Redeeming that Beautiful, Strong, and Miserable Omega [Transmigrated into a Book] - Chapter 60
Chapter 60: The Bet
Wen Yan, clutching her bottom, nestled in Xu Ruozhou’s arms, whimpering softly. Wen Li stood with her arms crossed, breathing heavily, clearly extremely exasperated by Wen Yan.
Xu Ruozhou, sandwiched between the two, looked left and right, and finally decided to—
Pick on the easy target.
Xu Ruozhou pinched Wen Yan’s soft cheek and whispered in her ear, “Wen Yan, stop the fake crying.”
Wen Yan paused in wiping her tears and whispered, “Is it that obvious?”
“Yes,” Xu Ruozhou nodded. She glanced at Wen Li’s expression and softly reminded Wen Yan, “Do you remember why I asked you to go home in the first place?”
Wen Yan pouted. Xu Ruozhou pinched the soft flesh on her waist, “Stop throwing a tantrum.”
Wen Yan stood up reluctantly, her voice sounding very aggrieved, “Mom, I was wrong.”
Wen Li scoffed, “What were you wrong about?”
Wen Yan said pitifully, “I shouldn’t have called you a Scrooge.”
Wen Li crossed her legs, lifted her chin, “And what else?”
“Nor should I have gone home to steal the household register, preparing to secretly marry without your knowledge.”
“So you do know what you did wrong?” Wen Li sneered. Although still angry, she seemed to have calmed down at least by half.
Xu Ruozhou had anticipated this. In fact, she had paid attention to Wen Li’s expression the moment Wen Yan entered and realized she wasn’t truly furious; otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to let Wen Yan come in.
After all, while Wen Li loved her daughter, she was still a serious parent who wanted her daughter to succeed.
Once both of them had calmed down, Xu Ruozhou excused herself to buy something, sending Wen Yan out of the hotel room.
This time, only Xu Ruozhou and Wen Li remained in the presidential suite.
In the silence, Xu Ruozhou was the first to break it. She poured a cup of warm water into a paper cup, placed it in front of Wen Li, and gently called out, “Auntie.”
“Our bet still stands, right?”
Wen Li glanced at Xu Ruozhou but didn’t answer or deny it. She just gently swirled the paper cup and said calmly, “You don’t want Wen Yan to know about this?”
Xu Ruozhou smiled without speaking.
The answer was self-evident.
“You are the first person to dare to bet against me with nothing,” Wen Li scoffed, “Don’t think I don’t know your little scheme.”
“Wen Yan even thought up the rotten idea of stealing the household register for you. Given how devoted she is to you, even if you lose, she’d probably constantly pester me at home and the company, insisting on marrying you.”
“Auntie, Wen Yan is a very filial child. Her love for you is no less than her love for me.”
Wen Li’s grip on the cup tightened slightly. Xu Ruozhou added, “I definitely don’t want Wen Yan to know, but…”
“The main reason I don’t want her to know is that I don’t want her to worry. As for whether I will lose, I don’t care, because I haven’t considered the possibility of losing.”
“You are certainly confident,” Wen Li raised an eyebrow. Xu Ruozhou poured out the cold water in her cup and replaced it with warm water.
This time, Wen Li picked up the cup and drank it down boldly, “I am willing to give you this chance, Xu Ruozhou.”
“Although I don’t know where your confidence comes from, I must tell you in advance that regardless of winning or losing, you will not gain shares in the Wen Group. But if you lose—”
“You must disappear from Wen Yan’s life. Even if Wen Yan comes to beg me, I will never relent.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
Xu Ruozhou’s tone was calm. Wen Li looked at her for a rare moment.
“Then I’ll wait and see.” Wen Li put on her high heels, transforming back into the decisive, iron-willed businesswoman. She stood up and lifted her chin at Xu Ruozhou, “Come with me.”
Near the hotel entrance, Wen Yan walked in, carrying a new set of pajamas in Xu Ruozhou’s size. Just as she was about to enter the elevator, she was stopped by the front desk.
The receptionist smiled broadly and handed over a familiar room key card, “Ms. Wen, this is the key card Ms. Xu Ruozhou left at the front desk.”
“Oh, okay.” Wen Yan took the key card and continued toward the elevator. As her finger was about to press the button, she suddenly paused.
Wait, Xu Ruozhou left her the key card, so where did Xu Ruozhou go?
Wen Yan walked back to the front desk and asked, “Did Xu Ruozhou give you the key card herself? Where did she go? Did she say anything?”
“No, but…” The receptionist shook her head, adding, “Ms. Xu left the hotel with your mother, CEO Wen. They seemed to be having a pleasant chat.”
Wen Yan’s tone became nervous, “Which direction did they go?”
“Direction… The direction seemed to be towards the Wen Group’s building.”
Wen Yan’s expression grew serious. The receptionist looked at her with confusion, “Ms. Wen, what is this…”
Countless classic scenarios from family dramas flashed through Wen Yan’s mind. She excitedly grabbed the receptionist’s hand, “Tell me the truth, were they really chatting happily, or was it just my mom who was happy?”
Hearing Wen Yan say this, the receptionist’s memory became slightly muddled. She hesitated, “Uh… it seemed like CEO Wen was happier. CEO Wen was doing most of the talking, and Ms. Xu only occasionally spoke, replying once or twice.”
Wen Yan spoke excitedly, “What about their expressions?!”
“Their expressions… Uh, I really can’t recall clearly.”
Wen Yan took a deep breath, looked up at the ceiling at a forty-five-degree angle, with a sadness the receptionist couldn’t comprehend in her eyes.
“Ms. Wen, CEO Wen is a famous and important person. I think she wouldn’t…”
The receptionist was a fan of Wen Li, having grown up listening to her business legends, and instinctively tried to defend her idol. Wen Yan raised her hand, interrupting her.
“Since things have come to this, let’s leave it to the law.”
“N-no way, Ms. Xu looked fine, completely un-” The receptionist’s eyes widened. Wen Yan gave an expression of righteousness mixed with the pain of disowning a relative, “I have one more thing to entrust to you.”
The receptionist thought it must be something extremely important. Her expression turned serious, “Ms. Wen, if I can do it, I will definitely help you.”
“Could you please wash and dry the pajamas for me? My wife is a germaphobe and won’t wear unwashed clothes.”
The receptionist: …?
Wen Li threw a bunch of tasks at Xu Ruozhou, intentionally testing her and deliberately not providing her with a mentor.
She had assumed Wen Yan’s elopement partner would need a few days to get the hang of things in the company, but she was wrong—
Wen Li held a document, her expression serious. In her hand was a nearly perfect proposal created in just a few hours.
“Er… ahem.” Wen Li put down the document, hiding the trace of surprise that flashed in her eyes. She cleared her throat, “It’s acceptable for a newcomer with no experience.”
Xu Ruozhou’s tone was calm, “Thank you, CEO Wen. May I take over the branch company’s work now?”
Wen Li put on her clothes and nodded slightly at her, “Yes. I’ll have the assistant take you tomorrow… Wait, where are you going?”
The russet-colored eyes looked at Wen Li in confusion, “I’m going to the company.”
Wen Li glanced down at her watch. It was already close to midnight. Even the lights in the office building of a certain company next door, known for promoting a wolf-like work culture, were off. Yet Xu Ruozhou was still heading to the company to work hard.
As expected of the younger generation, truly dedicated for the sake of love!
Looking up again, a hint of admiration now appeared in Wen Li’s eyes as she looked at Xu Ruozhou, “I’ll go downstairs with you and have my driver take you there. Afterwards, I will arrange a driver specifically for your pick-up and drop-off, so Wen Yan won’t say I’m deliberately making things difficult for you.”
Xu Ruozhou nodded, “Thank you, CEO Wen.”
The two walked into the elevator together. When the elevator reached the first floor, Xu Ruozhou suddenly frowned. Wen Li noticed her expression, “What’s wrong?”
Wen Li scanned Xu Ruozhou up and down, “Are you feeling unwell?”
It wasn’t surprising that Wen Li asked this; although Xu Ruozhou was young and beautiful, she exuded a fragile, sickly aura, like a delicate butterfly whose wings could easily be broken by a human hand.
Xu Ruozhou slowly shook her head, “I’m fine, I just heard a strange noise.”
Wen Li furrowed her brow, “A strange noise?”
“What strange…”
Before she could finish, the elevator doors slowly opened. Outside the office building, a group of armed police officers surrounded the entire structure.
The upstanding socialist youth, Wen Yan, stood in the center, her expression resolute, pointing at the open doors, “Officer, this is my mom!”
“My mom illegally detained my wife!!!”
Xu Ruozhou’s hand holding her briefcase twitched. She turned to look at Wen Li, whose entire face had gone green, while Wen Yan was still excitedly recounting the event.
Wen Li approached her unfilial daughter with a cold smirk.
Xu Ruozhou held her forehead. She could already imagine what would happen next.
“Hopeless.”
“Owww—”
The sound of fighting, along with Wen Yan’s wailing, came from afar, “Wuwuwu, save me, wife, ahhh!”
“…”
Wen Li apologized to the arriving police officers. After a few verbal reprimands, the officers left. Wen Yan, bruised and swollen, looked piteously at Xu Ruozhou. Xu Ruozhou felt a pang of sympathy and was about to approach, when Wen Li suddenly walked over to where she was.
“CEO Wen.” Xu Ruozhou quickly stopped. Wen Li let out a long sigh and took her hand, “You have my sympathy.”
A trace of confusion appeared in the russet-colored eyes. Wen Li glanced at Wen Yan, “It must not be easy being with her.”
Xu Ruozhou was stunned. Wen Li sighed, “With her IQ, she’d likely be returned if she were married off. If you still like her, Wen Yan is all yours. The sooner you two move out and become independent, the better, so she stops constantly staying at home and only causing trouble for me.”
The corners of Xu Ruozhou’s lips slowly curled up as she suppressed a laugh, “Mhm, Auntie, I will take good care of her.”
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