Ren Chuqing turned her head to look at Wen Muqing.
His chin was slightly raised, and he was looking up at her. Those phoenix eyes, normally brimming with charm, now seemed somewhat empty, just like when he was a child.
And that voice, tinged with a hint of brokenness, was almost like a plea.
"I was just getting a towel," she explained.
"I don't need a towel, just stay with me like before!" he said again.
Ren Chuqing was startled, stay with him like before?
When he was woken by nightmares in the past, she used to hold him and sleep with him, from the long night until dawn.
But now, they were both grown up!
"Is that not okay?" Her silence seemed to blanket his phoenix eyes with disappointment.
"No!" she suddenly exhaled, smiled, "Then just like when we were children."
His arms suddenly opened wide and he hugged her tightly.
Ren Chuqing let out a muffled grunt. His embrace was almost suffocating, but his slightly trembling hands were like those of a person about to drown, desperately grasping at the last piece of driftwood.
His face was buried in her chest, their legs intertwined. Every breath he took, filtered through the thin pyjamas, felt unbearably hot to her.
"Sister, do you regret not wanting me back then?" Wen Muqing suddenly asked.
Ren Chuqing's body tensed. Regret? Even today, she held no regrets, because if he had followed her and her mother at the time, his life might have been worse.
"It seems Sister doesn't regret it," he said with a low laugh.
That laughter weighed heavily on her chest, causing her heart to ache.
Her hands slowly caressed his hair, just like when they were kids, stroking it over and over, "Ah Qing, I'll be really good to you from now on, this time, unless I die, I won't leave you again, really!"
This final year, she would be exceedingly kind to him!
"Is that so?" he gently closed his eyes, "Then I look forward to seeing how Sister will treat me well."
If one day, she broke this oath, what awaited her would be an irrevocable disaster!
————
It felt like he hadn't slept so well in a long time!
It was like that night with her in the hotel, afterwards, he had also slept very well.
However, there was a difference between last night and that night; last night, they had simply snuggled up and fallen asleep together, just like when they were children.
When they were children...
Wen Muqing's eyes took on a cold glint, hadn't he already told himself that everything from that time meant nothing to him!
Getting out of bed, he freshened up and walked out of the bedroom, only to discover that breakfast was laid out on the dining table, along with a note.
The note read:
Ah Qing, I made some porridge for breakfast; you can have it with some side dishes. There's milk in the fridge, just heat it up in the microwave. I have to go to the office to deal with some matters first.
The note was signed, Your Sister.
Wen Muqing picked up the note and stared at it absently.
After a moment, he took the milk out of the fridge, warmed it up in a cup.
Then, with a bowl and chopsticks in hand, he sat at the dining table to eat the breakfast Ren Chuqing had prepared for him.
An hour later, Wen Muqing got into the black Bentley parked not far from the residential area.
In the car, his private secretary Shen Zhihai couldn't help but ask, "Second Young Master, are you planning to live with Miss Ren?"
"Sort of," Wen Muqing said with a faint smile, "It's quite interesting, isn't it?"
Interesting?
Shen Zhihai couldn't help but shiver.
The last time Second Young Master had said it was "interesting," it was when a big shot from City Yan knelt at the Wen Family's doorstep, eventually leaving with a broken arm.
This time, no one knew what kind of end Miss Ren would meet!
What shocked Shen Zhihai the most was the fact that Miss Ren used to be the Second Young Master's sister, albeit not related by blood.
"But if Old Master Wen finds out about this and asks..." Shen Zhihai continued.
"This trivial matter, Old Master Wen won't care about it. Just tell him whatever he asks," Wen Muqing said nonchalantly.
For Old Master Wen, all that mattered was who was stronger.
In the Wen Family, even fratricide wouldn't matter, because what Old Master Wen wanted was to pick out the strongest successor for the Wen Family, that was all!
————
Ren Chuqing came to the company to tidy up her desk and to hand over her work to the research and development as well as sales departments.
People from both departments naturally tried their best to retain her.
"Manager Ren, are you really leaving? Without you, the R&D department will..." The R&D department could say it was all thanks to Ren Chuqing that they'd been able to develop the company's popular products.
Not to mention Ren Chuqing holding several patents in her hands.
Now that Ren Chuqing was leaving the company, those patented products couldn't be used by the company anymore. The R&D would likely face significant obstacles.
"Manager Ren, you've been with the company since its early days, and you've been managing the sales department very well too, with great performance. Why don't you hold off on leaving for now? We can talk to Director Jiang again. Maybe Director Jiang can revoke the decision made at the meeting!"
Ren Chuqing smiled and looked at her colleagues who had worked with her, "I've already decided to leave."
"But..."
Just then, Jiang Huai and Su Yuyu walked over.
Jiang Huai saw the cardboard box with Ren Chuqing's personal items and his expression changed slightly, "Are you really going?"
"Did you think I was joking?" Ren Chuqing said with amusement.
"Chu Qing, I hope you can separate personal issues from professional ones. If you have grievances against me and want to break off our engagement, I can agree to that. But one thing must not be confused with another, you can't mix personal matters with business," Jiang Huai said.
Ren Chuqing scoffed, as if by saying it, it made it seem like breaking off the engagement was her fault.
"Chu Qing, Jiang Huai asked me to come to the company to help him out, to take charge of the sales department. It wasn't meant as a slight against you, don't take it to heart. He just hoped I could share some of your work to relieve your burden," Su Yuyu said deceitfully.
Jiang Huai followed up on her words, "Exactly. You've been handling two departments and the burden is too heavy, which inevitably diminishes your effectiveness. That's why I asked Yuer to help you out a bit. It's not that we really want to strip you of your duties. If you're unwilling, you can still serve as a consultant to the sales department, and you can continue working there."
"Consultant?" Ren Chuqing looked mockingly at Jiang Huai. "You want someone who has no sales experience or actual results to replace me, and then have me clean up after her? Jiang Huai, do you think I'm brainless?"
Su Yuyu's expression darkened. If it weren't for the inappropriate setting, she would have exploded in anger already.
"How can you speak about Yuer like that?" Jiang Huai said angrily.
"Jiang Huai, you treat Su Yuyu as your crush, wanting to be good to her, that's fine! The two of you being hooked up together doesn't matter to me, but don't be a hypocrite and act like you're doing it for my benefit—it's disgusting!"
"What nonsense are you spouting!" Jiang Huai's face grew dark, "You can say what you like about me, but you must apologize to Yuer!"
Apologize my ass!
Ren Chuqing directly took out her phone and played a recording:
"Yuer, wait for me, I'll break off the engagement with her."
"Do you really have the heart? Ah... stop... don't kiss me so hard, ah... gentle, be more gentle." The sounds of panting were evident, and anyone would know what was happening.
"What's there to be reluctant about? My heart has only ever loved you, I never loved Ren Chuqing at all!"
The voices of Jiang Huai and Su Yuyu came out from the phone.
Suddenly, everyone at the scene was struck with a look of utter astonishment!