Chapter 246

Chapter 246: 239: Gentleness Reserved for One (Second Update) Chapter 246: 239: Gentleness Reserved for One (Second Update) Lotus Pond Street gossip squad has new topics to discuss again.

In front of the vegetable stalls on the street, ladies are buying groceries.

“Boss Xie from Ruyi Pawnshop and Miss Wen, the tenant from Granny Zhu’s house, are talking again!” The proprietress exclaimed with joy as if it were her own daughter who was courting.

Everyone in the neighborhood knows each other, so when they gather, they can’t help but chat.

Auntie Li from the neighborhood: “Didn’t they break up?”

“It’s normal for young people to break up and make up.” The vegetable stall owner was very certain, “When they broke up, didn’t they both move out? Now they’ve both moved back, so they must have reconciled.”

Sister Zhao from the neighborhood: “How did they break up in the first place? I think Boss Xie was so into Xiao Wen, he used to wait at the intersection to pick her up from work all the time.”

Auntie Li had heard a bit at the mahjong table: “It seems Boss Xie’s family didn’t agree.”

“I heard it was Xiao Wen who dumped Boss Xie.” Next door, the electronics shop owner’s daughter-in-law, who is a fan of local dramas, added, “Could it be that the Xie Family gave Xiao Wen a large sum of money to break up with Boss Xie? Isn’t that what they always show on TV?”

While picking onions, Auntie Li speculated: “They probably didn’t give her money. If they did, why would Xiao Wen still need to rent a place?”

Sister Zhao had seen Xiao Wen a few times when she went to Granny Zhu’s for repairs: “Xiao Wen is just too honest.”

“Miss Wen came to my shop for breakfast yesterday, and I almost didn’t recognize her.” The owner of the noodle shop chimed in, “How come I never noticed before that Xiao Wen is so handsome?”

Sister Zhao commented: “Her previous bangs and glasses were too obstructive. She looks much better now.”

Speaking of glasses—

The vegetable stall owner brought up a new topic: “My Shasha’s nearsightedness is almost a thousand degrees now, she’s like groping in the dark without her glasses.”

“Can’t she get surgery for nearsightedness?”

“No, that’s not good. I’ve heard it has side effects.”

“...”

Ever since Zhang Xiaoming started working at Ruyi Pawnshop, he seldom had to do overtime, but today the boss asked him to stay late. Before work at the pawnshop, he used to be a debt collector, and even before that, a carpenter, as his father was one.

The boss said they needed to make a new door in the courtyard wall; the materials were already bought. All the tools were there in the yard, left over from when they built the tea room. Zhang Xiaoming first drew an approximate shape on the wall, preparing to start drilling for positioning.

“It’s too big.”

“Not really.” Zhang Xiaoming looked at the door he had drawn and then at Boss Xie’s height. Given the wall’s limited height, he had already made the door as small as possible, “Any shorter and you’ll have to duck to get through.”

Xie Shang was silent for a few seconds: “This door is for a cat.”

“For a cat? I thought it was for you—” Zhang Xiaoming stopped himself abruptly, covered his mouth, and feigned a cough.

Cats can climb walls.

Zhang Xiaoming felt that, compared to a cat, the boss needed a door more.

“Boss.” Qian Zhouzhou came from the front hall, “Someone’s looking for you.”

The person looking for Xie Shang was Meng Duolan. KE Law Firm was undergoing suspension for reorganization, and with Xie Shang not in the office, she had inquired for a long time before finding this place.

“Please sit, Miss Meng.”

She sat down.

Xie Shang finished pouring the tea, waiting for the guest to speak first.

“Can you help my dad?”

“How?”

Meng Duolan couldn’t come up with an answer; she was completely out of ideas.

Xie Shang stated the facts in a level tone, “He broke the law.”

Meng Duolan looked at Xie Shang urgently, “You must have a way.”

Xie Jiwen’s rise to the position of director was Xie Shang’s doing. Within less than two months of joining KE, he had altered the entire management structure. If he were willing, he could surely accomplish anything.

“To make something illegal into something legal, the process will definitely be illegal.”

The tabby cat heard the sound of drilling in the wall, leaped down from the courtyard wall, jumped to Xie Shang’s feet, circled twice, and then lay down.

He picked up the cat and placed it on his lap, gently stroking its head, “I am a law-abiding citizen.”

This was a rejection.

Meng Duolan was unwilling to return empty-handed: “Xie Shang, consider it a plea from me.”

The cat’s paws left marks on Xie Shang’s clothes, yet he didn’t mind, his gaze was indulgent.

“Sorry, you should seek someone else’s help.”

She implored anxiously, “For the sake of the fact that I once liked you, can’t you—”

Xie Shang rarely interrupted others, “Miss Meng.” He looked at her, “Your affection means nothing to me.”

His gaze, though polite, was indifferent. That indifference created a barrier against all personal emotions; she couldn’t even compare to the cat he was holding.

“Wasn’t my father your assistant?”

He laughed, his eyes revealing shallow, faint ripples. His naturally amber-colored eyes were beguiling, gazing at people calmly through thin lenses, “Who told you he was my assistant?”

If not an assistant, what was he?

A borrowed knife for a murder, or a decoy for a distraction, or maybe just a piece on the KE chessboard that he found to be in the way?

“You can’t eat this.”

Xie Shang took the cat’s paw off the table, trying to grab the snacks.

Gentlemanly and elegant, yet ruthlessly sharp.

Meng Duolan was fully awakened. She was wrong, naïvely so, for she had once fancied she could control such a person. People like him were utterly heartless, reserving their tenderness only for those they cared about, cruel to the bone.

He asked the cat, “Has Miss Wen gotten off work?”