Rose Lock - Chapter 72

A few days later, Hua Manyi went to the clinic to have the bandage on her head removed. Passing by the Paramount Club, she coincidentally ran into Boss Sun.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, Boss Sun called out to her, “Miss Manyi, how have you considered that matter?”

Hua Manyi furrowed her brows, confused, “Aunt Gong, didn’t she…”

Boss Sun’s mind quickly shifted, and he understood the reason, “Aunt Gong did indeed tell me a few days ago not to interfere with your affairs, but yesterday she called to say that you are no longer a part of Fenghai. I thought Aunt Gong must have relented. So here I am, just about to look for you to discuss a collaboration.”

“Yesterday…” Hua Manyi murmured, feeling something indescribable in her heart. Was Aunt Gong planning to completely stop caring about her? This time, she might truly be severing ties with her.

“Miss Manyi, have you made up your mind now?” Boss Sun reminded her.

Hua Manyi pondered for a moment, “…Boss Sun, I need a little more time to consider. I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time this time.”

Bidding farewell to Boss Sun, Hua Manyi gritted her teeth, hailed a rickshaw, and headed straight for Luhe Vineyard.

Arriving at the green painted iron gate, Hua Manyi wanted to go in, but the guard said that Aunt Gong had instructed him not to see her anymore and told her not to come back.

“Did she really say that?” Hua Manyi couldn’t believe it, but deep down, she mostly understood how deeply she had hurt her.

“Miss, you should go back quickly. The sky is dark and it looks like it’s about to rain,” the guard looked worriedly at the sky and advised her.

Not long after the words fell, the sky poured down heavy rain. The large raindrops hit her face, and a chill immediately spread.

“Hey, hey, hey, Miss, quickly find somewhere to shelter, be careful not to catch a cold!” the guard uncle shouted from inside the pavilion, but Hua Manyi acted as if she hadn’t heard, standing in front of the gate, letting the rain soak her completely.

The guard sighed with emotion, then ignored her, shaking his head. He guessed this girl must have done something wrong to be here begging their madam for forgiveness.

The summer plum rain came as quickly as it was predicted, making the once dry ground wet. The rain was urgent and stinging when it hit. In no time, Hua Manyi was thoroughly soaked. Her vision blurred as she looked towards the villa, her lips turning pale, “Aunt Gong… I know I was wrong…”

On the second floor of the villa, the spacious living room had wide floor-to-ceiling windows with a broad view, looking out over the vibrant estate.

Lin Wanyi pushed Gong Yan’s wheelchair to the living room to watch the rain. The fireplace was burning charcoal, and the temperature inside the house slowly rose.

“Aunt Gong… Eldest Miss…” Lin Wanyi called out these two titles, her willow brows knitted, sighing, “We only have an age difference of five or six years, and we even studied together when we were young. Although I was a companion reader, I was once close to you. Why… after more than ten years, when I see you again, do I feel such a distance?”

This was something she couldn’t figure out.

When she was little, the Gong family’s youngest daughter, Gong Shulan, was kidnapped by bandits and was unable to walk normally when she returned. Soon after, the Gong family head sent her abroad for medical treatment, leaving only Gong Yan at home. Perhaps worried that the eldest daughter would have no company and might become gloomy and depressed, Gong Yan’s mother wanted to find a companion reader for her. At this time, the Lin family volunteered and recommended their daughter, who was five or six years younger than Gong Yan.

However, after less than two years of accompanying her in studies, Lin Wanyi couldn’t keep up with the other party’s progress. Coupled with the age gap, she had to stop her companion reading career. For the next ten years, the Lin family had continuous troubles. Her father married a new concubine, and after the new concubine died, he continued to take concubines, turning the whole house into a chaotic mess.

She knew all this was because of her father’s inherent flaw as a man: men are unreliable. An ambitious man, apart from having business in his eyes, would only play with women and marry several concubines; an unambitious man was even more troublesome, with only lust in his eyes, directly causing her to lose interest in men.

Until one day, she heard that the former Eldest Miss of the Gong family was still unmarried at 30. She grew a little curious. Being unmarried at this age was probably considered an old maid, a laughingstock.

A while ago, the Lin family’s eighth concubine took charge. Probably finding her, the eldest daughter, an eyesore, she whispered in her father’s ear to marry her off. When she saw the prospective groom, she almost got a stomach ache from anger. He was a famously idle, playful, and extravagant young master in the South City, who already had several concubines but no official wife yet. The eighth concubine even repeatedly claimed that she would become the official wife and directly manage the entire household, which many people would envy.

She created a huge scene at the Lin family and angrily came to Haicheng. By a strange twist of fate, she met Gong Yan. Out of nostalgia for their past connection, the latter allowed her to stay here. Later, she somehow developed inappropriate feelings, perhaps because she was completely disillusioned with that family, or maybe she regarded Gong Yan as her salvation and belief.

Then, she became aware of the existence of a woman named Hua Manyi and knew that her relationship with Gong Yan was unusual.

Gong Yan watched the heavy rain and did not reply to her.

Lin Wanyi continued, “Before coming to Haicheng, I heard that everyone in Fenghai called you ‘Aunt Gong,’ regardless of age, and you chatted and laughed with them. I thought it was a way to be close to you, and I foolishly called you ‘Aunt Gong’ for a few days.”

“If you wish, you can continue to call me that. I don’t mind,” Gong Yan said.

Lin Wanyi was not very satisfied with her answer, but she dared not say much more, “But…”

Just then, Butler Fu hurried up the stairs, saying in a flurry, “Madam, Miss Manyi has been standing outside the main gate for an hour and collapsed from the rain!”

Lin Wanyi’s face changed slightly. She saw Gong Yan remain silent for a moment, but finally relented and instructed someone to carry her back, and called a doctor to examine her.

Hua Manyi woke up that evening. She groggily drank some porridge and then fell back asleep, crying softly in her sleep, “Aunt Gong, I was wrong… please don’t abandon me…”

The next day, the wind was strong and the rain scattered, and the overcast weather lasted all day.

Hua Manyi woke up in bed. Seeing the familiar room, she knew she was in Aunt Gong’s villa, but it wasn’t the master bedroom. Her heart chilled slightly. She got up, intending to leave, but heard someone answering a phone call as she passed by the bedroom.

“She found you?” It was Gong Yan speaking on the phone, her expression serious.

Hua Manyi crept closer to the crack in the door, listening cautiously, but unfortunately, she couldn’t hear the voice from the phone receiver.

“Don’t worry, Jiang Yin. Shulan said she realized her mistake about that incident back then…”

The name ‘Jiang Yin’ entered her ears. Hua Manyi felt as if she had been struck by lightning, unable to recover for a long time. Jiang… Jiang Yin hadn’t died after all…

“Who’s outside?!” A sudden, sharp reprimand startled Hua Manyi. She stumbled into the room, unexpectedly meeting Gong Yan’s eyes.

“I… Aunt Gong…” Hua Manyi’s mind was still reeling from the shock that Jiang Yin was alive.

“After only a few days, you’ve learned to do such sneaky things, Hua Manyi, you’ve really progressed,” Gong Yan hung up the phone, her face darkening with a sneer, “When you’re well, go back to your own place. Don’t let me see you again.”

“What about Jiang Yin!” Hua Manyi couldn’t bear her sarcasm any longer. Enduring the sourness, she shouted, “Why are you so good to Jiang Yin specifically?! Do you like her?!”

When Jiang Yin was alive, she protected her everywhere and took her wherever she went. Last time it was kissing Jiang Yin at the coffee shop, and this time it was helping her escape from the fire and covering it up. Was she really that important to her?!

Gong Yan was stunned, then frowned, “What business is it of yours! Hua Manyi, I told you, we have no relationship anymore. Don’t appear before me.”

“I won’t!” Hua Manyi saw her turn her face away, showing an expression of not wanting to see her. Her emotions instantly surged uncontrollably. Large tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes. She slammed the door shut and bolted it.

Gong Yan heard the door close, turned to look at her, confused by her action, and reprimanded her coldly, “Hua Manyi, what are you doing?”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than she saw Hua Manyi rushing towards her. Taking advantage of the fact that she was in a wheelchair and unable to move, she cupped Gong Yan’s face and kissed her.

“Hua… Hua Man—” Gong Yan was furious. She grabbed Hua Manyi’s wrist, wanting to push her away, but the other person’s strength was greater. Hua Manyi directly straddled her. The wheelchair nearly tipped backward, but luckily the bed behind them prevented the wheelchair from sliding back and falling over.

Hua Manyi cried as she kissed her, her hands busy as well. She felt for Gong Yan’s collar and started unbuttoning it, “I remember everything! You get to take advantage of me when I’m drunk, but I can’t force myself onto you now? You’re a woman who only allows the officials to commit arson but forbids the common people from lighting lamps!”

“…”

Seeing her purse her lips and remain silent, Hua Manyi cried even harder, but her hands dared not stop for a moment. After unbuttoning Gong Yan’s clothes, she started undressing herself, and finally, following the steps from memory, she skillfully… succumbed to passion.

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