Raising a Daughter
Edited by Elv
After the Saturday’s volunteer association work concluded at 5 in the afternoon, Wen Le, along with her good friends Cheng Hui and Dan Shan, went to a nearby hotpot restaurant for dinner.
Dan Shan was a friend of Cheng Hui’s from the volunteer association, and Wen Le had become familiar with her after meeting a few times. The other girls who joined them were also Dan Shan’s friends.
This hotpot restaurant was quite popular among students, and the four food enthusiasts from Room 307 frequented it every week. Ai Fei never joined them as she wasn’t very interested, and Sun You Mei found the place lacking in sophistication, so every time they went, it was Cheng Hui, Wen Le, Bao Xiao Fan, and Man Qing Xuan.
Dan Shan had a pure and beautiful appearance, with a gentle and pleasant demeanor. She was quite different from Cheng Hui’s tough image. Wen Le had always been curious about how these two became friends. It was only after spending time with Dan Shan that Wen Le realized her considerate and gentle nature was very endearing.
Wen Le’s drink had been chilled and was dripping with condensation. Just as she was about to do something about it, Dan Shan instinctively handed her a tissue without interrupting her conversation with someone else.
Wen Le found Dan Shan’s subconscious gestures truly admirable.
She thought to herself that she was quite the tomboy in front of Dan Shan.
As the meal ended, Wen Le’s fondness for Dan Shan grew. Although not everyone in Room 307 was as tough as Cheng Hui, the other roommates rarely discussed skincare and makeup topics with Wen Le. However, Dan Shan got along well with Wen Le and had a lot of common topics to talk about.
They exchanged WeChat contacts, and Cheng Hui laughed while pointing at Wen Le, “I knew you two would get along.”
Dan Shan turned to Cheng Hui, saying, “I have to thank you for introducing me to such a beauty. I need to learn a thing or two about looking good from her.”
Cheng Hui said, “Honestly, Wen Le, if you ever decide to become a beauty influencer, you’d definitely become popular. You’d probably make more money than your current part-time job.”
Suddenly, Dan Shan turned to Wen Le and said, “If Le Le doesn’t want to be seen, she can share her notes on platforms like this note-sharing website. You don’t have to show your face, which is perfect for you.”
Wen Le’s heart fluttered at the suggestion, but she didn’t immediately agree. She nodded and said, “I’ll consider it.”
Cheng Hui’s eyes lit up, “Exactly, it suits you well.”
That night, Wen Le took a look at the note-sharing platform Dan Shan mentioned. It was a relatively new social media platform that had gained a large number of dedicated followers within less than two years since its launch.
Wen Le registered an account and browsed the content that the website recommended. She checked out some notes with high likes and comments and got a preliminary understanding of the market. She found out that it was a lifestyle-sharing platform that supported text, images, and video formats. Wen Le realized that besides authentic valuable content, posts showcasing wealth garnered higher popularity.
She skipped over the wealth-flaunting posts and read a few posts containing practical content.
Cheng Hui leaned over and glanced at them, saying, “Even Sun You Mei is on this.”
Wen Le looked up at her.
Cheng Hui continued, “She often looks for various luxury items on this platform and then sends the pictures to her boyfriend, asking him to buy them for her. After buying, she posts the items on this platform. Occasionally, she also shares her daily life with her boyfriend. It seems she has a few thousand followers now.”
Wen Le smiled and said, “We really can’t hide anything from you.”
Cheng Hui raised her chin triumphantly and said, “Of course.”
After reading a few posts, Wen Le closed the website. She had a basic idea now, but whether she would write or not was another matter.
On Sunday, she had plans to meet her dad at 10 in the morning. Wen Le had slept in and only got up at 8:30.
Sun You Mei hadn’t come back the previous night; it seemed she had reconciled with her boyfriend again.
Her roommates were still sleeping in. Wen Le got up quietly, washed her face, got dressed, did her makeup, and tidied herself up discreetly.
Around 9:20, Wen Le received a call from her dad, saying Uncle Jiang was coming to pick her up.
Uncle Jiang had grown up with her dad and was Grandpa Jiang’s son. He had always been accompanying her dad on various adventures.
Cars from outside the campus could enter through the school gate and drive right up to the female dormitory building. But taking the route through the campus would be longer, so Wen Le instructed Uncle Jiang to park at a small side entrance of the school, which was close to the female dormitories and had fewer people passing by.
With her bag in hand, Wen Le walked softly towards the door.
Cheng Hui rolled over and woke up. Seeing Wen Le all dressed up, she asked in a low voice, “Where are you going?”
As she recalled what Wen Le had mentioned earlier, she waved her hand and said, “Oh, your dad. Bye!”
Wen Le waved back, “See you.”
When Wen Le reached the small side entrance, she saw a sleek black car parked there, matching the licence plate number her dad had told her.
Even though there weren’t many people at the side entrance at this time, the few passersby couldn’t help but cast curious glances at the black car parked nearby.
It wasn’t just because of the unique licence plate number “6789,” but also the intertwined double “M” emblem on the car’s logo.
Seeing the car, Wen Le’s eyebrows twitched momentarily, but she quickly composed herself. Walking towards the car as if nothing was amiss, she got in.
Wen Le greeted with a smile, “Uncle Jiang.”
Uncle Jiang turned his head, smiling at Wen Le. “Ah, Le Le looks even more beautiful.”
As an elder who had watched her grow up, Wen Le chatted with Uncle Jiang about family matters while he drove.
Uncle Jiang drove Wen Le to a private club, led her into a room, and then left.
The room wasn’t so much a room as it was a courtyard.
The courtyard was meticulously decorated with flowing water, artificial mountains, and potted plants.
Wen Tian Qi was dressed in a comfortable black chinese tunic suit, with embroidered patterns in dark lines on the fabric. Holding fish food in his hand, he was standing in front of an artificial mountain, feeding the fish.
“Dad.”
Wen Tian Qi turned around at the sound of his daughter’s voice. He looked at Wen Le, and a smile appeared on his face. He put down the fish food, accepted a wet towel handed to him by a waiter, wiped his hands, and walked towards Wen Le. They entered the room and sat on the spacious sofa inside.
Sitting beside Wen Tian Qi, surrounded by a group of waitstaff, Wen Le was surprisingly relaxed and at ease in this environment. She handed her bag to a waiter and asked, “Dad, why have you been coming to Beijing so often lately?”
Wen Tian Qi replied, “Because my company moved to Beijing. It’s been in the works for over a year, and we’ve finally completed the move.”
Wen Le was taken aback. So her dad was going to live in Beijing…To be honest, Wen Le was mostly raised by her grandparents. She rarely lived alone with her dad, but it wasn’t like she hadn’t before. Whenever they lived together, it was usually abroad, where her dad would take her on various trips. However, she had never lived where her dad worked.
“So, Dad, are you going to live in Beijing?”
Wen Tian Qi’s face lit up with a smile. He said, “Le Le, do you remember? When you were a child, we lived in Beijing.”
Wen Le was briefly stunned; she obviously didn’t remember.
Although a smile graced Wen Tian Qi’s face, his eyes carried a trace of sadness. “You probably don’t remember, Le Le. You were just four or five years old back then… Your mom…”
Wen Tian Qi’s voice was soft, and Wen Le didn’t catch the last word. It seemed that Wen Tian Qi didn’t want to continue that topic. He changed to another subject and said, “The old house was getting a bit worn out, and it’s too far from your school. The new house that Dad prepared is near your school. We started renovating it a year ago, and while it’s a bit rushed, it’s still livable. Take a couple of days to settle in, and then you can come back to stay.”
Wen Le thought to herself that there were no cheap houses near the school. It probably wouldn’t cost less than seven or eight million…
Swallowing her doubts, Wen Le didn’t dare to ask.
Wen Tian Qi continued, “Le Le, if you’re not too busy with your studies, come back home to stay.”
Seeing her dad’s hopeful eyes, Wen Le couldn’t refuse and nodded.
A smile appeared in Wen Tian Qi’s eyes upon hearing her agreement. He had always felt guilty about not spending enough time with his daughter due to various reasons in the past. Now, finally, he could make up for it, albeit a bit late.
Wen Tian Qi asked, “When the house is ready in a couple of days, should Dad come to pick you up from school?”
Wen Le nodded, “Sure.”
Seeing his considerate and obedient daughter, Wen Tian Qi gestured for his assistant to come over. The assistant placed a document in front of Wen Le and handed her a pen.
Wen Tian Qi said, “Dad bought you a gift recently and needs you to sign a document.”
Wen Le didn’t think much of it, took the pen, and under the assistant’s guidance, signed her name.
After signing the document, Wen Le chatted with her dad about various topics. She talked about the social events and the magazine project she had been involved with at school. Pride showed in her dad’s eyes. Although he didn’t say any words of praise, he waved his hands over in signal.
Wen Le then saw three men in suits approaching, each carrying several bags.
Wen Tian Qi said, “In other families, they might pamper their daughters, and economize on their sons, but we don’t have a son. Your grandpa has always raised you as a boy, hoping that you would strive to improve and eventually also take over the family business.”
When Wen Le heard the term “family business,” her eyebrows twitched.
Wen Tian Qi continued, “But now that you’re an adult, your worldview is already formed. The university environment is more complex than that of middle school, and you’ll face various temptations. Dad thinks it’s time for you to be exposed to certain things.”
Wen Tian Qi waved his hand, prompting the assistant to open all the boxes.
The assistant opened all the boxes he was carrying.
And thus, pigeon egg-sized sets of ruby jewellery, a Ferrari key, complete sets of jade jewelry, diamond-studded watches, red-soled high heels, rare Hermès Kelly bags, and various-sized diamond-studded Brink clasps were laid out on the table.
To avoid embarrassing herself too much in front of her dad, Wen Le tried to maintain a composed expression on her face. She made an effort to keep her smile elegant and poised. In reality, her inner self was screaming wildly and even feeling a bit frantic.
She suddenly felt lucky that she didn’t have a heart condition. She also realised that the decision to let her grandparents raise her was so right. Just look at this handsome old man; he clearly couldn’t raise a child at all.
TN: LOLLL, guess we’re about to find out the truth about Wen Le’s family background!
