Chapter 95

Chapter 95 - 95 093 Xie Shang Protects His Wife Paving the Way for Chapter 95: 093: Xie Shang Protects His Wife, Paving the Way for Changling (First Update) Chapter 95: 093: Xie Shang Protects His Wife, Paving the Way for Changling (First Update) Aunt Wen took the freshly baked cookies out of the oven and carried them to the living room.

Xie Ziyu was playing with a remote control car in the living room.

“Ziyu, where is your brother?”

“In the empty room.”

Xie Ziyu, being young, only knew that the room was empty and did not know whose room it was.

“He hasn’t come out yet?” Aunt Wen looked towards the room’s door.

It was nearly five o’clock, and Xie Shang had been expected to arrive just after one.

The incense seal in the bridge ear incense burner had burned out, and the Sutra of Sins had been fully transcribed.

He closed the book, moved the scroll table aside, and rose from the cushion. Having knelt for so long, his knees had lost all sensation. He placed the hand-copied sutras next to the portrait.

He looked at the portrait: “Do you hold a grudge against Wen Changling?”

The portrait could not answer him, and he did not need an answer.

“If so, let it be upon my head,” he said emphatically, hoping it could be heard in the netherworld, “Uncle, I am about to favor Miss Wen, so please, do not hold her mistakes against her.”

He neatly arranged the incense burner and scroll table and walked out of the room.

When Aunt Wen finally saw him emerge, she let out a breath of relief, “Fourth brother, come try the cookies I made.”

Xie Shang went over and tried one.

“Do they taste good?”

“They taste very good.”

“There are other flavors too.” Aunt Wen went to the kitchen to get them.

Miss Wen liked sweet things.

Xie Shang followed her and asked, “Aunt Wen, could you pack a portion for me?”

“Of course, I made a lot. I’ll pack some extra for you.”

Aunt Wen went to pack and brought back four large boxes.

Xie Shang waited in the living room.

Xie Ziyu was also in the living room, playing with and poking the electrical outlets with a pen.

“Ziyu.”

Instantly, Xie Ziyu stood straight, his head as if capped by a pot cover, “Brother.”

Xie Shang was always gentle with children and did not speak harshly, “You can’t play with outlets.”

“Okay, brother.”

Xie Ziyu settled down properly.

Aunt Wen laughed in the kitchen. Fourth brother had a way with children. If he ever had his own, he would certainly raise them well.

*****

At six o’clock, Qian Zhouzhou still hadn’t gotten off work. A pawn item’s evaluation had arrived too late and she was yet to finish with it.

Xie Shang had returned.

“Best Employee” Qian Zhouzhou greeted him with a smile, “Boss, you’re back.”

Xie Shang approached, “Do you have a moment now?”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Let’s talk in the courtyard.”

Qian Zhouzhou put down her work and followed him to the tea room.

Xie Shang was preparing tea.

Warming the pot, smelling the fragrance, scalding the cups, dividing the tea—each step meticulously attended to.

Qian Zhouzhou didn’t understand tea and just felt it was a delightful sight. The boss personally making tea was too much for her to bear, “You don’t need to be so formal, Boss.”

Xie Shang handed her a tea cup, “Do you still have the birthday gift I gave you?”

“Yes.”

Qian Zhouzhou took a sip of the tea. Though she was no expert, it tasted good.

“Could you return it to me?”

Qian Zhouzhou readily agreed, “Of course, of course.”

Qian Zhouzhou knew about Xie Shang’s character. If he asked for something back, it was surely because he had to.

Xie Shang explained, “That Noble Consort Bracelet belongs to a client. Her deal didn’t go through, so the bracelet must be returned.”

It had been Fu Ying’s pawned item. Now, all of his focus had shifted to Wen Changling, and naturally, that pawn deal had to be dissolved.

At Ruyi Pawnshop, all pawns were done with the dead; they never took on business they couldn’t finish. Since Qian Zhouzhou had started working there, this was the first time she encountered a business that wasn’t completed.

She couldn’t help but be curious, “The Pawn Gold that client requested, even you couldn’t get it?”

“Yes, I couldn’t manage it.”

Xie Shang did not elaborate further.

Qian Zhouzhou was quick-witted and didn’t pry, “The bracelet is at my house, I’ll bring it over tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience caused by my mishandling of the situation,” Xie Shang said, taking a paper bag from the tea cabinet beside him and placing it on the table. “This is a new birthday gift for you. If you don’t like it, please feel free to tell me what you want instead.”

Qian Zhouzhou opened it and was instantly overjoyed, “I love it!”

An antique bracelet, she loved it! With such a boss, she would loyally serve him through fire and water for five hundred years.

Next door.

Tongtong was playing with modeling clay in the courtyard, using the clay to make dumplings. Her light was blocked, and she looked up.

“Brother.”

Wen Changling, who was sitting on the bamboo bed removing bean sprouts, heard her and looked back.

Xie Shang handed Tongtong a bag, “This is for you.”

Inside were cookies packed from Flower Chamber Hall.

Tongtong hugged it happily, her dimples showing as she sweetly said, “Thank you, brother.”

There was also a portion for Miss Wen.

Miss Wen received it with both hands, imitating Tongtong, “Thank you, brother.”

Xie Shang: “...”

He hadn’t had time to react.

Miss Wen finished her act and returned to being the steel-nerved Miss Wen, forgetting she still had a boyfriend and that she couldn’t open the box without nails, she went ahead to bite it with her teeth. Xie Shang, feeling helpless, took the box and helped her open it. She thanked him, ate a piece of cookie, brushed off the crumbs, and continued picking bean sprouts. Tongtong didn’t like the yellow beans on top of the sprouts and wanted to pick them off one by one.

Xie Shang sat down beside Wen Changling, “You eat, I’ll help you pick them.”

“Okay.”

She handed him the vegetable basket and held on to the box of cookies. The sweetness of the cookies suited her taste, and they were crispy and flaky.

“Do they taste good?”

“Mm.”

Wen Changling fed Xie Shang a piece.

The sun was about to set; the sky was dark orange. The summer breeze was slightly hot, shaking the dry yellow leaves from the trees. The leaves twirled and drifted lazily to the ground.

Wen Changling raised her hand.

Xie Shang instinctively lowered his head, her hand pausing in mid-air.

“Can’t reach it?”

Xie Shang lowered his head a bit more.

Wen Changling removed a half leaf that had fallen on his head. Her hands greasy from the cookies might have dirtied his hair, she said, “There was a leaf.”

Xie Shang was a proud man.

He was not one to easily bow his head.

The next day.

Xie Shang met with Fu Ying at Wenling Pavilion, returning the Noble Consort Bracelet in its original wooden box, intact.

Ruyi Pawnshop had only dead pawns, never before had there been a precedent for voluntarily returning a pawned item.

Fu Ying didn’t open it, “What does Boss Xie mean by this?”

“I cannot proceed with this business.”

Fu Ying, a clever person, quickly guessed the implication, her expression turning to surprise, “Have you fall in love with Wen Changling?”

Without the slightest hesitation, Xie Shang replied, “Yes.”

Fu Ying smiled, her eyes cold, “Quite an admission.”

Such frank words meant that Boss Xie had come prepared.

He leisurely poured a glass of clear water, moistening his throat, “I need to let you know, I’m now part of Wen Changling’s camp, your enemy.”

Fu Ying caressed the pattern on the box fondly, the pawn inside was the dowry of her maternal grandmother, intended to make Wen Changling covet and suffer in her desire for it.

She hadn’t anticipated that in the end, she would gain an enemy for herself.

“Did I shoot myself in the foot?”

Xie Shang pushed a document bag resting on the chair toward Fu Ying, leading with the stick before offering the carrot, as was his way of following rules, “I breached the contract first, and should compensate. You ought to need this information.”

Fu Ying opened it and looked.

Indeed she needed it; with this information, she could close her case earlier.

Xie Shang was not in a hurry, patiently waiting for her to finish, “Miss Fu, I’m cancelling the pawn, do you accept the compensation?”

His calm and adept manner reflected a man who knew how to preemptively strike at the most vulnerable point.

Fu Ying couldn’t refuse, “I accept.”

Having accepted the compensation, she would then have to play by Xie Shang’s rules.

“Let’s put the pawn matter behind us, now let’s discuss your issue with Wen Changling.” When it came to Wen Changling’s matter, a private affair, he wasn’t so easygoing, “There are many uncertainties in Wen Zhaoyang’s case, and I suggest fully investigating it before seeking revenge. If you are certain that Wen Zhaoyang is the murderer, that’s fine too. You may choose to continue taking revenge on Wen Changling, but as someone from her camp, I will do everything in my power to stop you.”

He leaned back in his chair, his hand resting on the table, his every move exuding the assuredness of someone who knows their next move, “Furthermore, I’m the type to hold a grudge. If you harm Wen Changling, I will harm you in return, so please, Miss Fu, consider your actions carefully.”