That afternoon, as soon as Xia Weilan finished school, Steward Zhao was already waiting for her in the car at the school gate.
Only then did Xia Weilan remember that she was going back to the Xia residence to stay that day.
"Miss, shall we go straight back?" Steward Zhao asked as he started the car.
"Go to the pastry shop."
At dusk, just as Xia Weilan got out of the car, she heard Xia Ruolin's voice coming from the hall.
She didn't know what Xia Ruolin had said, but soon there came the cheerful voice of Grandpa Xia.
Xia Weilan tugged at the skirt of her dress, curled her red lips slightly, and stepped inside.
"Grandpa~ Look what delicious food I've bought for you!"
Inside, Xia Ruolin immediately craned her neck and stared straight at what the woman at the door was holding.
It was wrapped in a transparent bag, and inside were small boxes of pastries.
A hint of ridicule flashed across Xia Ruolin's eyes. When she looked at Xia Weilan, it was as if she were looking at a fool, but she hid it imperceptibly and replaced it with a suppressed calm.
"What good stuff?" Grandpa Xia also looked over in surprise.
Xia Weilan walked closer, placed the square box on the table, and said cheerfully:
"Grandpa, Sister Ruolin said you like this kind of pastry, so I bought some for you." Then, Xia Weilan casually glanced at Xia Ruolin. "Sister Ruolin, am I right?"
Xia Ruolin picked up the conversation seamlessly: "Grandpa likes to eat sweets when playing chess. He likes many flavors."
By then, even if Xia Weilan "accidentally bought" osmanthus cakes, it would have nothing to do with her.
Xia Weilan sneered inwardly.
"Grandpa, hurry up and have a taste. It's rare for younger sister to buy it for you herself." Xia Ruolin's clear voice was pure as crystal.
Soon, Xia Weilan picked up a pastry. One couldn't tell what was inside just by looking at it. Grandpa Xia took a bite without hesitation. It was of just the right softness and hardness, sweet and delicious.
"Not bad!" Grandpa Xia praised.
At this moment, Xia Ruolin felt a bit nervous and asked in confusion, "Delicious? Doesn't Grandpa dislike this kind of pastry?"
"Sister Ruolin knows which flavor I bought without even tasting it? Is there some taboo for Grandpa that you think what I bought must be inedible?"
Hearing this, Grandpa Xia stopped smiling and looked back at Xia Ruolin. "What's going on?"
Xia Ruolin's heart almost jumped into her throat, but she forced a smile and said:
"I just thought the color of this pastry was too dark. I was afraid it would be too sweet and greasy for Grandpa to eat too much."
It was obviously a made - up excuse.
But Grandpa Xia believed it without hesitation.
"Grandpa, is it too sweet and greasy?"
Xia Weilan looked a bit worried, blinking her eyes, and taking the opportunity to win some favor.
"How could it be sweet and greasy? It's just the right taste, very suitable." After Grandpa Xia finished speaking, he glanced at Xia Ruolin unhappily.
Xia Ruolin had no choice but to bite the bullet and apologize.
Unexpectedly, Xia Weilan spoke again:
"Grandpa, let me play a game of chess with you. I heard from Sister Ruolin that you like to eat osmanthus cakes when playing chess. But when I went, the osmanthus cakes were all sold out, so I had to buy this kind."
Osmanthus cakes?
Seeing Grandpa Xia's face turn dark instantly, Xia Ruolin wished she could tear Xia Weilan's mouth apart.
"Sister, you must have misheard..."
"Yeah, Sister Ruolin, maybe I misheard!"
"..." Xia Ruolin.
For a moment, Grandpa Xia's gaze at Xia Ruolin was a mixture of various emotions, making Xia Ruolin tremble like a delicate flower in the wind.
Xia Weilan lowered her eyes, gently picked up a pastry and put it into her mouth, and said no more.
After dinner, Xia Weilan proposed to Grandpa Xia that she wanted to intern in the company. Xia Ruolin quickly tried to stop her, saying that Xia Weilan was too young and it would be more appropriate to enter the company in a few years.
Xia Weilan didn't insist but agreed instead.
Grandpa Xia had been a bit unhappy with Xia Ruolin just now, and now he couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy.
Xia Ruolin usually seemed quite sensible, but today she seemed to be deliberately targeting Xia Weilan.
"The girl can enter the company whenever she wants." Grandpa Xia made a final decision.
Xia Weilan tugged at the corner of her mouth and showed a beautiful smile. "Grandpa, I plan to take an additional business management course this year. I'll lay a solid foundation and then enter the company, so as not to make a fool of myself."
In her previous life, Xia Ruolin and Ouyang Mingqi had conspired to poison Grandpa, which had led to his critical illness.
In this life, with her around, she would never let the events of the previous life repeat.
Moreover, Grandpa Xia was still in relatively good health this year. She could study hard and then enter the company.
As the saying goes, good work takes time. She, Xia Weilan, never cut corners in her work.
Like making a bowl of soup, it had to be simmered slowly to get a thick and rich flavor.
It was the same with learning jewelry design. The more eager one was for quick success, the more likely one was to go astray.
Impatient people were really hard - pressed to design any grand products.
Take Lin Xuefei for example.
I wonder if she is now racking her brains to design a good work for the jewelry design competition?
The more impatient she was, the less she could design anything. By then, when she saw other people's good design drafts, the more greedy she would be.
Xia Weilan thought that she would go back to the Lin family the next day and give her a grand gift properly.
The next day, Xia Weilan returned to the Lin family.
The maid who opened the door didn't give Xia Weilan a good look at all when she saw her standing outside.
Xia Weilan entered the house without caring and went straight to the room where she used to live.
That room was originally a storage room, smaller than an ordinary room. The room was fully furnished, and there was a work table full of scattered and unorganized draft papers.
Xia Weilan rummaged through the draft papers and finally found that special design draft.
It had to be said that Lin Xuefei had some taste. The design draft she stole was the most eye - catching one among these papers.
It seemed that Lin Xuefei hadn't come to steal it yet.
Xia Weilan put the draft back on the table and mixed it in with the other papers.
Then she took out a small pinhole camera from her pocket, looked around the room, and fixed her eyes on a painting on the wall.
A few minutes later, Xia Weilan walked out of her room with a suitcase in hand.
In the downstairs hall, Wei Hongmei was sitting there absent - mindedly drinking tea, and her eyes kept glancing at the upstairs room from time to time.
She had heard from the servant that that bitch had come back to pack her luggage.
Wei Hongmei quickly put down what she was doing and rushed back in a hurry.
Now she was putting on airs, waiting for that bitch to come downstairs.
Sure enough, not long after, she heard the sound of the door closing upstairs. Soon, a beautifully dressed woman walked down the stairs. From head to toe, she was wearing expensive designer brands.
Wei Hongmei squinted her eyes, extremely jealous.
It was okay when that bitch had dragged her down before.
But now that she had made it and married into a wealthy family, did she really want to abandon her own mother like this?
Was there such a heartless person in the world?
She was her own mother! What was the difference between what she was doing and abandoning her biological mother?