Morning Longing for Warmth – Chapter 13

by Little Panda

Inheritance

Help me

In the corner of the office, there was a person curled up.

Shiyi couldn’t figure out the way back and accidentally entered an open office. While looking for an exit, she tripped over something and fell to the ground, hitting her head on the corner of a desk. The pain was sharp, and waves of dizziness came over her. She leaned against the desk and slowly crouched down. Once she regained some awareness, she realized this was an office. The green light from the emergency exit sign in the hallway flashed, making the whole office dimly lit. She pressed her aching forehead and leaned against the desk.

She wanted to find the light switch but couldn’t locate it. She was completely unfamiliar with the layout here. She did see many phones on the desks but didn’t know Third Miss’s number at all.

It was quiet all around. After leaning against the desk for several minutes, Shiyi moved slowly along the wall, sliding down to squat. Her legs were very sore, so she simply sat on the ground. Earlier, she had felt a chair but didn’t dare to sit on it. This area was unfamiliar to her; everything seemed new and strange, and she was afraid to touch anything.

She stayed leaning against the wall, and time passed second by second. After who knows how long, the sound of high heels came. She was startled and completely awake!

The office lights suddenly turned on, and the bright light from the incandescent lamp shone on the person entering. Wei Hui walked into the office in high heels, and immediately saw the girl sitting against the wall.

When Shiyi heard the sound of high heels, she instinctively hugged herself, wrapping her arms around her legs and burying her head between her knees, eyes tightly shut. The one word that popped into her shallow knowledge was—ghost!

The sound of the high heels got louder and closer. Just when Shiyi couldn’t bear it and wanted to cover her ears, she heard a clear voice: “Shiyi.”

She froze, slowly releasing her arms and lifting her head from between her legs to see Wei Hui bending slightly, looking at her steadily.

The light from the incandescent lamp cast Wei Hui’s shadow beside her. Wei Hui, who always had a serious expression, appeared a bit softened, her sharp brow bone now less severe. She called again, “Shiyi?”

Shiyi’s pretty face was pale, with a red mark on her forehead. She murmured, “Third Miss?”

Realizing the person in front of her was not her imagination but really Wei Hui, Shiyi excitedly stood up, forgetting she had been sitting too long, causing her legs to go numb. She fell back to the ground, accidentally pulling on Wei Hui’s clothes. Wei Hui, who had just straightened up, was pulled down, her nose brushing past Shiyi’s cheek. A fresh fragrance spread under Shiyi’s nose, and she quickly withdrew her hand, politely saying, “Sorry, Third Miss, I didn’t mean it.”

Wei Hui said, “Get up.”

This time, Shiyi was more careful, using the wall to help herself stand up. Wei Hui asked calmly beside her, “Why did you come here?”

“I… I thought you forgot about me.” After Shiyi said this, she looked at Wei Hui, watching her expression remain unchanged as she picked up her phone and dialed, saying to the other side, “Found her.”

After speaking, she added another sentence under Shiyi’s gaze: “Go next door and get a phone, a simple one will do.”

Pei Tian, who was still in the security room checking the videos, rubbed his eyes and agreed. With all the searching he did just now, he almost went blind. This kid is really strange, why didn’t she turn on the lights? They could have found her much earlier.

When he first noticed Shiyi was missing, he immediately thought she had left. But Third Miss asked him to check the surveillance room. He went in thinking, how could she still be here? She must have left the company already.

However, he didn’t expect to see Shiyi on the screen. It turns out his judgment is not as accurate as Third Miss’s.

He just couldn’t quite understand from the footage what she was doing.

On the screen, the two of them stood together, and Wei Hui said, “Let’s go back to my office first.”

Shiyi followed behind Wei Hui, watching as she skillfully turned a few corners and then stopped at a half-open office door, looking at Shiyi and saying, “Come in.”

She bit her lip and quickly followed inside.

The office was brightly lit. Upon entering, there was a work desk placed by the window and a large bookshelf behind it. The books were neatly arranged, but the symbols and letters on them were all things Shiyi couldn’t understand.

The entire office was decorated in cool colors, with a black-and-white theme, giving off a serious vibe. Perhaps it was also because she felt that Wei Hui was very serious.

“Sit down,” Wei Hui said calmly, walking over to the water dispenser and pouring two cups of hot water. She placed one cup in front of Shiyi and held the other in her hand. The water in the cup was steaming, with mist swirling around.

Shiyi sat cautiously on the sofa.

Wei Hui took a sip of water and asked, “Why didn’t you leave?”

Hearing the question, Shiyi looked up with a surprised expression, as if what Wei Hui said was unbelievable. Seeing her expression, Wei Hui couldn’t help but smile gently, “You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?”

“No,” Shiyi instinctively denied, then carefully glanced at Wei Hui, “A little bit.”

Wei Hui nodded when she heard her honest answer, “I thought you might take this chance to leave the company.”

Shiyi’s hands twisted together, her eyes still showing surprise, and she said softly, “Third Miss, if I leave, wouldn’t you catch me and punish me?”

Wei Hui paused slightly, holding her cup, and raised her eyelids to meet Shiyi’s confused gaze, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, “Punish you?”

Shiyi bit her lip, “Yes.”

She had previously tried to escape from the master’s house, especially after her grandmother passed away. She attempted several times, but each time she was found and severely reprimanded. Over time, she didn’t dare to run away anymore. When she was given as a gift to the first guest’s house that week, she was very anxious and always acted cautiously. Even so, she was still beaten and scolded by the lady of the house. She didn’t understand at first until other maids told her that the master brought her back to accompany him to sleep. At that time, she was only fourteen years old and was terribly frightened. From then on, she kept making mistakes in front of the lady on purpose, hoping they would send her away.

But she never succeeded once. She had to steal things and find ways to appear in front of new guests. This cycle repeated until she finally met Wei Hui.

Her understanding of Wei Hui was limited to rumors: a famous cold beauty in Jiangcheng, from a good family, capable, and skilled. Many rich young men coveted her as a target. She heard from the kitchen that Wei Hui wasn’t married.

Unmarried, how great, that meant there wouldn’t be a man in the house.

So she dared to be bold for once and appeared in front of Wei Hui that day.

Unexpectedly, her wish came true. She was taken back by Wei Hui, but it wasn’t to be a servant.

“Third Miss,” Shiyi said, swallowing before continuing, “Please let me be a servant. I can do anything, I can learn anything, and I will do it very well. I’m not afraid of hard work at all.”

“I don’t have the habit of stealing things, I promise I won’t take anything without permission, and I can work without a salary.”

“Or please let me go. This is all my savings. I know it’s not much, but you can name a price, and I will slowly earn and pay it back to you…”

Hearing her speak so much at once, Wei Hui couldn’t help but laugh and said, “When did I ever say you couldn’t leave?”

Shiyi’s voice abruptly stopped, like music cut off suddenly, leaving the air cold and quiet. Wei Hui’s voice remained calm, “Shiyi, I never stopped you from leaving. The door of the Wei family is always open for you.”

“But if you go out, what can you do?”

“Find a proper job?”

“Do you have any educational qualifications?”

Shiyi was left speechless by her series of questions. Her education level was very low, limited to knowing common characters. Finding a job would be harder than reaching the sky. The outside world was completely different from what she imagined. She lowered her head, her hand gripping her pant leg, and her thin body appeared even smaller in the silent atmosphere.

After Wei Hui finished drinking her water, she placed the cup on the coffee table. The office door was knocked on, and then Pei Tian called out, “Third Miss.”

“Come in.”

Pei Tian entered carrying two boxed meals, with very delicate packaging. Even the chopsticks looked like they were made of jade, with very good quality. After Pei Tian opened the boxed meals, Wei Hui waved her hand, signaling him to leave. Pei Tian glanced at her and couldn’t help but remind her, “It’s half an hour until nine o’clock.”

“I know.” Wei Hui picked up some rice with the chopsticks, “Go out first.”

After Pei Tian left, the office returned to silence. Wei Hui glanced at the tense Shiyi across from her and said, “Eat.”

Shiyi wanted to say she wasn’t hungry, but under Wei Hui’s strong presence, she couldn’t say anything and obediently picked up the chopsticks, eating dishes she had never tasted before. The food looked very appealing, with a mild flavor, but the texture was very good. Shiyi wasn’t very hungry, so after a few bites, she wanted to put down the chopsticks but felt it would be impolite, so she looked up at Wei Hui.

Wei Hui ate with graceful and proper movements. When she lowered her head, her eyelashes slightly drooped, her forehead was smooth and fair, her brow bone was full, and her delicate side profile was faintly visible, with a calm expression. Shiyi had just sneaked a few glances when she saw Wei Hui lift her eyelids and ask, “Are you full?”

She pinched the chopsticks and nodded, “I’m full.”

Wei Hui then lowered her head to drink some soup, and afterward, she used a tissue to wipe the corner of her mouth. Shiyi wanted to clean up the food remnants but heard Wei Hui say, “Leave it, Pei Tian will handle it.”

“Okay.” Shiyi had just put down the chopsticks when she heard Wei Hui ask, “Did you know I was sick?”

The casual tone was as if saying, do you know the sun came out today? Yet Shiyi was startled, breaking into a light sweat on her back. In front of Wei Hui, she inexplicably didn’t want to lie and nodded honestly, “I know.”

Wei Hui lifted her eyes, “Since you know, I won’t hide it from you. I brought you back because I want to make a deal with you.”

Her gaze at Shiyi was more serious than ever before. For the first time, Shiyi felt like she was seen as an adult who could make decisions, and for the first time, she felt respected. This made her voice a bit louder, “What deal?”

“If you want to leave the Wei family, you can do so now. No one will stop you.”

“If you agree to make a deal with me, in two years, I will open an account with ten million yuan for you, ensuring you won’t have any worries for the rest of your life, and you won’t have to live in fear every day.”

“You have three months to think about it. During these three months, you can live at the Wei family, enjoy the best care, and make any requests you want. You can also leave at any time, but after three months, if you’re still with the Wei family, I will take it as your agreement to the deal.”

Shiyi’s slender body tensed up, and her palms became quite sweaty, sticky and uncomfortable when clenched. After Wei Hui finished speaking, the office fell into an awkward silence. After a long time, Shiyi finally asked, “What, what deal?”

Wei Hui looked at her calmly, her voice steady and emotionless, “Have a child for me.”

The author has something to say:

Shiyi: It’s really great that there’s no male master in the Wei family.

Wei Hui: In the future, there will be a female master.

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