Chapter 43: Lu Jinchuan Must Be Quite Happy

Seeing Wen Ying’s request accepted, Huo Jinran felt a flicker of surprise. He wasn't even sure why he had sent the request, nor did he know how he should greet her.

It felt a bit strange, somehow.

In the end, he didn't send a message. Instead, he clicked on her profile to browse her feed.

Wen Ying’s posts were sparse, though it seemed she had set them to be fully visible. The most recent one was from half a month ago. She had posted a photo of a hospital building with the caption: "Just as expected, I went alone. Hoping for good results..."

He could inexplicably picture Wen Ying’s calm, indifferent expression. Clearly, she had gone to see the doctor by herself.

Scrolling further down, most of the content consisted of the little details of her life. It was evident that she loved life; she would post photos of desserts she had baked, dishes she had cooked, bouquets she had bought, and the way she kept their home meticulously organized.

It was warm and filled with a sense of ritual.

As Huo Jinran scrolled for a while, he couldn't help but think... Lu Jinchuan should actually be quite happy.

At the very end, he saw a mirror selfie of Wen Ying. He hesitated for a moment and decided not to open the full image.

"Jinran? What are you looking at?" Cheng Mu, sitting nearby, noticed that Huo Jinran had been distracted. Throughout their gathering, Huo Jinran had barely spoken, keeping his eyes glued to his phone.

Lu Jinchuan looked over, his expression unreadable. "Something on your mind?"

Huo Jinran met his gaze, feeling an inexplicable irritation. "No."

Su Nian walked over, her eyes darting toward Huo Jinran’s phone. "You seem distracted. Are you not feeling well?"

Huo Jinran turned off his screen. "It's nothing."

Su Nian smiled gently. "That’s good."

However, she thought she had just caught a glimpse of a woman’s photo on his screen. A woman? Su Nian couldn't help but cast another glance at Huo Jinran.

***

Lu Jinchuan spent the night at the old family estate, as he had some documents in the study there that he needed. The next day, just as he was about to leave, Lu Siran happened to be heading to school.

Dressed in her uniform, she hopped straight into Lu Jinchuan’s car.

Lu Jinchuan looked at her. "What are you doing?"

Lu Siran answered lazily, "Going to school. Brother, aren't you going to pick up sister-in-law? I miss her, so I thought I’d stop by to see her on the way."

He knew that by "sister-in-law," she meant Su Nian. Lu Siran never called Wen Ying that.

While texting Su Nian to say she was arriving, Lu Siran suddenly asked, "Is Wen Ying furious lately?"

Lu Jinchuan glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

Lu Siran raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself. Wen Ying cared so much about her brother, hoping and begging for him to acknowledge her as his wife, yet he never gave her the satisfaction—he even called Su Nian his wife. She figured Wen Ying must be livid. Even if Wen Ying didn't show it, she could guess.

But why didn't Wen Ying realize she was no match for Su Nian? Su Nian was so brilliant in the aviation field; she wanted to study that major in the future, and her sister-in-law would surely help her!

Still, Wen Ying wasn't entirely useless; she was decent at keeping house and made excellent desserts.

But Wen Ying had deliberately stopped sending her little treats lately. She missed them, but she didn't want to give Wen Ying the satisfaction; Wen Ying would only become spoiled.

"It's nothing. I just feel like things have been quite peaceful lately." Lu Siran didn't say anything more and turned her attention to a drone forum. She deeply admired the genius behind the development of the U.N.2, and she hoped to meet that person someday.

Lu Jinchuan pulled out his tablet to check the stock market, appearing uninterested in the topic of Wen Ying.

After dropping Su Nian off, he took Lu Siran to school. She would be taking the college entrance exam next year, but since she attended an international school, her morning study sessions didn't start too early.

When she reached the classroom, she saw that Huo Fuyi had arrived as well. Huo Fuyi had suffered an asthma attack a while ago and had been hospitalized for a few days. Seeing her back, Lu Siran didn't bother to greet her; she and Huo Fuyi were of the same generation, and she was tired of being constantly compared to her since childhood.

Huo Fuyi didn't pay any attention to Lu Siran either, merely taking a box of cookies out of her bag and placing them on her desk.

Lu Siran, sitting diagonally across from her, caught a glimpse of the familiar packaging. She blurted out, "Where did you get those?"

Huo Fuyi glanced at her, took a cookie, and tasted it. "Mind your own business."

Lu Siran frowned. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was Wen Ying’s handiwork. Wen Ying loved using this moon-themed packaging, and the scent of the cranberry chocolate cookies inside was strangely familiar.

Lu Siran felt a sudden surge of anger. She didn't know why she was angry. She told herself it must be a coincidence of similar tastes, but she was still annoyed. She shot Huo Fuyi one last look and stopped speaking.

***

After arriving at the company, Wen Ying saw a WeChat message from Huo Fuyi.

She had sent a photo of the cookies she had given her, writing playfully, "Is there anything you can't do, big sister? I couldn't help myself and ate them all~"

"Sister Wen Ying, if I have any questions about drones, can I come and ask you?"

Wen Ying found Huo Fuyi’s personality bright and likable. She replied, [Sure.]

Putting her phone away, Wen Ying spent two hours researching aerospace literature. A new idea struck her, and she hurriedly pulled He Xicheng and the others into a meeting.

She remembered that Academician He Jiang had once given her a book on this very subject, which contained valuable references. Unable to find it, she suddenly realized it must have been left behind at the marital home.

She thought about calling Lu Jinchuan to tell him she was coming over to pick it up, hoping it wouldn't be an intrusion. But then she reconsidered—he might not pick up, and besides, he never went home anyway. She would just go in, grab it, and leave.

After working overtime until eight, Wen Ying took her medicine and drove to the marital home.