Sharing Dreams with My Bestie’s Cousin

Chapter 27: Evil grin Chapter 27: Evil grin “Miss Wen was going out, and as I happen to be free, I thought I’d offer her a ride,”
Chen Jinhai explained calmly.

Shang Jing frowned as he went over to Wen Zhi and asked, “Didn’t you say your friend was coming to pick you up?”

Wen Zhi looked up at Shang Jing, “My friend had a last-minute change in plans, so I was planning to call for a car through an app. I ran into Xiaochen just now, and when he learned I was going out, he kindly offered to give me a ride.”

“You call him Xiaochen?” Shang Jing sounded somewhat surprised.

Wen Zhi looked puzzled, was there something wrong? She turned to look at Chen Jinhai.

Chen Jinhai revealed a smile and said unhurriedly, “The thing is, Second Young Master, I always present a rigid and serious image at work, which results in colleagues being somewhat afraid to talk to me. Just now, I was considering that Miss Wen might feel too constrained, so I allowed her to call me Xiaochen.”

Shang Jing said, “Chen Zhu, it’s the first time I see you explain something with such diligence.”

Maintaining his standard smile, Chen Jinhai replied, “After working for a long time, thought I’d improve my image a bit.”

Shang Jing said, “I’ll take her.”

He looked at Wen Zhi, “Since your friend failed to show up, why didn’t you ask me?”

Wen Zhi was at a loss for words.

Seeing through her, Shang Jing asked, “Is it because you didn’t want to trouble me?”

Wen Zhi hesitated for a moment, then nodded, “I thought that if you had other arrangements, it would be improper to trouble you.”

“I had set aside time especially for you today, what other arrangements could there be? Now, I’ll take you,” he said. Shang Jing then looked at Chen Jinhai across from him, “There’s no need to trouble Chen Zhu anymore.”

Chen Jinhai touched the tip of his nose with his hand and his expression was subtle, “Just now, the Second Young Master said, he had specifically made time to take Miss Wen out today?”

Shang Jing didn’t see anything wrong with what he said, “Yeah, it’s a command from my mother, and I wouldn’t dare disobey.”

Upon hearing this last part, Chen Jinhai immediately understood, “So it was arranged by the lady of the house.”

“Who else could it be, didn’t you think about who brought Wen Zhi back to the Shang family in the first place?” Shang Jing said, glancing at Wen Zhi.

Seeing that she was somewhat anxious, he knew he couldn’t delay any longer.

“Let’s go, the car is over there.” Shang Jing turned and gestured for Wen Zhi to follow.

Wen Zhi nodded towards Chen Jinhai and then followed Shang Jing.

Chen Jinhai stood in the distance, watching the car drive away, then took out his cellphone, ready to report in. Looking at the time and considering that Mr. Shang was currently in a meeting, he put his phone away.

…

The black Cayenne slowly drove out of the old house’s gate, with sunlight inching across the windshield. Wen Zhi sat in the passenger seat, the light a bit dazzling, and she raised her hand to shield her eyes.

Shang Jing pressed a button, and the sun visor automatically descended. He reached into the center console, put on sunglasses, and asked her, “Better now? If it’s not, I can lower it more.”

Wen Zhi said, “This is fine.”

Shang Jing hummed in acknowledgment and continued driving.

Butterfly Cemetery was located on the outskirts of Bai City, in a remote location, with the entire journey being about sixty kilometers.

They would arrive at almost ten o’clock.

Perhaps because the atmosphere inside the car was too quiet, Shang Jing casually found a topic and asked, “Yesterday, why did you follow them knowing you would be humiliated?”

Wen Zhi replied, “I didn’t know.”

Shang Jing turned to glance at her, “Didn’t know what?”

Wen Zhi shook her head, “I didn’t know I was going to meet Liang Yin.”

Shang Jing was immediately choked up.

Feeling uncomfortable, he rolled down the car window a bit. The wind that poured in blew Wen Zhi’s hair, and she raised her hand to smooth it down.

At this moment, Shang Jing asked again, “If you knew you were going to meet Liang Yin beforehand, would you still have gone?”

“I would,” Wen Zhi answered without hesitation.

Shang Jing was slightly taken aback, “You knew he would humiliate you, and you still went?”

Wen Zhi nodded, “He’s always been a bit twisted since he was young, and what he says can be unpleasant, but he’s not a bad person at heart.”

Shang Jing tugged at the corner of his mouth, “You seem to understand him quite well.”

Wen Zhi guessed that Shang Jing probably heard about her and Liang Yin’s past acquaintance from Chong Wanyin.

She couldn’t hide it even if she wanted to, so she admitted frankly, “I’ve known Liang Yin for a long time.”

Those who have known each other for a long time will always have a deeper understanding than outsiders. If the person has changed, it’s expected; if they haven’t changed, that too is expected.

Wen Zhi felt that whether Liang Yin changed or not, he would still be the same.

Shang Jing remembered his mother saying the night before that Wen Zhi and Liang Yin used to be childhood sweethearts, and what happened later was something only the parties involved would know.

Shang Jing wasn’t the type to gossip, so naturally, he wouldn’t ask about it.

However, there was one thing Shang Jing still wanted to know, so he asked her, “My mother took you in out of consideration for her past friendship with your mother, but you clearly had better options. Why did you agree to come to the Shang family? I believe you must be aware that living anywhere else would be more comfortable than living with the Shangs.”

The Shang family was complicated, and living there meant being constantly on edge, cautious every day.

For an outsider to move in, they would undoubtedly feel oppressed.

So Shang Jing didn’t understand why Wen Zhi, who clearly had the option to live alone or stay with closer relatives, eventually chose the Shang family?

Could she have come with some ulterior motive?

Did she have some scheme?

As these thoughts surfaced in his mind, Shang Jing grew more convinced of Wen Zhi’s impure intentions, and it was at this moment that he heard her ask him with an unusually calm tone, “Brother Shang Jing, do you think I chose to live with the Shang family with some kind of purpose in mind?”

Shang Jing did not say it outright, “That’s not what I meant, but…”
“I know,” Wen Zhi interrupted Shang Jing’s words.

She took a breath, lowered her eyelids, and tried hard to hide the nasal sound caused by her sadness, “Whether I live on my own or at a relative’s house, they would come looking for me, persuade me, take me back home, and in the end, forcefully arrange a marriage for me.”

Shang Jing furrowed his brows.

Wen Zhi’s voice became increasingly choked, “The other party might be a vice president on his second marriage, a forty-something entrepreneur, or a wayward playboy who hasn’t settled down… If I didn’t choose to live with the Shang family, then that would be my fate.”

Having said this, Wen Zhi turned her head toward the car window, secretly wiping away tears at an angle where Shang Jing couldn’t see.

Shang Jing hadn’t expected his few words to make Wen Zhi cry.

Taking advantage of the car not yet having left the old residence area, he found a spot to pull over and turn off the engine, then took a pack of handkerchief tissues from the center console and handed them to Wen Zhi.

Wen Zhi silently accepted them and wiped her tears, whispering, “The wind is too strong, and some hair got into my eyes.”

Shang Jing understood it was Wen Zhi’s pride at play, “I’m sorry.”

Wen Zhi, “It’s not your fault.”

Her nasal voice was even heavier.

Shang Jing felt a bit irritated, not by Wen Zhi’s sudden tears, but by his own misunderstanding of her.

She was struggling in the mire, simply seeking a place that could offer her shelter, and he was suspecting her of having ulterior motives with a mean-spirited heart.

He really shouldn’t have!

Wen Zhi glanced back at Shang Jing, who was holding his forehead in self-reproach. Without a sound, she wiped away the moisture from the corners of her eyes, her lips curving slightly upward in a sly smile.

——