Wen Baozhu knocked on the door for a long time, but no one came to open it.
She knocked so forcefully that the neighbor next door heard the commotion.撑着 an umbrella, he walked out, looking surprised. "Baozhu?"
Finally seeing a familiar face, Wen Baozhu's eyes lit up. "Uncle Ding!"
The man called Uncle Ding was also surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm back to see my grandma and mom."
"Your mom?" Uncle Ding gave her a strange look. "Your mom doesn't live here anymore."
Wen Baozhu was stunned.
What did he mean she didn't live here anymore?
This was the home she had grown up in. Why didn't they live here anymore?
Uncle Ding saw that she was completely in the dark and couldn't help but sigh. "You haven't been home for a while, right? Your mom... She's been gambling and lost the whole family fortune."
He pointed at the closed door. "Your mom sold this house last week. It's no longer your family's."
Maybe it was because she had been caught in the rain, but Wen Baozhu reacted a bit slowly. "The house... was sold?"
This couldn't be possible!
When she left Hong Kong, Fu Lian had given her mom a check for ten million. How could they have become so poor that they had to sell the house?
That was ten million!
She shook her head absent-mindedly. "No, it's impossible. My mom has money. How could she sell the house?"
Uncle Ding said, "It's true. Why would I lie to you? They emptied all the furniture last week. It's an empty house now. If you don't believe me, ask your mom."
After saying this, Uncle Ding turned around and walked away with his umbrella.
Wen Baozhu still didn't want to believe it.
She nervously took out her phone and kept calling Zhang Sumei.
"The user you dialed is unavailable..."
No matter how many times she called, it was the same mechanical reply.
Wen Baozhu leaned her back against the door to keep her tottering body from falling.
She suddenly realized that her hands were shaking.
Uncle Ding went back to his yard and was still talking to his wife.
"I wondered who it was. It turned out to be the fatherless girl from the Wen family. She came back to bang on the door today."
"Bang on the door? Didn't they sell that house? Why is she coming back to bang on it?"
"Hey! It's all because of that Zhang Sumei. She's really not a good person! She just dumped her own mother in the hospital and went to Macau to gamble and have fun. She didn't even say a word to her own daughter."
"Didn't they say her daughter went to Hong Kong to enjoy a good life? I think they're both in cahoots. They're going to let that old woman waste away."
"..."
Such remarks came through the wall and fell into Wen Baozhu's ears.
Although they were harsh and mean, they made Wen Baozhu wake up all of a sudden.
Oh right, she still had her grandma.
Like a trapped animal running around in a cage and finally realizing there was no way out, Wen Baozhu finally dialed that familiar number.
The other side answered quickly, as if expecting her call.
The man's voice was extremely impatient, suppressing his angry emotions as he growled into the receiver, "Wen Baozhu, didn't I tell you not to run around? Look at your current health. Do you really think I'll always indulge you?!"
Through the receiver, Wen Baozhu seemed to be able to see those gloomy and cold angry eyes.
She had been biting her lips tightly, but when she opened her mouth, there was a sob in her voice. "My grandma... My grandma is gone."
As soon as she finished speaking, there was a few - second pause on the other end of the phone.
In those brief seconds, Wen Baozhu seemed to sense something and said softly, "Does Mr. Fu know where my grandma is?"
No answer was already an answer.
"Can Mr. Fu let me see her?"
Wen Baozhu's breathing was rapid. Before Fu Lian could refuse her, she continued to plead, "Mr. Fu! From now on, I'll do whatever you ask! My life, my whole being, will be at your disposal from now on! Please let me see my grandma, even if it's just for five minutes - no, just two minutes, okay?"
Fu Lian's eyes darkened.
He couldn't tell what kind of emotion it was, but his heart, which was originally as hard as a rock, began to loosen a little.
He quietly waited for her to finish speaking, then repeated the question, "Are you sure?"
Sure that from now on, her whole being and her life would be unconditionally at his disposal and would belong to him forever?
Wen Baozhu didn't hesitate for a moment. "I'm sure."
He had never had this kind of feeling before. Even when he liked a certain toy, a certain book, or a certain videotape when he was a child, as long as A Nian also liked it, he had to give it up without hesitation.
Even the bodyguards and servants specially arranged around him would rush to help and protect A Nian the moment he got injured and fell.
So he didn't want to admit that at the moment when Wen Baozhu lowered her head and surrendered herself completely to him, he actually had this despicable thought of taking advantage of the situation.
Completely and utterly.
To possess a person.
Without having to worry about her running away, betraying him, or losing her.
His throat rolled. After a long silence, he finally relented. "I'll come pick you up."
...
The weather forecast was really inaccurate. The clouds were so thick that it seemed like it was going to rain for a whole week.
The raindrops on the car window dripped down in a row. The man sitting in the back row with her looked extremely gloomy.
Wen Baozhu sat on the other side of the car, curled up. Her body and hair were quite wet from the rain, but she seemed completely unaware, staring intently out of the window.
Fu Lian threw a towel over her head.
"Thank you, Mr. Fu." Wen Baozhu wiped her dripping hair casually with the towel, looking extremely absent - minded.
With a cold look on his face, his eyes fell on her nervous profile.
When the car was almost at the destination, she suddenly asked in a very soft voice, "Mr. Fu, is my grandma's condition not very good now?"
Fu Lian was stunned, and finally a complex look welled up in his eyes.
Actually, when she learned that Fu Lian had been preventing her from seeing her grandma, she had already had a vague premonition in her heart.
She just still held a kind of illusory hope because she hadn't seen the real situation.
But at this moment, all her illusions were shattered. Even the house had been sold by her mom. How could her grandma's condition be good?
After a moment, his voice was deep. "Half a month ago, I already sent A Yan to bring the old lady here for treatment."
The man was concise, but he only said so much.
Counting the time, it was almost when Fu Lian sent A Yan to visit her grandma in advance.
Wen Baozhu gave a weak smile and nodded forcefully with her chin. "But it was too late, wasn't it?"
Fu Lian looked deeply at her, trying to see through her pretended strength. "The delay was too long. There's no point in further treatment."
He finally chose to tell her the truth.
It would be too cruel to hide it from a weak person.
Moreover, she was about to know the truth.
Wen Baozhu reached out and slapped her cheeks hard, as if to keep herself awake. "I understand. Thank you, Mr. Fu, for telling me."
"Besides thank you, what else can you say?"
Wen Baozhu lowered her eyes, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz. "Can Mr. Fu tolerate me and wait until I've seen my grandma before punishing me?"
The gentleness on Fu Lian's face gradually faded.
She actually thought that at this crucial moment, he would settle accounts with her.
"Since you know what you've promised, don't forget it."
His tone was nonchalant, and the car stopped at this moment.
The man opened the car door first and held up the black umbrella in his hand. Then he walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door for her.
It was so strange. Clearly, she had been clamoring to see her grandma all the way here; but at this moment, her legs were so heavy as if filled with lead, and it took courage just to take a step.
The man's eyes were deep as he saw through her fear and hesitation.
The rain was pattering on the umbrella surface. The man bent down slightly and reached out his hand to her.
"I'm here."
She didn't know what kind of magic these three words had. Clearly, there wasn't much emotional fluctuation, but her nose suddenly turned sour, and tears seemed about to rush out of her eyes again.
She bit her tongue hard and placed her hand in his broad palm.