It must be said that photo albums are a good thing.
As it turned out, Cheng Jinlan didn't like to smile since he was little. Even when he was just born, he was like a little adult, with an indifferent expression on his chubby face. Although it was not cute, it was a little cute in that aloofness. Shao Chengze's mouth corner involuntarily turned up.
"Dad was so cute as a baby," Cheng LiQi said as she reached out and touched the chubby little face in the photo. "He would have been even cuter if he smiled."
She continued flipping through the photo album. Under the bright lights, the air suddenly froze. Cheng LiQi pointed to a photo and uncertainly asked Lv Siwei, "Grandma, is this Dad?"
Lv Siwei suppressed her laugh and nodded.
Shao Chengze picked a grape from the fruit platter and put it in his mouth, slowly and carefully chewing it, not wanting his smile to be too obvious.
His slick black hair was reluctantly pulled into two little pigtails tied with big red bows. His neat bangs covered his full forehead. The red dot in the center of his eyebrows stood out vibrantly and pleasingly against his fair skin. The red cheongsam was slit open all the way up to the thigh, revealing two chubby little legs.
With such a cute outfit, his small face was still extremely serious. He stared at the camera impatiently, the contrast was obvious, making it difficult not to laugh.
Cheng LiQi first covered her mouth and chuckled softly, then later she couldn't hold it in anymore. Her clear laughter filled the living room as she called to the kitchen, "Dad, you looked so pretty in a cheongsam!"
Shao Yunzheng poked his head out from the kitchen and looked at someone's drooping mouth corners. Feeling moved, since this could make her so happy, he simply went with it, "Little LiQi, if you keep turning the pages, you'll find even prettier looks of Dad."
Before Shao Chengze turned three, Lv Siwei enjoyed dressing him up as a little girl for a period of time. As a baby, he neither liked to laugh nor cry. Every day after eating his fill, he would just lie in bed or sit in a rocking chair, staring blankly as if in a daze, or seeming to contemplate his three-year-old life. This baby's days were a little boring, so Lv Siwei wanted to find some fun things for him to do. Unfortunately, no matter how she tried, she couldn't change his cold poker face, wasted his good looks.
After returning from her dad's house, Cheng LiQi slept with a smile still on her face. Her lips in her sleep would murmur indistinctly like a little kitten from time to time, laughing out soft mews, probably dreaming of the pretty sides of Dad.
Shao Chengze squatted by the bed watching his daughter for a long time before leaving. Cheng Jinlan sat cross-legged on the sofa reading a notebook. Seeing him come out, she put the notebook down and hooked her pinky with his extended finger, slowly enveloping her whole hand in his palm.
"I'm going on a business trip tomorrow. It'll probably be half a month. I have to visit all the major domestic and overseas subsidiaries, so it'll take some time. I'll be back a couple days before LiQi's birthday."
Cheng Jinlan nodded to show she understood. As the saying goes, the courtier must change with the sovereign. He had just fully taken over his grandfather's position, so he would inevitably have to inspect all the group's subordinate companies. His days probably wouldn't be easy for a while.
Shao Chengze was not very satisfied with her attitude. A day apart felt like three autumns. Half a month's time was practically half a lifetime. He hadn't even gotten on the plane yet but already felt the time apart would be hard to endure. She didn't seem to care much that he was going on a business trip.
He squeezed the softness in his palm. "Don't you even say you'll miss me?"
Cheng Jinlan leaned back against the sofa. "I have an important event at the hotel the day after tomorrow that I'll be very busy with the next few days. After it ends, I plan to take LiQi out to play for a few days to escape this deadly hot weather. I probably won't have much time to think of you."
...Shao Chengze wondered if he could postpone this business trip.
Cheng Jinlan saw through his thoughts. "You can't go even if you don't go on the trip. My mom's going too."
Shao Chengze pulled her from the sofa onto his lap. "If I just call her Mother-in-law, do you think she won't hit me?"
Cheng Jinlan lazily draped her arms around his neck, looking at him mockingly. "If you can dress up like in the photo, in a cheongsam, and call her that, I think my mom wouldn't be able to lay a hand on you."
If it made his mother-in-law happy, he supposed he could do it. But that wasn't important right now. He bit her ear. "Did a lot of people write you love letters when you were in school?"
Cheng Jinlan thought seriously about the question and gave a serious answer. "Not a lot...about one a day, I guess."
Could a sentence explode a beehive? Shao Chengze didn't know, but a sentence could definitely explode a vat of vinegar.
Gasping for breath, she dodged his approaching lips. Grabbing his ear, she asked, "Shouldn't you reflect on why you never wrote me a love letter?"
Shao Chengze was stunned for a second, feeling her question was right on target.
Cheng Jinlan had just blurted that out in a fluster. Seeing him actually taking it seriously, she quickly took back her words, "I'm just kidding, don't write, never write."
Love letters were too cheesy, she couldn't stand anything cheesy. Things were good as they were now. Unlike the elusive, unpredictable feeling before, now she could clearly feel his feelings. That was enough. Words could enhance emotions, but ultimately they drifted on paper, illusory. Compared to words, she preferred tangible actions she could see with her eyes.
Shao Chengze gently brushed her lips. "Although my language grades were the worst, I can still write a love letter."
"I told you not to write."
A commanding tone that should have sounded more forceful instead turned into delicate whimpers under his lips.
Shao Chengze entwined her tongue. "Beg me."
She wouldn't beg him. Cheng Jinlan scratched his bulging neck veins with her nails. "Since you want to write, anything less than a thousand words doesn't count."
Whether to write or not was his business. Whether to read it or not was her business. If he wanted to write, then write.
"Deal."
Shao Chengze agreed readily. Pressing the back of her head, he eagerly stole the air from her mouth. Cheng Jinlan had almost no ability to resist, she could only desperately try to keep up with his pace with the little bit of air he transferred to her.
Late at night, the room was left with only the sticky sounds of saliva exchange.
"You should go." Cheng Jinlan pressed down the hand that was wandering up her waist, reminding him in her panting breaths.
Shao Chengze gripped her hand instead of letting it go, pinning it to the sofa. His hand didn't move again, but his lips grew more ferocious.
He knew she definitely wouldn't let him stay tonight, but he was about to go half a month without seeing her. He could only take as much as she allowed in her boundaries.
It was late when Shao Chengze got home. Lv Siwei had long gone to bed. On his bedroom door was a note in his mother's handwriting. [Oh? You can actually bear to come back. Not easy.]
With just a simple sentence, without even punctuation, the sarcasm was strong. Shao Chengze took the paper down and folded it into a neat square. Although he felt awkward being teased by his mother about his relationship, the satisfied feeling in his eyes couldn't be concealed.
In the next few days, they were both busy. Shao Chengze was either in meetings, at banquets, or on a plane. Cheng Jinlan had to arrange the following work ahead of time since she was going to take some time off. Her schedule was also full every day. Occasionally, when they had free time, they would exchange a message or two, knowing what the other was doing. Although they were oceans apart, across time zones, their hearts felt closer than ever, as if he was right by her side.
Cheng Jinlan had just left a banquet at the hotel tonight and was walking to the curb to wait for her driver when someone called out, "Cheng Jinlan."
Cheng Jinlan heard someone calling her name. She stopped and looked up from her phone, the corners of her mouth still curled in a faint smile. The person calling her was a black-haired woman who looked somewhat older. Her face was taut from excessive cosmetic procedures and had a harsh look to it.
"And you are?" Cheng Jinlan asked politely. She was certain they had never met before.
"I'm Wu Jingyao," the woman said.
Cheng Jinlan searched her memory for the name. It sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had heard it. She didn't pay much attention to other people in the Shao family, so if she had heard the name in passing, it was quickly forgotten. Of course she had no idea who this Wu Jingyao was.
The contempt in Wu Jingyao's eyes was unconcealed. "I'm Shao Yunzheng's wife, Shao Chengze's grandmother."
Cheng Jinlan could sense the hostility coming from her. She dropped the polite smile and replied coolly, "As far as I know, Shao Chengze's grandmother was Madam Yin, who passed away many years ago."
So there was no need to drop Shao Chengze's name and pretend to be some elder relative. To Cheng Jinlan, she was just a stranger.
Wu Jingyao was left speechless. Before she could say anything else, Cheng Jinlan cut her off directly, "I'm busy and can't chat. Sorry about that."
She gave a slight nod as goodbye, then walked around Wu Jingyao and continued on her way, returning to her phone. She really had no desire to listen to this woman's nonsense.
Wu Jingyao watched Cheng Jinlan's retreating back, her voice turning vicious, "You think Shao Chengze is with you just so he can get back at your Cheng family and swallow you up whole? It's your uncle who was having an affair with his grandmother Yin Manqing. They wanted to elope together but got into a car accident that killed his grandmother."
Cheng Jinlan turned back around.
Wu Jingyao gave a cold laugh. "Don't believe me? Just you wait. One day he will destroy your Cheng family. He's ruthless and scheming. You think he loves you? How wrong you are. All he will bring you is ruin."
Cheng Jinlan looked Wu Jingyao up and down. "Mrs. Wu, coming to a hotel at this time...are you getting a divorce or has the Shao family kicked you out?"
"You!" Wu Jingyao pointed a finger at her.
Cheng Jinlan had just taken a random guess, but it seemed she had hit the mark, judging from Wu Jingyao's reaction. She smiled mockingly. "So mind your own business. Our affairs are none of your concern. As for adulterous relationships, I believe you are the one who intruded into someone else's marriage and had an affair with a married man. You are hardly in a position to judge others when you have committed the same acts. Think about whether you even have the right to say those things before you open your mouth."
Wu Jingyao was so angry her heavily powdered face turned red under its thick layer of makeup. But she had no retort against Cheng Jinlan.
It was true that Shao Yunzheng wanted a divorce. Wu Jingyao had moved out to show she had backbone, but more so because she wanted to play hard to get. However, Shao Yunzheng was determined to divorce her, and didn't care whether she lived or died.
Shao Zhangke didn't know what had happened between his parents. He couldn't understand why two people their age would be getting divorced. He kept shuttling back and forth, trying to persuade them to reconcile. Of course Shao Zhangke didn't want them to split up. With his shares in the Shao Corporation gone, if his mother divorced his father too, how would he keep his foothold there? How would he get money to support all his mistresses?
But divorce was no longer Wu Jingyao's decision to make. All she could do now was hire the best legal team possible to win a decent settlement in the division of assets, but that would be difficult. She knew Shao Chengze had recordings that left her almost no room to turn things around. Running into Cheng Jinlan today, she had wanted to cause problems for Shao Chengze, but instead ended up humiliating herself.
As soon as Cheng Jinlan got into the car, she received an overseas call from Shao Chengze. She answered and lazily asked, "Are you having me followed, or keeping tabs on Wu Jingyao?"
He had messaged her earlier saying his meeting still had over half an hour to go. Now this urgent call could only mean he had received some news on his end.
Shao Chengze paused. He hadn't expected her to be so perceptive and figure out his reason for calling before he even said anything. "Following Wu Jingyao," he admitted, "to prevent any other tricks from her."
"Oh."
Cheng Jinlan wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder, then reached up to remove the hairpin from her updo. Her inky black tresses tumbled down over her shoulders. She ran her fingers through the strands in a rough comb, then settled back against the seat. The wine reception hadn't been tiring, but days of intense work had left her nerves strained.
"What did she say to you?" Shao Chengze knew Wu Jingyao's words were unlikely to be pleasant.
Cheng Jinlan gave him a summary of what Wu Jingyao had said, including the claim that he was with Cheng Jinlan to get revenge on the Cheng family and swallow them up.
"Do you believe what she said?" Maybe it was Shao Chengze's imagination, but with him unable to see her expression, her tone sounded a little distant.
Cheng Jinlan turned to look out at the passing cars and pedestrians, her attention still focused on the phone. "You called so urgently just to explain to me, so I'm waiting for your explanation."
It was as if Shao Chengze sensed something. He asked tentatively, "If I explain, you'll believe me?"
"Mm."
"Really?"
"What's with the 'really'? Of course I'll believe your words over hers."
The phone went silent, the only sound their breathing. Cheng Jinlan found the wordless quiet comfortable too.
"Miaomiao," Shao Chengze murmured softly.
She lazily responded, "Hmm?"
He sighed. "I want to kiss you. What should I do?"
Cheng Jinlan retorted impatiently, "Go soak your head!"
