth bag. His lips were very red and beads of sweat were oozing from the tip of his nose.
He Yuan wore a suit all year round because it was a job requirement. He didn't understand why Song Youran, a young master, would wrap himself in a big, stuffy and hot cloth bag in such hot weather.
He Yuan curved his eyes and greeted Song Youran, "Master Ran."
Song Youran glanced at the boxes neatly stacked on the ground. "You're here to deliver something to Wen Chu again."
Judging from the number, it is not much more than last time.
He Yuan smiled distantly: "There's nothing I can do. The eldest young master is not with the madam, and the madam is worried about him. She can only send me to check on him from time to time."
This is funny. Wen Chu came to the Song family when he was six years old. Song Youran, the wife that He Yuan always thought about Wen Chu, has never met her.
But no matter what he thought in his heart, he couldn't show it on his face, and he had to show appropriate envy: "Wen Chu is really happy to have his family thinking about him."
He Yuan's cell phone dinged. Song Mei sent him a message, telling him not to return to Rongcheng until he completed the task.
He Yuan sighed secretly, raised his head and said with a twitch of his lips: "Parents will definitely try their best to be good to their children. All parents in the world do this."
Seeing that his mind was wandering, Song Youran understood: "That's true. You go ahead and do your work. I'll go in first." She quickly ended the conversation.
"Please go slower."
He Yuan, holding his phone, symbolically pushed the box at his feet with both hands as Song Youran passed by. "Sorry, Master Ran, I'm blocking your way."
In fact, the courtyard is wide and there is a lot of space to walk, so there is no such thing as blocking the way.
Some people take servility as a courtesy and keep calling someone "young master" or "madam". People who don't understand the situation may think that he is a high-level servant trained in some wealthy family.
Song Youran stopped and said, "Assistant He comes here so often, he's kind of one of us. I'll be frank with you. This isn't the Song family mansion. It's too small to accommodate such a large truck. Next time, let's get a smaller one so it doesn't block the way."
Ignoring He Yuan's look of surprise, Song Youran's smile did not reach her eyes.
After washing off the sweat in the room, Song Youran changed into a loose casual suit and went downstairs to the restaurant.
Lunch was already on the table, in his usual seat. Regardless of the meal, the ceremony was complete, with the food that could fit on one plate being split across three serving dishes.
Two large white porcelain plates with gold-painted edges were filled with only a thin layer of vegetables in the depression at the bottom. They were cooked with minimal oil and salt, preserving the natural flavor of the ingredients. Even after using chopsticks to rummage through the dishes, I couldn't find a single scrap of meat.
A small bowl of the same color, if you squeeze the rice in it, is it half the size of a fist?
It's not enough to fill the gaps between your teeth.
Song Youran picked up the water cup and took a big gulp, comforting herself in her heart that having food and drink is always better than starving. Picking up a grain of rice with two chopsticks is not completely without a solution. After so many years, she has accumulated some experience.
It is impossible to fill your stomach with these things on the table. You can only take a different approach and use your stomach and brain to belong to different camps and defeat them one by one.
The brain is the commander-in-chief of the body, smart and stupid. If you eat for a long enough time, it will mistakenly believe that the body has obtained enough calories.
The brain is satisfied, and even if the stomach is empty and wants to resist, the commander-in-chief thinks it's okay, because what kind of trouble can a small digestive organ cause?
Song Youran met a worker coming down the stairs empty-handed and asked gently, "Master, are you done moving?"
One of the workers replied, "There's one more box."
"It's so hot, thank you for your hard work." Song Youran smiled sincerely, "The restaurant has some herbal tea. Come have some when you're done."
The worker was flattered and kept saying thank you.
"It's just a small matter." Song Youran waved her hand and asked casually, "Has the upstairs unpacked yet?"
"It's open," the worker replied without hesitation. "Assistant He is upstairs with her."
Song Youran smiled, "It should go smoothly this time.
"Not necessarily." The worker looked embarrassed.
They are regular employees of the Wen family, so it is not appropriate for them to speak ill of their young master in public, but not saying anything does not mean they have no emotions.
One day two months ago, when the weather was not so hot, they encountered heavy rain on the highway and were stuck in traffic for five hours, arriving in City A at midnight.
They thought they could find a place to rest after unloading the goods, but when the boxes were carried to the door, Wen Chu suddenly ran down from upstairs, put his arm on the door frame, and prevented them from entering.
The rain was icy cold, and they were so busy taking care of the boxes that they couldn't take care of themselves. They were all soaked worse than drowned rats.
Assistant He did not come with them. They were powerless and could not persuade Wen Chu, so they could only call for help. After negotiating for more than an hour, they finally moved the box back to the car and brought it back to Rongcheng intact. The next day, they were scolded.
"I hope this time my work is not in vain." The worker sighed.
Song Youran comforted them: "Don't worry, you work so hard, Young Master Wen won't let your work be in vain." Of course not.
After separating from the workers, Song Youran went upstairs. Wen Chu's door was not closed, and He Yuan's voice floated out from inside:
"...My wife knows you participated in the school football match last week, so she sent people around the world to ask the top ten active football stars to sign this ball. Do you think you would like it..."
"How about taking a look at this doll? It's very popular recently. This series has 12 dolls in a set. Look, each one is so cute..."
Song Youran was tired of hearing these talks. His room was on the other side of the corridor. The door led to the living room, one side was the leisure and entertainment area, and the other side was the study area.
Compared to the study area, the entertainment area was a bit bare. A few sofas and chairs surrounded a low table, on which sat a chess set. Song Youran had played by herself a few times, but it wasn't very interesting. The entertainment area was completely useless.
Song Youran sat at the desk, took out the test papers she brought back from the cram school from the canvas bag, and spread a thick stack on the table.
The sunlight penetrated the window glass and sprinkled on the floor, moving from one side to the other.
Song Youran put down her pen, crossed her fingers, turned her wrists, stretched her arms forward, and twisted her stiff neck. The alarm clock on the table showed that dinner would be served in half an hour.
When he opened the door, He Yuan's voice was like sand blown by the wind, rough and hoarse, but still persistent.
"...The co-branded game console, all three colors are here. Which one do you like?"
Wen Chu sat in the armchair of a single sofa, his eyes half closed, a book spread on his knees, he pinched the pages with two fingers and occasionally turned them.
"Young Master..." He Yuan knelt on one knee at Wen Chu's feet, holding the armrest of the sofa with one hand and holding up the white gift box with the other hand to cover the book on Wen Chu's knees.
"Take a look, Master. I'm here on a mission today. Just consider it a favor..."
Various packaging bags and colorful gift boxes flowed down from the low table in the middle of the sofa, spread across the carpet, and flowed to the feet of Song Youran who was standing at the door.
Children from wealthy families have never experienced the pain of loss and don’t know what it means to cherish.
"Assistant He, I've said this many times, I don't need anything." Wen Chu pushed away the gift box in front of him, "Go back and tell her not to send anything over here anymore, it's going to clutter up my room."
He Yuan wanted to cry but had no tears: "If I reply to my wife, I can pack up and leave tomorrow."
He simply put down the gift box and put his hands on Wen Chu's knees. "Master, I just bought a house and have to pay a lot of mortgage every month. I can't lose this job, Master?"
Wen Chu stopped He Yuan from shaking his knees: "Give me your phone and I'll tell her, is that okay?"
"No, Master." He Yuan seized the opportunity and climbed up the pole: "How about you just leave one or two things here? It won't take up too much space, and it will be convenient for me to report back when I get back."
Wen Chu asked: "Is this the last time?"
He Yuan smiled awkwardly, touched his nose and said, "Of course, it's not the last time..." His voice gradually faded.
Wen Chu shook his head and refused: "Every time you come over, he gets very unhappy. I don't want you to come over anymore."
Not knowing who the "he" Wen Chu was referring to, He Yuan considered for a moment and said, "If it's convenient, could you let me talk to him, or could we be quieter next time we come?"
Wen Chu ignored him, turned his head to look at a cardboard box in the corner, closed the book on his knees, stood up and said, "Do you like this?"
He Yuan was full of questions. He looked around and found Song Youran hiding behind the door. He quickly stood up and patted his knees.
Wen Chu walked to the door carrying a brown gift box: "Here you go."
Seeing the surprise in He Yuan's eyes, Song Youran's face flashed with annoyance. She raised her eyebrows and said coldly, "I don't take in trash."
This was really rude, and He Yuan, who was standing behind Wen Chu, frowned.
As if he didn't feel the insult in the words, Wen Chu's expression was calm, and he explained like coaxing a child, "It's not garbage, it's all new, and the plastic wrap hasn't been removed yet."
"What you don't want is garbage!" Song Youran said, turned around and ran, and a loud sound of a door closing was heard in the corridor.
He Yuan walked out of the room and said in the direction Song Youran had left, "This Young Master Ran has a really bad temper."
Just as he was about to study the ingredient list on the box, he heard He Yuan's words and raised his eyelids. He said slowly, "Don't say bad things about him."
He Yuan was stunned. He always thought that although Wen Chu was a little willful, he had a good temper. Now it seems that no matter adults or children, they all have more than one face.
Wen Chu took one look at the completely destroyed room and made a decision: "Leave the food behind, and take everything else."
He Yuan smiled broadly: "Okay! I'll call someone up to clean it up right now."
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