Chapter 145: Intellectual Verbal Abuse

"Pair of threes!"
"...... Can't beat that!"

As soon as Chen Ruowen finished her shower, she headed to the living room to play Landlords with Ma Yunan and the others, taking turns among the four of them. Chen Ruowen's luck was defying the heavens every single hand; after playing a dozen rounds, she hadn't lost a single one, leaving her so exhausted she didn't even want to play anymore.

In this round, she only had three small cards left in her hand, so she played a pair of threes. To her surprise, none of the others held any pairs—such luck was truly peerless.

Bored, Chen Ruowen tossed out her last card, a four, leaving Ma Yunan and Wu Jie in utter disbelief that they had actually lost to a 3-3-4 combination.

Chen Ruowen waited in the living room for Bai Jinyan, but instead of him, she ended up with He Wanqin and Wei Kun—two people who normally had nothing to do with each other.

The moment He Wanqin stepped into the house, she spotted Chen Ruowen and walked straight toward her.
"Is Young Miss back?"

Chen Ruowen nodded and was just about to answer when she heard a soft snort from Wei Kun by the doorway.
"Sycophancy, bowing and scraping."

What was going on?
Chen Ruowen was completely baffled. She knew Wei Kun seemed to dislike He Wanqin, but how did asking a polite question become bowing and scraping?

He Wanqin spun around abruptly, her face flushed with anger.
"Dr. Wei, please show some respect!"

Wei Kun tilted his head, casting a sidelong glance at the ceiling. "The thief doth protest too much."

He Wanqin was so angry she was rendered speechless, while the remaining people looked at each other in utter confusion.
Mo Xiaoxin's gaze swept back and forth between the two of them, and she smiled gossiper-style.
"Dr. Wei, could it be that you failed in your pursuit of Dr. He and turned love into hate?"

"Ha! Me pursue her?" Wei Kun let out a loud, mocking scoff, his expression dripping with disdain. "I wouldn't even want her if she threw herself at me."
"You are being utterly unreasonable!"

Such remarks were mortifyingly embarrassing. Unwilling to argue with him, He Wanqin didn't even bother to say goodbye to Chen Ruowen before hurrying back to her room, leaving a crowd of people staring at one another with wide eyes.

Chen Ruowen slightly furrowed her brows and put down the stack of cards she had just picked up.
"You insulted someone on my side; don't you think you owe an explanation?"

Chen Ruowen's attitude was still relatively polite, solely for the sake that Wei Kun had once saved Bai Jinyan's life.

Wei Kun glanced at Chen Ruowen and kept his nose pointed toward the sky.
"None of you are any good."

Hah! This guy was actually insulting her along with the rest of them!

Chen Ruowen's eyebrows arched up as she prepared to throw a tantrum. Just as a chaotic scene was about to erupt, at this crucial moment, the villa's front door was pushed open once again.

Bai Jinyan was back.

Perhaps because he had just walked a twenty-li round trip to fetch water, a thin layer of sweat still coated his forehead, and his white shirt was partially soaked, faintly outlining his healthy physique.

Yet his spirits did not seem very good; a lingering trace of gloom always hovered between his brows, and his face appeared somewhat leaner.

He had only been gone a few days—how did he manage to lose weight?

Seeing Chen Ruowen, Bai Jinyan seemed to freeze for a moment, then lowered his gaze, his tone unexpectedly indifferent.
"Why are you back so soon?"
"Don't you want to see me?" Chen Ruowen raised an eyebrow.

Unexpectedly, Bai Jinyan did not answer, instead looking over at Wei Kun by the door.
"How do you have time to come over today?"

Something was wrong.
Something was terribly wrong.
Bai Jinyan was actually ignoring her?
This was unscientific.
"I came specifically to find you." Wei Kun didn't spare Chen Ruowen a single glance either, throwing an arm directly around Bai Jinyan's shoulder. "Let's talk outside. The air in this house makes me sick to my stomach."

Everyone in the room frowned at these words. Bai Jinyan also furrowed his brow and glared at Wei Kun, but since he didn't know what had happened earlier, he had no idea where to begin stopping it.

Yet Chen Ruowen was never one to swallow her anger and stay silent. She let out a cold laugh, walked up to Wei Kun, and lifted her chin slightly to look at him.
"It seems you have quite a few opinions about me?"

Wei Kun snorted through his nose. "Love and leave."

Chen Ruowen never dreamed she would one day be associated with such a phrase, to the point that she didn't even manage to lose her temper right away.
Because she was completely dumbfounded.

Bai Jinyan, who had been thoroughly perplexed by this inexplicable conflict, finally snapped out of it and gave Wei Kun a tug.
"Stop talking nonsense."
"What do you mean by that?" Chen Ruowen demanded at the same time.

Wei Kun glanced at Bai Jinyan and recited two lines of poetry on the spot.
"In feasts of youth, how blithe and gay, with oaths of faith we trod our way. Yet faithless now, you turn away—alas, too late to rue the day!"

Chen Ruowen finally understood what Mr. Wu's comments about "cultural accumulation" from a year ago actually meant; cultured people even cursed others differently from anyone else.

After finishing his recitation, Wei Kun looked back at Chen Ruowen. "Did you understand? If not, let me recite a couple more lines for you: fickle in love and heartless in change, turning ungrateful without blinking an eye. Understand now?"

Wei Kun's behavior clearly made Bai Jinyan somewhat helpless. Just as he was about to speak, Chen Ruowen hurriedly grabbed his arm, looking at Wei Kun with an expression of absolute refusal.
"I have nothing to do with this guy surnamed Wei! Don't listen to his nonsense!"

Bai Jinyan froze. Wei Kun froze. Ma Yunan and the others, who had been blankly watching the spectacle, froze as well.
Had this chick misunderstood something?
Who said anything about having to do with you?

Seeing Bai Jinyan's stunned expression, Chen Ruowen gritted her teeth, stood on her tiptoes, and planted a loud kiss right on his cheek in full view of everyone.
"I haven't been heartless or fickle toward this Wei guy at all. I wouldn't want him even if he threw himself at me; I only like you."

Even though he had been feeling depressed by Chen Liwan's words from a few days ago, Bai Jinyan still managed to break into a faint smile at that moment.
"Old Wei's just losing his mind and spouting nonsense. Don't pay attention to him."

Wei Kun covered his face with his hand.
*You fool, your brother is trying to fight injustice for you! Instead of seizing the opportunity to act pitiful and win sympathy, why are you still putting on airs of pure detachment? It's so frustrating!*

"How am I losing my mind? I—"
Bai Jinyan gave Wei Kun a warning look, and before he could finish speaking, he wrapped an arm around his shoulder and shoved him toward the exit.
"Didn't you say you had something to discuss with me? Let's talk outside."

Though Bai Jinyan looked frail, his strength was formidable. Wei Kun couldn't shake him off and was forcefully dragged out.

Chen Ruowen stared suspiciously at their departing backs, her expression deep in thought.

Others only saw Chen Ruowen's arrogant and willful facade and assumed she must be simple-minded, but her emotional intelligence was far higher than she usually displayed—she simply couldn't be bothered to use it most days.

She had no prior interactions with Wei Kun, yet the moment he saw her today, he showed hostility and babbled about abandoning and forsaking someone... Could he be standing up for Bai Jinyan?

Bai Jinyan was also acting very strangely; knowing she would be back tonight, he had gone off to fetch water instead, almost as if he were deliberately avoiding her.
But why?

Chen Ruowen looked at Ma Yunan and the others, who were still staring at her with wide eyes, and frowned as she asked,
"Has Bai Jinyan been acting abnormal these past couple of days?"