Morning Longing for Warmth – Chapter 45
by Little PandaWorth It
She is worth it
Just as Wei Hui had said, the snow stopped the next day. However, due to the rain during the night, the roads were icy, making driving difficult. Fortunately, all the accumulated snow on the roads had been cleared, so it didn’t prevent them from going out.
Pei Tian was driving. He lived in Jiang City, and after the New Year, he had visited the Wei family twice, only leaving after confirming Wei Hui was fine. There were few vehicles on the road, with people hurrying past. Shiyi and Wei Hui sat holding hands in the back seat. With a hint of regret on her face, she spoke up: “Should we go back home?”
It was cold, and Wei Hui’s hands were freezing as soon as they left. Shiyi held her hands, gently rubbing them. Noticing her careful attitude, Wei Hui shook her head and said, “No need, I have business at the Du family anyway.”
Shiyi looked up: “Are you looking for Du Yueming?”
Wei Hui smiled: “Her brother.”
Shiyi finally held back and said: “Mm.”
She knew Wei Hui had been very busy lately. Although she spent every day at home with her, work matters were constant, including remote meetings. She had always known Wei Hui was busy, but hadn’t realized just how busy she was. No wonder her health kept fluctuating. Shiyi was both worried and heartbroken, but there was nothing she could do except study hard, work hard, and strive to improve herself, so she could help share Wei Hui’s burden.
Wei Hui knew her thoughtful nature. Every night before sleeping, she liked to lay her head on Wei Hui’s chest to listen to the faint heartbeat. Several times when waking at night, she would immediately notice Shiyi tightening her grip on her arm. She wasn’t a light sleeper; she just cared too much.
But there was nothing she could do. She wanted Shiyi to grow up more slowly, but time wouldn’t allow it.
The car fell silent for a moment. Wei Hui turned her head to look at Shiyi and noticed faint dark circles under her eyes, which although concealed with foundation, were still visible up close.
She definitely hadn’t slept well last night.
After their conversation, Shiyi had become much calmer. When they went to bed, instead of her usual clingy behavior of wanting kisses and hugs, she just lay close to Wei Hui and offered to sing her to sleep. Wei Hui never imagined that after all these years, she’d still need someone to lull her to sleep. Yet indeed, she had fallen asleep to the singing, while Shiyi appeared this morning as if she hadn’t slept at all.
Before getting in the car, they had tacitly avoided mentioning the previous night’s events. Once inside, Shiyi warmed Wei Hui’s hands as usual, occasionally brushing her palm against Wei Hui’s cheeks, asking: “Are you cold?”
As the warmth from her palm swept across her skin, Wei Hui shook her head lightly: “Not cold.”
How could she be cold with her little heater beside her, warming her heart?
Shiyi’s eyes curved into a smile at her response, starlight twinkling in them.
They soon arrived at the Du family residence. Du Yueming was known for her social skills and had many friends, managing connections in both legitimate and underground circles [hēi bái tōng chī – idiom meaning having connections in both legal and illegal worlds]. Others called her a social butterfly, not just referring to her frequent changes in girlfriends but also her broad social network. When Wei Hui and Shiyi arrived, they saw many cars already parked at the entrance. As soon as Shiyi stepped out, Du Yueming called out: “Shiyi!”
Her voice was clear and crisp. Looking over, they saw Du Yueming standing at the entrance in a cocktail dress, holding a wine glass, her hair elegantly styled in an updo, looking radiant with a female companion by her side. Shiyi and Wei Hui exchanged glances before walking over, and Du Yueming said: “I didn’t expect President Wei to come too.”
She said this while smiling at Shiyi with narrowed eyes.
Wei Hui attending her party was something unthinkable in the past, absolutely impossible, but because of Shiyi, she actually came. Du Yueming had been worried her intelligence might be wrong, but seeing Wei Hui in person put her mind at ease. Wei Hui surely didn’t know that her girlfriends inside had talked themselves hoarse waiting to see her.
Shiyi didn’t recognize Du Yueming’s female companion, though she looked somewhat familiar, as if she’d seen her on television. Standing beside Du Yueming, she heard her introduce: “This is Xiao Zhu, my friend.”
“This is President Wei and her friend, Shiyi.”
Xiao Zhu blinked, her face showing traces of surprise. She had heard Du Yueming and her girlfriends say that Wei Hui would come today, though she hadn’t believed it at the time. After all, Wei Hui and Du Yueming weren’t even in the same league. She had previously worked on Wei Tian advertisements and had hoped to use that opportunity to get close to the person all of Jiang City revered, but unfortunately, she never even got to see Wei Hui in person. Everything was handled by her assistant, Pei Tian. It was said that she disliked socializing and making friends, and her whereabouts were always mysterious. Who would have thought she’d appear here today!
It was absolutely incredible!
Perhaps because she remained silent for too long, Du Yueming lightly coughed: “Xiao Zhu?”
Xiao Zhu snapped back to reality and said somewhat embarrassedly: “I’m sorry, I’m just too surprised to see President Wei. Please don’t take offense.”
She extended her hand to Wei Hui, who slightly furrowed her elegant brows and looked at her with sharp eyes. Du Yueming immediately said: “Come on, let’s go inside.”
Wei Hui’s mysophobia was well-known throughout Jiang City. What was Xiao Zhu thinking, trying to shake hands? She had seemed clever before, but now it appeared Du Yueming had misjudged her.
Du Yueming’s expression darkened, showing subtle signs of displeasure.
Du Yueming invited Wei Hui and Shiyi into the living room, where several people sitting on the sofa widened their eyes in disbelief, some even rubbing them while exclaiming in shock: “Isn’t that Wei Hui?”
“How did she come here?”
“Oh my god, who managed to invite her?”
“Du Yueming is incredible, she even got this living Buddha to come!”
“Ah, I suddenly want to take a photo to commemorate this!”
Wei Hui walked in with Shiyi as if no one else was there. Amidst everyone’s astonished gazes, she turned her head and said: “I’ll go upstairs to see President Du, you stay and socialize with Miss Du for a while.”
When Shiyi saw her about to leave, she grabbed her hand. Everyone was shocked again – this woman who was rumored to have severe mysophobia merely looked tenderly at the person before her and patted her hand, saying: “I’ll be back soon.”
Ignoring everyone’s surprised expressions, Shiyi persisted: “Let me go up with you?”
Wei Hui shook her head: “No need, you rarely go out, enjoy yourself.”
Shiyi sighed helplessly. Wei Hui withdrew her hand and, to everyone’s disbelief, ruffled Shiyi’s hair, speaking softly and gently: “Go on.”
There was a collective intake of breath as Wei Hui climbed the stairs in her high heels to Du Yuehang’s study.
After she left, an eerie silence fell over the downstairs, with no one speaking. They all stared at Shiyi with peculiar looks. Du Yueming couldn’t help feeling smug seeing their dumbfounded expressions. The frustration she had felt earlier with Xiao Zhu was relieved. When she had told these girlfriends about the two’s sweet relationship before, they had accused her of bragging. Now that they’d seen it with their own eyes, she felt utterly vindicated!
If the timing wasn’t so inappropriate, Du Yueming would have let out three hearty laughs!
“Why is everyone just standing there? Eat what you should eat, drink what you should drink, enjoy yourselves, get moving!” After the brief moment of confusion, Du Yueming called out to everyone. Shiyi was immediately treated like a rare national treasure, with people calling out: “Sister, sit here!”
“Sit by me!”
“Here, here, here!”
Shiyi looked at them somewhat awkwardly, but fortunately, she recognized two familiar faces from their chat group. She went over and sat beside them, and within minutes of receiving their enthusiastic hospitality, her hands were full of jewelry and cosmetics.
“I just brought this back from abroad, it works amazingly well. Want to try it, Shiyi? Though your skin is already so soft and smooth.”
Although there was some exaggeration, Shiyi’s skin was indeed more supple, delicate, and radiant than anyone else present. Her complexion had always been good, and since she hadn’t been “poisoned” [dú hài – metaphorically meaning damaged] by cosmetics, using the same high-end skincare products as Wei Hui, it would be hard for her skin not to be beautiful. Those sitting beside her looked at her enviously: “Youth is really something.”
With hands full of gifts, Shiyi lowered her head and smiled: “Thank you.”
The people around her immediately started calling her “sister” affectionately. A short distance away, several girls exchanged glances and snickered, looking away. One girl in a red dress asked: “Is Sister Shen coming?”
“They say she’s almost here.”
Several people looked toward the door, and the girl who had just spoken smiled: “She’s here.”
Shen Suqing walked in wearing a light blue dress, moving with grace. The previously noisy living room fell silent for a moment, then someone called out: “Sister Shen!”
Du Yueming smiled when she saw Shen Suqing and walked over, respectfully calling out: “Sister Shen.”
Shen Suqing was a few years older than them and had been their leader since childhood. She would decide their travel destinations and lead their group of girlfriends. While Du Yueming wasn’t particularly close to her, they moved in the same social circles, so she always invited her. However, after getting married, Shen hadn’t appeared at any gatherings. Today was quite a coincidence – first Wei Hui arrived, and now her.
The girl next to Shiyi whispered: “Why did she come?”
Another girl shrugged: “Who knows.”
Shiyi turned her head and saw Shen Suqing nodding and smiling faintly at everyone. Her hand at her side tightened, and she instinctively looked up toward the second floor, in the direction of Du Yuehang’s study.
In the study, Du Yuehang and Wei Hui sat on the sofa. He brewed a pot of tea and poured her a cup, saying: “How do you have time today to join Yueming’s gathering?”
Wei Hui coughed twice, accepting the tea from his hand. As the delicate white mist rose, she lowered her eyes and said: “I have something to discuss with President Du.”
Du Yuehang laughed: “We just finished New Year’s, let me rest a bit. Don’t try to scheme against me, okay?”
Hearing his straightforward words, Wei Hui shook her head and took a sip of tea before saying: “I heard President Du is looking for a school for Miss Du to pursue further studies.”
Du Yuehang’s drinking motion paused slightly. Du Yueming wasn’t young anymore and couldn’t continue living so carelessly. Although the family doted on her, they couldn’t get past the elderly parents’ objections. Du Yueming had caused trouble before over her sexual orientation, and this time they couldn’t cover for her. So he had been actively looking for schools to send her to, but not many people knew about this.
“How does President Wei know about this?” Du Yuehang swirled the cup in his hand while looking at Wei Hui, who parted her red lips and said: “I’ve been looking recently too, and happened to find out.”
She raised her head to look at Du Yuehang: “I can help you connect with Weiss.”
The Weiss Finance Department ranked highly both domestically and internationally. Du Yuehang had previously tried to pull strings multiple times but hit dead ends. Just when he had given up hope, Wei Hui came offering to help make connections. Du Yuehang smiled: “What are the conditions?”
“The conditions are simple: exchange five percent of my Wei Tian shares for five percent of your Qimao shares.”
Du Yuehang was stunned. Wei Tian had been developing at rocket speed these past few years. Five percent of Wei Tian shares was worth more than not just five percent, but even ten percent of Qimao – he would be making a huge profit!
“Are you… sure these are the conditions?”
Wei Hui nodded: “I’m sure.”
Du Yuehang was completely bewildered: “Why?”
Wei Hui thought for a moment before responding: “I want you to become a Wei Tian shareholder to help me protect someone.”
Du Yuehang asked suspiciously: “Shiyi?”
Wei Hui nodded without hesitation.
Du Yuehang raised his hand: “Wait, you’re not planning to put the exchanged shares under this child’s name?”
Wei Hui nodded again, and Du Yuehang said in confusion: “Are you serious? You’re not joking?”
This kind of flesh-cutting deal [gē ròu – idiom meaning making a painful sacrifice] didn’t seem like something Wei Hui would do. Du Yuehang almost doubted whether his ears were playing tricks on him. Seeing his disbelief, Wei Hui continued: “President Du doesn’t need to doubt. If you agree, we can sign the contract in a few days.”
Du Yuehang had worked with Wei Hui once before, and while he didn’t know her deeply, he had a superficial understanding. Instead of immediately agreeing, he said: “I should at least know the reason, right?”
Wei Hui nodded: “The reason is simple. The rumors are true.”
Du Yuehang’s cup slipped from his hand and fell to the floor with a crisp sound!
The rumors are true – what rumors? That like her father, she had heart disease and didn’t have long to live. These rumors had never been confirmed, but now… Du Yuehang’s expression froze, his body stiffened, and it took him a while to find his voice: “When did this happen?”
When she was young, Wei Hui had visited the Du family many times. He wasn’t much older than her, and he still vaguely remembered the scene of her hugging him and calling him brother. In the blink of an eye, she had become like this. Du Yuehang’s emotions were complex, while Wei Hui spoke calmly: “It’s been a long time. I only have a few years left. I hope President Du can keep this confidential. I don’t want to make it public yet. And about the shares we just discussed…”
“Two percent,” Du Yuehang snapped out of his daze, swallowing hard before saying with difficulty: “Take two percent of your company in exchange for my five percent.”
Wei Hui shook her head: “No, two percent is too low.”
“Then four percent.” Du Yuehang had never been one to take advantage of others’ weaknesses, especially when the person before him had completely shown him her vulnerability and shown such sincerity. Even one percent would be a profit for him, let alone two.
“Four percent for seven percent.”
“President Du!”
Du Yuehang picked up the cup, his expression returning to normal: “Do you agree?”
Wei Hui nodded: “Thanks.”
Du Yuehang looked deeply at Wei Hui and sighed: “Going to such lengths for a child, is it worth it?”
Wei Hui laughed softly at his words. With Du Yuehang’s agreement, the heavy burden in her heart was finally lifted, and her expression became much more relaxed as she said: “Allow me to refute that, President Du. She’s an adult, nineteen this year, not a child.”
“Moreover, she’s my girlfriend.”
“She’s worth it.”
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