91. A Family Full of Worries

Headquarters of the CEO Office at Twin Star Fashion.

Zhao Yan knocked on the office door. Only after receiving Chen Liwan’s permission did he walk unhurriedly to the desk.

“Chairman Chen.” He respectfully set down, with both hands, a heap of shattered fragments so broken they could no longer be made out at all, placing them half a meter in front of Chen Liwan. “Miss broke her phone again.”

Chen Liwan looked up, frowned, and said, “Why is this phone such poor quality? Replace it with a better one next time.”

Zhao Yan answered with a yes. “It was thrown straight down from the sixteenth floor. It was smashed pretty badly. Even with drone photos for positioning, it took a long time before we could piece it back together.”

At that, Chen Liwan set down the pen in his hand. “Who made her angry? Did someone from Luminous hurt her?”

“Probably not. I went to ask just now, and ten minutes before Miss threw her phone, she was still perfectly normal.” Zhao Yan paused, choosing his words carefully. “Later... it seemed that Young Master Gao from the Universal Group came by. When Young Master Gao left Luminous, he seemed to be in a very good mood, while Miss... was furious.”

Gao Tang had come to see his daughter. A man and a woman alone together for ten minutes, then the man left cheerfully while the woman, in a rage, hurled her phone from the sixteenth floor?

Chen Liwan immediately filled in an entire year’s worth of scandal in his mind.

His expression darkened. Forgetting all about official business, he strode out of the CEO’s office.

“Back home!”

Zhao Yan immediately took Chen Liwan’s coat and briefcase, then hurried after him.

...

At six in the evening, Chen Liwan and Yang Anxin sat side by side on the sofa in the living room of No. 88 Qing Shui Bi'an, both wearing grave expressions.

“That Gao Tang really bullied Wenwen?” After hearing her husband’s account, Yang Anxin was both anxious and angry. Her previously favorable impression of Gao Tang plummeted at once.

“Hard to say. We’ll wait until Wenwen comes back and I’ll ask her first. You just listen from the side; don’t say too much.”

Knowing full well that her questioning skills were far inferior to her husband’s, Yang Anxin nodded obediently.

Not long after the two had made their plans, Chen Ruowen returned home.

The moment she stepped through the door, the couple sensed that something was wrong.

Their daughter’s face was terribly dark, almost desolate, and the way she walked no longer had its usual brisk, wind-cutting momentum. Anyone familiar with her could tell at a glance that Chen Ruowen was not merely in a bad mood, but deeply downcast.

“Wenwen.” Seeing that his daughter ignored him, Chen Liwan took the initiative to call out to her.

Chen Ruowen turned and glanced at her father, then sat sullenly at the far end of the sofa.

She would not even choose the middle seat anymore? Chen Liwan and Yang Anxin exchanged a look, then shifted a little closer toward Chen Ruowen with growing concern.

“Wenwen, how has your internship at Luminous been these past few days? Do you still need Dad to switch you to another company?”

“Forget it. Too much trouble.” Chen Ruowen answered without much spirit, then added, “I’ve got my eye on a coworker. Ask Xiao Zhao to look into his background later. If there’s nothing wrong with him, I want to poach him and make him my assistant.”

No desire to change companies, and even in the mood to dig into Li Yanbin’s corner. So the problem could be ruled out as work-related.

“That’s easy. Just send the name to Xiao Zhao later.” Chen Liwan nodded, then cheerfully handed the tablet on the table to his daughter. “Wenwen, IQ Home released a new phone two days ago. Dad just remembered that your phone has already been used for more than half a year. Since we’re at it, let’s get you a new one. Pick a color.”

This time, Chen Ruowen’s reaction was rather strong.

“No!”

“Uh... your old phone is already outdated. Why keep using something old?” Chen Liwan seemed a little puzzled.

“No!” Chen Ruowen repeated with finality, then stood up from the sofa and walked off. “No one calls me anyway, so why buy a phone? I don’t want one. I won’t use one anymore.”

Why did this girl seem to be sulking?

Watching her daughter’s retreating figure up the stairs, Yang Anxin tugged at Chen Liwan’s arm. “What did you find out? What’s going on? What happened to her phone?”

Chen Liwan coughed lightly and nodded with righteous seriousness.

“Can’t you tell? Wenwen is obviously... starved of love! She thinks we don’t care about her. And you, too—when you’ve got nothing to do at home all day, why don’t you go to Luminous to see Wenwen more often? Even if you just go have lunch with her, she’d feel better! Honestly, you don’t care about your daughter at all.”

Yang Anxin slapped her thigh in frustration. “Why didn’t I think of that!”

“It’s not entirely your fault. I’m to blame too. Wenwen is at that age—she’s prone to overthinking. We need to adjust things starting now. From now on, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays you’ll go to Luminous and bring her lunch. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I’ll go. And after work in the evenings, we’ll spend more time talking with her. Don’t keep watching those mindless soap operas. They’re all produced by your own company anyway—what’s there to watch? On weekends, we’ll take Wenwen out to relax and have some fun, so she won’t keep thinking too much.”

“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm!”

“Wenwen also said just now that no one calls her, so from now on we’ll call her every day. You in the morning, me in the afternoon... oh, and let Little Guo join us too. Care and concern from someone her own age is important as well.”

“Yes, yes. I’ll go find Jingyuan right now. That child should be helping in the kitchen at this hour anyway. It’s perfect—I’ll have her go keep Wenwen company and talk with her.”

“Right, right, hurry. Get Little Guo up there quickly. We can’t let the child stew in silence by herself. What if she bottles it up and it turns into something serious?” Chen Liwan nodded repeatedly.

Yang Anxin immediately trotted off toward the kitchen. Only after his wife left did Chen Liwan stroke his chin in confusion.

“Why did mentioning a new phone get such a big reaction? Could it be... Gao Tang’s phone is more expensive than hers?”

Chen Liwan suddenly saw the light.

“That must be it. That old fellow Gao Changrui is a profligate too. If the two children are together, they’re bound to compare things. Then Gao Tang took out his phone and it turned out to be much more expensive than Wenwen’s. The child couldn’t save face, got so angry she smashed her own phone, and then thought her parents were stingy and wouldn’t even buy her a better one... It must be that!”

The more Chen Liwan thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. He slapped his thigh several times in vexation.

“Goodness, why didn’t I think of that before? No, a new phone must be bought. Tell Xiao Zhao to check what brand Gao Tang uses, and get our Wenwen one even better than his!”

...

On the second floor of the villa, Guo Jingyuan peeked around carefully as she knocked on Chen Ruowen’s door, carrying in a freshly simmered ginseng soup.

“Ruowen, do you want to eat something first?”

Chen Ruowen glanced at her. “Just put it there.”

Guo Jingyuan murmured an acknowledgment, then carefully set the bowl on Chen Ruowen’s bedside table and sat down by her bed. After that, she picked up the bowl again, cautiously scooped out a spoonful, blew on it to cool it, and brought it gently to Chen Ruowen’s lips.

“You should still eat on time. It’s bad for your stomach otherwise.”

Chen Ruowen drank the soup, then shot Guo Jingyuan a glance. “You’ve got some nerve saying that to me. You have quite the appetite gnawing on bread every day at noon.”

Guo Jingyuan flushed red and fed her another spoonful of ginseng soup.

“Are you... unhappy today?”

Chen Ruowen had always been gentle with Guo Jingyuan, but after hearing the question her gaze dimmed, and she looked out the window with quiet disappointment.

“Do you think Bai Jinyan likes me?”