Chapter 7Ā
**Returning to the Country Together**
The two colleagues beside Rong Ci kept stealing glances at Lin Wu as they quickly stepped back two paces, pressing themselves against the wall.
Lin Wu also saw Rong Ci.
But she immediately looked away coolly, clearly dismissing her as beneath notice, and then entered the elevator flanked by the several managers.
After the elevator doors closed, Rong Ci’s two colleagues let out sighs of relief and then excitedly resumed their gossip.
“That must be President Feng’s girlfriend, right? Gosh, she’s so beautiful. She’s wearing all designer brands ā that must cost a fortune, huh? No wonder she’s from a wealthy family ā confident, composed, and so commanding. Her aura really is on another level from us ordinary people!”
“Exactly, exactly!”
They spoke for a moment, then asked Rong Ci in a quieter voice: “Rong Ci, what do you think?”
Rong Ci lowered her eyes and said flatly, “Yes.”
Lin Wu was actually her father’s illegitimate daughter.
Perhaps “illegitimate daughter” wasn’t quite accurate.
After all, when she was eight years old, her father had insisted on divorcing her mother in order to keep Lin Wu and Lin Wu’s mother from suffering, so that he could marry Lin Wu’s mother.
After her parents divorced, she had lived with her mentally unstable mother, her grandmother, and her uncle.
Over the years, her uncle’s business had been declining, while the Lin family’s business had been flourishing.
She had heard that in order to make up for the grievances Lin Wu had suffered during her childhood, her father gave her nothing but the best, spending a fortune to cultivate her.
And Lin Wu, living up to expectations, had reportedly become exceptionally outstanding.
Thus, the former illegitimate daughter, Lin Wu, had now become a legitimate wealthy heiress.
Having been a wealthy heiress for over a decade, Lin Wu now exuded even more of that aristocratic aura than Rong Ci ā the true heiress ā ever had.
She had thought that after her childhood, she and Lin Wu would never cross paths again.
But Heaven seemed to favor Lin Wu especially.
She and Feng Tingshen had grown up together as childhood acquaintances, yet no matter how hard she tried, he never saw her. But the moment he laid eyes on Lin Wu, he had fallen completely in love with herā
“Rong Ci, are you okay?”
Seeing that Rong Ci’s face was a bit pale, the two colleagues looked worried.
Rong Ci snapped out of it: “I’m fine.”
She and Feng Tingshen would soon be divorced. Whoever Feng Tingshen loved from now on would have nothing to do with her.
That day, Rong Ci paid no further attention to what was happening between Feng Tingshen and Lin Wu.
She worked overtime until nearly nine o’clock. Just as she was almost done with her tasks, her phone rang. It was her best friend, Chu Zilan.
Rong Ci answered, only to be told that Chu Zilan had drunk too much and needed her to come to the restaurant to take her home.
Rong Ci quickly finished up the documents at hand, grabbed her car keys, and left the company.
Twenty minutes later, Rong Ci arrived at the destination.
After getting out of the car, as she was walking toward the entrance, a little girl emerged from the parking lot on the other side.
Looking at the girl’s distinct profile, Rong Ci’s steps faltered.
Xinxin?
Wasn’t she supposed to be in school in Country A? How could she beā¦ did she come back to the country with Feng Tingshen?
Given her position and rank, although she couldn’t access certain confidential company documents, she knew that Feng Tingshen’s market development work in Country A would still take some time to complete.
She had thought that Feng Tingshen had only returned to the country briefly to handle some matters.
She hadn’t expected her daughter to come back too.
She didn’t know exactly when they had returned, but judging by the fact that she had already seen Feng Tingshen this morning, it had been at least a day since they arrived.
Yet her daughter hadn’t called her at all to let her know they were back.
Thinking this, Rong Ci gripped her handbag tightly. Watching the little bouncy, cheerful figure ahead, she quietly followed.
When she reached a corner in the lobby, Lin Wu and several of Feng Tingshen’s friends appeared at the end of the corridor.
Rong Ci immediately stepped aside to hide. Then she heard her daughter happily call out “Aunt Wu Wu!” and run swiftly ahead, throwing herself into Lin Wu’s arms.
Rong Ci sat down on a nearby sofa with her back to them, using the greenery and the back of the chair to conceal herself.
“Xinxin, you’re back in the country too?”
“Because you came back, Aunt Wu Wu. Daddy and I both missed you, so Daddy finished his work early and brought me back! And we came back on purpose the day before your birthday, so we wouldn’t miss it!”
“This is the necklace Daddy and I made for you with our own hands. Happy birthday, Aunt Wu Wu!”
“Wow, you and Daddy made this by hand? That must have taken so much effort. Xinxin, you’re so amazing. Auntie loves it. Thank you, Xinxin!”
“You’re welcome, Aunt Wu Wu. I’m just glad you like it~”
Feng Jingxin hugged Lin Wu and acted playfully: “I haven’t seen you for a week, Aunt Wu Wu. I missed you so much. If I couldn’t call you every day, there’s no way I could have stayed in Country A all this timeā¦”
“I missed Xinxin a lot too.”
Just then, footsteps sounded from the side.
Rong Ci paused.
It was Feng Tingshen.
Even without seeing him, Rong Ci was almost certain just by the sound of his footsteps.
The reason she was so sure was that during the six or seven years of their marriage, she had spent practically every day waiting for him.
Feng Tingshen’s footsteps were just like the man himself ā unhurried, steady, and composed.
Even when dealing with the Feng family members closest to him, his composure seemed almost indifferent, as if even if the sky fell, his expression wouldn’t change.
She had once believed that nothing and no one in this world could disturb his calm.
But then Lin Wu had appeared.
And this matter suddenly had an exception.
Remembering the past, before Rong Ci could dwell on it any further, she heard her daughter call out “Daddy.”
Feng Tingshen’s friends also greeted him one after another.
Feng Tingshen acknowledged them, then said to Lin Wu, “Happy birthday.”
Lin Wu laughed: “Yes.”
“Daddy, didn’t you prepare other birthday gifts for Aunt Wu Wu? Hurry up and give them to her!”
Suddenly, there was a silence. Then one of Feng Tingshen’s friends chuckled, leaned down, and pinched Feng Jingxin’s cheek: “Those are private gifts your daddy prepared for your Aunt Wu Wu. He’ll probably give them to her in private. Let’s not get involved, haha~”
The others laughed ambiguously as well.
Just then, Feng Tingshen said, “I already gave them to her.”
“Huh? When?” Feng Jingxin asked, then said, “Daddy, you went to see Aunt Wu Wu in secret again without me. Hmph!”
Feng Tingshen’s friends burst into laughter.
But Rong Ci remembered that Lin Wu had come to the Feng Group this morning.
It must have been then.
Lin Wu smiled sheepishly and said, “Let’s not stand here. Let’s go upstairs.”
The footsteps faded into the distance.
But Rong Ci’s mind went blank.
Her heart ached with a dense, piercing pain. It was a long time before she came back to her senses. Silently, she entered the elevator and went upstairs to help her friend get downstairs.
Chu Zilan’s private dining room was actually on the same floor as where Lin Wu and the others had gathered.
As Rong Ci helped Chu Zilan into the elevator, one of Feng Tingshen’s friends, Qi Yuming, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
