Chapter 71

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Before Su Zhe could say anything, a gentle and beautiful female voice rang out: “Qingwen, the teacher is looking for you to take a group photo.”

Su Zhe hurriedly retracted his gaze, and when he turned around, a smile was already on his face. “Wanyi, I’ll be right there.” He must not let Wanyi know about his past with Mei Xianglan.

Qin Hao also quickly chased after him.

Xie Wanyi’s appearance was actually not very beautiful, but she carried a scholarly temperament. Just standing there alone, she could remind people of a lot of Tang and Song poetry and make them think of many beautiful things in the world.

She was a woman who made people yearn.

Su Zhe was also one of them. He’d met Xie Wanyi at a banquet and immediately fallen in love with her at first sight. So he’d disregarded his status as a married man and his new wife who had just given birth to a child, and he resolutely came to England with her. The euphemistic term for it was learning from a great teacher in the world-renowned literary field.

“Qingwen, your wife called yesterday and said that the child is ill. When are you going back? I think you should buy a ticket and go back immediately. There’ll be opportunities to communicate with them, but if something wrong happens to the child…” Xie Wanyi frowned slightly, obviously sincerely worrying about Su Zhe.

Su Zhe frowned. “Wanyi, you don’t understand. Wenxin is different from before. She used to be independent, generous, proud, and bright. That’s how I loved her back then. But now, she has changed. She’s become selfish and suspicious. She’s always suspicious and harassing the people around me, saying that it’s because she loves me, but this love is so heavy that I can’t breathe!”

Xie Wanyi and Su Zhe had been very close recently. Naturally, she had also been harassed by Wenxin. But she’d thought that her relationship with Su Zhe was open and frank, and there was nothing to hide, so she hadn’t taken it to heart.

“But she’s your wife, after all! You are her husband and the father of her children! You have to take responsibility, or else you should talk to her openly and honestly instead of just running away,” Xie Wanyi said softly.

“Wanyi is right!” Qin Hao was also one of Xie Wanyi’s pursuers. As a man, he naturally saw Su Zhe’s thoughts, but he didn’t take it to heart. Comparatively, with Su Zhe’s married status, he’d been excluded. The Xie family was an upright and honorable family, and Xie Wanyi would never get caught up with a married man.

Xie Wanyi also disdained this; she just appreciated Su Zhe’s poems.

Su Zhe was in a hurry to change the subject and didn’t want to continue. “Where is the teacher? Let’s go quickly. Don’t make them wait for a long time.”

Su Zhe’s escape caused Xie Wanyi to frown slightly.

After Xie Wanyi walked away, Li Huairou came out from behind the tree. She hadn’t expected to see Su Zhe again. It turned out that the plot had already developed until here!

After returning from this trip to Cambridge. Su Zhe would confirm his intentions, resolutely divorce Wenxin, throw the child back to the countryside, regain his single status, and pursue true love.

But Xie Wanyi was a smart woman. Although she’d be moved by Su Zhe’s fierce pursuit at first, immersed in love, her parents would not agree with the marriage. She’d find out that Su Zhe was not a person worth trusting for life during the time they spent together and resolutely decide to break up. After that, under the arrangement of her parents, she’d marry a person who was well-matched and like-minded, and she’d live happily.

What a smart woman!

Li Huairou said this with admiration, thinking of the glimpse of the figure just now.

“Huairou, what are you thinking?” Mei Xianglan asked, coming over when she saw her cousin standing under the tree in a daze.

“Nothing! What did you say to Mr. Jones just now?” Li Huairou hurriedly took Mei Xianglan and walked in the opposite direction.

“It’s nothing. Mr. Jones said that the newly-launched plum cake in our shop is delicious. Is there any more tomorrow? I promised to bring him some tomorrow morning. He asked me if I wanted to learn French, and he said he could teach me.” Mei Xianglan said with a smile. She was the one who’d made the plum cake. Originally, it was just for her uncle and cousin as a special treat. Unexpectedly, other guests had seen it and wanted to eat it, so she made more and gave Mrs. White one too. As a result, she’d happened to meet Mr. Jones and give him one.

“What do you think? Do you want to learn?” Li Huairou asked.

Mei Xianglan nodded. “I want to learn.”

“Then just learn! We’ve got a ready-made teacher right here!” Li Huairou said with a smile.

“Come with me! I’m a little embarrassed being alone,” Mei Xianglan said, pulling Li Huairou’s arm.

“Me? No need?” Li Huairou said unwittingly.

“Huairou, you should accompany me. There are differences between men and women, and Mr. Jones…” Mei Xianglan said with her head lowered.

Li Huairou immediately made up her mind—Mei Xianglan felt that people were intimidating. She thought about it and said, “Okay!”

Mei Xianglan immediately smiled happily. In fact, she didn’t care about this at all. It was her uncle who felt that Huairou had nothing to do every day and couldn’t stand it anymore, so he’d asked her to take her to find something serious to do.

“Huairou, have you thought about what you will do in the future?” Mei Xianglan asked.

“In the future? The future is still so far away, so what’s the use of thinking about it?” Li Huairou said with a smile. “I have my dad now, and my dad is so good. As for the future, there will be you, cousin! You have to work hard! I have to depend on you!” As she spoke, she rested her head on Mei Xianglan’s shoulder.

Mei Xianglan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Seeing her cousin for the first time, shrewd and capable, she’d rendered the Su family speechless in a few words. But only after getting acquainted with her did Mei Xianglan realize how lazy her cousin was. Her uncle often had a headache from this.

However, when Mei Xianglan heard what Li Huairou said, she was not truly unhappy. Instead, she was a little excited. Was she also needed by others? Could she also be someone else’s support?

“I will work hard!” Mei Xianglan whispered shyly.

Li Huairou smiled proudly.

Mei Xianglan was actually a woman of her word, and it didn’t take long before she began to think about how to become stronger and become her cousin’s support.

She looked at the certificate of deposit in her hand. The money was in the bank; the interest was pitiful, and it would not make any more money. But as for doing business, in this foreign country, what else could she do?

With such questions, Mei Xianglan asked Mrs. White and Mr. Jones.

Finally, Mr. Jones gave her a suggestion to buy land or securities. He also gave Mei Xianglan several books on real estate and securities.

Mei Xianglan spent a long time looking up the dictionary while reading. She barely finished reading the two books, feeling that she had opened the door to a new world.

Then she took a long time and went on a field trip.

“Where’s Xianglan? Did she go out again?” Li Deshan asked worriedly.

“Mm. She went out,” Li Huairou said while eating noodles with her head down.

“What has she been doing recently? If she leaves early and returns late, nothing will happen, right?” Li Deshan’s tone could not hide his worry.

“She went out to investigate. She goes to the securities company every morning and wanders around in the afternoon,” Li Huairou said indifferently. Mei Xianglan was probably on the way to mining the first pot of gold in her life!

“Securities company? Why did she go to a securities company?” Li Deshan frowned. “That stuff is all a lie. No, you get her back quickly, and don’t mess around.”

“Got it. I’ll go after eating,” Li Huairou said.

“No! You have to go now.” Li Deshan took the bowl away, not letting Li Huairou continue to eat.

Li Huairou was speechless. “Dad, doesn’t she have something she wants to do? Why are you pouring cold water on her enthusiasm like this? It doesn’t matter if she gets scammed for some money. Doesn’t she still have us?”

Li Deshan was stunned for a while—that seemed to be the case!

Li Huairou took the bowl from Li Deshan’s hand and continued to eat.

“Boss, a bowl of noodles. I’ll have the same type.”

This was already the sixth diner to say so, and Li Deshan felt that there would be more to come. He hurriedly responded, then gave Li Huairou an inexhaustible glance. This child had this advantage—no matter what she ate, it would look delicious and arouse the appetite.

If he was gone in the future, then Huairou, this unfortunate child, shouldn’t be without food, right?

Two months later, Mei Xianglan told everyone at the dinner table.

“What?!” Li Deshan couldn’t believe his ears!

“I bought land in the western suburbs in the past, and now that I heard that a train station is going to be built there, I sold the land and made a lot of money,” Mei Xianglan said with a smile.

“How much is a lot of money?” Li Huairou asked.

Mei Xianglan dipped her finger in water and wrote a number on the table.

Li Deshan and Li Huairou looked at each other. “In pounds?”

Mei Xianglan nodded. “I plan to continue buying land. I also bought some securities, which have gone up a lot recently. By the way, Uncle, Huairou, do you want to join?”

Li Deshan and Li Huairou shook their heads. Li Deshan didn’t want to try because he was afraid of the unknown, while Li Huairou was too lazy to spend the effort.

Li Deshan was quite relieved. It would be good if Xianglan had a skill so he could feel at ease. “Don’t put all your money in it. Put some money in the bank, just in case.”

“Uncle, I know, don’t worry! By the way, Uncle, don’t you really think about expanding your business?”

Li Deshan shook his head. “Alright. Now that’s fine. Look at Huairou, she’s not cut out for it. Besides, leaves return to their roots; sooner or later, I’ll have to go back.”

Li Huairou suddenly became nervous. “Dad, are you okay? Why are you talking about this?” Speaking of leaves returning to the roots sounded strange.

Li Deshan shook his head. “It’s fine, I’m just talking casually.” Then he changed the subject.

Li Huairou and Mei Xianglan looked at each other, always feeling that things were not so simple.

The next day, Li Huairou and Mei Xianglan went to his room while Li Deshan was busy in front, but they found nothing.

“No, I always feel that this old man is hiding something from us!” Li Huairou said, rubbing her chin.

Mei Xianglan nodded—she felt the same way.

But what had happened?

One day later, Li Deshan suddenly fainted in the store. After being sent to the hospital, they found out that Li Deshan had cancer, and it was advanced gastric cancer. It had been several months since he was diagnosed, but he’d refused to receive treatment and only taken medicine to relieve the pain.

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