The Wen Family's servants watched their young miss and young master emerge from the elevator, bickering and horsing around, and felt both helpless and amused.
Then, suddenly hearing their young miss say she no longer liked the Bo Family's eldest son, the servants reacted just like Wen Jing, freezing in place!
Silence hung in the air for a long while before Wen Jing barely managed to find his voice. "Sis, you're... you're not joking, are you?"
Wen Ning leaned back and plopped onto the sofa, crossing her legs. "Do I look like I'm joking?" she asked calmly.
Wen Jing couldn't understand it, and neither could the Wen Family's servants!
Their young miss had clearly still been madly in love with the Bo Family's eldest son right up until yesterday. How had she suddenly stopped liking him?
What??
"Sis, what exactly happened? Did Brother Xu do something to you? No, even if Brother Xu did something to you, you couldn't possibly get this angry!" Enlightenment struck Wen Jing again, and he plopped down beside his sister. "Sis, it was that bastard, wasn't it! He threatened you, didn't he! I knew it was that bas-ow! Sis!! Why did you hit me again? Did I say something wrong?"
Even with all Wen Ning's grievances against the main villain, hearing Wen Jing call him a bastard over and over still made her uncomfortable.
She said sternly, "Don't call him that again. He's your brother-in-law!"
Wen Jing refused to accept it, especially now that his sister was snapping at him over that bastard. "But he is an illegitimate son!"
Looking at Wen Jing stamping his feet like this, Wen Ning felt as though she were looking at one of those brainless cannon-fodder villains in novels who wouldn't survive two chapters.
She sighed and patiently told him, "Those are the previous generation's grievances. If you're going to curse anyone, curse Bo Xubai's dad along with him. If his dad hadn't fooled around, where would Bo Yan have come from?"
Wen Jing had wanted to keep arguing his case, but after thinking it over, it seemed she had a point. He obediently shut his mouth again.
Seeing that Wen Jing wasn't the sort who refused to listen to reason, Wen Ning continued, "Besides, since Bo Yan was brought back to the Bo Family, he hasn't done anything to harm either the Wen or Bo Families, has he?"
Wen Jing hesitated. "But Sis, you said it yourself. Every day he stays in the Bo Family is a threat to Brother Xu."
"That was because I didn't understand the situation before," Wen Ning said. "Bo Yan lives in the basement now. Everyone in the Bo Family, including the servants, gives him the cold shoulder. He's already walking on thin ice there, and even so, he hasn't done anything to harm the Bo Family..."
Although he would in the future, he hadn't yet, had he?
Wen Jing wasn't particularly shrewd. Basically, whatever the original owner said went.
Hearing Wen Ning say this now, Wen Jing couldn't help remembering when he had gone to the underground boxing ring to pick a fight with Bo Yan a while ago. Bo Yan had just come down from the ring, covered in blood.
Bo Yan had lost that match. The whole place had been filled with cheers for the winner in the ring, and no one had cared about the battered Bo Yan. Alone, he had braced himself against the wall and made his way backstage, step by step. Several times, Wen Jing had worried that he would simply collapse and never wake up again.
Of course Wen Jing knew that boxing venue was part of the Bo Family's underground operations. At the time, all he could think about was avenging his sister. Seeing that no one called an ambulance for Bo Yan or treated his wounds, leaving him to live or die on his own, he hadn't thought anything was wrong, apart from a slight feeling of unease.
He was an illegitimate son anyway, someone who should never have come into this world. He deserved it!
And so, that tiny bit of discomfort in Wen Jing's heart had quickly been replaced by the pleasure of watching the show.
Now, hearing Wen Ning's words and recalling Bo Yan's lonely retreating figure, that indescribable discomfort rose in him again.
He thought he now understood why he had felt uncomfortable then.
The fact that Bo Yan could go to the boxing venue meant that Bo's father had authorized it. Although Wen Jing didn't know the full picture of the business Bo's father conducted through the underground boxing venue, he could guess a thing or two.
Most likely, Bo Yan had been throwing fights for Bo's father.
Even if he were just an employee working his hardest for you, you should at least get him a doctor.
Let alone when he was your son. Even an illegitimate son had your blood running through his veins.
Bringing him back to the Bo Family meant acknowledging his existence. Bo's father's current attitude was far too irresponsible.
He had genuinely been afraid that Bo Yan would die right in front of him. He hadn't even dared tell his sister that he hadn't actually laid a hand on Bo Yan that day. He had only smashed things in Bo Yan's lounge, only for that idiot Bo Yan to call the police on the spot...
Wen Ning had no idea that, in certain respects, this brother she had acquired shared her values without either of them having planned it.
With most of the groundwork laid, Wen Ning brought up her no longer liking Bo Xubai again.
Wen Jing still remained rather skeptical.
Wen Ning hadn't expected them to accept it immediately, but she still had to tell the story she had made up beforehand.
For example-
"Actually, I only recently realized that the person I've liked all along is Bo Yan."
Wen Jing: "?"
Ignoring Wen Jing's eyes, which were practically popping out of their sockets, Wen Ning continued making things up. "Surprised, right? Your sister was pretty surprised too. All this time, I thought I liked Bo Xubai, but after Bo Yan appeared, I realized all I liked was Bo Xubai's face. Ah, Jing'er, your sister's a sucker for good looks. Can you understand that?"
Wen Jing wanted to say he couldn't!
Ever since his sister came home today, she had shocked him again and again!
His mouth opened and closed for a long while before he finally managed to ask, "So, Sis, you mean you now prefer Bo Yan's... face?"
Wen Ning nodded, then shook her head. "It was his face at first, but lately, I've started feeling a little sorry for him."
Wen Jing sprang up from the sofa!
No wonder his sister wouldn't let him call that guy a bastard and had rattled off that whole explanation. It turned out she was feeling sorry for that idiot!
If Wen Jing hadn't believed it at first, now Wen Ning had actually said she felt sorry for Bo Yan!
Feeling sorry for a man was the beginning of a woman's misfortune!
Wen Jing sucked in a cold breath!
His sister really was preparing to switch mountains and start digging wild vegetables!
Wen Ning's parents were equally shocked!
That evening, her parents returned from a business trip. Seeing Wen Ning home, and injured at that, their first reaction was the same as Wen Jing's: she had fought with Bo Xubai!
With Wen Ning and Wen Jing chiming in one after another to explain, their parents barely managed to sort things out.
The older couple looked at each other, the same thought running through their minds: their daughter was probably furious that the Bo boy had brought that mother and daughter home, and was planning to stir things up in a different way.
Wen Ning's parents were far more shrewd than Wen Jing. Naturally, they wouldn't think their daughter had transferred her affections so quickly.
The original owner had loved trailing after Bo Xubai since she was little. Every birthday wish she had made growing up had been to become his bride. How could that change overnight?
But seeing their daughter solemnly promise that she would build a good life with Bo Yan, neither of them said anything more. They thought that perhaps, after spending enough time with that boy Bo Yan, their daughter really might change.
Wen Ning's parents actually looked down on Bo Yan. Given the Wen Family's current standing, if the original owner hadn't kept insisting on marrying Bo Xubai, and the two families hadn't arranged the engagement early on, the Wen Family would have looked down on even the Bo Family.
Bo Yan was, after all, an illegitimate son who couldn't be acknowledged openly. If the original owner hadn't kicked up a fuss about marrying him a few months ago, they would never have agreed.
But compared with this illegitimate son who couldn't be acknowledged openly, the older couple held Bo Xubai, who had broken his engagement promise and fathered an illegitimate daughter elsewhere, in even greater contempt.
"Then did you come back this time because you fought with Xiao Yan?" Wen Ning's mother ladled out a bowl of soup and handed it to her daughter with a smile.
As expected of her mother. She had hit the nail right on the head!
Wen Ning stammered, "We did have a little disagreement..."
"But," she said, linking arms with her mother, "mostly, I just missed you and wanted to come home to see you."
Her mother's smile deepened. She tapped Wen Ning's nose. "Oh, you. Who could have a sweeter tongue than you?"
Her father said, "Exactly. Our Ningning is wonderful in every way. That Bo boy just doesn't know what's good for him."
Wen Jing chimed in, "Dad's right! Brother Xu-Bo Xubai has no taste!"
Wen Jing was a blade of grass atop a wall. Whichever side his sister stood on, he leaned that way.
Her mother shot the father and son a reproachful look. "Why bring that boy up out of nowhere?"
Her father rubbed his nose sheepishly. He just couldn't swallow his anger.
Wen Jing chuckled along too, but when he lowered his head to drink his soup, the amusement in his eyes faded a little.
If Bo Yan really became his brother-in-law, did that mean she would marry Brother Xu...
Forget it. She had been going to marry Brother Xu in the first place. Brother Xu had already brought her and her daughter home.
As long as it was her choice, as long as she felt happy, that was enough.
Wen Jing stirred his soup, unable to hide his dejection.
Wen Ning looked up and saw Wen Jing sitting across from her in low spirits. She frowned slightly, a vague guess forming in her mind.
After dinner, Wen Ning returned to her bedroom and planned to contact Doctor Xie again to ask about Bo Yan's condition.
She had sent Doctor Xie a WeChat message at noon. Doctor Xie had said Bo Yan was no longer in any serious danger, but his injuries last night had been severe, and he was still sleeping.
Wen Ning switched on her bedroom light while opening WeChat.
She saw that Doctor Xie had sent her a message half an hour earlier. Bo Yan had already woken up that afternoon, and there were no traces of the drug left in his body, so she needn't worry.
Wen Ning replied, "Got it. Thank you for your hard work, Doctor Xie," and casually transferred 8,888 to Doctor Xie.
Doctor Xie accepted it instantly and replied with a sticker of a little figure kowtowing, which amused Wen Ning immensely.
Just as Wen Ning was about to leave the chat, she saw Doctor Xie's name at the top change to "typing."
A moment later, she saw-
Doctor Xie: [Young miss, have you contacted Bo Yan?]
Wen Ning gave a dry laugh. Could she get a break? She didn't feel like playing the simp today.
But she still replied with a smile: [Not yet. I was worried he might still be angry.]
Doctor Xie: [Actually, there is something I'm not sure whether I should say.]
Where did this young scholar from a period drama come from? Wen Ning thought, replying: [Let's hear it.]
Doctor Xie's typing indicator stayed on for a full two minutes-
[When I was treating his injuries this morning, he asked me...]
"He" presumably meant Bo Yan.
So, what had Bo Yan asked?
Wen Ning's heart suddenly started beating a little faster.
Could he have asked...
Before Wen Ning could nervously swallow, she saw Doctor Xie reply:
[He asked me how badly you were hurt.]
[He seemed to care quite a bit about you.]
[Young miss, would you consider contacting him? He's all alone in that shabby basement right now. I...]
[I'm worried he'll do something stupid again...]