NOVPUB
Chapter 129: Chapter 127: The Thoughts of a Young Woman
The evening breeze fluttered Wen Shulin’s hair, just like Jin Baogen’s questioning, it made her feel an inner tumult.
Her eyes lost focus for a moment, but soon regained calmness.
"Mr. Jin, you’re joking. He and I merely have a cooperative relationship," she said softly, straightening her hair.
Jin Baogen took a deep drag of his cigarette, looking at Wen Shulin and spoke slowly, "Xiao Wen, there are things that can’t escape my eyes."
"Chen Cheng, that kid, he certainly has his charm," he said with a smile while looking at Wen Shulin.
Wen Shulin fell silent for a moment, "Mr. Jin, I think he’s a bit bad."
"Bad?"
"Yes." Wen Shulin nodded firmly, "He seems like..."
Numerous words clogged up in her throat, countless adjectives popped into her mind, but she didn’t know which one truly fitted Chen Cheng’s image.
"Xiao Wen, haven’t you seen enough good men these years?" Jin Baogen retorted.
Flicking away some ash, he said leisurely: "Those who are good to you, who indulge you in everything, but what does it amount to in the end?"
"You keep rejecting, keep running away, using your hobbies to mask your true thoughts."
"Affairs of the heart aren’t so simple and clear-cut. Chen Cheng, although a bit bad, maybe it’s precisely that bit of badness that makes you care so much, makes you unable to forget him?" Jin Baogen said with a meaningful gaze towards Wen Shulin.
Wen Shulin slightly lowered her head, as if in thought.
After a while, she lifted her head, her eyes displaying a trace of determination,
"Mr. Jin, perhaps you are right. I indeed have different feelings for him, but I don’t know what that means."
Jin Baogen chuckled, "It depends on what kind of relationship you want to have."
"Relationship?"
"If you want to get married, Chen Cheng is not the first choice."
Jin Baogen was blunt, "Moreover, with your current wealth accumulation, getting married is also a burden for you, isn’t it?"
"Otherwise, wouldn’t you have considered it over these years?"
Wen Shulin pursed her lips, as if recalling the scene where she had taken the initiative to kiss Chen Cheng in the car.
Indeed, at that moment, in her heart, she regarded him as her other half.
"Mr. Jin, I know you mean well for me. But I am really confused right now, not knowing how to face my feelings for Chen Cheng," Wen Shulin said.
Jin Baogen responded composedly: "He won’t marry you, and you won’t marry him."
"On the surface, you’ll be the best of business partners."
"Privately, you and he will also become undisclosed life partners."
Wen Shulin bit her red lips, these three sentences struck deep into her heart.
The illusion Chen Cheng gave her at times, made her entertain the thought that it was something he would do for his significant other.
Last time, it was for living, for money.
But this time, with no lack of money, status, and material possessions, she listened to her heart.
Jin Baogen smiled, "Xiao Wen, it’s not easy to meet someone who can move your heart in this lifetime. Don’t overthink it, just follow your heart." 𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎
"But, Mr. Jin, I’m afraid. I’m afraid that this feeling is just temporary, I’m afraid of getting hurt."
"Hurt? Would that kid hurt you?"
Wen Shulin fell into deep thought.
Indeed, the things Chen Cheng did, although crossing the line, he always maintained proper restraint with her.
Otherwise, on that day at Bulgari, she would have already been pressed onto the bed by Chen Cheng.
Jin Baogen saw through the hesitation in Wen Shulin’s eyes.
"Silly girl, what’s life without a bit of risk?"
Jin Baogen patted her shoulder, "How can you know the result without trying? Even if you don’t end up together, at least you once had that fluttering heart, right?"
Wen Shulin understood, truly understood.
A bright smile appeared on her face, "Mr. Jin, I got it."
"Does your head still hurt?"
Wen Shulin let out an embarrassed chuckle, "Mr. Jin, please stop teasing me."
"Ha ha ha, so you won’t need me to take you back, will you?"
Shulin shook her head, "Now that my head doesn’t ache anymore, I should go have some food."
"That’s the spirit. Carpe diem! Why bother thinking too much?"
Jin Bao opened the car door, and upon seeing this, Shulin said, "Mr. Jin, I’m not leaving."
Unexpectedly, Jin Bao took out a box of Lotus Fragrance Vital Energy Elixir from the storage compartment by the car door and handed Shulin one, "Drink this before you go. Otherwise, Xiao Er might overthink things."
Shulin took it and said, "This is really bitter."
"No matter how bitter, can it be more bitter than matters of the heart?" Jin Bao said with a smile.
Shulin gave a wry smile, tilted her head back and downed the bottle of Lotus Fragrance Vital Energy Elixir, then with furrowed brows said, "Mr. Jin, you’re right."
"Let’s go, head back for a meal."
The two of them walked back under the Big Willow Tree.
Xiao Meier was surprised to see Shulin return, "Sister Lin, why did you come back?"
"Maybe I got a bit of heatstroke just now? And I had some alcohol at noon." Shulin kept smiling, "Mr. Jin gave me some medicine, and I feel much better now."
"I was just telling Xiao Cheng that you might be feeling unwell." Xiao Meier hurriedly said, "I knew it was heatstroke!"
Shulin pursed her lips, "Xiao Er, do we have any sugar in the shop? My mouth is a bit bitter."
Xiao Meier also smelled the strong scent of medicine, "We only have white sugar. Or I can make you a bowl of red bean soup! That’s sweet too."
"I’ll join you."
Shulin and Xiao Meier walked shoulder to shoulder into Wanbao Hall.
Chen Cheng frowned as he watched the retreating figures, thinking to himself, "What sort of wind is blowing now?"
Jin Bao cleared his throat, "You kid, how did you manage to steal someone’s heart?"
Chen Cheng turned around abruptly, "Steal a heart?"
"Xiao Wen likes you."
"I know that!" Chen Cheng was quite forthright.
Jin Bao smiled, "You know and yet you still have that look on your face?"
Chen Cheng glanced over, and seeing that no one was approaching, he told Jin Bao about the incident of Shulin secretly photographing.
"Wow, that doesn’t seem like something she would dare to do!"
"Mr. Jin, actually, there’s something bothering me..."
Jin Bao glanced at Chen Cheng, "Go ahead then, you’re just pretending here! Aren’t you already over the moon inside?"
"Hey! That’s why I say, the older the ginger, the more pungent!" Chen Cheng responded, "But the problem is indeed a real problem."
"Tell me about it?"
Chen Cheng leaned in closer to Jin Bao, "What do you think, if something really happens between us, what are we to each other?"
"She’s not Xia Yubing, Tong Jialu, or even..."
"Hold on!" Jin Bao cut Chen Cheng off, "Or even? Did you find someone new?"
Chen Cheng told Jin Bao about the Liu Family sisters.
Jin Bao laughed heartily upon hearing it, "My goodness, you were quite busy while I was away, huh?"
"It’s not like I was idle..."
Jin Bao took a sip of his drink, "I just mentioned it to Xiao Wen, and she’s accepted it."
"Accepted? Accepted what?"
"She’s the rich trophy girlfriend you’ve got who has money, looks, and figure!"
Chen Cheng gasped, "Mr. Jin, am I really that busy now?"
"How did the conversation shift to this?"
Jin Bao asked with a raised eyebrow, "Just a handful of women that you can count on your fingers, and you can’t even take care of them?"
Chen Cheng was incredulous.
He recalled the conversation more than a week earlier, right at the doorstep of Wanbao Hall, and asked, "So, the things you said to me at the Wanbao Hall entrance before the opening, did you foresee this day coming all along?"
Jin Bao smiled faintly, replying with a question, "Mr. Chen, what do you think?"
