Ten years later, at the Wen Family home.
Lai Bao felt a pang of distress looking at her father's exhausted face and her mother's worried expression.
The Wen Family's processing plant had been involved in a fatal accident caused by outdated and neglected machinery, for which the factory was fully responsible.
Wen Cheng and Zhao Yufen had immediately sought out the victim's family, hoping to settle the matter privately before it escalated, but word got out nonetheless.
The Wen Family's processing plant was outdated, its equipment far behind the times and unable to meet customer standards. Previously, the Wen Family had benefited from its connections with the Gu Family.
It could be said that the factory's major clients were attracted by the association with the Gu Family.
Now that Gu Chen had unilaterally announced the termination of his engagement to Wen Laibao, the Wen Family had effectively lost its mainstay and was teetering on the brink. Without the benefit of the Gu Family connection, clients naturally sought out more modern processing plants.
And just as this crisis occurred, it gave clients the perfect excuse to demand action: either upgrade the equipment or cancel orders.
In recent days, Mr. and Mrs. Wen had been frantically seeking help, almost to the point of begging on their knees.
But what was the use?
In business, there was no room for personal feelings.
The factory had been shut down for several days now, and the workers were on the verge of causing a fuss.
The Wen Family was at its wits' end, and the only solution was to replace the old equipment, which required significant funding. The Wen Family didn't have enough money and could only think of taking out loans.
However, with business being difficult over the past few years and many small factories collapsing, the Wen Family's earnings were barely enough to scrape by. The factory space was rented and couldn't be used as collateral, and no bank was willing to lend such a large amount.
Wen Cheng was so worried that his hair had turned noticeably grayer.
Lai Bao was heartbroken, thinking that if only she were a bit thinner, a bit prettier, maybe Gu Chen wouldn't have fallen for someone else and called off their engagement!
Then her parents wouldn't have to suffer so much!
She needed to have a serious talk with Gu Chen.
She called Gu Chen but got no response, so she reached out to his assistant, Wang Li, "Brother Wang, it's Lai Bao. Could you please have Mr. Gu take a call? I need to speak with him."
Soon a man's deep and slightly apologetic voice came through the phone, "I'm sorry, Lady Wen, Mr. Gu is out of town on a business trip and won't be back anytime soon."
The response was clearly evasive, and Lai Bao was not foolish enough to misunderstand.
Gu Chen didn't want to see her!
But she had to see him, there was a question she wanted to ask him face to face.
After dinner, Wen Laibao took a taxi to the Mingcheng Apartment where Gu Chen lived. This was her first visit there since the engagement was broken off.
She waited until ten o'clock before she saw Gu Chen's car slowly approach.
In the black Maybach, a man and a woman sat, who didn't notice Lai Bao sitting on the bench, allowing her to witness an intimate kiss between her former boyfriend and another woman.
Honestly, if she put her heartache aside, the vision of a handsome man with a beautiful woman was quite aesthetically pleasing.
Finally, as the two got out of the car, Lai Bao stood up, her body nearly frozen stiff.
Her gaze couldn't help but fall on the woman, taking in her delicate and exquisite beauty, her tiny waist hardly a handful, very charming and petite. No wonder men preferred slender women, as such a figure was pleasing to the eye in any attire.
"Chen."
An Wei spotted Lai Bao and nudged the man beside her, who was looking straight ahead.
Following An Wei's gaze, Gu Chen saw Wen Laibao with her round face, the tip of her nose red from the cold. It was very cold outside, and she was dressed in a puffy down jacket and snow boots, making her look quite bulky and sturdy.
Lai Bao's eyes fell on their hands clasped tightly, thinking to herself that Gu Chen had truly fallen in love this time.
Over the years, Gu Chen's relationships with women changed frequently, and she felt powerless to stop it, thankful that he never mentioned breaking off their engagement and had been considerate towards her.
So although the end of their engagement was sudden, it wasn't completely unexpected.